Kelly Oubre Jr. making name for himself on defense

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) keeps the ball from Washington Wizards' Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Saturday, March 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) keeps the ball from Washington Wizards' Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Saturday, March 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Little stood out about Kelly Oubre Jr.’s first year in the NBA. The first-round pick out of Kansas played sparingly for a middling team that missed the playoffs, despite much loftier expectations.

Rookie seasons are made to deliver hard lessons, though. Now Oubre has transformed himself into a much more reliable member of the Washington Wizards and has played a key part in the team’s climb toward the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

A year ago, Oubre revealed recently in an interview on the Wizards Tipoff podcast, he just felt happy to be in the league. The 21-year-old now finds himself in a situation, under first-year Wizards head coach Scott Brooks, where he has peace of mind and confidence, because he knows his performance is important to the Washington’s success.

The 6-foot-7 forward comes off the bench for the Wizards, and only averages 19.5 minutes and 5.9 points on the season. But Brooks needs Oubre’s defense, and the second-year wing often guards the opponent’s best wing — think: LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, etc. But the athletic sub also has shown a capacity to help star D.C. guards John Wall and Bradley Beal out by defending smaller guards, such as Boston’s Isaiah Thomas.

“I think that’s something different
that these teams aren’t used to,”
Oubre said on Wizards Tipoff. “Just a
6-7 long defender coming out and
guarding point guards, especially of
the smaller caliber. It’s fun to me,
man. It’s a challenge. Obviously these
guys are great. These guys are good at
what they do. And going out there and
competing and trying to hold them from
their average is something that I take
pride in, man. I don’t want anybody to
come in and let their best player just
torch us.”

“And it’s fun to guard the other
team’s best player,” Oubre added. “If
it’s a point guard, if it’s s shooting
guard, small forward, power forward —
no matter what I want to guard him. My
teammates give me that confidence to
pretty much go out and guard anybody.”

Self-assured in all he does, even Oubre had to get a boost to his boldness last week upon scoring 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting, with 7 rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes off the bench at Cleveland — a game Washington (46-29) won on the home floor of the NBA’s defending champions.

Oubre didn’t hesitate to call it his best game of the season.

“Defensively, offensively everything
clicking and my teammates playing well
all around,” Oubre said. “And just the
energy that I brought that game I felt
was like something that was one of the
best games I’ve put together all
around.”

Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder (99) and Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) battle for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Monday, March 20, 2017. The Celtics defeated the Wizards 110-102. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

As recently as a few weeks ago, this new-and-improved version of Oubre disappeared momentarily. In four games in early March, he played single-digit minutes and didn’t play at all on another occasion. Oubre said he realized then he just had to become more consistent in everything he did.

“I know my niche. I know what I need
to do,” he said, “so I think I’m just
growing and learning as a person and
then Coach Brooks is doing a great job
of molding me into the player I know I
can become.”

Now a key backup for the No. 3 team in the East, Oubre has made a name for himself in NBA circles and wants to prove he is as an “ultimate professional.” It’s an approach he admits now he didn’t take in what he considers his worst game of the season, at Brooklyn in early February. Oubre started for fellow Jayhawk Markieff Morris that day, went scoreless in 33 minutes and “wasn’t a factor at all.” It’s a showing he won’t soon forget because it disappointed him greatly.

said, calling it another lesson as he
works toward becoming a more complete
player.

The second-year pro feels fortunate Brooks has shown patience with him and allowed Oubre to learn and develop. In that same Cleveland game when he looked so good he also gambled defensively a couple of times and gave up 3-pointers to sharpshooter Kyle Korver.

“It’s just lesson learned,” Oubre said
of such occasions. “I know it won’t
happen again. Once I make one mistake
I try not to let it happen twice. If I
do let it happen twice, it won’t
happen again for a fact.”

As a rookie, playing for a different coaching staff, Oubre didn’t get to experience the postseason. This spring, he and the Wizards are in position to host at least one round of the playoffs. After an awful 3-9 start to the year, Washington is surging (currently two games behind the Cavaliers and Boston for the No. 1 seed).

“The vibe is different. We want it
all. We want everything people said we
couldn’t have,” said Oubre, who has
scored in double figures three
straight games. “And we’re a team
that’s not really gonna talk about it
too much. We’re a team that’s gonna go
out, put the work in and we’re gonna
do it.”

— Listen to the entire podcast below.