No magic spell can save Washington Wizards’ season
One thing that I like the most in the NBA is that every season there are a few teams which surprise everybody and play much better than expected. This shows us that in the American Basketball League everything is possible, so the fans should never lose hope. In the meantime, there are also some teams with very good players who don’t seem to get along well.
A great example of this kind of team is Washington Wizards. Trained by Scott Brooks, the organization based in the Capital City has some amazing athletes such as John Wall or Bradley Beal. Also, this summer, they managed to add Dwight Howard and Jeff Green to their roster. With young talents such as Austin Rivers, Kelly Oubre, and Otto Porter Jr. everybody expected them to be a tough team to beat in the East. But the story of this season is totally different.
Washington Wizards started this year on home-court with a heart-breaking loss (112-113) and then in the next game, they were beaten again by Toronto Raptors (113-117). After two difficult games, John Wall & Co. managed to win in Portland, only to lose the next 5 games. So, with a record of 1-7, Washington Wizards were in a bad position basketball-wise and not only. A lot of internal problems started to appear at the surface and it seemed like they wouldn’t stop.
Firstly, it was said that the teammates don’t get along with each other and that they fight a lot. Then, some fans blamed John Wall saying that he got out of shape because he doesn’t care about basketball anymore. Also, Wall was suspended for addressing a curse in the direction of his coach, Scott Brooks. Like if it wasn’t enough, the leaders of the organization suggested that they are open to trading all players of the team.
I don’t know if all of these were said as a wake-up call to the players, but it partially worked. The Washington Wizards won 5 games out of their last 9, including a 35-point comeback against LA Clippers. At the beginning of this duel, the players were booed by the supporters, but then when they came back they were given a standing ovation.
Maybe after such a win, the players will start to communicate more and get some morale wins, but from the previous years’ experience, it is hard to believe that. So, my opinion is that the time has come for a new period of rebuilding the team from scratch.
David Istrate, info@brainbasketball.net
