Flip Saunders: I Could Beat My Players 1-on-1

The Washington Wizards are easily one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA this year. With a loaded payroll and team full of talent, they were expected to contend for one of the middle playoff spots in the Eastern Conference like they had with the Arenas, Jamison, and Butler trio in the past. Unfortunately things have not panned out as planned and the Wizards are a putrid 10-20. Sick of watching his team invent new ways to lose, Flip Saunders has finally pinpointed the team’s problem: pathetic defense. The team’s head coach made some strong comments following Washington’s blowout loss at home to the Thunder, a game in which they allowed Oklahoma City to shoot 54% from the field:

“Guys want to come out of the zone and play man-to-man, but they can’t guard anybody. I can go out there on that floor and take anybody on our team on one-on-one at 52 years old and drive right around them,” Saunders said. “We’ve got to wake up. As I told them: Don’t think it can’t get any worse, because it can. There’s no question it can. We’ve got to have a sense of urgency.”

Even though the team is 10 games under .500, I’m not ready to give up on them just yet. They have far too much talent to be that bad, especially in such a crappy conference. Earlier in the month they could not close out a game and wound up losing six straight games by a combined margin of 14 points. Getting some tougher defense inside is a pipe dream, but closing out games better is a necessity. This team is much better than they’ve shown. I understand the point, Flip, but don’t get too carried away with your abilities.