The Washington Wizards have lost four of their first seven games this season, are the fourth-worst rebounding team in the league, and rank 24th in net rating (clocking in at a putrid -7.1 points per 100 possessions). After a blowout 125-101 defeat at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, head coach Randy Wittman had seen enough.
“We’re just too soft of a team right now,” said Wittman per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press. “I might as well stick four guards and a center out there and play, because we’re getting beat on the boards with my supposed big men out there.
“We don’t defend,” the 56-year-old coach continued. “Guys drive by us at will. We don’t have any toughness. We don’t hit anybody and rebound the ball.”
Wittman went on to single out the effort of starting center Marcin Gortat, who pulled down just three rebounds in 27 minutes during Tuesday’s loss.
“We’ve got guys that play 27 minutes and get one defensive rebound,” Wittman said, subtly noting that two of Gortat’s rebounds against the Thunder came on the offensive glass. “I can get a rebound, I guarantee you. If you give me 27 minutes on a Saturday, I’ll get you a rebound. And that’s what it boils down to – 50-50 balls; the dirty stuff.”
Washington’s effort against the Thunder was particularly egregious, especially since Kevin Durant exited the game with a strained hamstring at halftime, so Wittman has a right to be animated.
For a Wizards team that used to pride itself on the physicality and burliness of its frontcourt, almost as a sort of Grizzlies East, their interior toughness has regressed quite noticeably so far this season.
Perhaps this is a reality of a league rapidly growing smaller and quicker by the day. But now the task is on Wittman to figure out what kinds of lineups and tactical decisions will help turn the team’s fortunes, since the ones he’s relying on right now have clearly been ineffective.
H/T NBA Reddit
*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*
