Young is flourishing as a starting guard
With renewed hope after four wins in the last five games, the Wizards (7-10) are no longer the upset, unsettled and undisputed disappointment of the early NBA season.
But it’s difficult to tell whether it’s in spite of the constantly shifting ground below head coach Flip Saunders, or because of it, that he’s been able to mold his constantly changing personnel options into a team on the rebound.
The latest two-game win streak has come with Saunders leaning hard on his ninth different starting five of the season, a group who averaged more than 36 minutes a person in victories over Toronto and Milwaukee. Nick Young, who was inactive against San Antonio two weeks ago, has started the last five games and now has the team’s best starting record (4-2), and Earl Boykins, who wasn’t even on an NBA roster at the beginning of the year, has taken over closing duties.
But that’s come at the expense of role players Andray Blatche and DeShawn Stevenson. Blatche has played a crucial role in short stretches, such as three straight fourth-quarter buckets against the Bucks, and Stevenson’s been called upon only for spot defensive duty.
“I know those guys want to play,” said Saunders. “You’re not happy when you don’t play. It’s all a part of it. You like the idea that at least they can keep into the game enough that when they’re called on, no matter what the situation is, they can go in there and respond.”
Meanwhile, Mike Miller and Randy Foye, the splashy acquisitions in the Wizards’ pre-NBA draft trade with Minnesota, have been reduced to mere spectators. Miller, who is sidelined by a calf injury hasn’t played in five games, but Foye, who averaged 12.9 points over the first seven games of the season, simply has no rhythm since suffering the ankle sprain that led to Boykins’ signing.
“After the injury, Earl came in, and things changed,” said Foye, who played a combined 11 minutes and scored zero points against the Raptors and Bucks.
“We got to get him going,” said Saunders. “I think it’s just one of those things. When you get hurt, and you fall out of the rotation because of injuries, just waiting for an opportunity.”
The closer the Wizards get to finding their stride, the fewer those opportunities might be.
