Every time the Wizards get close to turning the corner, they come to a grinding halt.
We’ll work backwards, starting with the chaotic mixed messages in the Wizards locker room that came after Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young and assistant coach Sam Cassell finished sorting out who ordered what shoes from Louis Vuitton.
Caron Butler, asked whether the sense of urgency needs to be greater: “It is. The last three games, we won two games. I’ll take that, and let’s start another streak.”
That’s not exactly what Antawn Jamison said: “The question at hand is, are we going to sacrifice? Are we going to be focused enough to do this night in and night out, not just big games or when our back is really against the wall. How do we handle success, when we win two or three in a row? Do we do the necessary hard work that we need to do to take it to five or six? Or are we going to be satisfied with the up-and-down play. I don’t think we’re going to be satisfied at all. we got to find a way to be consistent and bring the type of energy we had in Miami every night, whether it’s a back-to-back, whether we playing Boston or Cleveland or somebody who is really struggling.”
Is Arenas ready to sacrifice? “I’m not going to go out there and try to score 30 when we have a lot of offensive players here,” he said. “Yesterday, I was 4 for 7, today I was 3 for 11. I’m going to take the shots when I think that’s suitable for me. Other than that, the offense is a load on everybody else.”
Does Arenas mean Young, who coming off back-to-back 20+ point games, had 10 points on 4 for 11 shooting that was worse than it looked, especially when combined with his poor defense on Stephen Jackson. Asked if he was concerned about the Wizards, who have played poort in back-to-back situations but have four games this week, Young responded, “No, not really. We’ll be alright.”
Stevenson thinks it’s on the reserves. “I think the bench, we gotta find some players,” said Stevenson. “Earl [Boykins] is doing a good job. We need somebody to come out, play good defense, rebound. Either Fab [Oberto] or Dom [McGuire], we need somebody to come out and give this team a boost, especially on a back-to-back when starters play their heart out in Miami.”
Andray Blatche didn’t see it that way, when asked why the team was so flat. “You gotta ask the starters. I came off the bench, and I always try to do what I do, bring whatever I can bring, and that’s what I did.”
Brendan Haywood simply said, “I don’t know.”
Sum it all up for us, Flip Saunders: “We have not proven the ability of preparation on our own, to be able to prepare to go play. That’s something that was disappointing, and the sense of urgency, we didn’t have a sense of urgency tonight.”
To think Arenas thought the Wizards were going to go 11-3 in November.
