Randy Wittman’s initial obstacles are out of the way. Courtesy of two games against the Charlotte Bobcats, he has his first win overall and — even more precious — his first win on the road as Wizards interim coach. But the more pressing task left is to set up the Wizards for the future, which is both his greatest challenge and opportunity. At 2-1 as he prepares to face the Chicago Bulls (17-5) on Monday in his fourth game at the helm, Wittman already has matched Flip Saunders’ best record in Washington. The victory over the Bobcats on Saturday made sure there is no longer any concern of matching last year’s 25-game losing streak away from home to start the season.
There are still 46 games to play, and the Wizards (4-16) will have to win another 12 to avoid a lower winning percentage than they had during the 2008-09 season, which Washington finished a franchise-worst 19-63 (.232).
But it’s just as important that players who will be around when Wittman is likely to be gone, such as rookie Jan Vesely, see as many meaningful minutes as possible. Wittman pushed the Czech 21-year-old into the starting lineup Friday at Houston because the matchups appeared advantageous; Vesely played well against the Rockets at home the week before. Sure enough, Vesely got roasted in his rematch with forward Luis Scola in a loss that was marked by turnovers, not complacency.
| Up next |
| Bulls at Wizards |
| When » Monday, 7 p.m. |
| Where » Verizon Center |
| TV » CSN |
Wittman also left Vesely in the lineup at Charlotte on Saturday, and he responded with two points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 26 minutes, a performance that reflected hustle and energy even if the offense was lacking. Vesely replaced Andray Blatche, who is more effective as a scorer off the bench and also has been limited by a left calf strain.
“Are we going to develop these kids?” Wittman said last week. “Absolutely. That’s a major job, and we knew that coming into this year. That does not change. But we can’t have a situation where you’re competitive for three games and noncompetitive for three games without effort.”
Nick Young and JaVale McGee also have responded so far to the coaching change, with Young averaging 18.7 points and McGee finishing with at least 10 rebounds and four blocks in each of Wittman’s three games in charge. McGee also had 22 points against the Bobcats on Saturday. The last time he scored that much (23 points vs. Philadelphia on Jan. 14), he took himself out of the following game (vs. Houston) as he searched too much for his own shot and had a misguided off-the-backboard dunk. It’s a pitfall he will need to avoid against the Bulls.
Wittman’s focus on pace and tempo hasn’t quite manifested itself in the statistics. Only the Houston game was played faster than Washington’s average season pace of 93.3 per possessions per 48 minutes, and the Wizards are the fourth-fastest team in the NBA, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
