Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin wrote “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back.” It’s a sentiment Wizards coach Eddie Jordan can apply to his inconsistent bench.
With the tired Wizards playing their fourth game in five nights Tuesday in New York, the reserves got a rare opportunity for big minutes. But the verdict after the Wizards’ 105-93 loss, was that Jordan can’t depend on his bench.
While the Knicks reserves hit 11 of 21 shots and scored 29 points, the Wizards backups hit 6 of 21 shots and a miserable 1 of 6 from the free throw line for 16 points. The Knicks bench also out-rebounded (21-8) and out-assisted (11-1) their Wizards counterparts. The Wizards’ reserves had come into the game outscoring their opponents, 87-60.
“I was disappointed in our bench,” said Jordan. “We needed to get something out of our bench. We don’t come out with energy, concentration. There is no excuse.”
The bench’s strength was also weakened by Roger Mason’s elevation to the starting lineup that night. Starting in place of ailing point guard Antonio Daniels (knee), Mason’s 20 points were a nice addition but removed Jordan’s most reliable backup. It also left Darius Songaila as the only experienced reserve.
One encouraging development out of the game was the shooting of 7-foot rookie Oleksiy Pecherov — the forward hit a trio of 3-pointers.
The unwelcome result of the reserves’ futility is the strain it caused the starters, who were already drained — both physically and emotionally — following two wins in the preceding three days over the Eastern Conference leading Celtics. Jordan was forced to use forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison and guard DeShawn Stevenson more than 40 minutes each in New York.
“The first thing we told them was forget about [Boston],” said Jordan. “We said we would go to the bench early and it just didn’t happen.”
