The Wizards (4-16) have proven they’re better than the hapless and undermanned Charlotte Bobcats. We get it.
Now it’s time to see if interim coach Randy Wittman can marshal his troops at home against the Chicago Bulls (17-5), who will be hugely formidable even if losing at Miami on Sunday hurt badly.
Washington could very likely be without Andray Blatche, who Wittman said was at the doctor this morning to have his left calf examined.
Blatche, who played only eight minutes at Charlotte on Saturday night, lost his starting spot to rookie Jan Vesely on Friday in Houston. After two straight starts for the Czech 21-year-old, a lot of what I wrote in this story nine days ago still applies.
“He brings us energy, a level of IQ basketball-wise, making the right plays in the right situations,” Wittman said. “He just does a lot of good things at both ends of the floor that don’t show up on the stat sheet but is very important us. That’s given us a little boost in our ball movement, and that’s important for us.”
Wizards forward Trevor Booker, who had a season-high 16 points off the bench in Charlotte, was asked to assess the team after three games with Wittman at the helm, and he said they’re definitely playing harder. But he didn’t quite credit the coaching change.
“I can see some change,” Booker said. “The biggest difference is probably just playing hard. I’m not sure why we’ve decided to play harder all of a sudden, but it’s a positive.”
Meanwhile, reserve center Hamady Ndiaye tweeted this morning that he was rejoining the Wizards. Ndiaye averaged 5.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks in 10 games with the D-League Iowa Energy.
