Wizards will go with Young or Foye at SG
In DeShawn Stevenson’s limited offensive role, even as a starter, one game in which he might go 0 for 3 isn’t a huge deal.
But not only has Stevenson had three of those games in a row, he’s three for his last 20 field goal attempts, and he’s shooting a career-low 25 percent.
“Then you have people calling you, and you’re thinking about it,” said Stevenson. “I’m just trying to stay positive and not think about things. I’ve showed what I can do in this league. I just gotta keep being positive. I guess when I get my three shots, I’ve got knock them down, wherever they are.”
But after the Wizards (8-17) won just once in their last six games with Stevenson in the starting lineup, those shots will come with him back among the reserves. Washington head coach Flip Saunders said Tuesday against the Sixers (7-20) his starting shooting guard will be Nick Young or Randy Foye, who both scored in double figures in Saturday’s blowout loss at Phoenix but have each been given a short leash of late.
“It definitely was a difficult situation because that never happened to me before, coming in for four minutes and then being taken out, even if you make a shot,” said Foye of matching his season-low minutes played against Golden State on Friday.
Young has made seven more starts (nine) than Foye (two) but his inconsistency continues to frustrate Saunders.
“He might be one of those guys that you put him in, and if he’s hot, he plays, and if he isn’t, you sit him down,” said Saunders. “He might be a guy that you can’t play 30-35 minutes. He might be a guy that’s going to be as effective playing 20 as he is playing 32.”
As for Stevenson, he can’t figure out the source of his struggles but didn’t blame last year’s back injury. Saunders, who looked at film of Stevenson’s previous years — he peaked at 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from three in 2006-07 — suspected his point of release has changed.
“I’m shooting it kind of flat,” said Stevenson. “I just want to look at the film [and] get a lot of shots up, and hopefully I can get a rhythm. There are a lot of games. You can have a good month, a bad month, two bad months and one good month. It’s tough, but it’s part of basketball.”
