‘Horrendous’ defense unearths player frustration
MEMPHIS — Only a month ago, the Washington Wizards’ outlook still held promise and Dwight Howard’s declaration about Washington becoming a “top five” defensive team still made sense.
A lot has changed in a month — namely, the Wizards started playing real games and their actual defensive effort has proved to be anything but special.
Forget “top five.” Ahead of Tuesday’s road-trip curtain call against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Wizards ranked among the lower quintet of NBA teams in rebounding, defensive rating andopponent3-point field goal percentage, to nameafew. Overall, Washington has surrendered the most points in the league.
Not much changed against the Grizzlies either as the Wizards were blitzed for 63 points in the second half of a107-95 loss.
The lack of defense — combined with the losses — unearthed locker-room friction and frustration during the team’s longest road trip of the season, five games spread across the Western Conference. On Oct. 26, after a loss to the surprising Sacramento Kings, team leaders Bradley Beal and John Wall offered that personal agendas within the roster have supplanted the sacrifice of playing team defense.
Coach Scott Brooks has since downplayed those comments and by the morning of the matchup in Memphis, he wanted to see more action — from all involved — on the defensive front. “We gotta be a better defensive team. We’ve talked about it,” Brooks said. “We have to be able to get back in transition, we’ve talked about that. And we have to rebound the basketball. We’ve talked about that. It’s about doing now. There’s no more talking.”
Howard hasn’t been able to back up his words. Since Oct. 15, the center, who missed all of preseason with an injury stemming from a buttocks muscle, has spent the early stretch of the regular season getting into game shape. At least one person close to the situation projected Howard making his season debut Nov. 2 whentheWizardsreturnfromtheirroadtriptohostthe Oklahoma City Thunder.
Even without the interior presence of Howard, a former three-time Defensive Player of the Year, the Wizards’ defense shouldn’t be “horrendous,” as backup guard Austin Rivers so passionately described the performance after the team allowed 136 points to the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We’ve got to start playing desperate. Wehavetostart playing with a sense of urgency and I guess that’s the key,” Rivers said after the loss to the Clippers. Friday, 8 p.m. TV: ESPN, NBCSWA Radio: 1500 AM