The Washington Wizards have gotten off to a frustrating 1-4 start, after consecutive losses to the Knicks and Cavaliers, neither of whom is an imposing opponent. The team struggled down the stretch against the Cavaliers, squandering a winnable game with major mistakes on both ends of the court.
Apparently, the frustration carried over to today's practice. Coach Flip Saunders didn't like what he was seeing from his team, and with the media watching, he walked off the court and ordered the team to come back at 4 p.m. to practice again. Via Sean Fagan of Bullets Forever:
Flip Saunders didn't like what he saw in terms of effort and walked off the court in practice today. Practice will resume at 4PM today, which will be closed to media. No specific incident triggered Saunders walking out, but every player interviewed today (Blatche, Armstrong, Howard) said that there was too much barking and complaining about calls. This was approximately five minutes after the media were let onto the main court where practice was being held today. Following Flip walking out, the team started to walk slowly off the court en masse. Hilton Armstrong stopped the team and gathered them together is an attempt to build some unity.
Afterwards, both Armstrong and Josh Howard said they have never seen that happen in their NBA careers, though Saunders admitted he has done this before. Howard had this to say about Saunders walking out.
"We are getting ready to get a paycheck on the 15th. And right now I can honestly say y'all are getting a paycheck for nothing. And I can honestly say that."
Andray Blatche said he didn't have a problem with Saunders' decision because of the team's record and poor play.
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