This shouldn't really come as any surprise. I know this isn't news to anyone. But games like last night's against the best teams in the NBA are measuring sticks more than anything else when you're team is rebuilding. John Wall wasn't out there, I'm aware of that, and I wasn't expecting the Wizards to win last night. But there was no reason they couldn't have played better.
My concern is more so with the quality of play than the result. If the team played good fundamental basketball and came up short, I would totally understand that. This is the Boston Celtics. But each one of the Wizards tried to beat the Celtics individually last night, instead of trying to come together to beat them as a team. Let's look at some of the stats:
- The Wizards had 12 assists last night, Rajon Rondo had 13 all by his own self.
- Every one of the Wizards starters finished with -18 or worse, Blatche was the worst at -28
- More than 25% of the Wizards shots came from deep, even though they only hit 27% of them.
They didn't play smart basketball, and they didn't play as a team. Again, nobody is asking them to go out and beat the Celtics with out their best player. But it would have been nice to see them play an organized, disciplined brand of hoops. Right now, they just don't seem capable of doing that.
Today's must-reads from around the SB Nation network:
- Hogs Haven with an early injury report for the Skins game against the Titans.
- Testudo Times previews the Maryland game against Pitt tonight.
- Federal Baseball recaps Bryce Harper's AFL experience.
Today on SB Nation D.C.: Jake Whitacre with more on the big Maryland game tonight. Ken Meringolo on the top five video game athletes with D.C. ties.