Who are the Washington Wizards? Thanks to Paul Pierce questioning if John Wall and Bradley Beal “have what it takes”, it seems to be a rather topical question. Not that Pierce is the lone person to ever question the two players. Still, even despite the messenger having bashed a multitude of people which have made people call in to question his motive, it seems rather fair.
Only fair to a point, though. People may expect Beal and Wall to help bring Washington to new heights, but it could be a situation where people are jumping to conclusions too soon. It is not as if the two are grizzly veterans. Wall is only 24, while Beal — a still incomplete work in progress — is 21. Even by NBA standards, the two are incredibly young and neither have hit their primes. More importantly, the two haven’t reached an age that they should be expected to be mentally matured enough to be everything Pierce would hope.
This man screams integrity, right?
Pierce is not completely wrong, either. He made valid points. While talking about how much he loves them, then questioning if they truly knows what it takes to be great, many have felt similarly. At least Pierce’s opinions of the two come with actual firsthand knowledge. Colin Cowherd has sculpted entire segments around the idea that Wall won’t ever be a big deal because of dancing or something — likely something, but Cowherd is the worst and he can barely disguise racial code anymore.
Much of the dismay people have towards Washington seems to stem out of their own expectations. Since Wall had an incredible college career, and Beal was supposed to be the “next great shooter” in the NBA, many felt like all the right chips were on the table for the Wizards to be major players in the Eastern Conference.
They are the fifth seed, however. Yes, the Eastern Conference is an abomination to the senses. But it is not as if Beal and Wall have been surrounded with the type of talent teams ahead of them have. Not that their roster is terrible either, but you would be hard pressed to find many who will take theirs over Chicago’s, Cleveland’s or even the overall, rounded out roster Atlanta has. Washington seems to be slotted right where they should be.
Not to mention that the two players have had a multitude of things going against them since Beal joined Wall a few seasons ago. Beal hasn’t been able to put together a full season yet. Last year was his closest, when he played 73 of 82 possible games. Including this year, however, Beal has only played 119 of 164 games in his other two seasons. That is a lot of time missed that may have prevented his development as a player and a better chemistry with Wall.
We haven’t even mentioned the most obvious reason for Washington not being what many hoped: Randy Wittman.
Maybe the question shouldn’t be “who are the Washington Wizards”, but why has Wittman been allowed to coach two of the more promised players in the league.
Wittman was a well-below .400 (yes, .400) coach before coming to Washington as an assistant in 2009. Apparently his previous record best of 32-50 made in Cleveland during the his first year ever as a head coach, was good enough for the Wizards.
It may have been, too. At least at the time. The team was young enough, and still trying to overcome the debacle that had players on the roster which made up Wizards Daily, that they probably couldn’t even land a better coach had they wanted to. It was a marriage made in convenience, really.
Situations have changed, Wittman has been exposed as a more than just flawed coach, and Washington’s two building blocks have shown enough to lure a theoretically better coach come the offseason.
There is a possibility that I — and others who think like me — am providing the players on the roster an excuse. Although, there seems to be far too many “experts” who feel similarly to simply ignore the idea as being more probable than just possible.
That doesn’t help Washington right now. They are in the NBA Playoffs with the roster they have, with the coach they have, and nothing is going to change by the time they open up their playoff run. This isn’t the NHL, where coaches are fired in the midst of postseason runs.
I fully admit that I can be wrong. That Wittman can possibly be a far better coach that thought. Yet there’s nothing to prove that. Not tangibly, at least. Ultimately, unfortunately, it doesn’t even matter for the rest of this season. The formation of ideas that many have of the Washington Wizards, the Beal and Wall tandem, as well as the direction of the franchise, will be blindly judged by how they fair this postseason.
It isn’t fair. Really, it is rather stupid. Nearly everyone who follows the NBA freely speaks out against Wittman, but will use the Wizards’ (possible) failures in the NBA Playoffs as proof that the foundation of players used to built the franchise isn’t working, and won’t going forward.
Perception is going to meet reality for Washington this posteason. You know, except not at all.
