It’s been a pretty tense year for the Washington Wizards. Whether it was because of John Wall‘s extended absence or the apparent infighting that has occurred, Washington has not disappointed when it comes to providing drama and intrigue over the course of a campaign that will include the organization’s second straight appearance in the postseason.
The latest example of this came on Friday night after the team fell to the lowly Atlanta Hawks, 103-97. The game was played without Wall, and Markieff Morris got tossed eight minutes into the game, but it’s still an absolutely brutal loss for a Wizards squad fighting for playoff positioning.
After the clock hit zero, Washington coach Scott Brooks went off on his group. Brooks told the media that the team is doing a really poor job sharing the ball around.
“It’s embarrassing that we don’t play with the passion that we need to play [with],” Brooks said, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “Selfish basketball is no fun to coach, it’s no fun to play with and it’s no fun to watch. We’re a selfish basketball team right now.”
Brooks wasn’t done criticizing the team his way plays, saying that the Wizards don’t have any of the few one-on-one players the NBA possesses. And with regards to the fact that this loss happened without Wall, well, Brooks isn’t accepting that as an excuse.
“If we’re not going to share the basketball, you can’t just say ‘John’s not here’ and all of a sudden we’re going to be one-on-one players,” Brooks said. “John’s not here, John’s here, it doesn’t matter. We still got to play the right way. The game tells you to pass it to your open teammate. The game tells you to guard the ball. The game tells you to help your team, and we’re not doing that right now. It’s embarrassing.”
It’s a harsh thing for a coach to say, and Brooks is very obviously trying to get across to his team that selfishness will only hurt them in the postseason. As for whether that will resonate with the locker room is another story, and we won’t know if that’s the case until the playoffs roll around.
(Via NBC Sports Washington)
