Washington Wizards

John Wall: Wizards can be one of NBA's five fastest teams

Published Sep. 30, 2015 1:18 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Washington Wizards want to play a lot faster than they have over the past few seasons. The NBA values getting up the floor as quickly as possible and attacking the defense before it can set up and get organized.

The Wizards didn't push the ball last season, even with John Wall, arguably the fastest player alive. But this year they want to play to the strength of their personnel, and that starts by increasing the tempo.

Here's more from The Washington Post's Jorge Castillo:

This makes sense. The Wizards signed a bunch of versatile three-point shooters over the summer and let their backup center, Kevin Seraphin, walk in free agency. They obviously want to downsize, and that only works with a faster pace.

“It was totally different because we did a lot more running because our offense has changed,” point guard John Wall said. “We’re getting more up-tempo. You see all those little boxes out there, that’s where we got to get to every time we get the ball. So it’s a lot more running. We’re going to do a lot more of it everyday to get us in better shape because if you want us to play at this speed and this pace and you got to get better.” The Wizards’ goal this season, Wall and Coach Randy Wittman explained, is to quicken the pace after they finished 19th in the NBA in possessions per 48 minutes. Wall, who stands to benefit from a quicker pace as one of the league’s fastest players, said finishing in the top five is possible.