The Wizards aren't firing their head coach, and that's a big problem
The Washington Wizards have been one of the NBA's biggest disappointments this season. Some of that's due to all the untimely injuries they've suffered—from Bradley Beal to Otto Porter to Nene, there always seems to be a key player in a suit.
But the other, possibly more significant reason for their struggle has been head coach Randy Wittman. Now somehow in his fifth season at the helm, Wittman is 12 games under .500 since he first took the job back in 2012. And coming off a blowout loss on Tuesday night against the Toronto Raptors, it's never been more clear that the team should let him go:
The man is out of excuses:
But change doesn't appear to be around the corner, even though All-Star point guard John Wall just hired Rich Paul as his agent—the same agent who presumably had a hand in ex-Cavaliers head coach David Blatt's ouster.
Here's more, via CBS DC:
“No, I don’t think so,” Hanrahan said, though he did agree there would eventually be a “fall guy” if the Wizards continue to lose. “I saw Twitter was going crazy last night, about you know ‘It’s time for a change’ and yadda yadda yadda. No it’s not. It’s ‘stay the course.’ They’ve had a lot of injuries. I hate excuses, but that’s what management and ownership, they look at it. Ted [Leonsis] is a very analytical guy, and he looks at it and says ‘We’ve had so many man games lost by this player, that guy and the other.’ I think, actually, the Wizards have had the most missed man games all season. So they’ll look at that and how much of that is on Randy Wittman to get the guys up. That’s the thing. ‘You can’t coach effort,’ right? That’s what they always say. But in the end, it’s on you, you’ve got to get them ready.” “I don’t think there’s gonna be any whispers this year, guys, about Wittman because of the injuries and because of where they’re at, and then this big offseason. So I would stop the whispering about his tenure. He’s here. He’s staying for now.”
Wittman is in over his head. The Wizards entered this season with extremely high expectations, and they've fallen on their face. Despite reshuffling their roster to adopt more small-ball tactics, Washington isn't in the top-10 in three-point attempts per game. Their offense and defense remain below average.
With Kevin Durant's free agency still technically hovering over the city, the Wizards have no choice but to eventually cut Wittman's cord. Why not sooner than later?
