Why is defense Washington's biggest problem?
The Washington Wizards have the fifth worst defense in the NBA right now. It's a startling collapse from where they were last year: a top-10 outfit for much of the season.
So, what's going on? Injuries are a huge issue, as is Washington's roster construction and dramatic shift to play with more pace. Here's more, per The Washington Post:
Change has been hard, and there's no telling how much worse things will get. Or maybe the return of Nene, Bradley Beal, a healthy Otto Porter and Alan Anderson will turn everything around.
Only time will tell.
“The bad thing, that I thought this team would be better at, is [avoiding] the mental mistakes,” forward Jared Dudley, who was acquired over the offseason, said after Monday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. “When we have a game plan, follow the game plan. The one time we had a game plan and they just beat it was [against] Indiana. . . . Besides that, guys are getting wide-open looks. And that’s because of the mental preparation of how we’re supposed to do the coverages. One guy has an error here, another as an error there. And that’s what we have to clean up. The only way we can do it is watching film, calling teammates out, try to do that. And we’re trying to.”
