The Washington Wizards have fired head coach Flip Saunders after two-and-a-half losing seasons.
Wizards center JaVale McGee put down one of his epic dunks yesterday, and was soon after benched for showing off. Oh, yeah, and the Wizards lost again.
Two weeks ago against the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards played their hearts out for three quarters, only to fall short in the fourth, 102-90. John Wall was ejected, but Jordan Crawford stepped up admirably and scored 39 points in a valiant, but losing effort. After the game, the Heat’s Dwyane Wade had some interesting comments about Crawford’s performance.
JaVale McGee’s play, wildly inconsistent and frustrating — but, at times, thrilling — is the epitome of this year’s Wizards.
Earlier this season, after who knows what number post-game press conference where he had to explain a frustrating loss, Wizards coach Flip Saunders exited the media room with an impassioned step. The media followed his path up until the point where Saunders carried forward to his office, per usual, while hurried members of the press took a quick turn left into locker room to interview players. Before disappearing around the corner, in a moment where he probably thought he was alone, Saunders let out a loud expletive, both rhyming with and feeling down on his luck.
Going into last night’s contest, the Wizards had dropped 19 consecutive road games, and I knew that their 20th chance to break that streak would be intriguing. Either they would finally get off the proverbial schneid and get that first road win, or they would sink even deeper into the abyss of losses.
“Fifteen years and I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” was the third sentence from Flip Saunders’ mouth at his post-game press conference after the Wizards’ 136-133 overtime win versus the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. His first line: “Are you sure I have to do this?”
A quick-witted reporter retorted, “Well, we got to write something.”
Over the years, I’ve had numerous teachers tell me that teaching children is definitely not something that can be taken lightly. Either the passion and the patience to guide children is there, or it’s not. A teacher who tries to coast or just collect a paycheck every two weeks will usually get exposed, and eventually fired. The same concept applies to the NBA.
A motivated Caron Butler gets to the rim over Philadelphia forwardsMarreese Speights, right, and Elton Brand during the fourth quarter ofTuesday’s 105-98 win. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Wizards 105, Sixers 98: There’s changes, and then there’s changes — and just like David Bowie, Wizards head coach Flip Saunders obviously felt like engaging in some strange fascination, fascinating everyone on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center. Saunders grew tired of his starting five’s performance after the…
AP Photo Yahoo! Sports reports that Flip Saunders, formerly the head coach of the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves, will be the next head coach of the Wizards. League sources told Yahoo! Sports that Saunders comes to the team on a four-year, $18 million deal. Saunders — who has done pretty much everything one can do in terms of coaching professional basketball but win a NBA championship — will take over the helms after…
