The Wizards had their 9th straight loss, this time at the hands of the 4th-seeded New York Knicks. The total lack of defense, the Knick’s ball movement, and the Wizard’s overall attitude have hampered the Wiz-Kidz as of late. Head Coach Brian Keefe shares this sediment when he showed visible frustration with the teams lackluster performance. Let’s get into the good, the bad, and the ugly from last night’s loss.
The good - Kispert woke up
You could argue that the best part of last night’s game was the Wizards getting off the bus without anyone getting hurt, the bench unit did look a lot better. Both Kispert and Valanciunas contributed 18 points.
The bad - Defense stayed at the hotel
The defense was bad—I mean really bad. The Knicks shot 56% from the field and 50% from three-point range. Jalen Brunson led the way with 26 points, and KAT did whatever he wanted to do, whether it was on the perimeter or in the paint by dropping 24 points and 12 rebounds.
The ugly - Kyshawn George’s confidence
Kyle Kuzma was going to eventually come back from injury but his long-term fit on this team is under question due to the recent struggles from the team’s 24th overall pick, Kyshawn George. When Kuz was hurt, George filled in at Power Forward and did a great job. Analysts, including myself, were starting to think that he was already showing that the Wizards may have had the best draft picks of the draft but he has slowed down a lot and has suffered a hit to his confidence, his body language doesn’t lie. The youth movement has to eventually start at some point and the Wizard’s front office has some moves that they’re going to have to make for them to get the most out of their young talent. We’ll see, only time will tell but here’s the thing, we have nothing but time.
