West Coast Offense Shows Holes in the Wizards Lineup

It’s pretty hard to come back against a team who scores 41 points and shoots for 71.4 percent in a quarter. The Wizards found that one out the hard way last night against the Golden State Warriors.

Is it frustrating? Yes. But should the fans be as furious with the team as they seemed at the Verizon Center? No.

Here’s why.

Golden State exposed everything that is wrong with this team. But along with doing that, they showed the Wizards what they need to do at the trade deadline and during this off-season.

They need scorers to be able to compete with these West Coast teams who, night-after-night, have no problem scoring over 100 and even over 110 points a night. But more importantly, they need defense backup weapons to try and contain these types of teams.

Yes, I just said the Wizards need offensive and defensive changes and yes I’m aware that’s a very general statement, but hear me out…

John Wall balled out again last night with 20 points and 14 rebounds. It’s starting to seem like he’s really able to put up these superstar numbers on any given night. The difference to me is that, even with Nick Young adding 25 points, Chris Singleton had an off night defensively and offensively. With backups like Mo Evans and Jan Vesely, it’s hard to expect either of them to really bring that same aggressive energy that Singleton brings to the court should he have another off night like tonight.

The Wizards are really lacking that backup at the 3-spot in the lineup to serve as a burst of energy. For a while, Singleton was that burst of energy when he came off the bench for Rashard Lewis. Shelvin Mack, Jordan Crawford, and Kevin Seraphin have all showed great promise at their position as a backup (and for Crawford, as a starter), but the Wizards are missing that “oomph” at the 3 and (assuming they move Blatche out) 4 spot in the lineup.

Would those one or two players tonight have proved to be a game-changer for tonight? Not necessarily. But with a summer of training for these young guys combined with those one or two players, don’t be surprised to see a very different outcome when these two teams meet again next season.