SACRAMENTO -- The Washington Wizards are not alright. The Kings' 116-12 win dropped Washington 1-4 on the season Friday evening at Golden 1 Center, and things got a little testy in Washington’s locker room afterwards.
“That’s proof in the pudding,” point guard John Wall said. “Everybody is on their own agenda. We show glimpses when we do stuff as a team and we show how good we can be. Then we go back to doing it individually and that’s mostly on the defensive end. We are not helping each other out, not team rebounding and that’s what’s killing us.”
Wall was clearly not happy with his team’s effort and he had no problem voicing his displeasure to media members following the loss.
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“It’s just communication and putting in effort,” the five-time All-Star continued. “We have guys that are worried about who's getting shots and where the ball’s going on the offensive end. We should never worry about that, no matter if we’re missing or aking shots. We have to be able to compete on the other end and if you can’t compete on the other end, then you don’t need to be playing.”
Wall is the team leader in Washington. He finished with 26 points and eight assists against Sacramento before fouling out late in the game. After a slow start to the season, he is clearly frustrated.
Shooting guard Bradley Beal wasn’t any more positive.
“We suck right now, that’s all it is,” Beal told reporters. “We aren’t doing anything we’re supposed to do on the floor - on offense or defense. Until we do that, we’re going to continue to lose, unfortunately.”
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Washington gave up 116 points to a Kings team that is pushing the tempo and trying to run their opponents off the court. Sacramento shot 46.3 percent from the field and knocked down 14-of-37 from long range against the Wizards.
“We’re not guarding no-damn-body,” Beal added. “That’s what it comes down to. Winning games don’t come down to making shots. Granted, who has the most points at the end of the game wins, but if we don’t stop them from scoring, you’re not going to win the game. We gave up like 100 points every game this year, that’s terrible.”
The Wizards are in the middle of a five-game road trip through the Western Conference, and things could get worse before they get better. They travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Sunday, who are off to a solid 3-2 start on the season. They’ll finish off the trip in Memphis on Tuesday against an improved Grizzlies team.