Nene gets in Seraphin’s face, is generally frustrated with Wizards

If you are playing for the 3-23 Washington Wizards and you are not frustrated then there is something wrong.

Nene has played limited minutes in just 14 of the Wizards games, but he was supposed to be one of the leaders of this team along with John Wall. Injuries (in Nene’s case plantar fasciitis) have limited the stars.

But they have not limited Nene’s frustration, reports the Washington Post.

Nene has grown increasingly frustrated with the direction the team has taken in recent weeks, and he hasn’t hidden his disappointment as he continues to play limited minutes because of plantar fasciitis in his left foot. In just 26 minutes against Cleveland, Nene had 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. The Wizards outscored the Cavaliers by 25 points while the center was on the floor.

It’s a pattern — when Nene is on the court the Wizards outplay or at least hang close to their opponents. Then he sits and Kevin Seraphin comes in (with the rest of the Wizards bench) and things quickly go poorly. Very poorly. Against the Cavaliers Seraphin had four points and no rebounds in 12 minutes.

Nene got in Seraphin’s face about it, the young center told CSNWashington.com.

“He was really mad at me,” Seraphin said. “He’s like the leader right now. He’s trying to help the team the best way and he really thinks I’m an important player for this team and I’ve been struggling for like the last five games and he told me that.

“He told me straight up, ‘You should play more than 12 minutes.’ I’m supposed to be ready for the game. I’m supposed to play good. He said, ‘Maybe if you were playing good, maybe we got more chances to win the game.’ That’s what he told me, he was just like, he was mad.”

Good. Someone on the Wizards should be mad. Someone should be getting n Seraphin’s face — he tends to fade away and not attack the basket. Unless you have a Dirk Nowitzki touch you should be attacking the rim, and Seraphin does not have that touch. He needs to attack and draw fouls.

It will be interesting to see what the Wizards eventually look like with John Wall and Nene playing, something we likely see next month. But the Wizards young players can’t just wait for the cavalry to come over the hill, they need to get better now.

And maybe Nene getting in their face will help that.