Silence, we are sinking in Washington

Sunday, at Capital One Arena, there wasn't much magic for the Wizards. Opposed to the leader of the West, the Thunder, Washington was outclassed, as often this season. More than the gap, although very significant with a slap of 41 points, it is the manner which embarrasses. Because if we are not looking to win at all costs in the federal capital, we are still trying to build, which seems very difficult to do while showing such basketball face. And this is starting to annoy the yet phlegmatic coach, Brian Keefe.

There are perhaps only three figures to remember from this evening of horror. 16 seconds, like the time during which the Wizards led, 22-21 after nine minutes of play. 42 seconds, not one more, spent by Brian Keefe at a press conference. And eight seconds, like the time it took the Washington coach returning from the locker room to let his anger explode – “ It's a fucking mistake! » audible very clearly even on the ambient microphones of TV broadcasts – and receive a technical fault. This says a lot about his frustration, more than his hasty appearance in front of the media after the meeting.

“ Our start to the match was OK » began Brian Keefe. “ We finished the first quarter badly. And for the rest of the match, we did not bring the strength, energy and commitment necessary to increase our defensive efforts. You could say that we didn't make our shots, but we especially didn't defend. And when you do that against a team like that, it's going to be complicated. We didn't have the strength we needed tonight. It's my fault. I didn't do a good enough job getting our players to play the entire 48 minutes. We played about eight minutes in this match. It's not enough, this defeat is for me. That's all I have to say. »

Silent leaders

Starting out literally banging his fist on the table, Brian Keefe would no doubt have hoped for the same thing from his players. After showing some flashes in December with successes against Charlotte and Chicago or unmeritorious setbacks in Cleveland or against New York, the Wizards are diving head first back into their failings.

They showed great passivity on Sunday, on both sides of the floor, as evidenced by their outlay of 17 rebounds, or the 19 points in OKC's counterattack in the face of a lack of withdrawal. And the debacle could have been even greater, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined for an ugly 9/30 shooting.

To think that GM Will Dawkins wanted before the season for his players to learn quickly from their mistakes…

“ Seeing a team offer us a duel for which we are not ready in December and for which we would then be ready when we play them again in February? This is the development that I will observe. » His Wizards lost 123-105 in Oklahoma on December 23, before being beaten 136-95 in Washington on Sunday.

“ We deserve to be criticized » estimated Corey Kispert, one of the rare players at his level (17 points), in comments to the Washington Post. “ This one is clearly for us, the players. You have to give him (his coach) credit. He takes a lot of criticism and brushes off a lot of praise. And most of the time it's not just because we're playing, not him. And it's our job to be much, much better than what we were tonight. »

So much for the post-match words alone. No “executives” speaking out. No signs of rebellion, as evidenced by the slaps received over the past month (-33 against the Bulls, -23 against the Rockets, -28 against the Grizzlies, -36 against the Mavericks). The team of Bilal Coulibaly and Alexandre Sarr (both 10 points against the Thunder) is bogged down in the standings and in the game. The rest of the program, with the receptions of the Wolves and the Suns, then a “road trip” of six matches in the West are nothing to reassure.