by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni
The Washington Wizards are off to a disheartening 3-9 start to the season. They have been bitten by the injury bug, and even when everyone is healthy, there’s been no success on the court (or happiness in the locker room.)
Following their beatdown on Saturday night at the hands of the Spurs, Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood lobbed verbal grenades at fellow teammates (and one another) through the media, an indication that things are about to get a lot worse before they get any better.
The Washington Post looks into the situation:
He didn’t single out anyone, but he spoke of the need for the players to humble themselves, stop worrying about statistics and glory and play basketball. “Check your ego at the door. Let’s try and win,” Haywood said. “I watch the Celtics, and that’s what they do. Paul Pierce can have 12 in the fourth quarter if they’re up, he don’t care. That’s what we gotta do. Check your ego at the door, move the ball, play some defense.”
But immediately after Haywood was done talking to reporters, Arenas emerged from the shower and basically said that he was going to start going for his if the situation doesn’t get better. It was a rather bizarre because Haywood intentionally yelled his answers so that everyone in the room could hear them. Arenas actually walked in from the shower while Haywood was talking, then returned until Haywood was finished. Arenas then began talking as if he was going to save the team and that the individual agendas of the Wizards’ eight free agents have been the reason for the team’s failures.
The Wizards obviously have to try new things on the court, but I’m not sure that a gunning Arenas is necessarily the solution. Flip Saunders needs to gain control of his locker room before things turn ugly, assuming it’s not already too late.
Thanks goodness for the Redskins. Oh, wait …
