What's With Flip?

0-3. Should we have expected this? Maybe. The first regular season game against the Nets, the Wizards exploded out the gate to a 21 point lead in the first half and then ended up losing. There's a dozen things you can blame for a performance like that. On one hand, you can blame the poor free throw shooting. At one point in the fourth quarter, the team was 18-30 from the line, missing some very important shots at the end of the game. No excuse for missing shots that are coined "free". Can't blame anyone else for that but the people taking the shots. Don't go throwing Flip under the bus for something that the players are solely responsible for.

However, how do you coach up a 21 point lead, and then lose the game by 6 points? The defense wasn't that bad, but there were a ton of missed opportunities on offense in the second half. Some of that can be pointed toward the players' efforts, but the majority of the blame goes to the coaching. One of his biggest challenges with the players is figuring out a guy who can't seem to figure out himself: Andray Blatche. A guy signed to a big, long term contract to show how much the organization believes in his talent, but can't seem to determine whether he is a "finesse" player or if he should get the ball "in the post." Personally, I think he IS more of a finesse player... and because of that, he has no business playing the power forward position... I don't care how big he is. Someone who doesn't take the pounding down in the paint is not really the person you want to help take the pressure off of JaVale McGee. And while we're on forwards, Rashard Lewis hasn't really been that effective either so it's not surprising to me why McGee hasn't been as effective as he could be... he doesn't have a lot of help up front until Ronny Turiaf and Trevor Booker come off the bench.

This is a very talented team. But it is a talented, skilled team that lacks discipline and chemistry that can only be remedied through time and coaching. For the most part, they've had the time. These guys were together most of last year. But the more I watch this squad, the more I'm beginning to think that they just don't have a connection with their leader that would cause them to fight for him to stay. There have been a number of teams in the past that argued or played in a fashion to get their coach fired because they refuse to play for them. Is that what's happening here in DC? I don't know. But with losses to the Nets, the Hawks and the Bucks last night (losses to Hawks and Bucks by 20 points), it sure looks familiar. This team hasn't won anything since Eddie Jordan was coaching. Jordan's problem was lack of talent when the team went back downhill. Despite it, he coached a group of mediocre talent to a much better record than Saunders has accomplished. He had the know-how to connect with the players to get more out of them than they thought they had.

When Flip was upset at the level of effort he saw from his young group of guys, he walked out of practice like an impatient parent. Then after a loss, he gets on the podium and rips each guy apart as if they don't belong on the team. Honestly, I'd have a hard time playing for someone who gave me the impression on a regular basis that they don't believe in me. Not saying I'd condone tanking the season until they change coaches, I want to see them win. But if that's what's going on, I can definitely understand.

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