Tommy Sheppard is gone, but what he said still matters for the Wizards’ future
New York TimesWASHINGTON — The new-look Washington Wizards know what they must accomplish in the season ahead. More galling, still, was how players and coach Wes Unseld Jr. would say after many dismal losses how the team didn’t play with enough attention to detail defensively and didn’t communicate well enough. GO DEEPER Making Wizards an NBA destination will begin with painful — but needed — first steps On April 7, with his team 34-46, in a moment of candor, Sheppard said: “You get to the end of the season, and if there’s still questions, if there’s still confusion or anything, then maybe sometimes you either have to simplify or really go back and say, ‘How much accountability throughout the year to get us to this point? Within our organization I think that needs to be addressed and fixed.” The Washington Wizards finished 25th in defensive efficiency during Wes Unseld Jr.’s first season as their head coach and 21st last season. There’s no possible way you can put together a winning culture without that.” GO DEEPER ‘This is what I’ve been working for’: Tyus Jones relishes his opportunity in Washington With Beal and Porziņģis traded away, the primary responsibility for player-to-player accountability and player-to-coach accountability must fall on the players whose prior teams contended for championships and are approaching their primes: Kuzma, Poole and point guard Tyus Jones.
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