Another day was another loss for your Wizards. Seems almost like they’re allergic with not giving up 140+ to a good team. Here are my 5 takeaways from last game:

1. Our defense was once again swiss cheese, but this time it wasn’t just contained to the three point line, it sucked everywhere. Outside of the first 4 minutes, where Gaff went crazy and somehow got 5 blocks, we gave up everything and anything to the 76ers. Too many shots were shooters like Batum were wide open and hit threes due to micommunication by the Wizards, and too many easy shots at the rim as well. Maxey, Embiid, and co. were able to get to the rack at will. I understand if you aren’t able to stop Embiid because very few teams are able to, but show some resistance against the OTHER guys. It looks like we’re opting to just NOT play defense, which isn’t bad since we’re tanking, but it’s bad for the culture we want to build. We want to have the tag of a team that always plays hard and is scrappy and puts in that effort. We are very far from that, and hope that the coaching can do something about it.
2. Embiid had a night tonight. Had 48 points on like 30 minutes. He barely broke out a sweat, and he had 29 points in the 3rd quarter. To quote the 6ers commentators, it didn’t seem like “Gaff was even in the same zip code as Embiid.” This was referring to how lackadaisically we were guarding the reigning MVP. I get it, we probably couldn’t stop him, but the answer is NEVER to give up. The lack of effort in trying to contain him shocked not only me but the 6ers commentators as well. It’s frankly just horrific to watch an NBA team just give up. It was too easy for him tonight.
3. Kuz had another nice outing. He had 28 points on 12-20 shooting, and canned 4 triples. He had a nice game and was pretty darn efficient. Like usual, he was the one player the opposition had trouble stopping. He stuffed the stat sheet a little grabbing 6 boards and dishing 4 assists. He did this all in just 30 minutes. This seems to be the typical night for Kuz for the rest of the season. He plays for like 2.5 quarters, and once the game is out of reach (which it usually is halfway through the third quarter), WUJ benches him for the young guns to get some run. Hope to see this sort of play continue from Kuz and really want to see him be a 25-10 guy. We are a very BAD rebounding team, and getting elevated play from Kuz there would really help us. We know he can score, that has always been a thing with him, but now it’s about in what other aspects of the game can you contribute.
4. Believe it or not, we actually shot 50-40-80 this game. It was a pretty darn good shooting game for us. The TOs and the lack of rebounding killed us. Had damn nearly 20 TOs and outrebounded by almost 10 by the Sixers. The second unit’s lack of really anything is killing us. Would like to see the FO maybe swing for a young big at the trade deadline who can provide some much needed depth at the 5 off the bench behind Gaff. Gallo, Muscala, and Eugene just isn’t it. I would keep Geno around but Gaff and Muskee gotta go!
5. Now for an assessment of the young guys. This is now game 6 and I love what I’m seeing from Deni. He scored 16 points and canned 2 triples, 4 FTs and a couple lay ins to get to it. It was nice to see him spice it up and hit his shots at a high percentage. I want to see him keep it up till game 10, and then I’ll say “I think he made a small step forward this summer.” Consistency is key. Speaking of consistency, we’re seeing consistent (albeit minimal and gradual) from the Ouizard Bilal Coulibaly. Bilal had a career high 10 points tonight of a three, 3 Fts, and a couple lay ins. I know Bilal isn’t putting up huge numbers, but there is a difference between Bilal and the rookies of the past for the Wiz. The rookies that we have generally labeled as busts (cough cough JD cough) look like they don’t belong on an NBA court, and look like deers caught in headlights. Bilal doesn’t look like that. He’s taking the right shots, looks comfortable out there, but shots just aren’t dropping for him yet. It’s going to take time (remember he’s just 19), but I love that he at least looks like he belongs out there, and every game he’s taking small steps to improve offensively. It’s a good sign that he can also hit the three ball this early on (not at a high percentage but that shot looks fairly decent and workable), because that’s one of the keys to having a successful career in the league these days as a combo forward like him. Kispy has cooled down as of late. Would really like to see him get going and put up 15 ppg. Want to see him re-claim the scoring clinic he put on in the last 10-15 games of last year.

Overall, a game with some goods and a lot of bads. That’s how it’s going to be as a Wiz fan this year so get ready boys. All that really makes me mad is that there’s no effort from this team. I would feel much better about these games knowing that we lost because of a lack of talent and not because of a lack of effort. We’ll see if that changes over the course of the season, but overall, a good game from our 2 main guys, and a decent game from the young guns. Onto CHA tonight @ 7. That should be a nice tank-off between the basement of the East.