The Wizards are coming off a tough 0-3 road trip, one in which they're struggles can be pinned almost entirely on a confounding inability to score in the second quarter.
As Michael Lee of the Washington Post noted, the Wiz scored only 11 points in the second quarter against the 76ers last Wednesday. They followed that up with 10 points in the second quarter against the Grizzlies, and finally nine second-quarter points against the Spurs.
At this rate, the Wizards are on pace to score zero second-quarter points Feb. 25 against the Raptors. Mark your calenders!
But seriously, what's to blame for the team's recent offensive struggles in the second quarter? Martell Webster thinks he and his teammates simply need to do a better job of knocking down open shots.
"I think we just got to make open shots," forward Martell Webster said of the second-quarter lapses. "There is no secret remedy to this. John [Wall] is a point guard that demands attention and when he gets two, three people to sink on him, he'll find people open. Being able to knock down open shots is vital, that's me included. He's doing his job. We have to do our job. Our defense? There is nothing to say about our defense. If we're hitting our jump shots, we'll find ourselves not digging ourselves out of the trenches."
Sounds like Randy Wittman is once again blaming poor ball movement.
"The defense takes one thing away, we got to move the ball along," he said. "Making perimeter shots is a part of that. We also have to understand that when you're not, finding a way to end that. Talking the ball inside, getting to the free throw line, and we didn't do that."
Obviously, missing Bradley Beal hurts, and with both him and Cartier Martin sidelined with injuries, there really is no other player on the team other than Webster who can consistently knock down a perimeter shot. What do you guys think is to blame for these rotten second quarters?