FanPost

It's not panic time yet, but Wall must orchestrate the offense more

Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

The Wizards are in a slump, they have lost four straight games and would be at home watching the playoffs if the season ended today. They have looked very bad in some games, getting blown out, and are posting a -5.9 point differential.

John Wall is in a slump. He’s posting lower averages than his rookie year. He’s turning the ball over, and he missed two crunch time free throws that cost the Wizards a win against the Raptors last Saturday. This is all true.

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the Wizards because of this rough start, especially around here. I’ve even read some farfetched comments suggesting Washington should tank or that Ramon Sessions should supplant John Wall as the starting point guard. Time for some perspective.

Last year the Wizards lost 12 of 15 games including one to a team that actively tries to lose, and then went on to play great basketball in the playoffs. Cleveland started 19-20 last year as they tried to mesh and still ended up in the Finals. This is the NBA, it’s hard to win even when things are going well and all teams go through stretches of bad play, even Golden State will hit a slump at some point this year.

The Wizards are implementing a new style of play and have lost some of their identity in the early going of the year. The past few seasons Washington has been a tough physical team that played good defense and rebounded well. John Wall orchestrated the offense, created easy looks for his teammates and was the point of attack on defense.

We aren't seeing as much of that this year. Our defense has suffered and the lack of rebounding has created too many second chance points for the opposition and too little transition opportunities for the Wizards.

Washington is in definite need of a few scheme tweaks to get out of this slump. They need a heavy dose of pick and roll with the Polish Machine and put more of a focus on getting into the paint.

Let Wall orchestrate the offense again and you will see him going back to his Optimus Dime form: attacking the paint, making pinpoint passes, and playing All-NBA defense.

As Wall goes, so do the Wizards. A ten-game slump doesn’t define a season for John Wall or the Wizards. Let's take a deep breath, relax, and get ready to start watching better basketball very soon.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.