FanPost

Thoughts on the Wizards' win in Game 1 & Predictions for Game 2 vs. the Raptors

David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

(Make sure you lower the volume before you hit play)

It might be hard to believe, but there is a reason why we're sitting on the couch while Randy Wittman is on the sideline. Regardless of whether you believe it or not, the man is doing something right even if it's not pretty. What concerned me after our victory in Game 1 is how people are trying to find other things to bash Wittman about:

-Inability to draw a play at crunch time

-4th Quarter Collapse (criticism deserved)

-A step late when calling timeouts

-An offense scheme that rivals the era of the Raptors themselves

-A laundry list of other failures people will gladly mention in the comment section.

And yet we won. Wittman has a 6-1 record on the road. It would be easy to say that Wall and Beal carried Wittman to victory, but that is not the case. In fact, the duo was 11-41 from the floor, 1-9 for 3s and 3-5 FT. So to the proponents who wanted the duo to shoot more and have Beal to be selfish, this is what can happen.

Let's not pretend this will be a one game fluke. During last year playoff series, Chicago and Indiana focused on shutting down Wall's transition opportunities and making sure his primary kickout option is no there to take open shots. So if you (and the media) want to see a battle of the guards, it likely won't happen. We even made sure Lowry, Williams, Vasquez and DeRozan had a poor game. So more likely, whoever guards can contribute more to the team outside of points is more likely to help their team to win. Just because the shot isn't falling, it isn't your only method of contributing to the team. Beal was able to dish 6 assist while grabbing 9 rebounds. Wall had 8 ast with 1 TO while grabbing 6 rbs and a block for good measure

So instead of talking about Wittman as if we lost (keep looking at the box score, it is not going to change), let's be happy he won against a team that swept us in the regular season. He found a small ball lineup that can actually play with Toronto and found a defense to stifle Toronto's shot happy offense.

In short, it was a team win. Everyone had their faults (except Pierce) but we did enough to get a win.

It is unlikely that:

-we will play at this pace in the upcoming games

-Lou Williams will go 4-16, DeRozan: 4-12, Lowry: 2-10, Ross: 3-11 and Johnson: 8-12

-We'll have another game that will go into overtime, at least on Tuesday.

What I'm thinking will happen next game:

-The starting backcourt of both teams will contribute at least 40 pts each

-We won't get 60 rebounds, but we will have 20+ fast break pts

-Toronto will shoot over 33% from the 3-point arc

-Both teams will score more than 100 points each

-The game will be decided by less than 4 pts

-We'll shoot under 70% on FT(fire that coach)

The ball is in Toronto's court. They sacrificed second chance opportunities to take away transition buckets. It should flipped considering how Toronto were missing open shots. In all likelihood, the Raptors should be in position to win the next game but that is where good coaching and adjustments come into the play. We and (hopefully), he knows what the team needs to work on. We're can not and should not play at Toronto's pace because we are more likely to lose. More likely than not, we will be heading in a new direction but for now is it worth cheering for Wittman to lose?

-We don't have the personnel to run the system the fans (and media) wants.

-A new direction will probably result in ownership cleaning house.

-Let's be brutally honest: Wittman's projection was to be fired at least two seasons ago. Wittman being the primary cause of our "underachievement" is not putting the responsibility of the rest of the roster. Would you honestly put the expectation of a 55-60 win season on a coach who critics frequently mention as the worst active coach in league history?

-Wittman will have a better playoff coaching record than Eddie Jordan and will be known as the coach who helped the franchise get to this point.

So whether we get bounced this series or not, we're having our best yet and now is the time to enjoy our victory(especially against an elusive opponent like the Raptors). We all know what Wittman does wrong but can we at least give him credit when he's right? His games are not pretty. His offense is clunky and he is becoming the eyesore of the NBA. But Wittman is putting W's in the win column which is what matters most.

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.