The Wizards are a mess and taking it upon themselves to fix their problems

WASHINGTON - The Wizards lost again. On Thursday night, they fell against the 18-29 Denver Nuggets. Like many of their losses this season, it was at home. Because who cares about home court advantage? It's like a foreign language that even the DC elite doesn't understand.

After the most recent loss, the Wizards are 10-15 at the Verizon Center this season. Garrett Temple and John Wall have expressed their duress when fans come into their city and cheer for the opposing team, but that's no excuse. The Wizards are a mess and everyone knows it. Boos from a DC Native clad in green and white or purple and gold is not going to detract from the ugliness of the last six games.

The Washington Wizards have lost five of their last six; beating an ailing Miami Heat team without three of its key starters holds no ground for applause. So what gives? I see a team that wants to blame everyone else but themselves. I see a team that wants things handed to them rather than build off of the pedigree and the hard work of the previous two years. I see a group of grown men who forgot how to act like grown men. Need I say more? Oh, with so many Wizard players succumbing to various injuries at the drop of a hat, how is it possible that energy and effort are still such a huge issue for the men in red, white and blue?

Players Only Meeting

Thursday night after the home loss to Denver, Bradley Beal and Jared Dudley alluded to a player's only meeting that took place immediately after the final buzzer. "We already know what we need to do. We already talked about it, as players in here, as a team moving forward, was all Beal said on the matter. And Garrett Temple mentioned that there were different things that they talked about, but no one would fully elaborate on the team issues besides the obvious. Hopefully, with these next two games being on the road, the Wizards can come together and play with more heart and energy.

Wizards Identity

The Wizards are inconsistent on both offense and defense. Their identity as a whole remains unclear, which in my opinion, is a key part of the losing streaks the Wizards have been on this season, especially at home.

Jared Dudley, as of one the leaders of this team, defined the Wizards identity as such:

I keep hearing what's our identity, what's our identity? So, basically our identity for this team and us is to space the floor, put pressure on it. We are a three point shooting team, that can go into Nene, and we have to be aggressive defensively. Those are our strengths. I don't care what lineup is out there. That its for this team going forward.

Just how bad does it stink?

I'm starting to believe the numbers do not work in the favor of the Washington Wizards. You'll see that the Wizards outrebounded the Denver Nuggets 41-39. They had more offensive rebounds 12-7 and one less turnover than their opponent with 14. Washington also had 37 fast break points and more points in the paint with 48. This was not a game they were supposed to lose, but they lost anyway. "It's nothing offensively," Wall said. "we just can't guard a soul."