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The only important lesson to learn from the Wizards’ loss to the San Antonio Spurs is that there are no important lessons to be learned. In their return to action after six postponed games, and still missing several players from the rotation, the Wizards got overwhelmed by the Spurs in the second half to lose by 20.
Washington played solid defense for the first two quarters, but got lit up in the second half as they seemed to wear down.
Their most productive player was Robin Lopez, whose performance would best be described as “pretty good” 8 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists in 24 minutes. NBA tracking credited him with contesting a game-high 21 field goal attempts. His backup, the newly signed Alex Len, contested 10. That’s a busy defensive night for the centers testament to San Antonio’s slashing offensive attack.
State of the conference
Just like last season, everything’s coming up roses for the Big Ten in 2020–21. The conference is clearly in the top two nationally the Big 12 is the only other league that can claim to be on its level and is home to a smorgasbord of competitive teams. The Big Ten’s depth is once again on display, with multiple national title contenders to boot. Consider this: Maryland, the team currently in 12th place, is 2–6 in conference play. Those two wins? Over then–No. 6 Wisconsin and then–No. 12 Illinois, both on the road. Even 0–5 Penn State took Indiana to overtime in Bloomington and pushed Michigan to the limit in Ann Arbor. Aside from Nebraska, which is still figuring things out under Fred Hoiberg, the league’s other 13 teams are all within the top 70 on KenPom, making each and every night a dogfight.
Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Thank you for the questions in this mailbag. Answers to selected questions are below. We will have our next mailbag in mid-February. Thanks!
What should be the goals for the Wizards after a bad start, Thomas Bryant’s injury, postponed games, Russell Westbrook’s injury etc.? How do you turn the season into a positive? (WhyNotTyler)
John Morrow: It’s early enough in the season for the goal to remain making the playoffs. I personally think getting the 6 seed and avoiding the play-in games is a serious long shot but it’s still very early. The difference, hopefully, between this Wizards team and the previous ones that were aiming to contend is that we should not see trades to only prioritize making the playoffs.