Things are going very well early for first-year coach Wes Unseld Jr. and the new-look Wizards. After Thursday’s win over the Hawks, Washington improved to 4-1.
But the Wizards insist they want this to be just the beginning.
“It’s great, but we even talked about it after the game, we’re not satisfied, nor should we be,” Unseld Jr. said, via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “It’s early in the season.”
The Wizards have benefitted early from a blockbuster offseason trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Lakers. In the process, they landed Kyle Kuzma, Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Those are all veteran players, and three of them are coming off a couple seasons next to the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. So many of the new Wizards know about winning.
Add in mainstay and All-Star Bradley Beal, and the notion that the Wizards could sustain all this isn’t ridiculous.
Still, they are pros, and they know more than 70 games remain. When that’s the case, you don’t get too high, you don’t get too low. You just keep playing.
“It’s a good start, but in all reality it doesn’t mean anything. You can start off 4-1, 5-1 and you see teams all the time start out hot and then they just fall to the ground,” Kuzma said, via Hughes.
“I always like to say, Jason Kidd taught me this and it’s simple; the regular season is just a rehearsal for the big dance, which is the playoffs. I don’t think we’re excited about being 4-1. I think we all have room to improve and it’s going to take time.”
Basically, back-to-back wins over the Celtics on the road and Hawks at home could have the Wizards riding high. But it’s clear they are staying even-keel and keeping it all in perspective.
As Hughes noted, Washington is seventh in offensive rating, 13th in defensive rating and 12th overall in the NBA in net rating.
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