Washington Wizards Player Grades: Week 5

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Garrett Temple: 2.0 PPG (33.3 FG%), 1.3 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 SPG

I’ve been extremely hard on Garrett Temple lately, and I’m really glad to see him finally relegated from the Washington Wizards starting lineup – after he averaged 26 minutes a game in the first 13 games of the season, Bradley Beal returned to the starting five against Cleveland and Temple only saw the court for 26 seconds.

Temple wouldn’t be playing at all in ideal circumstances, but he wasn’t all bad this week. Temple hustles and always manages to nab a steal or two no matter how little he’s playing: Temple’s 1.4 steals per game rank in the top ten among NBA shooting guards. And against Atlanta, Temple rattled in a three-pointer that was his first field goal in nearly two weeks.

Grade: A for effort, C- for performance

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Drew Gooden: 6.0 PPG (58.3 FG%), 3.0 RPG

Speaking of “A for effort,” Drew Gooden!

Drizzle registered DNPs for five straight games leading up to this week, but after Nene got hurt against Milwaukee, he started the second half and jumped right back in there like no time had ever passed. I’m an unabashed fan of Gooden – the dude is all heart and hustle, and no matter how many times he hits a three (he hit two of them against Atlanta as part of a 12-point effort off the bench) I’ll never cease to be surprised.

Gooden’s not playing if everyone’s healthy, but I always enjoy watching him out there.

Grade: B+

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