Fourth-Quarter Losses
The fourth-quarter losses were something that occurred not only during the playoffs, but throughout the season.
During the regular season, the Wizards would go small in the fourth quarter, leaving Gortat on the bench. But those games were really lost in the first quarter.
Because Gortat was slow in the first, the rest of the team extended extra energy to play catchup throughout the game.
Why start slow and then go fast in the final quarter? The other teams weren’t tiring the Wizards out, the Wizards were tiring themselves out.
Washington ran out of gas and started making mental errors because of their tiredness.
Every NBA team knew to wait for the fourth, because the Wizards wouldn’t have the energy to close it out.
The Wizards never took the risk to not start Gortat in the first. Every single game this season, Gortat started. The pace is set in the first quarter.
Washington played from behind the entire season. Just once I thought, coach Scott Brooks would ‘play the players that were ready to play’. It never happened.
If Brooks isn’t willing to take risks with the rotation, then Gortat has to be traded.
From Grunfeld’s statement, I don’t believe Gortat will be returning next season.
Gortat definitely wasn’t the only reason for the Wizards lackluster season. But a change is needed, and has been needed for some time.