Ed Tapscott may not be the answer to the Wizards challenges this year, but he certainly has them playing much better basketball....and playing with passion they lacked under Jordan to start the season. The best part is that they are playing like a team, and they are playing to their strength rather than adjusting their style to the teams.
Tonight's win was surprising to me since NJ had such a successful road trip on the West Coast recently. The Wiz starters had 23 assists tonight and only two turnovers, and you dont need to look at the box score to guess they won by a wide margin. The fact is they are all playing to their strengths: Caron Butler has taken the role of leader and looks to score as he should have all year; Jamison, who has never met a shot he will not take, has even begun to be more of a team player; McGee is playing well above his experience as a college junior in age; Brown has taken over the point, and he is doing very well at providing a spark on both ends of the floor; and Stevenson is playing like he did last year in the months of January and February.
Ed Tapscott is responsible for this change......and he has a long way to go, but he is headed in the right direction. He just has to take it one game at a time, and the fans need to be patient. He is stilll learning how to manage the game, while being objective enough to use his head instead of his heart to do it. I think that was the problem with Jordan. He was dialed in to a mindset. The most obvious example was Etan Thomas. In anybody's opinion, he is a brave soul. Only one year removed from open heart surgery, he is back on the court battling; but Eddie knew that McGee was the better choice for the future, and probably the present.
I hope that Ed Tapscott can keep it going and get a few more wins. He deserves a chance, and I see a huge difference thus far. In the NBA, you have to win. It is a "winners" league....He will win.....give him a few more weeks, and nobody will even remember where the Wizards were to start the season. They may even end up winning 40 to 44 games......that would be an amazing feat.
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