Fansided

Who’s ready for the Wittmanaissance?

By Donnie Kolakowski

May 15, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman reacts against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman reacts against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 15, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman gestures against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
May 15, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Randy Wittman gestures against the Atlanta Hawks during the first half in game six of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

Randy Wittman has been the punch line to a lot of jokes over the past few years.

Blessed with one of the best point guards in the league in John Wall, Wittman has run a vanilla offense in Washington that results in way too many long twos and not enough oohs and aahs.

It’s time for that to change. Wittman has said he wants the team to play smaller and faster this year. Some were skeptical of his comments, but Bradley Beal then discussed how the team was focusing on eliminating all the long two-point shots.

Beal in particular struggled by shooting way too many long twos and struggling to hit them, but the whole team needed to find a way to get more productive shots. It seems like Wittman finally realized that, and is going to allow Wall to do his thing.

A fully unleashed Wall setting the table for a fast-paced offense that shoots a lot of threes would be amazing to watch. Watching Wall at times has felt like watching a Ferrari stuck in traffic. You can see all the potential, but it’s being shackled by things beyond its control.

If Wall is given the keys to a fast-paced spread offense, watch out. The Wizards launched 26 threes in Tuesday’s preseason contest against the 76ers, knocking in 15 of them. That’s a huge number compared to the 16.8 the team averaged last year, which was fourth-lowest in the league.

Since Paul Pierce left, people have been wondering how Washington gets better this year. Perhaps a better offensive system is the answer. Give Wittman credit for seeming to finally break from his ways. And if you want to question whether the Wittmanaissance is actually coming? Well, you should see what happens when you ask him the wrong question.

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