Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal didn't mince words after a defating 92-88 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday.
"I think we definitely took several steps back in these last five games, especially defensively," Beal said, via Igor Mello of CBS Sports. "We haven't been the same team that got up and was physical and tough on them. We are pretty soft right now."
The Wizards have gone just 9-10 since starting the 2014-15 campaign 22-8, mostly due to what head coach Randy Wittman sees as inconsistent effort during their recent struggles.
"We point fingers and until we all get back on the same page and come out and play hard for 48 minutes, and look at ourselves in the mirror and say, 'What can I do more?' rather than point our finger and say 'It's not me,''that's where we are at," Wittman said of the Wizards' current three-game losing streak. "Like I said, I'll take the blame for that, of allowing us to get there.
"There are some good teams in this league that can maybe get away with coasting for a half, but we are not one of them. When we've played to get to where we were, it's because we played hard every night and accepted coaching. We've had some success when we've taken it a little easy, but we are paying for it. That's what the bottom line is. Until we play hard, all out, and have each other's back rather than pointing fingers and saying, 'It's not my fault, it's his fault,' we are not beating anybody. That's kind of it in a nutshell."
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