Inside The Wizards

Wizards Coach Shares Overall Goals

The Washington Wizards have overarching goals for the season.

Jeremy Brener

Oct 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looks on from the bench against the Atlanta Hawks in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Oct 30, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Wizards head coach Brian Keefe looks on from the bench against the Atlanta Hawks in the first half at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
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The Washington Wizards are losers of five straight games after falling to the Houston Rockets 107-92 at Toyota Center on Monday night.

While the Wizards are not happy with losing and falling to 2-7 on the season, coach Brian Keefe has placed more of an emphasis on the process and progress rather than results.

"For us, it's one day at a time," Keefe said. "Anyways, regardless of what's going on, we're trying to build habits here, build an identity of how we want to play on both sides of the ball. So for us, it's always about our process and how we're getting prepared each day."

The Wizards have seen that growth and development in the first part of the season, specifically from players like second-year pro Bilal Coulibaly, who has more than doubled his scoring average from his rookie year. The team also has three rookie first-round picks in Alex Sarr, Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George, who have all proven themselves worthy of a considerable amount of playing time in the rotation.

Eventually, wins will need to come in order to get the team's morale in a place where the development isn't being affected, but the Wizards have their priorities straight when it comes to the order of wins and development.

While wins are a measurement of growth for a young team like Washington, building chemistry and strong habits will have more of a long-term impact for the Wizards as a whole. The Wizards appear to be doing just that as they begin to wrap up their first month of playing together.

The Wizards are back in action tomorrow night against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs at the Frost Bank Center before beginning their Emirates NBA Cup run against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

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Jeremy Brener
JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.

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