Inside The Wizards

Wizards Veteran Responds to Coach's Rant

The Washington Wizards are playing poorly, and the team has to fix it.

Jeremy Brener

Nov 18, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert (24) controls the ball against New York Knicks guards Pacome Dadiet (4) and Josh Hart (3) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Nov 18, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert (24) controls the ball against New York Knicks guards Pacome Dadiet (4) and Josh Hart (3) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The Washington Wizards aren't thrilled after a 136-104 loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

The loss marked nine straight for Washington and prompted coach Brian Keefe to call out his team in his postgame press conference.

"I'm the leader of this team. I'm the head coach of this team." Keefe said. "So I'll take the responsibility for the last two nights, not playing up to the competitive disposition that we should be playing with, especially defensively. That will be addressed as a group and we will get better. But that wasn't what we need to be, what our standards were. And we have to own that. And we have to look at ourselves and we have to get better."

Wizards guard Corey Kispert was asked about Keefe's words, and he agreed with his coach.

“I agree wholeheartedly. We haven't been ready to play for the last couple of games,” Kispert said. “Everybody's kind of realizing and coming to the conclusion that there's professionals on the other side too and they come to the gym ready to play. … It’s been a bad few showings for us and we can deal with losing if we're competitive and we come ready to play but if we're not even ready to play at all and don't compete then it's absolutely unacceptable.”

As a fourth-year player, Kispert is expected to be one of the veterans of the group and carry out Keefe's vision. Though he was one of the bright spots in the loss against the Knicks after scoring 18 points and four threes, he knows that he and the rest of the team can play better than what they have shown.

Kispert and the Wizards will get some good practice reps in this week before facing the defending champion Boston Celtics on Friday at home. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.

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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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