It's a telling, little-used statistic called "assist differential," and it explains the struggles of the Washington Wizards.

The Wizards are last in the league in that category -- by far. Their opponents are averaging 4.09 more assists per game. The Wizards are settling for jump shots too quickly, and they're not getting in the passing lanes on defense.

In other words, the Wizards are last in the NBA in teamwork, a stunning development for a team whose coach uses a motion offense and spent the entire preseason stressing defense.

"Selfishness begets selfishness," center Brendan Haywood said. "When one guy doesn't make the extra pass, then the next guy starts thinking, 'Well, I'm not sure when my time's going to come,' so he doesn't make the extra pass. It's just about being a team right now.

"Right now, we're disjointed. We're not a team. I think everybody likes each other, everybody's out there playing hard, but we're not always playing hard and smart."