Wizards owner Ted Leonsis was asked about the coaching change that put Randy Wittman in the head chair.

“Well, I thought we needed to implement a system that played to the strengths of the players,” he said. “We’re young, we’re athletic, we’re long, and playing a more up-tempo game has made the team a lot more competitive. I think the players are adapting very very well to it.

“The game with Chicago, that’s one really really good team, also built around the draft, but we stayed with them and we played really really hard, played that pressing kind of defense, outscored them in the fourth quarter and that’s what we want to see. We want to show the fans that the team has upside, that even though we have nine players on rookie contracts, that we can be competitive....

“The young kids are growing up. They don’t look scared anymore. And that’s a natural evolution of their outlook towards games, and now we think we can win games.”