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When asked what Vesely needed to focus on this offseason, Coach Randy Wittman didn’t hesitate to mention that the 6-foot-11 big man had to worry about more than developing a consistent jump shot. “He needs to work on his head first,” Wittman said. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Randy Wittman, Jan Vesely 

“There are sometimes, I see Jan and he’s flying all around and I say, ‘That’s Jan.’ Other times, he’s shying away when he doesn’t have the confidence and that’s his main thing,” Wittman said. “I’m not smart enough to tell you I’ve got the answer to fix that. But we’re going to work on him. I mean, in trying to help him become a more confident player.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Randy Wittman, Jan Vesely 

On Nov. 26, the Wizards lost a home game to San Antonio, 118-92. It was the 12th straight loss to start the season, and the postgame locker room for the Wizards was an emotional scene. On Thursday, a tale told by Martell Webster revealed for the first time just how emotional it was. “After we lost that 12th game and he came into the locker room – I don’t even know if he wants me to share this, but I don’t care – and he was crying, man, after that game,” Webster said. “And he told us that he cared about us. And for me, that was a point in the season where I was just like, I’m in. I’m totally in. I bought into the system. And when I did that, that’s when my season began to turn to a positive light, and I started to succeed after that point. “That meant a lot because it showed that he really cared. He didn’t care about his job. He didn’t. He just cared about the guys that he was coaching. And that was amazing. That was touching for me. But that’s when I realized that I really wanted to buy into this system.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Martell Webster, Randy Wittman 

A.J. Price said he also committed to the system after that night. “I definitely remember that,” he said. “That showed me how passionate he was as a coach. I think it did a lot for us, in terms of how we viewed him as a coach. Because anytime you get a head coach [crying], that’s not normal. Not to say it’s bad, but it’s just not normal that you’d see a coach show that much emotion, especially in this business. It let us know that we were dealing with a special type of guy who really cared about the job. Really cared about us as players, and I think that led to us really buying in even more and really giving it all we got, because he was showing to use that he was giving it all he had.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, AJ Price, Randy Wittman 

One by one, each player who was asked about that night admitted just how much the moment meant to them. “I cried with him, because it was a tough moment,” said Nene. “Coach, he exposed his emotions for sure. And he lead us.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Nene, Randy Wittman 

When asked about it, Wittman’s first response was to fake shock at the very notion that he would cry. “I think we all know how much Martell Webster can exaggerate sometimes,” he joked. “We only had one guy that really cried a lot here and that was our young kid Bradley. ” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Martell Webster, Randy Wittman 

But then he got serious, and explained why he got so emotional. “We went through so much at the start of the year,” he said. “And the thing that really got me emotional more was the fight and the heart that these guys were putting into it, and we had nothing to show for it. “This is a game of emotion,” Wittman continued. “I’m an emotional guy. I don’t hide things from you guys, I don’t hide things from my players. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. That was the point, though, that showed me that these guys, even though we were 0-12, had a lot of heart. Had a lot of conviction to go out and continue to fight when it could have been easy to say, ‘Why?’ And they continued to do it. And I wanted them to know, even though we were 0 -12, and it might sound funny, how much I appreciated that, and how much I really trusted in them.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Randy Wittman 

When Okafor attempted to explain afterward why Coach Randy Wittman had to make the decision to give A.J. Price more playing time, Wall snapped back, leading to a heated argument that was audible from the walls on the other side of the training room. “It was just me being young and very frustrated. I wasn’t making anything, turning the ball over, and we lost a lot of games that we should’ve won and I put the toll on me,” Wall explained, as he recalled his emotions before the encounter. “A lot of frustration was coming out. As a veteran and being a leader on the team, [Okafor] stepped up and said something. At the time, it was in the heat of moment. I was upset.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Nene, Randy Wittman 

Wall was unaccustomed to having a teammate challenge him, but in hindsight, he couldn’t disagree with anything that Okafor told him: Wittman had to go with someone else if he was ineffective and Wall has to trust that the coach is doing what was in the best interest of the team, which should always come first “It wasn’t nothing bad. I felt like, what he said was right,” Wall said of Okafor “It was all the right things at the right time. 'You’ve got to learn how to control your anger more.' Ever since that day forward, I became more focused. Came to practice the next day, talked to him, put it behind us and I just went out there and tried to play basketball. Didn’t hold no grudges.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Nene, Randy Wittman 

Wittman's situation is being cited in this late-season spin on the carousel to emphasize that he's no longer in danger. He would appear to have less to worry about than virtually all of his aforementioned colleagues, with one year left on his contract and the Wiz possessing a team option for the 2014-15 season. ESPN.com

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Randy Wittman 

J. Michael: Randy Wittman says its doubtful they will sign another player from DLeague to fill Beal's spot tho its been discussed #WizardsTalk #NBA Twitter @JMichaelCSN

Washington Wizards, Free Agency, D-League, Randy Wittman 

J. Michael: Coach Randy Wittman just went ballistic on a local TV reporter comparing franchise to a circus. The exact question: "the circus was here this past weekend. Is it a relief to u that this is no longer a circus?" Wittman: "You didnt seriously just ask me that question, about the (expletive) circus being in town? Are you (expletive) me? Wittman (cont): "You called this organization a circus at one time. So Im not going to answer that question...." "I’m part of the damn circus. It’s not a circus around here.... I don’t want to hear that no more. That’s disrespectful" #WizardsTalk #NBA Twitter

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Media, Randy Wittman 

It was actually WUSA reporter Kevin Jones, who offers this explanation via Twitter: Was looking for one of his "voodoo" answers. Caught him at the wrong time. He's the man and I didn't mean any disrespect. We're cool Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Media, Kevin Jones, Randy Wittman 

Since Wall had already picked up a technical foul in the first quarter, Zielinski signaled for Wall to leave the court and the Wizards were forced to trudge along without their most important player. Before getting escorted to the locker room, Wall ran over to plead his case to Coach Randy Wittman. Arms folded, Wittman didn’t need to hear an explanation; no matter what led to his heated exchange with Thompson, Wall needed to keep his anger contained. “That’s your second tech, John,” Wittman said before walking away from Wall, flustered. Washington Post

Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, John Wall, Randy Wittman, Klay Thompson 

Washington Wizards point guard John Wall and coach Randy Wittman got in each other's faces. Then, after Wittman momentarily walked away, they got in each other's faces again. Whatever was said during that third-quarter timeout Wednesday night worked. Wall had 23 points and 10 assists, and the Wizards beat the Milwaukee Bucks 106-93. ESPN.com

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Randy Wittman 

The exchange came as Washington was blowing a 20-point second-half lead, but Wall rallied with eight fourth-quarter points to hold off the Bucks. "Oh, that's coaching. C'mon," Wittman said emphatically. "I love that." ESPN.com

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Randy Wittman 

"Just us being both competitive and being on different pages," Wall said. "But we talked about it, and we did a great job in the fourth quarter of keeping Ilyasova from getting hot." ESPN.com

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Randy Wittman 

The veteran big man wouldn’t deny the reputation that Brazil — and Rio in particular — has for being a little wild. “I know, and the whole world knows that,” Nene said. “You guys hear about the Carnival. All celebrities come down. But there’s a lot of things to do. Nice beach, nice mall. A lot of shows, a lot of events. For me, nothing’s changed … but for [my teammates], it’s going to be a lot of new things. I hope they slow down.” Coach Randy Wittman didn’t spend a lot of time elaborating on the trip. “Eh, the weather’s nice, especially at that time of year, I hope,” he said. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Schedule, Nene, Brazil, Randy Wittman 

Randy Wittman: Hey, John Wall is huge for this team. The people that want to bash John Wall have no idea how the game is being played and what his impact is on the game. I think everyone always looks at points and that's crazy. John Wall's more than a guy that can score points. I want him to be more than that and he wants to be more than that. Bullets Forever

Washington Wizards, John Wall, Randy Wittman 

While making his way to speak to reporters on Monday before the Wizards took on the Toronto Raptors, Coach Randy Wittman tripped over some cords in the locker room and nearly hurt himself. Of course, tripped is describing it lightly. “He did a triple jump,” Nene said afterward. When Wittman returned to the locker room to make his final preparations for the game, his players decided to make light of his mishap. They greeted him with four bright orange cones surrounding the loose wires. Handwritten signs read, “Coach’s tripping area,” and “Danger!!! Help Coach watch out for cords.” Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Coaching, Randy Wittman