Randy Wittman didn't sleep on Tuesday night. Excited and nervous about his debut as Washington Wizards coach, Wittman couldn't wait to get started.
His players couldn't wait, either.
The Wizards led throughout the game and blew out the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 92-75 on Wednesday night.
Washington is still just 3-15, but after the Wizards quickly built a 20-point lead and didn't blow it, Wittman was eager to talk about the win.
Replacing his old friend Flip Saunders, who was fired Tuesday morning, wasn't his choice. Given a contract to coach only through the end of the season by team president Ernie Grunfeld, Wittman said there was no magic in the win.
``There's nothing to critique tonight,'' Wittman said. ``This is tough - the things we've gone through - this is tough.''
Nick Young scored 20 points, and Andray Blatche had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who didn't have the benefit of a practice. Saunders' lead assistant has been an NBA coach twice - with Minnesota and Cleveland. His career record improved to 101-207.
He didn't change the starting lineup.
``All these guys get a clean slate with me,'' Wittman said before the game.
When Grunfeld fired Saunders, he explained that the team needed ``a new voice.''
Blatche, who had clashed with Saunders on numerous occasions, tried to be conciliatory toward both the old and new coach.
``I can't honestly say we needed a new voice,'' Blatche said. ``We just needed somebody to actually check us - like Wittman did. That's what we needed.''
JaVale McGee, whose showboat dunk on Jan. 16 caused a huge rift between he and Saunders, was reluctant to say the team needed a new coach.
``That's Ernie's opinion, and I'm going to let it be Ernie's opinion,'' McGee said.
Wittman likened his team's fight against mistakes to a smoker trying to quit.
``I've got to help them kick some of those bad habits. That's all it is - we've just fallen into a way that's not conducive to us to win, so when I see them pull out a cigarette, I have to take it out of their mouth,'' Wittman said.
