The Washington Wizards are trying to run a new offense. After years of playing an archaic style of basketball with two big men, the team is finally playing more-small ball.

Given the recent success involving teams that are playing more up-tempo, Ernie Grunfeld and the rest of the Washington Wizards’ brass added plenty of versatility this summer, which opened the door for the new offense to take place.

Randy Wittman is an old-school, stubborn coach. Like most people, I was shocked to see how open he was to changing the team’s offense this season. He was reluctant to play small in the past few years, even though he had opportunities to do so with Trevor Ariza and Paul Pierce prior to the beginning of last season’s playoffs.

The Wizards have the pieces they need to implement the fast paced offense.

John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and their new wing players are all capable of playing fast and shooting the ball from the perimeter. Now, it’s just a matter of staying patient and becoming accustomed to the change.

However, following the Wizards’ loss to the New York Knicks, Wittman wasn’t too pleased with how the team performed.

If you needed a reminder, here’s one: the Washington Wizards have completely changed the structure of their offense. There’s going to be some growing pains. They won’t become the Mike D’Antoni Phoenix Suns overnight, nor would they want to.

Wittman, who’s a defensive-minded coach, talked about potentially slowing the team down if that means saving energy for the opposite end:

“If we have to go back to playing slower to play defense then that’s what we’re going to have to do. That’s a big part of why we’ve had success, our ability to defend. … When the playoffs come, that’s what it boils down to,” Wittman said. “If we aren’t going to play defense, we are going to have a lot of games like this. It’s a commitment to do it. If you are getting too tired the other way … You have to come out. I got to get you out of there sooner.”

I’d hate to repeat myself again, but here we go: the Washington Wizards have only played two games in their new offense. It takes time. Getting the conditioning for that type of offense is going to take time. We’ve seen other teams have success with that type of system and the Wizards have the players they need to have success with it too.

But, the question will remain, is Randy Wittman the right guy for the job?

As I said earlier, Wittman has never coached a team that played small. He’s always been a coach that plays two big men and that isn’t conducive to success anymore. If we were in the 1980’s, Wittman might have a point to “go back to playing slower”, but the fact is, the Wizards weren’t an efficient team when they played using Wittman’s approach.

The Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors were both tremendous offensive teams, but they also remained great on the defensive end of the floor. The Wizards have a great defensive tandem in the back court and their front court isn’t bad. Players like Alan Anderson, Jared Dudley and Kris Humphries are all good at defending their positions.

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Washington Wizards slow their offense down, but it would obviously be the wrong move. Wittman can’t have a shortsighted view on this. It will take time, but in the long run, it will pay off.