The Washington Capitals and Wizards have brought excitement to the sports world and gave local fans a reason to cheer as both teams are having record seasons.
The Wizards, who had underperformed in previous seasons, are finally playing with a championship-mindset and are amongst elite company in the Eastern Conference. To add to the Washington sports success, the Capitals are having one of their best seasons as a franchise and have the best record in the NHL.
Unfortunately, the Capitals have always performed spectacularly during the season but tend to fall short during the playoffs.
“The Caps just aren’t able to handle the pressure of the playoffs,” said senior Brendan Blevins.
This is certainly a factor for the Capitals come playoff season. Even though they usually finish first or second in the East, they tend to lose in the second round, rarely reaching the conference championship.
Most Capitals fans are all too familiar with the disappointment the Capitals can create in the playoffs. Since they usually fall short in this second round.
This could be another potential reason why the Capitals underperform in the playoffs. Throughout the season, individual games are being played, but the playoffs tests a team’s resilience as they have to face off against the same team in a best-of-seven series.
“Every single win adds more and more pressure, especially in a series,” said senior Paul Hughs.
The Wizards have been reciprocating the Capitals’ success this season with their own reputation being built as one of the NBA’s most elite teams. By having one of the best back courts in the NBA, the partnership that John Wall and Bradley Beal have present a dynamic that makes the Wizards a menace to most teams that they play.They’ve had comfortable wins against formidable teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Golden State.
“I think that the Wizards have a very good and diverse team,” said junior Yonathan Mesfun.
In addition to the players competing with a high intensity every game, the Wizards’ success can also be partially responsible to their new head coach, Scott Brooks, who previously led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals.
“I feel like Scott Brooks is doing a great job with confidence and gives everyone a fair shot to fulfill their potential,” said Mesfun.
Although it is exciting to contemplate that a local team could win a national sports title, the Wizards, much like the Capitals, tend to underperform in the playoffs., which is what they did in Game 7 against the Celtics.
“Even though they’re playing pretty well, the Wizards don’t have a whole lot of playoff experience so it’s hard to tell how well they’ll do,” said senior Carden Warner.
The Wizards’ John Wall is helping them soar through the first round and the Caps just won their first round series against Toronto. Although the Wizards and Capitals are playing at peak performance, fans should not expect either team to make a championship run due to a rather unsuccessful playoff history.
“Who knows, maybe [Washington] DC sports teams are just unlucky,” said Blevins.