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WASHINGTON -- John Wall remembers how good of a defensive team the Washington Wizards were when they made the playoffs in 2014 and 2015 and wants defense to be the foundation they use to get back to the postseason.With new coach Scott Brooks preaching a defense-first mentality, Wall, backcourt mate Bradley Beal and the Wizards appear ready to buy in. As much as Washington can light up the scoreboard, the path to the playoffs starts with being more consistent defensively.Some nights youre not going to make shots, but your defense has got to win you games sometimes, Wall said. If were a great defensive team, well be fine. But if not well go through the same problems we went through last year.A bevy of injuries and defensive off nights contributed to the Wizards missing the playoffs and led to them not renewing the contract of coach Randy Wittman. Enter Brooks, who hopes to make the Wizards an even better defensive team than he had with the Oklahoma City Thunder for seven seasons.Brooks believes the Wizards have the athleticism and depth to be one of the best two-way teams in the league and hed like that to be their identity.Defensive basketball, toughness: We want to be known as a defensive team that can score, not a scoring team that only wants to play defense if it has a scoring night, Brooks said.Wall and Beal each set career highs in points, but that only led to a disappointing 41-41 finish.Beal said they have matching goals to be on one of the NBAs all-defensive teams and want to lead the charge of keeping points off the board.Wall believes this is the most complete team the Wizards have had during his career and knows the burden is on him to get them back to the playoffs. But he must be on the floor to do that.I dont want to talk about all the playoffs and stuff, Wall said. The most important thing is if we just stay healthy, we give ourselves a great chance.---Some other things to watch as the Wizards try to get back to the playoffs:NEW FACES: The starting five of Wall, Beal, Otto Porter, Markieff Morris and Marcin Gortat are back along with young Kelly Oubre Jr., but there were plenty of changes on the bench. Washington acquired guard Trey Burke, signed big men Ian Mahinmi, Jason Smith and Andrew Nicholson and brought over 2012 draft pick Tomas Satoransky. Wall believes the key is players having and understanding clear roles. I think in the past we kind of didnt know what our roles were, he said. When we did, we were a good team. When we didnt, we looked (like) a bad team.HOME COURT DISADVANTAGE: The Wizards were just 22-19 at Verizon Center last season, and Wall has made comments about the crowd there not being as enthusiastic as elsewhere in the league. Brooks said his team will have a no-excuse mentality but also acknowledged there will be nights players need fans to pick them up. Its a two-way street. If we leave everything on the floor each and every night, our fans will continue to support us and back us and be excited about us, Brooks said.MINUTES WATCH: Brooks already knows hell set aside rest games for Wall, Beal and others to make sure theyre not worn down. Thats particularly important given the Wizards injury woes last season, and Brooks is prepared and plans to hold players out of practice and do other things to keep them fresh.BEALS BIG MONEY: After signing a $128 million, five-year deal, Beal has big expectations for himself -- he wants to produce, lead and defend better than ever before at age 23. Brooks challenged Beal to make his teammates better as the next step of his career evolution. He has 3-point range, he can score in transition, he can put the ball on the floor, he can play pick and roll and he can be a two-way player, Brooks said. He can be one of the best two-way guards in the league.Fake NFL Jerseys . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Fake NHL Jerseys . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. https://www.fakejerseys.us.com/ . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Fake Jerseys . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. China Jerseys . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Juan Pablo Montoya has accepted an offer to race the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske and will not drive full-time in IndyCar next season.Montoya told The Associated Press on Tuesday the offer was the best choice for the Colombian. Hes a two-time Indy 500 winner, including the 2015 crown driving for Penske.Penske last month hired Josef Newgarden to replace Montoya full-time in the series, insisting the decision was because the young American was available and the organization wanted him in their lineup. At the time, they revealed the Indy offer for Montoya.Montoya told AP he will spend time next year helping his son, Sebastian, race in Europe and doing television work for Canal F1 Latin America.Im happy, to be honest, he said.Montoya lost the 2015 IndyCar title on a tie-breaker and finished ninth this last season. He spent three years driving for Penske after making the switch from NASCAR back to IndyCar, and won four races, including his ssecond Indy 500.ddddddddddddMontoya also won the Indy 500 in 2000 while driving for Chip Ganassi. He left for Formula One the next season, was a seven-time winner in F1, then reunited with Ganassi in NASCAR midway through the 2006 F1 season. Montoya spent seven full seasons in NASCAR before Ganassi didnt renew his contract after 2013, and he returned to open-wheel racing.Montoya was told by Penske officials during the summer that the team was looking at other options for its aging roster -- Montoya and Penske driver Helio Castroneves are both 41 -- but was given the option to race in the Indy 500 for Penske. He explored other possible rides before accepting the offer.Sebastian Montoya is 11 and has already won national karting events. Montoya and his wife spent time last month in Italy, where Sebastian did some international racing. ' ' '