On Wednesday night, the Wizards were able to defeat the Pacers 104-90 despite shooting 39.8-percent from the field, mainly because they forced the Pacers into 17 turnovers while only committing eight of their own. On Friday, on Indiana’s end of the home-and-home matchup, the Wizards basically shot the same percentage (38.8-percent), and the Pacers again turned the ball over at a high rate (23 times to be exact).  The difference, and the reason the Wizards lost 96-85, is that the Pacers shot much better (48.7-percent from the field) and the Wizards turned the ball a lot more (22 times).

John Wall led the Wizards with 25 points; 17 of them came in the third quarter when the Wizards unsuccessfully attempted to cut into Indiana’s lead.  Unfortunately, Wall also led the team with seven turnovers.  Andray Blatche and Nick Young, who were so instrumental in the Wizards’ victory over the Pacers in Washington, were non-factors, and they seemed totally out of sync.  Blatche was scoreless in the first half, but did manage to finish with eight points (4-16 from the field), 12 rebounds and six turnovers.  Young shot just 2-11 from the field and finished with eight points as well.

More observations from the game

• Darren Collison did not factor in the outcome of Wednesday’s game, but on Friday he had 18 points and six assists, and seemed to get into the lane at will.  The combination of Wall still trying to get his wind back and Kirk Hinrich being out with a thigh bruise had to factor into Collison’s improved numbers.  I can’t help but to think back to Flip Saunders comments after the Wizards took on the Rockets earlier this week:

“It’s not a coincidence that whoever we put Kirk on, that guys has trouble scoring. Martin gets 10 early, we switch Kirk on to him and he has problems getting shots off. All of our players have to learn to have that same readiness and intensity as he does.”

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The odds were definitely stacked against the Indiana Pacers prior to last night’s game against the Washington Wizards.  The night before in Indiana, the Pacers led the Boston Celtics for three quarters before Ray Allen and Marquis Daniels stepped up in the fourth and led their team to victory.  On top of being demoralized by that late loss and having to deal with the fatigue that goes with playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road, the Pacers were also in the midst of a six-game road losing streak which spanned the entire month of December.

Despite the stacked deck, Indiana played well enough to stay in the game for three quarters once again. But in the end, the Wizards were deeper and more athletic.

After the game, the Pacers locker room looked completely dejected.  You’re probably saying to yourself, ‘Well damn, a post-loss locker room is always dejected, that’s how it should be,’ and you are right.  But the level of dejection and depression I saw in that Pacers locker room was enough to suck the Christmas/New Year’s spirit out of anyone.

Danny Granger (15 points, nine rebounds and two steals) sat in front of his locker with both of his legs in water, and he twice rebuffed the media’s request to talk to him (but finally agreed to talk 15 minutes later — after I left, of course), and barely paid attention when assistant coach Walter McCarty tried to offer words of encouragement.  Tyler Hansbrough sat at his locker room with the same dumbfounded look, and T.J. Ford (eight points and three assists) just kept looking at the final stat sheet and shaking his head.  But no player was more dejected than former Georgetown Hoyas center Roy Hibbert.

Hibbert has been having a solid season overall with per game averages of 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds.  However, as  Jared Wade from the TrueHoop Network Pacers blog 8 points, 9 seconds pointed out, Hibbert came into the Wizards game shooting 32-percent over his last eight games. Last night, against a smaller, lighter center in JaVale McGee, Hibbert was limited to just 15 minutes with foul trouble and only scored five points.

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It was late in Wednesday night’s Wizards win over the Indiana Pacers. John Wall had just used his all too familiar quickness to dart past Darren Collison and then shuttle the ball to Nick Young in the far left corner for a three-pointer that put the Wizards up 100-84 with 2:23 left in the game. But in the process, Wall took a hard tumble to the floor — thanks to some Pacer I assumed at the time — I just remember Wall’s reaction. He flipped the referee an incredulous look, searching for a reason why he didn’t blow the whistle.

The next thing I knew, after a whistle had blown for another reason on the other end of the court (Andray Blatche fouled Tyler Hansbrough while shooting), Wall was in Josh McRoberts’ face, directly in front of where I sat on the baseline taking photos.

Why was he so angry? Why was he getting in the grill of a dude six inches taller and 45 pounds heavier? It had clearly had something to do with Wall’s crash to the hardwood on the opposite baseline. The referees quickly broke up the bout of chest bumping and words and assessed Wall with a technical foul. But his emotion wouldn’t let it go; he looked and gestured toward McRoberts and the Pacers’ bench as the two teams went into a timeout. Wall’s teammates and coaches had to restrain him. Cooler heads ultimately prevailed, and the Wizards held off the Pacers in that last stretch of the game. Let’s go to the video to see exactly what happened…

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Maybe it’s a good omen that the Wizards won their last home game in 2010 as we go from the year of the tiger to the year of the rabbit in 2011. Great, more missed bunnies at the rim … kidding.

So let’s begin to kick-off the new year on a more positive note by looking back at some of the pictures from Wednesday night’s 104-90 win versus the Indiana Pacers that I took from the baseline. But first…

Congrats to Jennifer Lin, who was the first to correctly answer the Twitter Trivia for free tickets to the game (courtesy of StubHub), which was:

In Wizards-Bullets franchise history, 6 players from U. of Maryland have been drafted by the team. Name 3 of them.

Jennifer’s answers were Steve Blake (’03), Juan Dixon (’02) and Lawrence Boston (’78). Len Elmore (’74), Howard White (’73) and Will Hetzel (’70) were also franchise draftees from UMD-College Park.

Pictures with captions.

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By now you’re aware of a report out of HoopsWorld that the Wizards are investigating trades involving Andray Blatche and/or JaVale McGee. Alex Kennedy writes:

“After suspending Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee one game for an altercation outside of a club, league sources say that the Washington Wizards will consider trading either Blatche or McGee in the coming weeks. The team will gauge interest around the league and after shopping the players, decision whether or not a trade would be the right move for the franchise.”

Of course, several outlets took this to mean such maneuvers by the Wizards were spawned as a result of the fight between Blatche and McGee (thanks to Kennedy’s wording). “In wake of fight, Wizards to gauge trade value of Blatche, McGee,” went one headline from Pro Basketball Talk; “Washington Wizards Shopping Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee After Altercation,” went another from the infamous Bleacher Report.

In the interest of getting the facts closer to what seems to be right, it’s worth mentioning that on December 24, ESPN’s Marc Stein Tweeted:

“Even before McGee tiff via @MrMichaelLee, Wiz said to be disappointed w/Blatche since extension and have discussed trying to trade Blatche”

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Barkley works the Shake Weight, a Wizards ticket giveaway, commentary and links …

First, TAI is giving away two tickets to Wednesday’s game versus the Pacers (courtesy of StubHub). The seats are good (Section 101, Row L … behind the Wizards’ bench) and John Wall is good (as in he’s back and should be playing). You can win these two free tickets by being the first to email the correct answer to the trivia question I will post from the @Truth_About_It Twitter account at 11 am EST on Wednesday, December 29. The answer must be emailed to truthaboutit@gmail.com.

Also note: The Wizards are pulling something out of the Miami Heat’s playbook to get fans to arrive to games early (not sure if the idea actually originated with the Heat, but they did do something similar earlier this year). Starting when the doors open at 6 pm for Wednesday’s game versus the Pacers until 6:30, the Verizon Center will be offering food and drink discounts outside of section 107. [via @WashWizards]

WIZARDS-ROCKETS.

I’m not sure if it was his intended effect, but the technical Rocket’s coach Rick Adelman drew was the real “Game Changer” of Monday night’s loss in Houston … well, that and Chase Budinger. Up 10 points with about 10 minutes left in the game, a minute later the Rockets were able to cut the Wizards’ lead to seven via a JaVale McGee goal-tending call against Aaron Brooks. John Wall responded by jetting up the court, pulling a crazy, falling spin move in the paint, and somehow finding Josh Howard in the right corner for a jumper, putting the Wizards up 84-75 at the 8:48 mark of the fourth. It was time for Adelman to take his stand. The coach stomped and yelled in the direction of the referee, instigating a technical foul. Maybe he thought it was a charge against Wall (television replay seemed to indicate otherwise), maybe Adelman wanted to get his team fired up. Whatever the case was, it worked.

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Another day, another Wizards’ road loss. But unlike Sunday’s game in San Antonio, Washington actually had a chance to beat Houston. In a matchup of two teams going in opposite directions — Houston looking to win its season-best fifth consecutive game and get back to the .500 mark; Washington still winless on the road and losers of nine of their last ten —  the Rockets were nine point favorites. I mention the spread only because the Wizards beat the Rockets by seven points in Washington on November 10. Clearly, a lot has changed since John Wall recorded his first career triple double, as the Wizards have set a new standard for futility on the road (0-15 away from home this season; 16 straight road losses going back to last season, a franchise record).

Some observations from the loss:

• Andray Blatche had a nice game, going 7-15 from the field and finishing with 17 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals. The rebounds were an encouraging sign, given Blatche’s seeming unwillingness to mix it up in the post against physical front courts. He also had a nice steal off an inbounds pass in the third quarter, which led to an easy layup. However, Blatche’s turnovers continue to be an issue: he had six TO’s last night, and is averaging close to three TO’s per game on the season. The bulk of these turnovers came on offensive fouls, as Rockets defenders simply stepped in front of several Blatche dribble-drives, and the contact (as usual) was not resolved in Andray’s favor after he put his head down.
• Blatche’s nightclub pal JaVale McGee had an uneven game. Epic Vale shot 1-5 from the field, and only played 24 minutes as the Rockets used a smaller, faster lineup in the second half. On one particularly miserable offensive sequence near the ten minute mark of the second quarter, JaVale secured the rebound after a Nick Young miss, missed a layup, grabbed his own miss, and then missed all of the rim on a second, fadeaway attempt. Phil Chenier called the last shot a “pass,” but I think he was being generous. But, McGee did work on defense and on the offensive glass; he had three blocks, altered several other shots, and grabbed four offensive rebounds. He also did a nice job staying in front of the Rockets’ guards when caught in the pick-and-roll.One ridiculous play: with about ten seconds left in the third quarter, McGee blocked an Aaron Brooks 3-point attempt, when it appeared that JaVale had no chance of closing out. Instead, McGee’s Wookie-wingspan prevailed. Also worth noting — JaVale led the team in plus/minus at plus-5.
• John Wall appeared to be unaffected by his ailing right knee, as he put a lot of pressure on Houston’s defense, both in transition and off the pick-and-roll. He finished the game with 13 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two blocks. Though he shot only 2-7 from the field, Wall got to the free-throw line 13 times. He also handled Kyle Lowry‘s physical defense well, countering with a combination of hesitation moves and pure speed. Wall’s defense on Aaron Brooks was solid, as Brooks did not look comfortable all night and only shot 5-15 from the field.
• Rashard Lewis started the game at small forward and led the team in minutes with 43. Lewis finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists on 6-16 shooting. He missed both of his 3-point attempts badly, but Lewis made some nice decisions with the ball, finding the open man with quick passes. Given the Wizards’ troubles with ball movement, the presence of experienced decision makers in Lewis and Josh Howard is encouraging.
• With regards to ball movement — it seemed to be a lot better last night, as the Wizards seemingly ran their offense quicker than in the previous two games. Note: Washington scored 80 points in each of the previous two games, so the bar was set pretty low.
• Kirk Hinrich turned in another good performance, with 19 points on 7-15 shooting and five rebounds. Fourteen of Kirk’s 19 points came in the first half. After it became abundantly clear that Nick Young could not guard Kevin Martin (Martin dropped 10 points on Nick in the first quarter), Kirk defended Martin fairly well. Martin finished with 20 points for the game. Outlier stat of the night: Hinrich had zero assists last night, this after averaging nine assists per game since December 15.
• Josh Howard (23 minutes) certainly looks to be taking over Al Thornton‘s (8 minutes) playing time. I can’t say this is a bad thing, given Thornton’s three-point shooting woes (3-20 from deep on the season) and inability to do anything other than shoot contested jumpers.
• Reason why the Wizards lost: they did not score in the last 2:40 of the game, and were outscored 32-20 in the fourth quarter. The three-point defense also failed down the stretch, as threes by Brooks and Martin sealed the game for the Rockets late.
• Only the Wizards’ team defense could make Shane Battier look like Kobe Bryant — Battier finished with 15 points on 6-7 shooting. Battier got into the lane repeatedly, and made several tough shots off the backboard. Somewhere, Daryl Morey was laughing his ass off.
• Kirk Hinrich’s black-eye is awesome. I wonder what color it will be next game.

Gilbert Arenas’ recent Q&A with ESPN.com’s Michael Wallace was disappointing, to say the least. So let’s look back at some interesting tidbits from it, starting with the best part, which came at the end:

Arenas was asked: “Do you look back on anything that played out over the last 12 months with any regret?”

His answer: “Nope. No need to. Look around me. I’ve got a fresh start. I’ve got too much to look forward to.”

At one level, you think, ‘What an asshole.’ I’m sure Arenas wasn’t meaning to be an asshole, but it is an asshole-ish response.

But as a baseline, it’s a very selfish comment that comes as no surprise. Essentially, Arenas does not regret initially using his kids as a conduit for a lie to cover up his actions (because as court evidence would confirm, he brought guns into the locker room from home on the day of the incident … in a frontward facing backpack no less), then using guns as a “prank” in the building of the deceased owner of the Wizards, an owner who’d clearly made efforts against gun violence one of his priorities.

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Nick Young is one of the most unique players the NBA has ever seen. Now in his fourth season, his numbers improved from his rookie to his sophomore year, then took a dip across the board last season, his third. Now, this season brings dramatic improvement from any Nick Young we’ve ever seen.

He’s found confidence to go along with his offensive talent, has vastly improved his jump shooting and does the other little things he needs to do to keep himself on the court. His stats, thus far this season, certainly would have kept him in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation, had it not been for the trade of his friend Gilbert Arenas to Orlando, thrusting Young into Flip Saunders’ starting lineup (assuming he starts more than he comes off the bench — right now, out of 28 Wizards games, Young has appeared in 27 and started in four).

But none of this exactly makes Young unique. What makes him unique is that he could be one of the worst passing guards the league has ever seen. Ever.

Let’s start by plugging some of Young’s stats this season in the historical database at Basketball-Reference.com. This season, Young is averaging 25.8 minutes per game, 20.4 points per 36 minutes and 0.9 assists per 36. His per game averages are 14.6 points and 0.6 assists.

First, the players who have averaged at least 25 minutes per game, over 20 points per 36 and less than one assist per 36 for an entire season. And I realize that this is a limited judgement of Young’s passing ability, especially in a sense that I’m predicating it on how much he’s able to score, but I do feel that part of the assessment is how much offense one creates for themselves versus for others. Also, there’s probably only a handful of non-NBA/team employees who have watched as much or more of Young’s game over his NBA career than I have. Essentially, let’s be real, not only does Young not pass, he’s bad at passing, and I’m simply illustrating how bad with numbers.

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• The Wizards played well enough without Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee (due to their one-game suspension for getting in a fight with each other at a D.C.-area club) to fall just outside the 13.5-point spread by which the Spurs were favored, losing 94-80 in San Antonio on Sunday evening.
• Washington is now 0-14 on the road for the season and the team hasn’t won in San Antonio since December 11, 1999 — Rod Strickland, Mitch Richmond, Michael Smith, Juwan Howard and Ike Austin started against Avery Johnson, Mario Elie, Chucky Brown, Tim Duncan and David Robinson that night and beat them 99-89.
• They never had a chance to win, but when upsets happen, you say, ‘Well, that’s why you play the game.’ But I guess that only really happens when teams play like they have a chance to win.
• You’ll hear some analysis on the game say that the Spurs were a deeper, stronger team with more weapons. Sure, I’ll concede to that, but not as much as it’s hyped up to be. The answer is actually more simple than that simple analysis. The Spurs move the ball much better than the Wizards, to the tune of 27 assists to 18 for Washington. All the players Gregg Popovich plays buy into his system, they share the ball, and Spurs management has done a great job of providing Popovich with more players who relent to the team concept. The Wizards, on the other hand, seem to go after sheer talent in hopes that they can teach them to play like a team … and that can be a painstaking process, clearly.
• Not sure if it was Manu Ginobili stock-piling points on him early, or if it was just him missing shots, but Nick Young had a retro game, for him. The early futility clearly had an early affect on Young’s psyche. He once called his buddy Andray “Sonic” and referred to himself as “Tails” … guess Tails couldn’t make it without his hedgehog friend in San Antonio. Young went 5-19 from the field with 10 points and couldn’t do much right. His night was epitomized by the .GIF above where, after Manu had already made three three-pointers, Nick just failed to pay attention to him in any regard … more concerned with the potential screen than about the space he’d given Ginobili all night.
• Josh Howard shot 4-12 from the field and really looked to force some things on several offensive possessions. He also had a team-worst plus/minus of minus-12. Of course, here’s where the inaccuracy of plus/minus in it’s ability to give a true picture comes into play. Howard gave good energy and always found a way to get himself involved in plays. In the long run, Howard certainly deserves to eat into Al Thornton‘s minutes … he had six rebounds in 24 minutes to Thornton’s three rebounds in 28. Of course, with the current makeup of the team, Howard looks to get more time at the two.
• Rashard Lewis had 21 points and went 4-8 from beyond the arc, but he needed 19 total shots to get there. Maybe that’s about the efficiency we can expect from him … and making those three pointers does actually make him more efficient (52.6 eFG% vs. the Spurs), especially when that’s an area where the team needs help. Lewis also got 12 rebounds and certainly seems more interested in boxing out than Blatche.
• A lot of people will surely try to analyze John Wall’s return to the court, because it’s popular and brings eyeballs, I suppose, but really, this window — how Wall “looked” against the Spurs — is not really worth dissecting. His stat line off the bench: 19 minutes, four points, 2-9 FGs, no trips to the free-throw line, four assists, four turnovers, four fouls, a block and six rebounds. To me, Wall looked a bit gimpy in his knee at times, maybe it was stiff or whatever, but he did look almost as quick, noted by that sweet spin move he put on Manu before the half. About the only thing I take from Wall’s performance was that he finds ways to impact the game in other areas.
• Kirk Hinrich had 15 points on 7-10 shooting with seven assists and four turnovers. He tried, earnestly. And for some weird reason, Hinrich’s admirable presence makes the Mike Miller and Randy Foye for the fifth pick trade seem even worse. Don’t ask why.

I recently completed the process of moving … not too far away, still in D.C., still in the same apartment building in fact. Regardless, moving is a pain. At one point of my life, partially during the college years, I moved seven times in seven years. I’m sure there are worse stories.

Moving also provides chances … chances to purge. Combine being a sports fan with a mild case of pack-rat-itis and you’ll accrue a lot of stuff. Combine that with having a mom who was an art teacher, which gave me an eye to see just about everything as a potential project, and you’ll have even more crap that your girlfriend (or significant other) doesn’t admire.

Tickets to just about every sporting event I’ve been to in 30 years? I’ve got most of them around somewhere … pretty sure I’ll do something cool with them someday. Boxes of old basketball and baseball cards? Not only do I have plenty with me, but I also stockpiles spread in other states at the respective abodes of both parents.

So, I took my recent move as a chance to purge, but mostly from the inane — umbrella hats, extra sets of poker chips, t-shirts, t-shirts & more t-shirts, novelty Velcro shoes that I purchased from Wal-Mart when I was in college for one reason or another — not sports collectibles, just items wrought with ridiculousness. Some of these things have come in handy for several last-minute Halloween costumes, but most of my retained crap can be directly attributed to acquiring something just for a zinger effect. The things we do when we’re young.

But one of my sports collectibles, if you loosely want to call it that, that I’d retained since 1992(ish) just had to go. I’d kept this old, crappy, IKEA drawer/shelf thing for the past 18 or so years. It went from my parents’ house, to just my mom’s house, to my previous place (and probably with an additional stop or two somewhere in between).

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[Andray Blatche sends a message with his actions.]

[UPDATE: The supposed skirmish between Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee was originally denoted as "simply a disagreement between teammates," by Wizards team officials.

On Saturday night, team president Ernie Grunfeld released a statement: "After further investigation into an incident on Thursday night, we concluded that Andray and JaVale conducted themselves in an unprofessional manner. As a result, both players will be suspended for tomorrow’s game at San Antonio."

So that is that and we move on.]

>>>>>>>

Flip Saunders’ now infamous words last season still haunt. “Don’t think it can’t get any worse because it can,” he said, on more than one occasion.

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Happy Holidays and Happy December 24th. Whatever you’re doing today, hopefully your’e not working. And if you are, here’s to you. I’ll be kind of working … over at ESPN.com’s TrueHoop blog, I’ll be hosting the show today, kicking off the next six weekdays of various hosts from the TrueHoop Network. So throughout Friday I’ll be doing some things over there, and I’ll be doing some things over here at TAI. Thanks for stopping by.

As for the holidays … after all the feel-good stuff, one of the most important aspects of the holiday season is presents … gifts. Sure, just material goods, but also something our economy pretty much depends on. But we all know that presents are best when you enjoy giving them more than getting them.

Last year, I polled several Wizards about the favorite gift that they gave to someone else for Christmas. This year, I asked many of the players about some of the best, and worst, presents that they’ve ever received. It’s all in the video below …

Thanks to The Low Budget Crew for the featured music from their album “A Low Budget Christmas.” Check kevbrown.blogspot.com for more info, download featured at 2 Dope Boyz.

As Kyle Weidie wrote yesterday, Lester Hudson has returned to D.C. from the South for his second tour of duty with the Washington Wizards.  The injury of John Wall and the trade of Gilbert Arenas meant there was a void at the point guard position, and Hudson was a safe, logical choice.  He was with the team from the Las Vegas Summer League in July all the way up until November 22nd, when he was cut in favor of Alonzo Gee.

Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was also a member of the Washington Wizards as an assistant coach  in 2007, albeit briefly, if you can even call it that. It was announced by the team, but never official.  Thibodeau agreed to be an assistant coach in charge of defense under then-head coach Eddie Jordan, then a few days later he stepped down and ended up with the Boston Celtics, where he was a part of  their 2007-08  championship team.  Allegedly, Thibodeau was under the impression that he would be lead assistant coach under Eddie Jordan, and when it became apparent that he would not be, he bailed.

Through the first six months of the 2009-2010 season, Hudson and Thibodeau saw each other just about every day, as the Celtics drafted Hudson in the second round of the 2009 draft. With them, he appeared in just 16 games, averaging 1.4 points in 4.4 minutes per contest.  Still, as an assistant coach, Thibodeau got a chance to watch Hudson practice and battle Rajon Rondo on a daily basis, and apparently Hudson made quite the impression.

Here were Thibodeau’s thoughts on Hudson before last night’s game:

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[Ed. Note: Below is something I wrote about Rashard Lewis' debut for the December 23 edition of ESPN's Daily Dime ... then some must-read links.]

In his Washington Wizards debut, Rashard Lewis performed about as expected for a 31-year-old 3-point-shooting wing player who just got traded from a championship contender to a rebuilding team. In 22 minutes off the bench, Lewis scored eight points on 4-for-10 shooting (0-for-5 from 3) with three rebounds, one block, an assist, two turnovers and five fouls.

The biggest challenge for Flip Saunders is how to integrate Lewis into a team that’s also just welcoming Josh Howard back into the mix after offseason knee surgery. Saunders is not only getting to teach his young team — a lot — but he’s also getting to experiment.

Lewis was inserted at the 3-spot late in the first quarter, creating a lengthy unit with Howard, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, and Kirk Hinrich running the show. The lineup produced instant results for Lewis, as the new addition got his first points as a Wizard on a putback about a minute after he entered. More his style, his second basket came when he slipped a ball screen and Hinrich found him for a 17-footer in the left corner.

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