As previously advertised, this Wizards team runs on emotional highs and lows. Last night’s 116-91 loss to the Sacramento Kings just happened to be a Comedy of Errors. Not so much in a ‘ha-ha’ kind of way, but more reminiscent of when Caron Butler used to say last year that he was laughing to keep from crying.

The Wizards, led by Gilbert Arenas and Kirk Hinrich in the backcourt, because John Wall was a late scratch, along with Al Thornton, Trevor Booker and Kevin Seraphin in the starting lineup (Andray Blatche was still out) — quite a surprise entry by Flip Saunders, who must be desperate by now … either for a win or to get out of “what he didn’t sign up for” — fell to 0-12 on the road for the season and 6-15 overall.

I guess this loss was beyond embarrassing, because the Washington Post didn’t even use “embarrassing” in the title of Michael Lee’s post on Wizards Insider, as the online newspaper did after losses in Boston and Atlanta earlier this season. After the Boston loss, Ted Leonsis responded in his blog, Ted’s Take, writing that he wasn’t as easily embarrassed. One must wonder if seven straight road losses since, low-lighted by take downs in Toronto and Sacramento by a combined total of 44 points, is starting to change that sentiment.

Leonsis blogs about last night’s game today:

No rest for the weary.

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Sure, you’ve seen Nick Young’s sweet 360 spin move, but why not watch it again (via the bootleg TAI remix version)?

So in honor of Nick’s move against the Lakers in Los Angeles, Truth About It.net is giving away four free tickets to see the Lakers play the Wizards in D.C. next Tuesday, December 14 … in a suite no less.

Yep, exactly … more free tickets (and again, courtesy of StubHub — they keep providing TAI with free tickets, and we, in turn, are glad to provide them to readers … everybody wins). Here at the details:

What?

Wizards vs. Lakers

When?

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A big congrats goes to Jonathan Lee and Jacob Holtz for submitting the winning answers for a recent Wizards-Heat ticket giveaway held by TAI. Each of them will be receiving four tickets for when Miami makes their first visit to Washington on December 18, courtesy of StubHub.

For the contest, I asked people to submit answers to two questions and had other staff members of TAI (John, Rashad and Adam) serve as the judges. Here are the questions:

Question No. 1: Ted Leonsis is big on his 101 Signs of Visible Change, much of which has to do with the game experience of fans. Whether it involves Leonsis’ list, player or coaching personnel, team management, or just about anything, tell TAI what you most want to see changed surrounding the Wizards.

Question No. 2: Remember the mid-90s Washington Bullets promo video, “You The Man”? If not, you can watch it via YouTube here. Seeing as the mid-90s was a very long time ago, give TAI a very brief update (2-3 sentences) on why you are now a Wizards fan.

Here’s the response from Jonathan Lee:

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If you tucked yourself into bed early last night, snug as a bug on a cold December evening, nice job of letting something as silly as sleep usurp your Wizards fandom, because you missed a helluva game.

With people already checking mock drafts and college prospects for roster potentials, it’s worth notching Washington’s 115-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers as moral victory No. 3 on the season, after Orlando at home and Miami on the road, and last night’s game certainly holds to the top spot as the Wizards’ most entertaining game of the season, win or loss.

There were so many highlight plays by both teams that several will surely fall between the cracks (and did in the highlight video above). From a Wizards’ perspective, he’s a quick overview:

Trevor Booker is a man, and not just in physique. The four-year college player from Clemson showed veteran confidence against the Lakers on his way to 14 points, four rebounds and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench. But should he start in front of Andray Blatche? (BTW, Blatche sat out the Lakers game with a left hip bruise last night. Speaking of, why are so many Wizards sitting out with bruises lately — or “contusions” as they are called? First it was Nick Young sitting out against the Blazers and now Dray — and I’m not here to say those contusions don’t hurt and make it hard to move, but sitting out with a bruise would seemingly indicate inherent softness … just saying.) Anyway, Mike Prada on Bullets Forever writes:

“I would be careful to overreact to this game and call for sweeping changes to the starting lineup.  While Booker played great, this was also a fast-paced game with a lot of instinct rather than thinking, and he excels in that kind of setting.  That said, maybe it’s time to make some changes in the rotation.  Less Andray Blatche, much less Yi Jianlian and more Young at small forward.  I’m not talking something as drastic as a lineup change necessarily, but if Booker T and the Frenchman don’t earn more PT going forward, then you’re essentially saying playing the Lakers this close is meaningless.”

While I agree with Mr. Prada’s well-balance assessment for the most part, here’s where I would be inclined to disagree … at least in terms of replacing Blatche with Booker in the starting lineup. Sure, it’s just one game for Booker and one could certainly say that Blatche’s knowledge of defensive rotations is better for the simple fact that he’s been in the league longer (of course, Blatche could have been fooled by Kobe’s spin move just as Booker was around the 0:35 mark in the above highlight video). However, here’s what we also know: Read more »

[via Washington Wizards FaceBook]

Because I didn’t have a better title. Because I love late-starting West Coast games. Because I usually stay up late anyway. Because I’m excited to watch this match-up. Because Al Thornton sports jammies in SoCal. That’s Juice for ya.

LINKS.

For tonight’s Wizards-Lakers game, I did a Q&A with Andy Kamanetzky of the Land O’ Lakers blog on ESPN LA … you should go check it out.

Related to the matchup, Andy writes: Read more »

Last Friday against the Portland Trailblazers, the decision was made to bring Gilbert Arenas off the bench. After missing four out of six games and then coming off the bench versus Toronto, it was time for John Wall to start. But next to Kirk Hinrich and Alonzo Gee at the wings instead of Arenas? It seemed curious at a minimum. So, speculation, contributed to by myself and others, ran away with itself … because what else are we to do with curiosities? Feed the algorithm monster with pixels I suppose.

“Well, Hinrich IS Ernie Grunfeld’s darling (Arenas ain’t) … and maybe the team would rather get Wall and Hinrich used to playing next to each other for the next couple of seasons” — (even though Hinrich is likely to bolt D.C. as fast as Mike Miller did, probably back to Chicago when his contract runs out after the 2011-12 season … if he’s not traded before then).

“Maybe Flip Saunders wants Arenas’ scoring off the bench since Nick Young missed the Blazers game due to what was reported to be a thigh contusion.”

“Maybe the ‘Arenas and Wall can work together’ idea is being phased out.” — (amid rampant Arenas trade rumors that have been vehemently denied by Ted Leonsis)

“Maybe Flip Saunders was just grasping for straws with lineup changes on struggling team.”

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[Last Friday night's win versus the Portland Trailblazers, in pictures. -KW]

So JaVale McGee received a pretty sweet half-court alley-oop from Gilbert Arenas, let’s watch the video:

Now let’s check what I saw from where I was located (in GIF form), which certainly seems better than Sean Marks’ perspective. Then again, he’s making NBA money.

More Pictures from the Phone Booth Floor:

[click on images to enlarge]

Marcus Camby arbitrarily yells into the night.

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[As it turns out, Hakim Warrick's monster jam on Yi Jianlian at the end of the first half was a sign for things to come for Washington in the second half.]

There was a battle for momentum toward the end of the second quarter during Sunday night’s Wizards-Suns game. Steve Nash had just penetrated the lane (as he did with ease all night), and dished off to Hakim Warrick (again, as he did all night) for a thunderous slam, and there were just four seconds left on the clock.  John Wall then took the ball, ran down the court and launched a shot from just inside the three-point line.

After Wall’s attempt went in off the glass just before the buzzer, Channing Frye looked in disbelief and then ran towards the locker room.  Wall briefly looked at the crowd, tapped his chest twice, and then he too ran off the court.  His shot had cut the Suns lead to three points, and momentum seemed to be firmly on the Wizards’ side.

In the first 90 seconds or so of the third quarter, it seemed like the Wizards were up to matching the Suns’ intensity.  Jason Richardson and Channing Frye both scored off passes from Nash, but the Wizards countered with scores of their own courtesy of two free throws from Wall and a dunk from Alonzo Gee.  At that point, the Wizards were still within three points.

But then the Steve Nash show really started to kick into full gear. The Wizards could not keep pace and things began to get out of hand. Nash was either scoring or dishing on every basket, and each of Phoenix’s other four starters (Grant Hill, Channing Frye, Richardson and even Earl-freaking-Barron) scored within the first six minutes.

The Wizards weren’t nearly as fluid.  Gee took and missed two three-pointers, which really isn’t his shot, while JaVale McGee and Wall took turns turning the ball over.  Andray Blatche, who started quickly with 12 first quarter points, went almost half of the third quarter before he scored a basket, but at that point, the Wizards were already down 85-73.

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[Steve Nash lures John Wall with a back dribble, then changes pace to attack the open lane while keeping the ball away from JaVale McGee with two hands before sliding in for a layup.]

This Wizards team is hard to dissect, and I don’t mean “take apart,” as Steve Nash did on Sunday evening on his way to captaining his Suns to a 125-108 victory.

The Wizards are hard to dissect in the sense of separating individual parts to determine why the team continues to lose in the worst of ways (and win by the skin of their teeth). Anything and everything could go wrong on a given night.

On offense, in general, the team wastes too many possessions with bad shots. Pretty simple to conclude that they could use a lot more discipline in this regard. On defense, it comes down to focus and will, something several Wizards have major issues with. When you combine the overall effect that has on the team with the stylings of the two-time MVP in Nash, you have a recipe for the Suns to have their way with the Wizards.

Nash was often seen casually strolling through the paint, slicing through defenders as shown in the above GIF on Sunday night. But really, there was nothing casual about it. Well, unless you’re talking about the Wizards’ defense.

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John Wall didn’t have a good game Friday evening and the frustration showed. With less than 35 seconds left and the Wizards still trying to eke out against the Portland Trailblazers, Wall seemed exasperated by the night.

“Are you okay?,” asked Flip Saunders from the sideline. Wall gave a slight nod, but kept the deadpan look on his face. In 40 minutes on the night, he had 10 points on 3-13 shooting, four turnovers and two assists. He’s had bad games before, but this one seemed different.

After a first half reminiscent of the lacking energy and focus in Toronto, the Wizards were able to grind out an 83-79 win partially thanks to the result of the Blazers scoring just 10 points in the third quarter, but mostly thanks to a Portland team in a worse situation than the Wizards right now.

“Evidently, they’re not responding to me, because all of these games look similar,” went Blazers coach Nate McMillan’s opening statement. So that was that.

Give the Wizards credit for showing resiliency after a dreadful first half, and perhaps a big thanks to Irene Pollin, who sat courtside with her late husband Abe’s two sons, James and Robert. She wore her lucky NBA Draft Lottery-winning yellow, Abe’s favorite color. The Pollins were on hand Friday night to present an $80,000 check funded by Wizards fans in Abe Pollin’s name to the Capital Area Food Bank.

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[Brandon Roy reacts as referee Courtney Kirkland points toward him, indicating a foul will be called on Roy, canceling Portland's possession of the ball and an Andray Blatche technical foul.]

With just over two minutes left in Friday night’s game, and the Wizards holding onto a 73-69 lead over the Portland Trailblazers, Brandon Roy took a three pointer.

He missed. Nicolas Batum got an offensive rebound and passed to Wesley Matthews in the corner. He missed a three. Joel Pryzybilla then missed a controlled tip from point-blank range. LaMarcus Aldridge tipped the rebound, and missed, and tipped the ball again, and again, and again, just swatting with the hope that something would go in his team’s favor for a change.

The final rebound then brushed past Roy’s hands. Andray Blatche swooped in to try to gather the ball as he teetered on the baseline, but in one move, Roy punched the ball away. As it left Blatche’s grasp, Roy grabbed him around the waist with one arm to prevent recovery. The ball went out of bounds, and having last touched Blatche’s hands, referee Scott Wall blew the whistle, signaling possession in Portland’s favor. Wall’s view of Blatche getting grabbed was blocked.

Andray made a face to the ref, and during the motion of turning the other way, threw a punch into the air, which fits into the category that has earned many NBA players technical fouls this season, as David Stern is trying to crack down on such transgressions.  So Wall immediately whistled Blatche for a technical foul. Uh oh. That would mean Portland could sink a free-throw, cut the Wizards lead to three, and have the ball in their hands.

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[Portland's Brandon Roy expresses his displeasure at a changed/overruled call that could have meant a three-point swing with less than two minutes to go in a loss to the Wizards.  Photo: K. Weidie]

Prior to last night’s game against the Wizards, Portland Trailblazers guard Wesley Matthews declared it a must-win situation. When coach Nate McMillan got wind of this during his pre-game press conference, he bluntly refuted that premise.

“I think all games are a must win, so what happens if we don’t?”

Three and a half hours after he made that statement, McMillan got his answer when his team lost to the Wizards, 83-79.  They scored 10 points in the third quarter,  23 in the fourth and they shot 33% for the entire game.  The Blazers looked lost on offense, lethargic on defense, and they allowed a struggling Wizards team to overcome a 12-point Portland lead and steal the game.

In the post-game press conference, McMillan’s words and body language reminded me of former Dallas Cowboys coach Wade Phillips. When it became painfully obvious that the Cowboys were no longer responding to his coaching prowess, Phillips would show up to press conferences and say that the he did not know what to do with his team, and he was as baffled as anyone else as to what the solution was.  After awhile, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had no choice to fire him.

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You sit courtside at an NBA game and you must pay attention.

It’s somewhat similar to how there are certain seats in a baseball park where you must have a heightened sense of foul balls. But that’s a ball, not a person.

NBA basketball, unlike football and hockey as well, is the only pro sport where players can come in physical contact with fans. Sure, you’re thinking of Ron Artest now, but that’s not what I mean. Players from any sport are capable of going into the stands to fight fans. I mean contact during the course of play. Maybe the Lambeau Leap could classify as a unique fan-player interaction, but if you’re sitting in those seats, you have a crappy view of the field.

NBA courtside seats provide a unique sporting experience that can’t be topped.

Sitting courtside also comes with a cost, in the wallet of course (unless you’re a blogger with a photo credential), but also in the risk of receiving the errant limbs of sweaty occupants from the tall gene pool into unknown areas of your body spilling beer and lord knows what, where. And that’s part of the fun.

Photo of the Night.

[click on images to enlarge] Read more »

Due to Thanksgiving holiday travel, my pictures from the November 23 Wizards-76ers game are a bit tardy. But considering the Wizards have not won a game since, enduring two embarrassing blowouts in the process, reminiscing a thrilling victory could be a good remedy for Wizards fans. Enjoy.

John Wall & Gilbert Arenas stand out during the national anthem.

76ers top pick Evan Turner trying to get one of his threes to drop during pre-game shoot around.

Wizards Rookie Kevin Seraphin is much more jovial to be around than this shot depicts.

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A D.C. pic, links, commentary and tickets for free ….

The Portland Trailblazers are in D.C. tonight to take on the Wizards … and guess what? They’re giving away John Wall bobble-head dolls to the first 10,000 fans. So if you want one, you best show up on time. What else are you going to do on a cold Friday night in D.C.? Watch Miami (Ohio) take on 25th-ranked Northern Illinois in college football? Sure buddy. Plus, if the game sells out, there’s a chance you could see Ted Leonsis do the “Dougie” … which would most certainly be better than Wolf Blitzer’s “Dougie” (who did it on ‘Soul Train’ of all places? Weird).

In any case, check out my column at the DCist this week where I ponder if the Wizards are still worth watching?

And from the other side, Portland fans have it pretty bad too, Wizards fans — just admittedly not as bad as Wiz fans, at least according to one Trailblazers blogger. Check out what the Portland Roundball Society has to say about tonight’s game.

GIVEAWAY: Wizards-Heat Tickets, December 18, 2010

A big congrats goes to Sarah Cook of Arlington, VA for winning TAI’s first ticket giveaway to the Wizards-Heat game on December 18th. Sarah writes about her Wizards fandom: Read more »