[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 17, Washington Wizards vs Golden State Warriors; contributors: Rashad Mobley and Adam McGinnis from the Verizon Center, and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

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“We are going to shock the world.”

This was the answer Washington season ticket holder and Goodman League head honcho, Miles Rawls, said just moments before tip-off between the Wizards and Heat on Tuesday evening. I had asked the iconic D.C. hoops personality for his prediction of the matchup, one where the Wizards were 10.5-point underdogs and plus-475 payout on the money line.

Rawls was not the only one with confidence that the NBA’s current cellar dwellers could defeat the defending champs at the Verizon Center. Coach Randy Wittman delivered an inspirational message to his team before the game, and he discussed  it afterwards.

“They only people that really think you have a chance tonight is us here right in this room,” Wittman remembered telling his team in the locker room.

He then spoke directly to the media attending his press conference: “You guys don’t. The outside didn’t. I said we need to have a statement game, we haven’t had a statement game … what better of an opportunity to come play in front of the fans that we knew were going to be here and to beat this team. And they took it to heart.”

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 15, Washington Wizards vs Miami Heat; contributors: John Converse Townsend and Adam McGinnis from the Verizon Center, and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

Pre-Game Steez. [photo via Adam McGinnis] Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 14, Washington Wizards at New York Knicks; contributors: Kyle Weidie, Rashad Mobley and Adam McGinnis from behind the T.V.]

Discuss amongst yourselves. [via the Comcast SportsNet television feed, John Wall was giving Nene an earful, likely giving his overall assessment of the situation, toward the end of the blowout]

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 12, Washington Wizards vs San Antonio Spurs; contributors: Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center along with John Converse Townsend and Adam McGinnis from behind the T.V.]

It’s Martell. Somehow Martell Webster, more than not, has become the spokesperson for the Wizards. Part of it is that he’s good in front of the mic, so he naturally attracts the media. Another part of it could be that team veterans—Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor—simply don’t always have it in them to speak up, a silence that’s indicative of their poor play this season. Ariza is often long gone by the time the media scrum arrives to the Wizards locker room after Randy Wittman’s end-of-the-night press conference. Okafor, mostly a result of his post-game routine of stretching, etc., often takes so long after games that the press has mostly moved on to deadlines and work before Okafor even starts showering. Thus, we are left with Webster, a guy making a mere $1.75 million this season who wasn’t on the Wizards’ radar until mid-August, instead of the duo—Ariza and Okafor—making around $7.3 and $13.5 million this season respectively. It is what it is. So here is the guy with the guts to say that he and his teammates are embarrassed. Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 10, Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks; contributors: Adam McGinnis, Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

Flabbergasted. Read more »

A Storify via TAI’s Adam McGinnis, but first…

From halftime of the Wizards-Bobcats game on Tuesday night…

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 6, Washington Wizards at Charlotte Bobcats; contributors: Adam McGinnis, John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

What do you think, John Wall? Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 5, Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers; contributors: Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

It usually starts with #WittmanFace Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 1, Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers; contributors: Adam McGinnnis, Rashad Mobley, and Kyle Weidie.]

How do you like your John Wall?… With glasses? Read more »