After a horrible start, the Wizards, a rather dysfunctional team themselves, came back to beat the New Jersey Nets, the worst team in the NBA. Good for them. For the 81-79 win, Flip Saunders need the 5’5″ Earl Boykins, a mid-November pick-up, to hit a jumper with 0.4 seconds left. Jarvis Hayes, a former Washington Wizard, badly missed a shot at the buzzer for the Nets.

The secondary storyline to the Earl of Last-Second Heroics is the fact that not one of the Wizards’ starters, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood, scored in double figures, something that hasn’t happened to an NBA team so far this season and perhaps beyond.

The starters combined to shoot 15-42 from the field and not one of them finished with a positive plus/minus (-14, -1, -7, -11 and -5 respectively in the previously given order).

Other the other hand, the reserves, Boykins, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Fabricio Oberto, were responsible for 43 of the Wizards’ 81 points. Boykins (15), Young (10) and Blatche (14) were the double-figure scorers for Washington and each reserve finished with a positive plus/minus (+17, +4, +7, +13 and +7 respectively in the previously given order).

So in a season where just about anything has happened on and off the court, Wizards fans, the ones who are left, have been exposed to yet another new adventure. At least this time their team won. Read more »

It’s a different world now.

In a way, I feel like Frank Sobotka from The Wire. Just like Sobotka was witnessing the port of Baltimore and its potential crumble around him in season two, I’m witnessing the same happen to the Washington Wizards.

And yes, I realize that it’s very ironic for me to use the word “witness” considering who the Wizards will play in about an hour.

By the way, while I’m making comparisons to The Wire, I might as well call Gilbert Arenas “Ziggy” (Sobotka’s son in the show, not the cartoon character) … both self-destructive in nature and ultimately brought down by gun-play.

Last night’s Sixers game seems like so long ago, obviously aided by Gilbert Arenas’ indefinite suspension, but also because, among other things, I’m rushed into thinking about tonight’s game against Cleveland.

So, even though that Philly game is a distant memory right now, might as well commemorate it … because it could be the last game we ever see Gilbert Arenas in a Wizards uniform. Read more »

The Minnesota Timberwolves might have blamed their poor shooting Saturday night on a cold gym (they finished 37.4% from the field and spent much of the game in the 30s), much like Gilbert Arenas did after a loss to Detroit earlier in December.

Instead, the young T-Wolves fired up energy and hustle to overcome their 57 missed shots (out of 91) to beat the Wizards 101-89, mostly due to crushing the heartless Wiz 19-7 on the offensive boards. At 39.5%, the Wizards didn’t shoot much better from the floor. But opposed to the inexperience of Minnesota, the bad shooting of Flip Saunders’ team was the result of an escape from the offense.

So, it’s another significant step back after a tiny-step forward. A lot of talent, but little teamwork. And once again with more turnovers (16) than assists (12), a lot of offensive selfishness and little to show for it.

Quote from Phil Chenier:

(after Sessions and Love out-fought Butler and Blatche for an offensive rebound) Read more »

The Wizards beat the Bucks 109-97 on Wednesday night. Here’s some of what happened in 12 frames.

I seriously contemplated whether I should ever watch the Wizards-Suns game. It’s not like I didn’t know the 121-95 outcome or was unable to witness the Wizards constructing a Brick City that would make Redman proud. Instead of dedicating my Saturday night life to the Wizards at home, I ventured out in the D.C. snow to meet some friends at a bar for drinks, darts, and sports on TVs. Between the activities, I couldn’t concentrate on watching the Wizards much, but the futility was made crystal clear in the glances I was able to get.

This team has no moxie. With the persistent problem back-to-back games pose, there’s ever-increasing skepticism and little hope that they will ever change course for the better. There are a ton of excuses for why this team is falling way short of expectations, a lot of them seem to stem on more time and patience. But how do you get a team to play with energy and focus like they care?

So, I put my blues collection on shuffle and spent the better part of my Sunday watching the Wizards-Suns with focus … and boy did I learn a lot about this team. I was able to capture the essence of the game in the nine frames below, but I’ll have much more to come in the future about the less desirable aspects of the Flip Saunders’ team.

I don’t think the Wizards have ended a game with turnover this season yet. Chalk another one up in the ‘Inventing Ways To Lose’ tally. Although, turning the ball over to lose a game isn’t a new invention, it’s just what bad teams do. What more can I say?

{fact}

Four of Gilbert Arenas’ six fouls came immediately after a turnover. Three of those turnovers were committed by Arenas himself, one by Caron Butler.

{wizards vs. clippers: 11 frames}

{links}

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{keys to win vs. raptors}

Active Hands

… especially from Jamison and Butler, the latter racked up three steals. As a team, the Wizards had 10 steals (their second highest total of the season), and held the Raptors to only two. Against the Suns, the Wiz had 12 steals, but they also had 17 turnovers. The team only turned the ball over 10 times last night.

Pushing Tempo

… even after the Raptors made shots, the Wizards pushed the ball up the court without deliberation, giving the recently stagnant offense more time to get something done.

According to KnickerBlogger.net, the Wizards play at the 14th fastest Pace in the NBA (92.6). Against the Raptors, they played at a Pace of 94.1, which is the Pace of the ninth fastest team, the Houston Rockets. The Raptors rank 11th in Pace at 93.7. Read more »

On one hand, you have arguably the best game of the year. Dallas is the only other in contention (even though the win against Cleveland was nice, it wasn’t the best).

On the other hand, you have arguably the worst … but there are far more in the conversation (Indiana, Oklahoma City, San Antonio).

Part of me wants to vote for the loss to Charlotte as worst because it’s still fresh. And then there’s this:

Charlotte’s 1st Road Win

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I got a text message from a good friend during Tuesday’s Wizards-Sixers game: “#4 is playing his a** off” — The message really came with the asterisks, he doesn’t like to cuss.

The text made me take pause. I clearly noticed Antawn Jamison’s hustle swag, but it took the words for me to fully digest the amount of playing emotion coming from the team leader. The game meant something to Jamison, and his passion dwarfed that of his teammates by far.

The dedication of The Gentleman Jamison helped overcome the fact that his team almost gave the game away, which fueled by the carelessness of Gilbert Arenas.

With 5:30 left in the game, after a Sam Dalembert bucket, Arenas tried to make a casual pass up the court to Earl Boykins … with Jrue Holiday RIGHT in the passing lane. Holiday got the easy steal, brought the ball up the court and hit a three in Arenas’ face. Five quick Philly points, 98-92 Wizards.

One minute later, Gilbert tried to drive the lane in heavy traffic. Holiday stripped him of the ball; a clean play contrary to Steve Buckhantz’s proclamation that Arenas got “clobbered.” Guess who was allowed to get a rebound tip bucket on the Sixers’ fast break … Jrue Holiday. 98-94 Wizards.

Around another minute later, the Wizards became witnesses as Philly was able to get two offensive rebounds that resulted in a Lou Williams three pointer, the ease of which was contributed to by a lack of defensive urgency from Arenas.

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I’m afraid I’m dating myself with the Oregon Trail reference. It happens.

San Antonio: 59 Rebounds - Washington: 44 Rebounds

Wizards: 12 ast, 9 turnovers – Spurs: 32 ast, 8 turnovers

WAS: 33.3 FG% – SA: 46.5 FG%

From my perspective, the killer against OKC was missed free-throws (19-27, 70.4%) and turnovers (20 for 25 Thunder points) … in addition to uninspired defense of course, namely by the prominent triumvirate that’s supposed to be leading the team.

But enough of that. I’ll have some screen shot breakdowns of the OKC game later, but tonight, the Wizards have to concentrate on the Spurs. Fabricio Oberto will make a homecoming, but his fellow Argentine, Manu Ginobili won’t be available (groin). Tony Parker is also day-to-day (missed Thursday’s game with an ankle).

The Wizards will take all the help they can get, especially as it’s been almost 10 years since they last won a regular season game in San Antonio. During that last win in the Alamodome, Mitch Richmond led all scorers with 31 points. Overall, the Wiz have lost seven in a row to the Spurs, last beating them at home in November ’05 thanks to 43 points from Gilbert Arenas on 15-20 FGs.

No room for moral victories tonight, this team needs a win.

{6 frames, wizards v. thunder}

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