It’s hard to know what to say after witnessing the effort from the Wizards on Friday night. Well, witnessing over television most of the second quarter, all of the third, and most of the fourth — more than enough. There wasn’t much to see aside from a handful of main players, including franchise poster boy John Wall, quit on the team and quit on themselves. The result was a widespread infection of basketball that would make an AAU coach cringe, but these guys are supposed to be professionals.

And so the Philadelphia 76ers mopped the floor with the Washington Wizards, 120 to 89. Just about the biggest accomplishment by Flip Saunders’ team was doing their part to fatten up the citizens of Philadelphia. With just under seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Philadelphia’s Jodie Meeks made the second of back-to-back threes, putting the Sixers over the 100 point mark with a 102-72 lead. And with that triple-digit milestone, all fans in attendance were awarded free Big Macs.

Caron Butler once said that you gotta laugh to keep from crying. A DC Council post for this game is to come, but until then, let’s take a look at this dribbling display from Jordan Crawford. In your mind, play Yakety Sax (also embedded below), or the Cantina Song from Star Wars (yep, embedded below as well). Enjoy

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In terms of winning percentage and shooting, two kind of big things in basketball, this lockout-shortened season could be rock-bottom for the rebuild of the Washington Wizards. And in terms of record books and scoring, it is. They scored 64 points tonight against Chicago, a franchise all-time low, to 78 points for the Bulls. The previous Washington franchise low was 65 points scored in an away game against the New Jersey Nets on December 13, 2002.

The Wizards shot 31-percent from the field on Wednesday in Chicago, at least they shot 36.6-percent that night in New Jersey — and Michael Jordan and Larry Hughes were chucking up shots (14-34 FGs, 31 points combined) instead of Jordan Crawford and Nick Young (6-23 FGs, 19 points combined).

Speaking of Young and Crawford, their shooting and passing stats this year:

>Crawford is shooting 33.3% from the field
while averaging 17.9 FGAs per 36 minutes as well as 3.6 assists/36.

>Young is shooting 37.7% from the field
while averaging 16.8 FGAs per 36 minutes as well as 1.7 assists/36.

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NOTE: Look, I don’t profess to know why Truth About It.net has found itself as the intermediary between Jordan Crawford’s Twitter account-cum-letters from camp as transcribed by the WizzNutzz… I just know that these things need a venue, which kind of makes TAI like a cross between Larenz Tate in The Postman and Larenz Tate in Dead Presidents — stuff is about to get weird, futuristic, apocalyptic, violent, or all or none of the above… Oh, and someone might have their face painted like a mime at some point. In any case, communique as-is below… Goes without saying that none of the following represents the thoughts, ideas, etc. of those at TAI … nor is any of this censored (with the exception of two of these: “*”), because this site, nor Tweets from @JCraw55 (which is what all this is based off) are venues for such. -Kyle W.

———- Message ———-
From: Wizz Nutzz <wizznutzz@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 12:33 AM
Subject: j craw camp letters 2
To: truthaboutit@gmail.com

dear Kyles,
J Craw LUV we use he tweets from camp letter to give incite into NBA lifestyle!!! he say, “EXPLAIN NOVEMBER, DIG?” and we do below!!! insides include incites on birds, backcourts, Jerry Sandusky & Ben Sherman clothes — that right, J Craw a mod!!!! +++DUDE BOUNCE IS WOWZERS!!! please to use if you fit!!!

Deeece Nutzz,

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NOTE: If you’re familiar with the work of the WIZZNUTZZ, then there’s no need to explain the unexplainable. If you’re not familiar, then I won’t even try. Either way, with a now dormant WizzNutzz website and a more recently dormant @wzzntzz Twitter account (resulting from what one can only assume is non-basketball reasons within the Mothering Hut), people miss the WizzNutzz. No need to miss them anymore, for now, because here with a Christmas miracle, via electronic mail, is a brief return of the WizzNutzz on Truth About It.net, with an assist from Jordan Crawford’s Twitter account, @jcraw55. I’ve written too much already, so without further ado, the email in full below… -Kyle W.

 ———- Message ———-
From: WizzNutzz <wizznutzz@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 25, 2011 at 6:30 PM
Subject: wzntz xclusivce 4 truth abotu ti!!!
To: truthaboutit@gmail.com

kylyle-

we  locked out of we site & dont know how get back, but we have LAST MIN incite for Chriosmtas MIRACLE!!! below is a collection of J Craw’s Dec tweets as writ like letter home from camp to we wizznutzz, he best friends & only people who speak same language. it’s HIGHER PLANE SHIT. please to print in apropriate forum on your website should u FIND NEED!!!!

Merry Christmas to all! Have a Bless one! I feel where you was goin wit that jeezy! I relate. Maintain to cool but she dumb Hot! Thought my name was Charlie the way she kept sayin she was over the moon for me On ice wit somethin that make ya melt! Yall take it easy on the Xmas eve! God Bless.

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Links, commentary, stuff…

Andray Blatche. You might be aware of his various exploits that seem trapped in an devolving time continuum.

Blatche, inherently, is a sympathetic figure. He literally loafed into an NBA career, to the envy of millions, by likely being just smart of enough to realize that if he worked just a little bit to enhance his natural talents, he would get there. And he did.

He’s not a bad guy, nor is he misunderstood like a lot of athletes like to claim. It is, however, true to an extent in that lay people, the “commoners” to which LeBron referred in his infamous quote, don’t know the pressure of money, exposure, expectations, high critique, and high reward, which I am assuming is widely accepted in bounties of tangible goods and women. But to say that some of these pro athletes are misunderstood is to say that they, themselves, are complicated figures. Often, we know, that is not the case. Rather, it’s their situations within the business of the game they love (or “like”) to play which provides varying complex ways to digest someone who is simply human.

Blatche is a human after all. He means well, but the means by which he gets caught up in “the life,” as some like to call it (being a highly paid professional athlete, that is) doesn’t always bode well for him. Whose fault is it? Well, according to my own sliding scale of reason, the older Blatche gets, the more he is solely to blame for his situation(s).

My sarcasm and critique toward the guy, on the court and off, long ago, through conditioning I suppose, came to the conclusion that Blatche is and will continue to be a lost cause in terms of a basketball player. For obvious reasons, I teeter between internal struggles hoping that I’m proven wrong, versus the blind stare of franchise eyes continuing to stubbornly support and believe in disappointment, versus knowing that all humans love redemption stories from various levels and angles.

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When a key deadline trade goes down between a playoff team needing help and a non-playoff team needing to rebuild, most feel bad for the veteran going to the losing situation —  Sasha Vujacic, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Mike Bibby, Maurice “Mo” Evans come to mind from this season. The secondary consideration, partially because he’s going to that losing team, is the young player who would gladly trade riding the bench during a playoff run for a chance to suit up for a team going nowhere. Jordan Crawford got that and more when he went from Atlanta to Washington. He got off to a hot start with a new team that he wouldn’t give up on, even when hindered by a back injury. He got that treasured green light, which is rare, even for a lottery team. But what happens when that green light ends?

Crawford arrived in Washington at February’s trade deadline along with the 18th pick of the 2011 draft and a good veteran influence in Evans. In exchange, the Wizards gave up Kirk Hinrich (owed $8 million next season) and Hilton Armstrong. They also got the unexpected bonus of a money-saving buyout of Mike Bibby, who also came with Crawford and Evans from Atlanta. Because of a knee injury to Nick Young, he suddenly found himself going from the 12th or 13th man on the bench to full-time starter by his seventh game with the Wizards. He ended up starting his final 17 games in Washington, out of 26 total games with the team. The carefree Wizards bunch went a respectable 7-10 in those last 17 games, during which Crawford averaged 20 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.9 assists (to 3.1 turnovers), and 1.3 steals. Pretty impressive for the 27th pick of the 2010 draft.

But what’s a constant green light scenario without some wrecks and gridlock? Specifically speaking, Crawford’s intriguingly erratic and promise-filled offense comes with the caveat of him shooting  .394 from the field on 19.5 attempts per game in 40.7 minutes per contest. Volume shooting like that can get you beat. He also shot .280 from three (1.2 makes per game), and .877 from the free-throw line (3.8 attempts per game).

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With a 97-91 win over the Bobcats in Charlotte on Sunday evening, the Washington Wizards propelled themselves into the territory of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls circa 2002-03, the last season that saw an NBA team have only three wins on the road, both mentioned teams having achieved the feat. Worth noting, however, that the Bulls finished 30-52 that year, the Cavaliers just 17-65. Also worth noting, the Wizards have three road games left — at Indiana, at Boston and at Cleveland — so three on the season might not be the magic number.

Cleveland was admittedly tanking to get LeBron James in 2002-03. Enough said. And that Chicago team, fresh off taking a young point guard in Jay Williams in the 2002 draft to pair with the promise of Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jamaal Crawford and Marcus Fizer, had all the hope in the world. It only took about eight more seasons with middling success and another rebuild for Chicago to become any sort of playoff threat. And if you EVER see John Wall on a motorcycle…

The Wizards are now 20-56, significant because they won’t tie a franchise record for least wins in an 82-game season at 19. They currently have the third worst record in the NBA after Cleveland’s 15 wins and Minnesota’s 17 wins, but with six games left, they are dangerously close to falling back in the lottery odds with Toronto at 21 wins, Sacramento at 22 and New Jersey at 23.

The Players.

Jordan Crawford is quickly moving past the “shiny new tool” syndrome and into a special prospect category. Crawford’s style is unique, and he can score in a number of ways. He can score in big situations, he can score against more dominantly talented competition, and he can score while trying to run the Wizards as a rookie trying to learn point guard in the NBA.

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Monday night the Wizards competed without Nick Young, Rashard Lewis, Josh Howard and Andray Blatche—roughly $32 million, 55-percent of the team’s payroll.  It felt great. I haven’t had this much fun watching a Wiz game in months.

Yes, John Wall was spectacular in the first half, as Kyle points out in video form. But my excitement and interest can be traced to exactly one player, Jordan Crawford.

Crawford, a skinny combo-guard out of a mid major conference; the kid with the slightly hunched posture, a wide, loose handle and a perpetual look of %$@! the world on his face. You may know Crawford for banging on LeBron James or for his eye-popping pull-ups in the NCAA tournament.  He’s also the one who ditched Indiana after his freshman year when Kelvin Sampson was fired, deciding to rebuild his reputation in the A-10. The one who came with character questions—would he focus? was he mature enough?—but also an unquestioned hunger. The one who’s made a name for himself gambling on his own guts and repeatedly come up cash.

Crawford isn’t a very good player yet. He’s a streak shooter (the positive parlance for inconsistent) who turns the ball over too much and takes other foolish risks.

But oh, does he want it. He plays with a fire that also smolders in his rookie backcourt mate, John Wall. With an energy that borders on fury, the same emotion Wall has expressed in barely veiled statements about his teammates’ lack of effort.

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For being the root of the furor surrounding the confiscated, yet perhaps less-than-stellar dunk on LeBron James in July 2009, Jordan Crawford is a rather ambiguous player. His hunched-down physique, raspy gargle of a voice and 6’4″, 195 pound stature almost denotes an ‘old man’ impression on his non-demonstrative movement. But when he goes to score, fueled by natural instinct, he is just as spry as you’d expect of a 22-year old NBA rookie, and then some.

But what exactly does he do? Are the Wizards simply working with wild scoring talent that needs to be tamed? That seems to be the more present denominator of Crawford’s game with, perhaps, the assumption that his development as a complete player — certainly including the ability to play defense and perhaps including the ability to fill the role of spot creator — will simply come along for the ride of his seemingly unpredictable nature.

Crawford has shown the promise of relentless defensive intensity, and he’s also shown the ‘oh brother’ of overly aggressive, erratic offense. What he seems to be at this point is naturally unnatural, the current stats on his professional career, in their tiny, unable to be truly analyzed sample size, contributing to his ambiguous nature. He is yet another Wiz Kid to be tossed in the already crowded pool, not to see if swims, but how he swims. Hopefully Crawford and his other young teammates don’t end up climbing and clawing at each other in order to stay afloat. But the mundanely optimistic part about watching a bad team in the midst of rebuilding is that the opportunities will be aplenty.

Maurice “Mo” Evans, who came to the Wizards with Crawford in the Kirk Hinrich trade, has proven to be a veteran’s vet. He’s well-spoken and provides thought-out answers, the good standing of his opinion aided by the fact that he’s one of six vice presidents of the National Basketball Players Association. Evans has been around Crawford for the duration of his 212-minute NBA career (160 over 16 games in Atlanta and 52 minutes over four games in Washington). More importantly, Evans has seen a display of Crawford’s talents and demeanor since training camp and in practices — clearly Evans ranks highly amongst authorities in observational opinion of Crawford’s game. After last Saturday’s game versus the Dallas Mavericks, I asked Evans two key questions about Crawford.

You’ve obviously seen a lot of Jordan, what about his game do people not really know about? Read more »

The blogging has been dormant because of a trip to Vegas … where tales obviously go mostly as the famous Sin City saying(s) does, local DMV futures bets being among the exceptions.

First up, the Wizards to prevail in the NBA Finals at 40-1. As a fan/follower of the team, I’m obligated to … ‘why not’, right?

To which Brett Pollakoff of NBA FanHouse responded/tweeted:

Why not? Oh I don’t know, maybe because the actual odds of that happening are more like 500-1?

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Update: a better version

The buzz around “the” dunk has been building for what seems like months now …. Twitter, blog posts, FaceBook groups, national media attention, and the like.

And now that the masses have actually seen the Jordan Crawford over LeBron James dunk, the Internet is predictably calling it over-hyped and overrated.

Sorry J.E. Skeets, maybe ‘anticlimactic’ has a seat at the table, but words like ‘over-hyped’ and ‘overrated’ are irrelevant.

Sure, they could be used to describe a grainy video of a far-away jam. But the dunk was never the point.

The confiscated videos, the cover-up, the absurdity, the protectionism, the Danny Snyder-esque power play for control by LeBron and Nike … these are the reasons for the sensational explosion from the furthest corners of the World Wide Web to the creases of the couches from which bloggers blog.

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