[The DC Council -- After each Wizards game: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the bench, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is over the table. Game 3 contributors: Rashad Mobley, Arish Narayen and John Converse Townsend.]

Score

Washington Wizards 81 at Milwaukee Bucks 102 [box score]

Read more »

The Wizards started their first two games of this season with less effort, more selfishness and more frustration expressed from the players than should be accepted. No matter how much the team owner wants to use age as an excuse, these are not good signs that the franchise is successfully establishing “new traditions,” the message printed on t-shirts given to fans on opening night. Some mistakes are okay, but the aspects shown thus far by the team are not what you want infiltrating a young, impressionable team. But, alas, each next game is a chance for the Wizards to turn it around, we think. Tonight they take on the Bucks in Milwaukee at 8:30 PM ET. For 3-on-3 today, we have Jeremy Schmidt from the ESPN TrueHoop Network Bucks blog Bucksketball, TAI’s Rashad Mobley, and myself, Kyle Weidie. Here we go…

Jeremy Schmidt, Bucksketball: Is Andray Blatche going to crush Milwaukee’s power forwards on the block in an effort to show how mature he is?

MOBLEY: Let’s see, after the first game, Blatche calls out everyone who passes him the ball for not getting him the ball in the post — a place he has routinely eschewed during his career. He repeats this anger via Twitter later that night, backtracks via Twitter the next day, and this amidst Flip Saunders having a pre-practice meeting with him to sort things out.  The next game, he started off shooting 0-for-7 en route to a 2-for-13, seven point performance. He may crush Milwaukee’s forwards, and he may think he’s showing maturity, but given his track record, it’ll all come undone soon enough.

SCHMIDT: He certainly has the talent. He’s a bad matchup for the Bucks: Too quick for Andrew Bogut, too strong for most of their power forwards. But he’s as much of a threat to remove himself from the game mentally as anyone it would seem. I know there was some noise about him being grouchy already, but I think if he’s demanding more post touches, ultimately, that’s a wonderful thing for Washington.

WEIDIE: We’re at the stage where Blatche is nobly, at least for him, trying a bit too hard… pressing. Unfortunately, some of this effort is focused in the wrong areas, and on this young Wizards team, he has no place to hide. In the past, there have been scorer’s to take the pressure and attention off of Blatche — and maybe Nick Young is starting to take that role. Another problem: Blatche is neither tough mentally or physically. If he wants the ball more in the post, he’s got to be strong and hold his post position. That didn’t work out on the VERY FIRST PLAY in Atlanta. That being said, watch his 17-foot jumper be on versus the Bucks, or something like that, which will then magically open up the offense for the Wizards.

Read more »

[Editor's Note: TAI's Adam McGinnis takes us back to his photos from 'Under the Hoop' when the Milwaukee Bucks were in D.C. on March 8.]

The Opening Tip.

Bucks Warm Up.

Read more »

Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis transparently concedes rebuilds are messy and painful, as he asks fans for patience and faith while the roster is retooled for the future.  He forgot to mention the word that immediately came to mind after witnessing the Milwaukee Bucks 95-76 destruction of the Wizards on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center: Embarrassing. Those partaking in Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras festivities were better served than fans suffering through another demoralizing defeat.

Flip Saunders was disappointed that his backcourt did not respond to the challenge, Trevor Booker questioned the team’s heart, and John Wall admitted to playing terrible.

The Bucks, who the Wizards hammered just a few weeks prior, blew open a tight game in the second quarter and never were seriously challenged again. They toyed with the Wizards and were able to get any shot they wanted. Milwaukee has struggled with scoring all season, yet, they appeared to be high offensive juggernaut versus Wizards hapless defensive resistance.

Andray Blatche was unable to return after spraining his right shoulder early in the first quarter. To the shock of Blatche haters, the “third option” offensive presence was definitely missed as the Wizards struggled to score points. Sloppy ball-handling did not help the cause either, the Wiz Kids finished with 22 turnovers to only 17 assists. Rookie Jordan Crawford led the team with 22 points but tallied a plus/minus of minus-22.

Read more »

[Editor's note: Ryan Gracia is majoring in sports communication and journalism at George Mason University and freelances for work for TAI can be found here, here and here.]

{photo: A. McGinnis, TAI}

As my eyes wandered away from the court for a moment during Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, a rarely-seen-before sight from my peripheral view quickly brought my attention back to the court. The Wizards’ 56^th pick in the 2010 draft was headed to the scorer’s table, getting ready to make just his fifth appearance all season. That sight got me smiling and fist-pumping – and definitely would have unintentionally gotten me on the Verizon Center “Fist Pump Cam” if it were happening then.

It wasn’t just the sight of Hamady N’diaye finally getting a chance to prove his worth that got me excited. It was simply seeing him jog to check in. Let me repeat: He showed excitement to play the sport he loves and actually jogged to the scorer’s table. N’diaye and his enthusiasm didn’t look like the typical substitute hopelessly aiming to show his rares amidst an unknown opportunity. But maybe the change turned out to be exactly that – hopeless at first, yet impactful in a 5:28 stint.

Andray Blatche’s newest shoulder injury experienced three minutes into the Bucks game, depleting (depth-wise) an already-depleted (skill-wise) Wizards frontcourt, paved the way for N’diaye to be thrust under the bright lights of the house that Abe Pollin built.  Flip Saunders was caught in quite a pickle with just Yi Jianlian and Hamady as the only big men hoping for their number to be called at that point in the game. And the Wizards coach made a great choice by choosing the gap-toothed man from Senegal, who hasn’t played for the Wizards since mid-December (with time spent in the D-League in between).

Read more »

{photo: A. McGinnis, TAI}

The Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards were coming out of an official timeout with 7:31 left in their game on Tuesday night with Milwaukee leading 84-61.  The Wizards only mustered 31 combined points in the second and third quarters while the Bucks put up 53, and the game was all but out of reach as a result.  Still, Wizards coach Flip Saunders wanted to make a last ditch effort at a comeback so he subbed in John Wall, Trevor Booker and JaVale McGee for Yi Jianlian, Kevin Seraphin and Jordan Crawford.

After a made free throw by Milwaukee rookie Larry Sanders, Wall dribbled down the court while being pressured by Bucks guard Earl Boykins and eventually had to give the ball up to McGee.  McGee took the pass, but could not immediately give the ball back to his point guard for him to set up the offense because Boykins was pestering Wall as only the 5’5″ Boykins can do.  McGee even motioned for Wall to come to him, but no such luck from Wall in getting separation.  Instead, McGee, who was just inside the foul line at that point, made the executive decision to not look for anyone else, put his head down and dribble toward basket.  Although he was bailed out by a hard foul from Andrew Bogut, he missed both free throws and the possession was wasted.

Conversely, with 6:56 left in the third quarter, Brandon Jennings and Bogut found themselves in a similar situation.  Jennings passed Bogut the ball in the high post and expected to get it back, but Wall prevented a return pass from happening.  Instead of hesitating, waiting and panicking as McGee had done with Wall, Bogut intelligently waited for Jennings to create an open lane, then he drove decisively and dunked on a flailing McGee.

You’re probably thinking this is yet another Truth About It post dedicated to slamming McGee or one of the other Wizards big men. Not the case.  Without Andray Blatche (who sprained his shoulder three minutes into the game and was unable to return), McGee (nine points, 13 rebounds), Seraphin (one point, six rebounds), and Booker (eight points, eight rebounds) did a good job on the boards and occasionally made their respective presences felt.  They certainly made mistakes, but Booker and Seraphin are rookies and McGee is still learning. I can’t be too critical of their play … at least not last night.

Read more »

In the last couple of weeks, the Wizards have faced teams that are almost assured to be playoff-bound.  The Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets would all be in the playoffs if the season ended today, and barring injury, a big mental breakdown, or the loss of Carmelo Anthony via trade, all three teams figure to be playing after the season ends in April.

When the Wizards took on the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at the Verizon Center, they were facing a team that currently finds itself just outside of the playoff picture (a game and a half behind Indiana for the eight seed in the East going into last night’s game).  Injuries to Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings, Drew Gooden, John Salmons and Michael Redd (who has yet to play a game this season),  left Coach Scott Skiles with limited options,  the team has struggled as a result.  Former Wizard Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette have done their best to carry the team, but even their yeoman efforts haven’t saved the Bucks from inconsistent play, and a disappointing 20-31 record.

Tuesday night against the Raptors, the Bucks had a healthy Brandon Jennings (who returned from a broken foot a little over a week ago), a semi-healthy Andrew Bogut (he’s battling a bone bruise in his knee), and a healthier, attacking John Salmons (he’s recovering from a sore hip) in the starting lineup.  The Bucks played with urgency on offense and stifled the Raptors on defense, holding them to 74 points (36-percent from the field), and they were victorious, 92-74.

Before last night’s game, Scott Skiles explained discussed why his team must continue to play with type of urgency.

Read more »

What’s life without a little Wizards-Bucks post-game quote mix? … especially after a Washington 100-85 win over Milwaukee that broke an eight game losing streak. And why did the Wizards give a more consistent effort on Wednesday night? Well, the boys have been going hard in practice, delving through competitiveness and talking trash to each other, whereas Kirk Hinrich is supposedly the one who talks the most trash … so says Nick Young in the video below.

“That’s the name of our story, however we practice is how we play.”
-Andray Blatche

And now … Jimmy Wall and Little Earl Boykins…

Read more »

Now, this dunk wasn’t on, on Australia’s Andrew Bogut, but we’ll include him for diplomatic reasons. Turkey’s Ersan Ilyasova getting smacked around by Los Angeles’ Nick Young is really the big winner here.

One of the first things that comes to mind when looking at a picture like this is that there’s no way he’s making it to the rim.

He did.

You’d think some big time NBA advertising partner would want to sponsor a secondary dunk contest. Wouldn’t that haul in some bank on television? TNT, are you there? I understand the desire to make the official dunk contest on NBA all-Star Saturday night an elite and exclusive event, but there are too many good dunkers in the NBA not to have more than four participants.

Read more »

It’s hard to pin-point exactly where the Wizards lost road game number 20 to the Milwaukee Bucks. They came out with a very strong first quarter … that was the easy part. The Bucks hit a couple jumpers and the Wizards didn’t score until three minutes had gone by in the game, but once they got going, they really got going. When all was said and done, John Wall had seven assists to zero turnovers and the Wizards had a 27-19 lead.

The second quarter … not so good, but the Wizards held it down. They went into the half with a 49-47 lead, whittled into by the old bones of Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette — those two combined for 23 points in the first half. Add in what Keyon Dooling offered and you have 32 points from an unlikely Milwaukee trio.

The Wizards started and ended the third quarter poorly. Usually coaches have a saying along the lines of beginning and ending all quarters well — maybe even Flip Saunders has cited that crafty philosophy before (I’m sure of it) — but these young Wizards are not yet in the position to do much less than the opposite at crucial points of the game away from home. The Wizards were out-scored 28-17 in the third and scored 13 of those points in a four-minute span from around the nine minute mark to the four minute mark of the period. Otherwise, not much doing.

Read more »

[Editor's note: Stephen D. Riley covered the Wall-Jennings matchup on TAI from John's perspective, now here's Rashad Mobley with a look from Brandon's perspective in his series "From The Other Side." -Kyle]

By the time John Wall’s name is announced as the Wizards’ starting point guard on their home opening night against Philadelphia 76ers, he will have received more than enough advice.  His family is telling him how to manage his life, his friends are telling him how to spend his money and where to hang out, his teammates are saying get me the ball in my sweet spot, the coaches (especially Sam Cassell) are telling him how to be an effective point guard in the NBA.  Hell, I’m sure even his twitter following has chimed in with their clueless, but well-intentioned advice.

After my visit to the Milwaukee Bucks locker room before their preseason matchup with the Wizards, it looks like Wall will have two more people to take advice from:  Head Coach Scott Skiles and second year guard Brandon Jennings.

Skiles coached Jennings during his rookie year, so he knows first-hand about the ups and downs involved with a rookie running the show.  But prior to that, Skiles enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA (including one year with the Bullets), where he averaged 11 points and 6.5 assists, and dished out 30 assists in one game (an NBA record).

Jennings, much like Wall will do this year, was given the responsiblity of running the Milwaukee Bucks in his first season.  He exceeded expectations in the regular season by averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists, and then in the playoffs he continued his solid play by raising his scoring average to 18.7 points (his assists dropped to 3.6, but Andrew Bogut was hurt, so he gets a pass).  Much like Skiles, Jennings also picked  up an NBA record along the way, by dropping 56 points on Golden State–the most ever by a Milwaukee Bucks rookie.

Read more »

A local scribe brought his two young boys to Friday night’s Wizards game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Both in the age range of four to six I would guess. Probably should have asked, but I was too curious about the dire appearance of their situation.

Plopped down on the floor against the cold white wall, limbs askew, the hoods of their coats over heads. The parts of their faces I could see looked to be some of the saddest in the building at the moment. Not as bad as their puppy just dying, but worse than being dragged to the ballet or church. The Verizon Center seemed like the last place in the world they wanted to be.

Other media members, those whose job is mainly to cover the Washington Wizards, joked, “You two look like how I’ve felt all season.” This comment, mind you, was made by two separate reporters independent of each other. Their situation had become an inherent punchline out of necessity. And this scene took place before the game even started.

“Gotta laugh to keep from crying,” said Caron Butler at one point earlier this year. He would later laugh all the way to Dallas. Others have had to stick with the same coping ability back here in the District.

“Don’t ever think it can’t get any worse, because it can,” is another quote from Flip Saunders after a late December home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. It certainly did get much, much worse with guns and trades and perhaps culminating with Josh Howard’s season-ending knee injury as the steam arising from the cow pie, or in other words, the icing on the cake.

I wouldn’t classify Friday’s 102-74 loss to the Bucks, after just having lost to the same team in Milwaukee 100-87 two days earlier, as a continued digression. Those who know better knew there would be days like this with the current squad. It was, however, the worst effort since the trades, and piggy-backs upon what was perhaps the most boring home game of the year. It was Date Night at the Phone Booth, one can only imagine how many disappointed happy endings the piss-poor basketball game led to. Toward the end, the boo-birds were flying higher in the Verizon Center than they had all season. Hard to imagine them not killing any love birds in the process.

Read more »

Hey! James Singleton made the Game Time cover!

Wonder if this is a first for his NBA career.

Ok, almost the same drill as when these two teams played on Wednesday.
My three keys (for what they are worth):

1. The Wizards need to match Milwaukee’s intensity on defense. Good luck.
2. Flip Saunders’ squad is not an offensive juggernaut, clearly, and that’s why they need to take care of the ball.
3. Please, someone score of the bench. Dare I say this is a breakout night for Nick Young? (only to be, perhaps, followed by more stretches of futility)

In other news …

The Wizards are pushing for their season ticket holders to renew their plans. They’ve already put out a letter from Flip Saunders. Tonight, most of the Verizon Center personnel are wearing t-shirts telling plan holders where they can renew. Read more »

Some people have a poker face.
Flip Saunders has a turnover face.

As previously mentioned in the last screen shot post of Wednesday’s Wizards-Bucks game, Washington had the same amount of turnovers in the third quarter as they did points. And that common number would be 12. For the heck of it, let’s chronicle each turnover (and a couple of other things) in screen shots and words.

It’s cold in Milwaukee. These turnovers are colder.

TURNOVER #1 – 10:04 >> You can’t see Randy Foye in his picture, but he is right behind the defender in the white circle.

Read more »

Ok, a screen shot post. I don’t do these often enough,  here goes …

First, a disclaimer: Sometimes an opponent makes good, (relatively)unstoppable plays, and sometimes the defense isn’t up to snuff. Since defense wins championships, these screen shot posts tend to concentrate on the correctable defensive plays. So, sorry NBA millionaires if you are criticized and nitpicked too often. That just how it goes.

Because of the 8 pm start time, and then Duke-Maryland, I could only muster myself to re-watch the first half of last night’s Wizards-Bucks game, one where the Wiz lost 100-87. I’ll likely try to watch and chronicle the second half tonight, but I’m sure that a third quarter where, I believe, the Wizards had the same amount of turnovers as points (12), will be especially “fun” to watch. And yes, I realize this re-watching of Wizards defeats makes me seem a tad insane.

The Bucks are the Bucks. They are a playoff team, in the Eastern Conference … where sixth place is equivalent to “on the outside looking in” in the West. Still, no one thought the Wizards would really win last night. But they fought hard. They sorta tried. And as expected with this still young team, they more so got in their own way of winning than the other team. Although, do give Milwaukee credit.

{1st Quarter}

11:19 >> On the first play, Andray Blatche, bless his heart, acted like and NFL wide-receiver, perhaps Braylon Edwards. When the pass was coming he turned to make a move, and not when the pass was arriving. The ball was fumbled away — turnover #1 of 21, which was, of course, blamed on the passer, Mike Miller, in the stat book. This is one of the rare occasions where it isn’t always the passer’s fault.

Read more »