McGee caught the ball in stride, just before crossing the half-court line, put it on the floor once … put it on the floor again, a in-and-out move versus Darko Milicic … and put the ball on the floor a third time. Before anyone knew it, McGee was past several T-Wolves and scoring at the rim, an incomparable athletic maneuver for someone his size. That’s when Wizards television analyst Phil Chenier said:

“I still say that’s a curse and a blessing … the ability to handle the ball at 7-feet … that time it worked out well.”

Sometimes the blessing of McGee’s talents can be a curse when he thinks he can use them in just about any situation. And this time, he was unfortunately encouraged because it worked. The success rate of McGee pulling off such a feat is likely higher against a team like the T-Wolves, much lower against a team like the Boston Celtics. In any case, it’s never truly ideal. Hence, it’s difficult coming to grips with how to celebrate something that often causes chagrin in the heart of a coach, yet is pretty beautiful to watch.

You appreciate the blessing and hope the result is not always cursed, or at least that young players eventually learn to limit self-induced risk. And in this instance, note that to both McGee and Wall, as the point guard who might one day better know who he’s passing to in that situation. Then you write about it and make a video of the play … JaVale McGee: A Curse and A Blessing.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• January 15, 2012 -- The Wizards Said WHAT? Nick Young: ‘Ain’t nobody going to take it easy on us if we’re pouting’
• December 25, 2011 -- What You Will See: Wizards Practicing Toward A Season
• December 17, 2011 -- The Rundown: Washington Wizards vs Philadelphia 76ers – Preseason Game 1

As frustrating as it is to see the Wizards fight to take a 94-90 lead with 5:45 left only to see the Timberwolves snatch the game from their grasp 109-97, it’s not as concerning as how they started the night. It was an all-to-familiar situation for Flip Saunders, one that probably had him invoking the basketball gods, as he’s done before when his Wizards lose a close game late after starting poorly out of the gate. Flip has never wanted his players to scorn the deities of James Naismith’s game, but now with a baffling 0-19 on the road, he’s probably wondering what he did to deserve all of this.

The Wizards are clearly not yet in a position where they can take games. And give Minnesota a lot of credit. In the end, they found their rhythm, they moved the ball well, they played like they wanted to be winners. Washington did not. After the Wizards took that four point lead late in the game, followers of the team on Twitter began to believe … it was their night, finally. Not so fast.

After around a minute and a half where neither team scored, here’s what went down: Darko Milicic making a drive on Yi Jianlian from the three-point line, dribbling behind his back and then hitting a spinning, running hook shot in the lane; Kevin Love stopping on a dime and pulling up for a three as the trailer in transition; great ball movement freeing Darko for a hanging-on-the-rim dunk; same excellent ball movement (eight passes!) getting Wayne Ellington sprung for a three in the corner — these were all head-scratching events, somewhat. Sure, they were playing the Wizards, but all of this came from the Timberwolves?

Not to absolve Washington from blame on Minnesota’s final run — there were turnovers, bad close-outs and missed free-throws — but sometimes hot teams just can’t be stopped, capped by when Love pulled up and hit his final three with Rashard Lewis’ hand was in his face (he went 5-6 from deep on the night with 35 points, 11 rebounds and four assists). That shot gave the Wolves a 103-95 lead at the 2:19 mark of fourth quarter and essentially the game, when less than two and a half minutes earlier the Wizards were still holding on to that 94-90 lead.

Which brings us back to the beginning. Saunders has also often said that sometimes, late in close games, young players can revert back to old, bad habits. Against Minnesota, those old habits came busting out after the jump ball like Albert Haynesworth’s gut.

Let’s start with Nick Young, who scored 15 points on 5-14 shooting and had the second worst plus-minus on the team at minus-10; John Wall finished at minus-18. Young tightened his horse blinders before playing in Minneapolis. As early as the 10:40 mark of the first quarter, the Wizards ran a set to get him an isolated mid-range post against Corey Brewer in the right corner. Young backed down Brewer with two left-handed dribbles, with his back to the baseline while Darko Milicic came to double from that direction. JaVale McGee sprang wide open in a cut to the middle of the lane as Young turned baseline, toward the double, and fired a fade-away miss.

This is an old habit for Young (taking poor shots, not seeing teammates), but also a new thing (getting doubled). He must realize that with the glory and trash talk of 43 points comes tougher defenses. And to make his team better, he must see his teammates. Sure, sometimes his assists are low because he’s a niche player getting specific plays run for him. But when doubles come, he’s forced to play a much bigger part.

It used to be where Young’s game transgressions could fade into the background. Yes, the way he would hang his head was noticeable, but there were always more veteran scorers to shoulder the load. Now that’s not the case — Young no longer hangs his head as much, but he also plays a much larger role and can no longer get caught up worrying solely about his game.

John Wall doesn’t have many old habits, but here’s to hoping he doesn’t develop new ones that become old, especially with his pick and roll defense. I’ll get this disclaimer out of the way: he just doesn’t look 100-percent out there (at least Thursday night against Minnesota) … something about his movement that’s not as athletically fluid as you know him capable to be. Is it his foot? His knee? Anything else? Who knows. Wall’s stat line looks decent: 14 points (4-11 FGs, 6-8 FTs), 10 assists, two turnovers, four rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot, but his defense certainly isn’t No. 1 draft pick worthy.

It’s also hard to tell if Wall and his teammates were simply getting abused by the screening action led by T-Wolves point guard Luke Ridnour, or if the game plan was flawed.  Early on, Wall over-played on the screen several times, seemingly with the intent of getting Ridnour to turn in the other direction and not use the screen. Problem is, Wall would jump out and get caught over-playing so badly that he’d get out of position and his corresponding big man teammate (Rashard Lewis or Yi Jianlian in the beginning) would over-help on Ridnour, leaving the secondary defensive help scrambling to cover the roll/fade man.

Again, maybe it was the plan to leave Kevin Love open for jumpers … just not that wide-open, rendering the implementation of the plan ineffective. Whatever the case, the Wizards’ defensive timing was severely off and whatever the coverage idea was, it didn’t work.

Minnesota’s offensive scheming, which was very impressive at times, sprung Love for several jumpers off P&R action in the first quarter. He finished the period with 14 points on 6-8 from the field (only one of those buckets came in the paint), leading his team to a 28-18 lead after one. After that, it was the same old story for the Wizards … another notch in the loss column and a 10-27 record.

It almost feels like too much to hear increased calls for a coaching change after this single game, but 0-19 is a disturbing trend. Saunders’ team continues to fail in the ‘sense of urgency’ department. Shed all the tears you want about Andray Blatche being injured, or Josh Howard being injured, or there being a lot of new pieces, but those excuses are getting rather old.

This damning sentiment resorted to by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee is rather telling:

“….the Wizards didn’t lose to the Minnesota because of youth. The oldest player on the floor for Timberwolves was 29-year-old Luke Ridnour. Ridnour was surrounded by Darko Milicic (25), Corey Brewer (24), Wayne Ellington (23), Kevin Love (22). Not exactly a crew of chiseled, playoff-tested veterans. And, this was a team that had lost five in a row, with three of them decided by three points.

The Timberwolves don’t have a knack for finishing, either.

So, that excuse about age and inexperience is growing pretty stale…”

Maybe a coaching replacement isn’t around the corner, as Lee also reports that league sources don’t believe Saunders is on the hot seat. So if a change is unlikely to happen at this point, something needs to change with the coach. Flip’s players do not play inspired, they don’t understand focus, they aren’t working as a unit. Sometimes they do, but far too rare than should be acceptable.

It’s not an easy job, but it’s Flip’s job. Maybe there isn’t a sense of urgency surrounding Ted Leonsis’ rebuilding project as a whole, but something must be done about it for individual games. Because the next step after stale is rotten … and the basketball gods aren’t too happy when their ambrosia turns bad.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 5, 2011 -- ShareBullets: John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins Think About The Future
• January 25, 2011 -- Losing on the Road: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy For The Wizards
• December 16, 2010 -- Wizards-Nets Play of The Night: Nick Young Gunner

“Guys have to be disciplined. They have to be willing to turn down a shot at time. Tonight, we had no shot discipline. Tonight, it was, ‘I haven’t taken a shot, so I’m going to shoot it.’ when you do that, you shoot 38 percent from the field.”

A reoccurring theme … the players not trusting, or deviating from, Saunders’ offense. Lets see what Antawn Jamison had to say:

“We played selfish basketball at times. On the road, you can’t do that. I don’t care who you’re playing against.”

I’d also like to add that you can’t do that at home either, but yes, another reoccurring theme. Saunders has put such selfishness more nicely before, calling it ‘hero basketball’.

This theme also probably had something to do with why Brendan Haywood was singing Beyoncé’s “Ego” after a loss against the Spurs in San Antonio. Haywood later made a comment on one of his own blog posts that he never sang Beyoncé because, “that’s not masculine at all!!! lol.” More controversy was subsequently stirred when Gilbert Arenas said, “There’s about 15 players on the team … 14 get along.” Perceived differences between Arenas and Caron Butler were eventually resolved, evidently.

Over a month later, the Wizards are no longer expressing their opinion of each other in the media, at least not yet. But they are playing the same crappy brand of basketball. The most damning quote after the Minnesota game came from Saunders:

“Until we decide that we get upset when we miss defensive assignments, as much as we get upset when we don’t get the ball on offense, we’re not going to take that next step.”

Arenas did show maturity by claiming responsibility for a piss-poor offensive effort that should be blamed on the entire team. He told Lee that he was “the main culprit” with attempts of ‘hero basketball’ and also truthfully said:

“I hurt the team more turning the ball over then the shots I take.”

To illustrate the bad brand of basketball Flip was talking about, let’s take a look at the first two minutes of the third quarter, which led to the coach calling a quick timeout. Saunders is usually great at calling plays coming out of a timeout, but you’ll also see an example of the Wizards not initiating what Saunders would surely consider an ideal post-huddle offense.

{start of the 3rd quarter}

11:41:

Jefferson hit a one dribble righty hook at the dotted line over Haywood. Tough shot, not much defense could do.

11:21:

Wiz got a decent look resulting from Foye dribble penetration to the free-throw line from the left wing. Foye passed to Arenas coming off a Jamison side screen on the right wing three-point line. Arenas just missed an open shot.

11:10:

Arenas did a poor job staying with his man, Johnny Flynn, and allowed Jamison to pick him up in a switch. Flynn dribbled back out past the arc and Arenas got caught on Love in the paint. Jamison kind of covers Flynn, but then seems to look for Randy Foye to pick him up … and Antawn will rotate, I guess.

So, when Foye was slow to commit to Flynn, but eventually did, Jamison wasn’t forward-thinking enough to see the next pass coming. The ball was rotated right to Corey Brewer who nailed just one of his several open jumpers.

10:53:

Looks like a Jamison hand-off play that sets Caron up for a post or Gil to come around and receive.

Caron got position on Damien Wilkins, but then stepped out and away from the post …

Caron jab stepped, got the ball poked away, recovered it and then fired for the longest two-pointer possible with nine seconds on the shot clock. Not ideal at all.

10:33:

Flynn easily drove middle against Arenas. Haywood blocked his shot, but stepped out of bounds. On the reset, Jefferson got the ball on a re-post, which, you gotta wonder if Haywood was doing enough to fight for position. In any case, Jefferson drove on Haywood to the left and hit a very hard-to-stop running lefty.

Flip Saunders calls a timeout.

What happened up to that point wasn’t that bad … but you expect the Wizards to execute coming out of the timeout, right? Wrong.

So the Wizards come out “ready to move the ball”. Reminescent of the days of old, Arenas dribble hands-off to Caron on the right wing.

Caron dribbles and reverses the ball to Jamison at the top of the arc. As Jamison looks to further reverse the ball to Foye on the left wing, Butler makes one of those Princeton cuts into the lane.

It’s certainly not meant to be an iso for Foye. I guess the play is drawn up for Butler who doesn’t post on the left block …

Rather, Butler very slowly muscles his way past Wilkins to set a ball screen for Foye.

Randy doesn’t really use the first pick, guess he didn’t have room and the sideline was trapping him like another defender.

As Caron goes to set a pick in the other direction (to the right), Foye turns it down and …

Instead Randy takes a dribble, shoots a heavily-contested jumper and misses. Once again, the longest two-point attempt possible by the Wizards … with a whole 10 seconds on the shot clock.

Inefficient jumpers is the name of Washington’s game.

Arenas ended up coming up with a bouncing loose ball rebound and got it to Jamison for an easy bucket.

Then Arenas got hot by hitting three jumpers in a row, openness courtesy of Flynn’s inability to get around screens (Minnesota’s inability overall).

Then, over a six-minute period in the fourth quarter (around 8:50 to 2:50), the Wizards only made one field-goal and missed eight shots.

Then the Wizards lost.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 31, 2009 -- What Went Wrong When Oklahoma City Came To Washington, DC
• December 30, 2009 -- Denial and The River Without A Paddle: Wizards-Thunder Post-Game Locker Room Video
• December 27, 2009 -- Wizards vs. Wolves in 13 Frames: A 101-89 Embarrassment

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)

“This has been the whole story tonight. Just the fact that they’ve been a little bit hungrier, a little quicker, and sometimes just have better bounce [of the ball].”

{links}

[Michael Lee - Wizards Insider, Washington Post]

They had Saunders looking ill most of the night, as he angrily paced up and down the court. He slouched his shoulders after each bad jumper early in the shot clock. He turned and rolled his eyes as the Timberwolves consistently beat them to offensive rebounds. And he repeatedly shouted at players whenever they missed a defensive assignment.

He didn’t have a hard time explaining how the Wizards shot just 39.5 percent: “Guys have to be disciplined. They have to be willing to turn down a shot at time. Tonight, we had no shot discipline. Tonight, it was, ‘I haven’t taken a shot, so I’m going to shoot it.’ when you do that, you shoot 38 percent from the field.”

[Ben Goessling - Washington Times]

The frustration was palpable afterward; Saunders, who hadn’t lost here in any of his return trips with the Detroit Pistons, walked past reporters without stopping to answer questions before returning later for a brief interview, and several players said the Wizards’ effort was unacceptable.

[Craig Stouffer - Washington Examiner]

Washington played down a level from the moment their 18-11 lead in the first half was erased in the blink of an eye. Of course Randy Foye should’ve played a bigger role — he was desperate to win, and win big. Perhaps focusing on him before the game was slipping away in the final moments would’ve helped him defensively, where he was a team-worst -17. As for Flip Saunders, he’s probably regretting inviting the players to his house last night. It’s no longer a Christmas to remember.

[William Yoder - Agent Dagger]

The Wizards had more turnovers than assists, 16-12, in an ugly game that the Wizards arguably just gave away. Arenas was the biggest offender as his nine assists were almost erased by his seven turnovers on the night. While the Wizards entered the fourth trailing only one, it was turnovers that kept them from taking control of the game, the way a veteran team should over a squad like the Timberwolves.

[Jerry Zgoda - On The Wolves, StarTribune.com]

Sessions was darn good in the fourth quarter. He subbed in for Jonny Flynn late in the third quarter and stayed in the game until only 1:03 remained. He was out there for almost all of a decisive fourth quarter when the Wolves outscored the Wizards 33-22.

On a night when Flynn went 2 for 12, Sessions produced a 10-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist, 1-block night that included four of the team’s 19 offensive rebounds.

{bonus picture: this is not your mom’s Kurt Rambis}

Steve Buckhantz on the transition of Rambis’ appearance:

“But he turned into a pretty good looking guy, I think.”

Phil Chenier:

“Uh, if you’re into that, you know …”

{dunk of the night: Ryan Hollins on Andray Blatche}

Other reads from Truth About It:

• December 28, 2009 -- The First Two Minutes of the Third Quarter Against Minnesota: Just Part of What Flip Saunders Was Talking About
• February 2, 2010 -- Got A Way To Lose? The Wizards Will Take It: Washington Falls To Boston 99-88
• December 30, 2009 -- Denial and The River Without A Paddle: Wizards-Thunder Post-Game Locker Room Video

Foye started feeling uneasy when David Kahn refused to meet with him after taking over general manager, but he still was startled to get the call from agent and Ernie Grunfeld that he was headed to Washington in a multiplayer deal.

via Michael Lee, Wizards Insider – ‘Foye discusses return to Minnesota‘

I don’t know David Kahn personally, but I do know this doesn’t sound good. Even worse when you consider that Randy Foye first learned of his trade to Washington via HoopsHype.

I understand professional basketball of the NBA is a business, but that shouldn’t cast aside the common courtesy of rational, reasonable, and humane behavior toward a fellow employee when changing cities and potentially moving family is concerned.

In fact, this sounds downright cowardly of Mr. Kahn.

So… that’s how he treats his players.

{faces of a man}

whose heart may be as dark as, or darker, than that of Redskins owner Dan Snyder, David Kahn, Timberwolves president of basketball operations

*’dark heart‘ concept courtesy of John Riggins.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• January 8, 2012 -- 3-on-3: Wizards vs. T-Wolves: How Many Rebounds Will Kevin Love Get?
• March 15, 2010 -- Shaun Livingston’s Night of Attention, a photo blog
• January 31, 2010 -- The “Gil-ty” Arenas Jersey & Scenes from Wizards-Knicks Pre-game

Word of Minnesota’s offense slowing down at the unspoken decree of Al Jefferson (approved by Randy Wittman) were confirmed. But at least Big Al was willing to take charges, such early in the third quarter when Miller chose a horrible angle to close out on Michael Finley at the three point line. Miller had no balance, and his hands were neither active, nor high. The 35-year old Finley easily blew by, but lost focus during his open path and plowed into Jefferson for the offensive foul.

The very next time down the court, Miller found himself helping off Finley, who was again spotted up at the top of the key. Tony Parker was curling off a Tim Duncan ball screen on the wing, so yes, Miller had to help stop the penetration. But once the ball was kicked back to Finley, Miller hesitated on the close-out, letting Finley’s previous drive to the hoop get into his head. Finley only needed that split-second of space to start drooling. The wide-open three was easy money for a shooter like him. Miller was never in a good position to even give a half-hearted contest.

Clearly, Mike Miller is not too swift on his feet … but this is something we all figured. His defense might be an issue, but not because of a lack of effort.

Back to the relationship between Miller, Jefferson, and Wittman’s offense. One of the more telling plays came shortly after Miller’s bad close-outs in the third. I’ve illustrated in the screen shots below.

STEP 1: Miller comes off Kevin Love-Jefferson FT-line screen to get the baseline in-bounds pass on the wing with 11 seconds on the shot clock. He’s guarded by Bruce Bowen.

STEP 2: Jefferson comes out to set a pick for Miller. The intention seems for Miller to take the ball to the FT line and create from there. The first problem is that Miller doesn’t really take Bowen into Jefferson’s screen. But Bowen is a great defensive player, and probably recognized the play from a scouting report. The second problem is Jefferson’s pick. He seems to be set here, but was actually rolling out of it way before being set long enough to be effective.

STEP 3: The guards have filled in the open spots on the wing and in the corner, opposite ball side. Love posts up, which seemed to be the plan after his initial screen. Jefferson, however, loiters around were he set his second screen, clogging up the lane as Miller uses up a couple seconds trying to make a move to the basket against Bowen. Here, his right-to-left behind the back dribble seems to get him a step.

STEP 4: But eventually, Miller finds himself on top of Jefferson, and his only choice, seemingly, is to hand the ball off to Jefferson with six seconds left on the shot clock. The epitome of a broken down play.

STEP 5: It’s probably hard to grasp the full emotion in this screen shot … but as Miller went away from his hand-off with Jefferson, he shrugged his shoulders, and slightly shook his head as if to say “WTF?”

Remember, this was only Minnesota’s fourth game of the 08-09 season, and such body language conveyances already showing themselves is not good … not good at all.

Jefferson ended up jacking a fade-away jumper from the baseline and missed horribly. He could have gotten the exact same shot if he rolled baseline after setting the ball-screen for Miller. This would have left more room for Miller to operate with the clock running down. Nope.

Other Al Jefferson offensive attempts (in his 12-27 effort), included throwing up junk like a spinning, jumping off one wrong foot, one-handed, fading floater. Hard to imagine, but it happened. Wonder if any T-Wolves fans kept a running count on the times Miller appeared visibly frustrated.

It wasn’t all bad though. I did notice several positive aspects of Miller’s game which will make the Wizards better. With his size and handles, he can take smaller and bigger defenders off the dribble. A 2-3-4 combo of Miller, Butler, and Jamison sounds downright scary when it comes to taking advantage of mismatches on offense.

When the ball is in Miller’s hands, he can easily create for primary or secondary shooters (via hockey assist) off the dribble, or perhaps work a two-man pick and pop game with Jamison or Butler. And by the way, a big man like Fabricio Oberto playing with all of these offensive threats will be perfect. Talk about a guy who will absolutely nail fundamentals like setting a good pick, or boxing out and taking up space in the paint, while still allowing for the free flow of offense. Not like playing with an offensively clogged funnel like Al Jefferson.

Overall, there weren’t too many Miller or Foye offensive highlights. NBA TV selectively edits these games, and after all, it was Tony Parker’s show that night (hey, at least Minny pushed it to two OTs before losing 129-125).

Foye did once take Roger Mason Jr. off the dribble for a jumper, which was created by a Miller drive and dish. Miller finished the game with 30 points (5-7 from 3PT), six assists, and seven rebounds. Foye had 11 points, nine assists (only two turnovers), and five rebounds. The game was lost in the second overtime when the Wolves were taking the ball out from the side with a chance to tie the game. Miller clearly got held by Bowen, but didn’t establish enough position to get the ball as Foye’s mis-timed pass went sailing out of bounds to absolutely no one. Turnover.

Miller’s 08-09 was indeed a strange situation. But with a new team, higher quality teammates, and an unselfish set of skills, Miller, in his 10th NBA season and set to turn 30 in ’10, could be looking at his most successful season yet. Well, he doesn’t have to worry about being frustrated with teammates anymore (fingers crossed).

Plus, the guy is a straight hustla …

Al Jefferson Stat Check:

Jefferson’s 28.9 Usage % (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor), in 08-09 would have been good enough for 8th in the NBA had he played enough minutes to qualify among the leaders (1,836 to 2,000).

But his passing numbers were very sub par. Out of the top 20 Usage % players in 08-09, only Michael Beasley had a worse Assist % (7.7) than Jefferson (8.8)… which is no big surprise.

In fact, there have been only five seasons in Basketball-Reference.com NBA statistical history (usage % is available since 77-78) where a big man 6’9″ or taller had a Usage % above 27, a PER above 22, an Assist % below 9,  assists/36 equaling 1.5 or less, and appeared in more than 40 games. One season belongs to Moses Malone (81-82), one to Alonzo Mourning (98-99, the strike shortened season), one to Chris Gatling (96-97, which was his only All-Star appearance), and two seasons belong to Al Jefferson … his two years in Minnesota.

The point is, Jefferson is Minny’s best player and #1 scoring option. For his team to be better, especially since he’s a focal point for opposing defenses, his assists/48 mins. (2.0) needs to be better than tied with Erick Dampier, and his Passing Rating (1.6) needs to be better than tied with Anderson Varejao.

Other reads from Truth About It:

• June 15, 2009 -- The Hype-nitis Surrounding Manu Ginobili to the Wizards and How It Could Happen
• July 2, 2010 -- CHECK MY STATS: Kirk Hinrich, Sioux City Shooter
• April 13, 2010 -- Wizards and Hawks, A Pictorial of Just Another Game

flickr/Roadsidepictures

I watched the Wizards take on the Timberwolves and Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League long ago, but am just getting my notes/observations on those two games posted.

So in the spirit of better late than never, here goes ….

(Note: I still need to get my post up on the Knicks game and hand out the summer league grades … but only to the players who ‘count’ — Blatche, Young, McGee, Crittenton and McGuire.)

Wizards vs. Timberwolves : Summer League Game 3

1st Quarter

In the huddle before the game started, Coach Zierden told his players, “Push the ball, push the ball, push the ball … play and have fun.”

Coach Z’s firs play called: The 52 Twist. Evidently that involved a lazy pick set at the free-throw line by Andray Blatche for Nick Young. No one was open for Javaris Crittenton, so he eventually gets it to Blatche fading off the set pick to the top of the key. He takes three dribbles towards the basket and clangs an absolute brick that only hits backboard.

2nd Play of the Game: A Crittenton turnover as he tries to force a bounce pass through more traffic than on the 14th Street bridge at 8:30 am on a weekday.

3rd Play: Young comes off a screen and takes the opportunity for a fading jumper. He gets fouled, but misses the first FT, unfortunately choosing to back off the line during the process. He sinks the second.

4th Possession: Blatche gets an offensive board on the right side, but instead of going right through the defense, perhaps drawing a foul, he tries to throw up a weak reverse layup scoop that gets blocked.

Not the best start to the game, the Wizards being down 7-1 almost two minutes in … and this is before Jonny Flynn checked in.

7:04: Andray Blatche Headband Alert – after getting blocked a second time, it is officially tossed.

Other 1st Quarter Observations

• After a poor first outing, Dominic McGuire is really making an effort to play defense without his hands, always keeping them high as he moves his feet. He also displays a nose for the ball in going to GET rebounds, not letting them come to him.
• The Wizards miss a ton of bunnies close to the rim.
• Nick young has developed a much more reliable three point shot — he scores 11 points in the first seven minutes, going 2-3 from long distance.
• I wish, in the “summer league,” that Blatche would take less shots that he can get anytime (dribble drive spinning fadeaways), and take time to work more on baby hooks and drop step action.

2nd Quarter

Not only is Flynn super quick, but he’s got the strength and moxie to get all the way to the rim. Once he finagles his way past the perimeter D, the interior guys for the Wiz do a lot of watching. Flynn’s got great court vision, it’s hard to anticipate what direction he’ll go in next.

When McGuire gets a defensive board, he’s looks to push the ball himself … I wonder if that’s something Flip will be comfortable with him doing during the season. D-Mac looks like he’s getting more comfy with his transition handles himself.

4:31: Another Blatche dribble drive, spin away from the double team, and fading, off-balanced jumper — miss. Sweet Jesus, why is that his “go-to” move?

Blatche still shows that he’s a willing passer with good court vision … not sure if this talent contributes to the frustration surrounding hm or not.

Flynn scores 11 of the 16 points by Minny in the 2nd and assists on one of the other two buckets. Wiz score 20 in the 2nd, but still close the half down 43-36.

3rd Quarter

Young clearly more intent on getting closer to the basket. He looks comfortable on offense without trying to do too much. A driving layup 40 seconds into the third gives him 16 points.

Dom McGuire on offense: I like how he resorts to using “safe” offensive options … using a back-to-the-basket game when a smaller guy is on him,  trying to implement drop-steps and nice footwork into his moves.

Nick Young is a very dangerous offensive player, 21 points with 3:45 left in the 3rd. Ok, I know this is summer league, but he’s nailing shots that would be tough for anyone to guard. Randy Foye getting minutes over him isn’t guaranteed, especially when Foye is a questionable defender himself.

I know he’s been working on this calm and composed “comfort zone” but Crittenton’s PG skills are still very unrefined. He has ‘skill’ but doesn’t really create much action for the offense.

After three, Flynn has 18 points. He is a bona fide finisher — mostly eating Tyrese Rice alive. Rick Kamla compares him to Rod Strickland.

4th Quarter

About two minutes into the 4th, I find out that Blatche is 0-8 in the game. God … even I didn’t think he was playing that bad … well, maybe.

Blatche gets his first bucket at 3:31 mark. Minny gave him room just past the FT line and he nailed the jumper … good shot. I’ll always be an advocate for him shooting the mid-range jumper when he’s open.

Blatche came on late, hitting three buckets in a row … and no fadeaways, how ’bout that?

But in the end, Flynn was able to get into the lane all night. His penetration helped create back-to-back threes at the 2:16 and 1:15 marks to give the T-Wolves a nice advantage.

The Wizards, and Nick Young, had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, thanks to an absolutely horrible three-point attempt by Oleksiy Pecherov early in the shot clock with 28 seconds left. But Young missed a trey. He had a good look, but faded on his shot just a bit, probably just enough to make him miss.

The Final: 89-82 Timberwolves.

Wizards vs. Clippers : Summer League Game 4

Notes:

• Javaris Crittenton has shown a better than average ability to split double teams, but sometimes he scares me, for a guy with a high turnover rate…
• Nick Young keeps getting compared to Rip Hamilton … but he’s a much better athlete with more range (maybe not in the past, but if what he’s shown during the summer league holds true during the season). With hard work, under what Flip is doing, he’ll be a much better player … of course, it’s a big “if” for Nick to be a harder worker than Rip.
• McGee needs to be doing defensive slides all day long … get that muscle memory in there. So many lengthy players get into the bad habit of playing with their arms instead of moving their feet first.

Game:

Crittenton being less of that controlled guy and more forcing the issue in the start of this game. I can see why True Hoop’s Kevin Arnovitz initially tweeted: “Re: Javaris C. When the best thing you can say about a PG is that “he’s big,” well…he sucks.”

But Crittenton did get to the line six times in the first 5:30 … but only made three of those.

5:52: McGee’s first block on Blake Griffin …  you see he’s ready to spring intially, but waits and times it perfectly.

5:37: Soft touch lob from Heytvelt to McGee … seems like JaVale knows that he doesn’t have to slam all lobs and has the touch to get the ball through the net.

3:51: Type 1 flagrant on Blake Griffin, committed by McGee. It wasn’t even that bad. Griffin was going wildly to the basket, out of control, and threw his off arm into McGee first. Not saying that a foul shouldn’t have been called, but a flagrant is a little much … but hey, that’s the NBA we know today. It’s all about how a guy goes crashing to the floor, not the actual foul.

Nick Young needs to concentrate on going straight up on his jumper, and not drop his arms (kinda like the late three against Minny).

Overall, a very sloppy first quarter … stats say 12 turnovers between the two teams. Seems like a crappy CYO game, Wizards up 15-12.

But hey, with 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 block — McGee is letting the game come to him (although he did pick up three fouls before exiting at the 1:46 mark).

2nd Quarter

Love to see Dom McGuire continuing to play with high hands and moving his feet on defense. He’s working hard to cut off dribble drives. I love his effort level.

With Crittenton out the game, the other PGs are very poor at initiating the offense … especially Tywain McKie.

4:30: McGee “pulls a Blatche” by trying to dribble the ball up the court …never want to see him to that again — resulted in a turnover of course.

3:17: Great hesitation move by Young, acted like he was going to pull up, but drove baseline for a tough layup.

With the Wizards scoring 14 points and the Clips 20, it was very uneventful 2nd quarter — 32-29 LAC. In terms of Crittenton, at least he seems to drive/move with a purpose/direction instead of side to side movement like McKie.

3rd Quarter

Big difference in how Javaris came out in the 3rd, creating ball movement … contagious to the rest of the team. Three of the quarter’s first five FGs were assisted upon.

At one point midway through the quarter, Caner-Medley led a 2-1 fastbreak with Blake Griffin against McGuire. Dominic kept his eyes on Caner-Medley, but clearly stayed aware of Griffin. He easily anticipated a lob and swatted it out of bounds. Very smart defensive maneuvering by McGuire.

With several blocks early in the game (he would be credited for 7 total in the game), JaVale McGee clearly had the Clipper guards aware of his presence. They began to throw up wild shots on drives to the basket, scared to finish at the rim.

McGuire continues to find his way to loose balls, pulling down four of his 11 rebounds in the 3rd.

With less than 40 seconds left in the 3rd, McGuire hassled, Ni(c)k Caner-Medley into a late shot clock pass. Dom focused on his eyes and anticipated the direction of the pass. He kept himself in position to knock the ball down and get this third steal of the game.

4th Quarter

7:16: Young gets heckled at the FT line … smiles … but hits both. Flip Saunders should make him do something every time he smiles, like Willie Mays Hayes and push-ups for pop-ups in Major League.

On McGee: He kept himself close to the hoop for a majority of the game … an offensive board here, an oop dunk on Blake Griffin there. No one really got physical with the kid, so it was easy for him to hang out in the paint.

On Nick Young: He seems to be perfecting offensive diversity: hitting set three pointers created by penetration, driving to the basket when there is an open lane, or faking a long shot and working to get his mid-range game going when the paint is crowded. Haven’t learned too much about his defense during the summer league, but it’s not a good environment to measure progress in that area anyway.

If Young can further develop his offense, and the endurance he needs to constantly move/run off screens, he will be an awesome asset coming off the bench. Of course, Nick MUST always be ready, and simply cannot be the type of offensive player who needs minutes/shots to ‘get going’ — I’ve often found that to be a cop out excuse for having a bad night.

Final Note: The Wizards closed out the Clippers by doing the good things they’d been doing all game: shooting better than a horrid shooting LA team (42.1% for the Wiz isn’t good, but LA was at 35.6%), and moving the ball just enough to get decent looks … and most of this was simply the result of the Wizards having more talent on the floor.

The Final: 74-64 Wizards.

You can find more Wizards Summer League info in the posts below:

• Wizards Vegas Summer League Media Dump
• Practicing What You Preach (and links)
• Wizards Summer League Game 2: Should Ernie Grunfeld Be Sweating?
• Wizards Summer League Game 1 Twitter Recap

Vegas Sunset - flickr/Marionzetta

Other reads from Truth About It:

• July 20, 2009 -- Wizards Vegas Summer League Media Dump
• July 15, 2009 -- Wizards Summer League Game 1 Twitter Recap
• August 28, 2009 -- 10 Questions for the 2009-10 Wizards

If I know Ernie Grunfeld, he’s not done. Hell, he better not be done.

The drama is kind of exciting, knowing the President of Basketball Ops I’ve come to trust probably has more tricks up his sleeve. Judging by the roster after the trade, we might be calling Gruns “Mr. Wizard” if he pulls off something else nice to make the team complete (more on ‘complete’ in a second).

On another note, Thursday just lost a ton of luster … hey, at least the 25th is my birthday.

Five aspects of this trade:

1) R.I.P. to Darius Songaila.

I really, really hate to see Songaila go. Actually, I’m pretty disappointed to lose who might have been my favorite Wizard. I thought he’d continue to be the consummate vet, coming off the bench doing whatever needed to be done … rebound, use experienced leverage to defend the post, spread the floor by hitting long jumpers just inside the NBA 3-point line, etc..

I’ll give D-Song his proper farewell later.

2) Who’s down low?

The Wizards’ post players are now Brendan Haywood (missed all last season with a freak wrist injury), JaVale McGee (a second year player who excites many, but gets pushed around by all), Andray Blatche (a floundering, but very talented, 5th-year-to-be player whose heart I’ll question every day until he proves me wrong), Antawn Jamison (a 32-year old unconventional post player who can rebound the heck out the ball, but can’t play a lick of defense), and possibly Dominic McGuire (a guy going into his 3rd year who started at two guard for a bunch of games last season, mostly because he can defend the wing, and injuries).

What I’m getting at here is that this front-court lineup will not get it done … but everyone and their mom knows this. I thought the Wizards needed a rugged post defender before, now they are desperate for one.

3) Mike Miller.

Before I left work this evening, I told a co-worker the only viable option I’d heard so far was a move for Mike Miller. The Wizards really could use a shooter to extend the floor, and with Miller’s ability to pass and rebound, he’ll flourish on the Wiz in Flip Saunders’ system.

I wouldn’t get too caught up by the drop in Miller’s numbers last year. He had no one around him, save for Al Jefferson, who only played 50 games. Being around guys like Butler, Haywood, Arenas, and Jamison is just what this 29-year old, ’00-01 rookie of the year, ’05-’06 sixth man of the year, needs to revitalize his career.

[The Wizards now have two former 6th man of the year award winners on their roster.]

4) The Wizards are cutting salary.

Here’s how the player salaries match up:

* qualifying offer
# 15% trade kicker boosts Etan’s salary from $7.354 to $8.458 million

Much of the savings is contingent on what the Wizards have in Foye. If the Wizards withdraw Foye’s $4.795 million qualifying offer after ’09-10, he becomes an unrestricted free-agent and can just walk. If this is the case, around $13.5 million comes off the books in the summer of 2010, essentially giving Washington an additional savings of $7.2 million (the contracts of Songaila and Pecherov in ’10-11), over had they just kept Thomas and let his contract run out.

If the Wiz don’t withdraw and Foye accepts the one-year qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free-agent in 2011, the Wizards are only saving $2.4 million next season in having Foye instead of Songaila/Pech. Of course, the Wiz could always just sign Foye to a new multi-year contract after this season … if he’s worth it. Speaking of…

5) Randy Foye.

(scouting report courtesy of Wyn Douglas, Canis Hoopus)

Talk about another guy who needs a change of scenery. In Minny, Foye might have never lived down Kevin McHale’s gaffe of trading Brandon Roy to Portland for him on draft night ’06. On top of that, he missed most of ’07-08 with a knee injury (don’t the Wizards have enough of that?), and hasn’t fully regained his step since.

The 6’4″ Foye, an ’06-07 all-rookie first teamer, is known to be a “combo” guard … which basically means he’s a streaky shooter who can score points in bunches. He’s got decent handles, but isn’t known to be the best distributor. Foye is strong and athletic, so he seemingly has the tools to play decent defense, but again, that’s contingent on the health of his knee and the abilities of defenders around him.

The Howlin’ T-Wolf says:

Foye is a great 6th man combo guy off the bench (think Barbosa or Terry) who can chip in 12-14 points … assuming that’s how Flip will use him next year with Arenas, Miller, and Butler starting.

Grading the Trade.

I’d like to sound like some ‘expert’ and grade this trade, but honestly can’t give it anything but an incomplete at this point. Something else must happen to balance the team.

Celtics fans flipped out after they traded the 5th pick, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak for Ray Allen and a 2nd rounder two summers ago, but then Garnett fell into their laps and all was copacetic.

No, the Wizards won’t be getting Garnett-caliber player, but the point is, don’t judge Grunfeld’s maneuvering by this single move, rather by his summer plan in totality.

Stay tuned …

Other reads from Truth About It:

• June 24, 2009 -- Wizards Trade React Quotes Part II
• June 15, 2009 -- The Hype-nitis Surrounding Manu Ginobili to the Wizards and How It Could Happen
• June 28, 2009 -- Point, Counter-Point: Why Didn’t The Wizards Get Vince Carter?

The four oldest players available (Jamison – 32, Dixon – 30, Songaila – 30, and Butler – 28) combined to score 81 points, 73.6% of the total.

But that doesn’t take away from what Blatche, McGee, Crittenton, Young and McGuire contributed in the win. In fact, Young and McGee led the team in +/-, both finishing +11.

The Wizards bench outscored the Wolves bench 26-16 and also contributed 16 of the team’s 46 total rebounds.

Paced By A Lithuanian

Darius Songaila came out on fire…..before you knew it, he had 11 points in the first 4:34, finishing the game on 8-9 FGs and 19 points, four off his career high.

Not only was his hot start important in terms of setting the tone for his teammates to take care of the even more hapless Timberwolves (even though they have a better record — the Wiz did sweep the season series), but D-Song was able to score so much due to excellent team floor spacing…and his hustle of course.

Third Quarter Hiccup

The Wiz started sluggishly in the third, allowing the Wolves to jump out on a quick 9-2 run in the first 2+ minutes, taking a 53-51 lead. But the ‘Zards persevered behind 14 3rd quarter points from Antawn Jamison to take a 79-73 lead heading into the final period.

Big 4th Quarter Plays

After having a Juan Dixon bucket sandwiched by two T’Wolves buckets in the first minute plus, the Wizards went on a 13-0 run, aided by three Andray Blatche blocks, to take a 94-77 lead with 7:21 left.

8:58: Andray Blatche got a block and the ball found itself in the hands of JaVale McGee streaking down the middle of the paint in transition. JaVale showed great development by not plowing into Brian Cardinal, trying to set up to take a charge, and instead opted to dish the ball to Butler for the dunk while getting out of the way –Chenier and Buckhantz loved this. 87-77 Wiz.

7:54: McGee fought for position, got an offensive board, gathered himself, was fouled, and found a way to make a short athletic baseline jumper…and 1. 92-77 Wiz.

5:15: After Randy Foye went down with an injury, for which he later had to be carried off the court, the Wizards…err, Andray Blatche….absolutely bumbled a 5-on-4 advantage. Blatche completely telegraphed a pass that led to a turnover….horrible instinct from Andray. The Wolves eventually got twoFTs off the possession and cut the Wizards lead to 9, 94-85…..capping an 8-0 Wolves run on top of the previous 13-0 Wiz run.

4:40: The Gentleman Jamison came through big to end the Wolves run with a strong take to the middle and a hook right under the basket….not even one of Jamison’s trick shots. 96-85 Wiz.

4:11: Dixon gets his 5th and 6th points of the game….good to see him play with composure when given minutes (in Mike James’ absence) after he was complaining about time (slightly) about a week ago. 98-85 Wiz.

2:44: Caron Butler hits a calm and collective J from the corner to keep the Wolves at bay. 102-89 Wiz.

1:21: Juan Dixon with a sweet look-away pass, after baseline dribble penetration, to Jamison who was lost by Minny right under the hoop. 105-92 Wiz.

0:56: Young Andray Blatche hits the glass hard for a put-back board. 107-94 Wiz.

Wizards 110 – Timberwolves 99 – NBA.com Box

Overall, the Wizards won with a steadying veteran presence and balanced stat sheet stuffing (Butler: 27 points, 10 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals; Dixon: 9 points, 4 assists, 6 boards).

A strong dose of points in the paint also helped the Wiz against an equally bad team.

But most importantly, the Wizards limited turnovers (10 total for the game, three in the 2nd half)….credit Javaris Crittenton and Dixon for that.

[Get well wishes also go out to Mike James, Oleksiy Pecherov, and Steve Buckhantz, who sounded congested as hell during the broadcast, but was still relatively on his game.]

Random Posts

• October 25, 2009 -- Wizards Sunday Links; Is Mike James Going To Stab Someone?
• February 4, 2012 -- DC Council Game 23: Wizards 89 at Raptors 106: Wizards Head South, North of The Border
• August 4, 2010 -- Team USA Game On: JaVale McGee Will Likely Pack His Bags For Europe

Denver Nuggets

[Pickaxe and Roll]
I think there are different answers depending on whether you are talking about the goals of management or the goals of the players. Management has clearly been geared towards the future. The Camby trade revolved around future cap flexibility. They traded their first round pick for a future first round pick. Older players Camby and Najera have been sent packing in exchange for younger players. Management would never admit it, nor should they, but I do not think they expect anything other than another first round exit at best from this squad. Prediction: 47-35

[The Nugg Doctor]
The goal for this team is to not be content just making the playoffs, but to finally advance in the postseason. For five straight seasons the Nuggets have been one of only four teams in the league to make the playoffs in said consecutive years and are the only team to have not made it to the conference semis. Prediction: 44-38

Minnesota Timberwolves

[T'Wolves Blog]
I’d like to say that the playoffs are the goal for this team. I think if you went around the locker room that’s the answer that most players would give you. However, given that this team is largely the same as the squad that went 22-60 last season, that we still don’t have a true starting point guard or basically any center, and that we’re still being coached by Randy Wittman with his mind-boggling 96-192 record, I’m going to hold off on declaring Minnesota a contender for the West’s 8th seed. I’d love nothing more than to drink the McHale Kool-Aid and be preparing for a 42-40 finish, but I just can’t bring myself to it. Prediction: 33-49

[Empty The Bench]
The goal entering this season has to be locking up a low-level playoff spot, no matter how unlikely that may seem right now. If Jefferson continues his All-Star trajectory, Randy Foye finally lives up to the draft-night swap for Brandon Roy, Mike Miller thrives as a primary weapon outside, Corey Brewer emerges as an athletic defender who can run the floor, Kevin Love becomes the inside presence and passer the Wolves offense needs to outscore teams, Sebastian Telfair continues his maturation as a true backup point, Rashad McCants embraces his role of microwave off the bench, Craig Smith keeps cracking skulls in the paint, and Ryan Gomes continues to be professional and efficient beyond his years, well, then they just might have a chance……Ok, so they don’t have a chance. Prediction: 32-50

[Canis Hoopus]
OJ Mayo and a stash of contracts were traded to the Griz for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, and a serviceable 2nd string center with an expiring contract. Oh yeah, Brian Cardinal was in there too. At the time I called this deal highway robberyand I stand by that take. When it went down on draft night, Wolves fans were faced with two negative frames in which to place the trade into context: a) The team just pulled another Roy/Foye trade. b) The team that traded one of the greatest 4s of all time for Al Jefferson just picked another 4. Prediction: 36-46

Oklahoma City Thunder

[Baller Blogger]
Develop the young guys and win enough games to endear yourself to the new home crowd. Obviously, this team is not going to contend for a playoff spot. However, they should expect to win at least a handful more games than they won last year. I think they’ll be disappointed if they don’t win at least 25 games, with 30 as an outside possibility if Durant and Green both make huge improvements in their second seasons. Another thing to look for is in-season trades. GM Sam Presti has shown a pretty good mind for getting the best out of trades, and there are some solid assets here (Collison or Smith especially) who could be traded to a contender for draft picks. Prediction: 24-56

[Blue Blitz]
On the court, this team has absolutely no expectations. Almost everybody predicts them to finish dead-last in the West. Player-wise, we are looking to develop everybody. If we can find a star out of the blue, like David West was when the Hornets were here, we’d consider it a successful season. We’re not looking to put a win-loss total on the Thunder this year. We just expect them to go out there, try their hardest, and have some fun. Prediction: 17-65

[The Thunderworld]
Most people are picking them to finish last in not only the West, but the entire NBA. Most experts don’t think they’ll improve on their 20 wins from last year. But by playing good .500 ball at the Ford Center this year, they’ll be assured of 20 wins right there and then if they play decently on the road, they could be looking at a 30 win year, which would be a huge, huge boost. Look, no one gave the 2005 Hornets a prayer to compete. They won 18 games the year before and appeared to have gotten worse. But behind a bump from a rabid city and a really, really good point guard, the team challenged for a playoff spot. There’s no reason the Thunder can’t aspire to do the same. Prediction: 30-52

Portland Trailblazers

[A Stern Warning]
The Blazers do not have any illusions of grandeur in their goals for this season. The team knows that they are young and will need at least another year to bond as a unit that can even consider challenging for a title. Integrating four rookies into a squad is never an easy task, regardless of their talent levels. Last season was an unexpected surprise, as a team that was predicted to fall dismally with the l
oss of starting 20-10 player Zach Randolph and the season-ending injury to Oden, managed to pull to .500 with the second most exciting winning streak of the season (after that of the Houston Rockets). Thus this season the expectation is that the Blazers will do one better, move into the playoffs and whilst not looking to go all the way, will pick up the experience needed to take them where they want to go in future seasons. Prediction: 45-37

[Blazers Edge]
In the past month, I’ve heard the Presidential candidates debate ad naseum whether to use a “hatchet” or a “scalpel” to reform government. I think it’s safe to say that General Manager Kevin Pritchard and Assistant GM Tom Penn are scalpel-wielding roster-reformers. Every move they make is precise and accurate. Like watching a surgeon dissect a dead animal, it’s a thing of beauty. What? Prediction: 49-33

[Rip City Project]
Playoffs, playoffs, playoffs. Despite the incredibly tough state of the Western Conference – and with some teams on the decline – the Blazers goal is clearly making the leap and making the playoffs. More importantly, that’s the immediate goal the coaching staff has instilled in the players in an effort to, we would guess, curtail the championship expectations. To pull a card out of the cliché hat, if the team is playing hard and taking the long-term journey in year-to-year steps, all is well. Prediction: 46-36

Utah Jazz

[UtesFan89]
Two years ago, this team surprised (and took advantage of an easy road) and made it to the Western Conference Finals. Last year, it got a bit tougher, and they could only make it back to the Conference Semifinals. You’ve got the fact the team stood still this offseason though and you throw in the fact that so many players are potentially entering contract seasons, and it just seems like management thinks this team is perfectly built. And, as a result, the goal has to be to win the NBA Finals. No one has any idea what the team will look like at this point next season, so you can’t just say “win in the next couple years”. The team is built to win now and, if the team stays together, win in the future. Might as well start winning now though… especially with no guarantee on how long the team will actually stay together. Prediction: 58-24

[SLC Dunk]
For two years in a row now they’ve been the fourth seed in the West but have had to open on the road in Houston. They’ve been able to overcome both of those first round series, but if the Jazz are to advance deep into the playoffs, they have to have home-court advantage. They haven’t had that veteran experience yet where they can win on the road consistently. Until they do, they’ll need to play their series at the ESA. The Jazz have as much talent as any other team in the league. There is no reason that they can’t contend for the title. They have the offense, the drive, and the youth to match up against any team. But a defensive stopper would be nice. Prediction: 56-26 (prior to Williams’ injury)

Random Posts

• January 1, 2011 -- Happy New Year From The 1993-94 Washington Capitals
• December 28, 2008 -- A Tribute to the Dunking Dominic McGuire
• March 16, 2011 -- Under The Hoop: Washington Wizards vs. Milwaukee Bucks

T’Wolves coach, Randy Wittman, missed their last 3 games after undergoing a backiotomy. I bet he just needed to talk to Sampson. But even more important, the Wiz float at .500 as I type. It would be nice for them to keep above the waterline and get running down hill.

Now let’s start the show…

1st Quarter

Craig Smith is a big dude. He’s gonna be a load for Antawn Jamison to handle…then again, I think AJ will take the +/- with his effort on the offensive end.

Speaking of…AJ hits a deuce to start the game, and Smith cuts to the basket and makes a layin to get on the board for Minny.

9:30 – Craig Smith has been very active. He has Minny’s first 4 points, and just drew a 2nd foul on B. Haywood (terrible call…Smith pushed off right under the basket); Craig then hit both FTs. 6-4 TW.

Damn Craig!, every time the ball in the paint, You in the paint.

8:33 – DeShawn hits a 3 after AJ recovers a loose ball and gets him the dish in the corner, wide open. That’s probably the most confident I’ve seen Stevenson shoot the ball all year. 7-6 Wizards.

Tell you what, Haywood is still going hard despite the two personals. He’s got 4 bounds in 4 minutes.

Poor Bassy Telfair…you can penetrate all you want, but ain’t nobody worrying about you son.

6:00 – Really nice outlet by AD, who got the bound at the FT line….he whipped it to DeShawn for the 2 on 1 fastbreak layin Wizards up 13-9.

Of course, Bassy hits a 2 the next T-Wolve possession…Craig Smith is setting picks like a keg rolling down a hill.

5:15 – ‘Nother 3 by DeShawn. Hey buddy, welcome to the season.

4:20 – ‘Nother 3 by DeShawn. Hey buddy, I said….welcome to the season.

Wow, two in a row….actually, they were sandwiched by a Tuff Juice dunk. Wiz up 21-13.

4:03 – Aaaand a ‘nother basket by Craig Smith. He’s got 10 points already. 21-15 Wizards. Jamison is just not strong enough to keep that guy from getting where he wants to get.

3:10 – DeeShawn Heat Check 3 and miss. Makes him 3-5 from beyond the arc.

Hey, Fat’oine is in the game. Ya hungry girl? Nope, Buttercup misses a J.

2:06 – Finally, AJ stops a 7-0 Minny run with a deuce, Wiz up 23-20. And damn, ever since I typed sh*t about Telfair, he has been ball-ing. He just hit a layup – 6 points, 4 assists for him.

It’s sad to admit, but Craig Smith is stronger and Sebastian Telfair is quicker than anyone the Wizards have. In my opinion, Bassy if for the birds, by the Wiz sure could use a banger like Smith. Etan’s a hustler, and I like his game…but I would hesitate to classify him as a Banger.

Andray “Unbreakable” Blatche is looking more like Mr. Glass against Craig Smith tonight. Smith is on pace to have 60 points and 20 rebounds…and putting on an absolute show. The first ends and the game is tied at 26. It’s hard to believe that Washington is out-rebounding Minnesota 13-7 after the Wizards have tried their best to play around that tent that Minny has pitched in the paint.

2nd Quarter
Steve Buckhantz with some stats….from the tent, 18 points in the paint for the T-Wolves.

Desmond Mason Jr. and Dominic McGuire in the game…2nd & 3rd off the bench after Andray B.

But really, they were right…Fat’oine is more husky. He’s got some ghost strength.

Question of the Game: What 4 NBA coaches attended Indiana? Phil and Steve Buck got Isiah Thomas and Randy Wittman, but can’t get the other two. (I didn’t know Wittman) Aren’t they forgetting Lawrence Frank? Wasn’t he a team manager under Bobby Knight? I probably won’t get the other one.

(I never remember them answering the question by the way….and I’m too lazy to look it up for you)

Back to the game…

7:25 – McCants drives on Butler and gets fouled, makes both. 34-31 Wizards. The Wiz can’t seem to keep anyone from Minny out the paint.

6:20 – Roger Mason with a nice drive to the basket for the And1. As the scouting report probably says (and as Phil Chenier points out)….teams probably are going to guard Mason with the trey ball in mind. But he’s playing smart, taking what they give him, and getting some basket drives. He’s scored the last 8 points for the Wizards. Up 39-33.

5:12 – Haywood is barely back in the game a minute when he picks up his 3rd on an offensive foul, trying to set a pick.

Once again, it can be hard to concentrate with 3 TVs in your living room. E:60 is one…a lot is covered:

Kimbo Slice – I thought I recognized that guy from the backyard brawl eye pop video. Seemed that like came out years ago.

Am I the only one who thinks Rachel Nichols is kinda hot? I can’t get any of my friends to agree. But a redhead, knows sports….

Bill Simmons’ halfcourt shot looks like a Reggie Miller regular shot
, arms flailing and crossing. He really pussed it up there. But, at least he hit the rim. They had Simmons on camera stretching out before….ok, can’t blame him. Then after, they show him hitting the first half-court shot he takes after the game. Honestly, I think the guy is a great writer…makes reading enjoyable. But I was kinda disappointed when I first heard him talk in person. Can’t put my finger on it, but it’s similar to having to tolerate Bryant Gumbel calling games on the NFL Network.

3:04 – Big Rebound by Andray off a DeeShawn reverse miss. Hey, where’d AB’s headband go? Didn’t recognize you yungin’

2:11 – Craig Smith, another basket….48-42 Wiz. He’s got 19 points, 5 rebounds…… really slowed down since the 1st quarter I guess.

Roger Mase with his 9th and 10th points on the other end.

0:31.4 – Wizards are really finishing the quarter well. Butler with a nice dish on the break to AJ cutting down the middle for a deuce. Wiz up 10.

Well, AB is going to the locker room with a sprained ankle. F*cking great. Lineup of Butler, AJ, Daniels, Stevenson…and the center, get this, Dominic McGuire. The half ends with the Wizards, luckily, up 56-46.

Half the Story

• Both teams are shooting around 45%
• I’m surprised that the Wiz are outrebounding Minny 27-17; 12 offensive bounds to 6 (Craig Smith has 3 of those 6)
• 6-16 from 3-point land for Washington, only 2-6 for the Wolves. Seems to be the difference
• From what I can tell, Minnesota scored 26 points in the paint – but the Wiz outscored them 10-0 on the break. The Wiz also have 13 assists on 22 field goals.

3rd Quarter

9:45 – After some attempts, DeShawn Stevenson finally makes his career high 4th 3 pointer of the game.

9:16 – Antonio “Go Hard” Daniels sinks a couple FTs on another basket drive. He got fouled hard, a flagrant, by Bassy a couple minutes ago.

8:35 – Daniels again down the court. 10-0 run to start the 3rd, Wiz up 66-46.

The Wizards have displayed some active hands tonight. Deflections lead to fastbreaks, lead to buckets, lead to 20 point leads.

Look, I’m glad that DeeeShawn has made four 3s up to this point in the game. I’m NOT glad that he’s taken NINE 3s and is 5-13 from the field. Is this how it’s going to be this year? You make a couple buckets, then it’s heat-check time ’till you make another?

6:03 – Mini 7-0 Minny run…capped by a Bassy float-pass to Al Jefferson for the layin. Wiz up 66-53. If you’da told me that Minny would be getting straight Sherwin Williams inside tonight (get it, paint buckets….yea, corny, but it was off the dome), and then told me that Al Jeff only had 8 points, I would’ve said, “I don’t care, are the Wizards winning?”

4:52 – Roger Mase deuce off the pick. What is going on? Plays being run for Junior….I’m thinking, “Man, teams better not leave this cat open.”

All which leads me to conclude: Great coaching, Eddie Jordan. Great GMing, Ernie Gruns.

3:41- Craig Smith ties his career high with 26. He’s still got a ways until 60.
73-60 Wizards.

3:00 – The Wiz started the 3rd on a 10-0 run. Outscored 17-9 by Minnesota since. 75-63, DC.

2:18 – D-Mac reverse layup on the break…nice setup by Caron. The move was fluid like a Primo beat.

Phil Chenier just pointed out….and made me realize….Nick Young has not been in the game yet. I bet this is a mind test by the coach. Completely seems like Eddie Jordan’s m.o. – think about it, the Wiz have been scoring well so far tonight. So, they haven’t needed Nick’s fire-power off the bench. Eddie’s just wondering if the Rookie will cop a ‘tude if he doesn’t get the run he “thinks” that he’s earned so far….or maybe EJ is just wondering how Nick will play if he does get in the game. Like I said…a test. Of course, everyone, even me, is great at speculating.

0:13 – Really strong move by Caron to go into the paint, draw a lot of contact from McCants and seal the J in the paint. That’s exactly the type of move that I love to see him make. Pssshhhttt, a can of Tuff Juice was just opened in ya eye son. Wizards keep the 83-69 lead going into the 4th.

4th Quarter

Quick Stat – R. Mason Junior has 17 points.

8:01 – Damn, I’ve been distracted writing about other stuff (you’ll see) and the Wizards have let the lead dwindle to 6.

7:30 – Down the court, Brendan, I’ve officially stopped calling him Brenda, Haywood with an o-bound and bucket….keep typing…then, a rebound and quick outlet from BTH on the other end leads to an open lane for Jamison…And1. 6:55

Brendan Mayweather, cause he’s a straight fighter. Minny saved by their own timeout bell after getting a 7-0 punch in the mouth. Wizards back up 92-79

5:02 – Nick Young 3 miss. He really hasn’t looked good since he came in. He had a nice pass to BTH on that last bucket, but otherwise……maybe Eddie was wrong not to get him at least a 1 setting on the toaster earlier.

3:08 – Huge 3 by AD! Wiz up 98-84….getting comfy. Seems like I’ve been waiting for that 3 from him forever.

1:38 – BTH with the Swag Block after a Craig Smith offensive rebound. Is Craig more of a first name or a last name? You’ve got your Roger Craig, your Jenny Craig…then again, you got Craig Hodges and Craig Kilborn. Just wondering if we can call him a dude with two last names, but not late for dinner.

0:44 – C Buts hits a bucket to give him 20 points. He rebounds on the other end to become the 3rd "font-weight:bold;">Wizard with a points-rebounds double-double tonight.

I’d like to say it was because of me…but I know it’s not. But at the beginning of Gil’s injury timeout, Abe & Irene Pollin were giving $500 per road game to the Scores for Schools Program; Gilbert Arenas was giving $500 for home games. I complained.

Now my friends, the ante has been upped.

Abe & Irene are giving $100 per point for the top two Wizards scorers – AJ 22, Caron 20 – that’s $4,200. Plus a G$1000 from Gil Arenas…and that’s really scoring for schools in the DC area. Many thanks to everyone (I’m hoping I heard the #s right from Steve Buck.)

The Final: Washington Wizards 102 – Minnesota Timberwolves 88

A VERY solid, but not spectacular, win for the Wizards. I say “not spectacular”….but it’s a good thing. A win against the T-Wolves shouldn’t be spectacular. Yes, as Roger Mason says….(they’re interviewing him on the court right after the game now)…you can’t sleep on this team, Minnesota. BUT, it just shows how solid the Wizards have become. When a win against a young Timberwolves team, in a rebuilding mode, is NOT a struggle, that, my friend, is a very positive sign. Think of how the Wizards started. Think of how Wizards Nation felt. Think of how proud most of us are now. Yea, yea..I know…a long way to go. But, I need to write Gilbert Arenas a letter…..

Additional post game notes from Eddie Jordan’s interview with Comcast….

During the scouting report, Eddie said that they called Craig Smith “The Rhino” – I could not have described him better — Smith ended up with 36 points, 8 rebounds.

EJ also talked about his “quirky” lineup adjustments. As I see it, this is because he is trying to learn about this team…trying to search, see what they’re made of, and keep guys fresh. He admitted that it was wrong to not let Nick Young get into the game until there was 8:44 left. However, I think that helps my “test” theory.

By the way….my firm holiday party is this Thursday..so my mans n them, Adam, AJ will be guest blogging for the Miami Heat game.

And the whole night, I just may…as a superstition, order Tom Collins’, but request a Todd Colllins from the B-tender.

You know, actually, I’d rather go with my steadies…vodka tonic (Ketel One), rum & coke (Barbancourt) or scotch (Glenlivet single malt)….but I think I’m talking myself into being superstitious.

See ya peace.

Photo Credits:
nbadraft.net
perkisabeast.com
sidelinehottie.com
djpremier.org

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Go Rule Wizards….One Game At A Time.

Buck says the Wiz haven’t won in Minny since 2000, they are due.

1st Quarter

10:41 – Bad pick and roll communication b/t Haywood and Arenas leads to a Jefferson dunk…help defense didn’t even have a chance.

9:28 – Timeout T’Wolves – Wiz are scoring at will, 5-5 from the field so far…and every single shot has been in the paint. Up 10-2, 1 basket for each starter.

8:20 – 3 by Jamison…Wolves are switching on D so Ratliff and guard Haywood. Washington needs to take advantage of the AJ – Jefferson mis-match.

7:02 - Haywood forces a bad shot after getting caught off balance, the miss leads to a fast break, and a 7-0 run for the Wolves. 12-11 Wizards. Haywood can’t afford to get “cocky” about the season he’s having so far. Remember buddy, you got the Big 3. If you don’t have it, PASS IT OUT AND RE-POST.

5:47 – Offensive rebound by Gomes. Caron simply cannot forget about blocking this guy out, he’s a hustle box.

Wiz are in the zone on D….I guess it’s needed more so after Marko Jaric took Gil off the dribble. You do realize he’s a 6’7″ white dude from Yugoslavia, right Gil?

Just over 3 minutes left, Songaila checks in for Haywood…a little bit after Al Jefferson went to the bench.

2:19 – TO – The Wolves have 6 turnovers so far (5 on the last 5 possessions)….mostly from being an inexperienced team since they are not exactly being forced by the Wizards.

Good to see Fatoine Walker still running around on his tippy-toes like a pudgy little sprite.

Seems like every time the Wiz make a nice run and build on the lead, they follow it with a break down where they give the Wolves some cheap opportunities.

Nice end to the 1st, after realizing that Gil had too much separation around the 3 pt. line with the clock running down, the Wolves run two men at him, leaving Songalia wide open under the basket for an Arenas zip pass and quick flip shot for Darius. Wiz up 8, 32-24.

2nd Quarter

Daniels, Songaila, Blatche, Gilbert, and Jamison on the court.

10:15 – Butler checks in for Jamison, Arenas hasn’t had any rest yet. First of a back-to-back, hmmm….

8:52 – Neither lineup so far has gelled, the Wiz don’t score in 5 possessions, make two turnovers and allow two Fatoine 3s in the process. Lead is cut to 32-30 as Eddie calls a timeout.

Me thinks it’s time for Big Lineup 1.0, as Jefferson has been back in the game since the beginning to the quarter. Thing is, Haywood checked out with 3 minutes left in the first, and we’re well aware of his stamina problems.

Nick Young sighting, he checks in for Arenas so he can get his first rest.

8:11 – after the first Wiz fast break points of the night thanks to C-Butler, Haywood comes back in for Blatche.

Antonio Daniels is showing some leadership by trying to get this team together. Nick Young is doing a majority of the ball handling up the court…I’m not so sure I like that.

I know it’s on the players…but I just haven’t liked any of the line-ups Eddie Jordan has put on the floor during this second quarter. Wiz are now down 1, 34-35 after a Brewer 3.

6:45 – Nick Young is BAAAD on Defense, he falls for the most mundane of pump fakes from Brewer and then fouls him after he gets by…c’mon kid, you can’t close out on a shooter with your hands high and your feet balanced?

The Wiz (and Young) have two things to prove that bean-counter John Hollinger wrong on: Young’s ability and the Wizards record this year. I’m not so sure I’m confident in the former.

5:44 – Another 3 by ‘Toine Walker….damn, caps a 16-2 run by the Wolves….this latest after a Nick Young turnover. Put the hook in this kid. He didn’t see the court during either of the last two wins. Maybe his ass needs to stay on the bench for many, many more. 2 fouls and 2 turnovers for him. Full starting 5 is back in the game.

Eddie, you had some nice line-ups working the last two games, why continue to tinker?

Now, even though the starters are back in, the Wiz are totally out of rhythm.

4:25 - A Butler 2 finally ends the Wiz drought….but 1 Buckner FT, combined with a Telfair J after the Wolves got the rebound on the 2nd FT miss on the other end pushes the Wolves run to 21-4 for the quarter. 45-36, Minny.

The tone of the game has almost completely flipped….the Wiz are shooting jumpers and the Wolves are going strong inside.

3:12 - Wiz decide to put some pressure on the Wolves, force a miss which allows them to run and get Butler an open jumper. TO Wolves, Wiz down 45-41.

Should the T-Wolves be allowed to play the wolf howl during opponent FTs?

1:01 - Telfair easily around Gil for a floater. I can never understand why such a quick player has such slow feet. I know, I know…he’s got a knee.

:03.3 – Gil hits a couple FTs after being fouled on a drive. End the half down 4, 51-47.

Very disappointing 2nd quarter for the Wizards. It’s basic, they did not protect the basket and did not value the ball, nor each possession on offense. I’m just baffled that the Wizards allowed this Timberwolves team to out score them 27-15 in the 2nd. All the starters got back in the game with about 5 1/2 left, but at that point, they had to scrap and fight to get back in contention. I can’t remember if we saw Big Line-up 1.0 in at any point, I don’t think so. Eddie definitely needs to have better sub patterns in the second half.

Whoa…was that just Lt. Daniels from the Wire in a Cadillac commercial? I’m not sure what to think….I know that cat’s been in a bunch of other show. Remember him in an episode of Law & Order talking about blood diamonds. But commercials? We will know somethings going on when a resurrected Bodie is in a Mickey D’s commercial.

3rd Quarter

I just had an apocalyptic vision….an inspired Antoine “Grown Baby” Walker shows veteran leadership and leads a young Timberwolves team to two wins in a row (he had 11 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds at the half)….shake it off, shake it off.

Get serious Wizards, ok?

9:08 - Wow, a fo’ serious o-rebound and dunk by Haywood…after a Gil semi-out-of-control-coast-2-coast layup miss. I think Jefferson is still picking bits of the ball out of his teeth.

8:15 - McCants open and hits a 3. Why does this happen? More Arenas bad gambles. Learn, learn, learn, learn….. (another o-rebound and dunk by Brendan on the other end) r />
I’m just not liking what I’m seeing from the Wizards. They are picking up fouls on D. The offense seems to be about letting Gil break down the defender off the dribble and shoot or dish, but he’s making good veteran decisions.

6:26 – Another McCants 3, 12-2 run by the Wolves, up 12. The zone D for the Wiz is not working out….of course, they’ve been bad at covering the 3 point line all year.

3:51 - Ok, ok…Wiz go on a nice 9-0 run to cut the Wolves lead to 3. 68-65. Not necessarily doing any better on D, Minny just went cold from outside. Andray and Songaila check in for Haywood and Stevenson. Along with Gil, Butler and Jamison.

The Wiz are struggling in cutting off, or defending the baseline against the Wolves…can’t lose that corner guy when you’re in the zone.

Sometimes it seems like Caron Butler is the main calming force on this team when things get a little out of control.

:58.2 - Another turnover by Gil leads to a Minny fast break, that’s 6 for him through 3 quarters. Not game management. Most of them have been bad turnovers too where he’s gotten himself in the air and has made bad passes.

Decent 3rd quarter sputters at the end as Buck says the Wiz went their last 5 trips without any points. Wolves up 74-71.

4th Quarter

Blatche still in, he’s been rather quiet tonight. And yup, he’s got 3 rebounds, a missed shot, and a foul.

9:01 – Well, the big line-up is kinda in…Blatche, Songaila, Haywood, Butler, and Daniels. Someone needs to get a spark going.

7:50 – A Caron J cuts the deficit to 1…Wiz are starting to move the ball a little better, but Songaila’s 10 points is the only help that the Wiz have gotten from the bench. It’s almost to the point where yea, some people don’t like what he brings on D, but you almost gotta play him cause who else can you depend on for baskets off the pine?

Caron Butler is carrying the Wizards on his back tonight. 24 points on 10-15 shooting.

6:40 – Gil back in for Songaila, down 81-79, until Hibachi hits a fade-away deuce to tie it up.

5:35 - Nacho for 3. 83-81

5:10 – Nacho for 2. 85-83

4:06 – Nacho miss. Haywood offensive rebound, make and foul. 12-2 run by Wizards (18-9 in the 4th as Buck informs us) – Brendan misses the FT, Wiz up 8.

This team has really turned it up a notch….and it was started by none other than Gil Arenas. Funny how a couple jumpers by him can create such a spark and energy, on both ends, for the rest of the team. (not to mention this young T-Wolves team really folding on offense)

3:34 - NACHO for ANOTHER 3!!

Wolves turnover…4 on 1 Wizards break…Blatche the make and the foul, converts the FT.

3:00 - I honestly can’t believe what I’m seeing. Arenas gets a steal, the break, and an oop to Andray Blatche. Wiz up 99-84.

I’m with Phil Chenier…where did all this aggressive energy come from? We didn’t even see this in the last two wins. This is what we’ve all been expecting and waiting for. Ok, just hold on and close this thing out. Lotta time left. Four Wolves FTs cut the Wiz lead to 11.

2:33 - Songaila comes in for Blatche. I’m sure people don’t like this, but there must be a reason why Eddie trusts Darius over Andray at the end of games. I’m sure that FTs is part of that reason.

:45 – Steve Buck gives his patented “Dagger!” after a Blatche dunk (yea, he came back in a minute ago).

Wow, what a game. Wiz win 105-89. Gotta love the vet move by Butler at the end. He gets a steal with 7 seconds left…Haywood is wide open right under the basket, clearly wanting the ball to get his double-double (he had 8 and 11), and Butler says, “Nope. Vets don’t do that.”

Great win for the Wiz. The game ball is shared by Tuff Juice and Nacho Hibachi. I’m smelling some photoshop ops.

Peace out.

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