[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 77, Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics; contributors: Rashad Mobley, Adam Rubin and Kyle Weidie via television sets.]

“I do not recall the dates in question, your honor.” —Crawfish

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Jordan Crawford was traded today, ya heard? A former 24-year old rebuilding chip was jettisoned to Boston for a couple 30-year old NBA vagabonds, Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins. #SoWizards? Perhaps. Here’s the rundown of reactions from the TAI crew…

Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It):

It really is a shoulder shrugger (and a head-shaker). I mean, I care. I’ll miss Jordan Crawford. I wish he would have been a better player. I wish that the relationship between him and the franchise didn’t go down in such an epic, flaming bag of shit. But it did. Fighting off the desire to not overreact, but something is amiss with how this team handles players (not all players, mind you). Everyone in the league seems to know it and the owner seems completely oblivious to it. I’ll reiterate: During the time that Ernie Grunfeld has led the Wizards (since the ’03 Summer) only one NBA team has more losses than the Wizards: the Minnesota Timberwolves, with 482 losses to Washington’s 475. But now, Ernie is evidently doing exactly what Ted wants. So there’s that.

Crawford certainly did his part to wear out his welcome—an estimated 80 percent part, I’d say. In return for the diminished asset, the Wizards save a little bit of money. Nice, but certainly not part of the plan. The Theodore Unit wanted to develop young players who could either be used as trade pieces or as pillars for the rebuild. Instead, they are giving them away. On the other hand, Crawford was good, but he was not a system player. He wasn’t about quick ball movement, and he was rarely conscious about offensive spacing. He knew how to fire up shots with confidence, and he had the ability to drop fancy, no-look passes when his teammates weren’t ready. Hardly useful in terms of winning.

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 3, Washington Wizards at Boston Celtics; contributors: Rashad Mobley, the return of Arish Narayen, and Kyle Weidie.]

Moral Victory or Encouraging Loss? Randy Wittman and Friends, Nov. 7, 2012 Read more »

Here to provide the DC Council Opening Statements (formerly “Need to Know Basis”) for Washington’s third game of the season in Boston are TAI’s Rashad Mobley (@rashad20) and guest Jeff Clark (@celticsblog), who writes about the Celtics at the SB Nation blog CelticsBlog, along with an additional game prediction from Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It).

Wizards Starters (0-2):

A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker, and Emeka Okafor

Celtics Starters (1-2):

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Bradley Beal on his stuggles after the Wizards home opener against the Celtics:

Since he was officially announced as a member of the Washington Wizards, Bradley Beal has been compared to Ray Allen, James Harden, Dwyane Wade, and, as of last Saturday, Jeff Malone. He was not brought in as a savior, but as a complement to John Wall and Nene, and maybe even an upgrade over Jordan Crawford and the dearly departed Nick Young. And when Beal was announced as the starting shooting guard in the Wizards’ season debut last week, he was the second-youngest shooting guard to ever hold that distinction (Kevin Durant did it first).

Unfortunately for Beal, his performances in the first two games of the season haven’t reminded anyone of Ray Allen, The Beard, D-Wade, Jeff Malone, or even Quinton Ross for that matter. Beal has shot 2-for-13 and scored just 10 points over two contests. In crunch time against the Celtics on Saturday, Coach Randy Wittman felt more comfortable with A.J. Price and Jannero Pargo in the back court. Price commented that it seemed like Beal was the “first guy [other teams] talk about in the scouting report.” Based on Doc Rivers’ comments in the pre-game presser, that is 100 percent correct:

“Beal’s good, a solid, fundamental basketball player, and a great shooter. He reminds of a Jeff Malone, a thin Jeff Malone, except he can put the ball on the floor a little more, but he’s a terrific rebounder for his size.”

Beal has gotten words of encouragement from Trevor Ariza, who told him “it may not be your year this year, but you have to stay the course,” from Emeka Okafor, who told him to keep an “even keel,” and from Randy Wittman, who asked him to focus on other facets of his game like defense and rebounding. But Beal may also want to seek solace from two more unlikely sources: Jared Sullinger and Doc Rivers.

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Jordan Crawford, pre-game steez. Photo: K. Weidie

Bradley Beal, Wizards home opener program – photo: K. Weidie

“I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you. I can’t tell you how other people’s mindsets are, but I know that you have to have confidence in yourself. You know, 80 percent of this game is confidence.”

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 2, Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics; contributors: Sean Fagan, Rashad Mobley, and Kyle Weidie.]

Jordan Crawford, sans post-game sunglasses, talks about the issues at hand: Read more »

In a league where teams run similar offensive and defensive sets and teams play each other two to six times during a season, it is a daily struggle to find a definitive advantage over another team (superior talent notwithstanding, of course). But Boston Celtics head coach, Doc Rivers, seems to have found the secret. Befriend the opposite head coach, and use your son to watch other young, upcoming NBA prospects.

Rivers and Wizards head coach, Randy Wittman, are former Atlanta Hawks teammates and have maintained a healthy friendship since that time.

“Yeah we talk, he’s one of my best friends, and we’ll probably talk after the game, but we just don’t talk about our jobs, we talk about everything. We talk about how poor Indiana’s (Wittman’s alma mater) football team is, and then he reminds me that Marquette (Rivers’ alma mater) doesn’t have a football team.”

But on a more serious note, Rivers has noticed that the current incarnation of the Wizards’ team seems to taking on the personality of his good friend: Read more »

The pre-game post before the second game of the 2012-13 season, Washington Wizards home opener against the Boston Celtics on Saturday,  November 3, 2012.

Here to tell you what you need to know and give a prediction is Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It, guest Ryan DeGama, who writes about the Celtics at the TrueHoop blog Celtics Hub, and surprise bonus predictor, TAI’s John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend).

Wizards Starters (0-1):

A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker, Emeka Okafor

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[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. Click here for cumulative DC Council 3-star ratings over the course of the season. Game 48 contributors: Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20),  John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend), and Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It).]

Score

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