[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 17 contributors: Markus Allen, Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie.]

[NOTE: Per news, Flip Saunders has been fired, and Randy Wittman will replace him. The content below doesn't not reflect knowledge of that, and only pertains to last night's game. The TAI crew will be ready with thoughts on this coaching move by the Wizards at some point soon. Also note: Markus Allen is from Severn, Maryland, has been a Wizards fan since the early 2000s, and is currently attenting Mississippi State University. This is his first contribution to Truth About It.net.]

Score

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[The Wiz Kids celebrate a home win over Philly last season. - photo: A. McGinnis]

Including two preseason contests, the Washington Wizards have already faced the Philadelphia 76ers four times this season (out of 18 total games, including preseason). Tonight represents the fifth meeting, and at that, the Wizards are searching for their first road win in about 300 days (March 13, 2011 against the Jazz in Utah was the last time). You know the drill… three questions, three answers… Tonight we have Jordan Sams from the SB Nation Sixer blog Liberty Ballers, along with TAI’s John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie. Away we go…

#1) In two meetings against the Sixers so far, John Wall has averaged 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 6.5 turnovers. His current turnaround, however, started with a great second half in that Jan. 14 Saturday night contest — in the four games since that Sixers matchup, Wall has averaged 25.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 3.5 turnovers. Philly’s own Sweet Lou (Williams) has averaged 21.5 points in 25.4 minutes off the bench against Washington this season. Which player is more likely to get over 25 points tonight and why?

SAMS: John Wall. While I have tremendous respect for Jrue Holiday’s man-to-man defense, but the Sixers will be without both of their centers – Spencer Hawes and Nikola Vucevic – for tonight’s game. Elton Brand is also a listed as a game-time decision with stomach problems. The Sixers are already a weak team in terms of interior D, so missing two, possibly three of their best interior defenders could result in a layup drill for Wall.

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When John Wall “Dougied” in front of an elated Verizon Center crowd before his professional home debut on November 2, 2010, the Game Changer’s career would be forever linked to the Philadelphia 76ers. Little did anyone know at the time how this connection between Wall’s Wizards and the 76ers would epitomize the ups and downs of his personal and team success. Philadelphia has sky-rocketed into its current perch amongst the best of the Eastern Conference, while Washington has plummeted to become a national punch line for sports futility. The relationship between Wizards and the 76ers has seen its triumphs, torment and just plain weirdness in the brief Wall era.

Going into the 2010-11 season, similarities between the teams were striking. Wall was the first overall pick in 2010, Philly selected Evan Turner second. Both teams were led by veteran teachers (Flip Saunders and Doug Collins) who had past playoff success. All-Star guards Andre Iguodala and Gilbert Arenas were viewed as possessing albatross contracts that needed to be moved in order for the teams to rebuild. A crop of young players in Thaddeus Young, Jrue Holiday, Lou Williams, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, and Andray Blatche littered their rosters.

Wall won each of his first two meetings versus Philly in thrilling overtime fashion, and a budding rivalry seemed in motion for these two NBA cities separated by only 132 miles. However, Washington has now lost four straight to Philadelphia by double-digits, including the most recent 103-90 defeat on January 14th.

In the original ‘Teach Me How to Dougie’ game, Wizards reserve Cartier Martin hit an improbable three point shot to send the game in overtime. Washington eventually pulled it out 106-105 on the strength of free throws, and Wall produced an eye-popping stat line: 29 points, 13 assists, 9 steals and 8 turnovers.  Wall’s first pro game, seen on TNT, was a dud blowout loss in Orlando, and while he performed much better in his second game (28 points and nine assists), the Halloween weekend loss in Atlanta garnered little attention. The 76ers victory affirmed to the sports world that the one-and-done hot shot out of Kentucky might be worthy of all the hype.

Comparisons to Oscar Robertson were thrown about, along with glowing coverage from ESPN’s SportsCenter, which led with Wall’s Dougie introduction. Wall’s dance moves and eight turnovers unfortunately drew the ire of a troll (a name which will go unmentioned) with a large radio show megaphone. His unfair, borderline racist views did nothing to stop the sports pop culture juggernaut that went from the John Wall Dance phenomenon to California Swag District’s “Teach Me How Dougie.”

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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. Game 12 contributors: Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie with first-hand coverage and John Converse Townsend from watching on T.V.]

Score

Washington Wizards 90 vs. Philadelphia 76ers 103 [box score]

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The Wizards weren’t necessarily really, really bad in their 103-90 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, they were just normal bad. For one, don’t take credit away from the Sixers. Good team. For two, Washington seemed to earnestly try in small doses to pass the ball to each other. It’s just that usually when they did, the passes were not crisp, or the recipient couldn’t finish, or a number of other things that just don’t seem to go a bad team’s way happened — no help from the refs, plenty of missed shots from point-blank range, etc.

Philadelphia scored 27 points off 18 Washington turnovers, 21 of those points came in the first half off 13 turnovers (seven in the first quarter, six in the second). Andre Igoudala got points with ease for Philadelphia when needed, finishing with 23 on 9-16 FGs with five steals, five assists and seven rebounds. Igoudala also had teammates who filled in with help. Thaddeus Young chipped in a solid 18 points off the bench, Wizard killer Lou Williams had 24 points on 4-6 from deep.

The money quote from Flip Saunders after the game: “The first half we looked like ‘Space Jam’ where everyone lost all their talents and couldn’t do anything there for a while. But I told them, when you haven’t passed the ball very much, and you’ve been holding the ball and holding it, then all of a sudden, as a team, when you try to start doing it, it’s like guys aren’t ready.”

The difference being: Michael Jordan brought the ToonSquad back to a fictitious, animated victory in the 1996 movie. The Wizards, well, they are living real life and the only Jordan they have is Jordan Crawford. A 1-11 record is in the books… Lights Out Wizards.

{Lights Out, Iggy…}

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[Lou Williams - photo: K. Weidie]

As I publish this post, the Wizards are down 52-40 to the Philadelphia 76ers at halftime. After a relatively decent first quarter where Washington outscored the Sixers 26-23 behind 11 points from Nick Young on 4-7 shooting and 10 points and five rebounds (three offensive) from JaVale McGee, things came more back to reality. Philadelphia out-scored the Wizards 29-14 in the second quarter. It’s not that Washington was wholly selfish as usual, they just found a way to bumble opportunity, even when Philadelphia gave them a couple chances with turnovers (six, leading to four Washington points). But the Wizards turned the ball over even more, giving it away 13 times leading to 21 Philadelphia points at the half. Below are some speakable quotes from Flip Saunders, Sixers coach Doug Collins, and notorious Wizards killer Lou Williams from before the game started.

Before the game Flip Saunders was asked how a coach sends the message that selfish basketball won’t be tolerated. Flip said:

“It’s a fine line because there are so many young guys. You don’t want them to play looking over their shoulders, that you’re going to take them out at every mistake. But I think that we probably have to be… that’s probably what has to happen, because we can’t… it’s not fair to the team, it’s not fair to them. We want to do aggressive-type things. If you’re playing aggressive offensively, and you’re taking good shots and you’re open, that’s different than taking a contested shot.”

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Ready again folks? What game is this? Game 12? The Wizards are 1-10? It all seems like it’s becoming a blur real fast. Thankfully this post will be simple. You know the drill. Three questions, three answers… featuring Michael Katz from SB Nation, and TAI’s Adam McGinnis and John Converse Townsend. Start it up…

#1)  Fact of Fiction: Flip Saunders’ job is contingent on how the Wizards play over the next stretch of five home games in a row, against Philadelphia, Houston, Oklahoma City, Denver and Boston.

KATZ: Fiction. Bless Flip Saunders, who is basically living Stand and Deliver: How do I reach these kids! Bless Andray Blatche, who in an attempt to stick up for Saunders, basically admitted the Wizards have tuned him out. Flip will eventually take the fall for the 2012 Wizards — because someone has to — but right now does it make sense to pay Saunders (in the third year of a four-year $18 million deal) *and* someone else when Washington will struggle regardless? I think Flip is safe unless someone outrageous happens … which of course is not out of the question.

McGINNIS: Fiction. Although Leonsis has replaced coaches with the Caps before, and Wizards now have the same exact record of 1-10 when Eddie Jordan was fired in 2008, I do not see the owner making a change. Leonsis has a plan where Flip and Grunfeld are major players, and he is sticking to it, regardless of outside opinions.

TOWNSEND: Fiction. The Wizards have already lost 125 games under Flip Saunders’ guidance; what’s another five losses to a franchise that no longer expects to win games? ”I am not afraid of change,” Ted Leonsis today wrote on his blog. ”I am just sanguine that a change in coaching doesn’t always correct all deficiencies of an organization.” While Leonsis was addressing the coaching carousel in the NHL, his commentary seemed to communicate the direction of D.C.’s pro basketball franchise (given that Leonsis owns both the Capitals and the Wizards, and his blueprint for winning on the ice is virtually identical to the one being employed to bring respectability back to the hardwood). It perhaps also confirmed what ”sources with knowledge of the situation” have already reported: Washington will stay the course, with Flip Saunders under contract through the 2012-13 season, despite the mainstream turning up the burn under the head coach’s seat.

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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. Game 11 contributors over television screen: Rashad Mobley, Arish Narayen, and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 89 at Philadelphia 76ers 120 [box score]

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

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

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

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On draft night back in 2010, the Wizards and the Sixers were two bad teams who felt like they had received significant upgrades with the additions of John Wall and Evan Turner respectively.  Turner still comes off the bench, but the addition of Doug Collins along the maturation of Jrue Holiday, helped the Sixers reach the playoffs last year, along with a strong 7-3 start this year.  The Wizards were back in the lottery last year, and are far and away the worst team in the NBA this season.  To put it mildly, the Sixers have passed the Wizards by.  These two polar opposites will clash in Philadelphia tonight, but before that Truth About It writers Kyle Weidie and Rashad Mobley, along with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Sixers beat writer (and former Wizards beat writer for the Washington Times) John Mitchell answer three questions…

#1)    In Kate Fagan’s well-written blog entry on Monday, she broke down the reasons why Philadelphia is playing so well offensively this year.  One of the main reasons for the offensive efficiency, is that Doug Collins and his coaching staff realized that his personnel excelled at running the pick-and-roll, and he needed to customize his offense to match their strengths.  Given that the John Wall is struggling offensively, and the Wizards as a whole are struggling on offense—they scored just 64 points in a loss to Chicago—should Flip Saunders look to make adjustments to the offense? Or are the Wizards just in a bad shooting slump?

MITCHELL:   I honestly don’t know what Flip can do to ignite the offense. John Wall is an electric talent, but he probably played with better talent at the collegiate level than he has in Washington.  Nick Young, allegedly and offensive player, was reportedly seeking $9 million annually yet he’s back in Washington hitting just 38 percent of his shots. With the Wizards, the ball too often sticks. That’s not a good thing.

MOBLEY:  The Wizards are in a bad slump but it has nothing to do with shooting, and everything to do with where they are mentally.  John Wall and Andray Blatche are missing baskets at point blank range.  Nick Young, as many times as he keeps the Wizards in the game with his scoring, is still forcing shots.  There have been very few possessions for the Wizards this season, where precise passing and patience led to any easy score.  If Flip can somehow get this team to do that, the offense would be more efficient.

WEIDIE: Washington’s best bet, in the midst of offensive ineptness, is for John Wall to get paint penetration and for him and his team to earn trips to the foul line. Problem is, in the Wizards’ one win, they got 12 assisted FGs at the rim, John Wall was responsible for five of those. In all other games, losses, the Wizards average 6.3 assisted FGs at the rim, and overall, Wall’s assists leading to FGs at the rim is down to 2.9 this season from 3.2 last season. Wall is also struggling to finish, shooting 50.8-percent on attempts at the rim this season compared to 59.9-percent last season. Add in the fact that Washington’s team FT-percentage is at .716 this season from .745 last season, and I think the cause is less of a slump and more of a general inability. [Stats via HoopData.com]

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[The Rundown: Setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the bench, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed... (As the crew at TAI works to hone their post-game coverage.)]

Score

Washington Wizards 94 – Philadelphia 76ers 101 [box score]

Quick STAT: Rashard Lewis shot 1-for-4 and scored three points in 19 minutes. In two preseason games, the starting small forward has gone 2-for-9 and scored seven points in 42 minutes. -R. Mobley Read more »

[Editor's Note: Truth About It.net is trying something new with its game coverage this season. Of course, we will be honing this series as we go along, but here's the gist: relevant pre- and post-game quotes/analysis from those in attendance covering the game (last night it was Rashad Mobley and Adam McGinnis); D.C flag 3-star ratings for the Wizards starters and bench from three people able to watch the game (live or on television -- we will keep a running tally on the ratings); thoughts on the environment and slept-on moments; and finally, fan tweets, scenes from the game, and anything else that would be fitting to include in "The Rundown" (which totally might not be the final name of this series, especially since it's also the name of a movie featuring "The Rock" and Seann William Scott... and Rosaio Dawson, don't want to forget her). In any case, here goes... -Kyle W.]

Score

Washington Wizards 78 – Philadelphia 76ers 103 [box score]

Quick STAT: The Wizards had 20 turnovers and 10 assists; John Wall: 6 TO, 3 AST

Scene of the Game

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The Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers may as well been two ships passing in the night last season.  The Wizardsbeat the Sixers twice in overtime early in the schedule, during a time when the Wizards looked promising and the Sixers were struggling mightily.  Later in the season, the Sixers defeated the Wizards twice by double digits, en route to a seven seed in the 2011 playoffs–the Wizards finished 13th in the Eastern Conference and 18 games behind the Sixers.

This season, the young Sixers will attempt to build on their first-round playoff exit while the Wizards will be looking to join the party.  Their respective journeys start tonight at Verizon Center, as they kickoff their abbreviated two-game, home-and-home preseason slate with each other.  But before that, TAI writers, John Converse Townsend and Rashad Mobley, along with Carey Smith from the ESPN TrueHoop Blog Philadunkia, address issues for both teams.  Three questions, three answers start now…

1)  According to the TrueHoop blog Philadunkia, Evan Turner has been working with a shooting coach and his shot has improved.  John Wall spent the entire summer showing off his improved jumper and all-around game.  Which player has more pressure to succeed in their second year?  Who will be more successful?

TOWNSEND:  Expectations are certainly higher for John Wall in 2011-12, but Evan Turner is under more pressure. Wall’s productive first season earned him recognition as one of the league’s brightest young stars. Turner, meanwhile, was largely forgotten, despite being the second overall selection in the 2010 draft; the 6’7” shooting guard struggled with his jumper, particularly beyond 10 feet, and failed to create consistently around the rim.

SMITH:  Nationally I think there is more pressure on Wall to take his game to that “next level.” He was the No. 1 overall pick and started nearly every game he played in last year. He is considered the face of the Wizards franchise, a rising “star” in the League and has a major shoe campaign. Unfortunately Turner doesn’t have that resume – yet. Therefore he does not have the national pressure that is on Wall.  However, at the local level I would say that there is significantly more pressure in Philadelphia on Turner to improve. And in Philly it’s about more then just seeing the No. 2 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft improve as a player and live up to the status that comes with his draft slot. A majority of Sixers fans desperately want Turner to improve significantly this year because his speedy development would make Andre Iguodala and his monster contract expendable. Many, including myself, believe shedding AI9′s contract would get the Sixers closer to contending in the East. In short, Turner’s improvement is the key for the Sixers jumping from a playoff team to a legit threat in the conference. Now that’s pressure. Turner will be more successful at improving his play this year. Here’s why: Turner is a project who showed flashes of real potential last year. Thus, any improvements he made in the offseason will be very noticeable in 2011-12, highly praised, and as a result, his during-lockout work will be viewed as very successful.

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Usually this feature is called “Perfect Play” and breaks down an exceptional Wizard set from the game. Well, after last night’s blowout loss to the 76ers, business as usual just feels unnatural. It was a depressing performance from a team depressed by the impending trade of Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to Atlanta.

The following play is one I would argue is exemplary of the reason the Wizards looked so terrible. It would be facile to just show Wall tossing a three off the backboard or an ugly Blatche isolation. The truth is, there is often real motion in the Wizards offense, it just doesn’t yield anything faintly reminiscent of teams like the Boston Celtics.

The Wizards were going through their offensive actions, but with no production, with no meaning behind the motion. It took eight frames to document this play from the beginning of the fourth quarter, I hope you stick around for the end, I’m sure you’ll be disappointed with the result (but hopefully not with the analysis).

On the floor for the Wizards: John Wall (2), Nick Young (1), Josh Howard (5), Trevor Booker (35), and Kevin Serphin (13)

On the floor for the 76ers: Lou Williams (23), Evan Turner (12), Andre Iguodala (9), Thaddeus Young (21), and Marreese Speights (16)

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[It's bad enough that the Sixers mopped the floor with the Wizards on Wednesday night... Making matters worse, this fan represented Washington in the city of Philadelphia.]

Tuesday night in Washington against the Indiana Pacers, Andray Blatche helped the Wizards dart out to a quick start and a 30-25 lead after one quarter by contributing 12 points himself. Then Jeff Foster did his best Dennis Rodman impression by grabbing seven rebounds against JaVale McGee in the second quarter, as the Pacers held the Wizards to just 19 points while scoring 33 of their own.  Just like that, Washington was down 58-49 at the half and never recovered en route to 113-96 loss.

Last night against the resurgent 76ers in Philadelphia, the Wizards started off with a strong effort once again. In the first quarter, John Wall had nine points and six assists, and Blatche and Young had eight and seven points respectively.  The score was 31-24 after one quarter, and it appeared as if the Wizards had quickly learned their lesson after a sluggish performance the night before — a performance that made Flip Saunders question who and was not entitled to playing time.

Then that evil monster called the second quarter showed up and decided to spook the Wizards once again. This time, Josh Howard was the main target. Kirk Hinrich was in street clothes and probably getting text messages about the trade of he and Hilton Armstrong to the Atlanta Hawks, which meant that when Wall came out of the game with 8:52 left in the second quarter with the Wizards up 33-29, Howard had to play backup point guard for the second consecutive night.

The first time the 6’7″ Howard got the ball, he attempted a 10-foot jumpshot and it was blocked by the 6’1″ Sixers guard Lou Williams. The next time down the floor, Sixers guard Jrue Holiday played tight on-ball defense against Howard (who clearly is not used to playing point guard, let alone having to contend with a lightning quick natural point guard), and it drew the Wizards completely out of their offense.  Still, Nick Young hit a tough shot and the game was tied at 35.  On the next offensive possession, Howard was not as fortunate. Rookie Evan Turner forced him into making a bad pass that was intended for Rashard Lewis. Then Thaddeus Young stole the ball, streaked down the court and Howard was forced to foul him. Young hit both free throws to put the Sixers up 37-35.

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