The last time Coach Doug Collins and his Philadelphia Sixers came to Washington, they were treated to a virtuoso performance by John Wall.  He had 29 points, 13 assists and nine steals in his Wizards home debut, and he helped lead his team to a 116-115 overtime victory.  After the game, Collins sounded like a man completely in awe:

“He’s terrific.  I watched him play in college.  He’s just so explosive with the ball.  When you have a player like that you can almost guarantee that you can get a shot anytime down the floor because he can create something.  He’s so strong, and can get into the gaps.  He’s very unselfish and a powerful finisher at the basket.  He’s a terrific player.”

Tonight when the Sixers take on the Wizards, Wall will not be in the starting lineup (although he is in uniform), but Gilbert Arenas, who did not play against the Sixers the first time, will be on the court for the tip-off.  Arenas is coming off a game against the Pistons where he scored 19 points and dished out a career-high 16 assists.  With or without Wall in the lineup tonight, Arenas figures to cause just as many headaches for the Sixers squad, particularly the guards.

Before tonight’s game, Coach Collins talked about both Wall and Arenas, and the challenges they both pose for this Sixers squad. Watch the video:

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[Some transition opportunities end with John Wall dunking and the other team watching, you're about to read about a different version of the break.]

Back in 1991, when I was playing varsity basketball and trying to fulfill my pseudo-NBA dreams, my coach used to always discuss his version of the perfect fast break.  As he saw it, this would happen when one player grabbed the rebound, started the first of four passes without dribbles, and then the last player would lay the ball in the basket (nobody on our team could dunk).  Our coach was so in love with this concept that he promised to take us out for ice cream if we ever achieved the milestone (we didn’t).

For years I’ve watched basketball on the professional and collegiate level, and every now and then, when I see the “perfect fast break,” I stop and marvel at its beauty.  Then I think back to my high school coach and say to myself, “Wow, my coach was right, this IS the perfect way to run transition offense!”

On Tuesday, John Wall and Nick Young showed me a different light, making me believe there’s more than one way to run a  perfect fast break.

With 57 seconds gone by in the fourth quarter, Sixers guard Evan Turner attempted to drive the lane, but Wall swiped the ball away–something he did nine times in his Verizon Center debut.

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[Jrue Holiday attempts to go behind-the-back to Andre Igoudala - photo: K. Weidie]

Doug Collins was originally scheduled to meet with the media at 5:45, so around 5:43, I left the main floor, and headed toward the Sixers locker room.  When I arrived, it was clear that his media session had been moved to 6pm, so I hung around and talked to some of the Sixers players while I waited.  Each time I walked in and out of the locker room, I saw Doug Collins chilling in the coach’s office, looking totally relaxed.

He had his feet up on the desk, he was watching a little ESPN, he was laughing with some of his assistant coaches; he looked the total opposite of what I imagined.  The words and phrases attached to Collins are “intense”, “annoying at times”, “hard on players”, and others I’m sure aren’t quite fit to print in this family(ish) blog.  On the flip side, the phrases attached to Collins the NBA analyst are “wise”, a “great talker”, and someone who knows a hell of a lot about the Xs and Os of basketball.

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Cartier Martin is like Clockwork. You need him to be that guy? He’ll be on time. Play defense, hit a corner three, box out and keep the other team from getting a second possession, hit a last-second, game-tying three? He’ll do it. I don’t know if “Clockwork” will stick, but that’s what I’m calling him.

Beautiful shot by Cartier last night by the way. He only sent the game into overtime, no biggie. Kirk Hinrich was supposed to be the decoy, Nick Young the first option and Martin the second, according to Flip Saunders. Let’s take a look after the jump:

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It’s a different world now.

In a way, I feel like Frank Sobotka from The Wire. Just like Sobotka was witnessing the port of Baltimore and its potential crumble around him in season two, I’m witnessing the same happen to the Washington Wizards.

And yes, I realize that it’s very ironic for me to use the word “witness” considering who the Wizards will play in about an hour.

By the way, while I’m making comparisons to The Wire, I might as well call Gilbert Arenas “Ziggy” (Sobotka’s son in the show, not the cartoon character) … both self-destructive in nature and ultimately brought down by gun-play.

Last night’s Sixers game seems like so long ago, obviously aided by Gilbert Arenas’ indefinite suspension, but also because, among other things, I’m rushed into thinking about tonight’s game against Cleveland.

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After Saturday’s Spurs game, reader Joe Sill emailed me some praise about Nick Young. And with perfect timing, Young put together a very solid 21 point effort on 9-14 FGs last night in a win against the 76ers, his plus-15 second best to that of Gilbert Arenas. Young came off the bench in the first half, started the second half in place of Andray Blatche, and overall did some nice things defensively.

Below is what Joe wrote about Nick and emailed to me this past Sunday.

Got home, watched the first half of the Wizards-Sixers game, put it on pause, and left for the gym with thoughts of Groundhog Day dancing in my head.

I came back feeling better about myself because I got exercise and later felt even better with the pleasant surprise of a Wizards win, fueled by much improved play in the second half.

Washington has swept the season series with Philadelphia, a team just as bad in general and worse defensively. I’ll take it.

Below is what I saw. Read more »

In anticipation of tonight’s Wizards game against the 76ers in Philadelphia, I exchanged some questions with Carey Smith of Philadunkia, the ESPN TrueHoop Network Sixers blog.

I answered a question from Carey about the Wizards’ struggles in general, and attempted to encapsulate the season’s problems in a nutshell. I also answered a question about Eddie Jordan and defense, which I spoke with the coach about when the Sixers played in D.C. on December 22nd.

Head over to Philadunkia to read my answers. Carey’s answers to my questions are below.

(TAI) — How is Elton Brand coming along? Has he overcome his slow start? Is he ultimately better coming off the bench?

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Matching up Wizards locker room quotes after the Sixers game with corresponding facial expressions.

Nick Young

When asked what the team needs to do to build on this one victory:

“We need to just not get too down on each other, not criticize each other. Everybody needs to be one as a team. When one player messes up, pat him on the back and tell them ‘do a good job next time’ instead of talking trash.”

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In the previous entry, I touched on the Wizards post-game locker room atmosphere after beating the Sixers. Thinking about the game again last night and this morning led me to pause … they were really, really close to losing another heart breaker. Momentum really could have shifted had Lou Williams hit that wide open corner three, which would have given the Sixers a 100-98 lead, potentially capping a 10-2 Philly run since Eddie Jordan called a timeout after Caron Butler’s big dunk.

But thankfully, Williams’ shot was off, the Wizards made their free-throws, and the Sixers made some mental errors (fouling down three with 34 seconds left? … what was that?). It could have been a much different locker room, one that wasn’t seemingly so naively content with a single win.

And that’s why I’m a tad excited for tonight’s game in Milwaukee, just another chance to see what the Wizards are made of. I’ll have more on the Philly game to come. But until then, below the video highlights are several links of interest.

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