Where’s Singleton?

Chris Singleton’s run of eight straight starts for the Wizards ended on December 19 against the Magic in Orlando. Actually, it ended at halftime of the December 18 game against the Hawks when Randy Wittman opted for the since waived Earl Barron to begin the third quarter. Since, Singleton has struggled to get on the floor. His coach hasn’t played him in three of the Wizards’ last four games, and the game in which Singleton did see the court, against the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 26, he only managed to do so for 6.5 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.

Before tonight’s game against the Mavericks, Wittman’s reason as to the absence of Singleton was simple: not enough minutes.

“There’s not enough minutes to play everybody … can’t play everybody,” said the coach. Certainly there’s more to it. The coach also mentioned the oft-used concept of consistency. But will Singleton have a chance to find it, especially with depleted resources and underwhelming performances from those such as Jan Vesely?

Coach Talk:

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I’m not going to call the locker room scene after Washington’s second loss to Detroit in as many nights on Saturday interesting. It wasn’t exactly a sad place. It wasn’t exactly unique. I don’t know what it was. And I’m pretty sure the players don’t know either. But it was something.

Kevin Seraphin sat crouched on the floor, only in his game shorts, next to a seated and suited (and currently indefinitely injured) Trevor Booker at his locker. Cartier Martin, with an adjacent locker, seemed to be part of a trio rapping about the days problems with concern, wondering about a fractured locker room. In reality, and in all likelihood, basketball was probably the furthest topic from their discussions. Or maybe they were talking about waived teammates.

Shaun Livingston was already dressed and ready to exit by the time the media was allowed access to the Wizards’ locker room. Earl Barron was scrambling to gather his things. Minutes later, the news would surface that both had been cut. The Washington Post’s Michael Lee knew, evidently, as he chased Livingston around the corner for one last interview.

John Wall had already exited the locker room, in a suit that actually fits him (his suit game has really excelled during these injured times). Nene sat near his massive, standard post-game ice bucket, still in uniform, looking rather depressed (or embarrassed). Bradley Beal provided his prerequisite “first thank God and Jesus Christ for blessing me with this opportunity” before answering the first question posed by the press. (Nene eschewed giving God a shout-out before speaking on this particular night; normally, he does not.) Martell Webster looked weary and worn out, ready to appreciate two days off with his family. Jordan Crawford donned his shades full of steez before meeting the media—normally, this season, Crawford has made sure to remove his glasses before talking post-game. Not this night.

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Randy Wittman begged and pleaded last night for the media to alert the world about the limit on Nene’s minutes.

“I had fans heckling me, alright? I mean, come on!! Will you guys please report that this guy’s on a minute limit? They’re killing me… I had to turn around and say something to them today.”

Mr. Jack Kogod (@Unsilent) had this nugget of reality to add via Twitter:

@truth_about_it Not sure why he thinks that fans who are unaware of Nene’s limit are actually reading media reports.

— Jack Kogod (@Unsilent) December 19, 2012

Nene has played 11 games this season and is averaging 21.5 minutes per game. He has come in below the 20-minute mark four times, and he has exceeded the 24-minute mark three times — 29 minutes in his second game, a double-OT loss to the Bobcats; just over 24 minutes in his sixth game, a nine point loss in Atlanta; and 24 minutes in Tuesday night’s OT loss to the Hawks in Washington. Along the way, Nene has sat out two games — against the Spurs after those 29 minutes in game No. 2 against Charlotte; and he sat out last Saturday’s Heat game after playing against the Lakers on Friday.

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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. 22, Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks in D.C.; contributors: Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center.]

Wittmanisms. Read more »

Tonight is the third time, with his third team, that DeShawn Stevenson has been back to play in D.C. since he was traded away in February 2010.

As a member of the Dallas Mavericks, before they won the title, Stevenson returned to Washington, played two minutes and missed one shot in a February 2011 contest, a 105-99 Dallas win. As a member of the New Jersey Nets last season, Stevenson made a brief 12 second appearance at the Verizon Center in a 90-84 Nets win on opening night of a lockout-shortened season. Now, as a member of the Atlanta Hawks, having been traded last summer in the Joe Johnson deal, Stevenson returns to Washington, yet again.

Take the opportunity to speak with DeShawn before Tuesday night’s Wizards-Hawks matchup? Certainly.

TAI: Anything to being back here in D.C., or has all that passed by now? Read more »

So the Wizards actually beat the Lakers earlier this year. On March 7, 2012, they pulled out a 106-101 victory in the District, led by Nick Young’s 19 points and a still career-high six assists off the bench. Trevor Booker also muscled his way to 18 points and 17 rebounds that night. And if you recall, the Lakers were up 21 points in the second half. It was Washington’s first victory over the Lake Show since Gilbert Arenas dropped 60 points in his hometown of Los Angeles on December 17, 2006.

In the March win, Roger Mason played the hometown hero by somehow going 4-for-7 from the 3-point line in 12 minutes (all in the second half, three in the fourth quarter). Thus, the Wizards managed to turn a crowd mostly in favor of the Lakers to start into an arena rocking for the comeback Wiz Kids in the end. Afterward, Kobe Bryant was understandably terse with the media, trying his best to “keep it to one-word answers.”

Now Kobe’s Lakers come to Washington with a 9-14 record, somehow with only two fewer losses than the 3-16 Wizards, and having lost to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Thursday night national television. New York put up 41 points in the first quarter, was up 68-49 at halftime, and ultimately won 116-107. Afterward, Kobe had this to say (via TNT):

“Every game for us has a lot of meaning to it, at this point. I don’t think it’s … Maybe if we were rollin’, playing well, it would probably have added significance [playing Knicks], but
at this point, I wish we had the Washington Generals on our schedule.”

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Ultimately, it is what it is — Mike Miller style. What will be with the Washington Wizards will be. Until there are signs that that franchise is truly turning around, those who question “the plan” are obtuse outsiders without context. At least it seems this way, sometimes, as mistakes accrue and ownership looks to provide massaged reasoning via blog pixels.

It won’t be easy is a mantra, stay the well-intended course is the verse, and injuries are the narrative. It’s still hard to tell if something is direly amiss with the Ernie Grunfeld administration and how things are being evaluated in his second life. The track record barely needs mentioning to know how putrid it is. Now, the fires have been further inflamed by a reported trade that never happened.

The Washington Post‘s Michael Lee dropped a bombshell on Ted Leonsis’ pro basketball franchise on Tuesday evening, just as the Wizards were set to tip off against the Hornets in New Orleans. The quick gist is this tweet via @PostSports:

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As Washington’s dreary season slogs along, faithful followers of this 2-15 team should realize that no loss is a surprise anymore. Blowouts, overtime defeats, missed game-winners, unsuccessful comebacks, and so many—nay, too many—“moral victories.” Even the Wizards’ two wins caused discomfort throughout their conclusions. Personally, I expect the worst and then laugh at the absurdity of the outcomes to mask my disappointed sorrow.

Twitter hashtags #SoWizards and #BecauseWizards exist for a reason. And, somehow, the Wizards found yet another unique way to lose an NBA contest on Saturday night, falling to Golden State, 101-97. This squad continues to be stricken by late-game calamity.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry made two free throws to put Warriors up three points, 99-96, with eight seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warriors then wisely fouled Wizards guard Bradley Beal on the floor before he was able to get a potential game-tying 3-point shot off. Randy Wittman acknowledged in post game presser that it was a wise strategy employed by the Warriors since Washington was out of timeouts. Beal was surprised by the foul, believing that he was in the act of shooting.

“I didn’t know they were going to foul. I thought he was going to let me shoot, but the ref called it. He said that he called it before I shot it. But I didn’t take another dribble, so I thought it was three shots. … It was a smart foul because you shoot two free throws.”

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Well, it’s no Eddie Jordan pro-style Princeton offense. Instead, it’s Gilbert Arenas aimlessly wandering around the 3-point arc on the basketball hardwood in China. Which, for some strange reason, I take pleasure in watching … while those peddling Amway products are essentially paying Arenas not to play for the Orlando Magic. It’s all very sad in a bloggable way. Hey, did you know that Arenas was the first blogging athlete? Well, he was.

The above video, in fact, comes from China. It’s Arenas’ November 24 debut with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), against Stephon Marbury, famed consumer of Vaseline, and the Beijing Ducks. Well, the first few minutes of Arenas’ debut—he pulled up with an injury not six minutes in. But there Gilbert is, wandering around the floor in blue, wearing uniform No. 0 (just like Andray Blatche of the Brooklyn Nets).

Long story short, the Sharks get down 10-2 while Arenas barely touches the ball. Then Arenas sinks a step-back, fadeaway 3-pointer at about the 6:35 mark of the above YouTube (the only shot he would end up attempting). Then Arenas gets injured via his groin, or hip flexor, or “intramuscular strain of the right thigh”—all of them probably apply, all of them are probably lost in translation—and leaves for the night, and the foreseeable future (around the 8:22 mark of the YouTube). And then the Sharks lost to the Ducks, 94-78.

The blog, Beijing Cream, relays this: Read more »

“We are going to shock the world.”

This was the answer Washington season ticket holder and Goodman League head honcho, Miles Rawls, said just moments before tip-off between the Wizards and Heat on Tuesday evening. I had asked the iconic D.C. hoops personality for his prediction of the matchup, one where the Wizards were 10.5-point underdogs and plus-475 payout on the money line.

Rawls was not the only one with confidence that the NBA’s current cellar dwellers could defeat the defending champs at the Verizon Center. Coach Randy Wittman delivered an inspirational message to his team before the game, and he discussed  it afterwards.

“They only people that really think you have a chance tonight is us here right in this room,” Wittman remembered telling his team in the locker room.

He then spoke directly to the media attending his press conference: “You guys don’t. The outside didn’t. I said we need to have a statement game, we haven’t had a statement game … what better of an opportunity to come play in front of the fans that we knew were going to be here and to beat this team. And they took it to heart.”

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