San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich did some poetic waxing, to the extent that he can, about Tim Duncan prior to Monday night’s game against the Wizards. Maybe Duncan has some “strange elixir” behind his stellar play, says Popovich. This is Duncan’s 16th NBA season, he’s 36-years old, and he’s putting up a career-high PER (27.3). Pretty amazing.

Maybe Duncan’s enduring tenure could be attributed to new-age techniques.

“I guess it’s not surprising when you look at training techniques these days and how seriously these guys take it. All of us eat better than we did growing up,” said Popovich. “Our parents used to know what we all know now, so these guys are taking advantage of it. What they put in their bodies is really important to them. Contracts are big. They know somebody’s waiting in line, so they better take care of themselves. The training techniques are really advanced, and they go year-round, so it’s not surprising that [NBA players in their mid-to-late 30s] can extend their careers the way that they have.”

This is now the time where we briefly interject with the recent relevancy of Andray Blatche and the tragedy of him never acting like taking care of his body was important, of him never playing like someone was waiting in line.

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Randy Wittman will go with a new starting lineup tonight against the San Antonio Spurs, his fourth in 12 games on the season. And that lineup is: A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Kevin Seraphin, and Emeka Okafor. I asked the coach before the game, before the new lineup was announced, if his players understood the coach’s search, or if they are getting frustrated with the process.

“Again, I’m trying. They’ve got to prove to me who’s worthy of that, too. And that’s what I’m trying to find. Right now we’re kind of going a little bit with matchups, too,” said Wittman, mentioning his “banged-up” team, health-wise. He also reiterated his desire for a consistent starting five and a rotation of about four guys off the bench. The search continues…

Before the game, I also asked the hard-to-crack Gregg Popovich about Wittman tinkering, searching for the right lineup combinations, and if the seasoned Spurs championship coach can empathize with that situation.

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This Sunday morning brings a couple of videos from Wizards Nation. The first is from long-time fan (and TAI reader) Adam Gerloff. Adam is from the D.C. metro area (Northern Virginia, to be more exact) and has been a fan of the franchise since the late 1980s. He moved to New York in 1997, but still kept close tabs on his hometown team. Until now. The below video came via email this morning from Adam with the subject line: “I dumped the Wizards.” It will bring a smile to your face (not sure what kind of smile, as smiles come in different forms); it will make you sad; it will make you shake your head while sporting that obscurely emotional smile.

I’m not sure I completely believe Adam when he says it’s over—it’s certainly not a path I would take in year 22 of ardently following the Washington pro basketball team (since ’90). But, I wouldn’t dare question the decision that any Wizards fan (or ex-Wizards fan) might make at this point. There’s a lot of scar tissue surrounding this franchise, and telling fans to stay patient just doesn’t seem to work anymore. I’ll probably never stop being a Wizards follower—just can’t quit them. But when I might normally do so otherwise, in diff’rent times, who am I to judge anyone who wants to quit on them now?

This next video takes a rather different direction. With moving pictures from 2012 Wizards training camp at George Mason University—which began a mere 54 days ago—this video is all about fan expectations, which are always built upon hope, internally and or externally influenced. But when injuries become the narrative, as often seems the case with this team, hope becomes diminished by uncertainty. Fans are left baffled, wondering what goes through Ted Leonsis’ mind when considering the track record of Ernie Grunfeld in totality. Fans are left wondering why the team owner preaches patience, since there’s been so much change, in this the third year of the rebuilding project. The construction site is now mired with cost overruns and reconsidered blueprints; but it’s not without promise. If key players don’t succumb to uncertain ailments. If young players are allowed just a little more time to catch up, if they can somehow turn the oodles of on-the-job training into the next step, then their wild inconsistency wouldn’t keep them a grade behind.

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Just in case you are one of the many ready to jump ship on the 0-11 Wizards, take a moment to watch and listen to Martell Webster. Unlike years past, this is a team that cares about winning. They aren’t giving up. They don’t think they are bad team. But they are at a total loss for where success is going to come from at this moment. This is a brutal, raw and honest moment. And thank goodness Martell Webster was there to give it the words it needed.

“Just gotta win… Just gotta win.” —Martell Webster

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Prior to tonight’s epic Wizards-Bobcats tilt, Randy Wittman had his usual presser with the loyal cadre of Wizards beat reporters and staffers. Most of the presser can be considered business as usual, but Wittman was downright Belichickian when it came to discussing Wizards injuries. Nene’s minutes will “continue” to be monitored, despite the fact that he was basically encased in ice after the Hawks game. Trevor Booker’s knee “gets better” every day, but there is no timetable for his return. Most encouragingly, Wittman has “no idea” when John Wall will be back.

Just another day in Wizards Land.

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Ugly is an understatement. It borders on the surreal, whatever is going on with these 0-9 Washington Wizards. In the last five-plus seasons alone, we’re up to 131 wins, 272 losses, 73 players, four head coaches, two owners, and one team president of basketball operations, Ernie Grunfeld. All the problems seem different, but they add up to one big mess.

This play from Monday’s Pacers game, as described by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee, is quite unique in itself, and captures the essence of this year’s issues:

The struggles of the starters were summed up in one play in the third quarter, when Crawford drove into the lane and flipped an air ball. Okafor jumped to get the putback, but shot an air ball over the rim. Price missed a three-pointer and then Okafor had his shot blocked by Hibbert. Fans started booing.

Let’s watch:

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The Wizards Said WHAT?!
Post-Pacers Game – Nov. 19, 2012

via TAI’s John Converse Townsend

The Worst NBA Offense in a Decade?

One way to measure an NBA offense on a relatively even playing field is by Offensive Rating, which is an estimate of how many points a team scores per 100 possessions. It’s said to be an “estimate” because there’s no concrete, agreed upon method of calculating a possession.* For more, feel free to visit the glossary on Basketball-Reference.com, which has NBA possession data going back to the 1973-74 season.

What say the numbers?

The Wizards average a league-worst 94.3 points per 100 possessions, according to Basketball-Reference.com. If you do a search of the BBR database, only eight NBA teams since the 1973-74 season have had an Offensive Rating (OffRtg) below 95. The 2002-03 Denver Nuggets were the last team to do so with an OffRtg of 92.2. Juwan Howard, of all people, led that Nuggets team in scoring with 18.4 points per game; James Posey was second with a 14.1 average, and the Wizards’ own Nene—who was a rookie that season—was the third Nugget, averaging double-figures in scoring at 10.5.

This season’s Wizards also have three players averaging double-figures in points: Jordan Crawford (12.2), Bradley Beal (11.7), and Kevin Seraphin (10.1).

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[Jordan Crawford... Friday practice before game day, and the night after the Saturday contest.]

By some metrics, Jordan Crawford has been the very best Washington Wizard this season. His 12.4 points per game leads the team; only one other player averages double figures for Washington: Bradley Beal and his 10.9 points per game. Crawford also essentially leads the Wiz in PER (player efficiency rating) with a 16.8 in 187 minutes of action; worth noting, however, that Earl Barron has a 30.5 PER in 24 minutes and Cartier Martin has a 20.5 PER in 41 total minutes. But of those NBAers who have tallied at least 150 minutes on the court this season, Crawford’s 16.8 PER is tied for 83rd best in the league with Indiana’s David West. Your best Wizard, everyone.

Crawford had a 14.5 PER last season, so the improvement is numerically clear. But Crawford also passes the eye test, too, thus far. Especially as of late, he’s been a more patient, a more calculated player, while still showing hints of him being him — “Steez,” if you will. The .488 eFG% (effective field goal percentage) that Crawford is shooting this year is undoubtedly an improvement over last season’s .446. An assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.35 last season has also improved to 1.68 this season. Better shooting, better passing via Crawford.

Now, Crawford’s plus/minus numbers don’t signify that he’s the best Wizard. Crawford has a plus/minus of minus-4.9 per 48 minutes, the sixth “best,” if you will, on the Wizards — after Jan Vesely (plus-7.7 per 48), Cartier Martin (plus-5.9), Earl Barron (plus-4.0), Jannero Pargo (minus-2.8), and Martell Webster (minus-4.8). But who’s going to shoot? Those guys? Pffft! Otherwise, things are looking up for ol’ J.C. — the “Crawfish” — it’s just that his team is losing. Losing to the tune of 0-8.

“It’s tough, but I think everybody’s man enough to accept the challenge ahead, and I think we will,” said Crawford after the Wizards dropped their eighth game in as many on the season against the Utah Jazz on Saturday night. And on fans booing? Read more »

Coach Randy Wittman from Washington Wizards practice on Nov. 16, 2012:

“I’d like to get to where I have a steady rotation and every night this is how we’re going to go out and play, barring injuries. We haven’t been able to do that, just through up-and-down play of individuals.

[...]  

As a coach you search to try to find that right mix, and I haven’t been able to do that. We gotta get to that point where you got five that are starting, and you got a rotation coming off the bench that knows when they’re coming in. That’s what we gotta get to, that’s when you become a consistent team. We’re not even close to that right now.”
—Randy Wittman

And on the starters: Read more »

The Detroit Pistons, who were pacing the NBA in futility, crushed the 76ers in Philadelphia last night, 94-76. Detroit attacked the rim for 48 minutes and outscored Philly 42-28 in the a paint. Greg Monroe led the way with a 19-point, 18-rebound performance. That win snapped the Pistons’ eight-game skid to start the 2012-13 season, and meant that the Wizards, who fell to 0-7 in Dallas, are the last remaining winless team in the NBA. (Fun fact: The Wizards got off to the worst start in franchise history last season, going 0-8; traditions, it seems, are tough to break.)

But Randy “Rodney Dangerfield” Wittman thinks he knows why his squad is falling short of (playoff) expectations: No respect!

“For whatever reason, this team doesn’t get any respect,” Wittman told NBA.com’s Jeff Caplan. “We go to the rim and had 11 free throws. These young guys just have to make a name for themselves, and it’s just baffling some of the things that are said to me by the refs for why they don’t call it.”

Wittman didn’t stop there: “Maybe we have to send the game film everyday to the league.”

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