You talk about Andray Blatche’s bad defense, you talk about JaVale McGee’s bad defense, you beat dead horses that really won’t die. That’s how things go with the Washington Wizards franchise these days.

Head coach Flip Saunders is not happy, evidenced by the manner in which he cut his press conference short after Wednesday night’s 109-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, making his team 0-17 on the road for the season. Saunders wasn’t particularly terse in dealing with the media after the game, as seen on Comcast’s coverage, but it’s something we’ve seen before. He was suddenly done answering questions in his own, subtly annoyed tone, and ‘poof’ … he was gone, as some media member tried to get in a question to no avail.

But before the abrupt ending, Saunders twice exclaimed how bad his team fared at defending Philadelphia’s pick and rolls and twice pinned most of the blame on his big men, saying, “bigs didn’t give enough help.” Nothing new here. After the loss to New Orleans on January 1, Saunders indicated that his team addressed defending pick and rolls in a soft manner. Not long after Saunders made that comment, I asked John Wall to assess the so-called “softness.”

“It’s not about defending soft,” he said. “You know, I think we were pressuring the ball, it’s just that we’re not doing a great job of hedging. You see when I came off the screen, they big men was there, and they was hedging pretty hard, making me pass the ball and pick up my dribble. I feel like when [Chris Paul] came off a screen, he just had freedom to do whatever he wants to … find teammates and scoring. We just got to do a better job of stepping up and making the guards pass the ball.”

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{photo: Adam McGinnis}

The NBA is all about the Pick & Roll, right? John Wall, even in limited games thus far, is getting a crash course in the adjustments he needs to make in execution on both ends of the floor. The transition from college to pro involves more games, more minutes and more plays per game, and a majority of those plays involve … you guessed it, the Pick & Roll. So, if Wall is going to get better running the P&R on offense, and better at defending the plethora of young point guards in the League trying to do the same thing, he has plenty of opportunity.

After Friday’s game against the Knicks, I asked Flip Saunders to speak on Wall’s P&R execution and progression. Saunders said:

“Some of those plays are designed as a decoy to get other players open. I think what’s happening is John — we watch film, we have to watch more — he’s got to make the adjustment of understanding when players are going under those screens a lot, that’s when he can be more aggressive to the paint, and a lot of times, he’s kind of walking off those screens. When you slide off those screens, the defense doesn’t have to commit.”

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No John Wall, no Vince Carter as the Wizards put their 5-2 record at home to the test against the best team they’ve seen yet in the friendly confines of the Verizon Center. But without those two, there are still plenty of story lines for the holiday hangover matchup on NBA TV — JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche vs. Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas versus Jameer Nelson, Kirk Hinrich versus the sure-to-get-booed J.J. Redick (or Arenas and Hinrich guarding the other way around), and the opening night blowout in Orlando hanging over Washington’s head. Question is, will this game be any good? Exactly.

Let’s go to the pre-game video where Flip Saunders and Andray Blatche discuss:

• Flip talks about his team in general, playing against good opponents home and away.
• Blatche talks about what the team is focused on with the opening night loss in Orlando and the Thanksgiving night loss in Atlanta in mind, and how this Wizards team approaches Dwight Howard’s effect on defense.
• Flip talks about the progression of Nick Young and his role coming off the bench (note: the newly acquired Alonzo Gee will be starting at the three spot with Wall out due to a bruised left knee — he joins Gilbert Arenas, Kirk Hinrich, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee in the starting lineup).

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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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Michael Imperioli voice: That’s cool. John Wall just poured Yi a shot. What can your point guard do?… nuthin.

This here was my favorite play of the night because all five Wizards seemed to know where they were going and moved with purpose–not always a given. Hard screens were set, tears were shed, and Yi Jianlian drilled a 17 footer. The Wizards ran this out of a timeout midway through the second quarter in a sideline out of bounds situation.

1) The Wizards begin with Hinrich inbounding and Armstrong, Wall, Yi, and Thornton (who had a very nice game) standing in a line across the free throw-line-extended. Hinrich enters the ball to Wall who is coming off a perfunctory Armstrong screen, while Yi goes away from the space he wants to use by heading down to the block.

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On Monday afternoon Flip Saunders left practice early, storming out and cutting it short because he said his team did not have a sense of urgency and that his players were not working hard. Saunders also said, “That’s the one thing as coaches, you can’t coach effort.” He told his team to come back for a second practice that afternoon at 4 pm.

Barring your opinion of whether coaches can really coach effort or not, or if they should at least be taking measures to encourage maximized effort, or if you believe it should not be an NBA coach’s responsibility to hold the hands of basketball millionaires, there are a lot of issues with this Wizards team and they have been pointed out.

But Saunders walking out on practice … how big of a deal is this? Sure, as TAI’s Adam McGinnis was opining to me over Google-chat, this would be getting killed in Chicago or New York. Then again, via web media with boundless reach, it’s out there for a larger audience to scrutinize nonetheless.

Is it a good sign? No, it’s not a good sign that the lines between coaching instruction and player implementation are not in tune. But we’re talking about practice.

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From FreeDarko’s Undisputed Guide To Pro Basketball History:

“Madison Square Garden, the game’s most hallowed arena, is the Mecca of Basketball. But this nickname had little to do with devotion to the sport; it was borrowed from the Shriners’ Mecca Temple, a venue that hosted boxing and wrestling matches in the ’20s and ’30s.”

Don’t forget to go buy that book, here’s a reminder why.

So, what happens when some of the Wizards’ big men go through their pre-game warm-up routine while some of the Knicks City Dancers do the same, on the same court? Or when Andray Blatche keeps loose with a game of one-on-one with Sam Cassell?

This video:

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Not too long ago, I found that the Wikipedia page for Flip Saunders listed his real first name as “Flippery” — Wikipedia hijinks … it gave me a chuckle. His real name is Phillip.

On a related note, I recently wrote something for the individual team previews that Basketball-Reference.com is doing. I was supposed to discuss strengths and weaknesses, which I aimed to do, and did to a minor extent, but when all was said and done, it ended up being somewhat of a preview on Phillip “Flip” D. Saunders, Wizards head coach.

Hence, I’m re-purposing what I wrote for BBR for the first part of this post. Sure, it’s kind of “iffy” of me to post something I wrote for somewhere else here (not like I haven’t done it before). But I know you’ll go check out the rest of Basketball-Reference’s preview on the Wizards anyway, which includes projected per-36 minute stats and some team-related polls to vote on.

Looking Forward

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The atmosphere around the Verizon Center practice court was light and playful for once, and the Wizards players and coaching staff looked completely at ease.  John Wall and Gilbert Arenas shared jokes while shooting free throws. Kevin Seraphin worked on his post moves with Gene Banks, trading jokes at the same time. Even the normally stoic Yi Jianlian could be seen cracking a smile while shooting free throws with JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche.

There was no talk about Arenas, his beard, his smile or his behavior, no visible residual sadness regarding the departures of Sean Marks and Adam Morrison, and no lingering effects from the loss in Detroit two nights earlier.

Earlier in the day, John Wall, Andray Blatche, Josh Howard, Nick Young,  Hamady Ndiaye, Trevor Booker, members of the Wizards coaching staff as well as front office personnel, hosted a “Salute to the Stars” in honor of NBA Cares Week of Service.  The Wizards staff served 200 combat veterans as well as wounded men and woman from various branches of the military.  Josh Howard commented on how the event went:

“Soldiers give back to us all the time, so its nice to see the Wizards along with Morton’s [Steakhouse] come together and NBA Cares as well. It’s a great organization…”

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[Editor's note: Stephen D. Riley covered the Wall-Jennings matchup on TAI from John's perspective, now here's Rashad Mobley with a look from Brandon's perspective in his series "From The Other Side." -Kyle]

By the time John Wall’s name is announced as the Wizards’ starting point guard on their home opening night against Philadelphia 76ers, he will have received more than enough advice.  His family is telling him how to manage his life, his friends are telling him how to spend his money and where to hang out, his teammates are saying get me the ball in my sweet spot, the coaches (especially Sam Cassell) are telling him how to be an effective point guard in the NBA.  Hell, I’m sure even his twitter following has chimed in with their clueless, but well-intentioned advice.

After my visit to the Milwaukee Bucks locker room before their preseason matchup with the Wizards, it looks like Wall will have two more people to take advice from:  Head Coach Scott Skiles and second year guard Brandon Jennings.

Skiles coached Jennings during his rookie year, so he knows first-hand about the ups and downs involved with a rookie running the show.  But prior to that, Skiles enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA (including one year with the Bullets), where he averaged 11 points and 6.5 assists, and dished out 30 assists in one game (an NBA record).

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