“Yea, I got the braces done too … this season, everything is new. Everything is going to be fresh. Everything is going to be more exciting. You know, it will be good this year.”
—Andray Blatche, September 2009

[Don't call us, we won't call you. - photo via Adam McGinnis]

Under Avery Johnson’s coaching, Brooklyn stood at 14-14. Since he was fired in late-December, they are 15-6 under new coach P.J. Carlesimo, but they have lost four of their last seven—two on the road to Memphis and Houston and two at home to Orlando and the L.A. Lakers. Currently tied with the Bulls for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, Brooklyn can’t afford to falter against the Wizards tonight… before facing San Antonio, before going on the road to play the Pacers on Monday, before a hot Denver Nuggets team comes to the BK next Wednesday, and before the league heads into the All-Star break after that.

The Prince of Party has played a slightly diminished role under new leadership, removing the luster from those ready to anoint Blatche as the NBA’s Most Improved Player a quarter into the season. In his 21 games during the Carlesimo era, Blatche is playing 3.4 less minutes, taking 1.9 less shots, pulling down 1.1 less rebounds, and scoring 2.4 less points. All negligible, perhaps.

In consideration of the entire season, Blatche has spent 956 minutes on the court for the Nets over 49 games, and 1,421 minutes off the court. When Blatche rides the bench, Brooklyn shoots the ball 2.7 percent better, tallies 3.1 more assists, turns the ball over 1.5 times less, commits 2.5 less fouls, and scores four points more per 48 minutes.

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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. Click here for cumulative DC Council 3-star ratings over the course of the season. Game 45 contributors: Markus Allen, Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20), and John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend).]

Score

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The New Jersey Nets had a road record of 3-16 going into last night’s game against Washington, and although that is not quite as bad as the 0-17 road record the Wizards are sporting, it still is not something to be proud of at all. Avery Johnson might not have been able to coach his team to a successful road record, but prior to the game, he laid out a blueprint on how it could be done:

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Doing some spring cleaning while watching the NBA playoffs on Sunday, I found myself ripping off covers of old ESPN The Magazines and trashing the rest, but not before quickly flipping through to make sure nothing was keep-able.

Times were different in December 2007. Well, not so much for Wizards fans. The turmoil was just getting started with the news that Gilbert Arenas would be having a second surgery on his knee just two weeks old. That December 3rd edition of ESPN The Magazine ironically had part of an NBA advertisement featuring a picture of Arenas and the words, “Where I’m back happens.”

In that same edition, which had Terrell Owens giving Tony Romo ‘bunny ears’ on the cover (Jason Witten was in the picture too), was the above ‘Got Milk?’ advertisement featuring two former Dallas Mavericks, coach Avery Johnson and player Josh Howard.

December 2007 represented some of the last days of NBA harmony for each Howard and Johnson. The Mavericks as a one-seed lost to the eight-seed Warriors the previous Spring, an ’06-07 season where Howard also represented the Mavs in the NBA All-Star game. But from there, it would go further downhill.

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The 2009 NBA Draft is on June 25th, an important day in so many ways. For one, it’s my birthday….the onset of my last year in my 20s…..but it’s also the day that the Wizards will be selecting Blake Griffin with the #1 overall draft pick (hopefully).

And while Griffin might not be a franchise changer like Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Shaq O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, he certainly isn’t a Kwame Brown or Michael Olowokandi.

Griffin won’t magically propel the Wizards to the cream of the crop, but he can certainly be a key cog on a potential contender while keeping the ‘Zards poised for the future.

June 25th is a pretty big date…potentially (Dikembe Mutombo will also turn 43 in beyond-human years on 6/25)….but May 19th is much more important. That’s when the order of the NBA is decided via a lottery.

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As the dust settles from the “it’s a done deal” to the “it’s official” phase of hiring Flip Saunders as the next coach of the Wizards, I find it hard to form a solid opinion on perhaps the most important aspect of transforming this team from mediocre to championship contender (aside from health of course).

I still subscribe to the thought that players are on the court, playing the games, and thus hold the ultimate responsibility for winning and losing. But a good coach…well, he can be a difference maker.

Not to say I’m apathetic towards the hiring of Saunders. If I had to rank, I suppose he would have been my number one choice, with Mark Jackson being a sleeper pick (he is a minister, and could surely preach on it….plus, his NBA analysis on ABC/ESPN is on point….but he lacks significant coaching experience).

I might have taken Avery Johnson over Jackson…but over Saunders? I’m not so sure…..in fact, I doubt it. So Saunders it is, and I’m okay with that….but not exactly thrilled. Then again, the stink of this season hasn’t been laid to rest, and that certainly has something to do with my mundane attitude.

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