A Washington, D.C. pic, some words, and Wizards links in bullets…
[Calvert Street Bridge at dusk - NW Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]
Mike Prada breaks down a good argument on Bullets Forever about why he’d trade JaVale McGee for the No. 2 pick (Derrick Williams) straight up. I previously made a simple argument of why I wouldn’t do it, but certainly wouldn’t complain if it happened. However, from what I hear, such a deal was never really considered seriously, or even “on the table,” because when conversations headed in that direction, the Wizards were turned away at the door. Indications are that Minnesota has been fielding some very creative and interesting offers for the second pick — which make the rumor of the T-Wolves sending Johnny Flynn and the No. 2 to Toronto for DeMar DeRozan and the No. 5 laughable. Nonetheless, lotta days until draft time, folks, so plenty of time for more rumors to float, and plenty of time for David Kahn to play hardball.
In December of 2009, the Toronto Raptors defeated the Washington Wizards in overtime, 109-107 – mainly because of a tough shot by Hedo Turkoglu. The Wizards started slowly that game and found themselves quickly down 20-5, and in the end, they were just too gassed to close the deal in overtime. Afterward, Flip Saunders had this to say:
“We just buried ourselves in such a hole. You look at the end, the shot Turkoglu makes, it’s like the basketball gods … I always say they have a way of equaling things. And we just didn’t do what we needed to do.”
Just a month earlier, the Wizards found themselves in a similar situation against the Miami Heat. They started slow, fought hard to get back in the game, only to lose in the waning moments. Again, Coach Saunders referenced these magical, mystical gods of basketball:
“I remember the first minute, falling behind by 19, not coming out with the energy that we have played previously in all the games. The basketball gods will get you and you can’t cheat the game in a lot of situations.”
It's cloudy in the Nation's Capital - flickr/eugene
Well, last night was a tough one. I wasn’t as distraught/incensed as after the Charlotte or Toronto home losses. Rather, I was emotionally prepared for the inevitable. The Celtics are a damn good team. There’s no shame in losing to them. On the other hand, making mention of moral victories is loser talk.
Sure, it was only one game out of 82, no sense in dwelling on past defeats. But if each loss isn’t making the players and coaches more angry and determined than the previous one, then something isn’t right. And I still don’t exactly get the feeling from the team, as a whole, that there’s a sense of urgency arising from these losses.
With the Indiana Pacers (who absolutely embarrassed Washington the last time they played) coming to D.C. on Saturday before the Wizards embark on a four game West Coast swing, playing seven out of the next eight on the road, there will be no shortage of tests/chances for this team to right the ship and prove themselves worthy. We will see.
Flip Saunders was not happy after Friday night’s loss against Toronto. “I’m more disappointed in this game than any game we’ve had,” he said. Can’t blame him.
It must have pained Coach even more to say, “That was a typical regular season game of non-playoff teams … playing the way we played. We took 29-three point shots. You don’t take 29 … you know, we’re shooting 32% from three and we take that many threes?”
But the threes aren’t something I especially noticed, aside from Jamison’s off-night 1-7, and they’re not exactly what Flip wanted to concentrate on in his post-game press conference.
Was it Gilbert Arenas’ missed layup (or Andray Blatche’s missed tips) that would have tied the game, possibly sending it into a second overtime? Nope.
