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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. Game 20 contributors: Adam McGinnis, Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie.]
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The most frustrating part about the Washington Wizards is that on the road, their main, young players often lose so much focus, concentration and aggression … and it clearly affects the team as a whole. Guys like Andray Blatche, Nick Young and JaVale McGee are young — 24, 25 and 23 respectively — but they’ve now been in the league a considerable amount of time and should not be going through break-downs so frequently and consistently.
One reason I think Wizards fans are tired about hearing excuses about age is that you have guys like Kevin Durant (22), Russell Westbrook (22), Al Horford (23), Kevin Love (22), among others, around the league playing at much more solid, dependable levels. Is it the type of mental player Ernie Grunfeld is drafting? Is it the player development? And none of this is to say that these players haven’t made improvement over the years, but it’s been a very painstaking process. Does the scouting process need to be re-evaluated? Is it already being re-evaluated? One can only wonder if the correct calculations are being made between the potential a talented prospect might bring and hubris notions from team management that they can change the mindset of such talent that might actually have a longer struggle on the path of mental development.
In any case, pounding on the mental rocks of those Wizards is starting to ache in the heads of those having to watch the games.
I used to frequently do game blogs (or game accounts) on this site. I stopped doing them so much because they can be tedious and long. On Sunday, I meticulously watched a recording of Saturday night’s Wizards-Bobcats game in several chunks, re-watching most all plays multiple times and documenting what I saw. Hopefully it will give a good depiction of what went on in the game beyond the box score and other game accounts. Unfortunately, it’s the chronicling of the Wizards’ eighteenth road loss of the season in 18 tries, a 104-89 defeat at the hands the Charlotte Bobcats without Gerald Wallace.
[Editor's Note: Wizards games aren't just about basketball, they're about the whole fan experience. And Truth About It.nets bring you that experience from up close. Here's the debut edition of 'Under The Hoop' -- pictures and commentary by TAI photographer Adam Douglas from last Tuesday's match-up against the Charlotte Bobcats.]
7-Day Dray decided to play only seven minutes because he did not hustle back on defense after this shot.
As a player, Andray Blatche didn’t do anything particularly egregious in his seven minutes of action on Tuesday night, which, for the record, is only about 0.0007 of seven days. But as a person, as a teammate, that’s a different story.
Actually, Blatche didn’t do much of anything, especially rebounding, of which he achieved zero compared to 11 boards by the Charlotte Bobcats, seven offensive, while he was on the floor.
Andray took some shots, five of them, making two. None of them were absolutely terrible, aside from not really following Flip Saunders’ edict to drive to the basket as the Bobcats seemed to be able do with ease. Blatche did drive to the hoop once for a dunk. Ironically, late in the game that basket was displayed on the Verizon Center jumbo-tron as the Volkswagen “Drive of the Game.”
Blatche’s worst shot came right before Flip took him out the game. But Saunders, at least according to him, didn’t intend to call out Andray for taking ill-advised shots.
“He thinks I yell at him because he takes bad shots,” Saunders said after the game. “He’s taken twice as many shots as anybody. You know, I don’t yell at too many guys for taking bad … I might tell them to go to the basket more instead of settling and those type of things, but you know what? That’s my job. If you don’t want to be coached, then you’re in the wrong spot.”
The Wizards headed into the All-Star break with a close loss in Charlotte on Tuesday, ultimately thanks to a tough game-winning shot by Raymond Felton that put the Bobcats up 94-92 with 1.6 seconds left. Losing should come as no surprise. After all, the Wizards are 17-33. But hey, commend the team for appearing to try and for playing a decent Charlotte team down to the wire on their home court, where they are now 19-6.
The Wizards did some good things in the game. But since it was a loss, it’s probably more telling to concentrate on the bad things they did, which, when added up, contributed more to them losing than any of the good things contributed to them coming close to winning … if any of that makes sense. Hence, let’s take a look as some stories and screen shots highlighting instances where things went wrong.
Whether you play in the NBA or just at your local court, when you get the ball stolen from you, your pride is hurt. And you want to redeem yourself. Some don’t even try and simply commit a frustration foul. Some gamble like a hero for an almost unattainable steal. Some just bite the bullet and play good defense, knowing their time for redemption will come with hard work.
Caron Butler, against the Bobcats, chose another route. After casually dangling the ball in front of Gerald Wallace on offense, with something in his usual repertoire of unproductive hesitation and fake moves, Caron got the ball ripped from him (first frame below). He then backpedaled in the opposite direction, readying himself to defend Wallace.
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