Washington Wizards power forward Andray Blatche has never been considered a high riser, but he is a legit 6’11″ with super lanky arms. This season Blatche’s subpar vertical is more noticeable than ever, and he consistently struggles to finish from close range. According to HoopData.com, Blatche is shooting a career-low 58-percent at the rim (31-53). Against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night, he attempted a season-high nine field-goals at the basket, but missed four of them. This is why Andray’s one-hand power slam last Sunday on Jermaine O’Neal of the Boston Celtics created so many “Woah, did that really just happen?” reactions. Enter opposing power forward Tyrus Thomas of the Bobcats and his 469 career blocks. You’re probably getting a feeling where this is headed.

Thomas tallied nine swats against the Wizards last night, five of them came at Andray’s expense. Thomas’s block party on Blatche sparked cascades of hometown boos upon the maligned Wizard, a commonplace in the Verizon Center these days.  Even though Blatche ended up with a solid performance — 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and only one turnover while sitting out the entire 4th quarter in Washington’s 92-75 victory — most fans will remember how ‘Dray looked like a 45-year old trying to jump, not a 25-year old.

Thomas nearly recorded a triple-double, which impressed Charlotte head coach Paul Silas. The NBA veteran who played in 1,254 career games and coached 828 then referenced a famous one-liner of a former GOP Presidential contender when talking about Thomas’ night:

“I thought it was 9, 9, 9 on this thing right here [final box score]… talk about Herman Cain, but it was actually nine, nine, thirteen. He scored thirteen points and nine blocks and nine rebounds. That is pretty awesome.”

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With a 97-91 win over the Bobcats in Charlotte on Sunday evening, the Washington Wizards propelled themselves into the territory of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls circa 2002-03, the last season that saw an NBA team have only three wins on the road, both mentioned teams having achieved the feat. Worth noting, however, that the Bulls finished 30-52 that year, the Cavaliers just 17-65. Also worth noting, the Wizards have three road games left — at Indiana, at Boston and at Cleveland — so three on the season might not be the magic number.

Cleveland was admittedly tanking to get LeBron James in 2002-03. Enough said. And that Chicago team, fresh off taking a young point guard in Jay Williams in the 2002 draft to pair with the promise of Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, Jamaal Crawford and Marcus Fizer, had all the hope in the world. It only took about eight more seasons with middling success and another rebuild for Chicago to become any sort of playoff threat. And if you EVER see John Wall on a motorcycle…

The Wizards are now 20-56, significant because they won’t tie a franchise record for least wins in an 82-game season at 19. They currently have the third worst record in the NBA after Cleveland’s 15 wins and Minnesota’s 17 wins, but with six games left, they are dangerously close to falling back in the lottery odds with Toronto at 21 wins, Sacramento at 22 and New Jersey at 23.

The Players.

Jordan Crawford is quickly moving past the “shiny new tool” syndrome and into a special prospect category. Crawford’s style is unique, and he can score in a number of ways. He can score in big situations, he can score against more dominantly talented competition, and he can score while trying to run the Wizards as a rookie trying to learn point guard in the NBA.

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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.

>FIRST QUARTER

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[Larry Brown runs his players though some pre-game drills - photo: Adam McGinnis]

Kyle Weidie mentioned how terrible the Charlotte Bobcats looked in a 108-75 route at the hands of the last place Wizards on Monday night, and “terrible” (“on all cylinders”) was the exact word used by Stephen Jackson afterward to describe the beat down. Coach Larry Brown had a “walk off” press conference. He depressingly discussed how bad a coach he was, blamed himself for letting his young players down and stated that it looked like the first day of practice. Brown concluded, “Maybe it was a pick-up team playing against an NBA team.”

Paraphrased LB: “I suck ‘cuz the team sucks, it is my fault, I’m out.”  His comments totaled a minuscule minute and twenty one seconds. I was too down from his melancholy mood to ask a question before he bolted away from the handful of media members.

Then, it was time for me to go ask players mired in a free-fall of a season, who just got shellacked by 33 points to a team missing their star rookie and jettisoned All-Star, a bunch of Wizards-centric questions or quiz them about how they got outscored 27-4 in the first 9:37 of the third quarter and made only one FG (1-14 shooting) in the entire period. Fun times, indeed.

The “demeanor” on every player was that of a hoop squad that just got embarrassingly whooped, their comments relaying a similar sour refrain as their coach. To fans and media who are critical of professional athletes when they display insufficient remorse after defeats, the mood I witnessed in the Charlotte locker room could be the silver lining for Bobcats fans, because the loss visibly stung.

The following video contains Brown’s self tormenting quotes, Jackson’s blunt description of his own shotty play, Dominic McGuire’s candid assessment, and Kwame Brown’s thoughts on fateful third quarter.

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Nick, Dray & Dom - photo: Adam McGinnis, TAI

What do we really know after the Wizards’ 108-75 blowout of the Charlotte Bobcats last night?

1) Charlotte is terrible. Yes, they were without Gerald Wallace. And yes, they are still terrible … with no pieces for the future to speak of. None.

2) There’s been a sort of eye-opening moment of clarity after Arenas’ departure. Who knows how long it will last or how much of an effect it will actually have, but for now, the team has been able to re-focus with the ghosts of Agent Zero past and swirling rumors no longer hovering. Not like there can’t be more trades, but none of them will be a “thing” like the Arenas “thing.” — And I think most of these guys realize who Arenas was, how long he was in D.C., and understand, via the “business” of NBA, what such a dramatic move can mean to a franchise … even if they don’t truly understand.

3) Winning always feels good … well, almost always. I mean, the Heat didn’t seem too happy after beating the Wizards last Saturday. I wasn’t in the locker room, TAI’s John Townsend was — you can find the video mix here — but guys like Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Chris Bosh pretty much seemed like dicks. So, let me amend to say that winning on a losing team always feels good (as a player).

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On occasion, someone from Truth About It (usually Adam McGinnis or myself) is afforded the opportunity to sit on photographer’s row and capture the NBA game experience. One of those chances came last Friday when the Charlotte Bobcats came to town. Here are some select captures from that game.

Note sure if this is the epitome of something or just weird … but Kwame Brown, flexing his bicep, while on the injured reserve and barely in the NBA, with the Wizards logo looming in the background.

Kevin Seraphin talks with assistant coach Gene Banks before the game. Don’t take Kevin’s face to be a negative, he’s just a very expressive, goofy kid who is usually smiling otherwise. An interesting young character that Seraphin, sophomoric in every sense, yet a gentle giant who sets practice screens that make Kirk Hinrich cringe.

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[Yi Jianlian procures an easy defensive rebound against the Charlotte Bobcats - K. Weidie]

It’s simplistic to look at average team rebounds per game and say the Washington Wizards are the worst in the NBA, but it wouldn’t represent the full story.

The Wizards average a league-low 38 rebounds per game. On the defensive boards they average 27.25, which ranks 28 out of 30; and on the offensive boards they average 10.75, which is tied with the San Antonio Spurs to rank 20 out of 30 NBA teams.

But as you know, rebounds are not soley a factor of the time it takes to play a game. They are also a factor of pace (how fast a team plays and thus how many possessions they are producing, the more possessions, the more available boards), and field-goal percentage (the more missed shots, the more rebounds).

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[Flip Saunders at the moment of outrage over a questionable call.]

In some regard a basketball game can come down to a single play or a single call, in most it doesn’t.

A small fraction of the narrative for the Wizards’ 93-85 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats came with less than two minutes left in the game. Yi Jianlian, who had played measured, focused defense all night long — to the tune of six blocks in 32 minutes off the bench (although, only one defensive rebound in that time, more on that issue later) — saw Crash Gerald Wallace approaching the lane that he occupied. Yi planted his feet, outside of the restricted area, and absorbed the contact. One ref seemed to want to whistle a charge, another a blocking foul; the triumvirate conferred on the call.

NBA referee Rodney Mott emerged from the huddled discussion, looked in the direction of the scorer’s table/Wizards bench, gave a prolonged wry smile, hesitated, and then signaled Yi for a blocking violation. Not exactly the tact you’d like to see from a referee making a crucial call — almost making a mockery of a scene and a seemingly wrong call that the Wizards’ bench didn’t find too comical.

“Yea, it was a terrible call,” said Flip Saunders after the game. “Instead of it going the other way, now it ends up being an eight point game. There’s a difference when it’s two minutes to go and and it’s six.”

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[John Wall glides past each and every one of the Charlotte Bobcats, breezy.]

I chose to spotlight John Wall for Friday night’s home game versus the Charlotte Bobcats. It was a difficult decision — choosing between Wall and his seemingly favorable match-up versus DJ Augustin, or Andray Blatche in his intense battle of the ‘shapely’ four men versus Boris Diaw. I settled on Wall.

This was a typical Wizards-Bobcats game, the Wiz snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by falling apart over the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Gerald Wallace put in work on hapless Washington defenders (9-15 field-goals, 25 points and 14 rebounds) while shutting down Al Thornton so badly that Al left the game with a stomach problem. In general, the Wizards’ offense looked out of sync, as there was a lot of settling for jump shots and not enough attempts in the paint. The silver lining: the game was still relatively close despite an abysmal shooting night from Gilbert Arenas. Also, this is what an off-night looks like for John Wall: 6-16 field-goals, 13 points, four rebounds, 11 assists and four steals.

There is some bad news, though. John Wall’s inconsistent shot doesn’t concern me — clearly, that’s part of the growing pains of being a rookie in his seventh NBA game. What concerns me about Friday’s game is how, at times, Wall looked disinterested in defending Augustin.

Wall began the game by playing very far off of him, this would become one theme of the night.  Another theme, when the Wizards were on offense, it became very clear that Charlotte would go under every ball screen to protect the paint, basically leaving Wall open, as usual. Keeping with this concept, Wall attempted two three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game, missing on both. But he had no trouble finding his teammates early, once finding a trailing Andray Blatche on the right side of the floor with a sweet dish off the back of his palm.

In the first half, Wall seemed like he was toying with Augustin. On one occasion, Ted Leonsis’ Expresso breezed by Augustin on a pick-and-roll with Blatche and fed the big man for an easy basket. But that hubris on the offensive end seemingly affected Wall’s efforts on defense. On the ensuing possession, Augustin caught Wall flat-footed and got past him for an easy layup. Augustin would get a couple more easy scoring opportunities in the first half, as Wall was more interested in trying to be a ‘play-maker’ on defense by going for steals and double-teaming guys for no reason. Wall did continue finding his teammates though, evidenced by a couple sick alley-oops to Epic Vale past the midway point of the second quarter. But, before going to the bench with under a minute left in the half, Wall left Augustin wide open for a three (which he converted).

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[Shaun Livingston shows no fear going against the JaVale McGee tree.]

[Livingston ended up missing the tough shot ... but man, he and McGee are some lengthy dudes.]

Along with “no cheering in the press box”, and “no soliciting autographs from the players”, one of the rules of game-attending media says that we aren’t supposed to openly root for players. We are supposed to be as objective as possible so we can freely vacillate between criticism and praise, without worrying about offending our own sensibilities.

In three years covering the NBA, I think I’ve done a stellar job of obeying all of these rules.  I’ve slipped up a few times and pumped my fist, but I catch myself before anyone can see me.  I’ve  praised and criticized players and coaches (most recently Flip Saunders) with a clear conscience, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And lest we forget, basketball writers tend to be basketball fans too.

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“I tend to think of myself as a one-man wolfpack.  But when my sister brought Doug home, I knew he was one of my own.  And my wolfpack, it grew by one, so there were two of us in the wolfpack.  I was alone first in the pack and then Doug joined in later.  And six months later when Doug introduced me to you guys, I thought ‘wait a second, could it be?’  And now I know I added two more guys to my wolfpack.”

- Alan from the movie, “The Hangover”

Just last week I wrote an article about how many former Wizards have now found a home with the Charlotte Bobcats. The list included Dominic McGuire, Shaun Livingston, Michael Jordan and Kwame Brown (and according to Michael Lee, we can now add Javaris Crittenton to that list).  The reunion of Jordan and Brown in Charlotte is particularly intriguing given their failures in Washington.  Now it appears as if the first major personnel move Jordan made upon leaving D.C., is headed this way.

Adam Morrison, who Jordan drafted third overall in the 2006 draft when he was manager of basketball operations in Charlotte, has accepted an invitation to join the Washington Wizards in training camp, according to the Washington Post’s Lee.

Morrison averaged a modest 11.8 points as a rookie with the Bobcats, but his second year was prematurely ended when he tore his ACL in an exhibition game against the Los Angeles Lakers.  He returned from the injury in 2008-2009, but he clearly was not the same player, and right before the all-star break, the Bobcats traded him– ironically enough to Lakers.

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[Ed. Note: I'm going to warn you. Rashad is about to divulge himself as a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Please, do not be outraged. I already knew this and it is okay. He's a fine young man (who's older than me) and you should not hold his fandom of a certain team about 140 miles north against him. Now Mr. Mobley is going to explain why the Bobcats are worth checking out, aside from wondering if Gerald Wallace is going to injure yet another Wizard. -Kyle W.]

I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1985 when I saw Randall Cunningham running and passing his way to superstardom.   And although they have just one Super Bowl appearance and no titles during my 25 years of  loyalty, my allegiance remains strong.

Unfortunately,  since sports is mostly about business and not fan loyalty, some of my favorite players have left the Eagles via trade, free agency or waivers.  Randall Cunningham retired as an Eagle and then unretired and played for Minnesota; Reggie White left for Green Bay via free agency; Terrell Owens was released and then he signed with Dallas; and just this past summer, Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins.

{Antawn looks confused about Cleveland}

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A D.C. pic, some Michael Jordan commentary, and links …

[Cavalier Liquor - 14th St. & Parkwood Pl. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

Not All For Nothing, Perhaps.

Michael Jordan, as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is trying to do things the right way, this time … so it seems. There’s a must-read on TrueHoop right now called, “Michael Jordan’s Bobcat Comeback.” This induced several thoughts:

• I’m not privy to all the insider knowledge of the disconnect between Jordan’s “people” and Abe Pollin’s “people” during Jordan’s tenure as a player and executive in D.C. — However, just as inept as Jordan seemed to be, or rather, bad at building a team/community environment, one could easily lay blame on both sides of the track. Pollin, a great man for his community and his employees, was also known to be a bit fickle and set in his ways.
• For instance, it seemed to be well-known that “agents” weren’t high on Pollin’s list of likable figures, especially David Falk (Jordan’s agent). One could insinuate that Pollin generalized the nature of agents as “inherently evil,” which might be taking a little too far. Pollin was a man who instead opted for handshakes and looks-in-the-eye in a changing environment that called more for established protocol, and hence, agents as intermediaries. He couldn’t separate the issue of “old school trust,” dealing directly with players, in which Pollin, being the older, smarter, richer man, would have had the advantage, versus the fine print of crossing Ts and doting Is on a legal document as a CYA contingency needed on the part of the players (and teams).
• Of course, I’ve also shared some of Pollin’s sentiment regarding agents.
• So, Pollin might not have always had optimal relationships with agents (although I’m sure there were some he got along with) … but still, it’s easy to deduce how being slow to adopt the necessities of a changing league, or an unwillingness to let bygones be bygones and build more holistic unity, served to the detriment of the Wizards franchise for a long time.
• Which circles me back to my point about Jordan … what if he’s learned his lesson? Or at least has become more willing to see things from a different perspective? Or, has just become a nicer guy to deal with? People can change. It’s a scientific fact. And not saying that Pollin didn’t change, or learn lessons, during my tenure closely following the franchise for the past 20 years, I’m just saying that the “set in his ways” idea is not baseless.
• I recently appeared on a sports talk radio show in St. Louis, At The Buzzer with Brian Doolittle (Episode 17). Brian asked me to comment about the recent signing of Kwame Brown by Jordan’s team … and I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. How should Wizards fans feel about the reunion between Jordan and Kwame? Should they not care? Should they hope they both fail together? Should they hope for redemption? It’s easy to not be a fan of Kwame, and I’ll leave it at that for now, otherwise opting for apathy.
• But it got me thinking … Ted Leonsis, as a minority owner under Pollin, was very instrumental in bringing Jordan to the Wizards in the first place (Jordan and Pollin previously had some “run-ins,” if you will). Leonsis wanted to make a splash with marketing pizazz,  glitter and the what-not (see also: giving Jaromir a then-record $77 million contract in 2001) … both situations failed pretty epically.
• However, as the case with most smart men, the lesson out of the whole situation was not lost on Leonsis, as he has admitted himself. You don’t build teams with big splashes (well, sometimes you do, but it’s rare and risky). Leonsis is undoubtedly better set up to succeed because of what he was able to observe — as a result of his own actions and as a result of how the franchise was previously run.
• The Michael Jordan Experiment, as bitter of a memory as it is/was for Wizards fans, ended up making Leonsis a better owner … and in all likelihood, a better, more consistent franchise (of the community) for the future. Ah, the cycle of life.
• So, you see, perhaps Jordan can change too (and maybe even Gilbert Arenas as well! — Matt Moore, if you’re listening). Maybe Jordan, like Leonsis, can learn lessons from past mistakes that he’s created — Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison. Okay, not much of a lesson there aside from the necessity of doing the bare minimum of due diligence >>>> TINY-HANDED PLAYERS ARE NOT MADE IN ONE WORKOUT … THOSE WITH WISPY MUSTACHES DON’T HAVE NBA CAREERS PREDICATED ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEARS.
• I am now unsure as to why I just typed in all caps (probably for some sort of effect), and why all of this is organized in bullet-point form.
• Otherwise, that’s all I got … hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes you have to go through bad visions to get to better ones … not all for nothing, perhaps.

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[Cartier Martin, with hand raised to the right, sets up behind the three-point line.]

“Not as terrible as one would expect,” reads one of only two IMDb user reviews for The Cartier Affair, the 1984 made-for-TV movie Wizards G/F Cartier Martin was named after.

The weighted average of this romantic crime comedy starring the Hoff, Joan Collins, and Telly Savalas sits at a 4.9 (out of 10).  19.4% of voters rated it a 10, 20.9% rated it a 5, and the remaining votes were scattered across the scale.  The Cartier Affair was best enjoyed, on average, by males aged 18-29 and females aged 45 and older – rating the flick a 7.4 and an 8.5 respectively.  Digressing no further (because this demographic inspection is only mildly interesting to me and not applicable to my hoops analysis), the critique “not as terrible as one would expect” applies to Cartier Martin, too.

At first glance, his career stats (in 51 total NBA games with the Bobcats, Warriors, and Wizards) don’t pop off the page.

MINS: 12.9
FG%: .366
3P%: .329
FT%: .800
STL: 0.4
BLK: 0.1
TO: 0.5
PF: 1.6
REB: 2.0
AST: 0.6
PTS: 4.5

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[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.

“Who You Got?”

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