[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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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: Read more »