[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 19 contributors: Sam Permutt, John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 76 at Houston Rockets 103 [box score]

Read more »

The 5-7 Houston Rockets are in town to take on the 1-11 Washington Wizards. These two teams split their season series last season, the Wizards winning 98-91 in D.C. on November 10, 2010 in what was dubbed “Asian Heritage Night” as Yi Jianlian faced Yao Ming. The game was broadcast on NBA TV and also in front of millions in China. Unfortunately, Yao got injured after playing only six minutes in the first quarter; that game would be his last before retiring. Magic Johnson was in attendance, sitting courtside next to Ted Leonsis, John Wall recorded his first NBA triple double, and Cowboy Al Thornton was the unsung hero. Washington’s return trip to Houston on December 27 was a 100-93 loss under different circumstances. Not 10 days earlier Gilbert Arenas had been traded to Orlando and not three days earlier, JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche got to fighting in the club. For today’s game preview 3-on-3 we have Truth About It’s Sam Permutt, Michael Pina of TrueHoop Houston Rockets blog Red94 (and from the blogs Shaky Ankles and Wiz of Awes), and Matt Moore of TrueHoop blog Hardwood Paroxysm, CBSSports.com, and several other NBA-related places all over the web. Three questions, three answers starts now…

#1) Through 10 games, Houston’s point guard Kyle Lowry has a 24.6 PER, which ranks 11th in the NBA. He leads the Rockets with 17.8 points per game, and averages 6.9 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 3.5 turnovers. Comparatively, John Wall averages 13.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 4.2 turnovers (PER of 12.4). How do you see the battle between these two playing out?

MATT MOORE: Lowry’s going to kill him. Lowry’s been on fire for about a year now, which mostly means he’s not so much on fire as he is just becoming one of the top point guards in the league. Meanwhile, Wall is the primary threat on the Wizards, every team knows it, and he’s regressed in his second year. It’s nothing to panic over, he just needs to slow down when he finishes at the rim and take his time to think through the play sets. But Lowry’s a physical defender despite his size, and should give Wall an exhausting day.

SAM PERMUTT: This could be a good match-up for John Wall. Kyle Lowry is able to use his quickness and speed to his advantage against most point guards in the league, but Wall should have him beat in those categories. Still, Lowry is a very intelligent player, so expect him to get his also. Both guards will have good games.

MICHAEL PINA: Just looking at the numbers, to this point it’s obvious Lowry is having a far better season. But with no other reliable player on his team, Wall’s playing tight right now. The shot selection of his fellow backcourt mates has been atrocious. When watching Wall, it seems like he’s trying to do too much, forcing shots at the rim and having just 10.2-percent of his total shots assisted (good for lowest in the entire league among regular starters). Wall is an athletic phenom, but Lowry has relished these type of match-ups this season. Should be one of the game’s focal points.

Read more »

Barkley works the Shake Weight, a Wizards ticket giveaway, commentary and links …

First, TAI is giving away two tickets to Wednesday’s game versus the Pacers (courtesy of StubHub). The seats are good (Section 101, Row L … behind the Wizards’ bench) and John Wall is good (as in he’s back and should be playing). You can win these two free tickets by being the first to email the correct answer to the trivia question I will post from the @Truth_About_It Twitter account at 11 am EST on Wednesday, December 29. The answer must be emailed to truthaboutit@gmail.com.

Also note: The Wizards are pulling something out of the Miami Heat’s playbook to get fans to arrive to games early (not sure if the idea actually originated with the Heat, but they did do something similar earlier this year). Starting when the doors open at 6 pm for Wednesday’s game versus the Pacers until 6:30, the Verizon Center will be offering food and drink discounts outside of section 107. [via @WashWizards]

WIZARDS-ROCKETS.

I’m not sure if it was his intended effect, but the technical Rocket’s coach Rick Adelman drew was the real “Game Changer” of Monday night’s loss in Houston … well, that and Chase Budinger. Up 10 points with about 10 minutes left in the game, a minute later the Rockets were able to cut the Wizards’ lead to seven via a JaVale McGee goal-tending call against Aaron Brooks. John Wall responded by jetting up the court, pulling a crazy, falling spin move in the paint, and somehow finding Josh Howard in the right corner for a jumper, putting the Wizards up 84-75 at the 8:48 mark of the fourth. It was time for Adelman to take his stand. The coach stomped and yelled in the direction of the referee, instigating a technical foul. Maybe he thought it was a charge against Wall (television replay seemed to indicate otherwise), maybe Adelman wanted to get his team fired up. Whatever the case was, it worked.

Read more »

Sixteen losses in a row and counting. The Wizards showed some bright spots in Tuesday night’s loss to Houston, such as JaVale McGee. Actually, he was pretty much the only bright spot. Well, James Singleton played okay.

Andray Blatche’s 31 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three assists and three blocks you say? Well, when you play 41 minutes and receive the ball ALL. THE. TIME. (he took 23 shots) you are supposed to put up those numbers. He still has too much Tin Man in him … no heart … especially when it comes to rebounding toughness.

The Wizards mostly showed that they did not deserve to win. I’m sure some are saying, ‘Hey, those guys competed without Foye, Thornton, Gee, etc.’ But the Rockets also competed without Kevin Martin, Shane Battier and Jared Jeffries. Plus, the Wizards were beaten by Chase Budinger. Enough said.

Nonetheless, below are the notes and observations I took/made as I watched the game on delay at my leisure.

Note: Starters: Livingston, Young, Miller, Blatche & Oberto — 25th different starting lineup, 21 wins … something to be said about that ratio.

Read more »

After Tuesday’s game against the Rockets, James Singleton said, “After every game I go home and watch film. I look at more of the negatives than the positives because the positives are going to happen. But the negatives you want to keep to a small minimum.”

And while there isn’t any adjusting I can personally do for this Washington Wizards basketball team, these screen-shot posts tend to focus on the negatives for the same reason outlined by Singleton. The positives are going to happen because that’s what the Wizards are trying to do. I want to know when they weren’t trying. And away we go…

“This” guy.

THIS guy.

Read more »