[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 49, Washington Wizards vs. Brooklyn Nets; contributors: Dan Diamond and John Converse Townsend from the Verizon Center, with Sean Fagan from B-R-DOUBLE OH!-K-L-Y-N.]

(Chinese) Near Year, New Team

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DeAndre Jordan is a high flyer and an integral member of the Clippers’ “Lob City.”

The seven-foot center’s offensive game is mostly limited to impressive dunks—he’s racked up up 104 of them on the season. His total ranks him fourth in the NBA.

During L.A.’s loss to Wizards on Monday night, Jordan gobbled up a career-high 22 rebounds, but only scored seven points on three made field goals. Of course, all three were slams—some more violent than others.

The field for the 2013 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest at All-Star Weekend in Houston has not yet been set. I asked DeAndre Jordan if he would like to be in it.

“Maybe. I am not really focused on that right now. I just want to get some wins. But I think it would be fun if I was in it, yeah.”

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 48, Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks; contributors: Rashad Mobley and John Converse Townsend from the Verizon Center, with Conor Dirks from the ATL.]

J-Wow.

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 46, Washington Wizards at San Antonio Spurs; contributors: Rashad Mobley and John Converse Townsend from D.C.]

A Texas-Sized Beatdown.

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John Wall led all scorers with 21, but the Washington Wizards never recovered from their 26-point first half. The Wiz lost their 13th straight game to the San Antonio Spurs in South Texas, 86-96. John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend) has your rapid recap.

M.V.P.

Tony Parker. The PG double-doubled in 33 minutes with 19 points and 12 assists, also adding four rebounds to his stat line. Were you expecting anything less from the Western Conference’s player of the month? Read more »

It’s as if everything was set up just so that Steve Buckhantz could “Amen” Jordan Crawford… bless him. And that’s exactly what happened in the post-game after Steezus dropped the gift (and GIFs) of a buzzer-beating road win against Portland.

First, you had Crawford scoring 10 points over the first five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter (he had zero in 10 minutes of run entering the period). Then he missed a layup… and then a 3-pointer. Mike Prada of Bullets Forever tweeted: “There’s no rule that says you have to keep in the guy who scored 10 points earlier in the quarter. I would take Crawford out.”

And surely not many could argue. Especially after Crawford was the one responsible for giving Wes Matthews a good look from deep to tie the game at 95 with eight seconds left. And with a chance to win, the Wizards originally looked to get the ball to Nene in the post, it seemed, but the Blazers clogged up the play, had a foul to give and used it.

With just over three seconds left after the stoppage, there was no time to chuck the ball to Brazil in the post. Instead, this happened from Detroit:

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D.C. residents cheered when three new escalators opened at the south entrance of the Dupont Circle Metro Station in October 2012. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) closed the southern entrance for repairs for nearly nine months, but the wait was worth it, in theory. WMATA had decided to strip the entrance and rebuild from scratch this past summer, finally doing away with some of the least reliable escalators in the system.

New “transit-grade” escalators promised a better commute—to “unsuck” D.C. Metro—in one of the city’s busiest, and deepest, subway stations. In reality, Metro and its faithfully frustrated riders were forced to deal with 20 outages in the first 40 days after the grand reopening.

Construction is a constant in the nation’s capital, but, for one reason or another, it never seems to go according to plan. Just ask any Wizards fan who is still waiting for their team to climb out of the gutter.

Supporters of D.C.’s pro basketball team have suffered through nearly 200 losses and some of the worst basketball the Association has ever seen for almost five seasons now. We all know about owner Ted Leonsis’ blueprint for rebuilding his Washington Wizards: stay financially flexible, sign free agents and develop supposedly talented prospect. And, perhaps, trade some of said prospects for major players when the opportunities arise.

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Where’s Singleton?

Chris Singleton’s run of eight straight starts for the Wizards ended on December 19 against the Magic in Orlando. Actually, it ended at halftime of the December 18 game against the Hawks when Randy Wittman opted for the since waived Earl Barron to begin the third quarter. Since, Singleton has struggled to get on the floor. His coach hasn’t played him in three of the Wizards’ last four games, and the game in which Singleton did see the court, against the Cleveland Cavaliers on December 26, he only managed to do so for 6.5 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing two rebounds.

Before tonight’s game against the Mavericks, Wittman’s reason as to the absence of Singleton was simple: not enough minutes.

“There’s not enough minutes to play everybody … can’t play everybody,” said the coach. Certainly there’s more to it. The coach also mentioned the oft-used concept of consistency. But will Singleton have a chance to find it, especially with depleted resources and underwhelming performances from those such as Jan Vesely?

Coach Talk:

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[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 28, Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls; contributors: Kyle Weidie and John Converse Townsend from behind the television screen.]

The Progression of #WittmanFace. Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Game No. 24, Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons; contributors: Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

Don, Randy. Randy, Don.

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