[Editor's Note: TAI's Adam McGinnis takes us back to his photos from 'Under the Hoop' when the Milwaukee Bucks were in D.C. on March 8.]

The Opening Tip.

Bucks Warm Up.

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In the last couple of weeks, the Wizards have faced teams that are almost assured to be playoff-bound.  The Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and Denver Nuggets would all be in the playoffs if the season ended today, and barring injury, a big mental breakdown, or the loss of Carmelo Anthony via trade, all three teams figure to be playing after the season ends in April.

When the Wizards took on the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night at the Verizon Center, they were facing a team that currently finds itself just outside of the playoff picture (a game and a half behind Indiana for the eight seed in the East going into last night’s game).  Injuries to Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings, Drew Gooden, John Salmons and Michael Redd (who has yet to play a game this season),  left Coach Scott Skiles with limited options,  the team has struggled as a result.  Former Wizard Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette have done their best to carry the team, but even their yeoman efforts haven’t saved the Bucks from inconsistent play, and a disappointing 20-31 record.

Tuesday night against the Raptors, the Bucks had a healthy Brandon Jennings (who returned from a broken foot a little over a week ago), a semi-healthy Andrew Bogut (he’s battling a bone bruise in his knee), and a healthier, attacking John Salmons (he’s recovering from a sore hip) in the starting lineup.  The Bucks played with urgency on offense and stifled the Raptors on defense, holding them to 74 points (36-percent from the field), and they were victorious, 92-74.

Before last night’s game, Scott Skiles explained discussed why his team must continue to play with type of urgency.

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What’s life without a little Wizards-Bucks post-game quote mix? … especially after a Washington 100-85 win over Milwaukee that broke an eight game losing streak. And why did the Wizards give a more consistent effort on Wednesday night? Well, the boys have been going hard in practice, delving through competitiveness and talking trash to each other, whereas Kirk Hinrich is supposedly the one who talks the most trash … so says Nick Young in the video below.

“That’s the name of our story, however we practice is how we play.”
-Andray Blatche

And now … Jimmy Wall and Little Earl Boykins…

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It’s hard to pin-point exactly where the Wizards lost road game number 20 to the Milwaukee Bucks. They came out with a very strong first quarter … that was the easy part. The Bucks hit a couple jumpers and the Wizards didn’t score until three minutes had gone by in the game, but once they got going, they really got going. When all was said and done, John Wall had seven assists to zero turnovers and the Wizards had a 27-19 lead.

The second quarter … not so good, but the Wizards held it down. They went into the half with a 49-47 lead, whittled into by the old bones of Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette — those two combined for 23 points in the first half. Add in what Keyon Dooling offered and you have 32 points from an unlikely Milwaukee trio.

The Wizards started and ended the third quarter poorly. Usually coaches have a saying along the lines of beginning and ending all quarters well — maybe even Flip Saunders has cited that crafty philosophy before (I’m sure of it) — but these young Wizards are not yet in the position to do much less than the opposite at crucial points of the game away from home. The Wizards were out-scored 28-17 in the third and scored 13 of those points in a four-minute span from around the nine minute mark to the four minute mark of the period. Otherwise, not much doing.

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[Editor's note: Stephen D. Riley has contributed to player previews on Truth About It.net and writes about sports for the The Afro. This is his first piece on TAI, where he'll be keeping tabs on John Wall during the season. -Kyle]

John Wall is a gamer. This much you should know already. He’s so much of a gamer that he basically attacked Brandon Jennings at every turn on Thursday in one of the more intriguing matchups of the evening. Actually, forget one of, it was the only intriguing matchup of the evening. Pretty impressive when you consider that both men only have a combined year and two weeks invested into the NBA.

Jennings splashed into the league last season with a 50-Burger against the Golden State Warriors in November, then proceeded to flash the Association with the type of speed and quickness unseen since the days of a young Allen Iverson. But the way Wall played Thursday night, he pretty much showed he could care less about any of that. He attacked Jennings from the tip, defending with vigor and making plays that wouldn’t keep the guys behind me at the Verizon Center from shutting up.

Late in the first quarter he caught an over-the-head pass from Gilbert Arenas, avoided a reach by Jennings and contorted his body while drawing the foul and finishing the layup. The fans stood up, I stood up, and Wall face-flexed to his bench. Splash plays for Wall, one. None for Jennings.

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A lot of people were disappointed when the Wizards traded for Kirk Hinrich.  Mike Prada of SB Nation alone gave the move a “Nay”, a “Feh”, and a “D-”.

There is no question that “Kurt” is overpaid, but salary cap space only gets you so far.  Even if the Wizards had upwards of $25 million to spend, it wouldn’t get them any closer to signing a “max” contract player.  Let’s be serious.  None of the league’s top players ever really considered coming to D.C., even with John Wall.  The Wizards will be a work in progress for a couple of years, and when we are honestly competitive, Hinrich will no longer be under contract.

So is he worth it for this Wizards team?  I turned to Synergy Sports Technology to find out.

OFFENSE

Where is Hinrich most effective (at least 60 attempts)?

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Hi there.

There’s been a bit of inactivity on this here blog because I’ve been out of town. But now that I’m back, let the John Wall mania re-commence … because us Wizards fans need to hype the guy up so much that madness will ensue should something crazy happen like Ernie Grunfeld taking Evan Turner or Derrick Favors with the first overall pick. Anything is possible, right?

Actually, let’s take a break from getting all Wall-Nuts for a second and check out some Wizards interviews from late last season … specifically when I asked a handful of players which sports teams they rooted for growing up and now.

Watch the video below to find out:

• Which Wizard didn’t like Michael Jordan growing up.
• Who is from Cleveland but continued to follow the Browns when they moved to Baltimore and now considers himself a Ravens fan.
• Who has a dad who’s a diehard Redskins fan but chose to go against him and root for the Eagles.
• Which Wizard only really roots for Brazil soccer as far as sports teams go.

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The Pick and Roll is a staple of many NBA offenses. The Wizards, in particular, starved when it came to defending P&Rs in 2009-10.

Once again turning to Synergy Sports Technology, we learn that as a team, the Wizards defended the P&R ball handler 1,128 times in plays that ended with a FGA, TO or FTA. This accounted for 12.6% of the team’s defensive plays. Defending these plays, the Wizards gave up 0.89 points-per-possession (PPP), which is tied for the most allowed in the NBA.

Against the Wizards, the P&R ball handler shot 43.2% on field goals and scored 42.9% of the time, which is the second highest scoring rate allowed in the league.

Conversely, the Wizards had to defend the P&R roll man 406 times and fared slightly better in the PPP department.

As you can imagine, the roll-man in a P&R is usually getting better looks at the basket. The Wizards allowed the roll man to score 49% of the time while shooting 49.5%. However, the one (1) PPP given up to roll-men ranks 7th lowest in the NBA. Read more »

Pictures of people at the club flipping the camera off seems to be popular these days, especially among athletes. And this picture of Andray Blatche at his season ending party last Wednesday at District in Adam’s Morgan is wrought with symbolic opportunity.

For one, he appears to be brushing (or hiding) his teeth with that middle-finger of his — any 23-year old will tell you that having braces at that age, as Blatche does, isn’t exactly ideal.

Or maybe the finger is in front of Dray’s mouth as a silencer on what he has said or will say.

Or perhaps Dray is just expressing toward the Wizards’ 2009-10 season in its entirety what I’ve done mentally several times before … bidding it a fond farewell. Read more »

What’s in nickname? Some are given by teammates or coaches. Some are given by friends and family. Some are given by fans. Some give themselves nicknames, although that method is certainly not very valid/credible.

Prior to a couple games before the season ended, I asked several Wizards about their nicknames, past and present. Not all players had fun with the question – i.e., JaVale McGee, who I’m sure, if members of the media were polled, would win the ‘Most Boring Interviewee’ award — but most willingly answered.

Watch the video below to find out who was called “Bucky” as a kid because of his buck teeth, who was given a certain nickname because he evidently walks like O.J. Simpson (whatever that means), and who isn’t willing to laugh at himself.

Who will get to the 2010 NBA Finals and who will win?
That’s the question I posed to several Wizards on the last day of the season. One player wants to see Antawn Jamison get a ring. Another surprisingly chose the Orlando Magic to win it all because, he says, “Vince [Carter], he picks and chooses when he wants to play, but I think in the Finals he’s going to be up for it. I think he’s going to be the difference maker.” Interesting.

Out of 10 players polled, four ultimately picked the Cavaliers, three the Lakers, and as mentioned, one went with the Magic. Two players declined to make a choice. Time to watch…

After a recent Detroit Pistons practice, Ben Wallace said, “They say losing builds character, I say losing sucks. That’s what I think.”

The Wizards are just as bad as the Pistons … same 24-53 record that’s currently tied for fifth worst in the NBA. Actually, one could say the Wizards are worse because their expectations going into the season were much higher, according to most experts.

But regardless of Washington’s downtrodden ways, the question of losing, ‘Does it build character or does it suck?’, was worth posing to several Wizards before Tuesday’s game against the Golden State.

Al Thornton, Quinton Ross, Randy Foye, Cartier Martin, Mike Miller, Cedric Jackson, Shaun Livingston and Earl Boykins answered … well, not really Boykins. Video below the jump …

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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.

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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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[Editor's Note: Rashad Mobley has reported on the Wizards with media credentials since the 2008-09 season for Hoops Addict. He occasionally contributes to Truth About It.net, providing excellent analysis and a different perspective from his up-close coverage of the team.]

{flickr/kris247}

I’ll admit I was feeling pretty good about myself going into last night’s Wizards/Jazz game.  Prior to the game, Coach Flip Saunders mentioned that Shaun Livingston would get the starting nod over Randy Foye.  After Friday night’s loss to the Orlando Magic, I asked Flip about a Livingston over Foye situation, and said he didn’t know–but he didn’t say no, which to me was a strong indication a change was going to be made.  And eventually it was.

Based on my observations, Livingston got the Wizards into the offense earlier, he made more decisive passes, and when things broke down, he always seemed to make the right play to navigate his way out of trouble.  Plus, Flip never missed a chance to praise Livingston’s “basketball IQ”, and since he is notoriously hard on point guards, it seemed like a good temporary fit.  Livingston would start, Foye would channel his frustration over being benched, and regain that missing mojo, and Earl Boykins, being the veteran that he is, would be a threat to come in and drop 14 points in a minute and a half.  Sounds like a plan right?

Uh no.

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