[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.

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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.

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Actually, Fabricio Oberto wants to get you between some “SHEEX,” which are really sheets … and you already have no clue what I’m talking about.

I usually don’t pay much attention to Oberto’s Twitter account, @obricio7. Most all of his Tweets are in Spanish. He often shares links to songs on YouTube, or links to professional photography, or throws out a “hehehe” (which is probably the Argentine version of “LOL”), or occasionally links to his U-Stream account where he’s doing God knows what — Don’t worry, he’s not on some Stephon Marbury-type stuff. Fab mostly just listens to music, as he is a huge music nut. At least that’s what he appears to be doing.

Like I said, I don’t pay much attention to Oberto’s Twitter. My efforts to learn Spanish got tossed out the door almost two years ago when I broke up with a girl I was dating from Argentina. But I do follow and I am aware. And that brings us back to the sheets Oberto wants to get you in between.

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Ok, so Washington, D.C. isn’t “hell”. I love this city. It is nice … but it’s also been really, really cold lately. Sports hell? Well, now you’re talking. The only saving grace these days comes in the form of some Russian dude leading a ‘Rock the Red’ revolution.

The Washington Bullets used to wear red. But now some are saying that that damn Gilbert Arenas fellow has ruined any chances of the franchise ever returning to the team name (and colors) of yore that so many true, dedicated fans are fond of. Bullets Forever y’all.

Back to this hell concept. Fabricio Oberto isn’t in the depths of Hades, but he can’t be in a good place. You gotta feel for Fab. He’s such a nice guy. Plus, he must deal with the current situation while his family is back home in Argentina. Then again, getting paid just under two million dollars for six months of basketball can’t be all that bad.

The 2009-10 Washington Wizards just might be the worst team Oberto has ever been on. I can’t confirm this 100%, but I did peruse his resume and the history of the teams he’s played for on usbasket.com, and it looks to be a valid claim.

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{Scenes from last night in Cleveland}

I couldn’t exactly get inside the brains of the Washington Wizards, but my imagination did.

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I’ve been kinda kicking myself for not attending the ‘Gilbert Gun-Gate’ practice at the Verizon Center yesterday. Seems that I missed out on a bit of ambush journalism. It will likely be an even crazier circus tonight as I go cover the Wizards-Spurs game … much like what my man Rashad Mobley describes on his blog:

“Instead of 10-15 media members fighting for quotes and interviews, there will now be at least 50 people who know NOTHING about the Spurs or the Wizards, they just want to sensationalize an issue that we STILL don’t know the truth about. They will clog up the locker and media rooms with their clueless facial expressions.”

Michael Lee also has a good report from Friday’s circus on Wizards Insider.

Still, you have to make the best of a situation, right? Maybe I’ll cover the media that’s trying to cover Arenas. But I’m more interested in how this team is going to address Tim Duncan; can Haywood guard him straight up? Or if Flip Saunders thinks his zone will contain Tony Parker.

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Before they lost to the Thunder and before Flip Saunders got extremely perturbed, bumping a 40-game evaluation period down to 30 games when it was originally 20 games, I asked various Wizards what was their favorite present that they gave someone else for Christmas/the holidays. Several of them, such as Dominic McGuire, Fabricio Oberto, Mike James, Mike Miller, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Andray Blatche, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas answered.

It’s just Wizards being Wizards y’all.

At 10-20, with more than a record’s reason to be distraught, i.e., read this piece on Hardwood Paroxysm by Matt Moore, people ask me if it’s hard covering the team. I say …

1) I’ll always love the Wizards.

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The Wizards beat the Bucks 109-97 on Wednesday night. Here’s some of what happened in 12 frames.

{flickr/Coast Guard BM}

The Wizards are in Miami tonight for a rematch with Dwyane Wade and the rest of whomever he plays with.

The sense of urgency is elevated. Yea, yea … it’s early. But considering where things stand, tonight’s game and how the Wizards respond to their self-induced and injury-induced adversity is much more important at a record of 2-5 than if the Wizards were, say, 4-3 and still learning how to play with each other.

Tonight’s Goals:

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Lackluster Wizards, lackluster Verizon Center … I’m not sure which bred which, but the result was an absolutely ugly opening for the Washington basketball squad. Down 31-17 after a first quarter where the Wizards shot 29.2% and committed seven turnovers (five personal and two shot clock violations), three courtesy of Caron Butler, Flip Saunders’ team found themselves trying to claw their way back into the game. And they eventually did.

With the ball, game tied at 89, and under a minute left, the Wizards offensively followed with: Caron Butler getting his show blocked by Wade, a steal with Stevenson getting fouled while out of control on a fast break, but missing both free-throws, and three missed Gilbert Arenas interior shots … once down 91-89, once down 92-89, and finally down 93-89, which was the final score. On the first occasion Arenas probably got fouled, on the second, one of his charted “shots” was really a lob to Haywood that hit rim not hands, and on the final occasion, Arenas simply missed a layup.

Anyway you slice it, the Wizards finished the final minute of the game in a sloppy manner like a team fractured on offense. But Flip Saunders remembers it differently. “I remember the first minute, falling behind by 19, not coming out with the energy that we have played previously in all the games,” said Saunders. “The basketball gods will get you and you can’t cheat the game in a lot of situations.”

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