It was communicated by Ernie Grunfeld last Friday that Zach Leonsis, son of Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, would represent the team at the NBA Draft Lottery tonight in New York City. The younger Leonsis, Twitter handle @ZacharyLeonsis, is a business development manager with dad’s ownership group, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and lists, “provided research and statistical analysis for formulation of business strategy for the Washington Wizards,” in the experience section of his Linked In profile.

The head of the Theodore Unit, Ted Leonsis, on his blog writes:

And to change it up, since we have fallen in the lottery the last two times we sent team members to the event, (a head coach, and a player), we are sending up a family member and employee of our sports team holding company to help us out. I hope it works.

Regardless of hindsight in the future, present or past, who the team sends as a representative probably doesn’t matter. But we walk down this path every year; superstition is as whimsical or worthless as we want it to be. And over time, you get a little less excited about the lottery because the value of winning it, in the big picture, has a diminished bearing on true team building. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t pour yourself some spirits and relish in the tradition of chance.

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Continued success in team sports is achieved through sacrifice; the best squads accept this, understanding that individual achievements must sometimes be tabled for the betterment of the team—roll tape of Michael Jordan deferring to Steve Kerr in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

When great players are unwilling to make sacrifices, Jordan has confessed, individual goals and accolades are even tougher to achieve. So why do the stubborn Wizards, selfish by self-description, refuse to play team basketball? The better question asks what can be done to change their approach.

The answer might surprise you: ramp up competition for individual rewards.

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The Washington Wizards talk about fourth quarter full-court pressure defense against Chicago, which helped make the 10 point loss a little more interesting, to say the least…

If anything, Randy Wittman has proven that he’s no Flip Saunders, past his own claims of the two being “polar opposites.” No, it’s not about wins and losses (beating the Bobcats twice? please), at least for the rest of this season. Yes, outcome is important and positive outcomes are nice, but ask a fan about winning or losing, and the Wizards can’t win. From moral victories to lottery losses to scoreboard reward, not many can be satisfied in this current state of four victories and 17 losses.

Wittman is willing to try more new things, starting Jan Vesely at the four over Andray Blatche for example. Or, down 78-63 to the Chicago Bulls on Monday night with nearly a quarter left to play, throwing a full court press after a Chicago timeout allowing Tom Thibodeau to insert M.V.P. point guard Derrick Rose back into the game. It’s not like Saunders didn’t reach deep into his bag of gimmicks, responsiveness from his players was clearly the issue.

“I was a little hesitant to really do what we did there in the fourth quarter,” said coach Randy Wittman at the end of the night, “because… [chuckles]… we hadn’t worked on it, but I said, ‘Let’s go, guys, we got one chance here to make this a ball game.’”

Washington responded immediately — with a unit of John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Nick Young, Trevor Booker, and JaVale McGee – racing to a 15-8 run in fewer than four minutes. Thanks to the pressure, the Wizards trimmed their deficit to eight points. A Nick Young three-pointer capped the comeback, with Wittman afterward stomping his feet all over the hardwood floor to remind Young to not bask in his offense, but rather to find the shooters and pressure as necessary. Chicago answered by finally breaking Washington’s full-court defense with ease, ending the Wizards run with a Carlos Boozer dunk, holding their lead at 88-78.

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The Washington Wizards held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to announce that assistant Randy Wittman was promoted to replace head coach Flip Saunders, who was relieved of his duties that morning. Team president Ernie Grunfeld was on hand as well to field questions from the media. Wittman will finish out the remaining of the season as the interim head coach, the rest of the coaching staff was retained.

Wittman emphasized his experience being an interim head coach:

“I have coached in this league on a number different teams. It is not an easy transition. I have done this before and I have been on a staff  and taking over in the middle of the season. I know what is about and what change needs happen to try to make this a positive situation … The main thing that I learned the first time that I stepped in — this is even more magnified because of the condensed schedule and playing so many games without practice time — we just got to simplify things … you can’t flood these guys with information overload … just two or three things to concentrate on and take the baby steps after there.”

The removal of Saunders brought a level of personal sadness: Read more »

[Flip Saunders attempts to coach up his team in his last home game with the Wizards.]

Flip Saunders was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Washington Wizards today. He departs D.C. with a record of 51-130 over two full seasons and about a fourth of this lockout-shortened season. Assistant Randy Wittman will take over as head coach, the team has announced, and assistants Don Zierden, Sam Cassell, Ryan Saunders and Gene Banks will remain. TAI’s Adam McGinnis, Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie answer three questions related to the firing. Let it begin…

#1) Was it fair to Saunders to fire him?

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[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 17 contributors: Markus Allen, Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie.]

[NOTE: Per news, Flip Saunders has been fired, and Randy Wittman will replace him. The content below doesn't not reflect knowledge of that, and only pertains to last night's game. The TAI crew will be ready with thoughts on this coaching move by the Wizards at some point soon. Also note: Markus Allen is from Severn, Maryland, has been a Wizards fan since the early 2000s, and is currently attenting Mississippi State University. This is his first contribution to Truth About It.net.]

[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 16 contributors: John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie with first-hand coverage, and Rashad Mobley watching from afar.]

Score

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Close game, different locker rooms, opposite outcomes… but they are all professional basketball players. The Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics said WHAT?

Jordan Crawford‘s thoughts on the double-technical foul called on him and Paul Pierce midway through the third period… Pierces “thoughts” as well… Rajon Rondo‘s intricate and insightful opinion on the differences in John Wall’s game from Sunday’s contest and when these two teams met earlier this year on January 1 and 2… And other general game thoughts, i.e., Paul Pierce sentiment, from Nick Young, John Wall, Doc Rivers, Flip Saunders, and Ray Allen, with a camero appearance from Kevin Garnett.

[footage shot by TAI's Kyle Weidie and John Converse Townsend]

The Wizards held an 83-82 lead over Boston midway through the 4th quarter, but didn’t have enough answers to close out the game. The C’s cruised to their second road victory of the year, their second in Washington D.C., despite being without Rajon Rondo (who missed the game with a wrist injury) and Ray Allen (who left in the second quarter with a jammed ankle). That’s because Paul Pierce commanded much of the attention as the key piece in the Celtics’ offense, scoring 14 of his season-high 34 points in the final period.

The Wizards didn’t have an offensive crutch in the clutch, and it cost them. But Flip Saunders, in his post game presser, argued that a tough defense is just as important as a single reliable scoring threat in the closing minutes of a basketball game:

“You have to close out with your defense, that’s how you close out games, Close out with your defense and try to get some pushes up the floor and get some open floor stuff if you can. What you have to do is stay aggressive and flatten out the defense. The ball has to get below the free throw line extended. You can’t play late in games without a thrust to the basket, the ball getting down low. When the call is just a play above the top of the key, it puts too much pressure on you.”

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[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 15 contributors: Rashad Mobley and Adam McGinnis with first-hand coverage, and Kyle Weidie watching from afar.]

Score

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