You think watching the Pistons run over the Wizards with little resistance was hard, try starting to watch it on a two-hour delay (sometimes college basketball takes precedent, especially at this time of year), then accidentally finding out the score, and then watching the second half the next day. Boy it was ugly … but at least it kinda/sorta made for quick work. Below are a couple notes I took from witnessing the carnage.

The game starts with Wizards TV guys Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier talking about Gilbert Arenas‘ jersey number change from #0 to Mike Miller‘s current #6. Let’s pick up on their conversation …

Buckhantz: “…. Agent Zero will be no longer, we’ll have to come up with something else.”

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If you saw the Wizards-Rockets game on Tuesday night, you know part of the story (in case you didn’t, the Wizards lost 96-88). If you’ve read recaps from various sites, you know another part of the story … from someone’s perspective. If you were lucky enough to be in the locker room after the game, your knowledge of the story gets even deeper. Not everyone can be so lucky. But if you’ve come here, you can at least know part of what it was like with this video comprised of Wizards player quotes and responses to the questions they were asked.

More to come …

Some people have a poker face.
Flip Saunders has a turnover face.

As previously mentioned in the last screen shot post of Wednesday’s Wizards-Bucks game, Washington had the same amount of turnovers in the third quarter as they did points. And that common number would be 12. For the heck of it, let’s chronicle each turnover (and a couple of other things) in screen shots and words.

It’s cold in Milwaukee. These turnovers are colder.

TURNOVER #1 – 10:04 >> You can’t see Randy Foye in his picture, but he is right behind the defender in the white circle. Read more »

Ok, a screen shot post. I don’t do these often enough,  here goes …

First, a disclaimer: Sometimes an opponent makes good, (relatively)unstoppable plays, and sometimes the defense isn’t up to snuff. Since defense wins championships, these screen shot posts tend to concentrate on the correctable defensive plays. So, sorry NBA millionaires if you are criticized and nitpicked too often. That just how it goes.

Because of the 8 pm start time, and then Duke-Maryland, I could only muster myself to re-watch the first half of last night’s Wizards-Bucks game, one where the Wiz lost 100-87. I’ll likely try to watch and chronicle the second half tonight, but I’m sure that a third quarter where, I believe, the Wizards had the same amount of turnovers as points (12), will be especially “fun” to watch. And yes, I realize this re-watching of Wizards defeats makes me seem a tad insane.

The Bucks are the Bucks. They are a playoff team, in the Eastern Conference … where sixth place is equivalent to “on the outside looking in” in the West. Still, no one thought the Wizards would really win last night. But they fought hard. They sorta tried. And as expected with this still young team, they more so got in their own way of winning than the other team. Although, do give Milwaukee credit.

{1st Quarter}

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Ok, it was just one game … two games counting the win against Minnesota. With a 107-97 win over the Denver Nuggets, the Wizards have won two games in a row for just the sixth time all year (three has yet to be accomplished). Is it a reason to think this team just might do something crazy and sneak into the playoffs? Absolutely not. Is it a reason to get excited? A resounding yes.

Energy, effort, hustle and hunger were the themes tossed around the Verizon Center Friday night, the obvious reason why Wizards fans, even those who came to see Baltimore’s Carmelo Anthony, stood up and cheered for a brand of basketball that’s rarely been seen this season, if at all.

“I told guys at shoot-around, ‘We gotta play like a pack of mad dogs,’ and that’s how we played tonight,” said Flip Saunders after the game. The new guys, Josh Howard, Al Thornton and James Singleton set the example and led the way. “Thornton at 6’7″ can play like 6’10″ rebounding-wise, and Josh can play bigger, and of course Singleton. Those are energy guys,” the coach continued.

Thornton can score too, netting 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He arrived in D.C. at 2 am on Friday, and wasn’t able to participate in that morning’s shoot-around, but dug deep and found a way to play some damn good defense against Anthony. “Once Carmelo gets in a groove and gets in jab steps going, he’s very hard to guard. So, I just tried to get in him and frustrate him a little bit and make him take off-balanced shots,” Thornton said. Melo had 23 points in the game, but only five in the second half and zero in the fourth quarter. He shot 1-10 in the second half.

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Things in Wizards Nation aren’t that bad. At least in a “can’t get any worse” type of way as releasing Antawn Jamison to go win a championship with LeBron was probably the worst rock-bottom imaginable back in September. It can only go up from here, no guarantees though.

Time for fans to move forward the best they can. One way to do that would be to find positives among the new pieces, even if they are just temporary. The events which unfolded during and after Washington’s 108-99 victory over Minnesota on Tuesday night (but not before, I’ll cover the Jamison trade to Cleveland later), showed that Josh Howard and James Singleton could be spots of light cutting through dark skies. Latest acquisition Al Thornton, however, does not come with a ringing endorsement from the LA Clipper fan base. One can only hope he gets off on the right foot like Singleton and Howard have. Here are each of their stories …

{Starting Fresh Like The Farmer’s Market}

Josh Howard seems like a humbled man ready to do his best. If he somehow gets a bad mark on his record over the remainder of the schedule, we’ll know an even darker cloud than originally thought hangs over the franchise. In other words, expect him to be on his very best behavior.

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The first practice for new Wizards Josh Howard, James Singleton and Quinton Ross had a media buzz in the air, yet a slightly somber tone on the court. Most of those already on the team ducked the awaiting press by exiting the practice court from a side door. Antawn Jamison, however, made his presence known by singing the Black Eyed Peas’ “I got a feeling,” down the hallway as he headed into the locker room. He later would make the media wait around 30 minutes for him to speak until a Wizards PR person finally declared that ‘Twan had left the building. For good? We don’t know.

It seemed like forever since I’d been in the Verizon Center. Sixteen days to be exact. With the Atlanta Hawks game originally scheduled for February 6th postponed because of snow, the last time I was around in the catacombs of the house that Abe built was on February 1st when the Wizards barely mustered 10 points in the fourth quarter and lost to the Boston Celtics 99-88.

Days like Tuesday afternoon’s practice are always interesting. I walked into the press lounge to see several faintly familiar faces; the television personalities who only show up on noteworthy days with their camera crews in tow. Some of the regulars wondered how many of them knew the difference between Ross and Singleton. Nonetheless, I don’t expect much coverage from the infrequent media masses once the trade deadline passes.

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