[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. 12, Washington Wizards vs San Antonio Spurs; contributors: Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center along with John Converse Townsend and Adam McGinnis from behind the T.V.]

It’s Martell. Somehow Martell Webster, more than not, has become the spokesperson for the Wizards. Part of it is that he’s good in front of the mic, so he naturally attracts the media. Another part of it could be that team veterans—Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor—simply don’t always have it in them to speak up, a silence that’s indicative of their poor play this season. Ariza is often long gone by the time the media scrum arrives to the Wizards locker room after Randy Wittman’s end-of-the-night press conference. Okafor, mostly a result of his post-game routine of stretching, etc., often takes so long after games that the press has mostly moved on to deadlines and work before Okafor even starts showering. Thus, we are left with Webster, a guy making a mere $1.75 million this season who wasn’t on the Wizards’ radar until mid-August, instead of the duo—Ariza and Okafor—making around $7.3 and $13.5 million this season respectively. It is what it is. So here is the guy with the guts to say that he and his teammates are embarrassed. 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. 11, Washington Wizards vs Charlotte Bobcats; contributors: Dan Diamond and Sean Fagan from the Verizon Center and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

John Wall couldn’t watch. Chris Singleton still made the second of book-end free throws with three chances at the line, sending the game into double-overtime. 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. 10, Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks; contributors: Adam McGinnis, Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

Flabbergasted. 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. 9, Washington Wizards vs. Indiana; contributors: Rashad Mobley and John Converse Townsend from the Verizon Center with Kyle Weidie from behind the T.V.]

Wanna Get Away? #WizardsSlogans Read more »

Here to provide the DC Council Opening Statements for Washington’s ninth game of the season against the Pacers in D.C. are TAI’s Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) and guest Jared Wade (@Jared_Wade), who writes about the Pacers for the TrueHoop blog 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8tps9secs).

Wizards Starters (0-8):

A.J. Price, Jordan Crawford, Trevor Ariza, Jan Vesely, Emeka Okafor

Pacers Starters (4-7):

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. 8, Washington Wizards vs. Utah Jazz; contributors: Sean Fagan and Kyle Weidie from the Verizon Center with John Converse Townsend from behind the T.V.]

No Wall, No Nene… Not an excuse. Read more »

You know the scene in heist movies where the culprit-to-be is waiting for just the right moment to sneak past the rotating video surveillance cameras, or for the right time to dart past high-powered lasers as they focus their energies to burn/singe/kill intruders in another area of the fortress? Well, all that was kind of like what Jordan Crawford had to deal with as he attempted to go to the free throw line for Jan Vesely last night. Except instead of cameras or lasers, it was three NBA referees.

Let’s first take a look at the action in GIF form… Notice Crawford’s calculated, measured steps, which operate contrary to Crawford’s normal basketball modus operandi. Vesely doesn’t know exactly what to do, he just knows to accept as doctrine whatever the kid from Detroit says in this strange land called America.

The maneuver was actually successful, initially. Crawford even went so far as to make an actual free throw before parties responsible for keeping track of such things noticed. If it weren’t for the sideline referee and/or scorekeeper and/or those darn meddlin’ kids, Crawford might have gotten away with it, too. Instead, the violation was caught and corrected. Vesely, who had been fouled by Tyrus Thomas, went to the line and missed both. Actually, Vesely went on to miss four straight free throws. Actually, Vesely is 1-for-9 from the charity stripe on the season. Let’s check the extended video…

Read more »

my name is jan and i like sushi
and the washington capitals

Editor’s Note: Slightly lost in the mix of Washington losing its first two games of the season is Jan Vesely’s play. No, the young Czech isn’t wowing the masses. Nor is he playing well enough to satisfy critics. Still, in only two games his numbers show improvement over last season, and Vesely isn’t playing as timid as he was early this preseason. He only made one of his three jumper attempts against the Celtics on Saturday night, but he took all of them with confidence (although one miss in particular was ill-advised). Again, the biggest issue with Vesely going forward, aside from confidence, will be strength. He certainly got pushed around by Jared Sullinger more than necessary, but he did fight back, increasing his aggression in four minutes during the fourth quarter. Stay tuned, because there is time to be had in exchange for hustle despite the seeming glut in the Wizards’ frontcourt. Randy Wittman’s willingness to sit veterans down the stretch has proven this. Otherwise, Jan got all gussied up to tell you about his Facebook promotion to win a new backpack. And below that is a translation by TAI’s Lukas Kuba (@Luke_Mellow) from an interview that Vesely gave to the Czech outlet, basket.idnes.cz, last Friday. Enjoy. -Kyle W. 

“I hope John will be back quickly, because I like fast basketball.” -Jan Vesely

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. 1, Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers; contributors: Adam McGinnnis, Rashad Mobley, and Kyle Weidie.]

How do you like your John Wall?… With glasses? Read more »

Kalorama Courts – NW Washington, DC – Photo: K. Weidie

Well, the season is here. No big, blow ‘em out preview from the TAI crew. We’re just here to offer continued coverage of the hometown pro basketball team as we usually do, and more. The site is entering its sixth season, by the way. So leggo…

On October 9, www.Bovada.lv released estimated win totals for every NBA team, or their over/under. The Washington Wizards stood at 31.5. About a week ago, TAI threw up a poll of various over unders, including:

• O/U on John Wall PPG, 68% took the over on 17 points;
• O/U on John Wall APG, 56% took the over on 8.5 assists;
• O/U on Nene PPG, 63% took the over on 14 points;
• O/U on Nene RPG, 53% took the over on 7.5 rebounds;
• O/U on Jordan Crawford PPG, 56% took the over on 12.5 points; and
• O/U on Bradley Beal PPG, 72% took the over on 12.5.

Read more »