[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 3 contributors: Rashad Mobley, Arish Narayen and John Converse Townsend.]

Score

Washington Wizards 81 at Milwaukee Bucks 102 [box score]

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The Wizards started their first two games of this season with less effort, more selfishness and more frustration expressed from the players than should be accepted. No matter how much the team owner wants to use age as an excuse, these are not good signs that the franchise is successfully establishing “new traditions,” the message printed on t-shirts given to fans on opening night. Some mistakes are okay, but the aspects shown thus far by the team are not what you want infiltrating a young, impressionable team. But, alas, each next game is a chance for the Wizards to turn it around, we think. Tonight they take on the Bucks in Milwaukee at 8:30 PM ET. For 3-on-3 today, we have Jeremy Schmidt from the ESPN TrueHoop Network Bucks blog Bucksketball, TAI’s Rashad Mobley, and myself, Kyle Weidie. Here we go…

Jeremy Schmidt, Bucksketball: Is Andray Blatche going to crush Milwaukee’s power forwards on the block in an effort to show how mature he is?

MOBLEY: Let’s see, after the first game, Blatche calls out everyone who passes him the ball for not getting him the ball in the post — a place he has routinely eschewed during his career. He repeats this anger via Twitter later that night, backtracks via Twitter the next day, and this amidst Flip Saunders having a pre-practice meeting with him to sort things out.  The next game, he started off shooting 0-for-7 en route to a 2-for-13, seven point performance. He may crush Milwaukee’s forwards, and he may think he’s showing maturity, but given his track record, it’ll all come undone soon enough.

SCHMIDT: He certainly has the talent. He’s a bad matchup for the Bucks: Too quick for Andrew Bogut, too strong for most of their power forwards. But he’s as much of a threat to remove himself from the game mentally as anyone it would seem. I know there was some noise about him being grouchy already, but I think if he’s demanding more post touches, ultimately, that’s a wonderful thing for Washington.

WEIDIE: We’re at the stage where Blatche is nobly, at least for him, trying a bit too hard… pressing. Unfortunately, some of this effort is focused in the wrong areas, and on this young Wizards team, he has no place to hide. In the past, there have been scorer’s to take the pressure and attention off of Blatche — and maybe Nick Young is starting to take that role. Another problem: Blatche is neither tough mentally or physically. If he wants the ball more in the post, he’s got to be strong and hold his post position. That didn’t work out on the VERY FIRST PLAY in Atlanta. That being said, watch his 17-foot jumper be on versus the Bucks, or something like that, which will then magically open up the offense for the Wizards.

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[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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Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis transparently concedes rebuilds are messy and painful, as he asks fans for patience and faith while the roster is retooled for the future.  He forgot to mention the word that immediately came to mind after witnessing the Milwaukee Bucks 95-76 destruction of the Wizards on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center: Embarrassing. Those partaking in Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras festivities were better served than fans suffering through another demoralizing defeat.

Flip Saunders was disappointed that his backcourt did not respond to the challenge, Trevor Booker questioned the team’s heart, and John Wall admitted to playing terrible.

The Bucks, who the Wizards hammered just a few weeks prior, blew open a tight game in the second quarter and never were seriously challenged again. They toyed with the Wizards and were able to get any shot they wanted. Milwaukee has struggled with scoring all season, yet, they appeared to be high offensive juggernaut versus Wizards hapless defensive resistance.

Andray Blatche was unable to return after spraining his right shoulder early in the first quarter. To the shock of Blatche haters, the “third option” offensive presence was definitely missed as the Wizards struggled to score points. Sloppy ball-handling did not help the cause either, the Wiz Kids finished with 22 turnovers to only 17 assists. Rookie Jordan Crawford led the team with 22 points but tallied a plus/minus of minus-22.

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[Editor's note: Ryan Gracia is majoring in sports communication and journalism at George Mason University and freelances for work for TAI can be found here, here and here.]

{photo: A. McGinnis, TAI}

As my eyes wandered away from the court for a moment during Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, a rarely-seen-before sight from my peripheral view quickly brought my attention back to the court. The Wizards’ 56^th pick in the 2010 draft was headed to the scorer’s table, getting ready to make just his fifth appearance all season. That sight got me smiling and fist-pumping – and definitely would have unintentionally gotten me on the Verizon Center “Fist Pump Cam” if it were happening then.

It wasn’t just the sight of Hamady N’diaye finally getting a chance to prove his worth that got me excited. It was simply seeing him jog to check in. Let me repeat: He showed excitement to play the sport he loves and actually jogged to the scorer’s table. N’diaye and his enthusiasm didn’t look like the typical substitute hopelessly aiming to show his rares amidst an unknown opportunity. But maybe the change turned out to be exactly that – hopeless at first, yet impactful in a 5:28 stint.

Andray Blatche’s newest shoulder injury experienced three minutes into the Bucks game, depleting (depth-wise) an already-depleted (skill-wise) Wizards frontcourt, paved the way for N’diaye to be thrust under the bright lights of the house that Abe Pollin built.  Flip Saunders was caught in quite a pickle with just Yi Jianlian and Hamady as the only big men hoping for their number to be called at that point in the game. And the Wizards coach made a great choice by choosing the gap-toothed man from Senegal, who hasn’t played for the Wizards since mid-December (with time spent in the D-League in between).

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{photo: A. McGinnis, TAI}

The Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Wizards were coming out of an official timeout with 7:31 left in their game on Tuesday night with Milwaukee leading 84-61.  The Wizards only mustered 31 combined points in the second and third quarters while the Bucks put up 53, and the game was all but out of reach as a result.  Still, Wizards coach Flip Saunders wanted to make a last ditch effort at a comeback so he subbed in John Wall, Trevor Booker and JaVale McGee for Yi Jianlian, Kevin Seraphin and Jordan Crawford.

After a made free throw by Milwaukee rookie Larry Sanders, Wall dribbled down the court while being pressured by Bucks guard Earl Boykins and eventually had to give the ball up to McGee.  McGee took the pass, but could not immediately give the ball back to his point guard for him to set up the offense because Boykins was pestering Wall as only the 5’5″ Boykins can do.  McGee even motioned for Wall to come to him, but no such luck from Wall in getting separation.  Instead, McGee, who was just inside the foul line at that point, made the executive decision to not look for anyone else, put his head down and dribble toward basket.  Although he was bailed out by a hard foul from Andrew Bogut, he missed both free throws and the possession was wasted.

Conversely, with 6:56 left in the third quarter, Brandon Jennings and Bogut found themselves in a similar situation.  Jennings passed Bogut the ball in the high post and expected to get it back, but Wall prevented a return pass from happening.  Instead of hesitating, waiting and panicking as McGee had done with Wall, Bogut intelligently waited for Jennings to create an open lane, then he drove decisively and dunked on a flailing McGee.

You’re probably thinking this is yet another Truth About It post dedicated to slamming McGee or one of the other Wizards big men. Not the case.  Without Andray Blatche (who sprained his shoulder three minutes into the game and was unable to return), McGee (nine points, 13 rebounds), Seraphin (one point, six rebounds), and Booker (eight points, eight rebounds) did a good job on the boards and occasionally made their respective presences felt.  They certainly made mistakes, but Booker and Seraphin are rookies and McGee is still learning. I can’t be too critical of their play … at least not last night.

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Pictures, commentary and links…

Sometimes I feel like on offense, when he gets the ball, JaVale McGee is like that guy who receives a particularly funny chain email (well, at least it’s funny to him), and then gets so overwhelmed with excitement that he forwards it to everyone he knows when it’s probably not appropriate to do so. Or maybe when he gets the ball he’s more like a little kid who sees a dancing puppy holding an ice cream cone and a PS3 outside, whereas the kid goes running through a clear glass door to get to the puppy (or to the rim) in a fit of enthusiasm.

Whatever the case may be, dude needs to chill. No one wants to seem him get hooked for the same stupid mistake he keeps making over and over again … dribbling around like he’s a 6’2″ guard.

“We explained to him, at the end of the game when he started going on his dribbling exhibition, that’s one of the reasons that we lose on the road, because we get in close games and we do those things,” said Flip Saunders after Wednesday’s match versus the Bucks.  “You can’t do that, and then players lose trust, as far as throwing him the ball in a late-game situation. It becomes easier for teams to defend against you, and puts more pressure on you, especially if you’re up a couple [points],” Saunders finished, explaining his teaching moment of quickly taking McGee out of the game when he performs such acts, as he’s done countless times before.

When a player keeps doing the same thing, you bench him until he gets it … even if it serves to the detriment of the team. Otherwise, as an individual, he’ll never learn. Any other coach in the NBA would do the same thing.

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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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Now, this dunk wasn’t on, on Australia’s Andrew Bogut, but we’ll include him for diplomatic reasons. Turkey’s Ersan Ilyasova getting smacked around by Los Angeles’ Nick Young is really the big winner here.

One of the first things that comes to mind when looking at a picture like this is that there’s no way he’s making it to the rim.

He did.

You’d think some big time NBA advertising partner would want to sponsor a secondary dunk contest. Wouldn’t that haul in some bank on television? TNT, are you there? I understand the desire to make the official dunk contest on NBA all-Star Saturday night an elite and exclusive event, but there are too many good dunkers in the NBA not to have more than four participants.

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[Ed. Note: Ryan Gracia is currently a junior at George Mason University studying journalism and sports communication and has followed the Washington Wizards for years. On Wednesday against Milwaukee, he tracked the progress of Wizards rookie Kevin Seraphin and reports below. -Kyle W.]

Seraphin Makes Good With Little Time

by Ryan Gracia

With JaVale McGee picking up two fouls less than six minutes into the game against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night, Flip Saunders turned to his second first-round pick in the 2010 draft to answer the call. It’s been quite a journey for 17th pick Kevin Seraphin in his first season in the NBA, but he’s made the most of his opportunities on the court – for the most part – despite erratic playing time.

As of late, one-time backup center Hilton Armstrong has been given a seat deeper down in the depth chart in favor of the younger Wizard, as shown by the difference in minutes played between the first eight games and the last eight games for each player: Read more »

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 covered the Wall-Jennings matchup on TAI from John's perspective, now here's Rashad Mobley with a look from Brandon's perspective in his series "From The Other Side." -Kyle]

By the time John Wall’s name is announced as the Wizards’ starting point guard on their home opening night against Philadelphia 76ers, he will have received more than enough advice.  His family is telling him how to manage his life, his friends are telling him how to spend his money and where to hang out, his teammates are saying get me the ball in my sweet spot, the coaches (especially Sam Cassell) are telling him how to be an effective point guard in the NBA.  Hell, I’m sure even his twitter following has chimed in with their clueless, but well-intentioned advice.

After my visit to the Milwaukee Bucks locker room before their preseason matchup with the Wizards, it looks like Wall will have two more people to take advice from:  Head Coach Scott Skiles and second year guard Brandon Jennings.

Skiles coached Jennings during his rookie year, so he knows first-hand about the ups and downs involved with a rookie running the show.  But prior to that, Skiles enjoyed a 10-year career in the NBA (including one year with the Bullets), where he averaged 11 points and 6.5 assists, and dished out 30 assists in one game (an NBA record).

Jennings, much like Wall will do this year, was given the responsiblity of running the Milwaukee Bucks in his first season.  He exceeded expectations in the regular season by averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists, and then in the playoffs he continued his solid play by raising his scoring average to 18.7 points (his assists dropped to 3.6, but Andrew Bogut was hurt, so he gets a pass).  Much like Skiles, Jennings also picked  up an NBA record along the way, by dropping 56 points on Golden State–the most ever by a Milwaukee Bucks rookie.

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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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The Wizards lost to the Milwaukee Bucks Thursday night and it was pretty ugly. I won’t even mention the final score, but you’ll probably figure it out with some math in a second.

The first half started with promise. The Wizards out-shot the Bucks 49.7-percent to 43.8-percent and outscored them 57-51. John Wall had eight assists and two turnovers; his team had a ratio of 11 to nine in that department. Meanwhile the Bucks were forced into 14 turnovers to just seven assists, four of those dimes coming from Brandon Jennings, the other side of the night’s glamour matchup versus Mr. Wall.

The Wizards didn’t look particularly great in the first half, but the outcome was far more preferred over the second where Flip Saunders’ team was outscored 45 to 31 en route to shooting just 36.1-percent. Thirteen second half turnovers to just eight assists pretty much tells the rest of the story.

So why the change in offensive efficiency? Some of it could have to do with Gilbert Arenas (who didn’t start because, as said by Saunders when asked, “Nick [Young] played really good last game.”) only playing three first quarter minutes before checking out with what appeared to be a real injury, to his groin. Yep, I know what you’re thinking … isn’t that ironic?

Otherwise, the answer seems pretty simple for the young basketball squad, at least according to Saunders.

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