There was 3:31 left in the fourth quarter, the Philadelphia 76ers leading the Wizards 98-89, when Andre Iguodala threw a pass that was stolen by Kirk Hinrich.  The ball eventually found its way into John Wall’s hands, who looked up, found JaVale McGee, and hit him with a  perfect pass.  McGee, as he does so well, took the ball strong to the hole, and dunked it with authority on Elton Brand, who was late in his rotation.

Unfortunately for the Sixers, not only was Brand late rotating, but he was forced to foul, and foul hard — so hard in fact that McGee violently crashed to the ground and immediately grabbed his back in agony.  The referee wasted no time whistling Brand for a type two flagrant foul, which meant an automatic ejection from the game.  McGee, even as he was still on the ground in pain, managed to taunt the departing Sixer by waving goodbye to him as he left the court.

The flagrant served as a turning point in the game, as the Wizards outscored the Sixers 15-8 after that, and eventually won in overtime 116-114.  When asked if that was indeed the turning point, Sixers coach Doug Collins vehemently disagreed:

“Guys, with 8.5 seconds to go, we were shooting two free throws and they [the Wizards] had no timeouts.  So we can talk about it [Brand's flagarant foul] all we want, but we were still in a position to win the game, they had no timeouts.  At the end of the day, we stil l had a three point lead shooting two free throws and with 8.5 seconds to go.”

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The last time Coach Doug Collins and his Philadelphia Sixers came to Washington, they were treated to a virtuoso performance by John Wall.  He had 29 points, 13 assists and nine steals in his Wizards home debut, and he helped lead his team to a 116-115 overtime victory.  After the game, Collins sounded like a man completely in awe:

“He’s terrific.  I watched him play in college.  He’s just so explosive with the ball.  When you have a player like that you can almost guarantee that you can get a shot anytime down the floor because he can create something.  He’s so strong, and can get into the gaps.  He’s very unselfish and a powerful finisher at the basket.  He’s a terrific player.”

Tonight when the Sixers take on the Wizards, Wall will not be in the starting lineup (although he is in uniform), but Gilbert Arenas, who did not play against the Sixers the first time, will be on the court for the tip-off.  Arenas is coming off a game against the Pistons where he scored 19 points and dished out a career-high 16 assists.  With or without Wall in the lineup tonight, Arenas figures to cause just as many headaches for the Sixers squad, particularly the guards.

Before tonight’s game, Coach Collins talked about both Wall and Arenas, and the challenges they both pose for this Sixers squad. Watch the video:

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A run-down of Tuesday’s home opening win with pictures, links and video …

NOTE: Rashad Mobley and I will be taking turns writing a weekly column on the Wizards for the DCist. Check out the first one by me here.

Cartier Martin celebrates the win after the final buzzer in OT.

Prelude to a meeting in the paint …

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[Jrue Holiday attempts to go behind-the-back to Andre Igoudala - photo: K. Weidie]

Doug Collins was originally scheduled to meet with the media at 5:45, so around 5:43, I left the main floor, and headed toward the Sixers locker room.  When I arrived, it was clear that his media session had been moved to 6pm, so I hung around and talked to some of the Sixers players while I waited.  Each time I walked in and out of the locker room, I saw Doug Collins chilling in the coach’s office, looking totally relaxed.

He had his feet up on the desk, he was watching a little ESPN, he was laughing with some of his assistant coaches; he looked the total opposite of what I imagined.  The words and phrases attached to Collins are “intense”, “annoying at times”, “hard on players”, and others I’m sure aren’t quite fit to print in this family(ish) blog.  On the flip side, the phrases attached to Collins the NBA analyst are “wise”, a “great talker”, and someone who knows a hell of a lot about the Xs and Os of basketball.

When Collins coached Michael Jordan and the Wizards from 2001-2003, he was basically viewed as a Jordan enabler, rather than an exceptional coach of young talent.  He was never really given a chance to put his signature stamp on the team.  However, when he was hired by the Sixers this summer, he was specifically brought in to guide the young talent, mainly the draft pick which turned out to be Evan Turner.

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Cartier Martin is like Clockwork. You need him to be that guy? He’ll be on time. Play defense, hit a corner three, box out and keep the other team from getting a second possession, hit a last-second, game-tying three? He’ll do it. I don’t know if “Clockwork” will stick, but that’s what I’m calling him.

Beautiful shot by Cartier last night by the way. He only sent the game into overtime, no biggie. Kirk Hinrich was supposed to be the decoy, Nick Young the first option and Martin the second, according to Flip Saunders. Let’s take a look after the jump:

To be a Debbie Downer for a second, that buzzer beater allowed the Wizards to have 34 points in the fourth quarter, bringing their total to 106. The Sixers had the same total at the end of four, but scored 40 points in the final period.

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Tonight’s Play of the Game comes courtesy of Andray Blatche, for obvious reasons.

This play led to the two free throws that lifted the Washington Wizards to their first win of the season. But, but it was also a variation of a play that Flip Saunders had called a number of times tonight.

While the play gives Kirk Hinrich an option for an open mid-range jumper (or even a three-pointer) coming around an off-ball screen, it is designed to isolate Blatche in the post. Blatche is typically quicker and more agile than most power forwards, so the isolation situation offers the Wizards a great scoring opportunity.

The best part about this play was that instead of settling for a jump shot like he’s already done several times this season, Blatche took the ball to the hole. I guess he is finally ready to listen to his coaches and get his “big butt down [in the post].” Andray knows that he has to be more physical and be the Wizards’ low-post scoring option.

Blatche shared his new focus with Michael Lee after Monday’s practice:

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ESPN’s John Hollinger and Chad Ford recently completed the latest edition of their ‘Future Power Rankings.’ (Found here, requires ESPN Insider). Like previous versions, they begin their rankings with the following introduction:

The Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,000, based on how well we expect each team to perform in the three seasons following this season.

In determining the Future Power Rating, Hollinger and Ford rated each team in five categories. The sum of those ratings = a team’s Future Power Rating. From the article, here is an explanation of each category:

PLAYERS (0 to 400 points): Current players and their potential for the future, factoring in expected departures.

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After Saturday’s Spurs game, reader Joe Sill emailed me some praise about Nick Young. And with perfect timing, Young put together a very solid 21 point effort on 9-14 FGs last night in a win against the 76ers, his plus-15 second best to that of Gilbert Arenas. Young came off the bench in the first half, started the second half in place of Andray Blatche, and overall did some nice things defensively.

Below is what Joe wrote about Nick and emailed to me this past Sunday.

Coaches’ take on Nick Young’s excellent plus/minus

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Got home, watched the first half of the Wizards-Sixers game, put it on pause, and left for the gym with thoughts of Groundhog Day dancing in my head.

I came back feeling better about myself because I got exercise and later felt even better with the pleasant surprise of a Wizards win, fueled by much improved play in the second half.

Washington has swept the season series with Philadelphia, a team just as bad in general and worse defensively. I’ll take it.

Below is what I saw.

Quick Thought:

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In anticipation of tonight’s Wizards game against the 76ers in Philadelphia, I exchanged some questions with Carey Smith of Philadunkia, the ESPN TrueHoop Network Sixers blog.

I answered a question from Carey about the Wizards’ struggles in general, and attempted to encapsulate the season’s problems in a nutshell. I also answered a question about Eddie Jordan and defense, which I spoke with the coach about when the Sixers played in D.C. on December 22nd.

Head over to Philadunkia to read my answers. Carey’s answers to my questions are below.

(TAI) — How is Elton Brand coming along? Has he overcome his slow start? Is he ultimately better coming off the bench?

(Philadunkia) — Brand has been a beast lately — three double-doubles in December and one near miss (25 & 9); 18 & 6 per over his last 4 games –, so I would say yes he has overcome what many perceive to be a slow start. If Eddie Jordan would just play him more and maybe call the occasional set play for #42, I’d bet that Brand would really fill up the stat sheet.

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Matching up Wizards locker room quotes after the Sixers game with corresponding facial expressions.

Nick Young

When asked what the team needs to do to build on this one victory:

“We need to just not get too down on each other, not criticize each other. Everybody needs to be one as a team. When one player messes up, pat him on the back and tell them ‘do a good job next time’ instead of talking trash.”

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In the previous entry, I touched on the Wizards post-game locker room atmosphere after beating the Sixers. Thinking about the game again last night and this morning led me to pause … they were really, really close to losing another heart breaker. Momentum really could have shifted had Lou Williams hit that wide open corner three, which would have given the Sixers a 100-98 lead, potentially capping a 10-2 Philly run since Eddie Jordan called a timeout after Caron Butler’s big dunk.

But thankfully, Williams’ shot was off, the Wizards made their free-throws, and the Sixers made some mental errors (fouling down three with 34 seconds left? … what was that?). It could have been a much different locker room, one that wasn’t seemingly so naively content with a single win.

And that’s why I’m a tad excited for tonight’s game in Milwaukee, just another chance to see what the Wizards are made of. I’ll have more on the Philly game to come. But until then, below the video highlights are several links of interest.

{award nominations}

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Flip Saunders didn’t care about Tuesday night’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Well, not like he didn’t care, care. If you ask him, I’m sure he’ll tell you that he was damn glad to have a ‘W’ notched in the record book. The win wasn’t even one of those ‘whew, that was a close one, glad we came out on top’ victories of relief for the coach.

No, the Wizards’ 105-98 win over Eddie Jordan’s Sixers was more like a ‘Dammit, I’m still pissed that I had to sub all five of my starters out en masse with eight minutes left in the third quarter just to motivate this frickin’ 8-17 team’ type of night for Saunders.

After the game, I asked Saunders about that magic moment when he subbed Earl Boykins, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Andray Blatche and Fabricio Oberto all at once for Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood after watching his starters commit three turnovers and three fouls on their way to getting outscored 12-5 four minutes into the second half.

Before Saunders even answered my question, he retorted, “What did you see?”

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I got a text message from a good friend during Tuesday’s Wizards-Sixers game: “#4 is playing his a** off” — The message really came with the asterisks, he doesn’t like to cuss.

The text made me take pause. I clearly noticed Antawn Jamison’s hustle swag, but it took the words for me to fully digest the amount of playing emotion coming from the team leader. The game meant something to Jamison, and his passion dwarfed that of his teammates by far.

The dedication of The Gentleman Jamison helped overcome the fact that his team almost gave the game away, which fueled by the carelessness of Gilbert Arenas.

With 5:30 left in the game, after a Sam Dalembert bucket, Arenas tried to make a casual pass up the court to Earl Boykins … with Jrue Holiday RIGHT in the passing lane. Holiday got the easy steal, brought the ball up the court and hit a three in Arenas’ face. Five quick Philly points, 98-92 Wizards.

One minute later, Gilbert tried to drive the lane in heavy traffic. Holiday stripped him of the ball; a clean play contrary to Steve Buckhantz’s proclamation that Arenas got “clobbered.” Guess who was allowed to get a rebound tip bucket on the Sixers’ fast break … Jrue Holiday. 98-94 Wizards.

Around another minute later, the Wizards became witnesses as Philly was able to get two offensive rebounds that resulted in a Lou Williams three pointer, the ease of which was contributed to by a lack of defensive urgency from Arenas.

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{video: Arenas & Jamison on the Wizards’ struggles and facing Eddie Jordan and the Sixers}

• As you are aware, team owner Abe Pollin passed away today, which certainly sets a different tone on reporting about the game. Sad that the man had to die amidst his team’s 3-9 record and perceived bickering among the players. A ton of people spoke about Mr. Pollin before the game (including Wes Unseld, Phil Chenier, Eddie Jordan, Ernie Grunfeld, and obviously the players). I’ll have more on Mr. Pollin’s passing later.
• DeShawn Stevenson described the feeling around the locker room as a state of shock, but the mood is still to go out, play to win, and play with respect.
• Andray Blatche dedicated this game and the rest of the season to Mr. Pollin. “Whatever is holding us back, we gotta get over it for him,” he said.
• The previous storyline of tonight’s game was the return of old coach Eddie Jordan, exactly a year to the day that Jordan was fired after handing out Thanksgiving turkeys to the needy at a team sponsored event.
• A year ago I wrote this post: “The End of The Eddie Jordan Era: Say Goodbye to the Fall Guy” and this a week later.
• Tonight, at a team sponsored event after the game, the currently injured Mike Miller is scheduled to hand out turkeys in conjunction with the Wizards Care community organization.
• Spoke with DeShawn about Jordan before the game. He said their relationship was cool because Eddie gave him an opportunity to start. Stevenson said he had no problem even though some of his teammates do.
• Andray Blatche, on the other hand, said, “Eddie Jordan is not in his mindset right now,” but did express that he’d probably work a bit harder with his old coach in the house.
• Michael Lee of the WaPost has more on Jordan’s return via Wizards Insider and via Wizards Outlet, Mike Jones of the WaTimes reports on Jordan’s surprise at the Wizards’ struggles.
• You can read a pre-game Q&A I did with Philadunkia, an ESPN TrueHoop Network Sixers blog.
• The first time Jordan, as coach of the Wizards, met his previous team, the New Jersey Nets, he lost 98-85 (Nov. 1, 2003). For more on his full career, read this: “The Epic Tale of Eddie Jordan: Connections, Relationships, and the Basketball Community.”
• With all that’s going on, the Wizards really need this win.