[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 18 contributors: Adam McGinnis, Arish Narayen and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 92 vs. Charlotte Bobcats 75 [box score]

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[A pic of Wizards rookie Chris Singleton, a check-in on DC Council 3-star ratings to-date, and shared bullet links from the web.]

Thirteen games are in the books, just under 20-percent of the 66-game season, and the Washington Wizards have a 1-12 record to show for it. For each excruciating contest, the gang at Truth About It.net has produced D.C. Council posts, where a combination of three contributors each rate all five starters, the coach and the bench unit on a 3-star scale. Each contributor also nominates a sub of the game. With a fifth gulped down, it’s time to check how the star ratings add up so far (running season totals can be found here).

Eight different Wizards have been in the starting lineup this season. Starters are ranked by average stars per start (out of three), and include number of starts, games, best start (out of nine stars from three contributor totals), and worst start. Coach and bench totals are also included.

[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 12 contributors: Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie with first-hand coverage and John Converse Townsend from watching on T.V.]

Score

Washington Wizards 90 vs. Philadelphia 76ers 103 [box score]

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The hope is that young Wizards, especially the likes of John Wall, Chris Singleton and Trevor Booker, never get used to losing. That the current doldrums are helping shape their future focus toward doing the little things to win. Of course, in the interim, in the locker room environment after loss eleven in a 12-game old season, defeat seems to be more and more accepted than frustrating.

There’s talk of trust, talk of turnovers, talk of John Wall getting down on himself. “I get down on myself for making a mistake, but I know how to move on to the next thing, just keep playing basketball. It’s just tough when you make three or four in a row,” said Wall after Saturday night’s 103-90 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. What’s unknown at this point is how much Wall openly getting down on himself after mistake one or two affects the rest of his team. Maybe they take cues from him, maybe they are getting down on themselves for their own mistakes.

“He’s our point guard, we gotta feed off of him. He’s the guy that leads this team almost like the captain of a boat. We have to feed off of him, and he has to get everybody involved in the game as well as get himself involved,” said team veteran Rashard Lewis, a guy who could stand to get himself involved as well in hitting open jump shots to help Wall’s cause. Lewis is 6-26 from three-point land this season, a 23.1-percent that’s his career worst, aside from his rookie season when he went 1-6 from deep as a 19-year old. “He’s still a young player learning how to play the game, but at the same time, he’s the floor general,” said Lewis of Wall.

“When you get your butts kicked pretty bad, and we’ve lost a lot, the tendency is sometimes you start feeling sorry for yourself,” said coach Flip Saunders.

“You got to find something to get your spirits going and stay focused out there, because ain’t nobody going to take it easy on us if we’re pouting,” said starting guard Nick Young.

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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 11 contributors over television screen: Rashad Mobley, Arish Narayen, and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 89 at Philadelphia 76ers 120 [box score]

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Last night the Wizards won for the first time in nine months. Tonight, they try to win their first road game in 283 days, which is about nine months and a week, and which would also give Washington just their fourth road win in one year and nine months. And all and all, the Wizards haven’t won in Chicago in three years and nine months. Some oblvious gambling weirdo probably thinks Washington is due. In any case, the 1-8 Wizards play the 9-2 Bulls at 8 PM… Three questions, three answers with Rashad Mobley, John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie starts now…

#1) Chicago is tied with Oklahoma City with the best winning percentage in the NBA (.818, both 9-2), but they will also be playing in their third game in as many nights this evening, and M.V.P. Derrick Rose aggrivated a “turf toe” injury in a 111-100 win in Minnesota last night [UPDATE: Rose's turf toe is evidently bad enough to the point where he is likely out tonight and to the point where Chicago has signed former Wizard Mike James.]. Do the 1-8 Wizards, buzzing from their first win and a new starting lineup, even have a chance?

MOBLEY: I was too busy watching the Wizards win their first game to see the Bulls defeat the T-Wolves last night, but I did make it a point to read a recap from A Wolf Among Wolves. The Bulls jumped out to a lead, Ricky Rubio led a furious comeback, and then Rose shut it down.  If Wall, Vesely, Booker and Singleton can bring that level of energy, perhaps the Bulls and a banged up Rose, won’t be able to muster a response after playing their third game in three nights.

TOWNSEND: Sure, the Wizards have a chance … until Tom Thibodeau’s defense punches them in the mouf. After the initial shock, the question becomes whether Washington can maintain its focus and counter. The Bulls will likely be standing on lifeless legs, a step slower in taking the floor on a third consecutive night, but the Wizards must again choose smart over swag to keep the game close. It won’t be easy: this year’s Bulls have allowed the fewest points (206) in their first three homes games since the start of the shot clock era.

WEIDIE: Body Language. The Wizards have been terrible at it this year…. body language being that wicked little pixel troll which causes the Wizards to abandon any aspirations of good on the court. Even with a banged up Rose (or no Rose), even with a tired Bulls team, who are we kidding? These are the Washington Wizards, people. It’ll be a win if the Wizards just display effort and quell bad body language for even just 45 of 48 minutes against the Bulls. And the final score? Who cares… I thought we were all lottery watching already anyway.

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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 9 contributors: covered on-hand at the Verizon Center by Adam McGinnis and John Converse Townsend, with Rashad Mobley from the television feed. Oh, and you can now find our stuff on Google+. Go ahead and circle Truth About It.]

Score

Washington Wizards 93 vs. Toronto Raptors 78 [box score]

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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 7 contributors: Rashad Mobley, John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 96 vs. New York Knicks 99 [box score]

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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 6 contributors: Arish Narayen, Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 85 at Orlando Magic 103 [box score]

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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 5 contributors: Adam McGinnis, Rashad Mobley and Sam Permutt.]

Score

Washington Wizards 92 at Boston Celtics 100 [box score]

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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 4 contributors: Adam McGinnis and John Converse Townsend who covered the game at the Verizon Center, and Sam Permutt, who watched the game all the way from Israel.]

Score

Washington Wizards 86 vs Boston Celtics 94 [box score]

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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 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 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 2 contributors: Gregg Cobert, Sam Permutt and Kyle Weidie.]

Score

Washington Wizards 83 at Atlanta Hawks 101 [box score]

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[Editor's Note: What was formerly the "Rundown" in the preseason is now 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. For the season opener, in addition to my first-hand game coverage, we have two guest contributors, Gregg Cobert and Sam Permutt. More on both of them at the bottom of this post. -Kyle W.]

Score

Washington Wizards 84 – New Jersey Nets 90 [box score]

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Now that NBA the season is upon us, the most oft-considered repercussion of the compacted schedule has been for whom is it an advantage. Fresh legs? Sharp minds? Old teams?

On media day Flip Saunders was asked if a youthful team brings any benefits to a scrambled environment in the aftermath of the 2011 lockout. ”I think if you have youth, you’re going to say yes, and if you have veterans, you’re going to say yes,” he said, implying that you can cook the perspective to whatever degree you like.

As with any NBA season, normal length or not, if a team is hit with the injury bug too harshly or with bad timing, it can significantly affect results. With a slate of 66 games in just 122 days, injuries are now more likely. Neither young nor old are immune. Sure, less aged muscles can recuperate faster, but those benefits are not as effective without proper time to recover.

“We just have to make sure that they can get the proper rest when they’re not playing,” said Saunders, “and so that’s going to be a main focus of what we’ll try to do too.”

“We got to really listen in and focus in on film session and listen to what the coaches are saying because there’s not going to be a lot of time to practice on the floor,” said Rashard Lewis, a veteran of the last NBA lockout, the shortened season afterward being his 1998-99 rookie campaign with the Seattle Supersonics.

Saunders also likened the compacted schedule, which for Washington includes 16 back-to-back sets and two occurrences of three games in three days, to an “AAU phase,” since players at that level are used to playing three games in a day, or even nine in a weekend. But cognitively speaking, Saunders might not want to make such a comparison, because the Wizards are susceptible to playing more like an undisciplined AAU team instead of scouring report students.

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