The Wizards last faced the Spurs on December 26, 2010 in San Antonio, and they did so without Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee due to their club fight suspension. It was also John Wall’s first game back after missing six in a row and 12 out of 19. The Wizards were competitive, by their standards, but San Antonio moved the ball much better and won 94-80. Plus, Manu Ginobili got into Nick Young’s head. Washington last won in San Antonio on December 11, 1999.

The Wizards haven’t beaten San Antonio in Washington, D.C. since November 12, 2005 — 1,918 days ago. The were last in town on January 2, 2010, the day after the New York Posts’ article came out sensationalizing the Gilbert Arenas-Javaris Crittenton gun situation. San Antonio’s efficiency won 97-86, Tim Duncan led his team with 23 points on 16 shots, and Roger Mason Jr. added 20 points off the bench. Meanwhile, Gilbert Arenas (25 shots) and Caron Butler (21 shots) were in a pissing contest on offense and scored just 23 and 24 points on their respective attempts. After the game, Flip Saunders spoke about how he wanted Andray Blatche, who started the game with Arenas, Butler, Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood, to look for his offense closer to the basket. When asked, Blatche said he was just trying to stay out of Arenas’ way. Andray also took shots like this:

On February 21, 2009 the Spurs won at the Verizon Center 98-67, against thanks to Duncan, 19 points on 13 shots, and Roger Mason Jr., 25 points on 15 shots in a starting role. The rest can simply be explained by the Wizards’ starting a lineup of Mike James, Butler, Dominic McGuire, Jamison and Darius Songaila. Javaris Crittenton had a very Javaris Crittenton game with zero points on three missed shots to go with zero assists, zero turnovers, zero steals, three rebounds and three fouls in 18 minutes off the bench.

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Be mad that Alonzo Gee is no longer a Washington Wizard. The justification is there. Once again, the brain-trust of franchise has failed its fan base by putting dollars over sense. Or rather, considering the meager amount the team would’ve had to pay to equal the more tempting offer of the San Antonio Spurs, perhaps leading Gee to decide to stay in Washington, call it cents over sense.

Fingers are pointing directly at team president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld. And they should be. But don’t forget, you have more fingers that can point at more people. I can’t profess to know how various transactions during this current state of ownership limbo affects the remaining 66-percent transition from the Abe Pollin Estate to Ted Leonsis and Lincoln Holdings, but I also can’t forget that until it is complete, Grunfeld still reports only to the Pollins. He won’t let us forget either, reminding us in his press conference this past Saturday, just as he did in mid-February.

Maybe Leonsis would’ve granted approval for the same move of non-retention. And maybe Grunfeld is operating without the need to seek formal approval from those to whom he currently reports. Perhaps he’s working under a general edict where his actions are determined by a word that has been associated with the Pollin legacy before. Yes, that’s right. Cheap.

Now, there might be other variables in place aside from cost. But when the team’s reason, or excuse, for not retaining Gee revolves around saving cap space for next season while the San Antonio Spurs, a championship organization vastly unmatched by the Washington Wizards, sees enough value in Gee to further go into luxury tax territory, something is amiss. And that something should be called out.

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Ok, so Washington, D.C. isn’t “hell”. I love this city. It is nice … but it’s also been really, really cold lately. Sports hell? Well, now you’re talking. The only saving grace these days comes in the form of some Russian dude leading a ‘Rock the Red’ revolution.

The Washington Bullets used to wear red. But now some are saying that that damn Gilbert Arenas fellow has ruined any chances of the franchise ever returning to the team name (and colors) of yore that so many true, dedicated fans are fond of. Bullets Forever y’all.

Back to this hell concept. Fabricio Oberto isn’t in the depths of Hades, but he can’t be in a good place. You gotta feel for Fab. He’s such a nice guy. Plus, he must deal with the current situation while his family is back home in Argentina. Then again, getting paid just under two million dollars for six months of basketball can’t be all that bad.

The 2009-10 Washington Wizards just might be the worst team Oberto has ever been on. I can’t confirm this 100%, but I did peruse his resume and the history of the teams he’s played for on usbasket.com, and it looks to be a valid claim.

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Prior to Saturday’s 97-86 loss to the San Antonio, Flip Saunders indicated that for the most part, Brendan Haywood would guard Tim Duncan straight up and they would run one-and-a-half men toward the Spurs center “at times.”

Duncan finished with an efficient 23 points (10-16 FGs), seven rebounds, and three assists in 36 minutes.

Flip Saunders

After the game, I asked Coach Saunders asses how the defensive plan against Duncan worked. He said: Read more »

The story of Andray Blatche has become lost in this absolute mess of a season for the Washington Wizards. Blatche wasn’t exactly “the” headliner coming out of the summer and into training camp, the knee of Gilbert Arenas was. Still, Andray was seen as very key to hope for success this year.

Some have called Blatche a ’20-10 waiting to happen’, but he has only proven to be a frustratingly perpetual unknown. With this being his fifth year since drafted, questions wondering if Blatche would finally mix maturity and focus with his amazing skills and athleticism were getting national attention.

From becoming ‘Seven Day Dray’, to switching jersey numbers, to discussing improved working conditions under Flip Saunders (as opposed to Eddie Jordan), to late night practice sessions with Sam Cassell, to talking about being more consistent, to even getting inspiration from his mom,  Blatche has displayed more focus on the court this season.

Despite starting off slow in Saturday’s game against the Spurs, Blatche continued to keep his head in the game, making hustle plays like drawing offensive fouls on both DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson in the third quarter. Andray ended up with five points on 2-6 FGs, six rebounds, a steal, an assist, a turnover and three blocks in 27 total minutes.

Still, in his post-game press conference, Flip Saunders was not totally satisfied with the progression of Blatche’s game and his decision making on the offensive end: Read more »

I’m afraid I’m dating myself with the Oregon Trail reference. It happens.

San Antonio: 59 Rebounds - Washington: 44 Rebounds

Wizards: 12 ast, 9 turnovers – Spurs: 32 ast, 8 turnovers

WAS: 33.3 FG% – SA: 46.5 FG%

In the past weeks, NBA TV has been showing top games from 2008-09. I happened to catch several, one being Tony Parker’s career-high 55 point game, which came on an early November night in Minneapolis. That’s right, Mike Miller and Randy Foye had the privilege of being on the court to witness. Naturally, I perked up to pay attention, and take some notes on what I observed of the two new Wizards.

Word of Minnesota’s offense slowing down at the unspoken decree of Al Jefferson (approved by Randy Wittman) were confirmed. But at least Big Al was willing to take charges, such early in the third quarter when Miller chose a horrible angle to close out on Michael Finley at the three point line. Miller had no balance, and his hands were neither active, nor high. The 35-year old Finley easily blew by, but lost focus during his open path and plowed into Jefferson for the offensive foul.

The very next time down the court, Miller found himself helping off Finley, who was again spotted up at the top of the key. Tony Parker was curling off a Tim Duncan ball screen on the wing, so yes, Miller had to help stop the penetration. But once the ball was kicked back to Finley, Miller hesitated on the close-out, letting Finley’s previous drive to the hoop get into his head. Finley only needed that split-second of space to start drooling. The wide-open three was easy money for a shooter like him. Miller was never in a good position to even give a half-hearted contest.

Clearly, Mike Miller is not too swift on his feet … but this is something we all figured. His defense might be an issue, but not because of a lack of effort.

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flickr/Geoff Livingston

When Andray Blatche changed his number from 32 to 7 in July, little did he know his action would result in a tribute to who is likely the best power forward in NBA history.

Blatche told the DC Sports Bog, “I’m wearing 7, and that means 7 days [a week] of hard work, 7 days of being focused.”

I’ll refrain from being snarky in this instance, this post is not about Blatche. I’ll just imagine Haywood or Jamison putting Andray in a headlock, rubbing him on the head, and bellowing, ‘Whatever you say kiddo,’ as ‘Dray is shuffled away like a little scamp.

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We’ve seen the dunking prowess of the lengthy JaVale McGee …

But did you know that last year, in only 75 games and 1,143 minutes, McGee dunked more than an entire NBA Team?

JaVale McGee … 80

San Antonio Spurs … 73

• 42% of McGee’s FGs were dunks.
• His 80 dunks were good enough for 29th in the NBA and 5th among rookies, after: Brook Lopez, Greg Oden, Jason Thompson, and Marreese Speights.
• He finished 8th in the league in ‘Minutes Per Dunk’ – 14.65 – after: Shaquille O’Neal, Ryan Hollins, DeAndre Jordan, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Greg Oden, Dwight Howard, and Andrew Bynum.
• Source: Roto Evil via 82games.com

But that’s not all…

JaVale, amongst playing a Transformer and Wolverine, has a staring role in his own movie short. What exactly it’s about is left for the viewer to interpret.

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Fabricio Oberto can’t jump. He can’t lock down today’s athletic big man, nor keep up in a fast break sprint. Block shots? A career 0.6 blocks per 36 minutes says it all. He has a nice shooting touch, but don’t look for him to be a scorer. Hell, his career 60% from the free-throw line knocks on the door of atrocious. The guy even fouls at a per 36 minutes rate slightly more than Andray Blatche (however, I’m willing to bet that Oberto’s fouls are “smarter” than Blatche’s). Oh, did I also mention that he recently had heart surgery? Yuck.

Oberto is exactly what the Wizards need.

I’ve been contentious about Ernie Grunfeld pigeon-holing the final free agent big man target to 8-10 minutes per game. That announced strategy put way too much trust in Blatche and JaVale McGee. Plus, it limited the attractiveness of the job opening.

But I’ll be the first to admit that I’m neither a GM nor a coach. If this is the direction in which the guy I’ve come to trust would like to go, so be it. I’ll be behind the movement.

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