The Bucks led the Wizards, 99-90, with 29.5 seconds left. From their vantage point, the game was over, especially since the Wizards had not gotten within five points the entire fourth quarter. But what this current Wizards team lacks in talent, they make up for in effort and hustle, so they were certainly going to continue playing hard until the final buzzer.

As the Wizards looked to complete an amazing comeback, A.J. Price threw a bounce pass behind Bradley Beal and Monta Ellis stepped in, stole the ball like Havlicek, and proceeded to race down the court for breakaway points, a k a “The Dagger.” Beal was intent on not letting that transaction happen so easily. He pursued Ellis down the court and fouled him hard while he was in the air. Ellis went crashing to the floor, touching off a mini fracas. As both Beal and Trevor Booker went to help Ellis up, Brandon Jennings rudely interrupted by pushing Beal to the floor, which caused various players, referees, and Coach Randy Wittman, to huddle around Beal and Jennings (but not really Ellis, who did not seemed to be phased by any of this and eventually just walked away). Beal was assessed with a flagrant type “2″ foul and was ejected; Jennings was given a technical and was also ejected. The Bucks won, 101-91, shortly thereafter

Coach Wittman mentioned after the game that he liked Beal’s aggressive effort, but he didn’t want him “going over the line.” Beal said he went for the ball, and Jordan Crawford had this to say of the scuffle: ”There was a lot of pretending going on, a lot of pretending, that’s it.” Per the Washington Post’s Michael Lee, Beal will not be suspended for the foul, and Jennings will not be suspended, either.

Here’s what Scott Skiles, Mike Dunleavy, Brandon Jennings, and Monta Ellis had to say about the brouhaha:

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Sexual innuendos … Sports innuendos … Sometimes it’s all in the same game. All basketball players want to put the ball in the hole off penetration, right? We could be here all night, folks.

Milwaukee guards Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis aren’t bashful, that’s for sure. They look to get off every night, if you will — to get buckets. In fact, when Ellis is on the bench, the Bucks average 11.1 3-point attempts per 48 minutes; when he’s on the court, Milwaukee takes 21.5 3-pointers per 48. Or Jennings, when he’s on the court, the Bucks make 40.2 field goals per 48 minutes; when he’s off, they sink a mere 34.8. Together, they average 36 shots per game (Jennings 16.7 and Ellis 19.3), but they’d each be happy with over 20 shots a game, at least.

So why not ask Randy Wittman before the game, what he’s going to two with those two guards just itching to get off.

“You think it’s just tonight they’re itching to get off? I think they itch to get off every night.”

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If this summer’s frenzied free agent pace has taught us anything, it’s that vying for players on the market, restricted or unrestricted, can be more trouble than it’s worth.

Teams like the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks can find themselves out in the cold, losing number one targets (like Deron Williams), as well as their own (Jason Kidd and Jason Terry). The Mavs are now scrambling to gauge interest in Elton Brand, the 13-year veteran who was surprisingly amnestied by the Philadelphia 76ers late last week — even a bid to secure his services would be unsure. Ramon Sessions is under consideration. Ramon Sessions. The question being whispered by NBA insiders and, likely, the Mark Cuban brain trust: Is it time to trade Dirk Nowitzki?

Other teams and their fan bases might currently be under the impression that they’ve “won” something in free agency, committing X amount of dollars in a chase to over-pay suspect basketball potential around the league. Money thrown at the likes of Brandon Roy (Minnesota, 2-years, $10 million), Landry Fields (Toronto, 3-years, $20 million), Michael Beasley (Phoenix, 3-years, $18 million), and Omer Asik (Houston, 3-years, $25 million), could quickly backfire. More crazed spending likely on the way.

And not to mitigate the risk involved with building a team almost exclusively through the draft and trades. The Wizards, as much as any franchise, know about the failures in those maneuvers. One only need to start rattling off names like Mike Miller, Randy Foye and Kwame Brown. Different options come with varying repercussions and risks across team situations.

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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. Click here for cumulative DC Council 3-star ratings over the course of the season. Game 62 contributors: Dan Diamond (@ddiamond), Adam McGinnis (@adammcginnis) and John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend).]

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.

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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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Not too long ago we took a look at some of the worst shooters in Bullets/Wizards franchise history. Now, especially since shooting is such a concern, we’ll take a look at some the best shooters in team history, specifically from the three-point distance.

[Basketball Court - Georgia Avenue/Howard University - photo: K. Weidie]

Last season was the 31th anniversary of the three-point shot in the NBA. Well, sorta. The three-point line was implemented on a trial basis for the 1979-80 season and set into permanent rule for the 1980-81 season. So, perhaps technically this season is the 31th anniversary of the three-point shot in the NBA. Nonetheless, stats on the shot have been kept for the previous 31 seasons and are available thanks to Basketball-Reference.com.

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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).

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Ok, a screen shot post. I don’t do these often enough,  here goes …

First, a disclaimer: Sometimes an opponent makes good, (relatively)unstoppable plays, and sometimes the defense isn’t up to snuff. Since defense wins championships, these screen shot posts tend to concentrate on the correctable defensive plays. So, sorry NBA millionaires if you are criticized and nitpicked too often. That just how it goes.

Because of the 8 pm start time, and then Duke-Maryland, I could only muster myself to re-watch the first half of last night’s Wizards-Bucks game, one where the Wiz lost 100-87. I’ll likely try to watch and chronicle the second half tonight, but I’m sure that a third quarter where, I believe, the Wizards had the same amount of turnovers as points (12), will be especially “fun” to watch. And yes, I realize this re-watching of Wizards defeats makes me seem a tad insane.

The Bucks are the Bucks. They are a playoff team, in the Eastern Conference … where sixth place is equivalent to “on the outside looking in” in the West. Still, no one thought the Wizards would really win last night. But they fought hard. They sorta tried. And as expected with this still young team, they more so got in their own way of winning than the other team. Although, do give Milwaukee credit.

{1st Quarter}

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The Wizards beat the Bucks 109-97 on Wednesday night. Here’s some of what happened in 12 frames.