[NOTE: Yes, we are a day (or so) late, but the money is all there (Atlanta DC Council... in the future) -- 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 42 contributors: Adam McGinnis (@Adam McGinnis), John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend), and Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It).]

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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 37 contributors: Rashad Mobley (@rashad20)  and John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend) from the Verizon Center, and Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) from the television screen.]

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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 26 contributors: Rashad Mobley (@rashad20) from the television screen with on John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend), and Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It) from the Verizon Center.]

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The Wizards and Knicks face off for the second time this season, the previous meeting coming in Washington, a 99-96 Knicks win (the Wizards have only one trip to New York on their schedule). Without much deliberation, let’s get into tonight’s 3-on-3, featuring John Kenney (@JohnBKenney) of KnickerBlogger.net, the TrueHoop Network’s Knicks blog, along with TAI’s Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20) and myself, Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It). Three questions, three answers starts now…

#1) When John Wall and Jeremy Lin (as a member of the Dallas Mavericks ) faced off in the 2010 NBA Summer League, Wall had trouble defending Lin (as did Lin with Wall). John went under a lot of screens and Jeremy made him pay. The Wizards won 88-82, thanks to 23 points from Cartier Martin, but Lin did score 11 fourth quarter points. Tonight will be the first meeting between the two since. Considering the environment (especially Lin’s recent boost into the limelight as the Knicks prepare to play Washington without Carmelo Anthony (groin), Amar’e Stoudemire (death in the family) and Baron Davis (presumably a beard-related injury or ailment otherwise)), how will this Wall-Lin matchup play out?

KENNEY: While many have focused on Lin’s offensive explosion, his defense has also been pleasantly surprising. Wall’s athleticism makes him a tough matchup to defend, but if Lin’s performances against Deron Williams and Devin Harris are any indication, he’ll do a fine job. (I also wouldn’t be surprised to see 6-foot-5 Iman Shumpert defend Wall at times.) And on offense, I expect Lin to score around 20 points, while delivering a number of nice assists to Tyson Chandler. The one concern should be that Lin must avoid foul trouble. If Lin is out for extended periods of the game, that means more Toney Douglas (currently in the worst slump of his career,) which helps explain why Lin played the entire 2nd, 3rd AND 4th quarters against the Jazz. Luckily, having Tyson defending the rim is a good safety net against Wall blow-bys.

MOBLEY: Based on the results of the last two Knicks victories, Lin will have to carry the offensive burden in order for his team to win–which is the equivalent of playing with house money. He’ll play loose and carefree. Coach Randy Wittman will tell Wall to run the offense and play within himself like he did against the Raptors. But Wall will struggle to balance that with his own competitive streak, and his numbers and overall game will suffer.

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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 23 contributors: Adam McGinnis (@adammcginnis), Arish Narayen, and Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It).]

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Continued success in team sports is achieved through sacrifice; the best squads accept this, understanding that individual achievements must sometimes be tabled for the betterment of the team—roll tape of Michael Jordan deferring to Steve Kerr in Game 6 of the 1997 NBA Finals.

When great players are unwilling to make sacrifices, Jordan has confessed, individual goals and accolades are even tougher to achieve. So why do the stubborn Wizards, selfish by self-description, refuse to play team basketball? The better question asks what can be done to change their approach.

The answer might surprise you: ramp up competition for individual rewards.

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Quietly, rookie Shelvin Mack is one of the few positives in another lost Wizards season in terms of wins and losses. Just about every day, Mack writes into his Twitter account, @ShelvinMack, ”Think Positive…….” So to not let something good go unnoticed, let’s talk about Mr. Mack for a second.

Thus far this NBA season, 34 rookies have played at least 100 total minutes. Mack’s PER (Player Efficiency Rating) stands at 15.1, which is slightly above the league average of 15. For a rook, however, this is better than average. His PER ranks eighth best amongst the list of 34 rookies (via Basketball-Reference.com). Here’s the top 10:

1. Kyrie Irving – 21.5
2. MarShon Brooks – 19.5
3. Nikola Vucevic – 18.1
4. Jon Leuer – 17.6
5. Ricky Rubio – 17.6
6. Enes Kanter – 16.9
7. Kemba Walker – 15.4
8. Shelvin Mack – 15.1
9. Tobias Harris – 14.9
10. Kawhi Leonard – 14.9

To note, Chris Singleton has a PER of 10.0 (ranked 26th) and Jan Vesely has a PER of 6.4 (ranked 32) — no reason to be down on Washington’s first rounders in comparison to their second rounder, however.

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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 17 contributors: Markus Allen, Adam McGinnis and Kyle Weidie.]

[NOTE: Per news, Flip Saunders has been fired, and Randy Wittman will replace him. The content below doesn't not reflect knowledge of that, and only pertains to last night's game. The TAI crew will be ready with thoughts on this coaching move by the Wizards at some point soon. Also note: Markus Allen is from Severn, Maryland, has been a Wizards fan since the early 2000s, and is currently attenting Mississippi State University. This is his first contribution to Truth About It.net.]

[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.]

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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.]

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