When the Washington Wizards allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to come into the Verizon Center on February 4 and absolutely disrespect them by 26 points, it was hardly a shocker. The Wizards were coming off three consecutive losses, the third being a listless performance against lowly Raptors in Toronto. The Clippers, on the other hand, had won four out of five, including two tough victories in Oklahoma City and Denver. Polishing off the Wizards was merely a formality. However, as these teams face off in the Staples Center this evening, their respective lead-ins are slightly different. The Clippers are still rolling along (despite a tough loss in Dallas on Monday), but they are doing so without Chauncey Billups, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. The Wizards, meanwhile, have won two straight road games over Detroit and Portland by at least 15 points–a franchise first. The one constant has been John Wall, who seems to have learned what Chris Paul already knows: Switching speeds is more important than just having speed. Before the Wizards attempt to prove they belong on the same court with the Clippers, Nick Flynt (@clipperblognick) of the True Hoop Network’s ClipperBlog.com, along with Sam Permutt (@sammyvert) and yours truly, Rashad Mobley (@rashad20) of Truth About It, have three questions to answer.
#1) The 17-9 Los Angeles Clippers are playing well because of, or in spite of, Coach Vinny Del Negro?
NICK FLYNT: I’m leaning on the side of “in spite of.” It’s almost impossible for a coach to screw up with talent like Del Negro has with the Clippers, but the defensive system certainly isn’t making the roster greater than the sum of its parts, and some of the lineups Vinny has rolled out for extended periods have been…unfortunate.
SAM PERMUTT: Having a beloved floor general who also happens to be one of the best guards in the league leading your team (CP3) undoubtedly makes coaching significantly easier. The same can be said for having freak-athletes who have the desire and focus to work hard every day (Blake and DeAndre) and proven veterans (Chauncey, Caron). In a way, all these positives make Del Negro’s job that much tougher when trying to measure his impact. He’s supposed to win, and it can be credited to the personnel that almost every team in the league (except the Heat) would gladly exchange for. At the end of the day, if Del Negro leads the Clippers deep into the playoffs, he’ll be considered a success.
{Eric Bledsoe streaks past the giving up JaVale McGee}
{ ...for a dunk.}
Eric Bledsoe, Los Angeles Clippers rookie guard and college teammate of John Wall, went through his normal pre-game routine before facing Wall’s Wizards on Saturday night. He went through shooting and dribbling drills with assistant coaches Howard Eisley and Robert Pack, he did a bit of on-court stretching, and he took time to joke around with teammate Ryan Gomes. And when I stopped and chatted with him about John Wall as he walked from the court to the locker room, Bledsoe gave me the normal clichés that players love to give — for the most part.
“I know John and I are boys from Kentucky and all that, but we are still on struggling teams, and we both need to go out and play hard and focus on winning,” he said.
[Editor's Note: Truth About It.net photographer Adam Douglas brings another edition of "Under The Hoop" -- because Wizards games aren't just about basketball, they're about the whole fan experience, and Adam brings you that experience from up close with pictures and commentary. The below post is from last Friday's game against the Chicago Bulls.]
There was a mini-spike in Randy Foye news last week. On Monday, after watching a video about Foye on NBA.com, I wondered if he could be ‘the’ difference maker.
On Wednesday, the WaPost’s Michael Lee put together a nice piece on Foye off his notes from a previous meeting. Here, we learned of a potential style conflict between Foye and former T-Wolves head coach, current Wizards assistant, Randy Wittman. Lee also related something Kevin McHale once told Foye before a matchup against Dwyane Wade, “Anything he can do, you can do.” Foye battled and finished with 29 points to Wade’s 31. The game came down to a last second foul call that Foye did not get … Wade probably would have.
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while, almost since Eddie Jordan got fired from his gig with the Wiz. Well, now that he’s at the helm of the Philadelphia 76ers, this is an appropriate time as ever to publish.
My feeling is that a majority of Wizards fans think Jordan was unjustly fired (or at least weren’t dancing in the streets when he departed), and that even more wish him well.
Count me among both of these groups. Although, when he was terminated, I wasn’t like, “OMG! What an injustice!”
I was more disappointed with the entire landscape of the team, and later resigned to it just being ‘one of those things’, and in the end, maybe it was best that both parties moved on. But we’ll never really know.
In any case, here goes my tribute to Jordan’s basketball career (to date).
