Wizards Get Knocked Down By Bucks Again

In the pregame shoot around the Wizards looked to be loose, energetic and feeling good. We spotted Nick Young draining shots, Al Thornton jumping around and going back and forth with Gene Banks as well as Blatche going through his usual routine.

It's not to say that these were signs that the Wizards were going to improve on their performance from Wedensday night but it seemed as though the players had gotten the taste out of their mouths and were ready to move on. The crowd at Verizon was actually pretty decent considering it was a Friday night, playing the Bucks and coming off a really bad game. However the energy level seemed to be lacking from the opening tip. When the game started it looked as though the Wizards picked up right where they left off on Wednesday night. In the first half the Bucks really controlled the game shooting 47.7% from the floor while the Wizards put on a 13 for 41 shooting performance or 31.7%. Washington was out-rebounded as well by a margin of 28-20, but the most most glaring statistic was the assist differential of 16-3 in favor of Milwaukee. Frankly,you're not going to win a lot of games when you start off games like that. Basketball is a game that works at it's best when the ball moves. It doesn't matter at what level you play at, if you don't share the ball your chances of winning decrease significantly.To add to that the Wizards are currently the third worst team in the league in assists per game, averaging 18.8 and to put that into perspective only Detroit and the Nets are worse. That is not good company to be in. Part of the problem and it was mentioned by Flip after the game is that they are not getting into their offense and Saunders specifically pointed out Randy Foye.  It's really not rocket science. If a team isn't getting into it's offense, your not going to get a lot of ball or player movement. That turns into a ton of 1 on 1's, bad shots and turnovers. All things that we saw tonight. The second half included more of the same as the Bucks opened up as much as a 31 point lead which included highlight reel dunks, behind the back passes and blocked shots. The leader of the dunk and block shot parade was Andrew Bogut who simply had his way with the Wizards defense. Bogut finished with 19pts, 10rebs, 4 assists and 5 blocked shots all in 3 quarters. The Wizards fans who decided to stick around started the boo chants with about 7 minutes remaining in the game and the Wizards trailing 61-92. The Wiz just didnt' seem to have it tonight. It was the first game that I've seen since the trade where the pre-All Star Break Wizards attitude consisting of lackadaisical defense, lazy effort, bad shots, no ball distribution and just no energy were evident. There is no reason at all that Milwaukee or any team for that matter should walk into the Verizon Center and blow out this Wizards team by nearly 30 points. There was a lot of talk about fatigue after the game and you can see these guys are not giving up but they do look drained. If you're looking for a bright spot Andray Blatche who didn't have a great night, did say all the right things after the game. I haven't had the chance to see Andray in the locker room until recently but he seems to be growing up before our very eyes. He understands that teams are going to start focusing on him, and his response was that he's got to watch some film and figure out how to get his teammates involved.Not exactly the old Dray we've all been used to. When asked how he planned to get over this loss, 7 Day Dre responded, "I'm gonna go home, go to sleep, wake up and come back in and get to work", "we've got a game Sunday". Let's hope the Wizards can get some rest, get a good practice in and get some teachable moments from this game. The painful part is watching the mistakes and the fans let the team have it tonight, but like the Nike commercial says, everybody gets knocked down, how quick do you get back up.

Joe Glorioso WizardsExtreme Correspondent WE From the Floor The story from the floor is always different than the one you see on TV or even from the stands. What I saw tonight was a team that started off solid and quickly fade into the background as the Wizards could not keep their heads above water. There was plenty of hustle on both sides of the ball but too many guys were missing too many shots. Defense wins championships but the simple act of the ball going through the hoop doesn't hurt either. On the floor I was able to see and hear Wizards players shouting directions, keeping the flow moving but it all in vain as the Bucks took it to them in old fashioned gritty basketball. Some of the upsides were seeing the newly acquired players get some burn time. Javale McGee plays hard but has some ways to go as he cannot match up against other big men. It was a display of doing 2 things right to end up making 3 mistakes to follow that kept them out of it. As Andray Blatche told me after the game something to the effect of, you wake up the next day and you put it behind you. Our little boy, growing up before our very eyes. My shot of the game is Mike Miller during free throws. He has been a ghost for the most part and I am perplexed. he is the #1 3 point shooter in the league and has more hustle than John Travolta. Why have you forsaken us Mike? WE need you

 

WIZARDS HEAD COACH FLIP SAUNDERS

On tonight’s game:

“Some of our mistakes carried over to defense and carried over to offense and we missed layups and shots.  Right after the trade the adrenaline kicked in and we were playing really well together.  Milwaukee plays just like us but they have been playing together for a longer period of time.  We are still trying to work on our execution.  We have to stick to playing in our system because sometimes players try to do too much and it hurts us sometimes.  That is why we must play together.  Now we have to look forward to future games.”

On Al Thornton:

“He has been very sore.  He is just hurt and he’s not use to playing the minutes that he’s playing right now.  When Josh (Howard) went down all of a sudden he had to step up and work a little more.  I think that has taken a toll on him.”

On Shaun Livingston:

“I think that he can create and do some things.  He has size on him.  He got us into our offense a little bit quicker tonight.”

WIZARDS GUARD MIKE MILLER

On tonight’s loss:

“We have to bring energy.  That’s what was disappointing tonight because we have been playing hard.  Tonight they outworked us.  When we’re undermanned like we are we have to move the ball and play together.  In order for us to be good we have to share the ball and play hard.”

On ball movement:

“When we move the ball we’re a much better team.  It’s more important than ever to move the ball, get each other involved, and play harder than the other team.  We didn’t do that tonight.  When we move the ball we’re a much better team.”

WIZARDS FORWARD ANDRAY BLATCHE

On lack of energy:

“It’s not that, we’re just having tough games, and some shots aren’t falling.  We’re just not playing with the same fight and chemistry, and we need to get back to that.  We need to have that same hunger inside of us.”

On how to put tonight’s game behind him:

“Go to sleep and wake up.  There are 82 games in a season.  You can’t let one ruin the rest of the season.  These kind of games happen to every team in the league.  We have another game coming up on Sunday.”

BUCKS HEAD COACH SCOTT SKILES

On tonight’s game:

“We were really focused tonight.  We kept them under 20 points all four quarters.  Our defense was active; our ball movement was great again.  We played like we had something to play for.  It was a great effort by everybody who stepped on the floor for us.  It was a lot of energy, a lot of boxing out.  When we are at our best is when we get stops.  We rebound the ball, get out on the open floor and play our offense…and we were able to do that.  I was overall very pleased with our approach.”

On Brandon Jennings:

“I thought he and Luke (Ridnour) were both very good.  They both make good decisions with the ball. Brandon Jennings has been able to be very active while struggling to shoot the ball.  Brandon is able to be a factor even when he is not having a good scoring game.  His defense has improved his picking up NBA concepts and NBA games.  He has a handle on our players and all of the things that go along with being a point guard.”

On Andray Blatche:

“Blatche has got a lot of moves.  We were really in tune tonight on defense tonight, and Luc (Mbah a Moute) set the tone.”

BUCKS GUARD BRANDON JENNINGS

On the team win:

“Tonight was another night that we did a good job of moving the ball and when that happens that’s when we can’t be stopped.  I felt like we came out early and got the lead which opened everything up for us.”

On being a leader on the court:

“Right now my shot isn’t falling so I have to find a way to help the team and be the floor general.  I feel I’m most effective by getting my teammates in the game and being the General on the floor.  Tonight I saw the open pass a lot. Most important was us getting the win tonight.  We were clicking tonight and guys were knocking down shots.”

On playing Cleveland next:

“We are excited about tomorrow; Cleveland is the top team in the Eastern conference.  We are going to go in there focused and ready to compete with them.  We have been playing well recently and we know they will play well so we have to do our best tomorrow.”

BUCKS FORWARD KURT THOMAS

On the game:

“We will play well as long as we continue to share the ball like we did tonight.  Brandon Jennings was outstanding.  He used the floor well and spread the ball around getting everyone involved.  Everyone started to pass the ball and guys really shot the ball well.  As long as we continue to play like that it doesn’t matter who plays in the game.”

BUCKS CENTER ANDREW BOGUT

On the game:

“We had (27) assists and (51) rebounds.  The ball was moving out there and everyone was scoring.  We were playing real well together tonight.  I missed some blocks in the first half and got a couple of fouls.  I just stayed in and tried to help my teammates.  Brandon (Jennings) didn’t score much but he knows that we don’t need him to score.  People were getting on him because he didn’t score but he put defensive pressure on the other team and in the last few games he has been getting good steals.  He is a good point guard and he is doing good things for us.”

On his play:

“Whenever you’re trying to get the ball down low and getting baskets and dunks it helps to close the game.  I just kept doing what I was doing.  I missed some shots but I got a couple of lucky plays and tried to stay with it.  I got dunked on nicely as well which is part of getting blocked shots.”

PostGame Interviews

Randy Foye

Al Thornton

JaVale McGee