AT                                             

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
8:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

      101

              106

4/15/2013 - Barclay's Center, Brooklyn, NY
ESPN Boxscore  -  NBA.com Game Highlights

                                      AT                                             

Monday, April 15th, 2013
7:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

      86

         97

4/12/2013 - Verizon Center, Washington, DC
ESPN Boxscore  -  NBA.com Game Highlights

                                            AT                             

Friday, April 12th, 2013
7:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 FM/1500 AM
Dave Johnson and Glenn Consor

The Miami Heat decided to rest their starters last night, but unfortunately for the Wizards, it made no difference on the final scoreboard as the NBA's top team still managed a 103-98 victory behind a barrage of 3-pointers from their role players.

Randy Wittman, John Wall, and Martell Webster explain the Wizards' recent defensive struggles...

"It's been our nemisis all year, not taking advantage of opportunities." -- Randy Wittman

"This is one that you want to win when [Miami's Big 3] is not playing; they did what they had to do to win, we didn't." -- John Wall

"It's funny how the tempo can change with one bad turnover, one bad shot, one missed read can completely change the outcome of the game." -- Martell Webster

Ok, so let's get the simpleton stuff out of the way. The Wizards, once again, played down to the level of their opponent, which sounds extremely odd to say considering they played the NBA's best team, the Miami Heat. Miami took advantage of a stretch of a couple minutes when the Wiz Kids went cold in the 4th quarter and behind the 3-point shooting of Rashard Lewis (yes, that guy), Mike Miller (yea, that guy as well) and Shane Battier (cue the 'f**k Duke' chants).

The Heat defeated the Wizards by a final score of 103-98 in front of an extremely disappointed sell out crowd and media at the Verizon Center. Just to give you an idea of what kind of game it was, Ray Allen and A.J. Price lead all players in scoring with 23 points apiece. My colleague Mike Andrews had the best comment of the night. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, while both teams were playing sloppy basketball, he turned to me and said, "This is like an All-Star game, without the all-stars." That comment has inspired me to write this not-so-conventional recap in which I will destroy the Miami Heat, their coaches, and the rest of the NBA for allowing such a tragedy to take place.

Washington Wizards fan favorite James Singleton has hustled his way back into the NBA, signing a 10-day contract with the New York Knicks.  Singleton had enjoyed success in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), helping his team, the Guangdong Southern Tigers, to the CBA finals during the 2011-2012 season.

Singleton was traded to the Wizards from the Dallas Mavericks in February 2010 as part of the final dismantling of “The Big Three” era. With Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson jettisoned, Singleton was shipped in as part of a unit that suddenly found themselves beams in a rebuilding project.

But Singleton was anything but complacent. The formerly undrafted player gave fans a taste of grit and toughness that it hadn’t seen in Washington for years.  With morale low because of the end of one era, Singleton gave us all a reason to cheer. He played well within his role on both sides of the ball, rebounding, blocking shots, and knocking down the occasional shot.

In September 2010, Singleton rejected a contract offer from the Wizards to play in China. Many were hoping for a deal, but the assumption was that management could not justify making a large enough offer to Singleton to retain him. It’s the plague of the role player.

In April 2012, Singleton found himself back in Washington after signing a 10-day contract. At that time, the Wizards’ front court was decimated, with Nene, Trevor Booker, Andray Blatche, and Rashard Lewis sidelined with injuries.  So Singleton made sense. He knew the coaching staff, players, and helped create team chemistry during his previous stint.

What many weren’t expecting, however, was Singleton’s improved offensive game.  During his second stretch in Washington, Singleton averaged 8.2 points per game, shooting over 54% from the floor. His time in China playing more of a scoring role clearly did him well.

While he’s heading to New York (and a great team, to boot), I feel like “Big Game James” will always be an honorary Wizard and a player several fans will root for no matter what jersey he wears. I wish him the best of luck.

Last week, the Washington Post revealed a story regarding the whereabouts of the Bullets 1978 championship trophy, which had been reportedly missing for some time. In that column, Leonsis narrates how the trophy was said to be recovered from the depths of former Bullets executive Everett “Smokie” Bowie’s closet, taken to Tiffany & Co. to be polished and repaired, before it was finally returned to the Verizon Center to be displayed in a new trophy case on the main concourse.

However, according to an updated story on the Post this morning, Irene Pollin and the Bowie family confirmed that Leonsis' story was untrue. In fact, there’s absolutely no relevance between Ted's tale and Pollin's. According to Mrs. Pollin, the trophy was in fact stashed somewhere in a closet, it just wasn’t Smokie’s. It had actually never left the Verizon Center at any point since the stadium opened in 1997, but instead was just stored away in an office suite on the 3^rd floor of the Verizon Center while it’s new trophy case was being constructed. The Tiffany portion of the Ted’s story stands correct, however.

“It never left the Verizon Center.” -- Irene Pollin

So with these new revelations, a few questions get drawn, like, who or what gave Leonsis the idea that the trophy was ever in Bowie’s house? Or, why didn’t the Washington Post confirm Leonsis’ story with Irene Pollin or anyone from the Bowie family before publishing their initial article?

While Ted has admitted the falsehood of his accounts, he didn't explain how he developed his story in the first place.

“The Bullets’ 1978 championship trophy wasn’t off-site when Monumental Sports & Entertainment purchased the team, rather, it was in a Verizon Center closet in a location that had limited access."

Sigh..

The Wizards, who are masters of subplots and storylines, have faced scrutiny in several facets of their organization, from the intelligence of their GM to the legitimacy of their best player. Hopefully, the integrity of the owner doesn't join that list.