AT        

Friday, April 6th, 2012
7:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz, Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 The Fan - http://bit.ly/5yZqu8
Dave Johnson, Glenn Consor
_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Nets' Projected Starting Lineup



Funniest Looking Net



Paying Homage





Proud Moment in Nets' History


 
Enemy Dancers 












Go Wizards!!!!!!

Wizards Player of the Game

John Wall bounced back from a tough night with a 28pt, 4 reb, 10ast, 2 stl peformance that was highlighted by his 1000 and 1001st career assist. A few more assists would have been there had some of his teammates knocked down open shots but I was happy to see the turnovers down, the free throw attempts high and seeing John play with a little bit of swag again.

WE’s to Watch/WE Spotlight

Greg Monroe For the second night in a row the Wizards played against a former Georgetown Hoya Center and for the second night in a row that Hoyas Center led his team to vicotry. Monroe finished with 18 points on a more than efficient 70% from the field in only 21 minutes of play. We basically saw what you typically see from Monroe night in and night out, a steady performance putting the basket in the bucket as well as solid rebounding and defense.

Kevin Seraphin I rolled in late on the Seraphin train but for all the crap we give Ernie Grunfeld about his personnel moves you can now say his draft class of 2010 has four solid contributers. Seraphin's improved play in the past few months, really by virute of his increased minutes continued with another solid effort against the Piston's Centers. Unfortuately he fouled out on a pretty bad flop by Benjamin Wallace but I continue to be impressed with his comfortablity around the basket. It's been a long time since we've had a player in DC that was comfortable playing with his back to the basket so Kevin's play of late should give Wizards fans something to be excited about.

The Good

The Wizards fought back and stayed in the game after enduring a brutal 2 minute stretch at the start of the 4th quarter. Going down by as many 20 and coming off last night's performance against the Pacers I was cringing at the thought of having to watch 8 minutes of "I don't care" basketball. Fortunately, thanks to some timely 3's by Cartier Martin and Roger Mason Jr. the Wizards kept it close and really almost had a chance to get the game squared at the end. A loss is a loss but clearly this was a better effort than the the performance Washington had the night before.

The Bad

Jordan Crawford's night. I'm not going to take this space to crush JCraw, just going to say he had an off night and the Wizards can't win games when the starting shooting guard goes 2 for 13. I didn't like some of Jordan's decisions during the course of the game, and say what you want, what essentially ended up being the Wizards last chance (a fadeaway 3 point attempt that air-balled) shouldn't have come off of his hands. That ball needed to find it's way to either Roger Mason, Jr., or Cartier Martin. Asad would probably kill me for saying that and would argue that a shooter needs to shoot but I like my chances better with the guys who are a combined 5 for 9 than the guy who is 1 for 5, especially when the game is on the line.

The Ugly

The referees. The whistle was inconsistant all night and no one wants to watch the Wizards and Pistons play to the tune of 68 free throw attempts. I think Bavetta, Workman and Rush all missed key calls on both sides of the court and killed Washington with a few key fouls towards the end of the game a couple of which they completely blew. Kudos to Big Ben Wallace who pulled off some soccer like flops and must have set at least 20 illegal picks throughout the night. What ever happened to having to set yourself in position on the pick? That's the last time I talk about referee's. Ever.

 AT    

Thursday, April 5th, 2012
7:30 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet Plus HD
Steve Buckhantz, Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 The Fan - http://bit.ly/5yZqu8
Dave Johnson, Glenn Consor
_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Pistons' Projected Starting Lineup



Funniest Looking Piston



Paying Homage





Truly Proud Moment in Pistons' History


 
Enemy Dancers












Go Wizards!!!!!!

John Wall discussing the latest Nicki Minaj album and Randy Wittman having a few laughs at some reporters’ expense last night kind of explains where the Wizards are in their season.

In a frustrating loss to the Pacers last night, a few of the Washington Wizards seemed very dejected on the court. John Wall seemed very disinterested (although denying it) in the game, lazy turnovers were seen throughout, and some very average defense in the second half all contributed to a very melancholy outing by the Wizards.

It’s not hard to understand, the Wizards have no hopes for the playoffs, they only have 12 games left, and it’s not like losing hurts them in the draft.

I’m not suggesting nor believing that this team is tanking the rest of the season. What I am saying is that this team (or at least a vast majority of it) seems to be over it. They’re over the injuries, criticism, lack of closing out games—you name it.

There are a few exceptions to this; that being Jordan Crawford, Kevin Seraphin and Jan Vesely, who are all still establishing their desire to stay on this roster and improve their game.

But for everyone else?

The end of the season can’t come soon enough.

Since the trade for Nene and Brian Cook, the Verizon Center has seen an increase in attendance and a much more vocal crowd (as seen last night, especially).

So while there isn’t anything else to play for (except respect), the Wizards have got to understand there are people still pushing through to the end of the season with them.

The fans.

And after a season like this, the players owe it to them to muster up some energy to finish out the season as respectable as possible.

Tonight's game that featured a matchup between the non-bitter conference rivals Washington Wizards, (12-42) and Indiana Pacers (33-21) did not go in favor of the home team.

The Pacers walked out of Verizon Center with a 13 point victory, and to be quite frank, it wasn't even that close. From the mid-way point in the 3rd quarter till the final whistle of the game, Washington had no answer for anything Indiana was doing.

Roy Hibbert established himself as a presence early on, Danny Granger was LIGHTS OUT from the field, and Tyler Hansbrough reminded us all of what a crossbreed of Larry Bird and Rik Smits would look like.

Literally, NOTHING was going Washington's way. At one point in the 4th quarter when John Wall was basically mauled by the entire Pacers 2nd unit on a drive to the basket with no foul call, everyone had a sense that the game was over.

The difference in the game:

-Indiana shot almost 62 percent from the field, oppose to Washington's 47 percent.

-The Pacers pulled away in the 3rd quarter *gasp* and Washington couldn't find a way to claw back.

At one point, late in the first quarter/early second quarter, they were shooting over 80 percent from the field. I remember looking at the live stat chart and the bottom field goal percentage for Indiana was 16 of 18. It was like engraved in my brain. I even turned to my colleague Mike Andrews and repeated it to him. I haven't seen a team shoot that well and make it look so easy in the process in a long time.

Needless to say, Mike was as shocked as Billy Crystal was when he found out James Franco took his job.

Somewhere, Alec Baldwin, Chris Rock, Steve Martin, James Franco, Anne Hathaway and the 3 Six Mafia are laughing at the Academy for that one.

Ok, so now that the "official post game recap" is over with, let me offer you a different perspective on why tonight's game was a lot of fun for me to cover, not only as a fan, but as a growing member in the media circle.

Remember that 16/18 that was engraved in my brain? Well, early in the presser, Coach Randy Wittman touched on how well Indiana was shooting. In fact, it was pretty much a big topic early on in the press conference. I really wanted to ask him what he thought was contributing to it. I felt like the team was playing relatively good defense, but when you're undermanned and under-sized like the Wizards are, and you're going up against one of the deepest team in the NBA, you're going to face some mismatches.

"At one point, I think they were 18 of 22," Wittman recalled.

Being the idiot that I am and thinking out loud to myself, I mumbled out: "16 of 18."

I thought it was to myself and under my breath. One problem: I was sitting front row.

*facepalm*

I look down at the box score and go about my business because I didn't think much of it. I genuinely thought no one heard me. Well, those microphones are a lot more sensitive than that I thought and when your team's 30 games under .500, being the butt of a Coach Wittman joke can sometimes be the highlight of the night.

"Is 18 of 22 not good enough? Whose press conference is this!?"

I tried explaining that I was talking to myself but it was too late…everyone was dying in laughter, including myself.

LOL.

Was it embarrassing? A little. Was it fun knowing that my comment (or what I like to call, "lack of properly executing my thoughts) was the highlight of an NBA regular season post-game press conference? You bet ya! I loved it! I'm a big fan of Randy Wittman along with his humor, personality, and ability to have fun with the media. I guess I was just next in line to be the recipient of his sense of humor. Lucky for me, being embarrassed in front of a big crowd doesn't faze me one bit.

I guess I'm used to it by now. As my colleague Joe Glorioso said to me after the game, "Everyone has their minute." Honestly, It was the best minute of my short media career… All made possible by Wizards Extreme!

Check out the evidence below!

Go Wiz!

Wizards Player of the Game

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Brian Cook. He shot 4/6 and had a three pointer to add to his 10 points. It might have possibly been the ugliest (almost) double-double in NBA history, but he nonetheless found a way to produce tonight. However, being the top performer in such a lackluster game like this is really no award. What was impressive was his intensity on the boards as he grabbed nine rebounds, three of those on the offensive end. Kevin Seraphin was the only person to outrebound him on either team.

WE’s to Watch/WE Spotlight

Jordan Crawford had a first quarter for the ages. He has 16 points and shot over 50% in the first. While he eventually cooled off in the second half, he still wound up with 28 points, five three pointers and a pair of assists. If he could have kept this flow throughout the game, there’s no doubt this would have been a very different fourth quarter.

Danny Granger shot a ridiculous 75% from the field to contribute to his team’ overall 58% shooting for the game. When his shot went up tonight, there was really no doubt it was going in. His play seemed to spark the rest of the team to make their shots and ultimately doom the Wizards (even though they still shot 46.4%). His 20 points and five boards proved deadly once again in a series versus the Wizards that has been quite easy for them.

The Good

Well, there really was not much good in this game but to pick something, it would have to be the second quarter as Washington outscored the Pacers 23-15. The Wizards answered runs by the Pacers and brought Indiana’s 87.5% shooting in the first down to 58% by the half. A lot of this had to do with the defensive play of Kevin Seraphin, Cartier Martin and Jordan Crawford. By the end of the second, Washington had pulled within one point of the Pacers and it looked like the game could be a tight one down the stretch.

The Bad

John Wall. While he managed 13 points, he shot a dismal 4/15 with only three assists. He’s been somewhat streaky this season, but tonight’s play had a lot to do with the fact that he could not get any foul calls from the referees on many of his drives into the lane. His demeanor on the court said a lot about his play, however, which leads me to the next aspect of the game…

The Ugly

Demeanor. Watching the Wizards play tonight was borderline embarrassing. Not because they couldn’t make the shots or just couldn’t keep up with a team currently seeded fourth in the East, but because many of them seemed disinterested. Lazy turnovers, half-effort defense, and a general sense of fatigue plagued a few players, which then spread like wildfire to the rest of the team. If a team has ever needed an off-season to get themselves together, this is the team.

   AT   

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012
7:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet HD
Steve Buckhantz, Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 The Fan - http://bit.ly/5yZqu8
Dave Johnson, Glenn Consor
_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight



Pacers' Projected Starting Lineup



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Funniest Looking Pacer



Paying Homage





Truly Proud Moment in Pacers' History


 
Friendly Dancers - Wizard Girls












Go Wizards!!!!!!

Wizards Player of the Game

I’m going to go with Jordan Crawford who led all scorers with 23 points and Jan Vesely scored a career high of 14 points and seven-rebounds. Crawford has also mentioned what goals he wishes to achieve this season, "I want to get to 20 wins. That's what I want to do. We're eight away, and they're 13 games left. We got 8-5, that's pretty good."

WE’s to Watch/WE Spotlight

John Wall had a decent game had a decent game, he added 14 points, six rebounds, and nine assists. Though Wall struggled to get going offensively, Coach Wittman had collected a technical foul in the third quarter, when one of Wall’s fast dashes ended without a foul being called.

Brandon Jennings played a great game last night, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the third quarter. He made two finger-roll layups and a pair of free throws in a 10-0 run, then hit another driving layup in a 6-0 spurt.

The Good

Crawford scored 23 points to lead the Wizards, who again had to go with a younger lineup without star players, Nene or Trevor Booker playing due to their injuries. Rookie Jan Vesely scored a career-high 14 points, and Kevin Seraphin had 15. John Wall finished with 14 points, nine assists and six rebounds while shooting just 4 for 13, but he clearly wasn't happy that he took only six free throws.

The Bad

The Wizards have lost seven of eight and were playing the second night of a back-to-back.

"I don't think we had the bounce in our legs tonight that I've seen," Washington coach Randy Wittman said. "We were down on ourselves a couple of times. I felt it in our huddle."

The Ugly

The Wizards had suffered another home defeat, and claimed they were “undermanned”. “You don’t have an excuse by saying everybody is injured,” Wall said. “You’ve got to play with what you’ve got. Guys have to step up, and we just didn’t play well tonight. They outplayed us.”

Post-game interviews
featuring coach Randy Wittman and John Wall
Video edited by Roni B. @BBallWiz330

Who needs to watch the NCAA Men's National Championship game? Who cares about the Washington Capitals must-win match up against the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Apparently, 11,000 people at the Verizon Center last night shared those very same sentiments. With no Nenè and Trevor Booker in the lineup due to injuries, Washington faced a tough challenge. The Bucks entered the game 2 1/2 games behind the surging New York Knicks for the 8th and final playoff spot in the east. Washington was playing a role they've unfortunately known all too well this season: The role of the spoiler.

Unfortunately, they came up empty as the Bucks pulled to within 2 games of the Knicks after beating Washington 112-98

Speaking of National Championships, let me use this platform to go off on a small, but tiny tangent as it relates to the reputation of the professional basketball team that resides in the Nation's Capital.

For days now, The Wizards have been tormented by the media with respect to their comparison to the Kentucky Wildcats. The hypothetical question that people have been asking is that are the Wizards capable of beating the Kentucky Wildcats? Every single member of the media should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for asking such a ridiculously blasphemous question. Not only would they beat them, but they would run them out of the gym. Kentucky may have 4 or 5 "potential NBA players" but last I checked, The Wizards have a whole roster of NBA players. The Wizards have also beaten the Lakers and Thunder. Please, save yourself the embarrassment and stop trying to compare a young, rebuilding team to a college team stacked with illegally recruited 19-20 year olds.

Ok, back to the point. The Wizards were, simply put, out hustled tonight by a Bucks team who really showcased everything that they had to offer. Going in to the game, we knew that Milwaukee could do 3 things: 1. We knew they could score (8th in the league in total points scored per game). 2. We knew they could pass the ball (3rd in the league in assists per game). 3. And we knew they would crash the boards (They entered last night's game 5th in the league in offensive rebounding).

112 points, 25 assists, and 48 rebounds later, you get a final score of 112-98 in favor of the Bucks. It was really quite frustrating to watch. I can't recall how many time I would see Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis or Shawn Livingston dribble around the whole team at will and then, when the shot wouldn't go in, Ilyasova or or Udoh would be there for the rebound and put back. As the two Milwaukee forwards combined for 31 points and 19 rebounds, they effectively drained the life out of the Wizards every time they made a run.

As a fan, it was extremely frustrating to watch. Even though the Wizards were down and out a couple times throughout the course of the game, the team showed tremendous heart. They would make runs and fund ways to cut the Milwaukee from fourteen or fifteen down to single digits. At one point, the Wizards even cut the lead to 2 in the third quarter. Every time Washington found a way to cut the lead and put themselves in a position to take the lead, the Bucks would respond with their own run.

"We cut the lead to 2 and they responded with a 12-0 run" Said Coach Randy Wittman. It was tough on the team and you could feel the energy being sucked out of the "less than capacity" crowd that was in attendance.

"They just played harder than us tonight. They were moving the ball and got to the line" said a noticeably frustrated John Wall who finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds. At one point in the game, the Bucks had shot 15 more free throws than the Wizards and it really seemed like Washington was not going to be the recipients of any whistles. On a night where they could've used some help from the officials, they got none of it. Jordan Crawford put up another great stat line and continues to be an offensive threat for an offensively challenged Wizards team. He finished with a game high 23 points and was 3/4 from behind the arc.

With 13 game left to go and nothing to play for, it's important for this team to finish on a strong note.

"You want to go out there and win as many games as you can" said John Wall. For a lot of the guys on this team, the final 13 games here are an audition to see who's going to be here next season. I think guys like Cartier Martin, Brian Cook, Kevin Seraphin and even some of the rookie class have to really play well down the stretch if they wish to continue to be on this team. Ernie and Ted have shown that they're more than willing to trade away players regardless of talent and "potential" if they've shown to be dead weight on a young team. Contribution is key and for this team, everything has to be positive moving forward.

AT   

Monday, April 2nd, 2012
7:00 PM ET
TV: Comcast SportsNet Plus HD
Steve Buckhantz, Phil Chenier  
Radio: 106.7 The Fan - http://bit.ly/5yZqu8
Dave Johnson, Glenn Consor
_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight



Bucks' Projected Starting Lineup



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Funniest Looking Buck



Paying Homage





Proud Moment in Bucks' History


Those were the days...

Friendly Dancers - Wizard Girls












Go Wizards!!!!!!