The Washington Wizards earned their 5th win of the season last night and 2nd overall against the Toronto Raptors with a 111-108 overtime victory in the nation's capital.

Tonight marked a lot of new things for the Wizards. I noticed a new attitude, new sense of direction, and most importantly, an established identity.

From the moment I walked on to the court at Verizon center yesterday afternoon, I noticed that things were very different. No, it wasn't 80's throwback day in the media room nor were the coffee and soda machines out of place. Assistant coach Sam Cassell was leading shooting drills.

Yes, Wizards fan, you read that correctly. The team was practicing their shooting.

My only question is, what took so long?

What took so long for the Wizards to be able to come out and establish offensive dominance early on? What took so long for Trevor Booker to get rewarded with points after all his hustle plays? What took so long for the Wizards to earn their 5th win? And finally, what took so long for Mo Evans to get some playing time? I was starting to think the poor guy was the highest paid cheerleader on the team.

I don't know which is more embarrassing. The fact that the Wizards only have 4 wins this season, or that the Raptors are responsible for 25% of the team's win total.

The Wiz kids haven't earned very many wins this year but 3 of their 4 have come at Verizon Center including their first win of the season against these very same Raptors back on January 10th. Washington enters tonight's game with a 4-20 record but recently the team has been looking more and more like the team we expected them to be (minus the 20 losses). With the exception of Saturday night's game against the high-flying Clippers and Friday's 2nd half meltdown to the very same Toronto Raptors, the Wizards have certainly been playing more inspired team basketball under interim head coach Randy Wittman. 

It's pretty cut and dry as to why the Wizards aren't able to put wins together more consistently. The team is 4th to last in the league in points per game (89.1) and are 3rd to last in the amount of points they give up per game (99.4). Noticing this trend, coach Wittman made it his point of emphasis to distribute the playing time amongst players who clearly want to put forth the effort game in and game out to help this team win every night.

In Layman's terms: No more selfish basketball.

Because of the injury to Andray Blatche and unmotivated play of local NBA bank robber Rashard Lewis, we've seen different starting combinations  for the Wizards.  Jan Vesely can be effective at times with his aggressive defense and passing, but his lack of size tends to get him in foul trouble early in games.  Shelvin Mack continues to improve while John Wall sits and we've actually seen Kevin Seraphin on the court and MAKING PLAYS! Wizards fans don't know how long they can expect the continuous effort, but one thing is for sure, every guy has "seemingly" bought in to the mentality and attitude that Coach Wittman has instilled. I say seemingly in quotes only because the effort over the last game and a half has put me on the fence about my statement. 

Tonight is an opportunity for Washington to get another win against a team that they are more than capable of beating. Especially here at home. The Wizards must take advantage of an emotionally and physically drained Raptors team. Toronto (8-17) is on the 2nd of a back-to-back that saw them put forth a valiant effort against the Miami Heat yesterday but ultimately lost as the team could not find a way to close out the game.

If the Wizards are going to come out with a win tonight, not only are they have to find a way to improve on the "team basketball" that coach Wittman had them believing in for a couple of games, but they're going to need John Wall to come through offensively. He's only been averaging 10.3 points in his last 3 games and it includes one of his worst offensive productions in his  short NBA career when he finished with only 2 points against the Magic. 

Go Wiz!

AT    


Monday, February 6th, 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


Game Preview

The Wizards are certainly in a rough situation, as losing is really starting to pile up and appears to be taking a toll on the players.  Tonight's matchup vs. Toronto (8-17) is a rematch of Friday's game where Washington (4-20) was blown out in Canada.  The Wizards showed no effort and no will to even compete in the game.  

The result Saturday evening vs. the Clippers was much of the same.

Expect some roster changes this evening, as Randy Wittman stated he may have to play more veterans over the young guys as they are just not getting the job done.
 
Who could be seeing more minutes?  There are not a whole lot of veteran options on this team.  Roger Mason?  Maurice Evans?  

After the effort that Washington has shown the past 2 games, changes are necessary, and with another poor showing against Toronto, another shake up may be on the way.


- Trevor Jackson

_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight




Raptors' Projected Starting Lineup



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup




Funniest Looking Raptor




Paying Homage






Truly Proud Moment in Raptors' History



 
Friendly Dancers - Wizard Girls












Go Wizards!!!!!!

AT    


Saturday, February 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


Game Preview

The Wizards will get blown out.


- Trevor Jackson

_________________

WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight




Clippers' Projected Starting Lineup



Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup




Funniest Looking Clipper




Paying Homage






Truly Proud Moment in Clippers' History




Friendly Dancers - Wizard Girls












Go Wizards!!!!!!

AT  

Friday, February 3rd, 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


Game Preview

The 4-18 Washington Wizards travel north of the border in tonight's matchup to take on the 7-16 Toronto Raptors.  This is a rematch of the game from January 10th in DC where Washington secured it's first victory of the season.  

Toronto has been experimenting with different lineups recently in order to overcome some recent injuries, including going small.  With their recent shuffles, it remains to be seen who exactly will be in the starting lineup.  

Wizards Extreme's matchup to watch this evening will be DeMar DeRozan vs. Nick Young.  DeRozan is still looking to capitalize on his mini break out 2nd half of the season last year, but continues to be very inconsistent.  Five nights ago he scored 27 points and was very aggressive, and then followed that up with totals of 9 and 8 points.  Nick Young is coming off a game against Orlando where he was ineffective in 3 quarters, missing open jumpers and bothered by foul trouble.  He exploded in the 4th quarter for 20 points, showing that he can turn it on at any time and be a dangerous scorer.  Washington will need Young's offense to be on point to have success at Toronto.

John Wall struggled tremendously against Orlando, going 1-12 from the floor to finish with 2 points and ZERO free throws.  He will look to rebound against likely matchups of Jose Calderon and Jerryd Bayless.  

Shelvin Mack came off the bench in relief of Wall in the past game to have his best game as a pro.  He had 12 points, including 2 threes, to go along with 4 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal.  WE will see if he has carved out a larger role moving forward in coach Randy Wittman's rotations.  

Toronto does not have a whole lot of size in the middle, especially with Andrea Bargnani out with an injury.  Both JaVale McGee and Kevin Seraphin (who is also coming off his best game as a pro), will need to be active around the rim early and often.  

This is another winnable game for the Wizards on the road.  Can they put it together and get another victory against the Raptors?


- Trevor Jackson

_________________


WE's to Watch



WE Spotlight




Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Raptors' Projected Starting Lineup




Funniest Looking Raptor




Paying Homage






Truly Proud Moment in Raptors' History




Enemy Dancers












Go Wizards!!!!!!

As has been the case with the Washington Wizards in recent years, it seems it is never too early to start looking at the draft lottery.  And sometimes it just seems like it is more fun to talk about the future then to have to face the realities of the present.

The Wizards are currently in a race with the Hornets and Bobcats for worst record.  Since interim head coach Randy Wittman took over, Washington has shown improvement on the floor but they still hold a 4-18 record.  If they do not show significant improvement over the second half of the season, they will more than likely be looking at a top five pick come June 28^th. no comments

The million dollar question in the DMV is ‘What’s wrong with John Wall?’.

The Wizards traveled to Orlando to face off against the struggling Magic. It was another loss but the Wizards are playing much better as a team and sooner or later they will start to win some of these competitive matchups.

Finding the silver lining in the dark cloud that has been the 1st quarter of the season has been difficult. What has made this trying season even harder to bear are the struggles and regression of the centerpiece of the team, John Wall who had yet another tough game.

John went 1-12 and finished with a stat line of 2 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 turnovers.

Wall couldn’t buy a bucket or borrow a foul last night. After the Wiz cut the lead down to 5 with 30 seconds left in the game, Wall drove the lane and was clearly hacked by Dwight Howard but of course there was no foul called. This is has been the norm all season long. 

At the end of the game last night he was as close to blowing up as I’ve ever seen him. As frustrated as the fans are, Wall seems like he’s at the end of his rope.

This season it’s been painful, literally, to watch John blow by his defender, drive the lane, and get to the basket only to end plastered to the hardwood and the opposing team is heading the other way. Usually I'm adamantly against players whining about no-calls -- LeBron James I’m talking about you -- and the Wizards do their fair share of complaining but someone has to protect John Wall. If the refs won’t do it then maybe Trevor Booker and JaVale McGee will.

When speaking in terms of Wizards basketball, losing has become routine just as much as traffic on K Street at 5pm on a Tuesday.

Customary with losing is the subsequent rash of fans and media spewing their opinions and reasoning for why the team fell short: pinpointing coaches and players, using injuries as an excuse, or, like in the case of last night’s defeat to the Orlando Magic, whining about the refs.

You can’t really expect much of a different reaction. After all, not many happy headlines come out of a loss, especially when it’s the 18^th of 22 games played this season.

But, with that said, you can’t really negate some of the facts:

• The refs did in fact call a bad game. When you’ve got 39 free throws attempted by the Magic to only 9 for the Wizards, it’s always going to raise an eyebrow. A thick one.

• Nick Young was the anti-Lebron, scoring 20 of his 24 points in the fourth. As impressive (and late) as his performance was, it did not make up for his offensive absence in the first three quarters, partly due to foul trouble. Young tried to pull every trick he had up his sleeve in the final minute to help the Wizards miraculously overcome a 9-point deficit, but Orlando’s Ryan Anderson gave a better show, one that concluded with a stabbing 3-pointer  to halt Washington’s uber-late spark of momentum.

• If it weren’t for the 10 assists, I would have called this this game John Wall’s worst in a long while, maybe his whole short-lived career. Despite at times being victimized by referee negligence, Wall put up a terrible stat line and was held scoreless until midway through the fourth. Progression? Or lack thereof?

  AT 

Wednesday, February 1st, 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




Wizards' Projected Starting Lineup



Magic Projected Starting Lineup




Funniest Looking Magic




Paying Homage






Truly Proud Moment in Magic History



 
Enemy Dancers












Go Wizards!!!!!!

On a night that reigning MVP Derrick Rose went for a season high 35 points, the Wizards put up a valiant effort against the Chicago Bulls.

The Wiz recovered from poor shooting in the first three quarters and gave the mighty Bulls a scare in the fourth.

The Wizards unveiled a full court press in the 4th quarter, something they haven't done all season. Even with Rose going off like gangbusters, John Wall had another solid game.

Nick Young got hot in the 4th but it was a too little too late.