The Wizards ended one franchise-worst streak in New Orleans two nights ago but set a new mark tonight, in the process finding a way to bring up history that is longer than Phil Chenier‘s 25-year tenure as the team’s TV color analyst, which was celebrated beforehand.
With the 95-87 defeat to Chicago, Washington has now lost nine games in a row at home, one greater than the previous mark of eight, which was set 43 years ago (1966-67) by the then-Baltimore Bullets. As has been pointed out, the next year the Bullets got Earl “The Pearl” Monroe in the draft that offseason. But silver linings won’t ease the pain until the current campaign is mercifully over.
By the way, the last team the Wizards beat at home? Da Bulls.
But the latest episode of the tortured 2009-10 season was marked by yet another horrific fourth quarter, one in which the Wizards went 2 for 16 from the field, the only baskets in the run of play coming from Andray Blatche (18 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists) at the 5:32 mark and Mike Miller (15 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) at 4:26.
“We’re in the games,” said Miller. “That’s all we can ask for. The bottom line is we gotta be able to execute in the fourth quarter. But our margin is so little. If you make any mistakes, it’s going to be tough, and we made too many of them.”
“It’s difficult because we have so many young players,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, who admitted his team ran out of gas. “It’s like an avalanche… To earn a win in the fourth quarter, you have to be able to execute. A lot of times execution boils down to guys being familiar with you. That’s why veteran teams – it’s very difficult for a young team to advance come playoff time because they haven’t been in those situations. They don’t understand what the guy next to you is going to be able to do. Teams that have the ability to keep their team together over the course are usually the teams that are going to have a chance to be more successful. Continuity brings success. But like I said, we made a decision: Instead of continuity, we went with evaluation of players, and who we thought would remain here and we’d start our continuity with.”
So, should JaVale McGee be in that group? (No, this isn’t a new subject on this blog) He was rolling against Chicago’s second line early, finishing the first half with 11 points off the bench. But he made just one of five attempts from the field the rest of the way – including 0 for a bad 2 in the 4th, prompting a question for Flip afterward about how at times McGee seems to struggle with patience offensively.
“You think? At times?” said Saunders. “He’s in a catch-22. He’s got unbelieveable athletic ability. But we told him, he can’t shoot it every time he does touch it.”
McGee’s response? “If I get the ball one-on-one, I just feel like drive, drive, drive, and get as close to the hole as possible. There’s either going to be a foul or a dunk.”
Yeesh.
At the other end of the spectrum, we find Shaun Livingston, who represented his native Peoria and engaged in an Illinois battle with Chicago’s own Derrick Rose and came up short despite another nice line (12 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds). Rose was better, clearly (24 points, 5 assists), but it’s also clear that Livingston is poised to be a part of how Saunders intends to shape the Wizards next season.
As for this season, Livingston remains winless (0-8) at Verizon Center.
“From a point guard perspective, you kind of vibe a little bit better once you play with guys a little bit more,” said Livingston when asked about the difficulty of developing chemistry with Washington’s revolving door roster and balancing that with his own personal recovery/development. “But that’s just part of me being vocal, just directing guys into spots where they need to be, just making the most of the situation… It’s just picking and choosing spots, being a point guard and just having a feel for the game, and letting the game decide whether it’s time to be aggressive or get guys easy shots, get guys moving around, get them rolling a little bit.”
Livingston also praised Rose and discussed the stamina required to guard him.
“He is who he is for a reason,” said Livingston. “He’s a world class athlete, and he’s definitely earned everything that he’s received. He’s definitely a talent coming out of Illinois. I think he was a freshman when I was a senior, so he kind of grew up watching me take those titles, and then he got one himself… It wears you down. Part of his athleticism, coming full speed at you all game, it’s just attacking and keeping you honest, and by the fourth quarter, you gotta have some endurance and stamina because he’s still coming.”
Add Pick & Roll to your RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Pick-and-roll
Follow me on Twitter @craigstouffer
