An indispensable part of the good feelings that had cautiously returned to Verizon Center over the past two weeks was simply that the baggage of the team’s former stars – Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood – had been lifted and discarded. It left the revamped squad, led by promoted Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, and spark plugs Al Thornton and James Singleton, free to play hard, entertain, and perhaps win a few games after a dreadful first 50 games.
And they did win three of their first four, the final one despite losing Josh Howard to a season-ending knee injury.
But with that initial energy wearing off, no Howard, and only a brutal and busy final month and half in front of them, the Wizards have dropped four of their last five games. The last two losses – the latest tonight’s 102-74 junk show – have come in back-to-back games against Bucks, who are going in the opposite direction as a franchise – namely, straight for the playoffs – while Washington faces a stark reality that shouldn’t come as a surprise but still isn’t easy to digest.
“Your adrenaline kicks off, but part of it is who you play against,” said Wizard head coach Flip Saunders. “Milwaukee plays like us, but they’ve been together, and they have a considerable amount of talent and some veteran players. What happens, when you play a veteran team that matches your strengths, sometimes what comes into play a lot is your execution. When you have to simplify things so much, as I did, they overloaded on our offense and because we’re limited on what we can run, we become predictable. Our energy isn’t something that could overcome that.”
Milwaukee took charge with a 13-0 first-quarter run and never looked back. Andrew Bogut (19 points, 10 rebound, 5 blocks), Carlos Delfino (19 points, 6 rebounds), John Salmons (17 points, 5 rebound, 5 assists), and Brandon Jennings (4 points, 9 assists) all found ways to remind the Wizards of their lower-tier status.
“I don’t think it’s worn off,” said Randy Foye of the team’s riding-high persona. “I just think that team, they scouted us really well. They were making us do different things, where they’re not going to let us get the first look. They’re going to make us look at the second and third look.”
And Saunders also admitted the Wizards also didn’t have any energy against the Bucks. The sum was painful: their largest margin of defeat this season along with their fewest points and assists (10).
Ten-day contract owner Shaun Livingston had as many assists (2) as Foye, the starting point guard. Earl Boykins had 12 points but not a single assist. The Wizards were shut out in fast break points, 20-0. Singleton was 2 for 11 from the field.
“Yeah, I’m concerned with fatigue because we have to play hard,” said Saunders. “We have to play at a high level and so your energy is important. Guys off the bench have to bring that same level and our bench haven’t come in, except for Earl, and made shots the last couple games. They haven’t made shots.”
Thornton finished the two-game set against Milwaukee with eight total points after scoring in double figures in his first six games with the Wizards.
“He’s been very sore, his body, and he’s had a tough time getting loose,” said Saunders. “He’s just sore. His knee’s a little sore. He’s banged up right now, maybe not used to playing the minutes. When Josh went down, he had to step up and play even more minutes. I think it’s put him back. The problem is, it’s not going to get easier. It’s going to get tougher. The amount of games we have to play now.”
McGee had a double-double (13 points, 11 assists), but 5 points and 4 rebounds came in the fourth quarter, which the Wizards started down by 26.
“It’s not that. I don’t feel like it’s energy-wise,” said Blatche, whose 13 points were also his lowest offensive output in ten games. “I just feel like we’re having tough games. Some shots ain’t falling. We’re just not playing as passive [passionate?] as we was when we first got together as a team. We don’t have that same fight in us, that same chemistry. We need to get back to that, and we need to have that same hunger inside of us. Just make the number goal is to win instead of the other stuff.”
Maybe the goal should just be to get some rest because things aren’t getting any easier. Washington is at Boston on Sunday, before playing four games in five days next week, including a back-to-back-to-back set next weekend.
Apparently, that’s the plan. Flip initially said they’d be back at practice at 9:30. Instead, they’ve bailed.
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