As we enter Wednesday’s action and the team’s pairing with the Orlando Magic, the Washington Wizards remain the NBA’s lone winless team. The squad’s body language hasn’t been great, they’ve been laughed at by more than a few Twitter wonks due to the team’s lack of heady play, and they’ve even gotten an innocent man chucked from a game due to a “technical glitch.”

And rookie Czech Republic native Jan Vesely, he of the absolutely zero minutes played this season due to a bum hip, seems to have cut straight to the core of the Wiz through some hesitant English. As quoted by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee:

“It’s tough to sit on the bench and see the players, they are playing and they are playing bad,” Vesely said. “Of course, I want to try to help the team.”

No, Vesely isn’t calling his teammates “bad.” He’s just telling Lee that his teammates have been “playing bad.” It’s me that is saying that Vesely’s teammates are “bad.”

It’s early, of course, and nobody expected the Wizards (who made absolutely no moves of significance during the offseason, save for picking up rookies in Vesely and Chris Singleton), to come anywhere near the playoffs this season. This team is rebuilding, and rightfully so. They’ve cast off this year in anticipation of more high draft picks and incoming cap relief.

Even with those lowered expectations in place, though, few anticipated John Wall starting off his second season with a 31.7 percent shooting mark over his first five games, to go along with 4.4 turnovers a contest. And, really, turnovers aren’t the issue with Wall; it’s how he sometimes looks like a sort of observer of his own awarded team at times.

Nobody expected the team to be shooting below 40 percent, not with all those offense-first minds both on the bench and in the rotation, and few could have expected the crew to be outrebounded by 10 per game and beaten by an average of 12 points (the most telling stat) after five contests.  Nobody expected a team full of shoot-first guys to be ranked 30th out of 30 NBA teams in offensive efficiency.

Not a whole lot of fun for Wizards fans, who have been through absolutely too much since the team’s NBA title in 1978. At least they can rally behind the fact that Colin Cowherd remains an absolute, unmitigated tool.

By Evan Dunlap

– Newsdesk contributor

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Jan 4, 2012 – The Orlando Magic (4-2) host the Washington Wizards (0-5) on Wednesday night, playing against Rashard Lewis for the first time since they traded the veteran forward to the Wizards in December 2010. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern on Sun Sports.

Orlando’s four-game winning streak ended Monday against the Detroit Pistons. Fatigue plagued the Magic, who where playing on the back end of a back-to-back set, as they shot just 33.3 percent in the second half and allowed Detroit to take command. Pistons guard Ben Gordon scored 26 to lead all players, while center Dwight Howard put up 19 points, seven rebounds, and five steals in defeat.

The Wizards are the league’s only winless team, though they at least made progress in Monday’s 100-92 loss to the Boston Celtics. In that contest, the Wizards crossed the 90-point threshold for the first time in the 2011/12 season. Former No. 1 overall pick John Wall leads Washington with 13.8 points, 6.8 assists, and two steals per game, but has shot just 31.7 percent from the field. JaVale McGee also averages 13.8 points per game and adds 11 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

Orlando swept the season series from Washington, 4-0, in the 2010/11 season, winning by an average of 18.3 points per game.

For more Magic coverage, please visit Orlando Pinstriped Post, SB Nation’s Magic blog. For the perspective from the other side, please visit SB Nation D.C. and Bullets Forever, SB Nation’s Wizards blog.

Read More: Rashard Lewis (F – WAS), Dwight Howard (C – ORL), JaVale McGee (C – WAS), John Wall (G – WAS), Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards

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Where/when: Amway Center, Orlando, 7 p.m. TV: Sun Sports. RADIO: WDBO AM 580; Spanish language: WRLZ AM 1270.

MY TAKE

Wiz are NBA’s only winless team so beware. Jason Richardson and Jameer Nelson must step up their play. Nelson is recovering from a neck injury, but hasn’t been a force since opener.

DWIGHT VS.

Howard faces improving JaVale McGee, a young, athletic big. Without C Rony Turiaf (broken hand) in bullpen, McGee needs to avoid foul trouble.

MARQUEE MATCHUP

PG John Wall always a threat, but Magic must control PF Andray Blatche (28 points vs. Celts.) Likely will see Big Baby Davis more than Ryan Anderson, defensively.

3 WIZARDS FACTS

Rashard Lewis returns, averaging 10.9 ppg

Ex-FSU F Chris Singleton avg. 3.2 ppg.

Wall avg. 4.4 turnovers

— Brian Schmitz

The Washington Wizards are on the verge of the worst start in franchise
history. A visit to Orlando wouldn’t appear to be a good way to avoid that
dubious feat.

They’ve rarely won there and have been blown out in the last three visits,
plus the Magic are perfect at home this season heading into Wednesday night’s
meeting.

Washington, which has never opened a season with six straight losses,
dropped to 0-5 for the third time in franchise history with a 100-92 loss in
Boston on Monday. The Wizards led by one after three quarters but allowed the
Celtics to score 31 points in the fourth, the second time they’ve given up more
than 30 in a period this season.

“Right now, with a team like this, you’re trying to teach them not only how
to play but how to win,” said Wizards assistant Randy Wittman, who took over
after coach Flip Saunders was ejected less than two minutes into the game.

“You have to have steps like this. Did we get the win, no, but we played
them right down to the wire. I thought the effort for 48 minutes was as good as
we could ask for.”

The league’s lone winless club next has the difficult task of trying to end
a six-game skid to the Magic (4-2). The Wizards have given up at least 100
points in each of those losses, and another such performance might lead to
another defeat as they’re scoring 85.2 per game this season.

Washington has dropped 14 of 17 in this series, including three in a row on
the road by at least 25 points each. The Wizards, 6-33 in Orlando over the
previous 19 seasons, were 3-38 in road games in 2010-11 and have lost three this
season by an average of 15.7 points.

They’re facing a Magic team which is 3-0 at home but coming off its worst
scoring performance of the season, an 89-78 loss at Detroit on Monday. Orlando
was held to 32 second-half points during its sixth game in the first nine days
of the season.

The Magic are one of eight teams to play that many games over that span.

“Obviously we had a long stretch of games and not a lot of time to rest,”
said forward Ryan Anderson, held to 13 points Monday after averaging 23.0 in the
previous three games.

With a day off, the Magic hope to come out a little fresher and get more
contributions from their starting backcourt. Jason Richardson is averaging 8.8
points – 9.1 below his career mark – and Jameer Nelson is averaging 6.6 points,
nearly half his career average.

Richardson might have a chance to break out of his funk Wednesday as he’s
averaging 22.3 points on 57.3 percent shooting in his last six games against
Washington, hitting 20 of 39 3-point attempts. Nelson averaged 11.5 points in
last season’s four meetings.

Magic star Dwight Howard averaged 27.3 points and shot 75.9 percent against
Washington last season. Only his 29.0-point averages against New York and
Toronto were better versus Eastern Conference foes.

Wizards point guard John Wall averaged 18.3 points against Orlando in his
rookie season, but enters this game shooting a league-worst 31.7 percent from
the field.

Read More: Jan Vesely (F – WAS), Washington Wizards

Jan Vesely, the Washington Wizards’ high-flying rookie forward, is feeling “better” in his sore right hip and could return to the court soon, Michael Lee of the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Vesely played in the Wizards’ first preseason game, but has “been unable to fully practice” since then.

Vesely told Lee he got the flu last week, which prevented him from traveling with the team on its road trip. Oddly, the flu may have helped his hip recover. “I think maybe it helped a little bit. I rest like two days. I didn’t do anything. Everything slowed down and I feel better,” said the Czech Republic native.

Vesely could return to the floor later in the week, if his workouts continue to go well. “I’ll see,” he said of the possibility of returning.

The Wizards selected Vesely No. 6 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. Despite his absence, Washington remains well stocked at small forward, with Rashard Lewis and Chris Singleton earning minutes there, and Nick Young sliding over for spot minutes as well.

For more on the Wizards, please visit Bullets Forever, SB Nation’s Wizards blog.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Brandon Jennings wouldn’t let the Milwaukee Bucks blow another big lead.

Jennings scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Bucks to a 102-81 victory over the winless Washington Wizards on Friday night.

“Right now we should really be 3-0,” Jennings said. “We were up at halftime against Charlotte, and we lost a lead. And tonight we were up (24) at half and let a team come back. That is something we really need to focus on, especially going on a West Coast road trip. On the road in hostile environments you have got to be able to contain the lead and take over.”

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four turnovers.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15 off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this season.

“He has been very efficient,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “He is doing a good job in the first half of the games of moving the ball around and seeing people and kind of taking his scoring opportunities as they come. And then as the game has gone on he’s gotten a little more aggressive, especially when we’ve struggled a little bit in those stretches.

“That’s what the good players do.”

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the Wizards – starting with a technical foul called when Roger Mason Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Mason had come in for Crawford with 3:27 left in the first quarter and scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis. Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18 Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks poured it on.

Wizards coach Flip Saunders took responsibility for Mason being disqualified from the game. The Wizards public relations staff also took the blame.

The NBA provides a roster to teams to circle who will be inactive for each game. The list excluded Mason’s name, and neither Saunders nor the PR staff caught the mistake before sending the final active roster to the league office.

The Bucks statistical staff noticed the mistake when they tried to enter Mason’s basket.

“It’s my fault,” Saunders said. “I didn’t notice it. I take responsibility for that. I thought he would have given us some help.”

Said Mason: “It was just human error. Just a mistake. It happens.”

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s 34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first half.

Washington opened the second half on a 15-4 run, holding Milwaukee without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Wizards outscored the Bucks 26-13 in the period and trailed 78-67 after three quarters. Crawford had 12 points in the third.

“We are all young and we try to force it,” Crawford said. “We all try to do it on our own, which I try to do all the time. Sometimes I want to come back as quick as possible.”

Washington cut it to nine on a dunk by JaVale McGee to open the fourth, but the Wizards got no closer the rest of the way. They cut it to 88-77 with less than six minutes remaining, but the Bucks – who had blown double-digit, second-half leads in each of their first two games – used an 8-0 run to seal it.

Bogut said the late comebacks are not concerning, as the team looks ahead to games at Denver, Utah, Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix in the next nine days.

“We have no excuse for it, but at the same time we’re not really pushing the panic button,” Bogut said. “We’re 2-1, and we’ve got room to improve on that.”

Meanwhile, the Wizards, and Wall, are just looking for a win.

“Very disappointed,” Wall said. “I think we could have won these two ones against the Nets and definitely the Bucks. We just didn’t bring the energy. There is no way you could make the playoffs when you are not winning the close games and tough games against teams like this.”

Said Saunders: “Bottom line is we got to figure it out and figure it out quick. We can’t have it where we have some guys go out and compete, or if some guys are not playing well offensively it takes away our energy defensively.”

And he said Wall is one of the problems.

“Wasn’t good,” Saunders said. “John has a tendency to get down on himself when he is not making plays. We got down big, he got down.”

Notes: Wizards forward Andray Blatche again took to his Twitter page after a loss, this time apologizing to fans for his funk, saying he would focus on his

defense and rebounding, and asking them not to give up on the team. . Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute missed his third straight game with right knee tendinitis. Mbah a Moute took part in the shootaround. “No idea,” Skiles said, when asked how long he will be out. “We thought he was going tonight.” Bucks forward Tobias Harris, the team’s first-round pick in 2011, also has yet to play for Milwaukee with dehydration issues. . The Bucks assigned rookie guard Darington Hobson to the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. Hobson was the 37th overall pick in the 2010 draft out of New Mexico but missed the 2010-11 season after undergoing hip surgery.

MILWAUKEE (AP) – Brandon Jennings scored 15 of his 22 points in
the second half to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 102-81 victory
over the winless Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the
first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15
off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15
rebounds and three blocks.

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring one
point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with
24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four
turnovers.

Washington also was called for a technical foul when Roger Mason
Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this
season.

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the Wizards -
starting with the technical.

Mason had checked in for Jordan Crawford with 3:27 mark left in the
first quarter and he scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds
later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were
whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from
Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis.

Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18 Milwaukee,
and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks poured it
on.

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to take
a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal
percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s
34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first
half.

Washington opened the second half on a 15-4 run, holding Milwaukee
without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Wizards
outscored the Bucks 26-13 in the period and trailed 78-67 after
three quarters.

Crawford had 12 points in the third.

Washington cut it to nine on a dunk by JaVale McGee to open the
fourth, but the Wizards got no closer the rest of the way.

“Right now we should really be 3-0,” Jennings said. “We were up at halftime against Charlotte, and we lost a lead. And tonight we were up (24) at half and let a team come back. That is something we really need to focus on, especially going on a West Coast road trip. On the road in hostile environments you have got to be able to contain the lead and take over.”

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3) with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and four turnovers.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15 off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this season.

“He has been very efficient,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. “He is doing a good job in the first half of the games of moving the ball around and seeing people and kind of taking his scoring opportunities as they come. And then as the game has gone on he’s gotten a little more aggressive, especially when we’ve struggled a little bit in those stretches.

“That’s what the good players do.”

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the Wizards – starting with a technical foul called when Roger Mason Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Mason had come in for Crawford with 3:27 left in the first quarter and scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis. Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18 Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks poured it on.

Wizards coach Flip Saunders took responsibility for Mason being disqualified from the game. The Wizards public relations staff also took the blame.

The NBA provides a roster to teams to circle who will be inactive for each game. The list excluded Mason’s name, and neither Saunders nor the PR staff caught the mistake before sending the final active roster to the league office.

The Bucks statistical staff noticed the mistake when they tried to enter Mason’s basket.

“It’s my fault,” Saunders said. “I didn’t notice it. I take responsibility for that. I thought he would have given us some help.”

Said Mason: “It was just human error. Just a mistake. It happens.”

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s 34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first half.

Brandon Jennings scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half
to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 102-81 victory over the winless
Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Ersan Ilyasova had 16 points, and Carlos Delfino, who missed the
first two games of the season with a sprained right wrist, added 15
off the bench for Milwaukee (2-1). Andrew Bogut had 13 points, 15
rebounds and three blocks.

Jordan Crawford, benched in favor of Nick Young after scoring
one point in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday, led Washington (0-3)
with 24 points. John Wall had six points on 1-of-9 shooting and
four turnovers.

Washington also was called for a technical foul when Roger Mason
Jr., who was not on the active list, checked into the game.

Jennings has scored 22, 24 and 22 points in three games this
season.

The first half went about as badly as it could go for the
Wizards – starting with the technical.

Mason had checked in for Jordan Crawford with 3:27 mark left in
the first quarter and he scored on a baseline jumper seven seconds
later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were
whistled for the technical. The basket was later taken away from
Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis.

Jennings made the technical free throw to make it 25-18
Milwaukee, and Ronny Turiaf’s dunk made it 25-20 before the Bucks
poured it on.

Milwaukee outscored the Wizards 40-21 the rest of the half to
take a 65-41 lead. The Bucks, 22nd in the league in field goal
percentage coming in, shot 61.5 percent in the half to Washington’s
34 percent. Young and Wall combined to go 1 for 11 in the first
half.

Washington opened the second half on a 15-4 run, holding
Milwaukee without a field goal for more than five minutes. The
Wizards outscored the Bucks 26-13 in the period and trailed 78-67
after three quarters.

Crawford had 12 points in the third.

Washington cut it to nine on a dunk by JaVale McGee to open the
fourth, but the Wizards got no closer the rest of the way. They cut
it to 88-77 with less than six minutes remaining, but the Bucks _
who had blown double-digit, second-half leads in each of their
first two games _ used an 8-0 run to seal it.

Notes: Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute missed his third straight
game with right knee tendinitis. Mbah a Moute took part in the
shootaround. “No idea,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said, when asked
how long he will be out. “We thought he was going tonight.” . Bucks
forward Tobias Harris, the team’s first-round pick in 2011, also
has yet to play for Milwaukee with dehydration issues. . The Bucks
assigned rookie guard Darington Hobson to the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad
Ants of the NBA Development League. Hobson was the 37th overall
pick in the 2010 draft out of New Mexico but missed the 2010-11
season after undergoing hip surgery.

MILWAUKEE — Roger Mason Jr. angrily walked from the scorers’ table to the baseline in search of his warmups. He suddenly stopped, batted his head with both hands and shouted, “This is . . . nuts!”

The Washington Wizards have had plenty of reasons to repeat the same frustrated refrain over the past three seasons — which have been filled with losses, embarrassing and disturbing moments, and annual trips to the lottery in May.

This truncated, 66-game season is only three games old, and there have already been a couple of head-scratching incidents that have signaled that more bumbling bad times are ahead. In a 102-81 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday, Mason entered a game that he was ineligible to play in, made a jumper, received a technical foul and was sent to the showers for a situation that was beyond his control.

As he sat in the locker room incensed, Mason had to watch his teammates crumble the rest of the half, rally, then collapse again in fourth quarter — and wonder if he could’ve made a difference.

“It just stinks,” said Mason, saying that he had never witnessed a situation so bizarre in his seven-year career. “I was looking forward to making a contribution to our team. But it’s not just about me. You have to move on. I’m one player.”

The problem was the result of an error that started with the league office and worked its way down to Coach Flip Saunders, who didn’t see that Mason’s name was omitted from the 15-man roster the Bucks printed from a list the NBA provided. How Mason was left off the roster was unclear since he was active — and played — in the season’s first two games.

The Wizards’ public relations staff circled every name on the list except Jan Vesely and Maurice Evans without noticing the mistake and Saunders signed off on a sheet that had only 12 active players instead of the possible 13.

“It’s my fault,” Saunders said. “The league sends us the list and what we do is circle the guys that are active and for some reason on our list, Roger wasn’t on it and I didn’t notice it. So, I take responsibility for that. I guess the only fortunate thing is, it wasn’t a situation that cost us down the stretch.”

The situation was exacerbated when Mason went to the scorers’ table and was allowed to check in for Jordan Crawford, who had just picked up his second foul with 3 minutes 27 seconds left in the first period. Saunders said before the game that he had planned to give the veteran Mason more playing time after he received just eight minutes in the first two games. “I thought he would’ve given us some help,” Saunders said.

Mason quickly hit a turnaround jumper but Rashard Lewis (14 points) was credited with the basket, which brought the Wizards within 24-18. After a timeout, Mason was set to reenter the game when referee Danny Crawford informed him that he should not have been allowed to play.

“I was pinching myself to see if it was a joke. Obviously it wasn’t,” Mason said. “Accidents happen. Just human error. A mistake. I wish it didn’t happen to me.”

Read More: Andrew Bogut (C – MIL), Andray Blatche (F – WAS), Brandon Jennings (G – MIL), Jordan Crawford (G – WAS), John Wall (G – WAS), Milwaukee Bucks, Washington Wizards, Boston Celtics

The Washington Wizards suffered their third-straight loss to open the season on Friday night when they dropped a 102-81 decisions against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center.

Milwaukee shot 53.4 percent from the field, including an 8-20 performance from behind the 3-point arc while Washington hit at just a 35.3 percent clip. The Bucks also worked the Wizards 50-35 on the glass, setting the stage for an easy victory.

Brandon Jennings led five Bucks into double figure scoring posting a 22-point, 5-assist line while Andrew Bogut earned a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds.

Jordan Crawford was a bright spot for Washington’s offense, putting up 24 points on 9-20 shooting to go with five assists while Andray Blatche just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds. Point guard John Wall was held to six points on 1-9 shooting, but did have seven assists.

The Wizards will take their fourth shot at getting their first win of 2011-2012 when they host the Boston Celtics at 6:00 p.m. on New Year’s Day.

“Every body need to shut up I didn’t call out my coach or team mates I said I had a bad game need it n the post instead of jump shots,” Blatche tweeted.

Blatche wasn’t happy after the 90-84 defeat in which the Wizards blew a 21-point lead, saying afterward he wasn’t being used to the best of his abilities. He scored 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting and was called for a technical for exchanging words with Kris Humphries

“You can’t keep having me pick-and-pop and shooting jump shots,” he said in the locker room. “Give me the ball in the paint. That’s where I’m most effective at. I’ve been saying that since training camp: I need the ball in the paint. I don’t want to be the pick-and-pop guy that I used to be. It’s not working for me.”

Blatche has been known to be a bit of a wild card during his seven seasons in the Wizards locker room, but this outburst was exceptional because he had introduced himself as “your captain, Andray Blatche” to the crowd during a pregame speech — and because the team is only one game into the season, playing under the theme “New Traditions.” If this keeps up, the Wizards could somehow manage to make even a lockout-shortened season seem long.

“It’s disappointing,” coach Flip Saunders said Tuesday. “But, look, we were all disappointed.”

Saunders met with Blatche before practice to sort things out.

“We talked about what he said about as far as wanting to be in the post,” Saunders said. “And I told him, that’s something to my ears. I love hearing that. … But then he also has to understand that just because you get it at 17 feet, you don’t have to shoot it either. I’m not twisting his arm to do that.”

Saunders also clarified the captaincy situation. He said he plans to rotate captains for the time being because the team had such an abbreviated training camp. Blatche and John Wall served as captains for the first game.

“It was a situation last night, he’s been here longer than anybody else,” Saunders said. “And so we’ll rotate as far as who it’s going to be.”

Before the lockout, Saunders gave Blatche a book titled “The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player.” Blatche has said he read about half of it. At media day following the lockout, owner Ted Leonsis said: “I talked to Andray, and he understands that the fan base, media are all looking to take cues on can his focus and dedication match his skills.”

Blatche did not speak to reporters Tuesday, opting to exit the court through an alternate door after practice. The closest thing to a captain-like comment came from rookie Chris Singleton, who already doesn’t care for the taste of NBA losing despite having experienced it only once.

“I don’t want it to be a recurring thing,” Singleton said. “I want to change this culture, and there’s too much losing the last couple of years. Some people might just like that. I’m not used to it, and I’m not trying to get used to it.”

___

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Sophomore guard John Wall brings an element of excitement and intrigue to the Wizards that they desperately needed. The belief is that he is going to carry them to prominence, regardless of what is put around him. Luckily for Wall, there are a lot of serviceable players on the roster right now including some young guys who have the potential to improve significantly just like him. If Jordan Crawford and Jan Vesely blow up, this Wizards team could make a run for one of the final playoff spots out East. However, it’s more likely that they take some lumps during 2011-2012 and help the Wizards out in a much bigger way come next year. Still, this team is on the rise with some good things going for them.

4th Place, Southeast Division

- Yannis Koutroupis

---

 

The Wizards definitely have some nice young pieces, and they’ll be looking for more from Rashard Lewis this season. Still, for them to be markedly better they’re going to need players like John Wall, Nick Young, Jordan Crawford and Andre Blatche to take the next step . . .and maybe even a couple after that. The future looks bright for the Wizards, but the future is still at least a season or two away.

4th Place – Southeast Division

- Bill Ingram

---

 

John Wall is very, very fun to watch, and this looks like the year when everybody really is forced to commit Nick Young’s name to memory, but they didn’t amnesty Rashard Lewis for some reason, and the heart of players like Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee, despite their talent, is still a concern. There are some really good rookies in place here—Jan Vesely, Chris Singleton, Shelvin Mack—but the success of this team will come at the same pace of Wall’s development. He’s perhaps the most promising of the up-and-coming point guards, and he’ll need to step up for his team to make any kind of mark this season. I see that being a struggle, no matter how good Wall is.

4th Place, Southeast Division

- Joel Brigham

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The Washington Wizards won’t win a lot of games but the team’s flashy backcourt trio of John Wall, Nick Young and Jordan Crawford will create plenty of havoc for opposing teams all season long. The team will rely on veteran forward Rashard Lewis to serve as leader on and off the court as the young core learns on the fly. Wall entered training camp saying he now knows what it takes to win in the league after a strong rookie campaign. But there’s a difference between knowing what to do as opposed to getting your teammates to do what’s needed. The 2012 season will be one of growth for the Wizards and another year of gaining experience for Washington’s youth movement.

4th Place, Southeast Division

- Lang Greene

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Few players were as active during the lockout as John Wall. The 21-year-old worked out every day and played pick-up games across the country. If he’s able to take his game to the next level this season, the Wizards could surprise some people. Wall gathered his teammates in Las Vegas and had them compete in Impact Basketball’s lockout league, which could give them an edge over other teams after the condensed offseason and preseason. Washington likely won’t compete for a playoff spot with so many talented teams in the East, but they will show improvement and take a step in the right direction.

4th Place, Southeast Division

- Alex Kennedy

Any good feelings were all gone after a disheartening and disconcerting 90-84 loss that set an ominous tone for this truncated, 66-game season.

Coach Flip Saunders complained of selfish play, Andray Blatche called out the coaching staff for the play-calling on offense and rookie Chris Singleton questioned the team’s desire to win.

“It’s a fine line. Is it trust? Or is it, ‘I think that I can make a play to get us going again’ and you try to do it individually,” Saunders said. “In our league, you can’t do it, unless you’re one of the elite players. We don’t have anyone that’s at that elite status right now like [Nets all-star guard] Deron Williams.”

Blatche — who welcomed the 17,102 fans before the game, declaring, “This is your captain” — took the criticism personally. In his seventh season, Blatche has pledged to take on a leadership role with the team. But as he sat in his locker room, dejected and still wearing his uniform as his teammates were showering, Blatche placed the blame on Saunders for not giving him the ball where he wanted after he finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and was outplayed by his counterpart, Kris Humphries (21 points, 16 rebounds).

“I said that I need the ball in the paint to be effective. You can’t keep having me pick and pop and shooting jump shots. Give me the ball in the paint,” Blatche said after going 5 for 13 from the field. “That’s what I’m most effective at. I’ve been saying that since training camp — I need the ball in the paint. I don’t want to be the pick and pop guy that I used to be. Because it’s not working for me. I’m not saying the offense has to flow through me, but I prefer to be in the paint.”

Young led the Wizards with 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench, giving Washington a 38-17 lead when he made three free throws with 7 minutes 21 seconds left in the second quarter, but it was downhill from there. The Nets outscored the Wizards 41-19 over the next 10 minutes, taking a 58-57 lead when Williams buried a three-pointer in the third period.

Young had a momentary scare in the third quarter, when Blatche collided with Humphries and fell on the heel of Young’s foot, causing him to collapse. Hamady Ndiaye and Jan Vesely helped carry Young to the locker room.

“I thought it was over for a minute,” said Young, who got his foot re-taped, worked out on the practice court and returned, though somewhat hobbling.

When asked about Blatche’s comments, Young said, “’Dray’s trying to be a leader this year, and sometimes he lets things get to him. You’ve got to let things bounce quick and get back in the game. I say he’s going to learn from this game.”

The Wizards will be able to take plenty from their first game, as they opened, as Saunders said, “doing it the right way.” They scored the first eight points of the game and forced turnovers on the Nets’ first three possessions. They built a sizeable lead by sharing the ball, making the extra pass and making easy baskets.

“After we was up 20, we relaxed,” said John Wall, who was severely outplayed by Williams (23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists).

Unlike last season, when he swayed and dipped his way into the home opener with a dance and victory, Wall took a more reserved approach during pregame introductions, quiety running to the court instead of grooving to the music, and struggled. He scored 13 points but couldn’t shoot from the field (3 for 13) or the foul line (7 for 13). He had six assists, finding Singleton and Roger Mason for back-to-back jumpers to give the Wizards a 74-66 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“After that, I feel like we shut down,” Singleton said. “I feel like all the energy was gone and we didn’t want it anymore. It’s something we’ve got to change around here.”

And, with the Wizards trailing, 87-84, with 17.9 seconds remaining, Wall took an outlet pass from Ronny Turiaf, dribbled up the floor and tried to find Jordan Crawford (15 points) in the corner. Humphries intercepted the pass and Blatche immediately lifted his hands to his head as the Nets went back up the floor. Wall finished with a team-high four turnovers.

“I should have passed it right away,” Wall said. “We had some great opportunities but did not do a good job closing out the game.”

Before training camp began less than three weeks, the three keys involved whether John Wall is ready to have a breakout season, the ability of Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee to be more consistent, and if Flip Saunders can help this young roster reach its full potential.

Those concerns remain as the 66-game season tips off at 7 p.m., but here are three more keys to the campaign based on the developments of the past few weeks.

1. Who will emerge as the go-to guy?

I’ll do it if nobody else wants it.
(Nick Wass – AP)
After the Wizards lost to Philadelphia in their preseason finale last week, Wall mentioned that players weren’t clear on their roles within the offense, and Coach Flip Saunders added that the team had 15 players who all felt they were the first option. Nick Young led the Wizards in scoring last season, Andray Blatche was the focal point of the offense in the months before Wall was drafted, and Wall is the team’s best player and is determined to make the all-star team. Wall will have the ball the most in Saunders’s point-guard-centric offense, but will he be satisfied at simply being a set-up guy? Young missed all of training camp and will have to earn back his spot in the starting lineup, and Blatche led the team in scoring during the preseason. The pecking order will likely be set over the next few weeks.

2. Which rookie will have the greatest influence on the team?

I can do more than defend.
(Nick Wass – AP)
Jan Vesely is opening the season on the shelf with a hip injury sustained during training camp, creating an opening for Chris Singleton or Shelvin Mack to have to a more immediate impact among the rookies. Singleton already has an established role as an energetic defensive stopper and will get some playing time with his ability to play both forward positions and defend every spot between point guard and power forward. Mack also has a defined role at backup point guard for Wall, but the Wizards may not have many minutes available at that slot with Jordan Crawford also expected to get time with ball-handling and playmaking duties. Vesely should provide some highlight dunks and energy plays when he’s healthy again, but he could emerge as more of a luxury than necessity in his first season.

3. Will youth work as an advantage or disadvantage during shortened season?

I can run all week.
(H. Rumph Jr – AP)
The Wizards will have enough young legs to contend with a grueling, jam-packed season that will feature two sets of three games in three nights in the final two months and 16 back-to-back games overall. Though the team brought back much of its roster from the previous season, the intensity of the games will require more than just energy and enthusiasm. With few days available for practice, players will have to rely on instincts and knowledge in critical situations. That could work at a disadvantage for a team that struggled in close games last season and will have little time to correct mistakes in just shootarounds. But depth and a roster that has seven players age 23 or younger could allow them to sneak in a few wins.

“Once we start come Monday, it will be full-speed ahead,” Lewis said. “I know it’s going to be a lot of games. Like coach said before training camp, you’ve got to be mentally prepared and listen, watching game film and shoot-around, because there’s not going to be much practice time. I remember the year I got drafted, it was the first year of the lockout. I think we hardly practiced at all. Everything was shoot-around and games. That’s all we did.”

The Wizards will play five games in the first eight days of their season, concluding with the first of 16 back-to-back sets. They also will have two sets of three games on consecutive nights in the final two months of the season.

“When we had those triple-headers and the back-to-back, a day off and then another back-to-back, it’s no excuses for tired legs or exhaustion, because every team is going to have it,” Lewis said. “So I mean the most important thing is taking care of your body, preparing yourself the night before the game. Knowing it’s going to be a lot of games, you’ve got to eat right and get the proper rest.”

The Wizards will have a relatively favorable schedule, since they won’t have to face every Western Conference team twice and will avoid facing five of the Eastern Conference playoff teams four times.

The three Western Conference opponents they will face are Portland, Houston and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers have improved with the addition of all-star point guard Chris Paul, but only one of those teams made the playoffs last season. The six Eastern Conference teams that they will face four times are Charlotte, Toronto, Milwaukee, Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando, and only three made the playoffs last season.

“A lot of times, it’s as much the style of play as who you’re playing. I think all in all, you’ve still got to play everybody,” Saunders said. “More than who you play, it’s the number of games you play and the travel. I think the schedule is going to beat you more times than the team you’re playing. What you hope to be able to do with an extended bench, being able to play with energy every night. That’s not going to be much of a factor and you can eliminate schedule-type losses.”

Saunders said he would likely have to expand his rotation from nine to possibly all 12 active players, and he might give some of his older veteran players such as Lewis and Maurice Evans games off and rely on the depth of a roster that features seven players age 23 and younger.

“I think it really can help us because we’re a young team,” John Wall said. “It reminds me of an AAU season, playing five games in one day. It can be tough at times, but I think it can help us because we have younger legs.”

Having the start of the season coincide with the Christmas holiday “feels weird,” but Lewis said he would still show up at the gym on Saturday to maintain the rhythm he developed over the past two weeks.

Lewis, 32, was a spry rookie fresh out of high school during the last lockout-shortened season but knows he will have to take a different approach in his 14th season. “I’m getting a lot of massages,” Lewis said with a smile. “Rest and ice. Sitting in the cold plunge almost every day after practice. I’m just going to have to throw ice in the tub in the hotel room.

“It’s important to take care of your legs and get that recovery, because it’s going to be nights when you have tired legs, shots not going to be falling. It’s going to be a lot of injuries early in the season, a lot of sloppy basketball.”

The Nets are already dealing with injuries, with center Brook Lopez having surgery on his broken foot, possibly sidelining him for the season. The Wizards are relatively healthy entering the season, with the exception of Jan Vesely, who was unable to practice on Friday because of a right hip injury.

Saunders said he hopes to have Vesely for the opener and is ready to see his team hit the court after the lockout-aided delay to the season. “I’m excited to see how our guys react. Can we play with energy and intelligence at the same time? I’ll be anxious as everyone else to see how they perform.”