For those that watched the Washington Wizards get spanked in their preseason opener, take heart. The team again faced off against the Philadelphia 76ers, which roasted them 103-78 on December 16 in D.C. Instead of looking like a dysfunctional high school team, the Wizards came out tonight and went toe to toe with Philly. The result December 21 was still a 101-94 loss, but the effort was much more encouraging.

There were a number of notable performances that coach Flip Saunders can only hope will continue into the season. JaVale McGee had a very nice game, leading the team in scoring with 20 points and grabbing nine rebounds. I still have serious concerns about his maturity level though. He had one dunk tonight that he just had to stop and stare down his opponent just for good measure.

That kind of stunt can get you a technical during the season, so it is time for this kid to wise up and just play basketball. You could hear the disappointment in Dave Johnson’s voice as he called the game on WJFK 106.7 FM in Washington D.C. I also took great pride in the work of Trevor Booker, who fills a role that this Wizards team so desperately needs. He is a bruiser that does not mind getting in the middle and banging the boards. He ended the game with a team high eleven rebounds.

Washington fans also have to be excited about newcomer Shelvin Mack out of Butler. He just seems like one of those guys you need on the team. Mack does everything well and his numbers show this. He gave the team seven points and five assists, showing he will be a quality sub coming off the bench.

So how then did the Wizards lose on this night? Simply put, they did not have anyone that was ready when crunch time hit. The game was tied with as few as five minutes to go, but then the hoop on the Washington end seemed to grow a cover. Nothing was falling, while Jrue Holiday of Philadelphia had his way with the Washington defense. It should be noted though that many of the starters were on the bench down the stretch for the Wizards.

I am sure the team would have liked to win, but the better effort will be the thing that will stay with them. Some guys obviously still need work. Nick Young looks like he needs to work on getting that shooting touch back. John Wall and Jordan Crawford also need extra shooting because they can both shoot better than what they did tonight.

Finally, I think Flip Saunders and this organization have to decide on what to do with Rashard Lewis. He was once again horrible on the night. A few rebounds and three points do nothing for this club. I say let him go and sign a few guys for the same dough that will give a better effort.

John Atchison is a Washington based writer that enjoys the Washington Sports scene. He has followed the Bullets/Wizards since the early seventies and hopes for a return to glory soon. Follow him on Twitter @John_Atchison.

Source: stats.washingtonpost.com/nba

WJFK 106.7 FM

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The first time these two met in the first preseason game, the Philadelphia 76ers made quick work of the Washington Wizards defeating them 103-78 Friday night in Washington D.C.

What we looked for, and learned about this team was that they’re cohesive, Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner are poised to take their next steps, and that the Sixers may have trouble defensively in the paint.

So what do we use this second game for?

Counter-adjusting

Well, being that we’ve played the Wizards only four days ago and embarrassed them, this will be a great test for the Sixers to go out and see how they’ll respond to a team who doesn’t want to go down twice the same way.

I know, it’s only preseason—but the Wizards were embarrassed, for sure.

“They were doing anything they want out there.” Wizards guard John Wall said to the press afterwards.

Despite popular belief, the Wizards do have some weapons on their team in JaVale Magee, Rashard Lewis, and John Wall, and certainly they will have made adjustments to try to make a statement in return. We’ll see what the Sixers have in a situation like this.

Defensively in the paint

The next thing we should look for are the big men’s downlow play. I have a sneaking suspicion Marreese Speights is going to get more playing time this game to see what kind of big man play we can get out of him.

Nikola Vucevic’s first game was a ‘put-your-foot-in-the-water’ game. I’m sure the coaches went over some things with him since. There were several rookie mistakes he made.

Andre Iguodala

The third thing I will be looking for is Andre Iguodala to utilize his less-shooting role better, and hit his shots. The theory is supposed to be that: if players like Louis Williams, Jodie Meeks, Evan Turner and Jrue Holiday are to be enough to score a lot of points for the Sixers, Iguodala shouldn’t have to take as many shots. That theory ideally should increase not only his offensive effectiveness, but his strength as a game manager and leader.

I want to see the ball in Evan Turner’s hand more.

That’s what I’m looking for, we’ll regroup back here within the hour after the game.

The Sixers vs the Wizards at 7:00 p.m. EST in Philadelphia, Pa.

Vincent Heck is a life-long resident of the Philadelphia area, and a featured ‘Fan View’ blogger on Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @HeckPhilly

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2011 was a disappointing year across the board for Washington D.C. sports. The Capitals flamed out early in the playoffs, the Nationals finished another sub .500 NL East basement year, and the Redskins appeared to be years away from contending. Even DC United finished an abysmal season, failing to advance to the MLS playoffs. For the Washington Wizards, the outcome on paper was no different. But the hope for the future is perhaps the brightest for the Wizards than it is for any other professional athletic organization in the DC area. These 2010-2011 events hold the key to that bright future.

New Ownership

Abe Pollin was a giant. His legacy will never be replaced. But the transfer of ownership to Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports & Entertainment in June 2010 represented a new era for the Wizards, and Leonsis has had no qualms about ushering that new era in. It all started with …

The Lucky Lottery Pick

Perhaps it was the basketball gods smiling down on the Wizards franchise after a number of years. Perhaps it was the universe equalizing bad b-ball karma. Or perhaps it was just pure luck. Either way, the winning of the first overall draft pick was the most surprising thing to happen from last season. Personally, I found out in retrospect, assuming that we would have won the 5th pick or later. It never occurred to me that we would win the 1st pick, allowing us to select …

John Wall

There was speculation even before Wall was selected (there was never any doubt that Wall would be the guy) that it meant a change of guard. The old guard was out and the winds of change were a blowing. Could Wall and Gilbert Arenas play on the same team? Even if they could, that was not a direction Leonsis wanted to go, which meant …

Trading Gilbert

Gilbert was the last member of that old guard to go. Antawn Jamison was out. So were Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood and Deshawn Stevenson. It was only a matter of time until Gilbert was dealt as well. As a younger fan who really got into the Wizards when Gilbert and the team were at their peak, I was disappointed to see all these players go. The Big Three hadn’t been the big three for years, there were new names all over the roster and it seemed sad that this era, with all its flaws and disappointments was ending. But it was time for a new team. Which meant it was also time for …

New Uniforms

One of the most effective ways to start rebuilding is to begin with rebranding. The new red, white and blue uniforms won’t improve our players’ game. It won’t make the shots fall or calls go our way. But as a fan the most vivid memories are the ones we see, and what we see when they happen. As this team turns a page and starts a new decade it will do it in the red, white and blue of our nation’s flag. Hopefully that new decade is the one we’ve all been waiting for.

Thomas is a 21 year old college student living smack in the middle of Cavalier country, representing the Wizards as best he can.

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Former Washington Wizards draft bust Kwame Brown signed with the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, his fifth team in seven seasons since leaving Washington. In discussing the signing with Yahoo! Sports, Mark Bartelstein, Brown’s agent, tried to paint Brown’s as a story of redemption, invoking his disastrous four seasons with Washington–which used the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2001 on the 19-year-old prospect–in the process:

“It wasn’t his fault he was drafted first. He wasn’t ready for the NBA. He was too young, there was too much pressure and he got thrown into the bonfire with Michael Jordan and [former Wizards coach] Doug Collins.”

Brown signed with Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats squad for the 2010/11 season and performed fairly well, starting 50 games and averaging 7.9 points and 6.8 boards. “Going to Charlotte, playing for Michael Jordan, helped exorcise those demons from the years they had together in Washington,” Bartelstein said. “It was great for Kwame.”

Great for Kwame indeed. His deal with Golden State will pay him $7 million this season and enable him to become a free agent next summer.

As an Atlanta Hawks fan, it will be interesting to see if the Washington Wizards and John Wall in particular are able to take that next step as a young team and secure a playoff spot this season.

I do mention John Wall, but Hawk fans remember Jordan Crawford as well. Crawford has a lot of talent and it will be interesting to see how he will grow as a player.

The Hawks traded Crawford for the veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich last season, but in the long-run will the Wizards get the best of this deal?

Hinrich will start the 2011-12 season on the injury list and Crawford may have a breakout year and could be a super sidekick to John Wall along with posing problems for teams such as Atlanta.

The Washington Wizards haven’t been relevant as a playoff contender in nearly four years when Gilbert Arenas was in his prime.

One of the last playoff moments from a few years ago that Wizard fans may remember is Gilbert Arenas missing two critical free throws after LeBron James’ efforts to distract him were successful in Game 6 of a first round playoff series back in May of 2006. Cleveland won that playoff series four games to two.

The Wizards did finally part ways with the somewhat injury prone Arenas and have invested in the younger, athletic and energetic John Wall.

Can the Wizards make the playoffs and have this team narrowed the gap in regard to progress and talent in regard to the Atlanta Hawks?

The Hawks had won three of four games in the 2010-11 season. However, in the last meeting. the Wizards had blitzed the Hawks, 115-83.

The Hawks had beaten the Wizards 12 consecutive times, but was that loss a blip or a trend?

The Wizards have a collection of talent that includes Wall, third-year player Jordan Crawford, Javele McGhee, Andrae Blatche and 2011 NBA first round pick, Chris Singleton.

Can the Wizards play better overall defense and can Wall make his teammates better along with Wall himself being more clutch in contested games?

The Wizards frontline is very athletic and can cause problems for opposing teams, so it will be interesting moving forward if Atlanta will be able to continue their dominance over the younger, collectively more athletic Wizards within the Southeastern Division.

John Wall has the same potential of a Derrick Rose and was able to elevate his game along with coming up clutch late in games. Rose’s efforts have been able to make the Bulls a perennial playoff contender.

Rose has also been durable and this will be a key to the Washington Wizard’s progression.

Wall did deal with an injured knee and left foot for most of the season but still averaged 16.4 points, 8.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds and came in second place to the Los Angles Clippers’ Blake Griffin for NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Wizards are poised to make progress in 2011-12 and improve on their 23-win season, and the Hawks should be wary of a young, athletic Wizards squad who is trying to get where the Hawks had been the past few years.

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As an Atlanta Hawks fan, it will be interesting to see if the Washington Wizards and John Wall in particular are able to take that next step as a young team and secure a playoff spot this season.

I do mention John Wall, but Hawk fans remember Jordan Crawford as well. Crawford has a lot of talent and it will be interesting to see how he will grow as a player.

The Hawks traded Crawford for the veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich last season, but in the long-run will the Wizards get the best of this deal?

Hinrich will start the 2011-12 season on the injury list and Crawford may have a breakout year and could be a super sidekick to John Wall along with posing problems for teams such as Atlanta.

The Washington Wizards haven’t been relevant as a playoff contender in nearly four years when Gilbert Arenas was in his prime.

One of the last playoff moments from a few years ago that Wizard fans may remember is Gilbert Arenas missing two critical free throws after LeBron James’ efforts to distract him were successful in Game 6 of a first round playoff series back in May of 2006. Cleveland won that playoff series four games to two.

The Wizards did finally part ways with the somewhat injury prone Arenas and have invested in the younger, athletic and energetic John Wall.

Can the Wizards make the playoffs and have this team narrowed the gap in regard to progress and talent in regard to the Atlanta Hawks?

The Hawks had won three of four games in the 2010-11 season. However, in the last meeting. the Wizards had blitzed the Hawks, 115-83.

The Hawks had beaten the Wizards 12 consecutive times, but was that loss a blip or a trend?

The Wizards have a collection of talent that includes Wall, third-year player Jordan Crawford, Javele McGhee, Andrae Blatche and 2011 NBA first round pick, Chris Singleton.

Can the Wizards play better overall defense and can Wall make his teammates better along with Wall himself being more clutch in contested games?

The Wizards frontline is very athletic and can cause problems for opposing teams, so it will be interesting moving forward if Atlanta will be able to continue their dominance over the younger, collectively more athletic Wizards within the Southeastern Division.

John Wall has the same potential of a Derrick Rose and was able to elevate his game along with coming up clutch late in games. Rose’s efforts have been able to make the Bulls a perennial playoff contender.

Rose has also been durable and this will be a key to the Washington Wizard’s progression.

Wall did deal with an injured knee and left foot for most of the season but still averaged 16.4 points, 8.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds and came in second place to the Los Angles Clippers’ Blake Griffin for NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Wizards are poised to make progress in 2011-12 and improve on their 23-win season, and the Hawks should be wary of a young, athletic Wizards squad who is trying to get where the Hawks had been the past few years.

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