Showing posts with label Turnovers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turnovers. Show all posts

No Brotherly Love for the Wiz

Written By Chris C-Ford ---- Wednesday, January 30, 2013

 Written By Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn

The Wizards played what may have been their sloppiest game since John Wall's return losing in Philadelphia Wednesday night 92-84.

Washington was without rookie Bradley Beal who was seeing a wrist specialist after taking an awkward fall in Denver last week. Randy Wittman decided to start Garrett Temple for Beal instead of Jordan Crawford. Temple scored two points.

For the second straight game turnovers and overall sloppy offense cost Washington a winnable game. The Wizards had 18 turnovers tonight after turning the ball over 20 times in Monday night's loss to Sacramento. 

The Wizards did manage to cut the Philly lead to just four with over a minute left but a Jrue Holiday jumper sealed the deal in the final minute. Holiday led all scorers with 21, he also had 6 assists and four steals.

The Wizards relied heavily on their big men on the offensive end. Emeka Okafor had another double double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Okafor is still inconsistent with his jump shot but every other facet of his game is currently at an all-star level.

Nene led the Wizards in scoring with 16 on a night where the offensive game plan was catered to feed the post. Nene continues to impress with his combination of size and speed.

Former Wizards knucklehead Nick Young had a big night against his former club. Young had 18 points and four assists and looked much more impressive then nearly every current Wizard.

Kings Conquer; Wizards Blow it in the Fourth

Written By Chris C-Ford ---- Monday, January 28, 2013

Written By Jeremy Batka @EastCoastAssn 

The Wizards home win streak is snapped at five after a fourth quarter collapse Monday night against Sacramento 96-94.

The Wizards led for the majority of the game but because of poor offensive decisions and 20 total turnovers they found themselves down in the final minutes. Every player who entered the game for Washington recorded at least one turnover except for Garrett Temple who played less than a minute.

Isaiah Thomas (no relation to the Hall of Famer from Detroit) made a running layup in the final seconds to take the lead for the Kings for good. Thomas led the Kings with 22 points on the night.

Emeka Okafor continued to be an absolute beast for Washington. Okafor set his season high in scoring  Monday night with 23 and snagged 15 rebounds. Okafor found success with his mid range jumper and scored consistenly in the lane as well.

John Wall had 19 points and six assists driving to the basket almost at will. Martell Webster also had an impressive offensive night scoring 18 but for some reason was absent from the court for most of the fourth quarter.

Instead Randy Wittman went with a heavy dose of Trevor Ariza and Jordan Crawford in the fourth. The Wizards then proceeded to make terrible shot selections and turned the ball over at an alarming rate. Even with the offense struggling, Wittman kept Webster on the bench until the final minutes.

Wizard fans may also question Wittman's play calling in the final minute, with the Wizards tied late the attempted to post up Nene with no success. On the night Nene had just four points and six turnovers leaving Wizard fans wondering, "Why not feed the hot hand, Webster, Wall, or even Okafor?"

It's clear Washington is a different squad now that they are healthy and excuses for Wittman can no longer be made. The Wizards should have won tonight but too many turnovers combined with a few questionable coaching decisions doom them to their 32nd loss of the season.