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Washington Wizards News

Orlando Magic work past lowly Washington Wizards for much-needed win
February 3
Orlando Sentinel
 
"As tipoff approached Wednesday night, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he had no doubt his players would begin their game against the Washington Wizards with plenty of energy. Something concerned him, though. He worried what would happen if the Wizards went on a run. Would the Magic's fragile confidence shatter? Would everything snowball out of control, just as it had several times within the last week? Would the Magic lose a fifth consecutive game for the first time in Van Gundy's tenure? The Magic wound up passing the test. But not without a struggle. Fueled by their 3-point shooting, Orlando overcame a turnover-filled first half to beat Washington 109-103 at Amway Center."
Pace has picked up since Wittman took over Wizards
February 3
Washington Times
 
"Randy Wittman is 2-3 since taking over as coach of the Wizards, and even though the wins were against the woeful Charlotte Bobcats, there's no question that Washington is playing better under his watch. The players are competing harder, displaying more energy and seem to have a better understanding of what their roles are and what's expected of them. Wittman has simplified the playbook and asked the team to run on offense and play full-court pressure defense. He also rarely answers questions about the team's opponents; for him, it's all about the Wizards."
Randy Wittman's message of accountability coming across to Wizards
February 3
Washington Post
 
"Nick Young was dribbling above the three-point line, near the Washington Wizards' bench, when Kevin Seraphin moved up to set a pick to free him up. Young moved around the screen but continued to dribble, seemingly without a purpose, until Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard knocked the ball away. Wizards Coach Randy Wittman lifted his hands, shook his head, and started walking down the bench. Before J.J. Redick could even pull up for a wide three-pointer on the other end, Wittman had signaled for Jordan Crawford to enter the game for Young."
Orlando Magic work past lowly Washington Wizards for much-needed win
February 2
Orlando Sentinel
 
"As tipoff approached Wednesday night, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said he had no doubt his players would begin their game against the Washington Wizards with plenty of energy. Something concerned him, though. He worried what would happen if the Wizards went on a run. Would the Magic's fragile confidence shatter? Would everything snowball out of control, just as it had several times within the last week? Would the Magic lose a fifth consecutive game for the first time in Van Gundy's tenure? The Magic wound up passing the test. But not without a struggle. Fueled by their 3-point shooting, Orlando overcame a turnover-filled first half to beat Washington 109-103 at Amway Center."
Free-throw disparity leaves Wizards' win vs. Magic just out of reach
February 2
Washington Times
 
"The Wizards were at a distinct disadvantage Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic, playing not only the five opponents in white pinstriped jerseys, but the officials as well. The Magic went to the line 39 times to the Wizards' nine and still managed to keep the game close, losing 109-103 at Amway Center. "It's hard to win a game 39 free throws to nine, let alone be in a game," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "I told our guys, 'We can't stop playing as hard as we do.' "We got nine guys on their rookie contracts. Right now, they're, not getting the respect. That will come. We keep playing as hard as we play night in and night out, we'll eventually get calls, but tonight, that's hard to"
Trevor Booker looks to provide offensive spark for Wizards
February 2
Washington Times
 
"Wizards forward Trevor Booker has never minded the moniker "junkyard dog." It's a common nickname for a tough, defensive-minded, high-energy player. It's something Booker takes pride in. With injuries to Ronny Turiaf and Andray Blatche, Booker knows he'll have an expanded role for Washington and will need to contribute more on offense. But for Booker, it's all in a day's work. "Andray got hurt in the Charlotte game, so somebody had to step up," Booker said. "I just tried to go in and fill his role as best I could, take the shots that's coming to me and keep playing hard on defense.""
Washington battles, but comes up short in Orlando, 109-103
February 2
Washington Post
 
"John Wall rested his head on a towel on an equipment bag, his back on the parquet floor, flustered with his performance as he couldn't hit a shot or draw a foul. JaVale McGee angrily shook his head as he had his usual struggles trying to contend with Orlando Magic all-star center Dwight Howard. And Nick Young spent most of the game saddled on the bench in foul trouble. Three of the Washington Wizards' starters were having forgettable outings, but somehow, some way, they were in the middle of a hotly contested game, on the road, in a place where they were dominated quite easily last month. Interim coach Randy Wittman managed to get a better, more sustained effort since replacing Flip"
Wizards' Ernie Grunfeld has 'seen some real good signs' since making coaching change
February 2
Washington Post
 
"Ernie Grunfeld offered his first extended comments since dismissing Flip Saunders and replacing him with Randy Wittman, explaining the direction and the plan in a lengthy telephone interview, but he also expressed his enthusiasm for how the team has played over the past four games. The Wizards have claimed two victories over Charlotte since the move – matching the win total of the first 17 games – and have had the 10th toughest strength of schedule in their past 10 games."
Wizards' woes compounded by assortment of ailments
February 1
Washington Times
 
"Andray Blatche did not make the trip for the Washington Wizards' game against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night; he's been instructed by doctors to stay off his strained calf as much as possible. John Wall has been nursing a head cold for a month. Nick Young missed the lockout-shortened training camp and spent the first 10 games rounding into game shape. And Ronny Turiaf, who broke his hand Jan. 1 in a game against the Boston Celtics, won't be back for a few more weeks. The NBA schedule-makers had to have foreseen this — what a 66-game schedule compressed into a four-month window would look like. The 50-game schedule played after the 1998-99 lockout gave them a blueprint as to what this"
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld not losing sight of the plan
February 1
Washington Post
 
"The Washington Wizards are nearly one-third through a lockout-shortened season that has been filled with more misery than comfort as it relates to their rebuilding plans. Through 21 games, the Wizards have fired coach Flip Saunders, lost two of their most experienced players to serious injury, dealt with chemistry problems and bad body language and are losing at a pace that has them on course to set a new franchise record for worst winning percentage."
Wizards' Trevor Booker gets another chance with Andray Blatche down
February 1
Washington Post
 
"Trevor Booker received some disappointing news when he arrived at practice on Tuesday and realized that a left-handed jump hook that he was credited with making during the Wizards' 102-99 victory last Saturday over Charlotte actually belonged to Kevin Seraphin. The NBA corrected the mistake, so, instead of scoring 16 points on 6 for 6 shooting, he actually had 14 points on 5 for 5 shooting. "I took his two points, now they gave it back. I didn't want to give it back, but they took it back," Booker said, jokingly."
Derrick Rose leads Chicago past John Wall and Washington, 98-88
January 31
Washington Post
 
"John Wall squared up against the player whose career he would most like to duplicate and did his best to trade him acrobatic layup for head-scratching layup. And for a half, Wall held his own against Derrick Rose, the reigning league's most valuable player, unwilling to get upstaged on his home turf. But as the game dragged on, and the Washington Wizards continued to miss shots and Rose continued to share the ball with his more-than-capable teammates, the gap between the two players and their respective teams became more magnified."
Derrick Rose scores 35 points in Bulls' victory against Wizards
January 31
Chicago Sun-Times
 
"The best way to erase a bad memory is to create new ones. That was what Derrick Rose was determined to do Monday against the Washington Wizards in an attempt to forget about missing two free throws with 22.7 seconds left that would have given the Bulls the lead in their loss Sunday to the Miami Heat. ''Tonight, I'm going to try to go crazy,'' Rose said before the game. He was crazy, all right. Crazy good."
Rose works his magic as Bulls top Wizards
January 31
Chicago Tribune
 
"This is what leadership looks like. This is what defines greatness. Vowing "to try to go crazy" before Monday's game against Washington, Derrick Rose did exactly that in the Bulls' 98-88 bounce-back victory. Yet Rose didn't do so in ballhog, I-gotta-get-mine fashion. Thirteen of his 35 points came in the first quarter. Two of his eight assists came in the second, when Kyle Korver got hot. He took over again in the third with 15 points. Then, trapped consistently in the fourth, Rose found Joakim Noah in the high post as his release point."
Andray Blatche out three to five weeks
January 31
Washington Post
 
"Andray Blatche will miss three to five weeks with a strained calf muscle in his left leg, Wizards interim coach Randy Wittman said on Monday during his pregame news conference. Tightness in Blatche's calf kept him out of most of Saturday's 102-99 victory over Charlotte, and subsequent evaluation and an MRI exam revealed the injury. Blatche played eight minutes against the Bobcats, scoring four points before the muscle tightened and forced him to the bench with his calf wrapped. Blatche is the Wizards' second-leading rebounder and is averaging 10.3 points per game. Wittman said there "there is a lot of bleeding in there, which leads to inflammation" in the calf. Blatche stayed home from"
Randy Wittman seeks to develop Wizards' character
January 30
Washington Times
 
"Finding the Washington Wizards a was easy a few days ago — simply look at the bottom of the NBA standings. But with a new coach in place, a couple of more wins in the books — including an all-important road win — the Wizards find themselves trying to become something more than the league's cellar-dwellers. With a quarter of the season gone in the compressed schedule, coach Randy Wittman knows he doesn't have a lot of time to get his players to figure it all out. "We've got to form an identity," Wittman said before the team's first road win of the season, a 102-99 decision Saturday."
Jan Vesely has worked his way into Wizards' starting lineup early in his rookie NBA season
January 30
Washington Post
 
"When Jan Vesely was preparing to make his NBA debut earlier this month, he responded to a question about how he could help the Washington Wizards with an answer that revealed his self-awareness, sense of humor and the woes of his team. "I'm not sure that I'm the guy that can make some miracles," Vesely said."
JaVale McGee joins Gheorghe Muresan on Wizards' franchise list
January 30
Washington Post
 
"JaVale McGee, meet Gheorghe Muresan. In the nearly 15 years Muresan played his last game for the Washington Bullets, the franchise has had five players record games with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, but none had ever done it multiple games in the same calendar month – until McGee joined Muresan on Saturday in that exclusive company."
Wizards' Jan Vesely learns "valuable lesson" in first career start
January 29
Washington Post
 
"Coach Randy Wittman proved that he isn't afraid to gamble and experiment in just his second game, as he benched Andray Blatche and gave rookie Jan Vesely his first career start on Friday against Houston. "Coach's decision. My decision," Wittman explained after the Wizards lost, 103-76, to the Rockets. The move to replace Blatche with Vesely was somewhat surprising since Blatche was coming off his fourth double-double of the season, with 17 points and 10 rebounds on Wednesday in the Wizards' 92-75 win against Charlotte. But Vesely provided a spirited effort in his 19-minute stint against the Bobcats as well, scoring six points, grabbing six rebounds and blocking three shots."
Wizards' Trevor Booker steps up with Andray Blatche injured
January 29
Washington Post
 
"Andray Blatche started on the bench, played a little bit, and finished the game on the bench with a bag of ice wrapped around his left calf muscle. Jan Vesely started his second straight game, played a lot, contributed and was on the floor for the final, critical possession, when Charlotte Bobcats guard Matt Carroll's final three-point attempt hit the front of the rim. But it didn't matter who started or finished, because Trevor Booker was the power forward who provided the most production with the game on the line. After a disappointing effort the night before in Houston, where the Wizards lost to the Rockets and he was upstaged by his older cousin, Jordan Hill, Booker found the comforts"
Washington hangs on for its first road win of NBA season
January 29
Washington Post
 
"If the Washington Wizards were going to finally join the rest of the teams in the NBA and record a road win, they were going to need a few things to work in their favor. That included John Wall making his first three-pointer of the season, Trevor Booker saving his best game of the season for his homecoming, Nick Young burying a string of clutch baskets, and JaVale McGee getting an opponent to goaltend a seemingly off-target shot in the closing seconds. But more importantly, they would need an opponent so weak and wounded that it wouldn't matter that the Wizards had more than their share of mishaps. It all converged on Saturday at Time Warner Cable Arena, as the Wizards claimed their first"
Sloppy play stops Washington's momentum vs. Houston
January 28
Washington Post
 
"John Wall trailed Nick Young on a fast break, watched Young miss an uncontested layup, and came soaring from behind to catch the ball and dunk with both hands. Wall screamed so loudly that the boom microphones near the rim ensured all 13,894 fans at Toyota Center could hear him. The Washington Wizards trailed by just two points midway through the third quarter on Friday night, forcing Houston Rockets Coach Kevin McHale to call timeout, but over the next 11 minutes their enthusiasm vanished. Young periodically glanced at the scoreboard, noticing that the deficit was suddenly 10, then 20, then 30, and he gave a confused look at his teammates. "I asked the team, like, 'Dang, what happened?'"
Wizards' Randy Wittman hoping the third time's a charm
January 27
Washington Post
 
"When Randy Wittman stepped in as a midseason replacement for Dwane Casey in Minnesota on Jan. 23, 2007 — nearly five years to the day before he would be asked to assume the same role in Washington — he thought the job required a massive overhaul of schemes, systems and styles. To make it work, he had to make it his, he thought. He simply made everything too complicated. "The last time, I tried to invent the game of basketball," said Wittman, who didn't last two full years with the Timberwolves, "and I learned from that.""
Rockets' Kevin McHale has "no thoughts" on Wizards' coaching stiuation
January 27
Washington Post
 
"Kevin McHale hired and fired both Flip Saunders and Randy Wittman in Minnesota. But now that Wittman has replaced Saunders in the latest Wizards' coaching shakeup, McHale was in no mood to reminisce about the time he shared with either man in Minnesota or discuss their current situations. "I'm not too worried about Washington," McHale, now coach of the Houston Rockets, said after a lengthy practice at Toyota Center on Thursday. "We'll play them tomorrow night and that'll be the last time I think about them till next year because we don't play them again. So, I don't think too much.""
Charlotte Bobcats sink to new low in 92-75 loss to Wizards
January 26
Charlotte Observer
 
"The first two games in D.J. Augustin's absence, Charlotte Bobcats coach Paul Silas let rookie point guard Kemba Walker find his way. Now, after two losses by a combined 50 points, Silas takes back the offense. Expect a heavy dose of called plays when the Bobcats take on the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night. "I don't want him taking 19 (shots), and only making four,'' Silas said of Walker following a 92-75 loss to the Washington Wizards. "We'll start executing the offense, not just (leaning on) the high pick-and-roll, not jacking up shots. He'll learn.''"
New Coach Randy Wittman gets first win with Washington with 92-75 victory over Charlotte
January 26
Washington Post
 
"Randy Wittman didn't get any sleep the night before he made his debut as the 23rd coach in Washington Wizards franchise history. After taking over as a midseason replacement in Minnesota nearly four years ago, Wittman vowed that he would never do it again, and he wasn't especially eager to step in for his longtime friend, Flip Saunders. But when Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld presented him with the opportunity, Wittman decided to take over, believing that the talent on the roster far exceeded the record and that he could convince the players to share that sentiment. He set roles and challenged each player individually in a lengthy, pull-no-punches meeting early Wednesday morning, then"
Wizards starters John Wall, Nick Young in game late despite blowout of Bobcats
January 26
Washington Post
 
"The Washington Wizards were well on their way to a 92-75 victory over Charlotte on Wednesday night when Coach Randy Wittman, in his first game since Flip Saunders was fired a day earlier, had John Wall report to the scorer's table. It was late in the fourth quarter, and backup Shelvin Mack had done just fine filling in as Washington was closing out the win, but Wittman wasn't taking any chances. Wittman said after the game he also wanted Wall to work on his conditioning in part because the team was going to be more aggressive pushing the ball upcourt."
Wizards' JaVale McGee 'unlikely' to receive contract extension
January 26
Washington Post
 
"JaVale McGee is "unlikely" to receive a contract extension before Wednesday's midnight deadline, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation. McGee is averaging career highs of 11.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.9 blocked shots in his fourth year with the organization. He will become a restricted free agent this summer, but the Wizards remain high on the incredibly athletic 7-foot-1 big man and intend to keep him by matching any offer he receives or signing him outright, according to sources with knowledge of the talks."
Former Wizards coach Flip Saunders took fall for failed season
January 25
Washington Post
 columnist Michael Lee
"When the Wizards decided to fire Coach Flip Saunders on Tuesday, one league source said the franchise probably didn't go far enough. "It's like an episode of 'Hoarders,' " the person said, "all you did was remove one item." Yes, the Wizards are a mess. And at 2-15, the problems go way beyond the coach. But something had to be done for the franchise to reassure its fan base that it wasn't going to tolerate the current direction. Eight losses by 10 or more points — including the last-straw, 20-point drubbing in Philadelphia — spelled doom for Saunders."
Flip Saunders: 'It's disappointing'
January 25
Washington Post
 
"The Washington Wizards fired Flip Saunders this morning. In an exclusive interview, Saunders spoke about his dismissal. Here are a few quotes from that interview: * It's disappointing never being able to finish the job. It's always disappointing when your won-loss record isn't there, so changes in this situation are not unusual. It happened this morning. *I thought we showed some progress, not in the win and loss column, but some of our young players, and as you know, in this business, improvement comes in small and very painful increments. A lot of times, it's not seen immediately, but more over time. *I've been spent a lot of time with John and those young players and I've seen them"
Wizards Coach Flip Saunders fired: Ernie Grunfeld needs to go next
January 25
Washington Post
 columnist Jason Reid
"Presumably, Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is only getting started. And if so, he'll soon announce even bigger, needed changes. Although Tuesday's firing of beleaguered coach Flip Saunders was inevitable, Leonsis clearly left the job half-done. He took the easy route in choosing to treat a symptom of Washington's sickness rather than targeting its cause. Leonsis's approval of the decision to make Saunders the fall guy for yet another embarrassing Wizards season (is there any other kind?) prompts an obvious question: So when does team President Ernie Grunfeld get the boot?"
Sources: Wizards fire coach Flip Saunders
January 24
Yahoo! Sports
 
"After a 2-15 start, the Washington Wizards fired coach Flip Saunders, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Wizards have talked to assistant Randy Wittman about taking over as the interim head coach, but no agreement has been reached. In his third season with the Wizards, Saunders was the victim of the Gilbert Arenas gun suspension, injuries and the ultimate breaking up of the Antwan Jamison-Caron Butler playoff core. He finished 51-111 as Wizards coach."
Short-handed Sixers sail past Wizards
January 24
Courier-Post
 
"Elton Brand was feeling sick with a stomach virus. He was sent home during the morning shootaround, armed with Pepto Bismol, prepared to do nothing but sleep and drink fluids. At around 3 p.m., he got a text from Spencer Hawes, asking how he was feeling. When Hawes told him that he wasn't playing because of a strained left Achilles, Brand said, "All right, I'm definitely going.""
Injuries leave the Sixers a little short
January 24
Courier-Post
 
"These are the games that will test the Sixers, when they have to play without their top two centers in Spencer Hawes and rookie Nikola Vucevic. Hawes missed his fourth straight game Monday, this one against the Washington Wizards, with a left Achilles' tendon strain, while Vucevic sat out with a left quadriceps strain. It could have been worse. Elton Brand was sent home during the shoot-around with a stomach virus, but he started against the Wizards."
Wizards are no match for 76ers in rematch
January 24
Washington Times
 
"The Washington Wizards hoped that their recently improved play — and a few close losses — might actually mean something. Against the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that has owned them in every game this season, they were hoping it would mean a competitive game, if not a win. That hope was gone before the first quarter was over. The Wizards were blown out from start to finish, and lost to the 76ers 103-83 on Monday night. The 76ers improved to 12-5 while the Wizards fell to 2-15."
Philadelphia continues dominance of Washington with 103-83 win
January 24
Washington Post
 
"The Washington Wizards had discussed progress frequently over the last week on the strength of a win against a Western Conference power and three losses by an average of six points. Then they arrived at Wells Fargo Center on a rainy Monday and regressed into the same disinterested outfit that dropped a franchise-worst eight in a row to begin the season. This game, a 103-83 rout, was over shortly after the Wizards walked into the building. The Philadelphia 76ers made sure of that in front of 10,108 with a 19-4 run in the first quarter that included balanced scoring from the back court and a whole lot of forward Elton Brand, who finished with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds, and was"
Wizards come out flat after making progress
January 24
Washington Post
 
"Following a 103-83 loss to Philadelphia that was more lopsided than the score would indicate, the Washington Wizards had no trouble articulating the reasons why this particular matchup confounds them to no end. "They just force us to play bad basketball really," said Wizards backup guard Jordan Crawford, who scored a team-high 17 points, including 13 in the second half. "I just think they do a good job of forcing us to play one-on-one basketball," point guard John Wall said."
John Wall flirts with a triple-double but Paul Pierce, Boston are too strong in 100-94 win
January 23
Washington Post
 
"On one of the rare times Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce missed a shot on Sunday, Andray Blatche corralled the rebound and fired a full-length pass down the court to Nick Young for a vicious one-handed jam. Admiring his work, Blatche stopped at half court, looked over at the Washington Wizards' bench and smiled as he struck his version of the Heisman trophy pose. Blatche later joked that he's "a quarterback," showing a playful side that he hid the past few games as fans at Verizon Center expressed their displeasure by booing him."
Wizards fail to take advantage of undermanned Celtics
January 23
Washington Post
 
"It's getting to the point that the last thing the Wizards need is for an opponent to show up without an injured starter. Chicago didn't have Derrick Rose nearly two weeks ago and John Lucas III did a reasonable impersonation of the league's two-time most valuable. Denver didn't have Nene and Al Harrington made so many three-pointers he became an afterthought. The Boston Celtics seemingly provided an opportunity for the Wizards when all-star point guard Rajon Rondo showed up in civilian clothes because of a left wrist injury. All-star point guard Ray Allen later went down with jammed left ankle in the second quarter, when he stepped on Jan Vesely's foot and collapsed to the ground. No"
Truth can't be silenced
January 23
Boston Herald
 
"Paul Pierce [stats] was walking through the tunnel after doing the star interview yesterday when a friend asked him for his jersey. "I think I might have to keep this one," Pierce said. "This is the best I done played in a long time." Indeed, on a day when Rajon Rondo remained sidelined with a sprained right wrist and Ray Allen left in the second quarter with a jammed left ankle, the Celtics needed Pierce to play better than he had all season. And the captain did so with season highs of 34 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals in a 100-94 victory against the Washington Wizards. "That's the Paul we've been missing," Rondo said. "He played great. We believe in him, and we're"
Wizards need to part with Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Nick Young
January 22
Washington Post
 columnist Jason Reid
"Maybe someday, the Washington Wizards will get serious about rebuilding. To this point, they've only dabbled in it unsuccessfully. Until owner Ted Leonsis moves on without Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Nick Young, he's not truly committed to winning. Leonsis sets the agenda. He instructed Washington's basketball staff to start over and build through the draft. Ultimately, it will be his call to finally give up on Blatche, McGee and Young — most likely for little or nothing in return — after years of investing heavily in them. The correct choice is clear. Granted, dumping three core players, none of whom has turned 27, would be difficult for any owner. Typically, that's not how things"
Wizards go cold in 2nd half, lose nail-biter to Nuggets
January 21
Washington Times
 
"The Wizards scored a season-high 63 points in the first half and made it a close game with the Denver Nuggets, but couldn't hold on for the win, as they dropped to 2-13 on the season with the 108-104 loss at Verizon Center on Friday night. Nick Young provided most of the offensive firepower, scoring a season-high 25 points in 10 of 22 from the floor, including 4 of 10 from the 3-point line. John Wall came close to a triple double, with 13 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. "It would have been good to get it [the triple-double] but it would have been better to get the win," Wall said. "Tonight was a tough night; not making shots, and then not really controlling the game like I did the"
Washington can't sustain fast start and falls to Denver at Verizon Center, 108-104
January 21
Washington Post
 
"Two nights following a signature victory, the Washington Wizards pushed another Western Conference front-runner to the brink on the strength of a blistering first quarter, but this time, they tumbled at the finish in a 108-104 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night before 14,866 at Verizon Center. The Wizards got a team-high 25 points from Nick Young, who on Friday morning declared he had returned to top form. Then several hours later, he backed up those claims with 17 points in the first 12 minutes. But Young and his teammates bungled chances when it mattered most, and Al Harrington's three-pointer with 1 minute 14 seconds remaining all but put the outcome out of reach for Washington,"
Wizards' Nick Young attempting to alter perceptions
January 20
Washington Times
 
"Nick Young knows better than anyone the knock on him — that he's a one-dimensional player who does nothing but shoot. The Washington Wizards guard, who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, says he's ready to change that perception. "Its like every year they say I can't do this, I can't do that, can't defend," Young said. Wizards coach Flip Saunders gave Young that chance Wednesday night. Saunders employed a three-guard set in the fourth quarter of Washington's 105-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder and put Young on two-time NBA scoring champion, Kevin Durant."
JaVale McGee 'is not a knucklehead;' just ask his mom
January 20
Washington Post
 columnist Mike Wise
"This is the night the hammer comes down, you've decided. This is the night to call out the brain lock and the boneheadedness — everything embodied by their starting center's inability to understand that you don't throw down a showboat dunk when you're down six points and about to be 1-12 on the season. This is the night to eviscerate that kid, just in time for his 24th birthday on Thursday. Until you meet that kid's mother."
Wizards' Flip Saunders finds reasons to eat well
January 20
Washington Post
 
"Flip Saunders recently lamented how losing has affected him to the point that his diet of late has consisted of only eating at the Subway just steps away from his condo in the District because he felt sorry for himself. But after the Wizards delivered arguably his most gratifying victory since taking over as coach nearly three years ago, Saunders said the moment required something special. "No Subway today," Saunders said after the Wizards upset Oklahoma City, 105-102. You know what that meant? Potbelly!"
Wizards pull off a stunning upset over Thunder, 105-102
January 19
Washington Times
 
"With 1:36 left to play, the Washington Wizards led the Oklahoma City Thunder by five points. The Verizon Center crowd, which started booing the hometown team before the introductions were even completed, came to its feet and began a standing ovation. It was a game that nearly everyone already had penciled in the win column for the Thunder (12-3) and in the loss column for the Wizards (2-12). But in a shocking upset, it was the Wizards who defeated the Thunder 105-102 on Wednesday night."
Nick Young scores 22 in second half to help Washington pull 105-102 upset of Oklahoma City
January 19
Washington Post
 
"Jordan Crawford tossed the ball skyward from near halfcourt and John Wall soared to catch it and dunked with two hands. Wall swung on the rim, let out a guttural scream and violently batted away the ball as the once-angry fans at Verizon Center suddenly started to applaud the Washington Wizards with equal vigor. Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant brought the team with the NBA's best record to his home town, and the expectation was that it would be a pushover against the team with the league's worst record. But Wall played with passion and flair; Nick Young overcame a horrid first-half slump to erupt when it counted; Andray Blatche overcame a hostile crowd that booed him in pregame"
Nick Young ignites Wizards in second half
January 19
Washington Post
 
"Nick Young was off to a horrible start on Wednesday night against Oklahoma City. The Wizards swingman had missed all five of his field goal attempts, and if it weren't for a pair of free throws, he would have finished with zero points. Then Young swished a three-pointer late in the third quarter and with his confidence restored proceeded to sink four more from that distance on the way to 24 points, 22 of which came in the second half. Young's five-three pointers, including one for the go-ahead points with 7 minutes 24 seconds to play, were more than all of the Thunder combined, helping the Wizards log their most impressive victory this season, 105-102, at Verizon Center."