- Bullet Nation -

With 27 games played, the Wizards (9-18, .333) are almost 1/2 done with the regular season. This is a nice time to recapitulate what went in first part of the season, and what might happen later in the season. Washington seem to continue last years struggles by looking at team team record (23-59, .280). However, in talks with Wizards coaching staff and the GM, they all claim that younger played matured quite a bit since last season, and that the future is theirs.

Other than the unimpressive record, the team faced some other obstacles throughout the first season. First one came before the season even started, as the ISBA ruled out the 2011 draft class. This meant they had to give up on their hope that Jan Vesely, teams lottery pick, will become a new Andrei Kirilenko, one that will actually care for something other than his guaranteed contract money.
Shortly into the season, the GM Ernie Grunfeld made some questionable moves. First he offered an 18mil/3yr contract extension to Josh Howard, then he accepted to trade former Hoosier and Musketeer, Jordan Crawford for a backup point guard, Jonny Flynn. Most recently the GM seems to try redeem himself, by bringing in another former Hoosier, D.J. White, and attempting to sign former Wizard swingman, Cartier Martin. And according to his words, these moves (if completed successfully) might not be the last ones.

There's a lot of speculation regarding the Wizards 2012 1st round pick, a possibly top 5, if we go by current record and standings. Will Wizards choose to go through and draft another young player, or will the pick be used as a part of some deal that might send away Josh Howard or Rashard Lewis, two worst Wizards contracts?

That's it for the first - Bullet Nation - entry. Stay tuned for more to come...
(And remember, don't play videogames, play with women)

Lovely...

I think Blazers want Rashard's contract

LOL I didn't mean to put a winking face. But yes, I want Rashard's contract but I don't have space til off-season

He'll wait, it's not like I can move him anywhere anytime soon (unless Brandon Roy comes to Washington)...

Roy on tha block...

Even if Roy did want to go to Washington, I would need to add Aldridge/Oden for for contracts to match. That's a no-no lol. Lewis to Portland will wait.

The neverending contract of Brandon Roy FTL

The Wizards management came to a deal with Charlotte Bobcats, and in return for little used PF Trevor Booker, they got D.J. White and a 2012 NBA 2nd round draft pick. White, who is in his 4th NBA season played around 8 minutes per game this season for the Bobcats.

Here's what coach Saunders said about the new player:
- In Dewayne we got a experienced player, even though he's only 25. He knows his role and we know that he'll do anything needed to help this team win games. He maybe won't score 20 points, but those small things he does, that casual fans maybe don't notice, are also key parts to win a game.

GM's take on the trade:
- We are very pleased to have D.J. on board. Also I would like to point out that the 2nd round pick we got, is also gonna be very important in near future plans we have.

FYI, White chose number 8 when he arrived. (I assume this probably means the number of championships he plans to win here, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 7 like LeBron & Wade, but 8 )

After the loss at the hands of Oklahoma City, a game where Wizards felt that they had very little input in the final score (!?), the next loss came against the Indiana Pacers, 65-75. These two losses keep the Wizards at 9-20 record.

Wizards opened up the game very well, going 16-8 up by the middle of the first quarter. However after a Pacers timeout, they quickly came within reach, and a Hill halfcourt buzzer-beater meant that we'll go tied at 20 into the 2nd Q. In the second the struggles continued for Washington, and Indiana just became really hot. They went up by 10, and kept the margin for the remainder of the game.
Wizards had trouble containing the big man duo, Roy Hibbert & Tyler Hansbrough, who scored at will. Add Paul George to the mix, and you have one tough team on your hands. Nick Young was the top Wizards player, however John Wall's ball handling turnovers (5 of them) really were too much to overcome in this game.


WAS - Nick Young 19pts, 7reb, 3as, 7/10 FG (2/3 for 3)
IND - Roy Hibbert 14pts, 7reb, 1bl, 7/8 FG

Coach Saunders on the game:
- This was the game we should've won... in normal circumstances... if it wasn't for those three goofs in gray. This is a man's game, and you can't make basketball a no contact sport. I'll stop it here.

The NBA fined Flip Saunders 15,000$ for his remarks regarding game officials made after the game.

Lovely mature comments from Flip...

In two most recent games Wizards again showed both sides of their game. First they lost at home against the Blazers, 62 - 53, then they went to Dallas and beat the current NBA champions 63-62. That puts Washington, second to last in the power rankings, with 10-21. They are scheduled to meet the worst team in the league, the Orlando Magic, this week a game that is more anticipated than Christmas games.

Washington came strong in the game, but the shooting woes that came through last 3 quarters were simply too much to handle. Late into the game Aldridge and Gay finally made some points, and carried the Blazers routinely to victory.


POR - LaMarcus Aldridge 22pts, 6reb, 3bl, 10/19 FG's
POR - Rudy Gay 15pts, 8reb, 3as, 6/15 FG's (3/8 3pts)
WAS - JaVale McGee 8pts, 10reb, 4bl, 2/4 FG's
WAS - John Wall 16 pts, 4as, 3stl, 5/20 FG's (2/10 3pts)

Second game. Mavs opened up 8-0 and 10-2, but the Wizards clicked after a timeout, and came to tie the game by the end of 1st. The game was played basket for basket all the way to the end of 3rd, when Wizards got their first significant lead, 46-39. Dallas came back, and thanks to some nice shooting from Jason Terry went up by 4 at the start of the last minute.
John Wall responded with an non contested corner 3, to go down by 1. Next possession Mavs scored quickly, up by 3. Then Maurice Evans manhandled Terry in the low post and scored a circus shot , down by 1. Dallas tried to seal the game and go up by 4, but Nick Young swatted Terry's three point attempt into the 5th row. Out of the inbound, Dallas tried to give the ball to Dirk, but his off balance, long 2 was a brick. Wizards rebound, timeout, 6.5 to go, in comes the all shooting small 5 lineup.
Nick Young got the ball in the corner, drove past Terry and dunked wildly with 3.0 to go, Wizards up by 1. Timeout Mavs. Inbound to Dirk, another off balance shot, over McGee and Blatche, off the rim, miss. #BulletsWinBulletsWin


WAS - John Wall 12pts, 3reb, 6as, 4stl, 6to, 4/17 FG's (2/8 3pts)
WAS - Nick Young 20pts, 7reb, 9/15 FG's (1/1 3pts)
DAL - Jason Terry 16pts, 3reb, 3stl, 6/15 FG's (4/11 3pts)

Nick Young on the games:
- First game was one of those you want to forget as soon as possible. Everything we tried went wrong. The second game is what we try to play, fast paced, tough D, never give up basketball... I think the last minute maybe will give me a contract extension I seek...
Coach Flip Saunders interrupted:
- ...Not only a contract extension to Nick, but his play at the end might as well warrant myself a contract extension, as my contract is also ending soon.

#BulletsWinBulletsWin was trending worldwide on Twitter last night.

BulletsKnowDRAMA............

The Mavs win felt good imo

Not like I didnt PM you at 4am my time, to brag about it

Hrvoje adds a new dimension in this league, we really needed you man. Keep up!

Ante wrote:

Hrvoje adds a new dimension in this league, we really needed you man. Keep up!

Agreed. Active & very competitive player.

Yup, that's me.

The Wizards went to play San Antonio last night. Before the game, they had a lot of questions, will they crumble one more time like, or will they finally show that they can play constantly good. Luckily for all Washington fans out there, they won, 56 - 51, and improved their record to 11 - 21.


Spurs opened up the game better, but they couldn't build a lead that would make them more comfortable. Wizards fought back, and step by step , basket by basket, they kept the game close. It remained a head to head battle, all to the wire. John Wall had a season best performance, and made all the key points towards the end. Some would say that he finally showed a glimpse of his potential.

WAS - John Wall 26pts, 4reb, 1as, 2stl, 11/20 FG's (3/5 3pts, 1/2 FT's)
SAS - Tim Duncan 14pts, 9reb, 2as, 2bl, 5/11 FG's (4/6 FT's)

Wizards coaching staff and management would like to thank their San Antonio buddies for a great game, and hospitality. Unlike...



Words can't explain, we have to caption this article...


Word on the street is that, president Obama intervened last night, and that the league will soon again be all Peaches and Roses.

#WizCrew was trending last night on PSN.

I lol'd at Jammer's arm picture.......

Let's hope the latest moves can turn around this atrocious season. Wizards are currently second-to-last in the Eastern conference.

Nobody tells a story with pictures better than you.

In lack of any interesting news-story, and with a games free weekend, the players went through a photosession for WashingtonWizards.com. Here are the photos. Enjoy...

(recommended song to play in the background - https://youtu.be/wyx6JDQCslE )

Full Size photo album -> https://2img.net/r/ihimg/g/511/nba2k12111106003907.jpg/