-Prior to the game, I was able to have a nice chat with Hakim Warrick, who is in his first year with the Bucks after four seasons with the Memphis Grizzlies.  Warrick had some interesting things to say about his visit to the White House, playing for Scott Skiles and what Iverson’s return to the Sixers means to city of Philadelphia.  Stay tuned to Hoops Addict for that interview.  In terms of tonight’s game, Warrick scored 20 points, and much like at Syracuse, he feasted on dunks and shots close to the basket.

-The Wizards have not played well at all during the second of back-to-back games this season.  On November 28th, they were blown out at home by the Charlotte Bobcats (16 points) and on November 21st, they were defeated  by 22 points by the San Antonio Spurs.  In both games, the Wizards never seemed to match the energy of the opposing team.  Saunders spoke on that before the game, “Any time you’re in a back-to-back, the main thing is you gotta have energy…as you have  energy everything else kind of falls into place.”  Flip also mentioned that the bench plays a crucial role during back-to-back games as well.  “In back-to-backs the bench has to have the energy, because if the starters don’t have it you have to go to them a little sooner.  One, because they  haven’t played as many minutes and [two] probably they are anxious and want to play, but they should come in there with reckless abandon.”

-Tonight, despite having played the Toronto Raptors the night before, the Wizards’ starters all played at least 34 minutes.  Flip’s rationale after the game, “We got up six or eight [in the first half] and it was the first time those guys [the starters] got in any kind of rhythm offensively, so we thought let’s give them another minute.  Then we gave them another minute and they [Milwaukee] cut it to four so we changed it”

-With 29.7 seconds left in the first quarter, Warrick hit a layup, and then fell down to the ground after seemingly being fouled.  Bucks coach Scott Skiles immediately jumped out of his seat, and ran towards the referee with reckless abandon.  He picked up two quick technical fouls, and was quickly ejected.  But Skiles did not leave the floor right away, as he felt the need to plead his case for several more seconds before finally being escorted off the floor.  I joked to one of the other writers that he must have had something to watch on TV, because his anger came  out of nowhere.  The very next time the Wizards got the ball, a quick offensive foul was called on the Wizards’ Caron Butler.  Make up call? Perhaps.

-In the second quarter, Gilbert Arenas came down on three consecutive possessions, drove the ball, was seemingly fouled, but nothing was called.  After each call, he went and pleaded his case to the referees.  This happened just one night after he earned a technical foul against Toronto for doing the same thing.  In the third quarter, Arenas again complained about the officiating, and this time that complaining led to him being relaxed on defense and Brandon Jennings went by him and scored.   Flip Saunders promptly called a timeout and yelled something to Arenas as he ran off the floor.  After the game, Arenas explained his behavior, “I used to average 11 or 12 free throws a game, and now I can’t even get a call.  I feel like they’re profiling me as a player,” Arenas said while he stood in front of his locker.  “They say I’m creating all the contact, and I’m saying that’s what a scorer is supposed to do, there’re supposed to create the contact when they get in the lane.  If they [the defensive players] are outside the lane its a charge…now if they’re inside the lane and I run into them, its a no-call.  I’m asking [the refs] where do I win that?   Last night I got frustrated I got a technical.”

-Michael Lee of the Washington Post wrote an excellent article on Randy Foye’s struggle to get back into the regular rotation after his injury.  Tonight, Foye only played five minutes, and he picked up two quick offensive fouls before he sat back down on the bench.  To his credit, Foye cheered and clapped for his teammates as they made big plays or when they came off the floor.  But after the game, he was nowhere to be found.  We’ll see if he can play himself out of this funk, but with Earl Boykins and Nick Young playing so well, it will be tough.

-Before the game, Coach Flip Saunders was asked to speak on the play of Brandon Jennings, and he told a story of this summer when Jennings played against Jonny Flynn during the Wizards workout.  “We had him in here, and I was impressed with him when we did this ‘Trap’ drill, and he dribbled through Jonny Flynn’s legs twice, so when he did that I knew he had some stuff to his game, ” Flip said while chuckling.  “He’s just got great quickness, and he reminds me a lot of Tiny Archibald…his ability to score, make other guys better, score from the perimeter, score  from inside, just pretty much do everything.”  This was my first time seeing Jennings, and I was impressed with how he let the game come to him.  Yes, he missed some open shots, and yes, he shot 7-for-21, but he had zero turnovers, and seven assists to go along with his 17 points.  No its not a “double nickle”, but its still impressive.

-In the victory over Toronto on Tuesday night, the big three on the Wizards of Arenas, Jamison and Butler combined for 71 of the team’s 106 points or 67%.  Against the Bucks, the big three accounted for 52 of the 104 points or 50%.  Tonight, the Wizards got major contributions from Nick Young (21 points), Earl Boykins (13 points) and Andray Blatche (10 points on 5-for-5 shooting).  One cannot help but wonder how much better this team will be when Mike Miller gets healthy and Foye regains his mojo.  Until then, the Wizards will continue to squeeze out two point victories the way they did this evening.

-As I was typing these game notes, the local sportscaster here in Washington called Earl Boykins, “the Mariano Rivera” of the Wizards, and while that may be a slight exaggeration, the sentiment is clear:  Boykins knows how to close games.  In the fourth quarter alone, Boykins had 11 points and dished out two assists in his role as point guard.  At the end of the game, Flip ordered a high screen for Boykins–a play that would normally be reserved for Arenas–and he ran successfully drew a foul on Brandon Jennings, and then hit two free throws.  After the game, it was particularly interesting that both Nick Young and Arenas had high praise for Boykins.  Boykins’ fourth quarter surge caused Young to spend most of the fourth quarter on the bench, despite scoring 21 points.  And Arenas was no longer in his famous role of closer, yet he admitted he was rooting or Boykins to hit every shot.  “You guys are surprised?  That’s what Earl does.  He was a great scorer at Eastern Michigan.  He’s been in the league 11 years because of it.  He makes plays,” Arenas said.

Final score:  Wizards 104  Bucks 102

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