Discuss the Grades Here

Three weeks removed from the end of another dismal season, a sufficient amount of time has passed to look back objectively. It has now been long enough since the Wizards won their 26th game to reflect on the year without such immediacy, without the innate impulse that comes with watching a 56-loss team for a full season—to either bash it for yet another loss, or unjustly praise it for an improbable win.

By almost any team’s standards, a 26-56 record is awful. Even in the Eastern Conference it takes a solid 11-16 extra wins to reach the playoffs. But the Wizards are not just any team, and it would not do the season justice to give it one sole grade based on the fact that their record was so sub-par.

Considering pre-season estimations that Washington’s health and depth could result in a 50-win campaign, the season deserves a D. However, do not forget the bizarre multitude of scandal, injuries and roster shake-ups between October and April. In light of the team’s ridiculous lack of stability, there is an argument to be made that the Wizards’ 26 wins are somewhat impressive, maybe worthy of a B+, especially when considering last year’s win total was just 19...

It took six months, but game 82 finally arrived, and judging by the Wizards’ body language, they could not have been happier. Andray Blatche frolicked across the court in his socks about an hour before tipoff, and pre-game warm-ups featured an impromptu dunk contest, unexpectedly dominated by James Singleton...

In the 82-date grind-out which is the NBA season, almost every game has a measurable impact on final standings and post-season positioning. Almost. Saturday’s 48 minutes with the Atlanta Hawks marked one of the few occurrences all year in which neither team had much, if anything to play for...

Easter Sunday in the Verizon Center was not exactly the city’s biggest draw on this year’s day of egg-laying mammals. Match a faceoff of the league’s two lowest cellar-dwellers (the Wizards and New Jersey Nets) against a tween-only Justin Bieber concert on the White House lawn, and there’s no question which event in going to win that battle. Though little more than season ticket holders bothered to show up, that didn’t stop the Wizards from putting on their best show in front of the home crowd since mid-February...