Wizards in Search of 'Harmony'

There was some disappointment but no discouragement in the Washington Wizards' locker room after Wednesday night's season-opening 95-85 loss to the New Jersey Nets at Verizon Center.

In a game that lacked energy and anything resembling flow, the Wizards did enough things right to be in the game in the fourth quarter but were ultimately done in by poor shooting and a failure to execute offensively.

Rather than harp on X's and O's before his team hit the court for practice yesterday, Coach Eddie Jordan turned the page back to the opening days of training camp in Richmond when his team was visited by K.C. Jones, who won a fistful of championship rings with the Boston Celtics as a player and coach.

"It was very profound for me," Jordan said of his chats with Jones, who coached the Bullets to a record of 155-91 in three seasons during the 1970s. "He told us a lot, but I remember him talking about when they won championships in college and with the Celtics, they had harmony. Harmony meaning they accepted roles, they knew how to communicate, they had positive energy. I want the best players to score, to shoot. If I'm a defender first, I have to get into my man and concentrate on defense. If I have to run the floor just to clear out space, that's what I have to do to create harmony and retain harmony."

The Wizards, who will be back in action tomorrow night at Detroit, got off to a decent start Wednesday night and led by five points in the second quarter but struggled to develop an offensive rhythm. The defense also broke down in key spots.

All-star forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison combined to make only 9 of 29 shots, and the team was particularly out of sync in the fourth quarter when it was outscored 26-18.

Throughout the game, which featured 20 lead changes, Jordan turned to various lineup combinations hoping that he would find the kind of harmony Jones talked about. All 12 available players saw action, including rookie center JaVale McGee and backup point guard Dee Brown, each of whom saw action in the second half after not playing in the first.

Different players had their moments. McGee got the crowd going by emphatically swatting away a shot by Keyon Dooling early in the fourth quarter, Andray Blatche played with a high level of energy and scored 13 points off the bench and Nick Young scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting.

"I was just trying to find that spark, to light the flame and get us going," Jordan said. "To try and break away from that non-flow type of game. I was just trying to find somebody to give us that spark and get us energized. Dee can do it. Nick [Young] can do it and Andray can do it. Dominic [McGuire] can do it with his rebounding. I was just looking for someone to get us going."

Butler and Jamison put much of the loss on their own shoulders. Jamison, who was 1 of 8 from three-point range, felt he should have taken the ball to the basket or posted up more, and Butler, who attempted only one fourth-quarter field goal, felt he should have been more assertive.

"I had a couple of good looks that didn't go for me, but at the same time, I could've been more aggressive," Butler said. "It is what it is, though. First game. Guys getting a feel. Getting adjusted to their roles. The preseason is over. Whereas the first couple games of the preseason you have guys taking uncharacteristic shots, now it's down to the nitty-gritty and we have to go to our bread and butter."

For Butler, that usually includes a mixture of midrange jump shots, drives to the basket, scores in the open court off of steals and fast-break opportunities, and the occasional three-point attempt.

The Nets used several defenders against Butler, including former Wizards Bobby Simmons and Jarvis Hayes, and he never appeared to get into the flow of the game. Nets Coach Lawrence Frank wasn't bragging much about his team's ability to limit Butler, however.

"It was mixed up," Frank said. "It was between Bobby and Jarvis, but Caron's an all-star, so we ain't going down that path. Everyone has games like that."

The same could be said of the Wizards as a team.

"First game of the season, we obviously wanted to come out with more energy and we wanted to come out and play better basketball, but we didn't do that," said point guard Antonio Daniels, who finished with eight points and four assists. "Not at all. The good thing about the NBA is that you pick your head up and move forward. It's only one game."