The story of the game was Jonny Flynn and how he shredded the Wizards' defense all night. He was too quick for anyone, and while he only had five assists, he created many more open shots than that number indicates. He was also the key guy on the dagger sequence that resulted in an open three for Devin Green to give Minnesota a six-point lead.
The Wizards actually had a chance to tie the game at 85 after Oleksiy Pecherov launched an ill-advised three early in the shot clock for Minnesota (stop me where you've heard that before). The Wizards slowed the pace and set up a staggered screen to give Nick Young a look at a three, but he missed it off the front rim.
"I should have knocked that down," Young said. "I thought it was good."
Young still had a pretty good day, and Javaris Crittenton played very well, going 5 for 9. Problem is, Andray Blatche had a really poor shooting day, going 4 for 15. It seemed he wanted to stick it to his old buddy Pecherov a little too much instead of trying to run the offense.
Regardless, the real problem was how the Wizards defended Flynn. It reminded me a lot of all the games they've played in the past against small, speedy point guards. The right way to have played Flynn was to drop off him and make him shoot jumpers. The wrong way is to try to fight through the screen as the big man hedges to give the guard time to do his job. Flynn's just too quick for that and he'll get by two of your guys and create an opportunity. He was doing that all night and killed the Wizards for it.
If it weren't Summer League, this would be the type of thing I'd be ranting about for days. Thankfully, it's Summer League, something Don Zeirden knows.
"We didn't change up our pick and rolls," he said. "We're coming in here with a set thing of what we're doing ... That's what Summer League is for."
Other assorted notes:
- Flynn got into it a couple times with Andray Blatche and Nick Young, jawing after he made three-point plays. "[Flynn] was talking trash to Dray, so as his teammate, I had [Dray's] back," Young said.
- I'm sure a lot of you watching were groaning about Andray Blatche shooting a ton of jumpers, but that didn't concern Zeirden all that much. "Most of the time, we want him to utilize [where] if he's got a big, he takes him outside, and if he's got a smaller guy, take him down to the basket."
- Like what I saw from John Edwards and Alade Aminu. Edwards was getting killed early on by Gerald Siler, but he did a much better job in his second stint on the court and onward. Aminu showed a nice touch when he got in the game.
- Zeirden on Crittenton: "This is a big stretch for Javaris. We need people that can run the ballclub. Flip is an execution-type coach." Later, Zeirden said. "I thought he did better today. Especially in the second half, I thought he got us into some nice sets."
- I missed a lot of the third quarter because I was talking to Brendan Haywood about him and about JaVale. I'll try to get those interviews up later tonight.