Morning Look: Bloody Blatche

(By Richard Carson - Reuters)

Five observations from yesterday's Wizards win, which made it two and counting.

1) Andray Blatche came up strong at the end. Very strong. But you just can't look tough while celebrating with a little bit of white tissue stuck in one nostril. (Another example of not looking tough: this photo.)

2) Strange stats: the Wiz are 5-7 when DeShawn Stevenson doesn't turn the ball over, and 1-16 when he does. The Wiz are 2-0 when Caron Butler doesn't play, and 4-23 when he does. The Wiz are 3-3 when JaVale McGee doesn't play at least six minutes, and 3-20 when he does.

3) How did the Rockets and their fans take the loss? With respect for a streaking Wizards' squad? Not particularly.

"Inexcusable" (Rick Adelman), "Wow" (Yao Ming), "Pathetic" (Examiner), "Speechless" (The Dream Shake), "We came into the game thinking that's an easy game" (Yao), "We just thought we could turn it on in the fourth quarter" (Tracy McGrady).

4) It's been said before and it'll be said again: Has any city's sportswriters ever had to grapple with two prominent local figures whose last names are pronounced "blach," but with different spellings? Also, if Greg Blache was responsible for molding Andray Blatche into a mature young man, at what point would the former rip the eyeballs out of the latter?

5) The Wizards are now seven games out of the East's last playoff spot. They'd have to go 32-21 down the stretch to finish with a playoff winning percentage, according to the current standings. That would be a .604 percentage down the stretch. So fine, it still doesn't look too good. But don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing.