‘Joakim Noah and JaVale McGee’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

The first five minutes of Monday night’s Wizards game against the Chicago Bulls set the tone for the rest of the night. Chicago rebounded, blocked shots, and knocked Washington up enough to grab the reigns and dominate the game with a 105-77 victory.

“[The Bulls] reached in right from the beginning and took hold of the physicality of the game,” Wizards Coach Flip Saunders said after the game.

Washington dropped the contest 77-105 against a defensively strong squad that is all business on the court. When teams with strong followings, like the Bulls, come to the Nation’s Capital, all their fans come out of hiding and go straight to the forefront. “MVP” chants for Chicago point guard Derrick Rose were prominent throughout the hollows of the Verizon Center, especially during the second half.

“When you see more black and red than blue and gold or blue and white it’s tough,” Wizards’ guard Nick Young said after the game.

Missed scoring opportunities on fast breaks and rushed plays by the Wizards are only some of the reasons for Monday’s loss. There’s also the fact that the new additions, like Jordan Crawford,  haven’t had a formal practice and don’t know the team’s plays yet (although their first practice all together is scheduled for Tuesday). But another, just as immediate, growing pain for Saunders is that he’s got a team with a lot of rookies.

“Youth and inexperience brings inconsistency,” Saunders said. “You’re hoping they’re all not inconsistent on the same night.”

Guard John Wall lead the Wizards with 10 assists and forward Andray Blatche scored a team high 15 points on his first night back with the team in the past few games. Other than that, nothing meshed for Saunders’ group tonight.

“We make some steps forward and then the next game we take a huge step back,” Wall said, “so that’s not going to help us.”