The 2019-2020 NBA Schedule

The Wizards schedule for the upcoming season was released this past Monday. I know, I know, it's Wednesday already. A late-ish night at work putting a proposal or two together and then a night out at Wolf Trap with the Stray Cats delayed my posting this by a couple of days. Wrote most of it Monday; just had to find some pics to go with the words.

This season promises to be pretty darn grim for the Wizards die-hard faithful but I've written this post every year but the first that I've been writing this blog and so I'm doing it again. Here are my lucky seven takeaways from the annual schedule release. 

But first...what is with this graphic the Wiz have rolled out this year? All-Star Bradley Beal and this year's number one draft pic Rui Hachimura make a ton of sense on the schedule. But what's with Troy Brown Jr. in street clothes and a backpack? Don't get it. Must be getting old. Let's get to my seven things.

1. Rough Start

So this year's already going to be rough enough with no John Wall likely for the whole year, the team trading away or just letting veteran talent walk and no cap space whatsoever to restock the larder. On top of all that, the league has to start this traditionally slow-starting team with three road games in four nights against Dallas, Oklahoma City and San Antonio? Looks like an 0-3 start to me to point this team in a great direction to start the season. I guess the good thing is if they manage to steal a game, the trip is a success.

Think things get easier once we open at home? Umm...no. The season opener is against James Harden, Russell Westbrook and the Houston Rockets (God that Westbrook part sounds odd). I'm thinking 0-4 here.

2. Sell High

I have paid entirely too much money for Wizards tickets over the past few years. This year I deleted a couple of generally worthless upper deck seats from my account but I'm still in for north of $8K with no help this year (thanks, Mike!). Looks like I'll be looking to sell what I can when I can, which means I'll likely be absent from the marquee games this year. Again.

So what are those? I'm thinking the Lakers, Golden State, the Clippers, New Orleans and Houston in that order. We get lucky with three of those five after football season is over (always a better time to sell) and got a gift with the Lakers game on a Saturday in March. No Eastern Conference games on the list? I'm thinking no. It's going to be another down year for the East now that the spectacularly successful Kawhi rental in Toronto is over. We didn't even get any resale value out of that one since amazingly Kawhi was still under most fans' radar last regular season.

Maybe Milwaukee provides some value.

3. No TV Love

By my count, the Wizards are on national television twice this year. Twice!!! And once is in November against Cleveland. I mean who's going to tune into that game unless ESPN gets guest broadcaster Steve Buckhantz to sit in on the play-by-play mike. It will probably just get cancelled. 

I get that the Wiz aren't a draw this year. Or maybe really any year the way some other teams are. But two games on national TV??? I mean we do still have one All-Star active. They can't get us one or two more slots? One of the two is an NBA TV game, which doesn't really count since it's just a broadcast of one of the two teams' live feeds. No respect! Not saying this team has earned any. Just no respect anyway.

4. MLK Day!

The Wizards have enjoyed a pretty nice run of consecutive years on the annual NBA Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. These things used to get interrupted by presidential inaugurations but it turns out it's really just by popular presidential inaugurations. As a result of the lack of conflict with the sparse Trump 2017 showing, this is the Wizards seventh consecutive MLK Day hosting a home game. Despite the seriousness of this day, this game is always welcome no matter how bad a season this Wizards are having. Here's hoping this one is just as meaningful as the rest. January 20 vs. Detroit in case you want to mark your calendar.

5. Big 3

No, this isn't a reference to the league started by Ice Cube that continues to spurn D.C. (the league - probably legitimately - claims Cap One is significantly more expensive than other venues) but I just had to get that in there.

Every year the schedule allows the Wizards to play each Western Conference opponent home and away and twice that amount for Southeast Division rivals. The rest of the schedule is filled with four games against six of the remaining 10 teams and just three against the other four. Getting three games against the right teams can get you an easier 5% of the schedule but get the wrong teams missing at home and it can cost you a couple of bucks on the re-sale market. 

This year's three game teams? Toronto, Brooklyn, Indiana and Cleveland. Three playoff teams (including the champs...sort of) is not a bad draw to get. Of course, the Wizards will be so bad this year that none of that will matter anyway. Just one home game against the Raps and Pacers this year. Not too broken up about that since Kawhi's not up north any more. No resale impact there for me.

NBA apparel in Rotorua, New Zealand. No Wizards stuff. Shocker!!!

6. Vacation Time!

Last year I went on vacation in early March figuring the Wizards would be on the road. They weren't. I missed six home games and in the process squandered more than $1,000 in loss via the resale market. This year, I'll be smarter. It's been a few years since I've worried about making sure I'm in town for Wizards games but this season I feel like I have to get to these un-sellable games rather than skipping town.

March is a great time to get out of D.C. Maybe the weekend of the 14th or 28th. Yes, I know there's a home game on the 28th but come on, it's the Lakers. No way am I giving up that resale opportunity.

7. Road Trip?

I believe I've left Washington and seen some hoops on the road each year I've been writing this blog so it would be a shame to not do that this year. But honestly, I want to go somewhere I haven't seen a ball game yet and the more places I go, the fewer there are left on the list.

This year's possibilities for uncharted territory? Considering I'm looking ideally for a Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon game, it looks like I'm stuck choosing between San Antonio in late October (out of town the next weekend so not good) and at Charlotte on April 11. I'd love to go to Charlotte for a game but honestly, this Wizards team will have probably crushed all my spirit by that time. If I open it up to Friday nights, then I can consider Oklahoma City in game two of the season (carries the same problem as San Antonio), Boston on March 13 (yeah I know I said that would be a great weekend for a vacation but I didn't mean to Boston) and Houston on April 10 (which has the same killed my spirit issue as the Charlotte game).

This might be the year I'm done. In more than one way. Holding out hope that the Wiz will be in contention in late March so I can go to the Queen City.

Too little to get out of this year's schedule? Too much? That's all I got. Season starts October 23. Not necessarily looking forward to this one I have to say. 

The 2018-19 NBA Schedule

Every year since 2013, I've included a post on this blog about my thoughts on the Wizards schedule for the upcoming NBA season. I'm late this year. Like way late. That's what happens when I pledge to take the summer off and then do just that. In the interest of making up time, let's get right to my annual seven thoughts on what's in store for Wizards fans this year.

1. Start At Home

After a string of just twice in 13 seasons from 2004-2005 to 2015-2016, the Wizards are opening their season on their home court for the second year in a row. Not only that, it's the second time in a row that the Wizards are playing their first TWO games at home. 

What does all that mean other than we get to watch our favorite team at home in their first game of the season? Well, apparently not too much. The Wiz won their two home openers last year and barely scraped into the playoffs in the eight spot. The only other two times the Wizards opened at home since '04 they lost both times to the New Jersey Nets and missed the playoffs badly both years. Maybe they should stick to starting on the road.

2. No Banner Angst

I'm taking a glass half full approach on this one. Two seasons ago, the Wizards won their first Division Title since 1979 and looked poised for a years long run in first place of the Southeast Division. I wanted a banner as a reward for my 18 years of sitting game in and game out and finally having the team win something. I didn't get it. I got 2017 tacked on to the bottom of a brand new Bullets Division Champs banner. I whined and complained. I still didn't get it.

All that optimism was really short lived based on last year's performance. The Wiz ended up second in 2017-2018, a full game (plus the tiebreaker) behind first placed Miami. They had no business being second but they for sure didn't deserve a banner. This year, they won't get one. And I won't complain or lose any sleep over it. There's still probably space for two more Division Champions lines on the current amalgamated banner so it's going to take three more probably to force management's hand on this one.

3. Home Stands

Over the last couple or three seasons, the NBA has made a conscious effort to make the rigors of an 82 game schedule easier for teams. They have done this in a variety of ways, including extending the season by two weeks to stretch out the space between games; eliminating back to back games as much as possible; extending the All-Star break; and making four games in five nights stretches a thing of the past.

In the past couple of seasons, the NBA's effort hasn't manifested itself in any really obvious ways for us fans that I could see other than the longer schedule. This year, things seem a little more obvious in that the Wizards have noticeable long home stands. Like two five game home stands and one of six games (although admittedly one of those six is not actually in Washington). That means concentrated every other day trips down to F Street for a nine days or so followed by longer periods of road trips. 16 of the Wizards 41 home games are tied up in just three homesteads. Pretty obvious that these are designed to cut down travel back and forth to roadies and then back home again. I'd prefer shorter home stands but I guess I don't get to make that decision.

4. London!

Yep, that's right, the Wizards are playing in London. Three thoughts on this one, I think.

First, as a English-born person and on a purely selfish level, I'm annoyed that the NBA chose this year to send the Wizards to England to play since I just got back from a trip there earlier this month. No way can I justify another trip there so soon.

Second, I'm concerned about the travel for the team although they do have just that one game in a whole week. I suppose that means the rest of the season for them is a little compressed. It's just an unusual ask that other teams (well other than their opponents, the Knicks) don't have to go through.

Finally, for someone who complains about the cost of season tickets on a regular basis, I'm actually thankful the team is refunding me the cost of a home game (the Wiz are the home team in the U.K.) in exchange for one fewer game against the Knicks. No way could I have sold this game and recovered what I paid as an average game cost. Got to look on the bright side of things, right? Maybe next year, they can schedule all the preseason games overseas.

5. Balanced Schedule

Two years ago the Wizards played an incredibly front loaded home schedule. At one point in the season they had played an astonishing ten more games at home than they did on the road. That all came home to roost at the end of the year when the team found themselves on the road way more than they cared to be in March and April.

This year, the Wizards have a pretty friendly schedule from that standpoint. After playing their first two at home, they make an early season west coast swing that puts them in a slightly road heavy mode for the majority of the season until they catch up on the home games in March. The largest home-away difference is just five games and that's towards the road side of things. Best of all, three of the last four are at home which could make for a strong finish, especially if home court can be wrapped up. Might get a little sleeping in your own bed type of rest before the postseason.

6. Slim Traveling Pickings

One of the things I love the most about the schedule release is to see where I might be able to see the Wizards on the road in the coming season. This year? Not so much. The Wizards are playing a paltry four road games on Saturdays this year, which is the best day of the week to make a trip out of town for a game. This year my Saturday options are Miami (already been), Cleveland (was there in April, although not for a game), Chicago (already been) and Minnesota (already been).

Last year I made it to Memphis and Detroit. This year I'm settling for Brooklyn on a Friday in mid-December as my only roadie of the year. I've seen a couple of All-Star events at Barclays before but never a Wizards road game. While I was maybe hoping for a trip to Houston or Dallas or even Charlotte, I'm comfortable with a trip to Brooklyn. Plus there's nothing like New York before Christmas. Nothing. No city does Christmas (or most other things for that matter) like NYC.

7. Lucky Threes

Each year every team in the NBA plays each team in their division four times; every time in the opposite conference twice; and the rest of the teams in their own conference either four time or three times. There aren't enough remaining games to play every remaining team home and away twice so each year there are just three games against four other teams. If those teams are the worst four in the conference, your favorite team might be looking at a tougher schedule; if those teams are the best in the conference, you might see a couple or three or four more wins.

Last year winning a couple of more games would have gotten the Wiz the six seed and a second consecutive division title, although let's face it, they blew a lot of easy ones last year and could have gotten those two wins any number of ways. But it can't hurt to have an easier schedule, right?

This year, the Wiz luck out a quite a lot by getting just three games against Philadelphia, Boston and Milwaukee, three teams that look like some of the tougher outs in the conference. Maybe avoiding each of those teams for one game in the regular season gets them an edge in the standings enough to secure a home court advantage in a playoff series. The other three time opponent is the Pistons, a team that the Wizards handled pretty easily last season. Three out of four ain't bad here.

Somehow I feel this has been one of the least dissectible schedules since I've started writing this blog but that's my take on how things shake out for Wizards fans this coming year. It all starts in less than a month. Can't wait!

The 2017-18 NBA Schedule

I'm late. The NBA schedule for all 30 teams was released almost two weeks ago. Typically I write this post the day the slate of games for the Wizards is released. This year, a vacation and some vacation recovery messed me up. But enough excuses...the schedule is out! Winter is coming! NBA season is almost here. Below are my (for some reason) traditional seven points about the schedule. Let's get to it.

1. Early Start

The NBA season this year starts October 17. Yep, that's about a week to a week and a half earlier than the season has been starting for the last 37 years. Before that, the season routinely used to start in early to mid-October (believe it or not the Washington Bullets opened their 1980-1981 season on October 10). Of course, the regular season also ended in March back then.

So why the change? Well depending on your level of cynicism, it's either so the NBA doesn't have prime time television games with stars sitting out or to improve player safety by allowing more time between games and eliminating four game in five night scenarios. If you are a realist, it's probably both. What does this mean for the Wizards? How about a reduction in back-to-backs from 16 last year to 14 this year and a complete lack of four games in five nights (last season they had one). So in other words, not much. Still, the regular season is less than eight weeks away. Pretty excited!

2. Banner Night?

It's been 38 years since the Bullets or Wizards have raised any sort of banner and they've never done it in the Veri...er I mean Capital One Arena. You got it right, it's been a long long long time since this franchise has won anything. Finally last season they won the Southeast Division.

Now, I can't imagine all teams celebrate a division title with much of anything special but the home opener has to feature a banner raising doesn't it? I mean it has to, right? Right? RIGHT? I've suffered through 17 years as a Wizards season ticket holder with no banner ceremonies. There has to be one on opening night. They should also make this game mini-banner giveaway night by the way.

On a side note, I'd love to see the team raise the missing Capital Bullets division champions banner from 1975. No matter how many times I reference my blog post of a couple of years on this subject, nobody seems to take this seriously. But just don't raise that one on opening night this year.

3. Early West Coast Swings

Each NBA season, the Wizards head to the west coast twice, typically road trips that find the Wiz taking on Phoenix, Portland, Golden State, Utah, Denver, Sacramento and the two Los Angeles teams. When I first bought season tickets, the pattern of these trips was generally one in December (although in 2003-2004 it was November) and one in the late winter or spring (March). Lately, they have been trending so that both trips occur after the new year. This past season, both occurred in March!!

So what, you say? Well my idea here is that it's a lot easier to recover from a west coast trip or two earlier in the season when you are fresher than late in the season when you are tired from the grind. This year the Wizards got lucky (at least that's how I see it) and have both trips out west prior to 2018. Hopefully that means improved performance out west and fresher legs at the end of the season. Remember if they had just won a few more games last year, they would have been hosting game one in round two (and maybe round three) of the playoffs at home.

4. Third Time's A Charm (Or Not)

Each season the Wizards play each of the four other teams in their division four times. They also play every team in the opposite conference twice. The remaining 36 games in the schedule are split between the other ten teams in our own conference. This is nothing new; all teams have this same pattern.

Do the math and you'll note that the Wizards are going to have to play some teams in their own conference three times, not four. Depending on who those four teams are, you could gain a slight advantage over your competition. Skip a fourth game against Cleveland, Boston, Toronto and Milwaukee and I'd say the Wizards made out pretty well.

Unfortunately, this year the Wizards three times opponents are the Chicago Bulls, the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets and the Indiana Pacers. There's no break here for the Wizards. ESPN actually picked those four teams to finish in the bottom five of the conference (Atlanta was picked below those four but we have to play the Hawks four times by rule). In other words, we get to play the good teams four times and get to play the worst only three times. Bummer here, by the way.

5. Balanced Schedule

Last year, whether you knew it or not, the Wizards schedule was incredibly unbalanced. At one point during the 2016-2017 season, the Wizards had played 10 more games at home than they had on the road, a home/away imbalance not felt by any other team last year. What did that mean? Well, it's difficult to say but I'm guessing there aren't many teams out there that want to play 15 of their last 21 or 8 of their last 10 games in the season away from home. Last year, the Wizards did both, winning just 12 of their last 21 and five of their last 10. No guarantees that their overall record would have been better, but home cooking has to be good 60 or so games into the season. Last year, the Wiz were mostly on the road after that point in the season.

This season looks much better. The maximum imbalance the Wizards will feel between home and away games at the end of any month during the season is two. Their last 30 games are split evenly between 15 home and 15 away. And their March/April schedule features 11 home games with just 9 roadies. That situation looks way better to me this year than last year's slate did. We'll see if it affects the Wizards' end of season push.

6. Merry Christmas

In my first 17 (not counting this one) years as a season ticket holder, the Wizards have played on Christmas Day just twice: in 2008 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and in 2014 against the New York Knicks. This year, they get their third in my season ticket tenure against the rival Boston Celtics. Well, except there's no Isaiah Thomas (well, maybe as of this writing), Kelly Olynyk, Jae Crowder (also a maybe), Amir Johnson or Avery Bradley on that team any more. So in other words, a completely new starting five for the Cs except for Al Horford. Who's been there all of a year.

Oh well, it's Christmas and it's Wizards time. And it's not a home game so I'm not going to be longing to be at Veri...did it again...Capital One Arena on December 25. Can't think of anything more satisfying after stuffing my face with delicious Xmas grub than to watch John Wall and co. take down the hated Celtics. Yes, I still hate them even though the team is turned over. Go Wizards!!!

7. Road Trips

This is the best part of the schedule release for me. Finally I get to see if I can advance my quest to see a Wizards game in all 29 arenas against all 30 teams around the continent. I previewed my desired destinations last month in a post on this blog.

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good because the schedule looks like it's aligned pretty well around some of the places I wanted to head this year. There's a game on a Friday night in the brand new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on a Friday night in mid-January (Detroit was my number one ranked destination this year). There's also a game two weeks prior to that in Memphis (my number two choice). If I can make the economics work, looks like I'm taking a couple of road trips in January. Who's coming with?

It's now August 27. The first preseason home game is October 2. That's just five weeks and a day from now. The home opener is just 16 days after that. The good time of the year is coming. Can't wait for it. Bring it on!

The 2016-17 NBA Schedule

Early to mid-August. This is the time of year when I'm crawling up the walls of my condo trying to fight off the shakes of NBA withdrawal. It's almost mid-way between the end of Summer League and the beginning of training camp. I'm sure the NBA would love it if everyone out there got the cravings like I do. They'd mint money during the season. Oh, wait a minute, they already do that. 

So what am I to do to solve my need for hoops? I get this way every year and I really don't know the answer. Fortunately for me, the 2016-2017 NBA Season schedule dropped today and that will at least scratch my itch for a bit.

This is the best day of August every year NBA-wise. I love this day. Finally a chance to see what lies ahead and start thinking about a time when the Wizards are tied for first in the division, conference and league with, well, every other team at 0-0. Time to mark the calendar with opening day. Time to see who's playing on Christmas Day. Time to take it all in and digest the whole thing for like two hours before the nothingness that comes after for the next month plus.

I've now done all the taking in. Here is my annual lucky seven things I get out of today. Yes, there's a ton that's similar to the last three posts that I've written. What can I say, I look for the same sorts of things every year.

1. The First Dozen

Assuming everyone remains healthy through the summer, training camp and preseason and assuming John Wall heals sufficiently from offseason knee surgery to start opening day, the Wizards return all five starters from last year for the start of the season. That's great news. I'm not sure how many teams can say that this year in the NBA.

The flip side to that is pretty much everyone else on the team is brand new. Just Kelly Oubre, Jr. and Marcus Thornton remain on the bench from last season which means I expect a lot of growing pains at the beginning of the season. Growing pains here translate for me to turnovers, defensive lapses and losses. So it would really help if the league gave the Wizards a friendly opening, right? Maybe three or four games against Brooklyn and Philly in the first dozen or so?

Well not so much. But it's not brutal either. Yes, there are games against Toronto, Memphis, Boston and Cleveland but we also get Atlanta (twice), Orlando, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. Now I might be kidding myself about the Wizards being better than Atlanta but I have to think that team is going to be going through some growing pains just like the Wiz with a new starting point guard and arguably their best player in Al Horford bailing for Boston. I'm optimistic we can survive with a 6-6 record although there's a distinct possibility the Wizards will start out 0-3 with roadies against Atlanta and Memphis and the home opener against Toronto. I'm prepared for a rough first week and hoping it looks up from there.

2. Prepare To Booooooo!!!!!!

For the last decade or so, I've been booing LeBron James every time he touches the rock during a game at Verizon Center. It's a dying tradition that really needs reviving by much of the VC crowd. There have been a couple of others over the years: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Andray Blatche and Kwame Brown come to mind for completely different reasons, although last year I had a hard time making myself heard over all the Kobe "fans".

Last year, at his own urging, we added Kevin Durant to the list and KD's staying on my list this year, not for leading Wizards fans on (he didn't), but for telling the world that the crowd at Wizards home games sucks. I'm also adding Al Horford, who before this year was pretty much the most innocuous All-Star player in the league. This year, for choosing the Celtics over the Wizards and throwing some indirect shade at me and my few fellow die-hard fans, Al's on my list. I have November 9, January 24 and February 28 circled on my calendar for Durant and Horford. I'm going to have a lot more to say about this subject later this year in this blog. We have GOT to get Verizon Center louder, Wizards fans!

3. Cheering The Opponent

On the flip side of booing Kevin Durant, Al Horford and a number of other folks this year, I will actually be applauding some of our opponents for their past service to the Wizards organization. This year, Jared Dudley will likely get some polite very muted applause from me; I thought Duds was great in the first half of last season and I respect the smarts he brought to the court but he was here just one year and he seemed lost in the second half coming off the bench.

Getting slightly more love from me will be Garrett Temple, a guy the Wizards plucked from the D-League during the 2012-2013 season and who ended up staying for three more seasons. If there's a poster child for professionalism, hard work and smart play paying off, for me it's Garrett Temple. He managed to get a four year, $32 million dollar deal from the Sacramento Kings this offseason and I couldn't be happier for him.  Well, except the fact that he's playing for the Kings.

But the guy I'm handing out a standing O to when he returns to Washington this year is Nenê. If this Washington Wizards team as it's composed right now ever becomes anything significant (like more than back to back second round playoff appearances), Nenê was the guy who started it all for me. He was the first real professional basketball player in the locker room to teach our young guys about what it means to play and compete respectably in this league. Nenê was acquired at the trade deadline in 2012 and instantly the culture of the team started to turn. Know who was in our starting lineup the game before the trade deadline? John Wall, Jordan Crawford (no longer in the NBA), Chris Singleton (no longer in the NBA), Trevor Booker and JaVale McGee (barely still in the NBA). On the bench? Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Jan Vesely. Nenê gave this franchise credibility. My applause might last a bit longer than the typical returning Wizard. November 7 by the way.

Each of these three guys get one appearance in D.C. this year so I'll make sure I'm there for each one. There are a couple of other first time ex-Wizards out there. I would have considered adding Marcus Thornton to this list but in the most puzzling off-season move, the Wizards re-signed him. Interested to see how that's going to work out. I'm thinking mid-season release if his shot's not falling because he's for sure not playing any D.

4. Surprise MLK Day Game

I expected no home game for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday this season. After all, it's presidential inauguration year in D.C. in 2017 and that seems to always mean that the Wizards are visitors in some other city for this Monday matinee game. But not this year. I guess someone finally figured out it's logistically possible to host a basketball game at Verizon Center and swear in a new president on the same week. I mean, why not, right? It's not like they are going to inaugurate Hillary at Verizon Center. 

This game is special to me. It gets me out of work for a half day for a grilled cheese, some hoops and some pool before a little nosh at Rock Bottom Brewery and an early bed. It also makes me think about the fact that racial inequality still exists in this country in astonishing ways. Yes, I think of that and not that things are better than they were in the mid-twentieth century. We still have a ways to go here, people.

This year the Wizards are hosting the Portland Trail Blazer on January 16, the same team they got trounced by in the MLK Day game last year. I do not have a good feeling about this one, although the effort has to be better than it was earlier this year. The biggest decision for me will likely be what to do for dinner. There's no Rock Bottom this year since they are renovating the Ballston Mall and the whole place is shut down. And I didn't think that mall could get any more depressing. Shows you what I know...

5. Late Winter / Spring West Coast Swings

Every year it seems the Wizards end up starting on the road for a couple of games (that's true this year, it will again be game three before the Wiz play at Verizon Center) then build up a surplus of home slates before heading out on the road for a couple of brutal west coast swings. And frequently these road trips kill any sort of grand designs on playoff positioning (or even qualifying at all).

This season is no exception. There's a difficult four game, six night road trip in late March and early April to Los Angeles, Utah and Golden State. The only relief the Wizards get here is that they get to play the two L.A. teams back to back which is a change from prior years that had them heading to Los Angeles on two separate occasions.

But the road trip to watch starts March 7 in Phoenix. Four nights and three games later the Wizards will have stopped in Denver, Sacramento and Portland. And if all that wasn't enough, the NBA is making them spend an evening in Minnesota on the way back to D.C. for a fifth game. Seven days, five road games. Sure, four of these games are not against the best of the best in the NBA and I'm glad Portland is on the back end, but if there's a critical stretch in the season, this might be it.

6. Three, Not Four

Four games against each of the other teams in the Southeast Division? Check. Every year. Two games agains each team in the Western Conference? Check. Every year. That leaves 10 remaining teams and just 36 games, meaning four games against six of those teams and just three against the other four. And those extra games can make or break a season. Land a fourth game against the Knicks, 76ers, Nets and Bucks as opposed to the Cavaliers, Celtics, Raptors and Hawks and you could be looking at a two, three or four game swing in your win-loss record at the end of the season.

So what's in store this year? Well we got Cleveland (twice at home) and Toronto just three times but we also got Philly three times. Not too bad. We only have to play the far and away best two teams last year in the conference just three times. The fourth? Detroit, who showed they are up and coming. Look I'd rather have Boston three times but I'm OK with this draw. I feel there could be a game or two swing out of this. Thanks, NBA, for the schedule. 

7. Road Trip! Or Trips!!

The thing I love the most about the NBA Schedule release date is checking out which cities I can visit for road games to continue my quest to see the Wizards play in all the current NBA arenas. Last year it was Los Angeles and New Orleans; the year before it was Miami and Toronto. On the top of my wish list this year? Sacramento, followed by Memphis, Denver and Houston and probably Charlotte. I need some diversity out west and if I make it to a Hornets-Wizards roadie, I'll have seen the Wiz play in all five Southeast Division arenas.

So what does this year's schedule hold? Well maybe not everything I want, certainly not Houston on a Monday. Saturday is the ideal day to travel to road games because it's actually possible to make the trip without taking time off of work. The only Saturday games in cities I haven't watched the Wizards play during the coming season are in Detroit (OK, so not really; it's really Auburn Hills), Portland, Charlotte and Cleveland. Other intriguing possibilities are Friday night games in San Antonio, Sacramento and Utah. Maybe I'll wait until the D-League schedule gets released before settling on a game or two. Who's coming with? 

Now, all we have to do is wait. Like 11 weeks. Sounds reasonable, right? I mean that's only like 20% of a year. At least now I know. I've made my first pass through all this stuff tonight. now it's time for some real  studying. Can't wait for October 27! Let's go Wizards!!!

The 2015-16 NBA Schedule

Las Vegas Summer League ended on July 20. Since then it's been crickets for the true NBA fan. Unless your team had a minor signing or trade going on, let's face it, there's been nothing to pay attention to for the last three weeks or so. Until today.

That's right, today at 6 p.m., the 2015-16 NBA schedule was released. And while it's not like there's a ton of surprises in there (OK so there's one) there's at least something to study, dissect and talk and write about. O the joy! This is literally the best day in August.

But beyond the immediacy of the news and the excitement of poring over 82 dates over six months or so (I know, it's irresistible), the schedule release means there's something real to finally look forward to, a date on the calendar that can be circled and anticipated for the next two and a half months or so. And because I'm really really excited about the schedule release, here again are my annual seven takeaways from today's unveiling.

1. No Early Start.

For the entire summer, the NBA has been promising the players it would revise the schedule to cut down on the number of back to back games and the number of four games in five nights occurrences. I always figured they would do this by tacking on a week to the schedule and starting the season around October 20 instead of the normal, just before Halloween, season tipoff.

I was wrong. Apparently one fly in the ointment in this situation was TNT's stranglehold on Thursday night basketball. For the last few years the league has only been able to schedule two games on Thursdays so that network could show every game. This year, they allowed more than two games on the fourth workday of the week and that allegedly solved everything. Well, almost anyway. 

The number of four in five nights situations dropped from 70 occurrences last year to just 27 this year. Of course the Wizards are not one of the three teams without one of these. And in a strange twist despite the league's best efforts, the Wizards back to back situations actually increased, from 16 in the 2014-2015 season to 19 this year. Go figure. Should have known with the Wizards only playing three Thursdays.

On the flip side and on a personal note, if the season had started a week earlier than normal, I would likely have missed the home opener watching cars turn left around a 2-2/3 mile track in Alabama, but that's a story for another time. I guess I'm happy for now that TNT relented on the whole Thursday thing to keep the overall schedule the same length, even though it seems to not have benefitted the Wizards much at all.

2. Road Opener

Yep, for the tenth time in the last dozen years, Wizards fans get to watch our favorite team on television for their season opener. Well, unless we want to travel to Orlando on October 28. I'm not sure what the league's reluctance to let the Wiz open at home is, but it sure doesn't happen too often. The Milwaukee Bucks got their first game at home this year for the first time in 31 years. Maybe all it takes to make it happen is a new stadium deal?

Despite the first two on the road, the Wizards first dozen games this year doesn't look so bad, something I always check out for an historically slow starting franchise (can't figure this one out - players change, the result doesn't). Yes, there are games against San Antonio and Oklahoma City in the first 12 but they are both at Verizon Center. Of the remaining ten, nine are against Eastern Conference teams who finished sixth or worst in the conference last year. A slow start is a wasted start this year.

3. No Respect.

During the 2013-2014 season, the Wizards made the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and advanced to the second round for the first time since 2005. John Wall made the All-Star Game as a reserve. Things seemed to be headed in the right direction. And the Wizards were rewarded with ten appearances on national TV (in this case meaning TNT, ABC or ESPN; NBA TV doesn't count here). Finally we had arrived.

Last season, the Wizards again made it to the second round of the playoffs and might have advanced past the Atlanta Hawks if John Wall hadn't broken his hand (useless speculation, I know). John Wall STARTED in the All-Star Game and he made an All-NBA Defensive team. So now the popularity of the team is really picking up, right? And that has to follow with more national television exposure, right?

Umm…not so much. There are just five Wizards games on the national TV slate this year! FIVE!!!! The Minnesota Timberwolves and Los Angeles Lakers make their national debut on October 28. I have to wait until February 3rd this season to see the Wiz on TNT, ABC or ESPN. The Timberwolves (who were the worst team in the league last year as an aside) get the same number of appearances nationally as the Wizards. How is that even possible? The Lakers make 19 appearances this season. That's two fewer victories than they had all last year. Shouldn't be possible.

I'm not surprised. The NBA always cares about the teams which are the most popular, not the ones who play the best basketball. I just thought the Wall as an All-Star starter might have changed things. Guess not. And it doesn't really matter to me anyway. No other broadcast team can top Phil and Buck anyway.

4. A Lump of Coal in our Stockings.

Before tucking into some turkey and all the trimmings for Christmas dinner last year, I got to watch the Wizards take care of the miserable New York Knicks in a laugher in New York City. What an awesome Christmas present. How about a repeat this year? Yeah, not so much. I've complained enough already in this post. I'm not going to do any more. See number 3 above. Of course the Lakers are playing on Christmas. Sorry. Couldn't help it.

5. Welcome home! Or not so much.

For as long as I've been a season ticket holder, the Wizards have never fielded the same team two years in a row. So that inevitably means that some players who suited up for our home five one year are wearing a different jersey the following year. And some of those guys are bound to take the court against the Wizards sometime during the next season. Go down the list of returning players over the last 15 years and you'll find Richard Hamilton, Larry Hughes, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Trevor Ariza. This year you can add Paul Pierce, Andre Miller and Kevin Seraphin to the list.

Now usually I have a policy that if you turned down a Wizards re-signing offer and went with another team, you are getting booed; conversely, if you got traded away, I'll consider some polite applause to a standing ovation for you upon your return. I got yelled at by some dude behind me for applauding DeShawn Stevenson when he played for the Hawks and I know my former seat neighbors Adam, Brian and Jill cursed me silently inside when I showed up in my Brendan Haywood rookie t-shirt. Yes, I gave Gilbert some hearty clapping when he returned to VC with the Magic. And yes, I broke my trade and praise rule for Nick Young and JaVale McGee. I'm booing those guys every chance I get.

I'm not sure how I'm going to react to this year's crop of returnees. No doubt I'm not dissing Miller and Seraphin. I'll always be grateful for Andre's last second pass to Bradley Beal last year in Orlando and Kevin was for a while my favorite Wizard based on personality alone. But Paul Pierce? I'm torn. He did so much for the team's confidence in the playoffs last year, said he wanted to stay and then bailed. This is going to be a game time decision. First trip back to VC for Andre is March 25 with the Minnesota Timberwolves; I expect the New York Knicks will have #KSLife playing a prominent role when they hit town for the home opener on October 31; and the Clippers game is December 28. I'll decide by that point if I boo or politely clap for The Truth. He won't get more from me I know that.

6. The Only REAL Surprise…

Every year the Wizards play each team from the Western Conference twice. That's 30 games. We also play each of the four teams in our division four times. That's another 16 games. The remaining 36 games are split between the other ten teams in the Eastern Conference who are not in the Southeast Division, meaning every year there are four teams in the Eastern Conference we play only three times. 

While there's real fun to be had today in examining when we play other teams, when we have long home stands and road trips and when we battle teams in our own division (three Atlanta games in the last month might be huge for a potential Wizards' Division title - I'm still hoping), the most basic thing we didn't know before 6 p.m. today was who the Wizards are playing just three times.

This year, the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets will visit Verizon Center just once and the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will be visited by the Wizards just once each. I'm not upset about the lack of a fourth Bulls game, although I'd rather have two at home, but I'd feel pretty good about getting all four games against those other three teams. Indiana, Brooklyn and New York all finished in the bottom five in the Conference outside the Southeast Division. We are being robbed of a potential easy victory or two here.

If you ever travel to Toronto to watch the Wiz or for any other reason, go here for some food. And beer.

7. Traveling Time.

So here's the best thing about today's schedule release. Today's news is going to structure my life schedule (and therefore my travel schedule) for the six months from late October to mid-April. In those months, I'm going to need to get away for at least one pretty good length trip in addition to renewing my quest to see the Wizards play in all the NBA arenas in the league. That means I'm looking for long gaps in the home schedule and Friday or Saturday night road games where I can spend a couple of days out of town.

For long vacations, the time around the All-Star break looks wonderful. The Wizards are out of town or  just not playing at all from Saturday, February 6th all the way to Thursday, February 18th. Good road trip candidates to me this year look like Friday, December 11 at New Orleans; Saturday, January 30 at Houston; Saturday, March 12 at Denver; and/or Sunday, April 3 at the Los Angeles Clippers. Who's coming with?

So that's what I got this year. I'm refraining from an in depth analysis of the Wizards' chances to take the Southeast Division this year because, well, you know… October 28 is just 77 days away.

The 2014-15 NBA Schedule

Pretty much any day that features news about the Washington Wizards is a good one for me. So imagine the anticipation I felt yesterday when I heard the 2014-2015 NBA schedule was finally going to be released at 6 p.m. today. This announcement is a bit later than last year and I've barely been able to contain my excitement at work all day. This is the most thrilling news I've had since the end of Summer League. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not far from the truth.

Last year's Wizards campaign was arguably the best in my 14 years as a season ticket holder. We made the second round of the playoffs and managed to win a couple of games when we got there. For the record, that was only the second time in those 14 years that the team actually made the second round of the postseason; the 2004-2005 team won their first round series but promptly got swept 4-0 after that. So despite one fewer regular season win than the 45 win 2004-2005 team, I think last year has to be considered the best so far because of the two extra postseason Ws. The lack of success is sad, I know, but it's what I have. Last year I wrote about the schedule's release with a five year playoff drought at my back. This year, I have more hope.

So just like last year, today I tore into the schedule with as much enthusiasm as Trevor Booker pursuing a close rebound (or maybe Kris Humphries?). And also just like last year, here's once again a lucky seven things I see as exciting about this year's schedule.

1. National TV

I guess making the Eastern Conference semifinals affects your marketability. Last year's NBA schedule featured the Wizards in exactly one nationally televised game (NBA TV games don't count here). That game, vs. the Cleveland  Cavaliers on February 7 of this year, was ultimately bumped for a Portland-Indiana matchup meaning the Wizards ended up on zero nationally televised games last year. Coincidentally, that's the same number they played during the 2011-2012 season and the 2012-2013 season.

This year is totally different. The national broadcast slate has nine Wizards games on ESPN and an additional one on TNT. That's over 10% of our schedule on national TV. That means my dad will finally get to watch a few games this year; he's been without the Wizards since his local cable company dropped Comcast SportsNet Washington a few years ago and the NBA League Pass rules still black out our games in his area. That also probably means we'll start to develop a bandwagoning fan base just like all the popular teams in the NBA do. I'm still watching Buck and Phil on Comcast but it's exciting to get some national recognition.

2. Hot Start?

Over the past 14 seasons, the Wizards have gotten off to some historically bad starts. I mean like really bad. Last year, I highlighted the first dozen games as especially tough (they were!) and thought if the team managed to get out of those first 12 games with six wins, that we'd be alright the rest of the season. The team managed just four wins in the first 12 but ended up in the playoffs anyway but these poor starts have got to stop at some point. Digging yourself out of a hole every year just isn't helping and I genuinely thought we looked unprepared in some of our early season games last year.

This year looks a little easier, although with this team, you never know. Our first 12 games this year get us Milwaukee and Orlando twice and Detroit once. We also play the suddenly vulnerable Indiana Pacers twice in that span. The toughest games are probably Dallas, Toronto and Cleveland. It is absolutely imperative we come out prepared to win most of our first 12. I'd say eight is the minimum and nine or ten is preferred. We brought pretty much everyone back. We have to start strong this year.

3. The Rivalry Is Back

I know, I know...the folks in Cleveland are going to claim that there never was a rivalry. Just like their beloved turned traitor turned returning home hoped for hero LeBron "Crybaby" James claimed. Let's get one thing straight: Wizards fans like nothing better than beating a LeBron team, but there's something special about beating a Cleveland LeBron team. Crab dribbles. Soulja Boy. Taunting. Whining and crying to the officials in disbelief over every non-call. Let's get it on!

Anderson Varejao is the only Cavalier left from those teams that beat the Wiz back to back to back in the mid-aughts, but sprinkle in a little Mike Miller (who DeShawn Stevenson once chided for wearing LeBron sneakers while they both played in DC, although play is a dubious term for Miller's conduct while here) and we have something juicy to look forward to. I'm hoping the Miami fan from Cleveland I met last year in Section 415 is sitting in front of me at Verizon Center again this year but I'm guessing he's not going to be wearing red and black. Bring on the fair weather Cavs fans; bring on the "King"! The first home game vs. Cleveland is November 21. Friday night, national TV. Can't wait!

Oh…and one more thing. I just feel bad for Brendan Haywood. This guy has to get some kind of buyout or release or something, right? I can't see B Wood playing for a LeBron Cavs team.

4. Happy Holidays

Many casual fans of the NBA consider Christmas Day to be the unofficial start of the NBA season. College football is over (well except for the 865 bowl games to be played each year) and the NFL season is winding down so non-committed sports fans everywhere are casting about for some sort of pro ball to watch and for a lot of people, the NBA is just what they need. Of course, those casual NBA fans are misguided in my opinion but arguing about it is like getting upset with fans showing up to VC in Cavs 23 jerseys. It's just not worth it.

Regardless of the opinion of casual fans, Christmas Day is huge for the NBA. They are the only gig in town that day, usually featuring five games blanketing the whole holiday so there's complete wall to wall NBA coverage from noon to midnight. Playing on Christmas Day is huge. And this year, the Wizards are back on the holiday slate for the first time since 2008 when they played the hated Cleveland "Don't Call It a Rivalry" Cavaliers. It's good to be important enough in the court of public opinion I guess that the Wizards made it this year. I'm just glad it's a road game, because there's no way my mom's letting me leave on Christmas morning to go watch hoops. I'm going to have to ask for a half hour delay in Christmas dinner time as it is.

5. MLK Day!

Simply put, this is one of the best days of the year when it's not a presidential inauguration year. The Wizards have a 2 p.m. game that day against the Philadelphia 76ers, who we seem to play a lot on this day. Good times with a great friend while the rest of the non-government employees are hard at work. Almost enough said. The importance of this day is never lost on me when I am at an NBA game. They make you think hard about real issues that still need a lot of work on this day.

6. Division Games

Every year the Wizards play each of their four division opponents four times and this year is no different. But what is different this year is that the Wizards actually have a shot to win the division, something that hasn't happened since 1979. But if they are going to be serious about doing that, they are going to have to improve performance against the four other teams looking to either take the title for themselves or play spoiler. There's no question in my mind that we can't afford a letdown against any division opponent. Four of the five teams in the Southeast Division made the playoffs last year and I could see any one of those four taking the title this year.

We start playing our division in game one of the year, on the road in Miami and play an additional seven division games by the end of the calendar year: two against the Heat, three against the Magic and one against the Hawks. I can't necessarily believe I'm writing this but these three teams have to be considered the third through fifth teams in our division. The biggest challenge is likely to be with the suddenly very good Charlotte Hornets, who we don't play at all until February. If there's a couple of months that will determine if we have the right stuff to get a banner hung in Verizon Center for the first time since the Carter administration, it's February and March, when we play the Hornets four times. We have to do better than a 1-3 record against that club this year. We might be looking at a second place (or worse) division finish if we don't.

My friend Bryan in Milwaukee with the statue of the Fonz last March. It's cold in Milwaukee in March!

7. Road Trips

The best thing about NBA schedule release day is that I get to plan my fall and winter. I've made a habit the last few years of traveling to Wizards road games or going on mini NBDL road trips to discover some places in the U.S. that I just don't get to go to that often (or ever). I love traveling whether it's to watch basketball or just to get away but I won't travel when the Wizards are at home. Last year I managed to squeeze in a mid-December trip to Iceland as well as hoops trips to Philadelphia, Milwaukee and New England.

This year, it looks like there are a couple of good traveling opportunities. As I knock places off my NBA list, the options get fewer and fewer each year but it looks like there is a good possibility of squeezing in a mid-December trip to Miami to see how many fans are left in that area now LeBron has bolted for home. There also may be tempting games against the Clippers in Los Angeles and maybe Memphis in early April. Better than March in Milwaukee and Maine, but the NBDL schedule may change my plans. Either way, it looks like I'll be able to add to my portfolio of cities.

So that's it. That's all I have to say about the schedule within the first four hours of its release. Now all I have to do is get through the next 77 days. Getting the shakes already!