After Saturday’s Spurs game, reader Joe Sill emailed me some praise about Nick Young. And with perfect timing, Young put together a very solid 21 point effort on 9-14 FGs last night in a win against the 76ers, his plus-15 second best to that of Gilbert Arenas. Young came off the bench in the first half, started the second half in place of Andray Blatche, and overall did some nice things defensively.

Below is what Joe wrote about Nick and emailed to me this past Sunday.

Coaches’ take on Nick Young’s excellent plus/minus

Read more »

Got home, watched the first half of the Wizards-Sixers game, put it on pause, and left for the gym with thoughts of Groundhog Day dancing in my head.

I came back feeling better about myself because I got exercise and later felt even better with the pleasant surprise of a Wizards win, fueled by much improved play in the second half.

Washington has swept the season series with Philadelphia, a team just as bad in general and worse defensively. I’ll take it.

Below is what I saw.

Quick Thought:

Read more »

In anticipation of tonight’s Wizards game against the 76ers in Philadelphia, I exchanged some questions with Carey Smith of Philadunkia, the ESPN TrueHoop Network Sixers blog.

I answered a question from Carey about the Wizards’ struggles in general, and attempted to encapsulate the season’s problems in a nutshell. I also answered a question about Eddie Jordan and defense, which I spoke with the coach about when the Sixers played in D.C. on December 22nd.

Head over to Philadunkia to read my answers. Carey’s answers to my questions are below.

(TAI) — How is Elton Brand coming along? Has he overcome his slow start? Is he ultimately better coming off the bench?

(Philadunkia) — Brand has been a beast lately — three double-doubles in December and one near miss (25 & 9); 18 & 6 per over his last 4 games –, so I would say yes he has overcome what many perceive to be a slow start. If Eddie Jordan would just play him more and maybe call the occasional set play for #42, I’d bet that Brand would really fill up the stat sheet.

Read more »

I started tinkering around with this trade idea last Wednesday, but never followed up with publishing a post. Today, with Yahoo!’s Marc Spears reporting that the Utah Jazz could face a roster shake-up and Mike Jones, of Mike Jones Sports, reporting that multiple Wizards have asked to be traded, i.e., more than just Mike James, it seems like an appropriate time to float this proposal out there. And no, this is not like Bill Simmons’ silly Utah-Washington-Cleveland idea where the Wizards would lose Haywood, Jamison, Butler and James and only get Shaq and Boozer in return … although my idea is almost as drastic.

So here goes …

Utah has the Carlos Boozer issue hanging over their head, the desire to remain cheap, and is a decent team unwilling to take a big step backwards.

Washington is not in a good way. If you read this blog site, you know this. Shot out to any readers in the Philippines who know this (they really, really like the NBA over in the Phillippines).

Read more »

One cool thing about Google Analytics is the ability to get stats on the network locations of visitors. Most come from big network providers (“locations”) such as Comcast, Verizon, Cox, BellSouth, RCN, etc.. Other stats indicate visitors from specific government entities or large companies.

I really appreciate all readers from the networks above and every place in between, but today, as we continue to bring in 2010, it’s all about the colleges. Why? Because Andray Blatche says so. C’mon Son.

Below are the top 50 colleges and universities that visited Truth About It.net in 2009 (and a map below the jump). Thanks to all for stopping by, but mainly, stay classy [insert school mascot or dorm name here].

1. university of maryland
2. occidental college
3. george mason university
4. georgetown university
5. george washington university
6. virginia tech
7. university of california, los angeles
8. howard university
9. harvard university
10. northwestern university
11. johns hopkins
12. university of missouri-columbia
13. college of william and mary
14. haverford college
15. university of southern california
16. university of virginia
17. temple university
18. american university
19. stanford university
20. virginia commonwealth university
21. new york university
22. columbia university
23. university of pennsylvania
24. university of california san diego
25. duke university
26. university of massachusetts
27. indiana university
28. university of washington
29. university of maryland at baltimore
30. university of texas at austin
31. james madison university
32. university of miami
33. boston college
34. pennsylvania state university
35. ohio state university
36. boston university
37. princeton university
38. university of pittsburgh
39. university of toronto
40. washington university (in saint louis)
41. massachusetts institute of technology
42. university of california – berkeley
43. rutgers university
44. university of california irvine
45. university of wisconsin madison
46. cornell university
47. oxford university
48. university of baltimore
49. mcdaniel college
50. carnegie mellon university

I’ve plotted the entire list, obviously excluding Oxford University, on the map below. You can also find a link to it here at Google Maps.

Read more »

After today’s practice, Flip Saunders again praised Caron Butler for his work on the court. The Wizards coach did the same after last Thursday’s practice and also after Saturday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

I wrote a brief piece about Caron’s recent efforts for ESPN’s Daily Dime this morning, it’s number eight in the right-hand column. Here’s the beginning:

Prior to practice on New Year’s Eve, and before the Gilbert Arenas media-market saturation, Flip Saunders pulled Caron Butler aside for a conversation.

“We had a talk about how he’s played and how I thought he could play,” Saunders said. “Maybe I’ve given him too much credit, been soft on him. But I said that’s not going to happen anymore.”

Saunders wouldn’t go into details about his issues with Butler, but on the court, Caron has often looked for his own opportunities instead of trusting the offense and has lacked a full commitment to defense. Butler responded with what Saunders called his best practice since the coach was hired last April.

Read more »

Prior to Saturday’s 97-86 loss to the San Antonio, Flip Saunders indicated that for the most part, Brendan Haywood would guard Tim Duncan straight up and they would run one-and-a-half men toward the Spurs center “at times.”

Duncan finished with an efficient 23 points (10-16 FGs), seven rebounds, and three assists in 36 minutes.

Flip Saunders

After the game, I asked Coach Saunders asses how the defensive plan against Duncan worked. He said:

“Well we didn’t want to double at all. Every time we doubled, we gave up a three-point shot, which we weren’t supposed to be doing. So, like I said, when you play against a good team and you don’t stay with your game plan, you mess up, you pay the price.

Read more »

The story of Andray Blatche has become lost in this absolute mess of a season for the Washington Wizards. Blatche wasn’t exactly “the” headliner coming out of the summer and into training camp, the knee of Gilbert Arenas was. Still, Andray was seen as very key to hope for success this year.

Some have called Blatche a ’20-10 waiting to happen’, but he has only proven to be a frustratingly perpetual unknown. With this being his fifth year since drafted, questions wondering if Blatche would finally mix maturity and focus with his amazing skills and athleticism were getting national attention.

From becoming ‘Seven Day Dray’, to switching jersey numbers, to discussing improved working conditions under Flip Saunders (as opposed to Eddie Jordan), to late night practice sessions with Sam Cassell, to talking about being more consistent, to even getting inspiration from his mom,  Blatche has displayed more focus on the court this season.

Despite starting off slow in Saturday’s game against the Spurs, Blatche continued to keep his head in the game, making hustle plays like drawing offensive fouls on both DeJuan Blair and Richard Jefferson in the third quarter. Andray ended up with five points on 2-6 FGs, six rebounds, a steal, an assist, a turnover and three blocks in 27 total minutes.

Still, in his post-game press conference, Flip Saunders was not totally satisfied with the progression of Blatche’s game and his decision making on the offensive end:

“I’d like more for Andray to stay around the basket. He keeps floating back out, the reason we want to go that way is to have a big that we can put down there.

Read more »

6:10:27 PM: I finally left the locker room to go eat. They could probably do just fine with one less shark in the water.

6:12:13 PM: BTW. Flip Saunders said that Gilbert Arenas will be available to play tonight.

6:13:49 PM: Flip said Antawn is a bit stiff, but was hoping he could loosen up & play. Jamison seemed loose enuff bouncing around locker room w his ipod

6:18:20 PM: Flip Saunders: “From my standpoint, and as I told the players, we’re still going to get judged by what we do on the court.”

6:21:59 PM: RT @rashad20 Ex Wiz & current Spur Roger Mason said he didnt know how bad defensive habits were until he got 2 the SA & learned right way

6:23:43 PM: Wizards going big tonight. Flip is starting Arenas, Butler, Jamison, Blatche & Haywood.

6:28:28 PM: Flip: “We’ve had two hard, very intense practices and I hope there’s some carry-over from those practices.”

Read more »

It’s all there. Gambling thousands on chartered planes. A certain $111 million point guard ducking out on debt owed to JaVale McGee. Pranks where guns are laid out in a statement of machismo being called “horse-play.”

It all derives from Gilbert Arenas and some of his teammates are becoming increasingly weary of his apathy toward consequences. Hard to believe that this guy has yet to grow up.

It’s all there, even what Ernie Grunfeld might do with the team.

Go read everything at Mike Jones Sports. Our friend, formerly of the Washington Times, has put out the best reported story on the Arenas-Crittenton gun situation yet. What are you waiting for? Go read already.

[Also see what Mike Prada has written at Bullets Forever, 'Trying to make sense of the Gilbert Arenas/Javaris Crittenton incident']

I’ve been kinda kicking myself for not attending the ‘Gilbert Gun-Gate’ practice at the Verizon Center yesterday. Seems that I missed out on a bit of ambush journalism. It will likely be an even crazier circus tonight as I go cover the Wizards-Spurs game … much like what my man Rashad Mobley describes on his blog:

“Instead of 10-15 media members fighting for quotes and interviews, there will now be at least 50 people who know NOTHING about the Spurs or the Wizards, they just want to sensationalize an issue that we STILL don’t know the truth about. They will clog up the locker and media rooms with their clueless facial expressions.”

Michael Lee also has a good report from Friday’s circus on Wizards Insider.

Still, you have to make the best of a situation, right? Maybe I’ll cover the media that’s trying to cover Arenas. But I’m more interested in how this team is going to address Tim Duncan; can Haywood guard him straight up? Or if Flip Saunders thinks his zone will contain Tony Parker.

The video below is from the local D.C. CBS affiliate. Sara Walsh of WUSA9 leads into a report from someone else at the Verizon Center by saying, “The startling allegations drew plenty of media attention, but few responses from the guys on the team.”

Read more »

Gilbert Arenas tweeted a lot as he brought in the new year. He acknowledged that his gun thing is serious, but that he doesn’t do serious things. He said the Shaq rumor wasn’t true, but indicated that even so, panties, blowies and massages were supposedly at his disposal. Arenas almost complains about the drama in his life, yet embraces it because it gives him the attention he so seemingly and desperately craves. He was just being the crazy (in a good way) Gilbert we know, but yet don’t quite understand.

There are a couple reasons to document Gilbert Arenas’ first 24-hours of Tweeting. For one, you might not be one of his 13,338 growing army of followers, students in the study of Gilbertology. Secondly, Tweets can be erased. This site isn’t going anywhere. And if it does, there’s still always the Internet Archive: Way Back Machine. Also worth considering: It’s quite possible that Gilbert Arenas will deny that he was behind his January 1st 2010 Tweets (@gilbertarenas is not currently a verified account). But knowing Gil (sorta), I doubt it.

During the height of Arena’s Tweets on New Year’s Day, while many were planting a palm-smack on their forehead or pleading with him to stop, I wanted Gilbert to keep going. Not because it provides good blogging fodder, although it does, but more because Arenas was being allowed to be human. Twitter offers celebrities such as him, and normal folks such as you and I, the unfiltered freedom to share thoughts, etc..

Sure, everyone should be careful what they say in a public venue, but with $111 million dollars on your side, you don’t always have to go tip-toeing over people’s sensitivities when it’s your own life. Who is to say that Arenas must shut himself up? Or speak through a mouthpiece, an agent, such as Drew Rosenhaus … could you imagine if he was involved?

I’m just as pissed about the gun incident as the next passionate Wizards fan. These dudes are messing with the franchise I’ll still follow long after they are gone. I imagine I’ll still write something ripping Arenas and Crittenton once all the facts come out. But folks, Gilbert is not a basketball-playing robot. Plus, his tweets are pretty entertaining, albeit a tad immature, a bit naive, and sorta egotistical. Read more »

When it comes to the cut-throat world of the internet, where thou who posts first is like the man with one eye in the land of the blind, many have focused on being the first to post/blog/write/scribe/opine about the Gilbert Arenas-Javaris Critteton brandishing of weapons. I wanted to be the first to Photoshop about it.

In the Arenas/Crittenton comparison to the movie, Way Of The Gun, I suppose Gil would be Ryan Phillippe and Javaris would be Benicio del Toro. I’ve never seen the movie, but might own it. I sporadically buy $5-dollar movies from Target and leave them unopened on a shelf.

But if you Wikipedia Way Of The Gun, (BTW, is ‘wikipedia’ now a verb like ‘google’?) you’ll find that one critic, Richard Corliss of Time, described the film as, “a two-hour gunfight interrupted by questions of paternity.”

Seems fitting. Kinda.

Oh, and there’s not really a ‘Photoshop Theory’ here, I  just wanted to entice you with a headline, such as “Wizards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton pull pistols on each other” like the NY Post.

Read more »

When I first learned about Gilbert Arenas and guns on Christmas Eve, way back when it was as “innocent” as him getting the firearms out of his humble, grotto-encased abode because he didn’t want them around his new kid when he already had another kid for a couple years, I tweet-dedicated a Christmas song to him … Onyx, Throw Ya Guns.

This latest news warrants its own playlist. And since the good folks at WizzNutzz are making mixtapes for JaVale McGee, I figure why not join in on the fun.

This one’s for you Gilbert and Javaris. I don’t know much about astrological signs, but it seems like Capricorns don’t get along … especially when it involves gamblin’.

Oh yea, Happy Birthday Javaris. You turned 22 on New Year’s Eve. Hope you woke up feeling well today. Arenas will turn 28 on Wednesday.

Oh, and Gil, I’m sorry that the media is camping outside of your house. On a positive note, you made it man … Whitney Houston levels. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a chopper with live video.

Read more »

“The Washington Wizards take this situation and the ongoing investigation very seriously.  We are continuing to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA and will have no further comment at this time.”

Nothing much here from the franchise, just an acknowledgement.

I was g-mail chatting with Tim Varner of the Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell about Wizards and guns earlier. In discussing the inevitability that the real story would have eventually come out (by the way … check out what Mike Jones has to say about this on his new blog), Tim mentioned that it might have been better if the team fully disclosed from the beginning to make it seem like they were taking care of the situation. I might be inclined to agree.

Seems like such a weird/tough thing to handle from media & PR perspective. Perhaps the first instinct is to cover up bad news that is, “unprecedented in the history of sports,” according to the head of the NBA Players’ Association, Billy Hunter. Who knows.

I’ll have some more thoughts on this situation to come.