Last night, Washington National and San Francisco native, Nyjer Morgan, attended the Wizards game to put on for his Golden State Warriors.
Known in gentlemanly circles as “Tony Plush,” the center fielder showed up at the Verizon Center dressed in a warrior outfit and sat adjacent to a similarly dressed bro, who some have speculated to be the exact physical appearance opposite of Mr. Plush. Both rooted for the enemy.
The presence of Morgan was first noted on the Nationals blog, The Nationals Enquirer, which has a screen-grab of Plush throwing up a numero uno. Site photographer Adam Douglas was also able to get a couple shots of the baseball player.
After a recent Detroit Pistons practice, Ben Wallace said,“They say losing builds character, I say losing sucks. That’s what I think.”
The Wizards are just as bad as the Pistons … same 24-53 record that’s currently tied for fifth worst in the NBA. Actually, one could say the Wizards are worse because their expectations going into the season were much higher, according to most experts.
But regardless of Washington’s downtrodden ways, the question of losing, ‘Does it build character or does it suck?’, was worth posing to several Wizards before Tuesday’s game against the Golden State.
Al Thornton, Quinton Ross, Randy Foye, Cartier Martin, Mike Miller, Cedric Jackson, Shaun Livingston and Earl Boykins answered … well, not really Boykins. Video below the jump …
As previously mentioned, Cedric Jackson, who signed with the Washington Wizards from the D-League on March 31st, went to Cleveland State. The Vikings are in the same conference as the Butler Bulldogs, whom they beat for the Horizon League title in 2009 to advance to the NCAA Tournament; as a 13-seed, Cleveland State won its first round game against 4-seed Wake Forest. But in that ’09 Horizon championship game, Butler’s Gordon Hayward had seven points, Matt Howard had 14 and Shelvin Mack had 18. Meanwhile, Cedric Jackson threw up 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds … and got the 57-54 win.
His opinion being qualified, I briefly chatted with Cedric about Butler and the 2010 NCAA championship before Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
[Editor's Note: For all of you sneaker heads out there, Adam Douglas, Truth About It.net photographer, got some shots of what the Wizards and Bulls were sporting last Friday night. Also check out Adam's pictures from the game in his latest edition of "Under The Hoop."]
Eight seconds left in the game. Your team is up three points, having just hit two free-throws making the score 90-87. Your opponent must go the length of the court, i.e., no timeouts left in the NBA or a regular made basket scenario in college.
Do you foul and put your opponent on the line for two-free throws (no fouls to give/in double-bonus)?
Or do you play straight-up defense, allowing the other team a chance to tie the game with a three?
Opponent can be a factor, and that did come up when I posed this basketball strategy question to several Wizards before Sunday’s Nets game: Mike Miller, Quinton Ross, Cedric Jackson, James Singleton, Al Thornton, Randy Foye, Cartier Martin and JaVale McGee. Here’s what they had to say:
“Each room sleeps two people, and there is one bathroom for every two rooms,” said unit supervisor Pat Braun. “He will have a locker and bureau for his things. Each room has a desk. You have to bring your own TV. There’s only one to a room, and it can’t be bigger than 19 inches.”
But if Arenas wants to watch the NBA on TNT, he’ll have to venture out of his room, which won’t have cable.
Here’s what I’m thinking. Gilbert will have the other residents of this facility eating out of his hands in no time. He’s a people person, he can’t help himself. Hopefully he’ll be able to help those he meets as much as he should be helping himself. Also bet that he’ll be fueling his competitive fire at the ping-pong table and on the basketball court. [video below the jump]
[Editor's Note: Truth About It.net photographer Adam Douglas brings another edition of "Under The Hoop" -- because Wizards games aren't just about basketball, they're about the whole fan experience, and Adam brings you that experience from up close with pictures and commentary. The below post is from last Friday's game against the Chicago Bulls.]
Give Andray Blatche credit. On Sunday evening he achieved a career-high eight assists in just the first quarter. Blatche’s passing to start the game against New Jersey set an example for his teammates and established a tone of ball movement for the entire night. Andray finished with 13 assists and his team had 28 total on 38 made field-goals en route to beating the Nets 109-99.
As you can imagine, Blatche being the post player that he is, one who often leads the Wizards in scoring and shots (20 points on 5-18 FGs on the night) and one who can rebound when he applies himself, probably came pretty close to achieving his first career triple-double.
It wasn’t to be, he finished one rebound short.
With 24 seconds left in the game, one excruciating chance for 10 boards presented itself, but Blatche fouled Brook Lopez going for a long Yi Jianlian three-point miss. Rats. Andray skipped down the court in frustration after the blown whistle while Lopez, of the 11-win Nets, simply waited for the game to be over.
Some quotes and pictures from before today’s Wizards game versus the New Jersey Nets …
Flip Saunders on Andray Blatche:
“Dray, his scoring production in the fourth quarter isn’t what it is in the first three quarters because teams lock in more.”
“Early in the game Dray’s definitely a lot more ready to take cuts, work a little bit harder … late in the games, he gets pushed out a little bit.”
“The number of minutes he’s played, he hasn’t played this. All these guys are going through a huge learning experience of playing more minutes and going through situations and learning through that whole process.”
The Wizards lost in typical Wizards fashion on Friday against the Chicago Bulls. Through three quarters, they fought hard against a team with playoff urgency … well, actually, the Bulls never really looked like a playoff team. But still, it wasn’t too shabby for the Wiz to be down just 76-75 after three quarters to a team 14 better in the win column.
Then the fourth quarter came. Before it started, Washington had 19 assists to nine turnovers and out-scored Chicago 40-32 in the paint as well as 19-10 on second chance points.
But in the final period, the Wizards didn’t score until the 8:29 mark when Fabrico Oberto hit a couple free-throws, and only scored two points on a couple free-throws after the 4:26 mark. Overall, Washington only made two field-goals and were out-scored 19-12 by Chicago to close out the game 95-87.
So what was the problem?
Flip Saunders ran the gambit of reasons after the game … the Wizards got tired, the Bulls did a good job of protecting the basket, etc.. But the most damning accusation handed down by the coach is the fact that his team became selfish.
JaVale McGee has the unique combination of athleticism and coordination to go along with size and length that is matched by few, if any, in the NBA. The kid has a 7’6″ wingspan, and that’s his 2008 pre-draft measurement. I’m sure he’s grown since then.
Watching him play can be a sheer baffling beauty because of his natural ability, but also frustratingly maddening because of his lacking basketball instinct. It makes you wonder, this is the guy whose mom was a WNBA player, the guy whose baby-carriage used to saddle up next to the hardwood?
Maybe all of that is just the equivalent of sleeping with the book under your pillow to study for a test. It’s one thing to be around the game all your life, but that doesn’t necessarily matter if you’re learning the wrong things.
Flip Saunders calls McGee a Catch-22. Partly for McGee’s freakish ability to score, the good part, and on the other hand, for his playing self-centered basketball, for shooting every time he touches the ball.
After Friday’s 95-87 loss to the Chicago Bulls, where McGee took 14 shots to score 13 points off the bench, but also to go with nine rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes, Saunders spoke about McGee’s patience on offense.
Cedric Jackson doesn’t know the plays and Flip Saunders hasn’t exactly seen what he is able to do, the Wizards have yet to have a practice since Jackson has joined the team, but expect the rookie to be on the court against the Chicago Bulls tonight.
Before the game, Saunders said that he’ll probably play both of his new players a little bit, Cartier Martin along with Jackson, to “see what they can do.” The coach also mentioned that his guys know they have to play well because the team they’re going against certainly have a sense of urgency right now. Currently the Bulls are two games behind Toronto Raptors for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
In the meantime, Jackson, having previously spent time with Cleveland and San Antonio this season, said he’s just looking to find a home and show the coaches what he can do.
But much less a home, Jackson has been looking for a jersey. Tonight he gets to don the #9 jersey which was originally planned for him. After waking up at 4 am to catch a flight from his D-League home of Erie to Detroit to New Orleans on Tuesday, the Wizards were only able to get him a nameless #88 jersey to wear on the bench against the Hornets. So, maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t make his debut with the Wiz on Tuesday.
And even though the Cavaliers and the Spurs are in vastly different situations, Jackson said his time with the Wizards is a “great opportunity” for him because he’s getting a chance to learn a new NBA system. “The Cavs and the Spurs have somewhat of a similar system, so just coming here it’s different to learn the plays when I get out there to run the team,” said Jackson before tonight’s game.
This is Capt. Jeff Bower, been with the ‘force for years … too long to count. He was a Lieutenant forever, but then finally said, “I’m getting too old for this sh*t,” the prerequisite about of times and Bam! … he was promoted to Captain. You’ll never find him without a wad of chaw tucked in his cheek … Chattanooga Chew is the preferred brand, but he’ll settle for Brown’s Mule should the situation become dire. Cap’n Bower has often impressed with his ability to drink coffee and eat donuts while he’s working on a fat tobacci wad. Otherwise, he holds the distinction of being from Pennsylvania while also looking like he’s from Pennsylvania.
In another life, Bower is the current head coach/GM of the New Orleans Hornets and coached Rik Smits at Marist.
This is Rufus McKenzie. Rufus has looked the same exact way since the sixth grade — haircut, body-type and all — except that he’s now bigger, much bigger. Rufus was “discovered” outside of a Louisiana Wal-Mart where he was accepting a challenge to see how many shopping carts he could pick up at once. He could tell ya how many he lifted, but then he’d have to kill ya. Ever since, Rufus has been a bodyguard/roadie on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He’s also holds the Arkansas state record for amount of Lil’ Smokies consumed in one settin’ (that’s “sitting” for you city-folk). Again, he could tell ya how much he ate, but he’d have to kill ya.
In another life, Rufus is really named Aaron Gray and is a center for the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association.
[Editor's Note: Truth About It.net photographer Adam Douglas once again brings you an excellent edition of "Under The Hoop" -- because Wizards games aren't just about basketball, they're about the whole fan experience, and Adam brings you that experience from up close with pictures and commentary. The below post is from last Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz.]
Andray Blatche knows who might butter his bread at the free throw line.
‘Dray and his best boy Nick Young shake it out during introductions.
