A D.C. pic and some links …

[500 block of Florida Avenue NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

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Andray Blatche won’t officially turn 24 until Sunday. Yes, he’s just 24. And like many people any age, ‘Dray is ready to party. And that party is going down Wednesday night.

This year, according to the flier below, Dray will be appearing in uniform, along with Lil’ Dray (wearing backwards red cap to the lower left), and several others, many of whom are listed on the promotional material. E. Taylor, Taz Wube, Rashad Jenkins, Serge Sejour, Todd Hamilton, DJ Quicksilva and Rara The Party Starter … they’ll all be there.

[via eVIPlist.com]

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In case you weren’t aware, John Wall did things today … while in New York for NBA rookie orientation and a photo shoot, etc.

First, let’s watch a video of Wall being asked by some guy to choose between several different paired options at the photo shoot. [via @NBA] The most surprising: he chooses ‘to receive’ over ‘to give’ … maybe he doesn’t like to doling out assists that much after all. Here are some of his other choices:

• Chocolate over vanilla.
• The beach over the city.
• Text (always) over phone calls.
• Lil’ Wayne over Jay-Z.
• Internet over T.V.
• Appetizers over desserts.
• Fact over fiction.
• Defense over offense.
• Ricky Bobby over Ron Burgundy.

I’ll give Wall the benefit of the doubt on taking Lil’ Wayne over Jay-Z because he’s young. But Ricky Bobby over Ron Burgundy? Blasphemous. Okay, let’s watch …

Second, Wall appeared on ESPN’s First Take this morning. Really nothing much to see during this awkward/uncomfortable interview … unless you want to see Skip Bayless awkwardly/uncomfortably do the John Wall dance at the end. Uhhh … yeeeaa.

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Ever find yourself wondering when and if Kirk Hinrich wore a white home Wizards jersey with an Abe Pollin commemorative patch? Me neither. But thanks to the magic of Photoshop, or another graphic design/photo editing software that a tech guy insists is better, and my observations of the Verizon Center hallways while covering a Washington Mystics game on Sunday, you now have a where and a how, just not a when, because it’s actually never.

If none of that makes sense, good … I’ve lost you. See, much has been made of what’s displayed on the interior and exterior of the Verizon Center. Well, not really. It was only made over Gilbert Arenas and how his banner was removed from the outside of the arena, his face removed from pre-game video montages, and his jersey removed from sales availability. His image was scrubbed, they said … except for the various photos that were still posted around the locker room, and on the hallway wall outside an entrance, across which there’s also an entrance to the Wizards’ practice facility. So Gilbert really never left the arena. (Remember when it seemed all but guaranteed that he’d never play in a Wizards uniform again?)

Anyway … the pictures on those walls, which display several members of the team, must be dynamic and resourceful, because they’ve changed several times over the past months. And well, if a player hasn’t exactly appeared in a real game, the pictures must be adjusted. So let’s take a look at a couple more guys who’ve never played in a Wizards uniform, in a Wizards uniform…

John Wall (no patch) …

And I really wish there was a better picture of him. Not that this is a bad picture, but it looks off. Maybe it’s the awkward fist pound motion he’s making.

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Washington Mystics head coach Julie Plank was the epitome of business as usual after her team’s big 80-71 win on Sunday against the Seattle Storm, which just happens to be the best team in the WNBA. But the coach still understood that the victory was crucial, not only for a team still learning a lot about themselves, but also for their playoff hopes.

“It just felt like a championship, a playoff-type game,” said Plank after the win over the previously 25-5 Storm at the Verizon Center, pushing the Mystics’ record to 19-12, the most regular season wins in franchise history with three games to go.  “We’ve won six out of eight games, and this is kinda how we were playing before the All-Star break,” Plank continued. “We’re in a good rhythm right now, and we know that every game matters …. we haven’t clinched a playoff berth yet.”

“Yet” was evidently the operative word. The Connecticut Sun later lost to the Indiana Fever on Sunday, clinching a playoff berth for the Mystics likely before Plank even left the arena, and also marking another franchise first — the first time the team has ever earned consecutive trips to the WNBA playoffs.

So how did the Mystics do it? It wasn’t easy. On Friday in Connecticut, Seattle rested several of their top players. Point guard leader, and third in the league with 5.6 assist per game, Sue Bird played just over six minutes. Swin Cash, averaging 14 points per game, second on the Storm, also played just over six minutes. And two-time MVP Lauren Jackson, third in the WNBA averaging 20.9 points per game, didn’t even play; the reason cited was back spasms. Seattle lost to a Connecticut team that Washington has been trying to fend off for a playoff berth by 20 points.

Sunday was a different story. Jackson showed every bit of her natural skill and feel for the basket en route to 14 points, Cash looked to be unstoppable both inside and out, leading her team with 15 points, and Bird was a straight surgeon on the hardwood –  Jason Kidd with a jump shot — on her way to notching 12 points and seven assists. The Storm came to play.

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We have to assume that many of those on LeBron’s “list” (i.e., his mental notes) are of the media variety, or jersey burning blokes from Cleveland. Of course, there are also the Barkleys and the Jordans of the world who have criticized LeBron – I guess James changed his jersey number because he wanted to include No. 23 amongst his note taking.

Now, it seems that JaVale McGee could possibly be making a similar, but different list. Or perhaps he’s just venting some frustrations on the Twitter machine. Or maybe he’s simply proclaiming his curiosities about so-called reporters and their credentials (somewhat of an anti-shoutout alert). I invite you to decipher a listing of recent, consecutive Tweets by @bigdaddywookie.

Reporters who never played the game of basketball or never succeeded in it… Shouldn’t b able to report on it #FACT
@bigdaddywookie

im coming from a point of view of most reporters seriously feel as if there opinion counts on wat someone that doesnt fit into a certain….
@bigdaddywookie

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China vs. Puerto Rico highlights – August 15, 2010

I woke up Sunday morning thinking I was going to see two Washington Wizards play in the Madison Square Garden World Basketball Festival exhibitions leading up to the FIBA tournament.  Center JaVale McGee was going to go against France (after not playing in Saturday’s scrimmage against China), and Yi Jianlian was going to lead the Yao Ming-less Chinese team against Puerto Rico.

I may as well have went 0 for 2.

First,  McGee announced via twitter that he had been cut from Team USA (for the second time) along with Oklahoma City Thunder forward, and former Georgetown Hoya, Jeff Green.  Then, Yi channeled his inner John Starks, an shot 3-for-15 from the floor, en route to an 11 point, six rebound performance.

Since McGee’s last performance as a member of Team USA was broken down already by Kyle Weidie, we’ll focus on Yi.

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Ted Leonsis is pleased as punch with the Yi Jianlian acquisition (or a juice box — the above picture evidently advertises juice, and not milk). Can’t blame him too much … although, there is certainly reason to be skeptical of Yi. I do think he will be a pleasant surprise. It just all depends on your baseline standards for being surprised.

In linking Michael Lee’s Sunday story about Yi in the Washington Post on his blog, Ted’s Take, Leonsis writes:

He is 7 feet tall. He is fast. He is talented. He is still developing.

He will toughen up through international play. He can shoot the ball.

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A D.C. picture, links and commentary …

[Howard Theater - 620 T St. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

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By now you may know that JaVale McGee has been cut from Team USA … and it also served as another example of news coming directly from a player, via Twitter. This is somewhat disappointing (him being cut, not that word came by means of Twitter). Many signs/media reports gave you the feeling that McGee would at least be taken to Europe to participate in training and exhibitions leading up to the FIBA tournament in Turkey, and it would have been good for his development. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to go, knowing he wouldn’t make the final 12. Or perhaps the team thought it would be best for him to train stateside under the direction of the franchise. Regardless of the reason, a lot of eyes, D.C. and beyond, will be on McGee in 2010-11 because of this Team USA experience. If he becomes more of a student of the game, he can really be special.

Dan Steinberg conveys pretty much the gist of the Redskins’ Brandon Banks doing the John Wall dance after scoring a punt return touchdown in their exhibition opener against the Buffalo Bills. Banks did the dance in front of his boy from Raleigh, John Wall, no less.
[DC Sports Bog]

Even the website of a Lexington, Kentucky NBC television station is covering Banks doing the John Wall dance.
[Lex18.com]

Which makes me wonder … how many corny television montages of various folks doing the John Wall dance are we going to see this year? Probably can’t be more than the number of media members who attempted the famed Albert Haynesworth conditioning test themselves.

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The Washington Post’s Michael Lee called JaVale McGee’s limited time in the Team USA intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday night an “uneven” performance. You could say that — he had two points (1-2 FGs), two turnovers, a foul and a single defensive rebound in 9:40 of court action. You could also say that the defense McGee played on the final play, a sudden death game-winning lob dunk by McGee’s opposition, Tyson Chandler, was ‘so’ JaVale … as in typical. Let’s take a peek …

The Sudden Death Play

It’s a loose ball on the perimeter after a long missed shot by the blue team and McGee, in white in the middle of the lane, looks to have good intentions in going for it (even though he’s no where near being the closest person to the ball).

Ok … here, the loose ball is clearly about to bounce to No. 7, Rajon Rondo … time for JaVale to get back into guard/protect the basket mode, right?

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ESPN’s John Hollinger and Chad Ford recently completed the latest edition of their ‘Future Power Rankings.’ (Found here, requires ESPN Insider). Like previous versions, they begin their rankings with the following introduction:

The Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams received an overall Future Power Rating of 0 to 1,000, based on how well we expect each team to perform in the three seasons following this season.

In determining the Future Power Rating, Hollinger and Ford rated each team in five categories. The sum of those ratings = a team’s Future Power Rating. From the article, here is an explanation of each category:

PLAYERS (0 to 400 points): Current players and their potential for the future, factoring in expected departures.

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A D.C. pic, links, and commentary …

[Somewhere in NW D.C., I can't remember ...]

My latest piece for SB Nation DC is called, “Steve Francis Doesn’t Even Own The D.C. Courts. Just Ask Curt Smith.” I probably was a little harsh on Francis, could be dubbed a hater. I’ll be that. His career fizzled because he couldn’t adapt his immense talent to play a winning brand of basketball as a point guard leader. Then, he comes out of the woodwork claiming he’s the best D.C. has had to offer since Len Bias. People are going to take issue with that, and one of them happened to be me. Oh well … it is what it is. Go read.

Seeing A Red Future

Ted Leonsis has essentially told everyone to chill out about changing the team name from Wizards … he’s a new owner, he has a lot to accomplish, that process takes a couple years to accomplish anyway (and it must be approved by other NBA owners). But Leonsis does like red, so one might expect a change in the team colors sooner than later.

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Paula and Pamela McGee, aunt and mother of JaVale McGee
[photo via mlive.com]

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I was going to throw this in a link post (ShareBullets), but it seems worthy on its own. ESPN’s Chris Sheridan has posted a full update from Team USA training camp day two on TrueHoop, but I’ll quote one particular aspect that’s certainly of interest to Wizards fans. Sheridan writes:

After practice, I spent some time chatting with JaVale McGee, who was cut from the team after mini-camp in Las Vegas but then was invited back when Brook Lopez withdrew. McGee had an interesting story to tell about rifling through the dresser drawers at his grandmother’s house when he was a young boy and coming upon the Olympic gold medal was won by his mother, Pam McGee, for the 1984 U.S. Olympic women’s team. McGee’s aunt, Paula — the twin sister of Pam — was cut from the ’84 team, and McGee’s younger sister, Imani Stafford, 16, won a gold medal earlier this summer for the United States at the under-17 girls World Championship in France.“He’s trying to do what he can do,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “and if we don’t make the final roster decision here, which I don’t think we will, I hope he continues on with us because he’ll keep getting better. At that spot, Tyson (Chandler) is really playing well, and you know what Lamar (Odom) will do when he gets into game shape. But if something goes wacky, to have another big guy is not a bad thing. That’s where he fits in. He’s in the discussion. And when we started camp in Vegas he wasn’t even invited. So he’s made that much of an impression.

Whether JaVale will actually get a shot at his family’s third gold medal in international play remains to be seen … pretty cool to be in contention nonetheless. And if McGee doesn’t make it this year, he’s putting in a lot of work for the future. It looks like he should at least pack his bags and prepare to play in Team USA’s three exhibition games in Europe before the FIBA Worlds in Turkey — versus Lithuania on August 21st and Spain on the 22nd, both in Madrid, and versus Greece in Athens on the 25th.

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Yi Jianlian and Team China didn’t fare too well last night … they got routed 86-62 by Andy Rautins and Team Canada in an exhibition match held in Vancouver. (Worth typing again) … China got routed 86-62 by Canada and ANDY RAUTINS! (who led his team with 19 points). The Canadians were up 41-16 at halftime by the way, so China actually won the second half 46-45.

“It’s like we fell asleep in the first half,” Yi Jianlian told the press … not exactly what you want to hear from your number one player. You can read more about the game here, here and here, but basically Canada dominated most aspects of the game — they out-rebounded China 44-25, out-shot them 56.4% to 29.1%, and out-scored the Chinese in the paint 42-10. Wow… miss Yao Ming much?

Yi scored 15 points and only grabbed five rebounds in 28 minutes to go along with two assists, one turnover, one block and two steals. Even worse, he shot 3-12 from the field (1-3 from three, 8-12 from the free-throw line). Reports say Yi was doubled … a lot. And I imagine he will see most international defenses focus on him since he’s China’s best player. In such a scenario, it’d probably help if Yi found his teammates more (or, perhaps, played inside more). Again, Yi only had two assists, and has never been known as the best passer anyway — his NBA career 1.2 assists per 36 minutes is worse than Nick Young’s career rate of 1.7/36 … that speaks volumes. Worth noting that China only had nine total assists as a team.

It will be interesting how Yi eventually transitions from his role as the main guy for his country this summer to someone who must play off others and concentrate on doing the little things for the Wizards.

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[John Wall waits for his NBA debut.]

If you’re reading this, chances are sky high that you are a devout Washington Wizards fan, and you are longing for some exciting news in the month of  August.  You’ve enjoyed following JaVale McGee’s music career along with the big news that he will be playing with the USA Basketball team. You got excited when John Wall said he was coming back to DC, after spending some time in North Carolina, and it made you want to watch highlights to whet your appetite. You learned more about Yi Jianlian, you waxed nostalgic about Antawn Jamison, and you felt teased when only the preseason schedule was released.

Well my Wizards fans, long no more … the 2010-2011 schedule is here for your viewing pleasure.

But surely you didn’t think we were just going to list the schedule, and then let you navigate it all alone did you? Here at Truth About It, we are absolutely dedicated to breaking down the significant match-ups, the upcoming, compelling stories, and the must-see-TV moments that will make this 2010-2011 season one that you will not and cannot miss.  We also have nothing else to do until McGee and the rest of the USA ballers play on Thursday night.

>>Openers

• Season: Oct. 28 at Orlando (TNT)
• Home: Nov. 2 vs Philadelphia

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Links and a picture (or two) …

[The reluctant dad, preparing to chase - Logan Circle, Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

@LINKS

It’s about roles, not positions.
[Bullets Forever]

John Shuhmann writes about JaVale McGee’s chances with Team USA:
[NBA.com]

McGee’s skill set is actually a better fit for what Krzyzewski wants from his centers than Lopez’s are. McGee is a 7-foot beanpole who can jump out of the gym, the kind of guy who can effortlessly recreate Michael Jordan’s cuff dunk in a Summer League game. With his athleticism and speed, he can patrol the paint and run the floor for a team that wants to win with aggressive defense and transition offense.

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