Posts for category ‘2008-09 season’

flickr/Keith Allison

Darius Songaila, the coaches dream and a consummate teammate. I’ve made no secret that he’s been one of my favorite Wizards (if not ‘#1′) over the past couple of seasons … perhaps to the point where I’ll one day purchase a D-Song customized Wiz jersey and appear on Straight Cash Homey.net (although I’m not exactly the jersey wearing type). Songaila will undoubtedly be missed after being traded to Minnesota just prior June’s draft. But at least I can rest a little more comfortably now that he’s been moved to a good team in the New Orleans Hornets, where his contributions will be appreciated.

Songaila was unjustly criticized more than any other Wizard. Sure he was slow, white, and non-athletic … you know, the traits people only judge with a glance without digging below the surface. However, most who closely follow the Wizards realized the level of Songaila’s professionalism, leaving his detractors looking like an uneducated bunch.

Statistical critics will point to Songaila’s porous rebound numbers. And yes, for a 6’9″ bruiser, a dirty-working tough guy, they were far below where we would have liked them to be. His 5.4 rebounds/36 minutes last year was a career low, finishing below every Wizards big man, and a mere 0.3 points above Javaris Crittenton.

In the Basketball-Reference.com database, since TRB% (an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabs while he is on the floor) started being kept in ’70-71, only 14 players 6’9″ or taller have had seasons where they averaged between 19 and 20.6 minutes per game (Songaila = 19.8); less than 5.5 rebounds/36; and had a TRB% less than nine. The list ranges from your “non-big” bigs like James Worthy and Clifford Robinson (at age 40), to your traditional stiffs like James Edwards, Jarron Collins, Brian Scalabrine and Matt Freijie, to a big like Antoine Carr who was more concerned with scoring than anything else, to some cats you’ve probably never heard of before.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up eighth is Andray Blatche. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas | Javaris Crittenton | JaVale McGee | DeShawn Stevenson | Nick Young]

flickr/wizardsdotcom

DMX’s “Here We Go Again,” is the first song that plays in my head when contemplating Andray Blatche. Of course, DMX’s career went the way of the gutter with a litany of charges, crack-induced federal agent impersonating, car-jacking attempts at JFK, and jail time. Evidently Earl Simmons is trying to find the lord now. Andray has certainly been through the fire, but people are still waiting for his first coming, much less a resurrection.

Sure, I’m skeptical of ‘Dray, but no more than the next guy, or the guy after him, or the dozens in line after him. I really want Blatche to succeed. Honestly.The success of the Wizards depends on several aspects, and he is very high on the prioritized list.

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September already? What has it all gone? This was supposed to be the ‘Summer of George‘ … what happened to all the things I was supposed to do? Post work drink soirees in the sunlight … trips to the beach … pick-up basketball games outside. They are no more (well, almost).

At least football season is here, and more importantly, Wizards training camp is less than a month away. Instead of crying over the passing Summer’s spilt milk, I suppose I should appreciate the crisp fall before the bone-chilling wintertime bus rides arrive.

At the beginning of August, I took time to remember the Wizards goings-ons during 2008′s August. Initially, the idea was to cover subsequent months in the days following that post. However, I decided it would be better to do a month-by-month reflection … thus, I now present ‘Past Year Wizards Memories: September 2008′ (with some other historical Sept. tid-bits included):

Sept. 6, 1963: After playing one season for the Chicago Zephyrs, Don Nelson’s contract was sold to the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up seventh is Nick Young. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas | Javaris Crittenton | JaVale McGee | DeShawn Stevenson]

flickr/Keith Allison

Nick Young has a fighting chance to earn minutes in ’09-10, but an unforgiving window of opportunity. Flip Saunders loves his veterans, but I’m confident he’ll play the better man. Might the coach be able to look past Young’s defensive inefficiencies if he becomes more consistent on offense? Only if Young learns to create for others, doesn’t slow down ball movement, and is able to heat up quickly in limited minutes.

After Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, Nick Young is the most diverse offensive player on the Wizards. He’ll sky to dunk on heads. His single crossover will send defenders in different directions. He can hang and double clutch to get around arms. His stop pull-back and pop jumper makes people look silly. Hisfadeaway can’t be stopped. And if Bean Burrito‘s play on offense in the summer league proves to be true growth, his ability to hit spot up threes and run off screens could make him a tough assignment for anyone in the league.

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Whew. It’s over. Should have figured that the end would involve the Wizards blowing a lead. I hacked out my initial thoughts on NBC Washington, some more are below, and I’m sure there are more reflections to come.

Historically, most will point to injuries and youth and say that the 08-09 Wizards were destined to fail. Some will also tell of interim coach Ed Tapscott “biting the bullet” and “taking one for the team.”

Not saying that Coach Tap didn’t try his best, and by all accounts, including my observations of his interactions with the media, he’s a respectable and intelligent guy….he’s just not a basketball coach.

The fact is that the Wizards regressed under Ed Tapscott, evidenced by youth such as JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Andray Blatche overtly expressing me-first attitudes in wanting to get theirs. Whatever happened to working on your game, sharing with your teammates, and playing as a team (even in the face of losing)?

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Just over three minutes left in a close game, Wizards up by one point against an almost equally bad team, the thought crossed my mind….do I hope they lose?

I knew the Clippers and Kings, two of the other top three worst teams in the league, were playing each other last night. It would be “nice” to have better chances in the draft.

But just as quickly as the thought entered my mind, it left. All along, I’ve been against “tanking” or even hoping for more losses just for the possibility of maybe having a better shot at the top pick/Blake Griffin. It just doesn’t seem like good basketball karma, not like it matters with the Curse O’ Les Boulez anyway. But still, we’re talking principles…..principalities.

So eff the lottery it was, I was pulling for my Wizards to win, because that’s what fans do. And a win is what I thought we were getting when Juan Dixon squirmed for a layup with 47 seconds left, putting the Wiz up 96-90.

But nothing ever comes easy. Two straight Raptor threes later, the few of us on the Bullets Forever game thread were screaming for the ghosts of Anthony Parker, Michael Ruffin and Mo Peterson to be exercised.

So Juan Dixon, as the third option, hit an off-balanced fader in the lane with 19 seconds left….he probably traveled….Wiz up two. Game winner? Nope. Jose Calderon was allowed to saunter right down the lane for a lay-up…..splendid. At least the Wiz would get the last shot, one of the Dagger! variety.

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The Wizards were out of the game before it even started, and I really wish I had bet online. They came out lacking a ton of focus and turning the ball over….key ingredients to a disaster pie.

Cleveland was also aware of everything the Wiz wanted to do offensively before they did it. Javaris Crittenton would come down the court tapping his chin and Mo Williams would do the same. Guess the “intricate” offense (simplified for the youth, I know) of Ed Tapscott and Wes Unseld, Jr. won’t fool many.

To make matters worse, Washington was always a second behind on open passes, a telltale sign of the team going through the motions….a “we got this team in DC, so who cares about Cleveland?” type attitude.

Not to belittle the effort of some individuals, but as a team, it sucked a big one last night….what’s new? The game was no where close to the final 12 point margin.

Enjoy the screen shots.

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I really don’t care for Reggie Miller…..the television commentator. I certainly appreciated Reggie when he took down the hated Knicks with playoff heroics, once giving ol’ Spike Lee the choke sign, telling him to shut the eff up.

But Reggie on TV is just a spiraling, gangly, screeching, whiny sac of hot mess, and he’s often wrong too (well, maybe not often, but surely much more than should be allowed for someone in his position).

Reggie is no Mark Jackson, Doug Collins, Hubie Brown, or even his sister, Cheryl Miller, who is much, much better at her job.

I’ve heard some refer to Reggie as a “turd” and a “weenie bag”…and that’s just the censored opinion of the one person audience who is the tenant of my apartment.

Reggie Miller has frustrated many before, and he lived up to his reputation this past Thursday as the Cavs and Wizards matched-up on TNT.

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Have you missed something on the Wizards in the past 10 days?

Well, you’re in luck…because below is a massive, massive list of links and the best of what was said about the Wiz. Enjoy.

Be sure and check out the Wiz-Cavs Screen Shot Memories on Bullets Forever.

Things You Like To Hear From Gil Arenas
“I just want to flow through Antawn and Caron. They’ve been holding the ship down, so I’m not gonna come in here and step on their toes. I’m just come in here, get them the ball, get some of the young guys the ball, show them the right way to play basketball . . . I don’t need to go out here and score 30 because everybody knows I can do that. Like I’ve said before, my worst day, I can probably average 10 and 10.”
[Wizards Outlet]

Songaila The Hero
Then [Brendan Haywood] paused, started grinning and yelled out “THEN IT WAS THE WHITE KNIGHT! DARIUS SONGAILA, THE WHITE KNIGHT! BACK IN THE GAME! WHITE KNIGHT!!” Songaila sitting next to Haywood getting his shoes on and gave a fist pump and grinned.
[Wizards Outlet]

Songaila isn’t one for emotion, but he really let loose on Thursday, hooting and hollering like he was playing for the Lithuanian national team, not in some relatively meaningless game for a lottery team. “You could feel the energy building up in the arena,” Songaila said. “We were all fired up. I think that definitely showed on the court.”
[Wizards Insider]

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When Prince is bored, he plays basketball; when the Wizards are bored, they lose.

Went to the Wizards-Heat game on Saturday night…..it might have been the most boring game I’ve ever attended in life. But I can’t exactly put my finger on why (sans Agent Zero notwithstanding)…..rather, why the team decided to give such a lackluster effort.

The crowd was unsurprisingly quiet….the absence of Gilbert Arenas, even from the bench, did it’s job to suck the wind out of the phone booth. Word from Nick Young, via Wizards Insider, was that Saturday was the two-year anny of Gil’s knee injury, and that Arenas was talking about it all day. So, naturally, he didn’t play. That’s Gil and oh well, can’t blame him.

Brendan Haywood looked good, dunking several times with that wrist. Finger pointing and communication in the lane is up 30%, if I had to guess.

Nick Young got hurt……looked pretty crazy when it happened. And not to accuse Jamaal Magloire of anything, but the GF said it looked like he went all WWE with a scissor leg-lock on Young. Glad he seems to be okay and that Arenas’ 4.04 didn’t jinx him.

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The Memphis-Washington game was a couple days ago, but these outsourced screen shots just came in on the plane from Bangalore.

But then he ordered a Five Dollar Footlong and got comfortable.

Rumors of Gilbert Arenas’ possible presence spread
along Beale Street and the masses gathered.

The Wizards moved the ball well in the beginning, but the defense gave Ed Tapscott heartburn, the throw-up feeling, and the ‘it hurts when I swallow’ throat.

The Swarth of Marc Gasol was swagger inducing.

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In a season that has shocked and awed….but in a bad way, as if Wizards fans were just your regular, innocent Iraqi civilian……there couldn’t be a better present heading into the off-season than Thursday’s win against the hated Cleveland Cavaliers.

(Well, a little lottery luck, or perhaps a win next Wednesday in Cleveland would be pretty effing gravy too.)

And while the dub can be attributed to an overall great team effort (Jamison being a warrior, Butler spilling Tuff Juice, Arenas creating with his presence, Haywood’s defensive communication, Young’s gutsy late layup, McGuire’s stat stuffing, McGee’s dunks, and Blatche being around and stuff), the consensus on the Bullets Forever game thread was that the game ball would go to my hero, Darius Songaila.

Songaila came up pretty big in the game’s early going, scoring eight points during his first 7:47 in the game (checked in for Haywood at the 2:12 mark of the first quarter).

But D-Song’s ‘Shine Time Swag’ came in the 4th quarter.

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Ya’ll heard Gilbert Arenas came back?
Naw really….no April Fools.

Well, in case you missed it last Saturday, I outsourced some screen shots and they just arrived from Bangalore. Enjoy.

He hugged out all the troubles of the world today with ‘Sheed.

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