[John Wall tough travels to the hoop at Capital Punishment - photo: K. Weidie]

[Editor's Note: Summertime hoops is raw, folksy, grassroots. NBA players have been putting on shows nationwide, and people have resoundingly enjoyed them. They've featured small gyms with varying levels of organization and management -- if anything, these games have given us an appreciation of the sourcing it takes to smoothly run an entertaining pro basketball event in a big arena. By the time this is all over, people will be craving the beauty of organized game play and coaching strategy battles.

Another exhibition concluded today at Washington, D.C.'s Coolidge High School, I watched it online via ilinksports.com. "The Clash of the Superstars," it was dubbed, because city alliances weren't really involved. A team featuring John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Durant beat a team with Michael Beasley, Kemba Walker, Jeff Green, Greg Monroe and others 144-128. Truth About It's Rashad Mobley and John Converse Townsend covered the match and will be providing stories at some point in the future.

Until then, let's take a look back at "Capital Punishment," held at D.C.'s Trinity University back on August 20. With the video below, TAI's Adam McGinnis brings the rawness that makes these summer hoops games likely so comforting for those mysterious basketball gods, but not comfortable enough to where they'll be content with watching them forever. -Kyle W.]

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Commentary, links, John Wall, a poll, (not that kind of poll), etc., …

BaSkEtBaLl NeVeR sToPs

Dude, bro, chum, mate, chap, bloke, scallywag… Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Chris Paul (probably as a New York Knick), Deron Williams … John Wall will never be an All-Star in the East.

I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Guys change conferences, there always seems to be someone who can’t play for one reason or another, and if Wall continues to show his talent, the coaches got to vote him in a couple times, right? But he must/should win first, which will be a tougher task to do consistently than make the All-Star team.

I took part in ESPN.com’s 5-on-5 Friday. We had to take the over, under, or a push on a variety of NBA Southeast Division potential occurrences. Regarding the Wizards, the over/under was six All-Star games for John Wall. I took the push. You can read it here, but what do you think?

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Commentary, links, a picture, a photoshop, etc…

[This was one of my favorite pictures that I took at Capital Punishment back in August;
James Harden drawing a late-game shooting foul against DeMarcus Cousins.]

> Of course…

Andray Blatche has a coloring and activity book, of course, images of which via Bullets Forever‘s Mike Prada — It’s for the kids and all. At the DC Sports Bog, Dan Steinberg has noticed that Blatche is très muscular in the renderings. Here’s an example:

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EuroBasket 2011 is going on and several current, ex, and loosely connected to the Wizards are involved. Let’s go…

Darius Songaila – Lithuania

[via EuroBasket 2011 profile]

Here’s the point: LOOK AT THAT BEARD!

Digest it, behold it, listen to it whisper to you.

In terms of D-Song, well, he’s doing D-Song things: He’s ranked second at EuroBasket in fouls with 4.2 per game. Otherwise, he’s shooting 48.7-percent from the field, surely on long pick-and-pop jumpers just inside the three point line. His 3.3 rebound average per 15.2 minutes a game would be 9.9 rebounds per 45.6 minutes. So typical of Darius.

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Links, commentary, a D.C. photo…

[Key Elementary School - NW Washington, DC - photo: K. Weidie]

Eventually, soon, I would like to make a more comprehensive post regarding Javaris Crittenton’s Tweets on this here site. There’s a problem with his Tweets… in that it’s Twitter. It would be very hard to gather context from each and every one of Crittenton’s Tweets, much less the small sample used for my piece on TrueHoop, or even from any number of people publishing thoughts and ideas on the social media tool.

To put it clearly: Nothing can be gathered, inferred, or deduced from Crittenton’s Tweets. They are simply an additional window into the life of a figure whom so many people are now trying to futilely gain information about. Yes, the Tweets came directly from his mind, but we don’t know what kind of filter he was putting his thoughts through… just like we don’t know what type of filter athletes, or anyone, puts themselves through during interviews and other media interactions.

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>>

“Don’t show that weirdo no love homie.”

That’s what Javaris Crittenton wrote on Twitter in response to a Tweet sent by @TazWube on August 14. A piece I’ve written regarding Crittenton’s now-defunct Twitter account resides on ESPN’s TrueHoop.

Wube is a famed D.C. club promoter with a Wikipedia page that reads like a press release. His exact Tweet:

@TazWube #np Spend it/2 chainz– he says he brings all his guns to work–gibert arenas… Makes me remember I miss Agent O.. 6’4 and unstoppable!!

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Pictures, commentary, links, more pictures…

WE HAVE HERE: JaVale McGee dunking over Gary Neal at Capital Punishment, but John Wall should also look out below…

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Commentary, links, randomness…

Unfortunately, good people, John Wall tragically lost his right arm in Tuesday’s earthquake. (#Moment of Silence)

Seems like the Jerry Stackhouse owned by @n1coolguy didn’t fare so well either.

 But hey, Stackhouse has long been a fixer-upper … See? Good as new.

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Links, commentary, shared items, celebrations…

  [photos via urbanpartylife.com]

After recently contemplating life, today, August 22, is Andray Blatche’s birthday. He is 25-years old, which is an entire quarter of a century of life experience. Along with Blatche, the likes of former Washington Bullets Terry Catledge and Michael Curry, former Maryland Terp Obinna Ekezie, along with, naturally, SNL’s Kristen Wig, Wu-Tang’s the GZA, singer Tori Amos, football’s Bill Parcells, and John Lee Hooker of blues legend also all celebrate birthdays today.

The celebratory festivities took place this past weekend at Dream Nightclub in Miami Beach… AND DRAY GOT A WIZARDS BIRTHDAY CAKE! (Old man Wizards logo, but new colors!)

According to Basketball-Reference.com, 48 NBA players have seen over 8,600 minutes in over 380 games, scoring over 3,800 total points and snagging over 2,000 total rebounds, in their NBA careers before the age of 25.  Of those 48 players, Blatche ranks 41st in PER. Well, here’s to the future… Read more »

[Previously, Nick Young, among others, have wondered about his seeming inability to pass. Now, we are curious about Young's absence from the hyped summertime showcase, Capital Punishment.]

Nick Young’s much ballyhooed participation in Capital Punishment certainly brought the right amount of attention to the circumstance. Young, being the Washington Wizard with the most ties to Los Angeles, was certainly missed, and curiously so. What might remain a mystery is why exactly he didn’t take advantage of the chance to represent this hometown, L.A.’s Drew League team, against his professional city, D.C.’s Goodman League team.

Given that the restricted free agent has made strides playing more within an offensive system and more intelligently on defense over the past two seasons in Washington, efforts which have only gone to greatly increase expectations that will come with the price tag of his next contract, Young might have done himself well to play in the exhibition game held in D.C. No one knows if David Stern had Chinese government-like monitors keeping track of NBA league personnel web traffic, perhaps it being undesired that they, including Wizards brass, even watch Capital Punishment, much less make contact with players. Nonetheless, Young endearing his talents in front of the DMV crowd, albeit for the West Coast squad, could only have been a positive thing. That is, unless, the constant prodding of Young by former teammate and sometimes friend Gilbert Arenas, now publicly available on Twitter, shuttered confidence weary of being overshadowed by the other talent on the court.

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