Tonight’s match against Memphis at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA might provide the most packed crowd I’ve ever seen for an NBA preseason game.

Sure, the excitement of Gilbert Arenas’ comeback tour and the new-look Wizards are probably enough to fill the 7,500 seat arena … I mean, pictures of the Wizards are literally on the side of the building (see below).

But the main draw might be Allen Iverson, the prodigal son returning to his home state of Virginia (as a Memphis Grizzly of all things). Iverson grew up in Hampton, VA, about 80 miles away from Richmond.

I kind of heard a secondhand joke about Iverson this weekend, stating that he hasn’t been in Richmond since … [insert item from troubled past]

• … since he must have been thanking then VA Governor Doug Wilder profusely for giving him clemency and detention instead of jail time due to charges related to a 1993 bowling alley brawl (which was in Hampton, but Richmond is the state capital).

  or
  

• … since 1997 when Iverson was arrested and spent the night in a Richmond jail. Police found weed and a gun in his car after pulling it over for going 90 mph in a 65; Iverson was a passenger, not a driver.
  
  or
  
• … since 2006 when Iverson bought his mom an ABA franchise that was supposed to be called the Richmond Warriors. The team became the Ballerz before playing briefly in 06-07. They then moved to the Hampton Roads/Norfolk area, but haven’t really been heard from since.

Read more »

In anticipation of tonight’s match-up between the Wizards and Pistons, the third on the season, Jessie from the Pistons Nation agreed to answer a couple questions I had about his team. Read on….

1) The Pistons have gone 9-9 since Iverson has taken the court…..meanwhile, Mr. Big Shot and the Nuggets are 16-4….care to offer any hindsight on the trade?

• Did you like it in the first place?
• Would you do it differently?
• Prior to trading Chauncey, did you seriously think that Detroit had championship material?

Personally I’m not a huge fan of the trade on the hardwood. Chaunce was my favorite Piston, and I’ve never been a big fan of AI’s improv stylings. I don’t believe he fits the team, and it shows on the floor.

Read more »

NBAE/Getty Images from nba.com/wizards

NBA.com has a series of GM surveys posted, and Eddie Jordan received 8% of the votes on the question: ‘what head-coach makes the best in-game adjustments?’. That puts him behind Popovich, Larry Brown, and Carlisle, and tied with three others for 4th.

A couple other Wizards were recognized:

Caron Butler

• An ‘other receiving votes’ in best at moving without the ball – Rip Hamilton was first, Ray Allen was second….Kobe, Manu, and Paul Pierce were among the others.
• Tied for 2nd at best in defending the passing lanes. Allen Iverson was tops with 26.9%, Butler tied with Trevor Ariza at 11.5%.

Read more »

Breaking your hand is not very conducive to blogging, hence, some project(s) I’ve been working on have come to a crawl. They’ll get done eventually, but until then, here’s some good readin’ for ya.

First Links: Washington Wizards material

Same ol’ Wizards…just bringing players back, not making a drastic, knee-jerk moves…..status quo, right? That’s a fallacy says the Pradamaster of Bullets Forever.

What? Dan Steinberg caught a glimpse of DeShawn Stevenson’s new tattoo of a bridge across his stomach and failed to capture it on camera for the DC Sports Bog?

[UPDATE: Steinberg has a whole blog entry on DeShawn - but still no pics - most off-the-wall quote: "Myself. I'm the new Dennis Rodman. Without getting in trouble." -DeShawn Stevenson.]

Good ol’ Pete Treperinas of the Bleacher Report (fyi – I have no idea who Petey T. is) has picked the Wizards as one of five NBA teams that will disappoint in 2008-2009. Grouped with the Nuggets, Hawks, Clippers, and Knicks? Yuck.

Read more »

One sad tiger.
flickr/zeandroid

Congratulations to the Kansas Jayhawks for persevering to win the NCAA championship last night. Today, everyone has been concentrating on the missed Memphis Tiger free-throws, and well, they should. No, the game wasn’t exactly lost or won on a single play…..they rarely are. But it seems like we are conditioned to pick out the most egregious mistake and focus on it like it’s our one and only. But aside from this season, Memphis has had a tumultuous relationship with the free-throw line in the past.

Let me take you back to March 12, 2005. Memphis, with a record of 16-14 entering the Conference USA tournament, won three straight games (against Saint Louis, Charlotte and USF) to set up a championship match against 28-4 Louisville. Before the CUSA tournament began, Memphis had no chance of making the Big Dance and was probably going to come up short of the NIT as well.

The championship game against Louisville was hard-fought and down to the wire. Of course, free-throw shooting was crucial for both teams. With 6.7 seconds left, Louisville’s Brad Gianiny knocked down only 1 of 2 FTs, giving the Cardinals a 2-point lead, 75-73. Memphis had plenty of time to push the ball the length of the court for a basket, and they did…..to the horror of Louisville Coach Rick Pitino, Memphis’ Darius Washington Jr. was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. How could Pitino’s star player, Francisco Garcia, do such a thing?

Zeros on the clock, down two, three free-throws: Make two, you go to purgatory. Make three, you lead your team to the glory of the NCAA tournament. Miss two, and your team starts packing for the NIT. Was there more pressure on Washington’s FTs than on the FTs in last night’s game? I would say so. Yes, I’ll concur, there is much more on the line in a national championship game than a conference championship game — that’s an obvious distinction. However, last night’s outcome did not solely rest on FTs. Mario Chalmers hit a helluva shot and the Jayhawks fought tooth and nail back into the game. Against Louisville in ’05, the weight of his entire team, his coaches, his family, the Memphis Tiger fan nation, rested on the shoulders of Darius Washington, Jr.

Read more »