{The Dallas Skyline - flickr/Victor F}

Game night is finally here. It seems like only yesterday I was pouting about my favorite league in my favorite sport ending and it’s back already.

I must admit, just under three hours before the Wizards tip off their season against the Mavericks in Dallas, I’m not exactly as pumped as I feel I should be. A lot of it probably has to do with Jamison being injured and my current level of optimism being a bit more guarded as a result.

Meh … all of this will probably change once the ball is thrown in the air and I’ll be as excited as a kid on Christmas Eve (or whatever holiday you may celebrate where you know will be getting presents the next day). Read more »

Some recent links (with commentary) and forgotten notes from last Friday’s preseason game against the Mavericks at the Verizon Center in D.C. …

Caron Butler and a very tall clown {via WashingtonWizards.com}

Evidently on Sunday morning, Caron Butler was slated to co-chair the ‘Sister to Sister’s Bike For The Heart’ event with D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty at the Verizon Center in Washington. But the Wizards also had a preseason game in Toronto, Canada at 3 pm that afternoon. Event host Irene Pollin, Wizards co-owner, told Butler that he could attended that morning and just catch up with the team at their next stop in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The team’s other ‘co-owner’, Irene’s husband Abe, said “nope,” indicating he wanted Butler in Toronto, supporting his teammates. So Abe called up his private jet and whisked Butler, along with team president Ernie Grunfeld, to T-Dot after the event and in time for Butler to get in a workout before the Raptors game.

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{Gilbert Arenas in the now dead gold jersey - flickr/Keith Allison}

It was a tale of two quarters for Gilbert Arenas. In the first, he frustrated fans and probably his coaches and teammates alike because he didn’t even take a shot when opportunities were ample. Did he lose his offensive mojo and become the Agent Austin Powers instead of the one they call Zero? Arenas did have four assists to a sole turnover in the 9:12 he played first quarter, but that’s not exactly going to make the Wizards’ offense better.

Before the game, Flip Saunders said “I think with Gil, my thing is going in, playing in 10 minutes and that’s pretty much it. If he feels pretty good about where he’s at, then come back a little bit. If he doesn’t come back it doesn’t mean, ‘Oh somethings wrong with Gil.’”

With the ‘same’ passive Gil to start against Dallas, did Saunders really have a choice but to play him more?

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5:35:20 PM: Walking to the Phone Booth for the only Wizards preseason home game. #ipodcheck ‘All I Need’ Jay-Z, The Blueprint

5:41:46 PM: “Got fiends throwing up on themselves like Willie Beamon.” #jayz

6:57:54 PM: At the Verizon Center, nothing crazy. Missed Flip Saunders’ court interview. Not much to ask the players about in the locker room bf game.

7:08:24 PM: Seen in the Wiz crowd: a bald headed white dude with a Nick Young jersey, but it’s not Dan Steinberg.

7:09:43 PM: Tweet bf Wiz-Mavs start: Stevenson starting for the Wiz, Drew Gooden at C for Dallas .. hope Haywood abuses him.

7:16:25 PM: Haywood getting offensive rebound then fouled by Gooden then crumbling 2 floor holding his ankle sends moans & cuss words through crowd.

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The Wizards will play the second game of their preseason slate against the Dallas Mavericks tonight … the only home preseason game on the schedule. It will televised on Comcast SportsNet and can be heard on DC’s 106.7 The Fan.

Also, I’ll be reporting from the game, and likely doing another live Twitter post on Truth About It (of course, this time within the NBA guidelines of a three ‘Tweet’ limit during each quarter and one during each of the two quarter breaks (but no limit on pregame, halftime and postgame Tweets).

But in terms of the Mavs, fellow TrueHoop Network blogger, Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game, agreed to answer a couple questions about his team. Here that goes …

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(Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images)

check more (and video) at You Got Dunked On.com

The Wizards were just what the Mavericks needed on Saturday night….yep, that’s my cliche opening sentence. How ’bout it?

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“It’s ‘Groundhog Day,’ man.” -Antawn Jamison

That pretty much sums it up…..no need to further dissect Sunday’s loss against Dallas.

You can check the Wizards-Mavericks game 25 blog on Bullets Forever, and Jake’s recap.

I also exchanged a blogger Q&A with Dallas Dedicated — their answers about the Mavs are posted here — you can find my return answers about the Wizards there.

Otherwise…..good luck against the Charlotte Bobcats tonight, the Wizards always need it.

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The Mavericks game is in the books, another L for the Wizards. There will be game blogs, recaps, etc. posted soon…..but until then, the guys at Dallas Dedicated, an all encompassing Dallas sports blog, agreed to be part of a Q&A session. Their answers about the Mavericks are below, I’ll update this post with a link once my answers about the Wizards are posted over there.

1) How’s the Rick Carlisle era going? Do you miss Avery Johnson? Do you think the Lil’ General would be a good fit for the Wizards?

The beginning of the season was more of an adjustment period; once the team got used to his system, the better performances came (13-4 in the last 17, including tonight). To be honest, Avery isn’t too missed. It didn’t make too much sense to us, though, that both Johnson and Devin Harris were gotten rid of. They couldn’t coexist with each other, but instead of getting rid of one and keeping the other, both were replaced. Avery would be a help to Washington, especially on the defensive side of the ball. He has an ability to relate to the players given his young age, yet still be able to coach and improve them.

2) Josh Howard, trade him or keep him?

We say keep, and we say that for two reasons. First, and more optimistically, we think Howard can still perform at an All-Star level–he needs to stay healthy. In last season’s playoffs he played poorly, which began the calls for him to be traded, but people forget that it was only an isolated time of bad play. Secondly, with all his off the court issues of late, his trade value has decreased below his value. If the Mavs wanted to trade him, they wouldn’t receive the compensation that a trading a player of his caliber deserves.

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Jeff from CelticsBlog.com is doing the grunt work to put together a comprehensive NBA preview from bloggers ’round the ‘sphere. The Atlantic Division Preview was first, and now the Southwest Division is out. Here are the highlights from the participating bloggers for each team:

Dallas Mavericks

[Mavs Moneyball]
The single biggest move made in the offseason was the dismissal of head coach Avery Johnson and the hiring of Rick Carlisle. The Mavs have the luxury (or curse) of having their core team signed for some time. This continuity will certainly help the team transition under a new coach, as they only need to adapt to him rather than a bunch of new faces.
Prediction: 55-27

Houston Rockets

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Perhaps Josh Howard is not being pointed in the right direction, while Dirk Nowitzki
is off to make more videos of him preventing drug use with a magic wink.

I was kinda willing to give Josh Howard a pass for his weed smoking radio proclamation. Sure, for his own sake, he should have kept his mouth shut. And of course, throwing NBA colleagues under the bus was stupid. But at least he told the truth…….or lied less.

Back home in North Carolina and running a basketball camp, one would hope that Josh Howard avoid being the anti-role model for the kids. Nope, he decided to street race his black Lexus against a silver Volkswagen, and get caught by the police. ESPN is reporting that Howard was going 94 in a 55. Speeding and reckless driving was the case that they gave him.

The first thing that came to mind was the eight counts of vehicular manslaughter recently charged to two Maryland men. Back in February, eight bystanders were killed as a result of an illegal street race on Indian Head Highway just outside of Washington, DC.

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