Posts for category ‘espn’

{flickr/Keith Allison}

No, this isn’t a joke … although, with the season going the way it is, you’d think it might be.

But really, what’s the harm in Flip Saunders & Co. using one play selected from a pool of civilian submissions. At this point, it can’t hurt. Right?

The details of the contest, via ESPN, are below … and more can be found by following the link at the bottom. (However, this will take you to an ESPN Insider page, so you might need an account).

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On Thursday, along with J.A. Adande, I participated in a Live Chat Q&A about the Wizards on ESPN.com.

There were a ton of Cavs fans/Wizards haters in the house … and I avoided each and every one of them. {Pat on back, they were hard to resist.}

Really wish I could have stayed longer to answer more questions about the Wiz. There were so many I wasn’t able to get to. Being on the other side for the first time, now I know how hard it is. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience … so I thank ESPN for including all the TrueHoop Network team bloggers in these chats.

Anyway, here’s the recap (via Cover It Live):

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flickr/Keith Allison

If the Washington Wizards prefer to lie amongst the weeds and surprise everyone, a panel of 53 ESPN experts is trying to make that happen (despite the Wizards being voted by the same ESPN panel to have the biggest turnaround this upcoming season).

Tied with both Philadelphia and Toronto to achieve 39 wins, and finish seventh through ninth in the East (the averages actually break out to PHI – 39.4, WAS – 39.1, TOR – 39.0), the ESPN panel believes that the Wizards will be fighting just to make the playoffs.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix and The Wages of Wins Journal both seem to think the Wiz will be significantly better than sub-40 wins, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. Maybe some of the ESPN experts think the Wizards’ defense won’t be up to par, or that their frontcourt is too thin and they desperately need an upgrade. Of course, when Mike Prada of Bullets Forever wrote the two previously linked pieces, he had improving the team to compete for a championship in mind, not so they can solidify a playoff position. Still, both defense and frontcourt are valid areas of concern.

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Not gonna lie, I’m almost embarrassed that the Wizards will be on national TV against the Denver Nuggets this Friday. It’s not that the Wiz are bad and depleted, but their laziness and lack of effort are reaching epic proportions.

I just don’t anticipate enjoying the ESPN commentators ripping my team a new one and telling me what I don’t already know.

Oh well, that’s life.

On the other hand…..

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ESPN.com’s David Thorpe (also of the famed IMG Academy) hasn’t always had a high opinion of Washington Wizards rookie, JaVale McGee. He’s even provided McGee with a bit of motivation resulting from his negative assessments.

From, “A memorable motto: Wizards’ McGee keeps focus on success,” in The Washington Times:
The draft experts remained unconvinced, believing McGee needed more time to hone his skills and bulk up to be ready to handle the battering that NBA centers absorb. And then there was this analysis from ESPN.com’s David Thorpe: “The D-League was made for players like McGee.”

“I saw that and said, ‘What?’” McGee says. “So I told myself I was going to work hard and be sure that, if I ever did get sent down to the D-League, everybody would say, ‘Huh? Why did they send him down there?’”

On ESPN, Thorpe ranks the NBA rookies and posts continued updates and assessments throughout the 08-09 season. So far, Thorpe has posted four entries about McGee. His opinion seems to be coming around, but the latest entry is just downright creepy.

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Watching game three between the New Orleans Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs last night, something just wasn’t right about ESPN’s television broadcast team, and it was Doris Burke.

Now I don’t necessarily have a problem with Doris herself, nor do I have much of an issue with her partner, Dan Shulman (Vital panderer). Burke’s analysis? Meh….it’s okay (we’ll get to that later)….She obviously has basketball experience, as she played and coached at Providence. But it’s her voice. The higher pitch just doesn’t sound right doing the color commentary for an NBA game. I’d say that same thing if it were a man with an intolerable voice. In fact, I’ll point out Reggie Miller right now….old Pacer #31 actually sounds worse than Doris.

Ok….that’s just the sound. I should get over it, right? A consensus is already building that Reggie Miller lacks what it takes to be a good color person. What about Doris? In the past, her analysis has seemed adequate….nothing stood out one way or the other.

But last night’s game…..it was say, in the 2nd quarter, and David West just got finished hitting a mid-range baseline jumper from around 12 feet.

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Maybe you’ve seen some of these links before, maybe you haven’t…but I liked ‘em.

>> I never really liked Chris Berman. Some wonder why. I now present, via The Big Lead, a sizeable Deeewshhhh.

>> My friend Chris has a t-shirt that says ‘No More Drug War‘ — Hence, an enlightening post from True Hoop.

>> I would love to have Ocho Cinco in DC. Would that let Lil’ Danny Snyder off the hook for all this coaching B.S.? Hell no. UPDATE: Mr. Irrelevant has a great pic of Ocho Cinco with some Redskins jerseys.

>> What would you do if your dad sold your Michael Jordan rookie card for drugs? Would you decide to make it to the NBA? Rafer Alston did. True Hoop links to this New York Times article from 1994 by Tom Friend about current Houston Rocket, Rafer Alston aka Skip to My Lou.

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