The Wizards have struggled this year, no question about it. The team has won just 13 games and is still hopelessly searching for its first road win. Their next opportunity for that elusive victory away from home comes on Sunday, February 13 versus the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers — a team nursing a 24-game losing streak.
Back on October 20, 2010, the crew at Truth About It.net gave their “crystal ball visions” of the Wizards’ regular season record for 2010-11. Here is what they looked like:
Kyle Weidie – 34 wins
Rashad Mobley – 30 wins
Adam McGinnis – 40 wins
John Townsend – 40 wins
Arish Narayen – 41 wins
Beckley Mason – 36 wins
I might choose to pass on the Buffalo wings and beer for the Super Bowl, instead opting to find a spot on my couch with an extra helping of Washington Wizards crow. This team is headed nowhere fast this season … but regular season performance in one year isn’t necessarily predictive of success and achievement in the next.
On the lighter side, here are the ten biggest single-season turnarounds in NBA history:
It’s as if we’re forced to admire or respect the outspoken views of Etan Thomas just because, well, they are outspoken. The mere fact that he’s a rare beacon of political activism amongst professional athletes somehow lends more credibility to his point of view.
Kind of ironic when you think about it. Because he plays in a capitalism-fueled league that he’s at times criticized, Thomas’ soap box (via the Huffington Post, et al.) has been amplified more than your average Joe (except if “The Plumber” follows ‘Joe’ I suppose). When you consider the privileges athletes receive because of their status in society, no one ever thinks about such perks including a higher platform for activism. But as Thomas points out in his blogging debut on HoopsHype, there are plenty of NBA players who have been politically (or more accurately, socially) conscious. It’s just that not all of them opine on a regular basis like Thomas.
A vocal Etan Thomas isn’t a bad thing. He’s done an admirable job in his attempt to push ‘need to be discussed’ topics to the forefront. But I won’t always pay attention to or agree with all of Thomas’ utterances. As I alluded to, the fact that he’s an athlete doesn’t lend him any sort of credibility in my mind. Then again, Thomas is no more or less credible than the oodles of political pundits out there on CNN, Fox News, and the what-not … the types John Stewart so often rips down with reason and comedy on the Daily Show (Which is, by the way, my ‘source’ for news … just kidding, kinda. Would you blame me if, at times, I’d rather digest current events with heavy doses satire via a self-proclaimed “fake news”?)
Etan Thomas waxed poetic. He audaciously spoke out against the war. He stumped for Obama. He got huffy on the Huffington Post. For his social involvement, he’s a commendable guy. Vastly different from many of the NBA’s young money millionaires.
But when it comes to the goal of winning as a team, Etan’s social activity, which assumingly had a bearing on his locker room inactivity, need not apply.
The Wizards are much better off now that he’s gone.
the prose of the poet is due north - flickr/robbed
brendan haywood was never 'that' into poetry - flickr/Keith Allison
Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas have had a welldocumented tumultuous relationship.
Now that Haywood’s braided ‘buddy’ is being shipped off to cleanse himself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka, is the Wizards’ blogging big man shedding any tears?
With Washington sending Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov and the 5th overall pick to Minnesota in exchange for Mike Miller and Randy Foye being reported by Chad Ford of ESPN, and both Wizards beat reporters, Mike Jones of the Washington Times and Michael Lee of the Washington Post, it’s time to get some initial thoughts blogged out.
If I know Ernie Grunfeld, he’s not done. Hell, he better not be done.
The drama is kind of exciting, knowing the President of Basketball Ops I’ve come to trust probably has more tricks up his sleeve. Judging by the roster after the trade, we might be calling Gruns “Mr. Wizard” if he pulls off something else nice to make the team complete (more on ‘complete’ in a second).
On another note, Thursday just lost a ton of luster … hey, at least the 25th is my birthday. Read more »
What can I say about Etan Thomas’ season? Well, at least he has intelligence and social involvement to fall back upon.
Etan’s 2008-09 wasn’t nearly as tragic as his previous season, at least he saw the court (for all of 306 minutes over 26 games). Then again, working his way back from open heart surgery only to go down with a torn knee ligament in mid-January seems pretty devastating. Then again, again, at least he didn’t have to toil through the remainder of a miserable year. Although, if you ask Etan, he surely would have been glad to do so.
Many have believed that 18-year old phenom, Ricky Rubio, would not enter the 2009 NBA draft because of a six million Euro buyout from his current contract with DKV Joventut of the Spanish ACB league.
However, recent reports, including one from Draft Express on February 22nd, indicate that via Rubio’s representatives, U.S. agent Dan Fegan, negotiations are under way to reduce Rubio’s buyout to three or four million Euros.
Rubio is very likely to be a top three pick in the ’09 draft which would be the most favorable conditions for a possible buyout. ESPN’s Chad Ford follows up with a Feb. 27th report that there are strong indications that Rubio will be available in the upcoming draft. How does this benefit the Wizards?
Well, obviously, the potential lottery pick for a team currently tied with Oklahoma City for the second worst record in the NBA (two games behind the league worst Sacramento Kings) gets more valuable in what is considered a weak draft.
So, if the Wizards are looking to package either or both of the last year contracts of Etan Thomas and Mike James, the two most preferable to jettison, with a draft pick, the presence of Rubio makes it more enticing for the potential partner. Of course, we won’t know where the Wiz stand in the draft until the season’s over and the draft lottery is held during playoff basketball in May.
The Question: “Which Wizard do you think would finish last in a race?”
The Answer: According to the voting via text messaging public, team choir boy, Darius Songaila, would “win” a race between him, Etan Thomas and Andray Blatche in a landslide.
After the finally tally, the jumbotron displayed a video montage of answers from the Wizards themselves. Some claimed that Songaila would, in fact, finish last, but more seemed to believe that an unlisted candidate, Oleksiy Pecherov, would be pulling up the rear.
Songaila himself vehemently denied any accusations that he would be last, and I believe him. Have you ever seen Songaila run? He gets those arms moving like the propellers of the Spruce Goose, surely giving him an edge, and more than compensating for the stigma of being slow and white.
Well, I’m not doing a game blog for the Wizards-Hornets match-up……which was soooo last year……because I actually attended the game. I’m down South visiting family for the new year, and my pops lives a couple hours from New Orleans (he’s a Hornets fan), so it was natural that we attended the game.
So in place of a game blog, me and my amateur photography skills present a photographic slide show of what I saw:
Game Observations:
Gilbert Arenas was on the bench during the first half……I can’t remember if he was there for the 3rd quarter or not, but he was definitely absent for most of the 4th and down the stretch.
Ivan Carter questioned Southeastern Conference loyalty when the local LSU fans booed players from Alabama’s football team in attendance (and then chanted “L-S-U! L-S-U!)…….but Carter forgot to mention that there’s more passion than usual between these two teams. LSU fans absolutely hate former coach Nick Saban with a passion (starting when he left the program to coach the Miami Dolphins). That hatred was magnified once Saban returned to the SEC to coach ‘Bama.
Caron Butler is out again (I guess this is the “tanking it” that many have been calling for — you know and I know that if this game meant something, Tuff Juice would be spilling himself on the court.) Q1
11:48: Andray v. Yao….Ming stars off with a fade away miss, Blatche played decent D on him the last time out.
11:00: Instead of staying with Battier,Young zones to Scola with the ball….Jamison is there, but could stand to be closer as Scola can shoot…..Who’s Your Daddy Battier is open in the corner for the swing pass…..three ball. 3-2 Houston.
10:46: Andray takes a college three (top of key) with 15 on the shot clock — don’t care if you’re open Andray — No, No, NO!!
9:50: Houston is letting Andray have the open 16 footer….and for good reason, he misses again.
So naturally, I wanted to categorize each Wizard in primary and secondary roles. But before I get to that, here’s a Rob’s chart with the archetypes the Wizards do not have grayed out (the Wiz obviously have neither an elite point guard nor a refined big man): And now, a fancy graphic representing Wizards players and their primary and secondary archetypes: If you don’t like graphics, here’s the listing:
Gilbert Arenas – Surreal Scorer; Megalomaniacal small guard
Andray Blatche – Question mark; Skilled, but flawed post
Remember that video of various Washington Wizards talking about who would make the best President? (It looks like it’s since been removed from the internet.) Joking aside, most who eventually gave a serious answer went with Etan Thomas. Well, now we know why.
Flash forward to Wednesday night’s game in Atlanta…….I’m not sure what Oleksiy Pecherov said to Etan. Big Oily, by all accounts, is a silly dude….either that or anything he says with his Ukrainian accent is funny. Who knows, maybe Pech gave his best rendition of “Ukraine is game to you!?” But whatever it was, the American and the Euro shared an international chuckle.
So what does Etan do to return the favor of Big Oily’s gift of laughter? “Yo, bartender!” He turns around and not only orders a cold beverage for himself, but gets his new international buddy a drinky-poo as well. That, my friends, is a true diplomat.
Playing in a high school gym atmosphere tonight….Miami is worse than LA when it comes to late arriving crowds….and much worse than DC (yes, we are bad too).
Etan Thomas missed his first shot…ok, there’s my 180, bench him (kidding).
Well….the Heat have three layups on their first four baskets: Wade in transition, Beasley drive on a gamble steal attempt by Wiz, Chalmers steal and sweet dunk on Dixon. 8-2 Heat.
The Wiz have settled for a bunch of jumpers, luckily they’ve made a couple, including a quick DeShawn Stevenson trey on a long board and shot clock reset….can’t blame Stevenson too much for taking the shot that fast, he was wide open and uncontested. 10-7 Heat.
With the movement among the blogosphere and MSMers full steam ahead, I’ve like to offer my alternative opinion. And not to say that I’m completely against inserting JaVale McGee into the starting lineup, it’s just doesn’t need to happen……yet. Here are five reasons for feeling the way I do:
1. The Washington Wizards should not have to depend on the energy of JaVale McGee to get them going. Simply put, the current starters need to step it up at the beginning of each half. I wouldn’t say I’m loyal to the veterans like Eddie Jordan, but they do deserve a bit more of a chance to get their act together. Let Etan and his chest protector dole out some bruises to soften the crowd for McGee.
2. This is McGee’s first year in the NBA….. a reason that has less to do with him being inexperienced and more to do with conditioning and my concern about his ability to play at a high, energetic level for the duration of a game (much less the entire season). Last year at Nevada, McGee only played 33 games and averaged 27.3 minutes per. The NBA is obviously a different animal and regardless of 1-5 starts, McGee’s rookie season needs to be treated like one would endure a marathon, and not breaking into a sprint out the blocks. Which leads to my next point….
3. McGee can play the same amount of minutes starting as coming off the bench. I obviously cannot attest to the endurance of JaVale McGee, but I would prefer his energy at the end of games, rather than him blowing his load early.There have been countless times where I’ve heard a player complain about not starting and being personally frustrated because said player doesn’t realize he can play just as much, and perhaps help his team even more, coming off the bench. McGee is not complaining, but the situation is similar in terms of it not mattering when the minutes come, just as long they come.
Orlando Pulse, blurred vision for the Washington Wizards [flickr/Kyle May]
Had on the Washington Wizards-Orlando Magic game as I was getting ready to go out on Saturday night. Thanks to my laggard adoption of DVR technology, I figured I could just watch it again later and hack out a game blog.
But as the walloping swelled, it became more and more evident that I’d never be watching the game again. And a game blog? You’ve got to be kidding, right?
I’m certainly distraught about the beginnings of this 09-09 season, but surprisingly, any anger I should have is subdued as if my drinks were being drugged.
Not many teams have a Dwight Howard to expose ineptness in the paint, but preseason optimistic expectations of a deep Wizards front-court is seeped in irony. Tell me, what low post “banger” (on offense and defense, but the former applies more) do the Wizards have? I’ll tell you who other teams have: Detroit has ‘Sheed and Maxiell, the Bucks have Bogut, Big Z, Benny Wallace, and the Brazilian Spaz are in LeBron’s court, Boston has a Big Ticket, a Big Baby, and a Perkins, the Sixers have Reggie Evans and Brand (and not to forget Sam Dalembert), Bosh & J.O. are in Toronto….even the Knicks have Z-Bo. And that’s just the East….I could go on.
