Truth About It » nba summer league

Reflecting Back On Summer League Games 3 & 4

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:55:06 +0000

flickr/Roadsidepictures

I watched the Wizards take on the Timberwolves and Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League long ago, but am just getting my notes/observations on those two games posted.

So in the spirit of better late than never, here goes ….

(Note: I still need to get my post up on the Knicks game and hand out the summer league grades … but only to the players who ‘count’ — Blatche, Young, McGee, Crittenton and McGuire.)

Wizards vs. Timberwolves : Summer League Game 3

1st Quarter

In the huddle before the game started, Coach Zierden told his players, “Push the ball, push the ball, push the ball … play and have fun.”

Coach Z’s firs play called: The 52 Twist. Evidently that involved a lazy pick set at the free-throw line by Andray Blatche for Nick Young. No one was open for Javaris Crittenton, so he eventually gets it to Blatche fading off the set pick to the top of the key. He takes three dribbles towards the basket and clangs an absolute brick that only hits backboard.

2nd Play of the Game: A Crittenton turnover as he tries to force a bounce pass through more traffic than on the 14th Street bridge at 8:30 am on a weekday.

3rd Play: Young comes off a screen and takes the opportunity for a fading jumper. He gets fouled, but misses the first FT, unfortunately choosing to back off the line during the process. He sinks the second.

4th Possession: Blatche gets an offensive board on the right side, but instead of going right through the defense, perhaps drawing a foul, he tries to throw up a weak reverse layup scoop that gets blocked.

Not the best start to the game, the Wizards being down 7-1 almost two minutes in … and this is before Jonny Flynn checked in.

7:04: Andray Blatche Headband Alert – after getting blocked a second time, it is officially tossed.

Other 1st Quarter Observations

After a poor first outing, Dominic McGuire is really making an effort to play defense without his hands, always keeping them high as he moves his feet. He also displays a nose for the ball in going to GET rebounds, not letting them come to him.
The Wizards miss a ton of bunnies close to the rim.
Nick young has developed a much more reliable three point shot — he scores 11 points in the first seven minutes, going 2-3 from long distance.
I wish, in the “summer league,” that Blatche would take less shots that he can get anytime (dribble drive spinning fadeaways), and take time to work more on baby hooks and drop step action.

2nd Quarter

Not only is Flynn super quick, but he’s got the strength and moxie to get all the way to the rim. Once he finagles his way past the perimeter D, the interior guys for the Wiz do a lot of watching. Flynn’s got great court vision, it’s hard to anticipate what direction he’ll go in next.

When McGuire gets a defensive board, he’s looks to push the ball himself … I wonder if that’s something Flip will be comfortable with him doing during the season. D-Mac looks like he’s getting more comfy with his transition handles himself.

4:31: Another Blatche dribble drive, spin away from the double team, and fading, off-balanced jumper — miss. Sweet Jesus, why is that his “go-to” move?

Blatche still shows that he’s a willing passer with good court vision … not sure if this talent contributes to the frustration surrounding hm or not.

Flynn scores 11 of the 16 points by Minny in the 2nd and assists on one of the other two buckets. Wiz score 20 in the 2nd, but still close the half down 43-36.

3rd Quarter

Young clearly more intent on getting closer to the basket. He looks comfortable on offense without trying to do too much. A driving layup 40 seconds into the third gives him 16 points.

Dom McGuire on offense: I like how he resorts to using “safe” offensive options … using a back-to-the-basket game when a smaller guy is on him, trying to implement drop-steps and nice footwork into his moves.

Nick Young is a very dangerous offensive player, 21 points with 3:45 left in the 3rd. Ok, I know this is summer league, but he’s nailing shots that would be tough for anyone to guard. Randy Foye getting minutes over him isn’t guaranteed, especially when Foye is a questionable defender himself.

I know he’s been working on this calm and composed “comfort zone” but Crittenton’s PG skills are still very unrefined. He has ‘skill’ but doesn’t really create much action for the offense.

After three, Flynn has 18 points. He is a bona fide finisher — mostly eating Tyrese Rice alive. Rick Kamla compares him to Rod Strickland.

4th Quarter

About two minutes into the 4th, I find out that Blatche is 0-8 in the game. God … even I didn’t think he was playing that bad … well, maybe.

Blatche gets his first bucket at 3:31 mark. Minny gave him room just past the FT line and he nailed the jumper … good shot. I’ll always be an advocate for him shooting the mid-range jumper when he’s open.

Blatche came on late, hitting three buckets in a row … and no fadeaways, how ’bout that?

But in the end, Flynn was able to get into the lane all night. His penetration helped create back-to-back threes at the 2:16 and 1:15 marks to give the T-Wolves a nice advantage.

The Wizards, and Nick Young, had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, thanks to an absolutely horrible three-point attempt by Oleksiy Pecherov early in the shot clock with 28 seconds left. But Young missed a trey. He had a good look, but faded on his shot just a bit, probably just enough to make him miss.

The Final: 89-82 Timberwolves.

Wizards vs. Clippers : Summer League Game 4

Notes:

Javaris Crittenton has shown a better than average ability to split double teams, but sometimes he scares me, for a guy with a high turnover rate…
Nick Young keeps getting compared to Rip Hamilton … but he’s a much better athlete with more range (maybe not in the past, but if what he’s shown during the summer league holds true during the season). With hard work, under what Flip is doing, he’ll be a much better player … of course, it’s a big “if” for Nick to be a harder worker than Rip.
McGee needs to be doing defensive slides all day long … get that muscle memory in there. So many lengthy players get into the bad habit of playing with their arms instead of moving their feet first.

Game:

Crittenton being less of that controlled guy and more forcing the issue in the start of this game. I can see why True Hoop’s Kevin Arnovitz initially tweeted: “Re: Javaris C. When the best thing you can say about a PG is that “he’s big,” well…he sucks.”

But Crittenton did get to the line six times in the first 5:30 … but only made three of those.

5:52: McGee’s first block on Blake Griffin … you see he’s ready to spring intially, but waits and times it perfectly.

5:37: Soft touch lob from Heytvelt to McGee … seems like JaVale knows that he doesn’t have to slam all lobs and has the touch to get the ball through the net.

3:51: Type 1 flagrant on Blake Griffin, committed by McGee. It wasn’t even that bad. Griffin was going wildly to the basket, out of control, and threw his off arm into McGee first. Not saying that a foul shouldn’t have been called, but a flagrant is a little much … but hey, that’s the NBA we know today. It’s all about how a guy goes crashing to the floor, not the actual foul.

Nick Young needs to concentrate on going straight up on his jumper, and not drop his arms (kinda like the late three against Minny).

Overall, a very sloppy first quarter … stats say 12 turnovers between the two teams. Seems like a crappy CYO game, Wizards up 15-12.

But hey, with 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 block — McGee is letting the game come to him (although he did pick up three fouls before exiting at the 1:46 mark).

2nd Quarter

Love to see Dom McGuire continuing to play with high hands and moving his feet on defense. He’s working hard to cut off dribble drives. I love his effort level.

With Crittenton out the game, the other PGs are very poor at initiating the offense … especially Tywain McKie.

4:30: McGee “pulls a Blatche” by trying to dribble the ball up the court …never want to see him to that again — resulted in a turnover of course.

3:17: Great hesitation move by Young, acted like he was going to pull up, but drove baseline for a tough layup.

With the Wizards scoring 14 points and the Clips 20, it was very uneventful 2nd quarter — 32-29 LAC. In terms of Crittenton, at least he seems to drive/move with a purpose/direction instead of side to side movement like McKie.

3rd Quarter

Big difference in how Javaris came out in the 3rd, creating ball movement … contagious to the rest of the team. Three of the quarter’s first five FGs were assisted upon.

At one point midway through the quarter, Caner-Medley led a 2-1 fastbreak with Blake Griffin against McGuire. Dominic kept his eyes on Caner-Medley, but clearly stayed aware of Griffin. He easily anticipated a lob and swatted it out of bounds. Very smart defensive maneuvering by McGuire.

With several blocks early in the game (he would be credited for 7 total in the game), JaVale McGee clearly had the Clipper guards aware of his presence. They began to throw up wild shots on drives to the basket, scared to finish at the rim.

McGuire continues to find his way to loose balls, pulling down four of his 11 rebounds in the 3rd.

With less than 40 seconds left in the 3rd, McGuire hassled, Ni(c)k Caner-Medley into a late shot clock pass. Dom focused on his eyes and anticipated the direction of the pass. He kept himself in position to knock the ball down and get this third steal of the game.

4th Quarter

7:16: Young gets heckled at the FT line … smiles … but hits both. Flip Saunders should make him do something every time he smiles, like Willie Mays Hayes and push-ups for pop-ups in Major League.

On McGee: He kept himself close to the hoop for a majority of the game … an offensive board here, an oop dunk on Blake Griffin there. No one really got physical with the kid, so it was easy for him to hang out in the paint.

On Nick Young: He seems to be perfecting offensive diversity: hitting set three pointers created by penetration, driving to the basket when there is an open lane, or faking a long shot and working to get his mid-range game going when the paint is crowded. Haven’t learned too much about his defense during the summer league, but it’s not a good environment to measure progress in that area anyway.

If Young can further develop his offense, and the endurance he needs to constantly move/run off screens, he will be an awesome asset coming off the bench. Of course, Nick MUST always be ready, and simply cannot be the type of offensive player who needs minutes/shots to ‘get going’ — I’ve often found that to be a cop out excuse for having a bad night.

Final Note: The Wizards closed out the Clippers by doing the good things they’d been doing all game: shooting better than a horrid shooting LA team (42.1% for the Wiz isn’t good, but LA was at 35.6%), and moving the ball just enough to get decent looks … and most of this was simply the result of the Wizards having more talent on the floor.

The Final: 74-64 Wizards.

You can find more Wizards Summer League info in the posts below:

Vegas Sunset - flickr/Marionzetta

Wizards Vegas Summer League Media Dump

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:17:45 +0000

Between hitting up the John Legend concert Friday night, going out for some fresh oysters at Hank’s Oyster Bar on Saturday, followed by a night on the town (really, the oysters at Hank’s, especially the ones from Fanny Bay, BC, Canada, were awesome), and then getting trounced in softball on Sunday afternoon (honestly, I think the final score was 24-2), I didn’t have much time to dedicate to the Wizards this past weekend.

I was able to make it through the T-Wolves game Sunday night, and take notes on it, but fell into a slumber before I was able to watch the Wizards against the Clippers or Knicks, both of which, I understand, were much better efforts from the D.C. boys. Oh, and Andray Blatche didn’t play in either game. Nick Young sat out of Sunday’s game against New York as well.

I aim to watch both of the remaining games tonight and subsequently post notes/observations, and then hand out some summer league grades. But until then, here’s the big media dump on what others have said:

Wizards vs. T’Wolves

Flip Saunders apparently sent word down to the bench at halftime that he wasn’t unhappy with the shot selection or their offense, but that the effort simply hadn’t been good enough, and the second half certainly looked better, anyhow.
…..
After posting double-doubles in his first two games in Vegas, Andray Blatche was completely out of kilter. I didn’t have a chance to catch up with him, but he was matched up with Pecherov a lot in the early going, and it sure seemed to me like he was trying (and failing) to take advantage of his former teammate.

>> [DC Sports Bog]

Andray Blatche was frustrating as always. The guy is 7-0 tall and can do basically anything that he wants on the floor, yet his numbers never back it up. He showed no desire in playing defense or rebounding the ball, yet plenty of passion in jacking up jumpers from the perimeter. If someone were to give him a shot of toughness, we’d be looking at a potential all-star. Unfortunately, he hasn’t went to the doctor yet.

>> [Slam Online]

Regardless, the real problem was how the Wizards defended Flynn. It reminded me a lot of all the games they’ve played in the past against small, speedy point guards. The right way to have played Flynn was to drop off him and make him shoot jumpers. The wrong way is to try to fight through the screen as the big man hedges to give the guard time to do his job. Flynn’s just too quick for that and he’ll get by two of your guys and create an opportunity. He was doing that all night and killed the Wizards for it. If it weren’t Summer League, this would be the type of thing I’d be ranting about for days.

>> [Bullets Forever]

Top Tweets:

BulletsForever: Blatche keeps breaking plays to go 1 on 1 vs. Pech.
BulletsForever: Heytfelt has already given up two layups to Flynn and a hook shot by Adam Parada since he entered. Bad interior defense.
BulletsForever: Javaris needs to stop reaching on Flynn. They also should go under high ball screens.
coachthorpe: Nick Young is too good for this league. I hope he carries this confidence to the winter.
coachthorpe: Blatche is bored. His 0-8 showing is a sign of that. Why is he here again?

YouTube Wiz-Wolves Game Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUfR_Z6g9Ik

Wizards vs. Clippers

JaVale McGee should help Washington’s frontcourt rotation a good deal this season. He’s got so much agility on both ends, a soft touch, and actually knows how to backpedal against a speedy guard coming off a screen.

>> [True Hoop]

Tonight we saw the best of JaVale McGee. While he only grabbed 4 rebounds, his 7 blocks and thundering alley-oop late in the second half have become trademarks, and the fan-favorite really showed what he was made of tonight as the Wizards cruised by the Clippers to even their Summer League record at 2-2.

>> [Washington Examiner]

On a side note, it was interesting to see Sam Cassell on the sidelines as a coach. He was continually talking and once during the first quarter after Nick Young drove the ball to the basketball and was fouled, Cassell yelled to him, “I didn’t tell you to drive”.

>> [The No Look Pass]

[True Hoop's game tweets from Kevin Arnovitz]

Re: Javaris C. When the best thing you can say about a PG is that “he’s big,” well…he sucks.
McGee has quick feet, and long, loooong arms. Makes him really useful in the basket area.
WAS isn’t screwing around: Trapping Blake on the baseline everytime he gets the ball there. Idea: Get it to him in the middle of the floor.
WAS is swarming Griffin low. He’s gotten a couple of garbage baskets and his line isn’t bad 4-6 FG, 4 boards, 9 pts.
WAS trapping Griffin every time he touches it inside 12 ft. His pass-outs aren’t bad, but LAC lacks the shooters to make WAS pay.
I’m becoming a JaVale McGee guy very quickly. I couldn’t bear to watch the Wizz last season much, but this guy has some serious skills.
Most bigs get themselves in trouble on the baseline. Not McGee. Can hit a jumper in the paint too.
McGee blocks a DeAndre Jordan jump hook. There aren’t 12 guys on the planet who can do that.
Javaris actually put together a productive game. Mea Culpa: 17 pts, 4-8 FG, 7-10 FT
JaVale McGee — a more refined DeAndre Jordan

Bullets Forever On-Location Tweets:

BulletsForever: McGee’s just messing around trying ridiculous dunks during warmups.
BulletsForever: Critt just broke a play to take it into the trees. Not the type of play that’ll endear him to the coaches.
BulletsForever: I’ve never seen JaVale so under control. Blake’s tried to bait him into pump fakes twice and he hasn’t taken it. He’s playing a great game.
BulletsForever: Critt’s trying to pressure opposing PGs, but he’s not quick enough so there are a ton of blowbys/fouls. A problem.
BulletsForever: Wiz should take note of Heytfelt’s D on Blake. He’s gotten help, but he’s been really solid. Blake has 0 points on ISOs today.
BulletsForever: JaVale with solid post D, using his length to tap a shot rather than swat at it. He’s been absolutely unbelievable today.
BulletsForever: Wondering if it’s any coincidence that JaVale’s best game is coming when Blatche sits.

YouTube Wiz-Clips Game Highlights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ooj1O0_eNw

Wizards vs. Knicks

Didn’t seem like too many people covered or cared about this game … so definitely expect more to come.

Tweets from Rashad Mobley of Hoops Addict:

rashad20: JaVale just channeled his inner Connie Hawkins…
rashad20: Pam McGee hits the ground running with the pointed analogies on the Wizards broadcast
rashad20: I had high hopes for Tyrese Rice, but it doesn’t look like he’s an NBA player right now

Other Web Hits:

>> [Talking to Brendan Haywood about himself and JaVale McGee - Bullets Forever]

Brendan told me that the biggest thing JaVale needs to work on with his post defense is learning to play his man when he doesn’t have the ball. Brendan told me that, as a post defender, you always need to work on pushing your guy out of position so he’s in a bad spot when he catches the ball. Right now, Brendan said JaVale isn’t really committing himself to doing that, and as a result, he’s waiting until too late to really get himself into the play.

Curious Quote?

>> [Steve Silver, Special to the Washington Times]

Fellow guard Jason Rich might have quietly earned an invitation to training camp. Rich, a rookie from Florida State, does not shoot much, but he could serve as a backup point guard. Rich started Sunday and finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

“He had a good week of basketball,” Cassell said. “He was always in the right position. It’s hard when you only have three days of practice, but he picked up everything. We will take a look to see what we need, but he has a chance. He will be high on our list.”

Just seems odd to highlight a guy who over five games averaged 20.4 minutes, 3.4 points, .211 FG%, 3.0 rebounds, and dropped four assists to four turnovers, and say ‘Hey, this guy might be invited to training camp to fight Javaris Crittenton, Mike James, and Randy Foye for the backup PG spot … that’s all I’m saying.

>> Top 4 Reasons Why JaVale McGee found his stride [Washington Examiner]

>> Javaris Crittenton Retires From Twitter

The message is no longer be available, but sometime Friday and Saturday, Crittenton sent his final tweet, “Im retiring from twitter. Goodbye people. Thanks to everyone who followed and supports me. Keep me in your prayers and be blessed.”

Not sure why, but it’s probably no big loss. Javaris mostly twittered about what he was doing … working out, going bowling, etc.. He wasn’t exactly funny or insightful. Oh well.

>> Tom Knott of the Washington Times climbs aboard the LeBron Hater Express.

LeBron James is so lame. We know this from his facial contortions, agony-filled grimaces and woe-is-me facade whenever someone has the temerity to brush up against him on the basketball court.

We know this from his looks of disbelief whenever a referee fails to recognize the human-rights violations being perpetrated against him.

We know that when the going gets tough, the so-called king gets wimpy and threatens to take the basketball home with him.

>> Ryan Zimmerman is “The Nautical Douche” [Mr. Irrelevant]

>> This dude will give Vince Carter a run for his dunking money [dustincanalin]

>> Antawn Jamison at the Summer League

>> Sam Cassell at the Summer League

Sam I Am Quotable: “This is a new generation, so [with] the young guys you need to, ‘Show it, teach it, teach it again, and show it again.’”

>> Nick Young at the Summer League

Practicing What You Preach (and links)

Kyle Weidie — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:12:56 +0000

With Thursday off, the Wizards will be back in summer league action tonight against Oleksiy Pecherov and the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 pm. I won’t be able to catch the game live since I’ll be checking the John Legend concert at Merriweather … so I’ll depend on the usual Twitter suspects to keep me updated on the goings-ons. But until then …

Not this guy again .... (flickr/wizardsdotcom)

More positive signs regarding Andray Blatche? The DC Sports Bog reports:

Many of you have expressed doubts about Blatche’s recent promise to take advantage of his latest opportunity, and it’s understandable, given the relationship between what he’s said and what’s done in the past. I can say that, without a doubt, he’s made some weird quantum leap in talking with the media. I’ve never seen him anywhere close to as good with the media as he’s been this week. Here’s what he said about his teammates, and bear in mind, I asked the question, he wasn’t just offering this up.

“JaVale’s a great player,’ Blatche said. “If he focuses on the things he does the best, that make the crowd love him–blocking shots, rebounding, and then if he’s at the rim and he’s got a put back, put it back. That’s what I want him to focus on more. Because he’s a great player, if he just sticks to that. And Nick, I see a big improvement in Nick. His shot is more efficient, and they have him playing defense this year. Dominic, you know what to expect from him, he’s gonna play defense no matter what. He’s a real hustle player, a lot of energy. So everybody’s making improvements.”

And also, Blatche on the summer league game two loss:

“Man, it was crazy. A lot of the guys were trying to go off themselves, but in reality it’s more than just playing for yourself, it’s playing for your team. So that set us back. A lot of selfish play, and after one person did it, another person did it, another person did it. After a while it just turned into a big mess.”

Sounds great. I just hope that Andray is drinking his own kool-aid and really practices what he’s preaching. Yea, everyone has heard “talk” from Blatche before, so it’s nothing new for me to advise people to take it with a grain of salt.

But I do find it funny how in talking about ‘selfish play’, Blatche doesn’t exactly include himself (ok, yea … he doesn’t exclude himself either). In case you weren’t aware, Andray jacked more than anyone else on the team in game two. I’ll let Mike Prada of Bulets Forever describe:

Andray Blatche had a good game, but he also monopolized the ball on offense and prevented the rest of the team from getting into a rhythm. Part of that was necessitated by Denver’s pressure, but Blatche certainly forced some shots, even if they went in.

Oh, and not to forget that in the first game, Blatche was talking jive with Antawn Jamison on the sidelines, worrying about getting his numbers.

Look, I’m glad that Andray has learned how to deal with the media, I just wish that in the process of his “talk,” the guy wouldn’t contradict himself.

And if it feels like I’m beating a dead horse since I covered Blatche two posts ago, well, I am … the damn thing won’t die. Maybe I should burn it like Chris Cooley. But really, the only way to break this Andray Blatche stigma is if he burns my frustration/criticism with good, consistent play.

Around The World Wide Wizards Web:

I did an interview about the Wizards with NBATipoff.com. Go ahead … run along and check it out now.

>> A recent comment Antawn Jamison made to HoopsWorld regarding Stephon Marbury:

“There are certain guys in the league that have an established reputation and you know what they can do, that they bring it every night. Steph is one of those guys. I’ve known Steph since high school, and the things that he’s accomplished as a person and as a player speak volumes. He’s one of those guys that can’t do anything but help the team out and make it a better team.”

Some people are misconstruing this comment and interpreting it as a Jamison endorsement of Marbury to the Wizards, him thinking that ‘Starbury’ would be a fit.

Chill out … he’s just trying to be diplomatic. Behind closed doors, Jamison would undoubtedly say that Marbury would not mesh with the current roster.

Moving on ….

>> Add Ike Diogu to the smorgasbord of third tier free-agent scraps the Wizards have contacted. [The Sac Bee]

I actually like Diogu. He doesn’t exactly fit the ‘veteran desired to be a leader and contribute immediately’ role. But if the Wiz can sign him on the cheap for three years, I’d be happy to have him develop as a piece of insurance.

>> Speaking of scraps, Jake The Snake comes up with some possibles who might be available in the middle of the season. [Bullets Forever]

We’re just trying to care of our own business and let [other teams] take care of their business. They made some moves, but we also made some moves. We were the first to make a move, so everybody’s following us (chuckles). – Ernie Grunfeld via an interview with Mike Prada of Bullets Forever

[More on JaVale McGee's game 2 from Bullets Forever ...]

The one thing that really stood out to me was JaVale McGee’s poor play. He had five blocks, but otherwise seemed out of it. There was one possession in the first quarter when he didn’t get the ball in the post and just didn’t run back on defense. There was another play late in the second half when he got popped in the mouth and languished in the backcourt smarting from the blow, which drew the ire of Randy Wittman. JaVale only played 24 minutes and didn’t exactly impress the coaches during that stretch.

“In the post he’s just settling for fall-away jump shots, there’s nothing to the basket,” Wittman said after the game. “He’s got to become a stronger player, he’s got to get physically stronger and then he’s got to play that way when he’s in the post.”

[We're Off To See The Willards on summer league game 2 ...]

My overall impression is that the Wizards really need to work on setting screens. Andray in particular. He runs up way beyond the arc to set the screen (too high). Then puts his arms straight up in the air and sticks his hip out to bump the guy (foul). Then he just stands there for a second and jogs back into the lane. (Roll!) I learned pick & roll when I was 4 years old, its not that hard.

>> Even Nick Young’s “mean face” looks goofy. [DC Sports Bog]

>> Will the switch of WJFK make me start listening to sports talk radio? Could be likely.

Great line about from Stet Sports about what his currently DC’s only sports talk station, ESPN 980:

If the 980 lineup was a hand in spades, they would be holding a queen of spades, an ace of hearts, and no other face cards.

Damn I miss playing spades with my college friends … it’s been too long.

>> Interview with Mike Miller via NBA.com (embedded video below). Dude looks like he could fit in among the pictures on this site.

Wizards Summer League Game 2: Should Ernie Grunfeld Be Sweating?

Kyle Weidie — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:35:03 +0000

No, this isn't Ernie Grunfeld, it's Keith Sweat (clearly) - flickr/gwen

This Wizards lost their second summer league game against the Nuggets, and as a unit, they did not look good. But Ernie Grunfeld’s not sweating. He’s probably sitting poolside at the Hard Rock, requesting that the waitress blast some Skynard “Simple Man” over the sound system while he snacks on a cucumber and plays it cool in the 108 degree Vegas heat.

But should the Wizards’ Pres. of B-Ball Ops. (GM) be breaking a sweat over what he’s seen so far in Sin City?

On one hand, as we keep telling ourselves, it’s just a summer league game. The roster players out there will be playing vastly different roles come the regular season. They will be asked to do specialized acts and play within themselves, leaving the bulk of the scoring/defensive/creating duties to the ‘big boy’ players.

On the other hand, Grunfeld must be wondering, “are we really depending on JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire (who might be counted upon to play the four spot) to be key cogs, supporting the efforts of Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison down low where the dirty work is done?”

The poolside recliner just got a little sticky on his backside and beads of sweat started percolating on his garments. Grunfeld can’t be that comfortable with his current team.

One might expect the ‘veteran’ Wiz kids to be playing well together, to know each other’s games … at least like an “okay” oiled machine if not well. After all, the youngins (sans McGuire and Crittenton) have made videos together, among other “team building” activities.

Uhh … not exactly. With Javaris taking a seat in game two, the quartet of McGee, McGuire, Blatche, and Young combined for 12 of the team’s 19 turnovers en route to shooting 32% from the field in a 77-70 loss to Denver’s summer squad.

Blatche got his ‘Antawn Jamison Numbers’, scoring 27 points and pulling down 15 boards to go with two steals and three assists (which accounted for 37.5% of the team total). But in going 11-21 from the field, many of his missed shots came via ill-advised jumpers … par for the course for Blatche I suppose. When he did perform work in the paint, he had the hardest time finishing strong. Yes, he occasionally earned trips to the free-throw line (5-7 in his 27 point effort). However, those were mostly the result of him trying to finishing a shot while contorting with athleticism, or haphazardly barreling into the defender (sometimes they called him for a charge, sometimes they didn’t). For once (or twice, or thrice), I’d like to see Blatche take the ball through a guy’s nose on his way to the rim.

Young followed up his 36 points in the first game with 17 … but 10 of those came in the first quarter. After that, he must have been doing a Lance Burton impression, helluva disappearing act by the kid. He’s also sharing the ball in Oleksiy Pecherov proportions, picking up exactly zero assists in about 69 minutes over two games.

McGuire, it just wasn’t his night. He was caught up trying to be someone he’s not. Pull up jumpers, trying to handle the ball … six turnovers and 1-7 from the field later probably left the Taser in search of the nearest Vegas hypnotist to erase the game from his mind. I’m going to give D-Mac a pass on this one since it was his summer league debut.

That leaves us with McGee. I’m not sure what’s going on in that Transformer head of his. Perhaps an unexpectedly solid rookie season has him too boosted and mentally overwhelming himself. He did manage to snag eight boards and swat five shots, but those should come easy considering the competition. And not all his blocks were that great. At one point, McGee made a nice block on Richard Hendrix under the basket, but went flying away from the action afterward. Hendrix simply recovered the ball for an easy bucket.

The most disturbing part is the kid thinks he should shoot every time he touches the ball. The 3-12 from the field, three turnovers, and five fouls clearly leave a ton to be desired.

McGee attempted to hustle and run from the start, but looked winded later in the game. He made wholehearted attempts to establish position in the paint, but sometimes showed frustration when he didn’t receive the ball. And when he did, a love affair with the fadeaway jumper became hot and heavy. Putting on weight is great, but it doesn’t mean much without the mental game of using leverage, spacing, and positioning a la Darius Songaila. End of story, someone needs to grab a GPS, locate the lost McGee, and talk him into slowing himself down.

“Erratic” and “ugly” are two descriptors I used several times when taking notes on the game … and the DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg stole the words right from my typing fingers (or at least posted his game recap before I did).

No matter, it’s just a summer league game, right? Well, if this is supposed to be a showcase of things to come from the Wizards’ youthful depth, and if I’m Mr.Grunfeld, I’m doubling up on the deodorant and calling/texting/twitter Fabricio Oberto’s agent a couple more times.

Wizards Summer League Game 1 Twitter Recap

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 15:46:41 +0000

flickr/Christopher Chan

Checked out the Wizards’ foray into the summer league last night. They won, almost blew an 18 point lead to Cleveland. Andray Blatche came out shaky. His version, via the DC Sports Bog recap, “I came out real hyper, real real hyper.”

Yep, in the beginning he looked like the same ol’ Blatche … ill-advised long jumpers early in the shot clock, turnovers while trying to carelessly push the ball on the break instead of passing to a guard, etc..

Eventually, after a talking-to by Dominic McGuire and assistant coach Don Zierden, he settled down, started hitting the boards hard, and played like a summer league veteran.

Question is, why is a guy with 238 ‘real’ NBA games under his belt nervous-in-the-service when it comes to a summer league game?

Blatche’s inconsistency frustrates the hell out of me, and I’m afraid we’ll be dealing with this as long as he’s a Wizard. We will see … more on Andray to come.

Overall, it was a summer league game and I refuse to take/learn too much from the initial one. However, I did ‘tweet’ about it … along with others.

The cast of commentary, featuring: @dcsportsbog (Dan Steinberg, DC Sports Bog); @BulletsForever (Mike Prada, Bullets Forever); @WizardsExtreme (Wizards Extreme); @rashad20 (Rashad Mobley, Hoops Addict); @DCWIZ (George Panagakos, Washington Examiner); @Unsilent (Jack Kogod aka Unsilent Majority, Kissing Suzy Kobler, etc.); and yours truly … (FYI — both Steinberg and Prada were on site in Vegas)

dcsportsbog: Here’s a first: they started a taped instrumental National anthem, stopped midway through, and started over with a different taped version
BulletsForever: JaVale looks a lot bigger, though it might have to do with being against SL guys.
Truth_About_It: Gotta love Andray Blatche firing long jumpers early in the shot clock … yea, riiiiight
Unsilent: Mid-season form! RT @Truth_About_It: Gotta love Andray Blatche firing long jumpers early in the shot clock …
dcsportsbog: Nick Young’s parents in the house. Nick Young has 6 points, which were loudly cheered. Wiz lead 12-4.
Truth_About_It: Nick Young is showing an improved outside game (continues to be unafraid to gun)
BulletsForever: Every set play the Wiz have run so far has involved Nick running off a bunch of baseline screens.
Truth_About_It: Just caught Nick Young smiling on the sideline … that’ll be 250 push-ups kiddo.
Truth_About_It: I like the control that Javaris Crittenton is asserting on the game so far for the Wizards.
Truth_About_It: Andray Blatche is looking like himself. A bad shot begets throwing his headband off begets a subsequent turnover on the break. “yay”
BulletsForever: Blatche just threw his headband off before making yet another turnover.
dcsportsbog: Andray Blatche back to back turnovers following an out of control airball. Not sure that’s why they brought him here. 15-12 Wiz.
WizardsExtreme: @Truth_About_It – Stream leaves something to be desired too. RE: Blatche – I’ve never seen him start and finish a game w/ headband on
Truth_About_It: Every time I try 2 wipe the slate clean w/ Andray Blatche, his play just pisses me off. Glad the Wiz are depending so much on him next year.
DCWIZ: Blatche 0 pts and 3 turnovers in 7:30; hm.
Unsilent: More jumpers from Crit, fewer from Dray.
Truth_About_It: Can ‘Dray still bring the ball up on the break? RT @Unsilent: More jumpers from Crit, fewer from Dray
Unsilent: Of course! RT @Truth_About_It: Can ‘Dray still bring the ball up on the break?
Truth_About_It: Tyrese Rice & Nick Young are in a BATTLE: to see which one (they’re on the same team) can dribble the ball more on the same possession.
BulletsForever: Nick is still sagging in the lane on defense leaving his man open on threes.
WizardsExtreme: Where is the Blatche that Flip was raving about a few weeks back? Maybe he’s holding out to explode in the 2nd half….sigh….
rashad20: Finally found a stream to watch the Wizards game, the rumors of Blatche’s improvement were greatly exaggerated
Truth_About_It: Nick Young is a GREAT summer league offensive basketball player. Write it down and quote me later.
BulletsForever: D-Mac and Don Zierden were talking to Blatche extensively between quarters.
dcsportsbog: Wiz 22-21 after one quarter. This isn’t pretty. Young opens second with two buckets, has 12. Hard to type a sentence before he shoots agian
BulletsForever: Cassell’s standing and cheering a lot
BulletsForever: Wiz are in their matchup zone D. They seem to be doing really well with it.
WizardsExtreme: I see the refs are in mid-season form giving out Lebron foul calls to the Cavs, guess they gotta prepare too
DCWIZ: Tyrese Rice having a nice game, 11 points on 4-for-8.
BulletsForever: Nick’s talking with D-Mac while everyone’s listening to the huddle. Blatche joined them. Cassell now joins. Talkin dribble moves.
BulletsForever: Only eight guys have played so far.
BulletsForever: Liking Heytfelt’s game thus far. Haven’t seen any of Aminu or other bigs yet. Flip’s playing a tight rotation.
Truth_About_It: Airball from Crittenton … juuuuust a bit too confident in that jumper. Don’t really need him shooting Js off 1-on-1 moves.
BulletsForever: JaVale’s defensive fundamentals still look rusty.
DCWIZ: J Critt still needs work on his FTs
Truth_About_It: Andray Blatche with a strong dribble drive and 1. He must have heard all the twitter talk.
BulletsForever: Dray’s got no turnovers since that talking to after the first quarter.
Truth_About_It: @BulletsForever The coaches must have told Andray to get more aggressive on the glass … glad he seems to have listened.
Truth_About_It: JaVale McGee talks about out-quicking (going around) strength … he needs to do that on D too … by moving his feet laterally.
Truth_About_It: Wizard end the 1st half of summer league game one with a 47-37 lead over Cleveland.
BulletsForever: Wow, that’s bizarre. Double lane violation, jump ball? Never seen that before.
dcsportsbog: Every half of Summer League should end with a double lane violation and a jump ball at mid-court.
dcsportsbog: Wiz lead 47-37 at half. Andray Blatche got serious and had 9 points, 3 rebounds in 2nd quarter. Also, his name is spelled wrong on the box.
WizardsExtreme: 1st lesson of Summer League – Piss of Dray and let him throw his headband
Truth_About_It: @WizardsExtreme Wait … who pissed Andray off 2 make him throw the headband? His bad shot or his turnover?
WizardsExtreme: @Truth_About_It Can’t you just call it his “bad play”
Truth_About_It: @WizardsExtreme Next step: getting ‘Dray to be PO’d and playing well from the start, rather than him getting mad @ himself via poor play.
DCWIZ: Jamison in the booth, happy to watch his guys; says everyone is 100%
WizardsExtreme: God I love Antawn Jamison. CAPTAIN and he shows it every day.
Truth_About_It: That’s why the call him “Gentleman Jamison” RT @WizardsExtreme: God I love Antawn Jamison. CAPTAIN and he shows it every day.
BulletsForever: Wiz are pushing the ball off missed shots at every opportunity.
Truth_About_It: @dcsportsbog @BulletsForever In his TV interview, Jamison calls Blatche a “wild card” — Sounds like someone the Wiz should depend on, no?
BulletsForever: JaVale finally hit a jumper.
Truth_About_It: I really wish that Sam Cassell would work with Nick Young on limiting his dribbles when trying to make a move to the hoop.
Truth_About_It: Wizards up 60-44 on the Cavs with 5:07 left in the 3rd quarter.
dcsportsbog: Antawn Jamison, Mike Miller and their shared agent, Arn Tellem, are all here. Plus, Nick Young’s mom hugged me.
Truth_About_It: Wizards are giving their ‘roster’ players a lot of time in this 1st summer league game. Good. None of those other guys are making the team.
WizardsExtreme: How many turnovers does Dray have? Geez…Come on now
Unsilent: He’s clearly happy to be there. RT @WizardsExtreme: How many turnovers does Dray have? Geez…Come on now
Truth_About_It: Andray Blatche NEEDS to see the double coming when he’s in the post. The last one was right in his sight line. He turned it over of course.
DCWIZ: Uh oh … letting go of an open three on D … Young answers, but come on, J Critt
Truth_About_It: Nick Young has 24 of the Wizards’ 66 points on 10-13 shooting.
dcsportsbog: Apparently there’s a chance Sam Cassell could be the head coach for one of these Summer League games. That wouldn’t be bad.
dcsportsbog: Wiz lead 66-52. Nick Young has 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. He’s also swearing at himself after made shots.
BulletsForever: Love the way Nick’s working on coming off those screens.
Truth_About_It: Nick Young is on FIYA! 28 points on 15 shots, only 2 smiles. Of course, he hasn’t gotten to the FT line yet, if you want to find a negative.
dcsportsbog: Nick Young now has 31 points on 13 of 16 shooting. Wiz shooting 59 percent. Time to save some of these for November.
WizardsExtreme: @dcsportsbog @DCWIZ @BulletsForever – I know it’s only Summer League and game 1 at that, but how good does Nick look live right now!
Truth_About_It: Make that 31 points for Nick Young on 16 shots … great transition trey ball set up by Javaris Crittenton.
Truth_About_It: @WizardsExtreme @dcsportsbog @DCWIZ @BulletsForever Yea, but with 31 points, you’d think that Young would have gotten to the FT line by now.
DCWIZ: @Truth_About_It He’s doing most of his damage from the perimeter, 5-for-6; it would be nice to see an And-1 jam though :)
Truth_About_It: RT @NBASummerLeague: The Summer League record for pts is 42 by Marcus Banks and Von Wafer
Truth_About_It: Nick Young needs 12 4th quarter points to break the NBA Summer League scoring record … he’s got 31 now.
Truth_About_It: Wizards up 75-61 on Cleveland to start the 4th quarter.
BulletsForever: Flip Saunders in the house for an interview with the TV crew.
rashad20: Blatche is like a crazy girlfriend. One day you want to break up with her, the next day you’re whipped..
Truth_About_It: @rashad20 Problem is, one day that ‘crazy’ might get you beat when it counts the most.
rashad20: @Truth_About_It Good point.
Truth_About_It: Nick Young shoots an airball just as Flip Saunders is calling him “outstanding” on web tv.
dcsportsbog: Blatche to Jamison: “I’ve got your numbers.” Jamison: “Nope, I’m looking at it right now. Not close.”
Truth_About_It: @dcsportsbog good thing to know that Blatche is worried about “getting Jamison’s numbers” in an f-ing summer league game
rashad20: JaVale still hasn’t learned to establish low post position..or throw behind-the-back passes
Truth_About_It: Flip Saunders: “JaVale McGee throws a behind the back pass, that’s not going to happen next year … he’ll be on the bench.”
Truth_About_It: Flip Saunders mentions JaVale’s failed behind the back pass attempt a second time … bet that stuff really pisses him off.
DCWIZ: @Truth_About_It I would have liked to see J Critt go strong a few more times as well, but he did a decent job from the point
Truth_About_It: @DCWIZ Yea, Crittenton looks like he’s making an effort to be a composed PG, but still looks to push when the opportunity is there.
Truth_About_It: The Wizards talk about “health” so much, they are going to get blue in the face and pass out and need medical attention.
DCWIZ: Almost three minutes left and the Cavs on the Wizards heels, 82-76; Young heads to the free throw line for @Truth_About_It
Truth_About_It: Nick Young earns his first trip to the FT line … but not on a drive to the hoop, on a mid-range fadeaway.
rashad20: Blatche is suffering from Chris Webber disease
dcsportsbog: Antawn Jamison and Ed Tapscott laughing together in the stands. That didn’t happen much last year.
Truth_About_It: The Wizards are about to blow an 18 point lead …. I thought we killed last season.
dcsportsbog: 84-84, one minute left. Wizards have been outscored 23-9 in the fourth.
DCWIZ: All tied; are you kidding me? Blatche makes good though.
Unsilent: Could we see a repeat of last year’s Summer League buzzer beater to beat the Cavs? Where’s Dee Brown?
BulletsForever: Blatche with the nice roll off the screen when both guys went to Nick.
Truth_About_It: JaVale McGee and Andray Blathce have issued an Amber Alert on their defense of the paint.
BulletsForever: Why did Critt duck behind his man to allow the wide open three.
Truth_About_It: Andray Blatche hustles to a loose ball, gets fouled, hits two FTs … Wiz up 4 with 30 seconds left …
dcsportsbog: Wiz hold on for 94-88 win. It’s 108 degrees outside.
dcsportsbog: Sorry, check that. Wiz hold on for 96-93 win. And it’s still 108 degrees outside.
dcsportsbog: Andray Blatche has braces.

Other Recaps: Bullets Forever, We’re Off To See The Willards, Cavalier Attitude

Knowing The Wizards ‘09 Summer League Team: Part 2

Kyle Weidie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:18:07 +0000

flickr/Roadsidepictures

Well, by the time I posted ‘Knowing The Wizards ‘09 Summer League Team: Part 1‘ on Sunday, covering James Lang, Alex Ruoff, Jimmy Baron and John Edwards, Lang was cut (this made the DC Sports Bog especially sad). On Monday, both Ruoff and Baron were cut.

Sorry guys, guess it wasn’t in the cards or blogs.

Last night after the practice, the team began their journey to Vegas, and will play Cleveland’s summer league squad today at 6:30 pm EST. For a reminder on summer league rules, check out the Washington Wizards Blog.

Both Bullets Forever and Ridiculous Upside previously posted some quick facts about the players on the summer league roster, but I wanted to dive a bit deeper, not only to find out what type of player each is, but also what composes their background.

Today, I’ll be covering Alade Aminu, Kyle Spain, Tyrese Rice, and Josh Heytvelt.

But First …

Bits O’ News:

The San Antonio Express-News reported this morning that the Wizards offered a contract to Fabricio Oberto.
The Washington Post’s Wizards Insider followed up with Oberto’s agent who said that there has been no “formal” offer and that six teams have contacted him about Oberto, who plans to play in the NBA next season and not Europe.
We’re Off To See The Willards wonders if we should be concerned about Oberto’s heart problems.
Join the Oberto discussion on Bullets Forever.
Andray Blatche might join the squad in Vegas for a couple games. This all but cements “Summer League” being added to Blatche’s repertoire of nicknames.
Flip Saunders made some comments about Nick Young smiling too much and how he needed to cut that shit out (paraphrasing). The WaTimes and WaPost both took that and ran with it.

Summer League Players:

Alade Aminu (First Name Rhymes With Holiday)

[6'10" forward - Georgia Tech, 4 years]

Played for the U.S. All-Stars in Baltimore’s Charm City Challenge and led the team with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Went to Stephenson High School in Stone Mountain, GA where he was a state triple-jump champion.
His father is of Nigerian decent.
Will turn 22 on September 14th and shares a birthday with the cracked out Amy Winehouse, rapper Nas, the president of Russia, the Tyler Perry who is all over TBS, etc., Mike Nifong (the infamous D.A. from the Duke lacrosse case), and Bobcats coach Larry Brown.
Participated in the 2005 Global Games in Dallas.
In 2005, he said the person (dead or alive) he’d most like to meet would be Kevin Garnett.
Twitters @Aminu_44
Told Draft Express that he “can be a Chris Anderson type of guy.”
Started a non-profit organization in March 2008 with his brother, who plays for Wake Forest, called Brotherhood of the World. Their mission statement begins: Our mission is to tap into the generous spirit of athletes and other caring individuals by developing opportunities to give back to the community; through a volunteer program specifically focused on underprivileged youths and children.”
His organization has worked with both T.I. and Usher. Click to catch an interview with him on a GT Sports Talk Radio show.
Alade and his brother Al- Farouq are just the second set of brothers to play on opposing ACC team in conference history. When Georgia Tech and Wake Forest played in January, Alade and the Yellow Jackets prevailed. In that game, Alade had a career high six blocks.
Alade on Tyler Hansbrough after the Tar Heel became the NCAA career leader for FTs made: “You can’t touch him. You can’t even do anything. If you touch him, it’s a foul.”
Led his team to the championship in the Portsmouth Invitational scoring 21 points, pulling six rebounds, and blocking five shots.

Kyle Spain (Not Spanish)

[6'5" small forward - San Diego State, 4 years]

Catch and shoot player who does a range of things well, but nothing great.
Named second team all MWC, 23rd player in SDSU history to score more than 1,000 points.
Named Most Outstanding Player of the ’08 Great Alaska Shootout.
He turned 22 on January 5th and shares a birthday with Warrick Dunn, Marilyn Manson, Alex English, Walter Mondale, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton.
He played at Newark Memorial High School in the Bay Area in California.
At Newark, he teamed with DeVon Hardin, former Cal player and 2008 Seattle Sonics 2nd round draft pick.
Spain was suspended twice in his first three seasons with the Aztecs for marijuana violations.
Even though SDSU was a ‘Nike’ team, evidently Spain decided to wear Converse at some point.
Scored a career high 30 points in a late January ’09 game against New Mexico.
Was the leading scorer, rebounder, 3P% shooter, and FT% shooter on an Aztecs team that set a school record for wins in a season (26-10) and made it to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals, losing to Baylor.
Spain was coached by famed ‘Fab Five’ coach Steve Fisher at SDSU, but claimed to have never heard of the quintet from Michigan, saying, “I didn’t associate [Coach Fisher] with the Fab Five at all. That’s because I had never heard of the Fab Five. I was too young.”

Tyrese Rice (A Little Scoring Punch)

[6'0" point guard - Boston College, 4 years]

Turned 22 on May 15th and shares a birthday with Don Nelson, Ray Lewis, Desmond Howard, Ryan Leaf, John Smoltz, and George Brett.
Compared to Mo Williams on NBADraft.net
He’s quick, a scorer (but a streaky shooter), and has a decent court sense. But he’s small, not that athletic, and tends to over-dribble.
His mother played for North Carolina A&T … he was born before her senior year in ’87, and thus, her collegiate playing career was over. His grandmother also played basketball, once scoring 72 points in a high school game.
His father played at Livingston College, but was not involved in his life. At 19 in January of ’06, Tyrese had his own son and looks to be the father to him that his own father never was.
He grew up in Salisbury, NC and moved to Richmond, VA at age 10.
The three previous bullet points came from this story: ‘On the ball: BC’s Rice takes basketball – and fatherhood – seriously’ – The Boston Globe
Rice attended L.E. Bird High School in Chesterfield, VA.
He holds the VA state record for threes made with 314.
He was the ’04-05 AP Virginia Co-Player of the Year (with Calvin Baker of Woodside), and the Richmond Times-Dispatch POY.
Rice wasn’t heavily recruited during high school, so his coach scheduled a game against Kevin Durant and Oak Hill Academy – Rice made himself known by scoring 30 points in the game, but Oak Hill won 94-69 led by Durant’s 23, Ty Lawson’s 23, Jamont Gordon’s 17, Anthony Wright’s 11, and Eric Devendorf’s 11.
Rice ended up choosing Boston College over Wake Forest (he also drew interest from East Carolina, Maryland and Arizona, but was not offered scholarships by UVA or VaTech).
During his junior year at Boston College, Rice scored a career high 46 points against North Carolina, second most in Eagles history. He scored 34 points in the first half as BC built an 18 point lead, but North Carolina came back in the second half to win 90-80.
He attended the Steve Nash Skills Academy after his junior year in college.
Rice led all scorers with 24 points in the NBCA college all-star game.
He previously worked out for the Wizards, you can check his post-workout chat with the media at Hoops Addict.
Hoops Addict also has an interview with Rice at the Wizards’ mini-camp.

Josh Heytvelt (Means ‘Big White Shooter’ in Caucasian)

[6'10" power forward - Gonzaga, 4 years]

Turned 23 on June 26th, the day after the NBA draft. He probably didn’t do much celebrating since he didn’t get drafted, but shares a birthday with Deron Williams, Raymond Felton, J.J. Barea (aka Jub-Jub), Jerome Kersey, Walter Herrmann, Elijah “You Dead Dog” Dukes, Michael “Isn’t This Ironic When Considering The Previous Guy” Vick, Chad Pennington, and Abner Doubleday.
When he was 16 while playing for the Seattle Rotary Select team, Heytvelt was at the center of recruiting violations committed by University of Washington assistant Cameron Dollar. Dollar made around 20 improper calls, contactingHeytvelt months before he was allowed to do so by the NCAA. UW ended up going on probation for two years (but not a post-season ban) and lost scholarships.
Before his senior year in high school, Heytvelt chose Gonzaga over Arizona, Kansas, Oregon, Washington State and Washington.
He was Washington’s high school class 3A player of the year.
His first college game came against Maryland in the EA Sports Maui Invitational.
Was caught with weed and “magic” mushrooms with Zags teammate Theo Davis in February 2007. He was charged with a felony, eventually entered a plea agreement (he actually did 60 more hours of community service than he was supposed to), and was reinstated to the team in October 2007.
The bust happened 17 hours before a game.
Most of his community service time was spent working at the Ronald McDonald House.
NBADraft.net compared Heytvelt to Elden Campbell or Scott Pollard.
Heytvelt said in an interview with Draft Express that people have compared him to Brad Miller and Mehmet Okur.
He started training in D.C. at the end of April along with Greivis Vasquez; his basketball workouts have been led by David Atkins and lifting by Alan Stein.
He has a tattoo that says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

Knowing The Wizards ’09 Summer League Team: Part 1

Kyle Weidie — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:51:17 +0000

With the Wizards set to being summer league play in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the team has been holding a mini-camp in D.C. for the players on the team. The camp began on Saturday and will finish on Monday. Both the Washington Post and Washington Times have first day wrap-ups posted on their respective Wizards blogs, but with limited media access (essentially being able to watch the players shoot), there wasn’t much to report.

Part one will focus on James Lang, John Edwards, Alex Ruoff, and Jimmy Baron. Lang, who previously spent time with the Wizards, gets a more formal write up. The rest of them get a short-cut … bullet points.

James Lang (A ‘Should’ve Gone To College’ Case)

[6'10" power forward/center - second round draft pick out of high school, pro basketball vagabond]

In the summer of 2002, Lang, at a rotund 300+ pounds and out of Birmingham, AL, was touted as one of the best big men at the adidas ABCD camp in New Jersey. He was being recruited by the likes of Louisville, Alabama and North Carolina. By the time Lang committed to Rick Pitino and Louisville, he was rumored to weigh in at 335 pounds. Talk about Dinner Bells.

The commitment to the Cardinals wasn’t solid though. He subsequently visited Kentucky and Alabama, but was more so swayed by the dollar signs of the NBA in his eyes. But while scouts and recruiting services (many of which dubbed him the top center in the class of ’03) drooled over his great hands and potential, he drooled over the buffet. There were even rumors that he’d ballooned to 400 pounds at one point during his high school career, but is said to have shed at least 100 of those at some point during his senior year.

By the time he was named a ’03 McDonald’s All-American, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the game, his desire to enter the NBA draft was set, aided by “academic concerns” of course. He formally announced his draft intentions on May 10, 2003.

Lang, who many expected could be taken in the first round, slipped to the New Orleans Hornets at the 48th pick in the second round. On draft night, he had a viewing party with his family at a restaurant in Alabama. When he was finally selected, his family came running out, yelling “praise god” and “thank you Jesus” to inform Lang, who was listening to the Diplomats rap group in a white Escalade in the parking lot.

He was signed by New Orleans, but spent all of his time on the IR, and was waived by January of 2004. Since, he’s been a basketball vagabond from Utah to Toronto to Atlanta to Arkansas to Spain to Portland to Israel to China to Oklahoma to Asheville, the highlight of his career appearing in 11 NBA games for the Wizards in 2006-07.

The latest report from Michael Lee of the Washington Post is that Lang has ‘slimmed’ down to 280, from weighing 325 when he played with the Wiz.

Lang shares an October 17th birthday with Cavs GM Danny Ferry, Wyclef Jean, Eminem, Wood Harris (aka Avon Barksdale of The Wire), and Norm Macdonald.

John Edwards (The Heart That Many Needed)

[7'0" center - Kent State, 4 years - NBA, NBDL, other pro leagues/overseas]

Edwards played at Hudson High in Hudson, Ohio.
Even though he grew up in the Buckeye State, he was a fan of Michigan and the Fab Five as a kid.
He will turn 28 on July 31 and shares a birthday with OKC Thunder coach Scott Brooks, Maryland Terp/NBA journeyman/Wizards big man scrimmage dummy Tony Massenburg, former Raven Jonathan Ogden, former Redskin Gus Frerotte, Wesley Snipes, former Cap Dale Hunter, Mavs owner Mark Cuban, The Office writer/actor/producer B.J. Novak, and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.
He scored fewer than 50 points in his high school career.
He was 7’0″ upon graduating from high school but was so uncoordinated that absolutely no one recruited him. He walked on at Kent State, redshirted his freshman year, worked hard, and eventually earned a scholarship.
Edwards played with NFL TE Antonio Gates for two seasons at Kent St.
From absolutely no expectations to starting all 31 games, averaging 26.1 minutes his senior season at Kent State, Edwards won the MAC Defensive Player of the Year (and was an all conference first teamer). The guy has made his basketball career on a ton of hustle.
He went undrafted by the NBA, but was drafted by the Gary Steelheads of the CBA. In addition to time spent with the Indiana Pacers and the Atlanta Hawks, he’s played for the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, Tulsa 66ers, SK Cherkassy Monkeys (Ukraine), Sioux Falls Skyforce, and Iowa Energy.
For one game on November 20, 2004, because of the Malice at the Palace, he was the only player on the bench for the Indiana Pacers, but only played for 15 minutes, taking three shots, making one, grabbing one rebound, and committing three fouls. Two weeks later on December 3rd, he played a career high 31 minutes (which accounted for over 22% of his total minutes played in 04-05), and scored a career high 9 points.
To give back to Kent State, where his skills were cultivated, Edwards has made the Kent, Ohio university his home for summer workouts.
He may never make an NBA team again, but no one EVER expected him to do so in the first place.

Alex Ruoff (Gunning from the Sunshine State to the Mountaineer State)

[6'7" shooting forward - West Virginia, 4 years]

Already signed with Belgacom Liege of Belgium’s Division I league, but had an escape clause in case if he was invited to an NBA camp or summer league.
Holds West Virginia record with 261 made threes for his career.
He will turn 23 on August 29th and shares a birthday with David West, Will Perdue, Carlos Delfino, Devean George, and the late Michael Jackson.
His favorite pro team is the Miami Heat (grew up in Florida and played for the Tallahassee Wildcats AAU team).
He once dunked all over Georgetown in the Verizon Center.
He played with other Wizards’ summer leaguers, Josh Heytvelt and Tyrese Rice, in the NABC college all-star game.
He gave up football in high school because it affected his jump shot.
He made ESPN Magazine’s Academic All-American Men’s Basketball 1st team.
His agent is Doug Neustadt, who also represents these people.
When he was younger, he served as a caregiver for this mother because she had multiple sclerosis.
In a ’50 Things To Know about Alex Ruoff’ on a West Virginia U related website, he answers the following “ifs”:
- If I could do anything, I would: lead as many people as I can to Christ, so they can be saved as I am.
- If I could see into the future, I would want to know: when God is coming back.
- If I could go back in time, I would: do everything I could to prevent any war from happening.
- If I could meet anyone, I would meet: Besides Jesus, I would love to meet Michael Jordan.

Jimmy Baron (Workin’ for a Livin’ and That Work is Shooting)

[6'3" guard - Rhode Island, 4 years]

Was coached by his father, Jim Baron, at Rhode Island, which understandably caused some stress on the family at times … mom usually served as the mediator.
After high school, Jimmy only had one scholarship offered to him by Division II Assumption College. He thus attended prep school at Worcester Academy where he put in hard work to become a D-I player.
Early in Jimmy’s career, Coach Jim requested tapes of J.J. Redick’s shooting and drills from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K complied.
In November of ’08, Jimmy repaid the favor by dropping 8 threes against Duke at Cameron Indoor; Duke narrowly escaped with a win, 82-79.
His 345 made threes for his career stands as the most in the history of the Atlantic 10 Conference.
He set a Rhode Island single-season record with 118 made threes during his senior season.
Nothing more than a spot-up shooter, Baron has been compared to Bryce Drew and Matt Maloney by Sports Illustrated.
His mom had open-heart surgery in February and recovered to run a marathon.
Jimmy turned 23 on May 23rd and shares a birthday with Rasual Butler, Rod Thorn, Jordan Zimmerman of the Nationals, and Cleveland comedian Drew Carey.
Majored in communications, minored in oceanography.
Jimmy played for the Utah Jazz in the Orlando Summer League — over 5 games, he saw about 50 minutes on the court, scored 13 total points (8 came in one game), went 3-7 from downtown, and had 2 assists.

Does Vegas Care About Mike Miller and Randy Foye?

Kyle Weidie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:05:25 +0000

flickr/Roadsidepictures

On June 16, the DC Sports Bog posted odds to win the 2010 NBA championship from Bodog. The Wizards were in a three way tie with the Knicks and Nets with the 18th best odds to get a ring at 75-1.

On June 24th, the Wizards made the trade for Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Increased team depth, Grunfeld is “comfortable” with what he has … better odds to win it all, right? Not exactly.

(For the record, overall I’m very optimistic about the potential of this Wizards team … there are just some holes that need filling, and I’m not talking about some gross porno you probably just watched online.)

On July 2nd, Ball Don’t Lie posted updated odds from Bodog (which ‘should have’ included the Wizards trade among others such as Shaq to Cleveland, Richard Jefferson to San Antonio, and Vince Carter to Orlando).

The Wizards, however, remained tied at 18th, tied with NY/NJ at 75-1; still trailing Chicago, Miami, Phoenix and Philly mind you.

Seems fishy, right? (Or else the arrival of Miller and Foye, along with hope for health, has blown a lot of hot air up our butts.)

BTW … the changes from 6/16 to 7/2 were noted by BDL via some guy named Shapiro as:

Cleveland went from 3/1 to 9/4

L.A. Lakers fell from 2/1 to 9/4

San Antonio sky rocked from 16/1 to 11/1

Orlando jumped a bit from 15/2 to 6/1

Boston dipped slightly from 9/2 to 5/1

On the other hand, ESPN’s Chad Ford ranks the Wizards fifth behind the Spurs, Clippers, Pistons, and Mavericks in offseason movement performance … so forget BoDog.

Let’s turn to VegasInsider.com for current odds:

Lakers : 5/2
Cavaliers : 3/1
Celtics : 9/2
Magic : 5/1
Spurs : 6/1
Nuggets : 8/1
Mavericks : 10/1
Jazz : 10/1
Blazers : 12/1
Rockets : 15/1
Hornets : 15/1
Heat : 20/1
Hawks : 30/1
Wizards : 30/1
Raptors : 35/1
Bulls : 35/1
Pistons : 40/1
Pacers : 40/1
76ers : 40/1
Suns : 50/1
Bobcats : 50/1
Knicks : 75/1
Nets : 75/1
Warriors : 100/1
Bucks : 150/1
Clippers : 150/1
Grizzlies : 150/1
Thunder : 200/1
Timberwolves : 250/1
Kings : 250/1

Ok, tied with the Hawks at 13th with 30-1 odds. That’s more like it. Although, I’m not sure how the Heat are a better team, ranked 12th with 20-1 odds.

In any case, I almost wish the Wizards would stay at 75-1 … at least until late August when I’ll be in Vegas with some friends. I’ll be putting some money down for my team to win the championship then regardless, but I’ll like the possibility to make the most loot possible should the incredible happen.

Speaking of Vegas …

Mike Prada of Bullets Forever will be out in the desert covering the summer league games. (I’ll be watching online).

With several players on the roster already having integral roles with the team (Nick Young, Javaris Crittenton, Dominic McGuire & JaVale McGee), Wizards fans should really be looking forward to Mike’s on-site reporting.

There are already a couple good run-downs on the Wizards’ summer league roster on Bullets Forever and Ridiculous Upside. I’ll have some very detailed posts on the roster coming this weekend.

Otherwise, happy Friday everyone … hope you’re having a good one.

Wizards Summer League Game 2 Blog: Philadelphia 76ers

Kyle Weidie — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:17:00 +0000

The Washington Wizards came up short in summer league game number two, just as they did in game one. This time, the youngsters of the Philadelphia 76ers prevailed. You can find the blog for game one against Portland on Bullets Forever….along with an in-depth analysis of JaVale McGee’s defense from that game. As for game two, the show is below.

Quarter One

Andray Blatche isn’t ready for the tip to start. Great.

First curiosity….JaVale McGee isn’t starting, but I don’t think it means much…. Eddie Jordan simply wants to see Andray Blatche at the center. Dominic McGuire is at the 4 spot, and Gary Forbes steps in at the 3. Dee Brown and Nick Young are the guards.

9:09 – Amazing behind the back dribble by Blatche and move to the hoop for a bucket. That’s an instance where I like to see Andray Blatche use his dribble…when facing up in the short post.

6:42 – Jamont Gordon of the 76ers is able to get anywhere he wants against Dee Brown…until he gets blocked throwing a BS scoop lay-up with Dominic McGuire prowling around.

It’s funny to see Jamont Gordon on the court against so many big bodies. I’m used to him being the biggest dude on the court (I saw him play a ton in college). The worst thing in the world for Gordon to do is take outside shots (far from his strong point)…..mid-range misses are much better as long as you are able to get penetration.

5:14 – Thaddeus Young gets a steal and break…but misses the dunk. Andray is content with watching Marreese Speights get the board and put back.

4:20 – The Wiz move the ball well, but McGee needs to go right up for the dunk…how would one go about making this kid more aggressive?

3:31 – Jamont Gordon loves him some Jason Smith….those two are running pick and pops all day….Smith can really nail that perimeter shot. Jason has 10 points, 8 coming on jumpers, each jumper assisted by Jamont Gordon. 18-11 Philly.

Rick Kamla likes Jonathan Wallace’s game….and I like his poise as well. Definitely seems like he belongs on the court.

48.8 – McGee show very nice athleticism…..but what the hell was that spin move? Shying away from contact? I don’t like that…..but this is the McGee we’re supposed to know, right?

23.0 – Plus Wallace can shoot…with three range. 22-22 tie after one quarter.

Quarter Two

9:44 – Nick Young starts off with a J after missing his first two attempts in quarter one….this jumper was still a fade-away, but started as a post move in the paint and Young jumped to get separation after making contact. Very nice shot.

9:29 – Uh oh….then Jonathan Wallace gets picked by Dawan Robinson…Sixers break points. Wizards call timeout because of more back court pressure. Does the Philly coaching staff have the Wizards’ number on pressure or what? Remember this game?

7:28 – I like the down-court eyes and pass from Blatche…and thunderous dunk from JaVale. Steve Snapper Jones makes a great point…..the Wiz have big men playing now which afford the franchise the time to develop McGee. Is this true? Yes and no….seems like the Wiz do have bigs, but none are exactly dependable…especially in terms of bench depth.

Nick Young…pocket picked…Dawan Robinson again…..the guy has got some nice hands.

Blatche is starting to remind me of Chris Webber with his passing skills. At least he thinks he’s C-Webb.

5:40 – Nice to see Dominic McGuire take it hard to the hoop…that’s pretty much all he can do. 32-32 tie game.

4:49 – Nick Young hits a three and shakes his head at himself again (he did the same thing when he hit at the start of the quarter). C’mon kid, get those emotions in check. 35-34 Wizards.

Jamont Gordon plays with his head up….if he was semi-selfish in college, at least he had court vision going for him.

3:34 – Very bad/forced shot from Nick Young….I know it’s Pat Carroll guarding him…but does the shot have to be a fading towards the middle? I would say no.

Next time down the court, after a McGee block starts the break, Young ties to force it in traffic….and gets blocked by Speights.

3:10 – D-Mac hits an outside shot….how about that? 38-37 Sixers.

2:42 – And then McGuire hits a smooth fade-away over Speights…baseline style. 6 points for D-Mac.

Jason Smith is tearing up the perimeter…..I guess the Wizards don’t know his scouting report. 14 points for him…and another assist for Jamont Gordon, his 7^th. 43-39 76ers.

2:14 – JaVale McGee tries to answer Smith’s jumper…miss. If he’s going to use his shot from that distance (15 feet?)…he needs to jump straight up and down. McGee’s got length and a high release, he doesn’t need to be fading away.

24.1 – Dominic McGuire…another jumper…are you kidding me? Maybe he’s been watching those Dave Hopla tapes….forms looks great too. The half ends with Philly up 45-43.

Quarter Three

Interesting, Dee Brown keeps trying to bait Jamont Gordon into an offensive foul.

8:45 – Dominic McGuire is fancying himself a passer too….nice assist to Blatche for a dunk.

8:36 - Jamont Gordon with a bulldog move down the lane and a runner with the left (he’s left-handed)…And 1. Poor dude/rookie, just about going bald already.

7:45 – McGuire with a nice move to the hoop…. Smith on him. Gotta finish, but he earned two FTs. I really love D-Mac’s game tonight…the most impressive so far. He’s being aggressive, but still letting the game come to him.

7:31 – Gordon with another strong move all the way to the hoop. H
e’s picked up 7 assists and now has his first two baskets. 50-49 Wizards.

Blatche is doing a better job of making himself open on pick and rolls…getting his body wide and looking for the ball.

6:25 – Welcome to the NBA Jamont Gordon….8 seconds in the back-court, not 10. I can’t count how many times he used to push the limit in college.

6:03 – Dee Brown steps up and hits a three in Jamont Gordon’s grill….those two are really going at it. 55-50 Wizards.

4:53 – McGee…great seal…but he can’t catch the ball and travels.

4:17 – McGee….head is not up, turns into double team. Philly steal.

2:09 – McGee finally with a nice, composed turnaround J in the paint. Not too much anyone can do to stop that shot. 61-60 Philly.

Sometimes JaVale McGee just looks like he’s clowning around…..not outright silly, but not really serious.

Some goofy looking cat, Luke Anderson, with a t-shirt under his jersey hits a trey to end the 3^rd….64-60 Sixers.

Quarter Four

6:52 – Dee Brown with a lob….The Cleaner goes over the Bean Burrito and secures the dunk. Wiz finally score after a 6-0 Philly run to start the 4^th which included 4 Wizards turnovers, 2 from Dee Brown under pressure.

6:15 – Andray’s lazy out-under lob pass is intercepted by Jason Smith…..game slippage.

6:03 – Blatche makes up for it with a very smooth mid-range jumper off the dribble. 72-64 Sixers.

Snapper Jones says: Nick Young is not a consistent player — if you want to play for the big play all the time, you can’t be consistent. ….I could not have said it better.

The game just kinda ends without much to write about……Philly wins 86-72 as the energy and care for the Wizards waned during pretty much the entire 4th quarter.

Overall Thoughts:

» Philly played with a lot more hustle as a team.

» The Wizards passed well on offense….but mostly between the players who already know each other. However, the team also likes to turn the ball over. 5 for Blatche, 4 for McGuire, 4 for Brown, 19 total.

» Andray Blatche is showing crazy athleticism….not only has he gotten stronger, but more agile as well.

» I’m still not sure there’s PG out there leading the team. Dee Brown played with more aggression, but had 4 turnovers to 3 assists.

» Jamont Gordon surprisingly played with some decent composure at the point for Philly.

» JaVale McGee had 8 boards…..not giving him much credit because that’s what he’s supposed to do.

» Dominic McGuire had a very nice “utility man” game.

» Nick Young is disappointing, 4-12 from the field. The comment on consistency from Snapper was perfect. I’m not sure how to describe what Young is doing myself….perhaps casually trying to do too much?

» Marreese Speights will be a great addition to the Philly team next year. He might have been nice as a Wizard but I still like the potential of McGee down the road….of course, that’s not to say I wouldn’t have preferred the selection of Speights had he been available at 18.

» Teams will sleep on Jason Smith in 08-09.

Random Posts

April 13, 2010 -- The Wizards Wear Hats, and Even Represent the Nats
October 15, 2010 -- John Wall Stands Tall Against The Bucks’ Brandon Jennings
October 14, 2009 -- From Agent Zero to Agent Silent to Agent Boring and back again. Does it really matter?

Wizards Summer League Game 1 – What They Say

Kyle Weidie — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:06:00 +0000

Getting hyped over a Washington Wizards NBA Summer League game? You betcha…..and why not?

Sure you can go check out the Game Blog on Bullets Forever, as well as the box score….but below, you will find some select comments from the World Wide Web.

Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers will be shown on Comcast on Wednesday at 8 pm DC time….and on NBA.com as well (30 minute delay I believe).

“I want to be a better defender. That and learn the plays better.”
- Nick Young [Lang Whitaker's favorite summer league quote so far]

—————

“He [Andray Blatche] lost concentration a lot on the glass and allowed his man lots of offensive rebounds. Then, there’s the last possession, where he had the ball knocked out of his hands, allowing the Blazers to rebound Bayless’ missed free throw. It encapsulated everything maddening about Blatche. He can look so physically imposing and yet be so mentally weak.”
- Pradamaster, Bullets Forever

—————

“Of all the guys, [Nick] Young probably let me down the most. I was expecting to see him attacking the basket and showing renewed commitment defensively, but instead, he was breaking plays, shooting fadeaways all over the court and allowing Bayless to blow right by him. His final stat line looked good, but believe me, he stunk tonight.”
- Pradamaster, Bullets Forever

“well, NY looked exactly like last year. not a good thing. he’s just not a basketball player. all he can do is shoot (and pout). bayless made him look like a high schooler.” [sic all over]
- Commenter Stevie on Wizards Insider

“Nick Young — Like Blatche, there was good and bad. He started off shooting poorly, terrible shot selection. Then settled down a bit and really had his shot going. He’s got a sweet shot, just needs to be more patient. Still can’t play defense, but there’s time.”
- Mike Jones, Wizards Outlet

—————

“[Jerryd] Bayless got the Dwyane Wade treatment, and deservedly so, angling his way to the rack all night long, absorbing the contact, and knocking down his freebies. A truly rare and exceptional performance.”
- Danny Ourian, NBADraft.net

—————

“MEMO To HAYWOOD: Stay healthy and Watch ya back homie; this guy [JaVale McGee] could be our starting Center before you know it….”
- Les Bullez

“The craziest stat of the night was that [JaVale] McGee had zero defensive rebounds in the entire game. Zero! He should have had one on the final possession, but he allowed the fall to fall out of his fingers. Project or not, no seven-footers should have zero defensive rebounds in a Summer League game.”
- Pradamaster, Bullets Forever

“[JaVale] McGhee [sic] is a keeper. He show some flashes with his passing, blocking, and low post moves. All he need is one to two years under his belt and gain at least 40 more pounds. He going to be much better than Haywood. As for Blatch, Young and the rest of the second year players, I think they’re just there to be playing just to be playing.”
- Commenter DeMj on Wizards Insider

“The Wizards would be the first ones to tell you that he [JaVale McGee] is two or three years away. Still, you can’t ignore his physical tools. The guy is a freak, look at his arms and athleticism. He just needs to learn how to play.”
- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress via True Hoop

—————

“[Petteri] Koponen, the Finnish guard selected by the Blazers a year ago but stashed away overseas this past season, gave the crowd something to be excited about as he got it going in the 2^nd half, draining three long range jumpers in a row as the Wizards continually failed to go over the top of the screen and show hard on this bomber. He made them pay, hitting on 4 of 6 from beyond the arc.”
- Danny Ourian, NBADraft.net

—————

“[Frank] Elegar looked like he belonged on the court and played well. A definite NBA body as well! He looked better than McGuire
on this night. Guess we will see how it plays out.”
- Commenter Rob P on Wizards Insider

—————

“Overall, impressed with the Wiz attitude and the manner in which they played the game. They were aggressive and competed very well. I’m looking forward to seeing them again and hoping that Dee Brown can have a much better game.”
- S.E. on WashingtonWizardsBlog

“Did you guys see the look on Eddie’s face when Young Nick’s “big three” was mentioned. He was like, “Damn kids.” Then he quipped that everybody in summer league thinks they’re Gilbert Arenas. Classic. I love when Eddie trashes the young guys. Same thing Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Pat Riley would say.”
- Commenter Unselds on Bullets Forever

“Taj McCullogh runs funny, but it’s an inspiring kind of funny run.”
- Jake The Snake, Bullets Forever

Random Posts

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Truth About It » nba summer league

Reflecting Back On Summer League Games 3 & 4

Wizards vs. Timberwolves : Summer League Game 3

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Wizards vs. Clippers : Summer League Game 4

2nd Quarter

3rd Quarter

4th Quarter

Other reads from Truth About It:

Wizards Vegas Summer League Media Dump

Wizards vs. T’Wolves

Top Tweets:

YouTube Wiz-Wolves Game Highlights:

Wizards vs. Clippers

YouTube Wiz-Clips Game Highlights:

Wizards vs. Knicks

Other Web Hits:

Other reads from Truth About It:

Practicing What You Preach (and links)

Around The World Wide Wizards Web:

Moving on ….

Other reads from Truth About It:

Wizards Summer League Game 2: Should Ernie Grunfeld Be Sweating?

Other reads from Truth About It:

Wizards Summer League Game 1 Twitter Recap

Other reads from Truth About It:

Knowing The Wizards ‘09 Summer League Team: Part 2

Bits O’ News:

Summer League Players:

Alade Aminu (First Name Rhymes With Holiday)

Kyle Spain (Not Spanish)

Tyrese Rice (A Little Scoring Punch)

Josh Heytvelt (Means ‘Big White Shooter’ in Caucasian)

Other reads from Truth About It:

Knowing The Wizards ’09 Summer League Team: Part 1

James Lang (A ‘Should’ve Gone To College’ Case)

John Edwards (The Heart That Many Needed)

Alex Ruoff (Gunning from the Sunshine State to the Mountaineer State)

Jimmy Baron (Workin’ for a Livin’ and That Work is Shooting)

Other reads from Truth About It:

Does Vegas Care About Mike Miller and Randy Foye?

Speaking of Vegas …

Other reads from Truth About It:

Wizards Summer League Game 2 Blog: Philadelphia 76ers

Random Posts

Wizards Summer League Game 1 – What They Say

Random Posts