Pictures of the Young and Blatche “Dial It Up” routine made the rounds on Friday. After the Wizards faced the Hawks on Saturday, I asked the duo about their recently introduced handshake ritual.
I could have taken a number of quotes from the above video of locker room interviews after Saturday night’s loss to the Jazz and turned it into the title of a post.
“Obviously it’s not any fun, you know it’s frustrating.” -Mike Miller
“Well obviously you have fun playing basketball, but you play to win.” -Mike Miller again
“We all have jobs, you know. My job is to play my game and to do my job.” -Andray Blatche
“I don’t feel like the freedom is there to … if I get physical, I don’t get to be able to be physical back, offensively at least.” -JaVale McGee
[Editor's Note:Rashad Mobley has reported on the Wizards with media credentials since the 2008-09 season for Hoops Addict. He occasionally contributes to Truth About It.net, providing excellent analysis and a different perspective from his up-close coverage of the team.]
Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith ended the third quarter, by missing consecutive 24-foot jumpers, and his numbers going into the fourth were anything but impressive. He had made one of his six shots, and he only had four points, as his team held a slim lead over the Washington Wizards.
Things certainly did not get any better when the fourth quarter initially started, because Smith picked up an offensive foul trying to run through Nick Young, and then a technical foul for a delay of game violation. Still, Nuggets coach George Karl never removed him from the game, and despite some momentary frustration, Smith stayed composed.
In a way, I feel like Frank Sobotka from The Wire. Just like Sobotka was witnessing the port of Baltimore and its potential crumble around him in season two, I’m witnessing the same happen to the Washington Wizards.
And yes, I realize that it’s very ironic for me to use the word “witness” considering who the Wizards will play in about an hour.
By the way, while I’m making comparisons to The Wire, I might as well call Gilbert Arenas “Ziggy” (Sobotka’s son in the show, not the cartoon character) … both self-destructive in nature and ultimately brought down by gun-play.
Last night’s Sixers game seems like so long ago, obviously aided by Gilbert Arenas’ indefinite suspension, but also because, among other things, I’m rushed into thinking about tonight’s game against Cleveland.
After Saturday’s Spurs game, reader Joe Sill emailed me some praise about Nick Young. And with perfect timing, Young put together a very solid 21 point effort on 9-14 FGs last night in a win against the 76ers, his plus-15 second best to that of Gilbert Arenas. Young came off the bench in the first half, started the second half in place of Andray Blatche, and overall did some nice things defensively.
Below is what Joe wrote about Nick and emailed to me this past Sunday.
I’ve been kinda kicking myself for not attending the ‘Gilbert Gun-Gate’ practice at the Verizon Center yesterday. Seems that I missed out on a bit of ambush journalism. It will likely be an even crazier circus tonight as I go cover the Wizards-Spurs game … much like what my man Rashad Mobley describes on his blog:
“Instead of 10-15 media members fighting for quotes and interviews, there will now be at least 50 people who know NOTHING about the Spurs or the Wizards, they just want to sensationalize an issue that we STILL don’t know the truth about. They will clog up the locker and media rooms with their clueless facial expressions.”
Still, you have to make the best of a situation, right? Maybe I’ll cover the media that’s trying to cover Arenas. But I’m more interested in how this team is going to address Tim Duncan; can Haywood guard him straight up? Or if Flip Saunders thinks his zone will contain Tony Parker.
It was easy to deduce that a certain jovial nature had returned to the Wizards’ clubhouse, one that had the DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg display a sense of giddiness as he exited the locker room after Tuesday’s win against Philadelphia.
Of course, this mostly started with the release of the team’s biggest character, Gilbert Arenas, which was thus reflected upon the team’s biggest smiley goofball, Nick Young.
The latest theme involved Young being placed in a box, on a shelf, to just gather dust. Now, who exactly placed Young in said box could be debated. It would be easy to assume that it was completely at the behest of the coaches. But given the amount and nature of chances Nick has been given this season, it’s better to conclude that he placed himself in the box. The coaches simply sealed him up with a minimal amount of tape.
Wizards fans now hope that Tuesday’s game wasn’t just Nick taking a peak out of the box and that he will jump out feet first. If he keeps playing disciplined defense like he did against Philly, and limits unnecessary dribbles, there’s no reason to believe why Young can’t mature as a third year player and build on his most recent effort.
[Editor's Note:Rashad Mobley has reported on the Wizards with media credentials since the 2008-09 season for Hoops Addict. He will be contributing to Truth About It.net on an occasional basis, providing excellent analysis and a different perspective from his up-close coverage of the team.]
{flickr/Keith Allison}
The Washington Wizards were defeated by the San Antonio Spurs last night, 106-84, and the topics of discussion after the game were endless. There was the topic of Mike Miller, and the warrior mentality he displayed prior to injuring his calf; you could discuss the fact that the Wizards were only able to muster 12 assists in 48 minutes; or you could even discuss the continuing struggle of former All-Star Caron Butler, who only scored eight points in 32 minutes of play. But to me, the biggest subplot that came out of this bad loss, happened prior to the game, and this information came to my attention via Twitter, courtesy of Washington Post beat writer, Michael Lee.Read more »
