Prior to tonight’s epic Wizards-Bobcats tilt, Randy Wittman had his usual presser with the loyal cadre of Wizards beat reporters and staffers. Most of the presser can be considered business as usual, but Wittman was downright Belichickian when it came to discussing Wizards injuries. Nene’s minutes will “continue” to be monitored, despite the fact that he was basically encased in ice after the Hawks game. Trevor Booker’s knee “gets better” every day, but there is no timetable for his return. Most encouragingly, Wittman has “no idea” when John Wall will be back.

Just another day in Wizards Land.

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From a previous time when John Wall was sad. He’s probably pretty sad now, too.

During his press conference on Wednesday, Washington Wizards coach Randy Wittman spoke about some of the “bumps and bruises” his team was experiencing leading up to training camp.

Of course there was mention of Nene’s plantar fasciitis and how the team would be cautious with the 30-year-old. Wittman also said that Emeka Okafor dislocated a finger just that day. “He’s fine… pops back in. Your finger joints happen all the time, I’m lucky I got straight fingers,” he said, also mentioning that Okafor’s knee had been at 100 percent since the Wizards traded for him. In addition, Wittman mentioned that Trevor Booker was healthy and ready to go.

Finally, Wittman said that John Wall was experiencing some bursitis, but he didn’t seem highly concerned about it Then, on Friday afternoon, the bombshell. Per team press release: Read more »

ShareBullets … news, randomness and tidbits from around the web. These involve current Wizards, ShareBullets on past Wizards/Bullets to come…

> John Wall’s New Reebok Zigs

So a sneak peak at Wall’s new Reeboks is out, via Sole Collector. What do you think? (Poll below.) FWIW, in the poll on Sole Collector, which has many, many options, 26-percent currently say that they are “hideous.”

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[Whether you're a Laker fan or a Thunder hater,
blows to the brain aren't anything to joke about.
Via onsmd.com.]

An intense game between two Western Conference powers. A hard smack to one player’s head.

The Lakers’ Ron Artest in the middle of it.

But this was February 2011 in Memphis, not yesterday’s Thunder-Lakers game. And Artest was the player getting popped in the head, not the one dishing it out.

Obviously, names and circumstances have changed in the past year. Our understanding of concussion-related risks, too.

So when Ron Artest…er, “Metta World Peace”…threw an elbow into James Harden’s temple on Sunday, I didn’t ponder whether it was intentional. I didn’t quip about “World Peace” committing the most violent act of the season.

I was terrified for Harden’s NBA future.
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Home fans didn’t even let Andray Blatche take the floor, miss a long jumper or two, before they started booing him last night. They let loose on him during pre-game introductions and just about whenever he touched the ball in the early going. Blatche missed a 21-foot jumper 22 seconds into the game,  a 19-foot jumper about two minutes later. Relentless. And after a bumbling travelling violation midway through the first quarter, Blatche saw Trevor Booker waiting to check in and started sulking toward the bench. Problem was, Flip Saunders was sending Booker in for McGee instead. Keep playing 7-Day, was the presumed message.

When asked if Blatche earned the “moans and groans” of the crowd, Saunders said, “I’m sure he did, but I give him credit because he played through it.” Sometimes to success, sometimes not. Midway through the second quarter after a steal, Blatche found himself all alone on the break. No off-the-backboard dunking like JaVale McGee, but rather, simply a barely made layup.

“If ‘Dray would have missed that layup…” jokingly chimed in Nick Young several times while Blatche, with an uncontrolled sheepish grin himself, was giving his post game interview with the media, the ability to be laid back about the whole scene thanks to a 105-102 Wizards win.

Blatche didn’t make his first jumper until the third quarter, one that brought the Wizards within six points at 59-53. Fans barely knew how to react… pre-packaged cheers were muted by surprised golf claps. But 7-Day Dray got an ‘atta boy’ from his coach in the way he battled against bruising Thunder big man Kendrick Perkins. No one knows if the boos motivated Blatche to 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, four turnovers, two steals, and one block in 34 tough minutes back in the starting lineup. Or maybe it was a Marine.

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[Wizards, Wall & Wale... highlights from Fan Fest...]

The hope is that the fun of last Saturday’s Fan Fest at the Verizon Center was not just a reprieve from things to come for the Washington Wizards after Friday night’s debacle against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tonight, the Wiz Kids will get a chance for preseason redemption in the City of Brotherly Love, as well as in front of a national audience on NBA TV. It might merely be a minor speed bump en route to a shortened 66-game season slate, but when the next game on December 26 counts, it’s not a bump to be taken lightly.

So before people pile on how bad this Wizards team might be, or rather, lack of evident improvement in this season from the last, let’s give John Wall’s bunch a chance to digest Flip Saunders’ harsh words, to think about their film session that didn’t lie, and for the fearless point guard leader himself to stand by his words of inducing better offense and more astute defense.

But aside from franchise development angst, Wizards Fan Fest was a pretty great event. After about 15 minutes of rest after practice, the team took center court in the Phone Booth for an exhibition display. The feature was two 15-minute, running-clock scrimmages — light in their demeanor, as expected — that brought this NBA follower back to summer exhibition basketball action — little defense and dunking galore. (Actually, with exception, Capital Punishment surprisingly melded entertainment and competitiveness.)

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Hi there Internet. Why yes, this here site has doled a lot of criticism toward JaVale McGee in the past X amount of time. While some of it has certainly been flagrant, it is not baseless.

However, one might counter that we have not given young McGee enough praise. This may be true and to that we will say this, he is a keeper… despite all the basketball disruption that his alter ego, I’m assuming his name is “Pierre,” has caused to the playpen of team functionality and trust. He’s not a bad kid. He is young, after all, but many times disappointingly young in comparison to some contemporaries. Still, no one said an investment in youth is easy, but it’s usually always worth it, especially given McGee’s athletic parameters.

Speaking of… let’s get back to that reported/tweeted rumor the other day from Jonathan Givony of Draft Express: Read more »

[Editor's note: The two interesting, or curious, developments in the John Wall injury recovery process is that he is looking into getting his own personal trainer to help with his knee, etc. issues, per the Washington Post's Michael Lee, and that he has shut himself down for an indefinite amount of time. Wall speaks with CSNWashington's Chris Miller in the video below. -Kyle]

[After last week’s Wizards loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, I asked Derek Fisher, Ron Artest and Shannon Brown their impressions of John Wall's game. Wall did not play in the defeat, but had a stellar outing in their previous match up in LA.

Brown commended of Wall’s ability, Fisher heaped high praise on John’s character, and Artest had a comedic response. -Adam]

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People like to compare the hard times, and the glory, of one professional sports franchise to the next, especially the hard times. It seems to be an inherent need for humans make comparisons, however irrelevant they may be. Think of the females, and males, going out to a club or a bar who are unnecessarily judging each other by looks, good and bad. With so many pheromones in the air, the nightlife chase can be just as much of a sport. So when competition comes into play, we compare even more.

Are the Portland Trailblazers going through a more rough time than the Washington Wizards right now? Perhaps, because the expectation of their success was higher, but I don’t buy the excuse of getting spoiled by continued playoff appearances. Or the LA Clippers, the oft-compared West Coast counterpart of the Wizards? The toils of Los Angeles’ other team have been just as painful, except if Dan Snyder were the owner of the Wizards. Actually, Donald Sterling is probably worse than Snyder. Imagine that. What about the Houston Rockets? Had they come to grips that Yao Ming would never be the same only to have him suddenly gone for good as Wizards fans just experienced with Gilbert Arenas? At least Washington got … Rashard Lewis.

It’s hard to compare the strife of one team to the next because those situations have nothing to do with each other. They have to do with the fans and those in the affected city. So Washingtonians, raise a toast to Portlanders and Houstonians and some Los Angeleans, and vice versa, and also to all those maligned fans of other hapless franchises. And while you’re at it, raise a toast to China, where millions have perhaps lost a basketball icon in Yao … and are left with a currently injured Yi Jianlian to carry to torch. Before Saturday night’s game versus the Miami Heat, Yi spoke on the injury of his fallen comrade.

It’s hard to hear Yi in the video below, but he says that the broken foot Yao recently suffered, ending his season and potentially his career, was pretty upsetting. But Yi says that Yao is also tough with a strong heart and that he doesn’t think he’ll just walk away from the game. When asked if he thinks Yao will come back, Yi says, “I hope so.”

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Two initial thoughts upon hearing “strong” Gilbert Arenas trade rumors (via: Yahoo!, Orlando Pinstriped Post, Washington Post):

1) So what? If he’s traded, he’s traded. If he’s not, he’s not. Arenas has had a colorful past in D.C. that will always be remembered, mostly good … but it wouldn’t be colorful unless there’s some bad, and that will be remembered too.

Gilbert has come back relatively quietly this season (aside from emo acts, the fake knee injury, or shoe poop stories). Whether truly humbled, who knows, but he’s at least playing the part. The struggle with whether he should stay or go should now be released, regardless of if the rumors become true or not. People will surely struggle with how to remember him, many will dramatically paint broad pictures with broad brushes … just remember him.

It reminds me of a fight I once had with my girlfriend. It got pretty heated, and in a dead serious moment she looked up at me and said, “I hate to get all Mike Miller on you, but it is what it is.” And then the fight was pretty much over. I cracked up because she had the perfect way to break the tension, and get my attention, rending the conflict silly in the big picture. Then we moved on.

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