John Wall was waiting to grab a rebound during warmups before Washington’s game versus Orlando, and his face instantly lit up when he recognized Jay-Z’s voice over the loud speakers:  ”Aw man, it is Big Pimpin’ Baby.”

Wall continued to sing verses of the Jay-Z hit single as he filed through the layup line, enticing smiles out of his teammates. John Wall was back where he wanted to be, and the mood of the team was noticeably lifted. This was a different scene than that of the Nick Young/JaVale McGee/Andray Blatche era, where jacking around reigned supreme in warm-ups and a level of seriousness never materialized when it mattered. Wall was chatting up Bradley Beal non-stop and the rookie could not contain his laughter. The future franchise core tossed each other alley-oops—Wall struggled converting some dunks on his “jiggly legs.” Jan Vesely and Kevin Seraphin followed Wall’s lead with impressive slams of their own. Later during warmups, Wall started playing around with Kevin Seraphin on the left wing, shaking the big man with a crossover. Both cracked up. Wall mocked Seraphin’s inability to stay on his feet.

Wall’s engaging personality is often hidden in the button-downed, risk-averse image he presents in media interviews. Spend any time around Wall and you see the happy-go-lucky attitude is real and genuine. He appears to know every elite basketball player and partakes in many pregame pleasantries with opponents. The Orlando game was no different, as he greeted Magic reserve guard Ish Smith at half court—both hail from North Carolina, and likely know each other from the hoop circuit in the Tar Heel state. As the national anthem approached, Wall’s roommate and best friend, Tyrone (Ty)  Williams, came over for their pre-game conversation ritual.

Williams grew up with the dynamic point guard in Raleigh and, although not blood related, Wall call’s him his “brother.” Ty attends almost every home game and sits near the floor. Through Wall’s infamous club appearances (which certain bloggers passive aggressively concern troll), trouble and off-the-court drama has never surfaced in any capacity. This might seem trivial and not worthy of praise, but being a young, rich NBA player makes you a target when you are just doing a simple activity like being out socializing with your circle of friends. This can be difficult waters for famous hoopers to navigate in a world full of hanger-ons and distractions. Williams deserves credit for keeping Wall away from any negative publicity or troublesome situations. (If only Arenas and Blatche had similar peeps.)

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The Set.

Media Day has been over for several hours and the Washington Wizards have been officially media’d. Quotes, images and pixels of various natures have been broadcast. Hope has been expressed. Do we have the talent to make the playoffs? Yes. How will we come together as a team? We will see, that’s what training camp is for. Will it be tough without John Wall (and Nene to some extent)? Yes, but we’re going to try anyway.

Could one simply tell, from an affair such as media day, that the Wizards are a more mature, professional team? That’s the gut feeling. Have a conversation with Nene, Emeka Okafor, Martell Webster or Trevor Ariza — there’s a difference compared to other teams in recent memory. Now young Wizards have guys they can look toward, knowing their experience, knowlege, and professionalism will provide answers they can trust. There is still as much uncertainty as to what these 2012-13 Wizards will do on the court as the last couple of seasons, but there’s much more of an underlying sense of confidence that they can stay together and tackle any adversity, that they can deflect any punches instead of simply rolling with them.

Make no mistake, until they prove themselves otherwise in the win-loss column, these are still the same Wizards. But it’s a changing franchise. And this year is a new team – the freshest start Les Boulez have had in about a decade.

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THE DEFINITION OF COOLIN

–>> An inner dialogue of John Wall in pixel form*

Hey you…

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Having just arrived back in Las Vegas where he trained with Team USA from July 6-11, after spending some time in Philly for a Red Bull event, John Wall and his thick-framed glasses (with lenses) took time to chat with the media about:

• his time with the Team USA Select team (“Sometimes it felt like we was on a J.V. team,” John said.);
• his thoughts on the Wizards making moves to get veterans (he likes Trevor Ariza’s championship ring);
• his observations on Bradley Beal (“He don’t play like he’s 19.”);
• what he’s seen from Jan Vesely’s improved jumper (Wall will be glad that the team won’t have to yell at Vesely to shoot the ball.);
• and what else the Wizards need to do to make a push for playoffs (“Get better.”).

Let’s watch…

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Tonight before the Wizards-Thunder game I had a chance to quickly chat with Washington Wizards rookie Chris Singleton about his defensive assignment: Kevin Durant. Here that goes…

On your defensive assignment of Kevin Durant… are you ready to battle?

“I feel like I’m ready more than ever. I mean, he’s a tough competitor. He’s got so many different things he can do, he can shoot. He’s also 6’11″, can handle the ball. He’s got so many ways he can beat you. I’m just looking forward to the task.”

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The Wizards weren’t necessarily really, really bad in their 103-90 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, they were just normal bad. For one, don’t take credit away from the Sixers. Good team. For two, Washington seemed to earnestly try in small doses to pass the ball to each other. It’s just that usually when they did, the passes were not crisp, or the recipient couldn’t finish, or a number of other things that just don’t seem to go a bad team’s way happened — no help from the refs, plenty of missed shots from point-blank range, etc.

Philadelphia scored 27 points off 18 Washington turnovers, 21 of those points came in the first half off 13 turnovers (seven in the first quarter, six in the second). Andre Igoudala got points with ease for Philadelphia when needed, finishing with 23 on 9-16 FGs with five steals, five assists and seven rebounds. Igoudala also had teammates who filled in with help. Thaddeus Young chipped in a solid 18 points off the bench, Wizard killer Lou Williams had 24 points on 4-6 from deep.

The money quote from Flip Saunders after the game: “The first half we looked like ‘Space Jam’ where everyone lost all their talents and couldn’t do anything there for a while. But I told them, when you haven’t passed the ball very much, and you’ve been holding the ball and holding it, then all of a sudden, as a team, when you try to start doing it, it’s like guys aren’t ready.”

The difference being: Michael Jordan brought the ToonSquad back to a fictitious, animated victory in the 1996 movie. The Wizards, well, they are living real life and the only Jordan they have is Jordan Crawford. A 1-11 record is in the books… Lights Out Wizards. Read more »

A D.C. pic, links, other pictures, commentary, video, etc.

[Down 14th St. from Red Derby - NW Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

LINKS.

> John Wall, in this photo, seems kinda bummed without the NBA.
[via irockcollege.com]

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A D.C. pic, commentary, links, video, pictures, etc…

[Mt. Pleasant Day 2011 - Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

Do we even know this John Wall kid?

Watching him play at exhibition games this summer, he doesn’t seem like the guy I saw make his pro debut at the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League, much less the player who dazzled us all during an injury-affected, frustration-filled rookie season.

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Pictures, commentary, links, more pictures…

WE HAVE HERE: JaVale McGee dunking over Gary Neal at Capital Punishment, but John Wall should also look out below…

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Future basketball historians may heavily sway their chronicles toward the 2009-10 Washington Wizards season. The infamy surrounding the heavily dramatized whirlwind that was Gilbert Arenas, locker room guns and court cases, and the losing that magnified it (or that it magnified) will go down in D.C. lore just as much as team media guides will gloss over the affair.

Meanwhile, Arenas continues to be in the contradictory mode of ‘they wanted me out, but I gave them plenty of reasons’ on Twitter. He is very ‘woe is me’, while claiming a lesson has been learned. If only Arenas knew how to not keep himself from proving maturity when it counts.

The abrupt end of one long-running and significant ownership era resulting from the passing of Abe Pollin will only add to the natural sensationalizing of ’09-10. But old flames — the one time poster boy and the patriarch of D.C. pro basketball — passed by new sprouts on their way out.

The 2010-11 season, on one hand, as another lottery year for the franchise, might be as forgettable as the rest. But a change in ownership is a very important event. Just think about how crucial ownership is to your opinion of the Washington Redskins.

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