Over/unders are set for gambling purposes, and if you’ve noted a recent national story, it’s an industry worth billions with various levels of legality. But otherwise, over/unders are fun to set yourself, guess about, or use as fodder in sports chatter.

It’s with this intro we talk about some Wizards-related over/unders which have been set by Bovada.lv. Below are the numbers, along with polls for you to take a stance over or under the estimates…

John Wall, total points per game over/under: 17

Let’s not fawn over the new Wizard who’s a good quote. (And we mostly mean ‘basketball’ good quote, not so much ‘poop-in-shoe’ story good quote.)

And let’s be cool before we dub Martell Webster as a “sleeper.” I don’t want guys on the basketball team that I watch sleeping. (But yea, I’ve previously said that Webster could be a steal of a sign by the one and only Ernest Grunfeld.)

Sure, it’s great that Webster followed up an 18-point performance (6-for-12 FGs in 25 minutes) against the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday with a 12 point, 10 rebound showing in 27 minutes off the bench against the New York Knicks on Thursday. It’s the preseason, folks.

But whatever the case, just take some time and watch Webster talk in the video above.

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[NOTE: This was written before today's Debbie-Downer news about John Wall's knee. But in any case... -Kyle W.]

“This is not the norm in the league,” said Randy Wittman in a pre-training camp press conference on Wednesday. He was talking about almost two-thirds of his young team arriving in Washington early over the last week-plus to get better acquainted with each other before the season.

“We do have a lot of new faces, and I thought it was important they get to try to know each other a little bit, not only as persons, but their games, what they like to do, where they like to catch the ball, those kind of things that you can learn, before we start on Tuesday,” said the coach, subtly anxious to run his first Wizards training camp from the head position.

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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 »

[Ed. Note: With the NBA basketball season just around the corner, TAI's Czech correspondent, Lukas Kuba, provides an update/translation of a recent interview that Jan Vesely gave to sport.ihned.cz. —Kyle W.]

“Tutoring session on tie knots.” -@JanVesely24 via Instagram

After one NBA season of not being able to live together in the same city, Jan Vesely now lives in Washington, D.C. with his fiancee, Eva Kodouskova. When asked about their free time activities, he says that they usually go to a restaurant or one of the numerous Washington museums. Jan says that sometimes people recognize him on the street, but not very often. And what about going to movies? In D.C., Vesely says he went to see a movie just once because he’s not too impressed with the ‘American cinema system,’ where a person does not buy tickets for particular seats. “I came late and had to sit in a bad seat,” he says.

[Ed. Note: A recent tweet from Vesely indicated that he an Eva enjoyed a meal at Bistro Bohem, located on Florida Avenue near the U Street corridor. —KW] 

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 ShareBullets: links, shares, stories, and irreverence…

The San Antonio Spurs recently released some new, alternate jerseys, which you can find modelled above by Kawhi Leonard. Here is what the Internet thinks of them:

Rick Pych, president of business operations, Spurs Sports & Entertainment:

The new design simply features our iconic ‘spur’ logo and it is positioned over the heart as it has such enormously deep roots with our team, fans and the entire community. It’s the first-ever NBA jersey logo without any writing or peripheral design on the front of the jersey…

Kelly Dwyer, Ball Don’t Lie: Read more »

ShareBullets: Links, commentary, pictures, the Web, and stuff you may have missed…

>> USA Today is reporting that the Wizards want to bring back Maurice “Mo” Evans for a front office gig (even though Mo wants to play one more year). But also, there’s this:

But it’s his locker room presence that made an impact in Washington. Last season, Evans filled that leadership role as a mentor to guards John Wall and Jordan Crawford. One person with knowledge of the Wizards’ season said Crawford would have been late to the airport for a handful of road trips had Evans not picked him up. The person, who requested anonymity because Evans is still trying to reach a deal, also said almost every player credited Evans for his leadership and advice during their exit interviews.

Tell us, now who will now get Jordan Crawford to the airport on time?!?!?
[USA Today]

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[ShareBullets: links, thoughts, randomness, shares, Washington Bullets...]

John Wall turned 22-years old on Thursday, September 6. Kevin Willis turned 50 on Thursday, too. (Could’ve sworn he was 60 … he was still playing in the NBA less than 2,000 days ago.) Who else celebrated a birthday on September 6? None other than Pippa Middleton, Foxy Brown (the rapper), Jeff Foxworthy (the redneck), Rosie Perez, and Idris Elba (Stringer Bell from The Wire). Now let’s check out some John Wall birthday club fliers — Wall surely won’t become the next “Party All Dray,” right? (H/T DC Sports Nexus)

First, there’s New York…

And then Miami, where there will be girls holding boobs, clearly…

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Hamady N’diaye, left, at 2010 Wizards Media Day

You heard right, John Wall is the longest tenured Washington Wizard. He was drafted first overall in 2010; Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker were taken in the same draft, but acquired via trade. Wall’s 4,992 NBA minutes are also twice the number logged by JaVale McGee, the Wizard with the second most minutes played over the last two seasons. Yep, 32 players aside from Wall have donned a Wizards uniform in the 148 team games over the 26-plus months since the “Game Changer” was introduced to the District on a red carpet. By the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the total number of Wall’s teammates in Washington will have climbed to 37, at least.

All those boarding on and off the USS Wizards had memorable moments good or bad (or infamous). Mike Bibby played the least amount of minutes over the last two seasons, but did score a single basket for the Wiz, and Truth About It.net was there to capture his thought-provoking reaction. Mustafa Shakur saw 159 minutes of action, 24th most, and got a whole DC Sports Bog post dedicated to his jersey malfunction. Othyus Jeffers, 314 minutes, 21st most, is still remembered and missed by faithful followers of the team.

Hamady N’diaye played 83 total minutes, 28th most, and was also drafted in 2010 (56th overall), but spent much more time on the Verizon Center practice gym than he did under the lights of the main court. N’diaye, known as “H,” is still highly regarded by Wizards team executives. “Look at the meat hook!,” exclaimed one with endearment as N’diaye threw up a sweeping hook shot at the 2012 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas as a member of the Charlotte Bobcats; it missed.

What “H” is most remembered for is his positive attitude, his resilience during challenging life experiences, and his smile. Someone has to contrast the parade of bad characters who have hogged the attention of Wizards fans over recent seasons. What makes N’diaye’s story stick is that he comes from Senegal (discovered via the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program); that he had to deal with escaping a questionable prep school basketball experience in the U.S.; and that he prevailed against the odds, graduated from Rutgers as the Big East Defensive POY, and got drafted by the NBA.

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ShareBullets: (basically, they’re pixels)… but also, they’re bullet points from ’round the web about the Bullets Wizards.

Elevators, Dupont Circle N., D.C.

>> Ted Leonsis calls Michael Lee’s pixels ‘fair pixels‘ … Question mark pixels, I say. Either way, the Wizards and their direction under a relatively new owner, a ‘been there’ GM/team president, and a ‘wanna be there’ old school coach will be interesting to watch. I’m excited. Question is, will the team marketing slogan be up to par?

>> Again, not much to get excited about with summer pro-am basketball, but do check out new Wizards point guard A.J. Price putting in work at the Hartford pro-am… Nice dimes.

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