[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by John Townsend

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past three months — no, three years — there is no way you haven’t heard of John Wall. If you’re still under that rock, well congratulations for making it as far as the internet.

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[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by Kyle Weidie

Gilbert Arenas, we meet again. More come back attempts than Lindsay Lohan, and you’d be hard-pressed to determine which one wants more attention. And that’s the key part of the Arenas “re-embracing” by Washingtonians and the media beast.

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[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by Rashad Mobley

Last year during Media Day, Andray Blatche looked like a man on the brink of a monster season.  He had used his appearance in the 2009 Vegas Summer League to get in shape, he changed his number to “7″ because he planned on working hard seven days of week, and he talked like a man who had finally put the immaturity and inconsistency behind him. Read more »

[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by Stephen D. Riley

It wasn’t hard to spot JaVale McGee’s mom dukes in the crowd at the Las Vegas Summer League this past July. Pamela McGee is an attractive woman, so the cameraman made sure to give her plenty of face time. Commentators went on and on about the second overall draft pick of the 1997 WNBA Draft and how the former USC standout used to run with Cynthia Cooper and Cheryl Miller back in her heyday. Broadcasters referenced how the two McGees share the only mother-son relationship between the NBA and WNBA, so naturally, basketball browsers assumed that JaVale got his athletic ability from his mom. But did you know that JaVale’s father, George Montgomery, was a pretty good hoopster in his own right?

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[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by Beckley Mason

Hilton Armstrong is one of those NBA players for whom it’s hard to remember a time when he was good. In college or the pros, the 6’11″ center has never averaged double-digit points or even seven rebounds per game. And yet, here he is– the former Big East Defensive Player of the Year and 2006 lottery pick is now the back-up center for your Washington Wizards (who actually wants to start).

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[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Summer.

-by Kyle Weidie

I think Al Thornton really appreciates his situation. Appreciates, as in understands it and will take the necessary steps to respond accordingly. Sure, Thornton likely would rather be playing with a secure extension and not heading into the qualifying offer portion of his contract in the Summer of 2011. But were it not for this situation, Al might not have the opportunity to become the player he could be, which is a great unknown … speaking of, what is it that Al Thornton does anyway?

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[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Transitional Faces of Kirk Hinrich,
as seen around Washington, D.C….

The Intro.

-by Adam McGinnis

Read more »

[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by Kyle Weidie

Did you know Nick Young likes to smile a lot? Nothing wrong with a happy-go-lucky attitude … this world needs more smiles. And scientists say it takes less muscles to smile (or more to frown). Everyone wins with smiles. Well, not always the case with Young. In July 2009 Flip Saunders implored Young to smile less and develop a mean streak. The coach expanded upon those comments in November ’09, saying: Read more »

[Basketball Court: First St. & K St. NW, Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

TAI Programming Note:

Both Michael Lee on the Washington Post’s Wizards Insider blog and the gang over at Bullets Forever have been providing some excellent preview coverage of the Washington Wizards heading into training camp.

Here at Truth About It.net, we’re ready to gear up our coverage too. As we approach “Midnight Madness” and the start of training camp on September 27/28, the TAI staff will collaborate to form the sum of a preview for each of the 10 main characters of your 2010-11 Wizards playing squad. Or, each of the moving parts that will/should/hopefully come together under the direction of Coach Flip Saunders to form a competitive basketball team (or at least one that’s enjoyable to watch).

So, in the coming days we will have comprehensive previews on:  Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche, Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin, Al Thornton, John Wall, and Nick Young, featuring work from the TAI staff: Rashad Mobley, Adam McGinnis, John Townsend, Arish Narayen, and myself, Kyle Weidie.

Read more »

Sebastian Pruiti, founder and editor of NBAPlaybook.com and NetsAreScorching.com, has had the opportunity to watch Yi Jianlian for the past two seasons and in a conversation with Truth About It, said:

Yi is an incredibly inconsistent player.  There are days where he looks like he finally solved the puzzle and will turn into a pretty solid offensive player and then the next game he will go 2-15 from the field.  Something he has always been ripped for was [his] lack of aggression, and last year he tried really hard to dispel those thoughts…maybe too hard.  Most times he made the catch he wouldn’t even look for the shot and he’d put the ball on the floor, but teams started to pick up on it.  If he can find a happy medium he might do pretty well offensively.

On the defensive end though, he is absolutely lost.  That is part of the reason I think the Nets traded him besides the cap relief.  I don’t think he would have got much minutes this upcoming year, just because Avery wouldn’t allow his terrible defense to hurt the Nets.

That isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the 22 (or is it 24?) year old stretch four.  To sort out any misconceptions and better determine Yi’s worth, it’s time for another installment of CHECK MY STATS, unofficially sponsored by Synergy Sports Technology.

OFFENSE

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A lot of people were disappointed when the Wizards traded for Kirk Hinrich.  Mike Prada of SB Nation alone gave the move a “Nay”, a “Feh”, and a “D-”.

There is no question that “Kurt” is overpaid, but salary cap space only gets you so far.  Even if the Wizards had upwards of $25 million to spend, it wouldn’t get them any closer to signing a “max” contract player.  Let’s be serious.  None of the league’s top players ever really considered coming to D.C., even with John Wall.  The Wizards will be a work in progress for a couple of years, and when we are honestly competitive, Hinrich will no longer be under contract.

So is he worth it for this Wizards team?  I turned to Synergy Sports Technology to find out.

OFFENSE

Where is Hinrich most effective (at least 60 attempts)?

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[Editor's note: After his initial profile of him, TAI's Adam McGinnis (also known as Adam Douglas) has become the unofficial Emir Preldzic/Turkish League correspondent. Who is Emir Preldzic? Well, he's the overseas prospect the Wizards got from Cleveland as part of the Antawn Jamison deal. Read Adam's follow-up piece on Preldzic below.]

With John Wall mania at fever pitch levels, and only going to crescendo even higher as this Thursday’s draft approaches, it’s a good time to check in on one of the Wizards’ own Euro-stash prospects,  Bosniak Hero, Emir Preldzic. The 22-year old, 6’9″ point-forward’s rights were acquired from Cleveland in the Antwan Jamison deadline deal. The last time we left Emir, his team, Fenerbahce Ulkler, had failed to qualify for the Euroleague playoffs but was still competing for the crown of the top tier Turkish Basketball League (TBL), where Preldzic was a key performer.

Fenerbahce finished the TBL regular season in second place with a 23-7 record. Emir averaged 11.8 pts, 5.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists in 29 games. He tallied up the 13th most assists in the league and had a single game high of 23 points. He was selected Honorable Mention All Turkey League by Eurobasket.com.

Read more »

flickr/Keith Allison

Darius Songaila, the coaches dream and a consummate teammate. I’ve made no secret that he’s been one of my favorite Wizards (if not ‘#1′) over the past couple of seasons … perhaps to the point where I’ll one day purchase a D-Song customized Wiz jersey and appear on Straight Cash Homey.net (although I’m not exactly the jersey wearing type). Songaila will undoubtedly be missed after being traded to Minnesota just prior June’s draft. But at least I can rest a little more comfortably now that he’s been moved to a good team in the New Orleans Hornets, where his contributions will be appreciated.

Songaila was unjustly criticized more than any other Wizard. Sure he was slow, white, and non-athletic … you know, the traits people only judge with a glance without digging below the surface. However, most who closely follow the Wizards realized the level of Songaila’s professionalism, leaving his detractors looking like an uneducated bunch.

Statistical critics will point to Songaila’s porous rebound numbers. And yes, for a 6’9″ bruiser, a dirty-working tough guy, they were far below where we would have liked them to be. His 5.4 rebounds/36 minutes last year was a career low, finishing below every Wizards big man, and a mere 0.3 points above Javaris Crittenton.

In the Basketball-Reference.com database, since TRB% (an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabs while he is on the floor) started being kept in ’70-71, only 14 players 6’9″ or taller have had seasons where they averaged between 19 and 20.6 minutes per game (Songaila = 19.8); less than 5.5 rebounds/36; and had a TRB% less than nine. The list ranges from your “non-big” bigs like James Worthy and Clifford Robinson (at age 40), to your traditional stiffs like James Edwards, Jarron Collins, Brian Scalabrine and Matt Freijie, to a big like Antoine Carr who was more concerned with scoring than anything else, to some cats you’ve probably never heard of before.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up eighth is Andray Blatche. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas | Javaris Crittenton | JaVale McGee | DeShawn Stevenson | Nick Young]

flickr/wizardsdotcom

DMX’s “Here We Go Again,” is the first song that plays in my head when contemplating Andray Blatche. Of course, DMX’s career went the way of the gutter with a litany of charges, crack-induced federal agent impersonating, car-jacking attempts at JFK, and jail time. Evidently Earl Simmons is trying to find the lord now. Andray has certainly been through the fire, but people are still waiting for his first coming, much less a resurrection.

Sure, I’m skeptical of ‘Dray, but no more than the next guy, or the guy after him, or the dozens in line after him. I really want Blatche to succeed. Honestly.The success of the Wizards depends on several aspects, and he is very high on the prioritized list.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up seventh is Nick Young. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas | Javaris Crittenton | JaVale McGee | DeShawn Stevenson]

flickr/Keith Allison

Nick Young has a fighting chance to earn minutes in ’09-10, but an unforgiving window of opportunity. Flip Saunders loves his veterans, but I’m confident he’ll play the better man. Might the coach be able to look past Young’s defensive inefficiencies if he becomes more consistent on offense? Only if Young learns to create for others, doesn’t slow down ball movement, and is able to heat up quickly in limited minutes.

After Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, Nick Young is the most diverse offensive player on the Wizards. He’ll sky to dunk on heads. His single crossover will send defenders in different directions. He can hang and double clutch to get around arms. His stop pull-back and pop jumper makes people look silly. Hisfadeaway can’t be stopped. And if Bean Burrito‘s play on offense in the summer league proves to be true growth, his ability to hit spot up threes and run off screens could make him a tough assignment for anyone in the league.

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