The Wizards matched-up against each other for two segments of 5-on-5 action in front of season ticket holders and media on Thursday night. That it was just the third day of training camp was clear, as jumpers on offense tended to clang and more experienced defense usually won out. A white team featuring A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker, Emeka Okafor, Cartier Martin, Brian Cook, Earl Barron handled a blue team featuring Jordan Crawford, Martell Webster, Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely, Kevin Seraphin, Shelvin Mack, Shavlik Randolph, and Steve Gray  32-14 — the white team won each scrimmage segment 16-7. Below are the video pixels and scenes.

Beal And-1

In this first clip, Okafor gets a relatively easy post catch against Seraphin, turns, and hits a soft-appearing but slightly flat jumper over Kevin. It’s a shot Okafor needs confidence to take. On the inbounds, Booker puts defensive pressure on Crawford and Vesely. Booker is a big guy, but Crawford barely makes an effort to create space, and then he gets on Vesely because he doesn’t initially execute the tough pass. Once on the other end, Booker steps up to help with Crawford’s dribble penetration — Booker and Ariza together make an intimidating defensive combination. The clip ends with what appears to be a very poor entry pass from Crawford into the post (the play is obscured by a coach on the sideline). The blue team turns it over, Beal picks up the leftovers, and he takes it the length of the floor to draw an And-1 against Crawford.

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Washington Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis spoke with the media for over 30 minutes on Thursday evening from team’s training camp on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. TAI was there. Below is part two of all that (here is part one) — some stuff in video, some in text.

TED Leonsis On…

>> TED LEONSIS ON: SHOOTERS

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Washington Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis spoke with the media for over 30 minutes on Thursday evening from team’s training camp on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. TAI was there. Below is part one of all that — some stuff in video, some in text.

TED Leonsis On…

>> TED LEONSIS ON: ROSTER TURNOVER

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“I work most during the offseason on my outside shot. I spend a lot of time on this skill,” said Jan Vesely, with hope and wry smile that his jumper will put the league on notice next season.

He’s put in the time, that’s for sure. And on media day, Jan credited much of his preparation for the upcoming season to his participation in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, as well as the ability to stay in Washington and workout in team’s facilities. A Wizards coach, Joe Connelly, also travelled with Vesely on a visit back home to the Czech Republic this summer to work him out. Jan even moved his new fiancee, Eva, to the District in the offseason. That’s dedication. (Although Jan won’t reveal how he proposed her, which happened in D.C. shortly after last season, and he says they haven’t set a date.)

But is Vesely ready mentally? Practicing jump shots is one thing, having the confidence to knock them down when the NBA lights are on is what separates a select few from the masses. Jan need not be aware of the social media snickers when he airballed his first free throw as a rookie, or when he didn’t make a jumper until March. He knows that his ability to play in the Association relies on being able to make outside shots.

If everything works out, maybe Jan should credit dad, too.

From a recent interview his father, Jan Vesely Sr., gave to the Czech outlet, basketmag.cz (translated by TAI’s Lukas Kuba, @Luke_Mellow): Read more »

Jordan Crawford and Cartier Martin work on their corner 3s during a post-practice shooting drill after the morning session of Washington Wizards training camp day one.

Last season the Washington Wizards attempted 329 corner 3-pointers, 16th most in the NBA. The Atlanta Hawks led the league with 464 3-point attempts from the corner and the Spurs were next with 453 attempts.

Washington made 132 of their corner 3-point attempts, good enough for 40.1 percent and seventh best in the NBA. Atlanta made 39.7 percent of their corner 3s and San Antonio made 41.9 percent; the Golden State Warriors led the league in shooting 45.6 percent on corner 3s.

One could easily deduce: Hey, the Wizards need to shoot more corner 3s. From a tweet of NBA.com’s John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) in September:

Here’s a fascinating one: The league leader in assists on corner 3s was, by far, John Wall (77). Rondo was next w/ 59.

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In 2009 training camp, Flip Saunders gave his Washington Wizards hats and t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Our Time.”

In 2010, “Back to Basics” was the training camp tagline of choice.

Prior to a lockout-shortened season in late-2011, Saunders balked at tying words to an abbreviated camp. Instead, he handed out a Wizards logo hard hat at the end of practices. Later in the season, gold coins with “Game Changer” on them. Yes, It’s true.

Randy Wittman, before his first season as Wizards head coach, was asked about a slogan for this year’s training camp on Wednesday.

“You know, I’m kind of old school,” he said with a shrug of the shoulders. So old school that the first slogan which crossed his mind arose from the depths of 1979.

“‘We are fam-i-ly’ … I don’t know if you guys remember the Pittsburgh Pirates…”

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Wizards owner Ted Leonsis said he would release it on DVD, but footage of Washington Wizards rookies singing karaoke last Wednesday remains unseen. Still, it was the talk of the Verizon Center on Media Day Thursday.

Flashback to the Tuesday before, Wizards rookie guard Shelvin Mack was asked if he had been hazed yet, and if he had a song ready to sing (as singing in front of an audience is tradition for team rooks during training camp).

“I had to get some donuts, it wasn’t too bad, but I haven’t had to sing anything in front of anyone … I got one [song] prepared just in case they try to pop one out on me.”

That “in case” happened during dinner at Hill Country Barbecue Market near DC’s Chinatown/Penn Quarter section. Mack, along with fellow rookies Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton, were made to bellow out tunes, karaoke style. According to Leonsis, Vesely brought the house down with a Serbian polka, while Andray Blatche revealed that the Singleton and Mack duo butchered a rap song.

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There are many incomprehensible facets to JaVale McGee, but the talent and seeming potential is unquestionable.

How did he make that BLOCK!??! (Or was it a steal?)

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Media Day for the Washington Wizards fell right on the heeds of Training Camp ending on Thursday afternoon. It was a bit of a frenzied whirlwind, as expected, and more coverage is to come. The lessons taught and the whirlwind of basketball don’t end, of course. The first preseason game is on Friday, and the smell of popcorn is in the air.

There wasn’t much basketball action, however, for the media to witness during Thursday’s session. After team owner Ted Leonsis spoke, the display of players was pretty much relegated to some individual shooting drills. Then Flip Saunders gave rookie Shelvin Mack the DC Hard Hat for a day of work well done. Mack’s teammates congratulated him by pounding him on the head once he donned the hat.

So, in lieu of footage from today, let’s look back at a couple quick training camp videos shot by TAI’s Adam McGinnis and John Converse Townsend.

First…
McGinnis’ highlights of John Wall from Training Camp Day 3.

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Andray Blatche pounded his chest as he strutted off the practice court at training camp Wednesday evening, mean mugging and dripping with sweat.

“That’s one, that’s one, Dray,” shouted assistant coach Gene Banks from under one of the main baskets. “You’ve got one more!”

Banks was overseeing a heavyweight battle between Blatche and second-year bruiser Kevin Seraphin, and tried to persuade him to run it back for a best-of-three series. Blatche, unconvinced, waved a flippant hand in the direction of his coach before proclaiming, “I won. I just won. Gosh!”

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