Advice? “Be yourself,” said Randy Wittman after winning in his Wizards head coaching debut on Wednesday. But did the Wizards players need a new voice? “I’m just here,” said Nick Young, while teammate Andray Blatche’s response was, “I can’t honestly say that we needed a new voice, we just needed… somebody to actually check us like Wittman did.” And the erudite JaVale McGee? “Whatever [Ernie Grunfeld] explained was the reason why he fired Flip, was the reason that he fired Flip.”

The Wizards? They still don’t know what they want, or who they are, or if their new coach is going to slap the proverbial taste of nicotine out their mouths. It’s like the rest of this season is an in-game training camp. The Wizards were already a statistically fast-paced team under Flip Saunders… Screw that, says Randy Wittman (paraphrasing here)… I’m going to run you guys even more. And at that… John Wall, the fastest athlete? Well, I’m going to call him out for conditioning (along with Nick Young) and sub them back into a game really, really late during a blowout. ”Be hard on the leader and the rest will follow,” is presumed to be Wittman’s interim idea, as I wrote on ESPN’s Daily Dime about this latest new change with the Washington franchise.

The Wizards said WHAT? Well, that’s what they said. Randy Wittman, Nick Young, John Wall, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee and Rashard Lewis speak on it in the video above.

The Washington Wizards held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to announce that assistant Randy Wittman was promoted to replace head coach Flip Saunders, who was relieved of his duties that morning. Team president Ernie Grunfeld was on hand as well to field questions from the media. Wittman will finish out the remaining of the season as the interim head coach, the rest of the coaching staff was retained.

Wittman emphasized his experience being an interim head coach:

“I have coached in this league on a number different teams. It is not an easy transition. I have done this before and I have been on a staff  and taking over in the middle of the season. I know what is about and what change needs happen to try to make this a positive situation … The main thing that I learned the first time that I stepped in — this is even more magnified because of the condensed schedule and playing so many games without practice time — we just got to simplify things … you can’t flood these guys with information overload … just two or three things to concentrate on and take the baby steps after there.”

The removal of Saunders brought a level of personal sadness:

“Is this a happy day? Not by any regard. A good man walked out the door today. It is always hard. I did not come here to Washington to be the head coach. I came here to help him [Saunders] … This is a black mark on all of us, absolutely. Everyone has their own beliefs and philosophies on how to do it. And I think the reason that Flip and I have been successful together throughout the years in the NBA because we are kind of polar opposites. And you have to have a staff that is mixed like that. Strengths and weaknesses of a staff is just as important as strengths and weaknesses of your players.”

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“I was tired of looking at that sh*t.”

That was Flip Saunders’ surly response to why he yanked all five of his starters two minutes into the second half of the Washington Wizards’ 25-point blowout preseason loss to the Philadelphia 76ers last Friday night.

Saunders was highly disappointed in the effort of the first unit by their insufficient ball movement, lack of trust in one another and overall selfish play.

“This is a team game, and it is not about individuals … it is the five players that play the best together and that is your best team, not the five most talented player. If you don’t play and you’re not giving effort as a team, you are not going to play, no matter who it is.”

Flip’s remedy for self-centered play:

“I know one thing, if they are sitting down, they wont be hogging the ball.”

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Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders made his official return to the Verizon Center press table on Friday afternoon to speak with the media. He made some statements, he made some observations, he set some goals, and he dished out a couple zingers. Afterward, a handful of media members assembled in an impromptu huddle to comment on how much Flip seemed ready to talk. Hey, the man is just glad to have a season and a team to coach. For now, if media ears are around to listen, well, they come with the blissful territory. Let’s run through Flip’s Top 11 quote tid-bits…

#11 On areas of improvement…

“We need to be better offensively, as far as on turning the ball over. That cost us a lot. I always believe that if you don’t turn it over you’re going to have a chance to win.”

[...]

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Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld addressed the media on Thursday afternoon and the major theme of his remarks was the team is in the “beginning of a new era.” While the most newsworthy item took place when the cameras were off, Grunfeld did give highly informational updates on various players.

Here Ernie talks about how John Wall will handle the extra attention placed upon the number one draft pick and discusses the games of the new youngsters:

Grunfeld details why the Wizards brought in two former lottery picks, Yi Jianlian and Adam Morrison:

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Why should you care about the 56th pick? These guys rarely make NBA teams, right?

Not this year, not with the Wizards.

And regardless, you should be intrigued by Hamady N’diaye, the man who is simply known as “H” wherever he goes. It’s easy to see what attracted the Wizards to N’diaye, he exemplifies Ted Leonsis’ “Business of Happiness” philosophy.

Growing up in Senegal, N’diaye didn’t find basketball as a serious outlet until around age 15, mostly playing soccer when he was young like Solomon Alabi and others from the African continent. But with height as a natural tool (he now measures 6’10.5″ without shoes with a 7’6″ wingspan — Saunders says he can touch about 12’7″ on the backboard), N’diaye saw an opportunity and jumped on it. He left his family and came to the U.S. at 16, by himself and speaking very little English, to pursue a career in basketball.

Going from the Life Center Academy in New Jersey, then to Florida Prep, where he and a couple friends/teammates from his home country had to literally escape from poor conditions in the middle of the night, and finally ending up at Stoneridge Prep in California, you could easily call making it to the NBA a long shot for N’diaye.

Four years of basketball conditioning at Rutgers later, where he leaves as the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots (his 4.5 per game average was third highest in the nation last season) and reigning Big East Defensive Player of the Year, N’diaye finds himself a member of the Washington Wizards — six total years of competitive basketball experience and counting.

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So what can one deduce from Ernie Grunfeld’s press conference on the eve of the 2010 NBA Draft?

Not much … as usual.

On John Wall

When asked about his impressions of John Wall, aside from the ‘are you going to take him/not allowed to discuss who we will take’ mystery, Grunfeld dodged the question by saying, “As you know, we can’t say who are number one pick is, obviously.”

Grunfeld went on to say that Wall is an “impressive young man,” that he “comes from a good program,” and is an “outstanding leader ” … yada, yada, yada.

On Workouts

When asked what he wants to see out of players during workouts:

“These workouts are a little bit overrated. They’re just a small part of the whole evaluation process. I think we put a lot more emphasis on the regular season, how players actually play in games, and their whole body of work.”

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There was a larger than usual media contingent at the Wizards’ practice this afternoon. I can’t really say this with conviction since it was only my second time attending a practice, but let’s just say there was a presence on a national level. And we’re talking about practice.

Waiting to be let into the gym, I surveyed the media scene. A bunch evil, lazy looking mofos … with daggers in their eyes and hate in their blood. Of course, I’m being extremely facetious here. But in the eyes of Gilbert Arenas, that’s what they are. Ok, again, I must confess, I’m putting words in Arenas’ mouth … but he did call the media “lazy.”

Arenas spoke in such a sullen and somber tone, he seemed like a kid who’d just lost his puppy. I halfway expected him to break out in a smile, but he didn’t. I know I broke out a couple uncontrollable smirks myself. When Arenas was done, he just quietly put his head down and walked to the locker room.

Here’s an excerpt of his presser …

I later spoke with Mike James about the differences between Agent Media and Agent Teammate: Read more »

Ernie Grunfeld didn’t reveal anything new in Thursday’s press conference, just ask Michael Lee of the Post and Mike Jones of the Times, both alluding to the recycled themes we’ve heard for most of the summer.

But it’s been “one of the longest summers ever,” according to Grunfeld. He’s anxious to get the season started and have his “wait and see” mantra put to the test.

“I haven’t been this excited in a very long time because of the change that we have. There’s a different sense around here. There’s a different sense around the team. The players feel this new kinda of enthusiasm, there’s a new kind of professionalism, and just a new way of doing things. I think it’s exciting for us and exciting for the players.” -Ernie Grunfeld

New. Change. Different.

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“Right now I plan on playing him strictly as a one,” Flip told David Aldridge, shooting down the idea of Gilbert Arenas spending time off the point. “He has to maintain his scoring aggressiveness as a one, and let people play off of him,” continued Saunders. Meaning, team scoring and passing will be on Arenas’ shoulders. The ball will be in his hands a lot, eighty-percent of the time according to Saunders. “He has a great opportunity to really improve because he’s gonna have the ball in his hands like never before.”

Speaking of that ‘off the point’ position, Saunders said it will be an open competition for the starting two-guard role. He went on to explain that in his offensive system, “twos and threes are pretty much interchangeable,” and that it’s about the “guys who play the best together.”

In terms of overall rotation, Saunders is going to stick to his eight OR nine guys. Playing 12 guys every game can throw the team out of rhythm. Yes, there will be nights where 10 or 11 guys will play, but that is contingent on match-ups. Saunders will adapt to certain situations, but also wants to assure his main guys that they will get a majority of the minutes. “My philosophy has always been that you try to win the beginning and end of quarters,” said Saunders, meaning it’s important to have the main guys playing together for at least that estimated 20 minute time period.

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