Going through the Bullets cards I collected as a 90s youngin’, I came across the gem(s) below. Larry Stewart, was he really a rookie sensation? Stewart wasn’t known to possess a lot of skill, rather he was a hustling, hard-working, versatile 6’8″ big man who made the most of his ability. Making it to the NBA when no one thought he would was, in fact, sensational…….but what’s happened to Larry Stewart since?

33>32

High School in Philly
Hailing from Philadelphia, Stewart starred at the famed Dobbins Technical High School. In 1985, the duo of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble led Dobbins Tech to the Philadelphia City Title before heading to USC together in the fall of that year (and later, Loyola Marymount in late ’86). Dobbins has also produced Doug Overton, Dawn Staley (USA Today’s female high school player of the year in 1989), Linda Page (who scored 100 points in a game in 1981), and Horace “Pappy” Owens (’79 McDonald’s All-American and current assistant at LaSalle).

Overton and Stewart were teammates at Dobbins, taking over after the Hank and Bo Show ended. They lost in the runner-up game of the ’87 Philly City Championship their senior year. In 2004, Ted Silary of the Philadelphia Daily News named his 30-Year Philly All-Star Basketball Teams; Overton made 3rd team all-public and Stewart made honorable mention all-public.

Stewart didn’t even play basketball until the 11th grade. His mother did not support his pursuit of basketball because she felt it would interfere with church. He was only 6’4″ when first noticed by Coppin State University head coach, Fang Mitchell. But Stewart kept growing and Mitchell’s hidden gem turned into a baller with big potential.

College in Baltimore
Coppin State, located in Baltimore, Maryland, is a historically black college. When Stewart first arrived on campus, he had trouble hitting the books. He was called “lazy” by Coach Mitchell, who would make Stewart’s teammates run if he missed class. Thus, he was ineligible for his freshman ’87-’88 campaign.

But over the next three years, Stewart would get his act together and score over 1,800 points along with pulling down over 1,000 rebounds. Stewart averaged 20.0 points and 11.6 boards for his Coppin State career, while shooting a whopping 64.6% from the field. On December 12, 1989, Stewart’s junior year, the Coppin State Eagles upset a Maryland team, led by Tony Massenburg, Jerrod Mustaf and Walt Williams, 70-63 at Cole Field House. Maryland didn’t lose another non-conference game at Cole up until it closed in March of 2002.

Larry Stewart will be forever be sealed at the forefront of Coppin State basketball history because he led the Eagles to their first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 1990. Then, Stewart matched-up against Derrick Coleman and his #2 seed Syracuse squad in the first round. Thanks to Coleman, Coppin State shot a horrid 29.7 % on the way to a 70-48 loss. Larry Stewart scored almost 40% of his team’s points with 19. Syracuse would go on to beat Virginia in round two, but lost to Minnesota in the Sweet Sixteen who lost to Georgia Tech in the Elite Eight who lost to UNLV, and tournament MVP Anderson Hunt, in the Final Four who beat Duke for the National Championship….just an FYI.

Coppin State has made three NCAA tournaments since 1990: in 1993, losing to Cincinnati as a #15 seed, in 1997, when the Eagles’ upset of South Carolina made them the first #15 seed to ever beat a #2 seed (Stewart was watching as a Seattle Supersonic in Atlanta before playing the Hawks that night), and also in 2008 when Coppin State became the first 20-loss team ever to make the Big Dance. They lost to Mount St. Mary’s in the play-in game.

Stewart left Coppin State with the McClendon Award, given to the top player at a historically black college. His senior year 13.4 rebounds per game was good enough for 3rd in the nation. Stewart was twice was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) player of the year and was eventually inducted into the MEAC Conference Hall of Fame.

Days as a Bullet
91-92: Going undrafted by the NBA, Stewart was a 1991 training camp invitee for Washington and impressed enough to make the team. Stewart didn’t go completely undrafted after his stellar college career as he was taken 2nd overall by the Rapid City Thrillers in ’91 CBA draft, where appearances were also made by Maryland’s Cedric Lewis (6th overall), UNLV’s Anderson Hunt (25th overall) our Robert Pack out of USC (27th overall), and Dan’s less known brother, Jeff Majerle, both of whom went to Central Michigan (50th overall).

In his rookie season, Larry Stewart appeared in 76 games, actually starting 43 of them, for a Bullets team decimated by injuries. (That season, Pervis Ellison only appeared in 66 games, Harvey Grant in 64, LeDell Eackles in 65, and Rex Chapman in only one game.) Stewart would average 10.4 points and 5.9 boards while shooting 51.4% from the field and 80.7% from the charity stripe in just under 30 minutes per game. Among rookies, he ranked 4th and 6th in rebounds and points respectively on his way to earning NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors, the first undrafted player ever to do so.

When filling in as a starter, Stewart upped his scoring average to 13.1 and rebounds to 6.9. For the season, he finished third on the team in total rebounds, as well as total blocks. His eFG% and True Shooting (TS) % were second to only Pervis Ellison. One particular highlight from Larry’s rookie year was when he scored 19 points on Dennis Rodman (who had won the Defensive POY the previous two seasons) in an early December ’91 matchup against the Detroit Pistons…..the Wizards lost the game.

92-93: After the stellar rookie campaign, the San Antonio Spurs signed Stewart to an offer sheet for four-years and a reported $2.6 million in late July of 1992. Bullets GM, John Nash, matched the offer sheet giving Stewart a raise over his $130,000 rookie year salary.

Larry Stewart remained a key contributer off the bench in his sophomore campaign. Starter minutes were no longer available due to the presence of rookie, Tom Gugliotta. Stewart’s 22.5 minutes per game was 6.8 down from the previous season’s pace, but he ultimately finished the year fourth on the team in total minutes, appearing in 81 games and starting two. Points and rebounds dipped slightly to 9.8 and 4.7 per game respectively, but Stewart upped his FG% by 2.9 percentage points to 54.3%. He was third on the team in eFG% and TS%. His PER also jumped from 12.9 to 14.5 in year two.

Stewart’s big highlight came in a Bullets match-up against the Miami Heat on April 23, 1993 when he came off the bench to score a career high 32 points and nab 13 rebounds. He shot 11-18 from the field and was 10-10 from the line. However, in true early 90s Bullets fashion, they lost to Miami by one point.

The most promising aspect of 92-93 Larry Stewart was his production post All-Star break. His points increased from 81. to 12.5, rebounds from 3.9 to 6.0, assists from 1.0 to 3.0, and FT% from 68.8% to 77.7%. His aforementioned career high came in the second to last game of the season, and he followed that with 26 points and seven boards in the season finale, a loss against the Boston Celtics.

93-94: But then, the injuries came calling. In late August of ’93, Stewart had surgery to help heal a fracture in his right foot. He made it back to play three sporadic games in mid-December before breaking the foot again in a game against the Clippers on the 22nd.

In January of ’94, after Stewart had returned home from attending a Coppin State basketball game, four intruders broke into his house in Arbutus, Baltimore County, MD. He was bound, gagged, stabbed in the thigh, and shot in the neck, the bullet narrowly missing his spinal cord. Stewart actually owned a hang gun, but that was stolen, along with a sports bag and some sweaters. Stewart would have a second surgery on his foot and would not play another game in the ’94-’95 season.

95-96: Despite being medically cleared and ready, the coaching change from Wes Unseld to Jim Lynam did not bode well for Stewart. Some reports say that Lynam was not as big a fan of Stewart as Unseld was, but the new presence of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, with Don MacLean getting PF minutes off the bench, had something to do with a decrease in playing time as well. His minutes per game dropped to 8.7, but his per 36 numbers stayed relatively on track at 10.6 points and 7.0 boards. Nonetheless, Larry was very familiar with the pine, only appearing in 40 games for a 21-61 Bullets team.

Post Bullets
In June 1995, Larry Stewart became part of welcoming Canada to the NBA in being selected 14th overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the ’95 NBA Expansion Draft. Neither Vancouver nor Toronto elected to draft either Kevin Duckworth or Rex Chapman, both also left unprotected by the Bullets. Before he had the chance to suit up for the Grizzlies, Stewart was traded, along with Kevin Pritchard, to the Orlando Magic for Anthony Avent on November 1st. The Magic waived Stewart four days later.

Stewart would move on to the Quad City Thunder of the CBA before heading to play in Zaragoza, Spain in February of ’96 (guess what – former Bullet, Andre Turner, plays for Zaragoza now).

Stewart caught on with the Seattle Supersonics for the ’96-97 season after playing for their summer league squad. He almost didn’t make the team because of a roster crunch, but ended up impressing George Karl and his staff enough
to appear in 70 games, starting 21. Stewart played only spot minutes, to the tune of 14.0 per game, backing Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf. The 21 starts came when he filled in for Schrempf who was out with a torn tendon in his foot. For the season, Stewart pulled down 4.3 ppg and 2.4 rpg (11.0 and 6.3 per 36 minutes respectively).

In game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets, Stewart, to his own surprise, was thrown in the game. Karl actually had to call his name a couple times before Stewart realized he was being inserted into the game. Nonetheless, he scored five points and drew a charge in five minutes. The Sonics won the game, but would lose the series.

Before the ’97-98 season, the Sonics signed Jerome Kersey, putting Stewart’s chances of making the team at slim. He declined an offer to attend training camp and tried to latch on with Golden State instead, but was waived by the Warriors in October.

In the following years, Stewart would bounce around Europe: Valvi Girona (Spain) in ’98-99, Casademont Girona (Spain) from ’99-01. C.B. Caceres (Spain) in ’00-01, Peristeriou Athens (Greece) from ’02-04 — where he was marked for controversy, being one of three American players to test positive for marijuana use in Greece within a month, Maroussi Athens (Greece) in ’04-05, Olympia Larissa (Greece) in ’05-06, and Paris Levallois (France) in ’06-07.

Most recently during the ’07-08 season, Stewart was still balling in France for Quimper UJAP at the age of 39. For the year, he held down averages of 15.2 points and 6.1 rebounds on 54.6% from the field. In his last game on May 13th of 2008, he led his team with 21 points and 9 rebounds in a loss.

Finishing Business
A 2006 article from the Examiner, “Stewart comes fulls circle,” by Sean Walsh covered Stewart’s trek in going back to Coppin State for his degree. A long way from appearing in a Wreckx-N-Effect video in ’92, at least that’s what was printed on the back of my Larry Stewart Topps card.

It remains to be seen if Stewart will return to Europe to play at age 40. Understandably, he hasn’t been comfortable with talking to the media about the incident which almost cost him his life. Coming from humble beginnings, when basketball was once an afterthought, Stewart has made quite the career for himself, playing professional basketball for 18 years and being involved with a bit of history along the way. Here’s to remembering Larry Stewart, one time Bullets rookie sensation.

Other Notes
Basketball a family affair for the Stewarts as his brother Stephen, cited in the Examiner article, is still an assistant coach for the University of Delaware men’s basketball team. Stephen also starred at Coppin State in the early 90s, leading the Eagles to the Big Dance in ’93, where CSU lost as a #15 seed in the first round to Cincinnati, 93-66.

Yet another Stewart brother, Lynard, played four years at Temple, from 1994-1998, and overseas since. In ’04, he was Finals MVP for the British Basketball League, and in ’07-08, he averaged 15.8 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Newcastle Eagles. You can check out a couple Lynard Stewart Newcastle vlogs here and here where I found out that Lynard played on the same high school team (Simon Gratz) as former Bullet, Rasheed Wallace (Lynard was a year younger).

Other Sources Used:

• “Stewart Quietly Impresses Bullets; His Play Does His Talking,” Washington Post (Oct. 25, 1991) Author: David Aldridge
• “From Coppin State to NBA, Stewart has last laugh,” Baltimore Sun (Nov. 21, 1991) Author: John Eisenberg
• “Stewart Gains Foothold Minutes Grow On Road Trip As Flu Bug Hits Sonics,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Nov. 22, 1996) Sheldon Spencer.

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The Wizards need to rebound in more ways than one: rebound from last night’s demoralizing game (for fans) and rebound the damn ball. 55-36. That’s the rebounding total from the Wizards’ time in Oregon. Joel Pryzbilla had 17 rebounds….8 of those offensive. Tonight, I’m going to pay special attention to any offensive rebound the Wizards give up and the responsible party.

The Wizards blew the Sonics out in game 32 of the season, DC side. In that game, Seattle provided us an example of their youthful sloppiness. Tonight in Seattle, the Wizards need to provide a consistent veteran effort.

Sixers and Raptors have both already won, so the pressure is on. I love these late-night West Coast games.

Let’s start the show….

Quarter One

11:42: Sonics get the ball in the paint on the first possession of the game, but the Wizards swarm to the ball and get a steal.

11:02: A purposeful Haywood gets the first 5 Washington points. On defense, the Wizards come out with a slight pop in their step.

10:44: Sonic Offensive Rebound #1: Nick Collison – didn’t catch who he beat.

9:30: After a rhythmic Caron jumper and a slick Stevenson pass to Jamison on the inside, the Wizards get the first punch, leading to a Seattle timeout. 11-4 Washington.

7:44: Haywood makes a move which should lead to him playing more than 20 minutes tonight. 16-8 Wiz.

I gotta comment on Brandon Jennings….with 7 assist and 6 minutes left to go in the first half of the McDonald’s All-American game…..I gotta give him props for bringing back the high-top fade. Check out the pics from Simon On Sports.

6:04: Stevenson with another 3, 8 towards the 20 point prediction…..of course, that also means he might shoot a lot too. 19-14 Wiz.

5:26: Sonic Offensive Rebound #2: Haywood doesn’t put a body on Collison.

5:21: Sonic Offensive Rebound #3: French Petro gets a tip and Haywood watches Collison get the loose ball, 3 for Nick.

4:46: Sonic Offensive Rebound #4: No one puts a body on a hustling Jeff Green whose tip keeps the ball alive off a Watson miss. Green is Caron’s man, but I think the Wizards were in zone.

4:43: Sonic Offensive Rebound #5: This one is tipped up (off Green’s tip) and out by an active Petro to Durant. The team was reeling from

Antonio Daniels is also having a hard time keeping up with Watson. The Wizards desperately lack a defensive point. Gil and AD ain’t cutting it in that area.

3:00: Luke Ridnour makes a wild, hustling appearance…..Earl Watson has been hurt too, he was a game time decision and has 6 points and 3 assists.

0:18: Sonic Offensive Rebound #6: Wilkins slides in behind Caron and Mason to get the bound. No one put a body on him.

The first is over. Stat: Rebounds aren’t going well. 17-10 in Seattle’s favor, 6 offensive. Zero turnovers for Washington though.

Quarter Two

0:18: Sonic Offensive Rebound #7: Donyell Marshall gets a tip running in transition, Wilkins secures it. Very bang-bang. Sonics have a big team on the court: Wilkins, Green, Collison, Marshall, Ridnour . Wizards: AJ, Mason, D-Song, McGuire, Young.

Quick start for Seattle, 10-4 run in first 3 minutes, game tied at 33. The Sonics are pushing the ball and the Wizards aren’t adjusting well in transition defense.

8:27: Sonic Offensive Rebound #8: Songaila is not long enough for Marshall….plus he was side to side instead of boxing out with his back to his man.

It seems that Seattle is getting so many offensive rebounds that it’s hard for me to keep track. NBA.com says 9. [I missed a Collison offensive board 16 seconds after #8. Nick got a bucket off his board, Sonics take the lead at 35-33.]

You know what has also died down, besides fans against Eddie? (well, after last night…they might be calling for Jordan’s head again after all the love the other day) But I think a consensus of fan approval is building for Roger Mason Jr. I can’t yet call him a “fan favorite,” but to be a home-grown product, what more could you ask?

Watching this game, I realize that I cannot wait until Gilbert Arenas comes back. After a decent start for the Wizards, the killer instinct on offense has subsided. The Wizards have a bunch of guys who can score, but no one with a lack of consciousness to start draining buckets when a pick-me-up is needed.

5:49: BTW…Looks like our hometown boy is letting Luke Ridnour give him the business. 44-39 Sonics.

5:16: That’s what they need….Butler gets an eventual slam after TWO Wizards offensive boards on the same possession. 44-41 Sonics.

4:11: Well, after that killer instinct talk, Caron Butler hits a 3. But we know he’s still getting healthy…..hopefully. Timeout Seattle. Coincidentally, no Seattle offensive boards in last 4 minutes.

Good ol’ Xavier McDaniel.

3:54: Sonic Offensive Rebound #10: Spoke too soon, Collison gets Haywood again (and a dunk). A white big is killing Brendan on two straight nights. Would Etan let this happen?

0:1
7: Sonic Offensive Rebound #11: Another Collison rebound…it’s becoming a white haze. The first half ends….rebounds, rebounds, rebounds. 30-21, 11-6 offensive.

Half Stars: Durant has 16 points on 8-13 shooting, Caron has 11 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds.
56-50 Seattle.

Quarter Three

9:40: Sonic Offensive Rebound #12: Collison miss, Butler stays behind Durant, Jamison and Haywood linger in lane, Durant (the original passer) tips back out to Collison.

9:16: Jamison must get a “kind bounce” to go 2-10 from the field. 58-54 Sonics.

Jeff Green almost gets a follow, Jamison gets the ball, not sure if it was an offensive.

8:37: AD just got a tech…talking after he didn’t get a call…doesn’t even look like he got fouled on replay.

8:06: Durant taps the ball away from DeShawn, fast break FTs. 63-54 Sonics.

Nothing is going right for the Bullets, Jeff Green is getting the best of Caron Butler.

7:06: Sonic Offensive Rebound #13: Petro gets an offensive rebound right over Haywood’s head.

6:41: Stevenson’s long threes are hitting the shot clock.

This is ridiculous. At this point, the only difference between tonight and last night is the Wizards start to the game….the 2nd quarter wasn’t anything to write home about. This 3rd is dreadful…..and there’s still 6 minutes left!!

4:17: This is a Comedy (and tragedy) of Errors. I really can’t believe the score is 73-56…only 6 points in the 3rd for the Wizards so far. Honestly, this is getting hard to watch, much less pay attention to….I’d rather look for photos on flickr.

flickr/fortes

2:21: Of course, the Wizards go on a 10-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to 7. 73-66. Sonics squash it with a timeout.

Well, that’s the 3rd…Wizards gets some saving grace by ending on a 12-2 run. 75-68 Sonics.

Quarter Four Big

9:53: Sonic Offensive Rebound #14: No one could react to French Petro.

9:00: Mason with a nice 3….but he can’t lead a break very well after getting a steal, no PG tendencies…..but AJ gets goaltend call, Wiz all the way back within 2 points. 82-80 Seattle.

After being pretty vocal earlier, despite sparsely filled seats, the Seattle crowd is VERY quiet now.

8:25: Mason with a triple. 84-43 Seattle.

7:18: Songaila bucket…..who opened the scrapiness box for the Wizards? They have an 87-84 lead.

6:19: Mason is bananas….just confidently NAILED his 4th three on 4th attempt in the 4th. 90-84 Wizards.

5:45: Ball movement please….Mason to Butler to D-Song — Buckets Son!

5:36: Kid Fresh (or is it Delicious) keeps answering the call, a trey this time. 26 and 7 for KD. 92-89 Wiz.

4:32: Roger Mason is going off with another trey. He may not be confident with the handles, but he sure can make things happen off the bench. 95-89.

3:36: And MAKE things happen again with a driving bucket in transition. 22 points for Roger. 17 in the 4th! 97-91 Wizards.

3:01: Now he’s driving and dropping dimes to Jamison, the Seattle players are chasing ROGER MASON JR.? all over the court. Unbelievable.

All the Seattle fans care about is ‘Save Our Sonics’ chants.

2:27: Butler gets a bucket and that might seal the deal. 101-92 Washington.

And that’s the game, 104-99 Wizards….wow, bailed out by Roger Mason Jr.

Boy, after the beginning of that 3rd quarter, I was ready to get in my car, start speeding to the Tidal Basin, and well…..you know. But I was saved by a Roger Mason in shining armor.

Eddie Jordan looks happier than I’ve ever seen him look getting off the bench to congratulate the players coming off the court. Two fists pumped in the air and a YEAH!!

Jordan commended Mason and Songaila the most in his post game, with some Haywood props on the side.

• NBA.com Box. [I lost track of offensive rebounds after what I believe was #14...the Sonics ended up with 16.]

• Bullets Forever with Roger Mason dunking in Israel.
• Who is the surprise player of the year for the Wizards?

• Roger Mason did some heavy lifting tonight.
• Roger Mason Wikipedia.
• A Roger Mason Revival.
• How Roger Mason found his jumper.

flickr/@ B E L ™

flickr/jaycoxfilm

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Bullets Forever had the tight game preview, so I’m just going to start the show…..

1st Quarter

11:10 – Haywood gets going early. He has a little bit of a tough time with a double from the top, but he stays persistent and gets the basket. BTH should abuse Nick Collison this game.

10:46 – Kevin Durant fade-away baseline J from the right side over DeShawn Stevenson and some other out-stretched arms – I’m not sure if DeShawn has the reach to feel Durant’s face.

9:56 – Caron Butler takes advantage of the Rookie Jeff Green with a reverse baseline J. Wizards 4-3.

9:17 – AD, AJ and Caron watch the ball as Nick Collison gets an offensive rebound which turns into Sonic points. Not sure why PJ Carlesimo is making Kurt Thomas run around, trying to cover Jamison — guess Nick Collison wouldn’t be much better on him. Then again, seems like Thomas would be able to better cover BTH than Nick. Guess what, I’m not an NBA coach.

7:40 – Stevenson with an ill-advised missed jumper …one of those “trying to get his” shots. C’mon son, with all the mis-matches on the court for the better Wizards players to take advantage of…why are you shooting long corner pull up deuces with a hand in your face early in the shot clock?

5:53 – AD driving layup, contact, make, And1 — same ol’ Antonio Daniels. Good to have you back homey. 16-7 Wizards.

Oh yea….thanks for reminding us Steve Buckhantz — happy birthday Gilbert Arenas, 26 years old. I’m about a year and a half older than you yungin’.

4:38 – More AD, great steal….runs the break to perfection, dish to a running Stevenson and a dunk. Daniels is such a damn heady player.

3:16 – Jamison tip bucket after a Haywood miss. 22-15 Wiz.

Another steal at the other end and a sweet reverse slam by Caron Butler…9 point Washington lead and a timeout on the floor.

Back to Jamison — I really wonder what makes him such a great rebounder for his size and skill set. Well, I do “kinda” know….it’s all about positioning. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. My question to AJ would be, “How do you get that position and what are the veteran tricks you’ve learned through your years of playing?”

Steve Buck: Wiz outscoring Seattle 18-6 in the paint.

1:07 – Baseline dunk by Durant. Stevenson tried to hound him as much as he could….but alas, there was no baseline help on the drive. Probably because KD received the hand-off on the wing from the man whom Haywood was guarding. Nice play calling PJ. 27-17 Wizards.

Great play for the Wiz to end the half. Butler gets the ball with about 7 seconds left, drives down the court, gives to AD on the left wing who drives and creates an open buzzer-beater for Haywood.

End of a long 1st where the Wiz really tried to get out and run on the Sonics. DC is up 31-17. I don’t like the 6 offensive rebounds by Seattle, but I guess when they miss 17 shots, that’s bound to happen. Amazing, Daniels has 5 assists and Jamison has 8 rebounds.

2nd Quarter

Songaila, Young and Blatche check in for Haywood, Stevenson and Jamison and immediately start f-ing up. D-Song’s “defense” gives up a bucket…and on the other end, Andray turns the ball over, then commits a foul back down the court. And to keep up with the theme, Nick Young takes a bad shot and misses badly on the next Wiz offensive possession.

9:40 – Blatche makes up with a sweet blind post flip from the middle of the paint to D-Song for the bucket. 35-23 Wiz. Mason Jr. checks in for AD. I like that Eddie is getting the bench some early work this game, despite their inconsistent play. As a fan, I guess I gotta learn to be more patient with these young players. And if that’s hard for me to do, I can’t imagine what Eddie Jordan is going through…it’s his job that’s in the balance.

Wally Shizzlebizbiak has all of his 7 points in his second quarter. He’s well on his way to making me cry myself to sleep.

Did you know that Wally used to have his own Timberwolves clock? Pretty turr-ible right?

6:34 – Check that, make it 10…another 3 from the same spot for Wally. And I was just about to say it as the Sonics cut the Wiz lead to 8, 41-33, but Eddie Jordan beat me to the punch…..Jamison and Stevenson are back in for Butler (actually, didn’t want him out, but it was time for a rest) and Nick M.I.A. Young.

Andray, Andray, Andray…I see you’re learning, but there’s still a long way for you to go. With just under 5 minutes left, your defense just made Wally S. blow a layup. You got the offensive rebound and drove it the length of the court….what’s different than most times this has happened is that you are looking around, using your court vision to avoid a careless turnover or poke from behind. This, I like. Unfortunately, as you drove to the basket, the veteran Kurt Thomas easily set you up to draw the charge. It’s okay, you c
an make mistakes…but please, please learn from them.

The Sonics recent 12-4 run, and they have the ball now, allows them to cut the score to 41-35 Wizards. Check that….14-4 run, 41-37.

Jesus H. Christ! Another Shitzbiak Three!! 13 points for him in the second quarter – AJ didn’t even make a half-hearted attempt to contest that last one.

This scenario keeps happening: The Wiz build a nice 1st quarter lead. The rotation gets F-ed at the end of the 1st/beginning of the 2nd. The Wiz lose the built lead. Then, when the starters are brought back in, they are unable to re-spark the chemistry in a timely manner. Is this a coach or a player thing?

0:55.0 – Wow….a nice, strong rebound by Haywood and a sideways flush with the right hand. 50-44 Washington.

The lackluster 2nd quarter ends for the Wizards with a tough AD miss. Washington got outscored 29-21, while only forcing 1 Seattle turnover. Wizards up 6, 52-46.

Inside the Stats:

• Seattle missed 17 shots in the 1st, only 10 in the 2nd — still, 8 offensive rebounds for them is too many.
• Andray’s 7+ minutes in the game: a missed shot, 3 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, and an assist.
• The Wizards starters are a combined Plus 57 – The bench is a combined Minus 27.
• Sonics had 21 points off the bench, 13 from Wally World – only 6 points from the Wiz bench.
• Washington has had some active hands, leading to 5 steals – Zero steals for the Sonics.

3rd Quarter

9:30 – Sonics already have two offensive rebounds this quarter and are winning the total rebounding race 30-23. Wiz up 58-52.

9:20 – Uh oh, Jeff Green picks up his 4th foul….you know what that means, more Wally ScissorzBiack.

Steve Buckhantz continues to talk about Wizards shooting coach, Dave Hopla, and how he’s really helped Haywood this year (I discussed this during the Bucks game blog). Well, our friend Dave Hopla has his own website: www.davehopla.com.

Is it just me, of does Dave look like he can be kin to Jeremy Irons?

5:04 – It’s still burning…Wally with a 3 – 18 points in 18 minutes. Wizards up 67-61. Steve Buck says that Seattle is the more aggressive team now…I say that the Wizards are not playing with any energy.

2:48 – Watson 3, Seattle down 5, 72-67 — this shot was caused by yet another Seattle offensive rebound. Should they really have 13 of those at this point?

1:50 – Oh yea, Nick Collison is also killing. 12 points, 12 rebounds….SEVEN of them offensive. Timeout, 74-69 Wizards. The Seattle offensive rebounds are up to 14 leading to 15 second chance points for them. The Wiz are lucky that it’s not more.

0:40 – A beautiful Princeton back-cut by AD with the pass from AJ for the layup, just what the Wizards needed. They get a stop on the other end and a chance for the last shot of the 3rd….they make nothing of it, turning the inbounds pass over.

End of 3, Wizards up 78-69. 24 points for Caron Butler. 17 and 11 for Antawn Jamison. 8 points, 9 assists for Antonio Daniels.

Wizards bench: a whole six points. What also concerns me is the fact that starters have put in a lot of minutes…..only about 31 total minutes from the bench so far.

4th Quarter

10:36 – Wow…a Roger Mason Jr. dunk on a fast break…the lead is pushed to 13, 84-71 Washington. That’s got to be Mason’s first dunk of the year…..maybe career?

The Wiz have been able to increase the lead with more intensity on defense at the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th. With the exception of Damien Wilkins, everyone who has played for Seattle has at least one turnover – 12 total for the Sonics.

Oh Gil…say it ain’t so…are you really wearing a camel colored sleeveless sweater-vest cardigan with wooden buttons? A’ight kid, it’s your birthday, so whatev.

8:18 – More Wizards steals/Seattle turnovers…..and Caron Butler veteran leadership. This all leads to an 18 point Wizards lead, 89-71. Wiz now have 11 steals.

7:10 – AJ 3 – 18-4 run to start the 4th for the Wiz. Hopefully this will lead to rest for the starters. Of those 11 steals… AD has 4, Butler has 3, and Jamison has 3. The big guns are getting it done on both ends of the floor.

5:36 – Wiz up 18, 98-76 and all those in the game…Mason, Songaila, Butler, Stevenson and Haywood continue to hustle like it’s a much closer game. I’m proud of what I see. Yes, Seattle is a bad team — but you know our Wizards….they’ve NEVER taken care of the teams they are supposed to be because they’ve been adept at playing down to a lower level. Well boys, this ain’t your older brother’s Washington Wizards.

4:26 – Tuff Juice finally takes a seat. What a fantasy stat line: 33 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals going 12-21 from the field, 3-5 from 3 and 6-6 from the FT line.

The game gets a little silly at the end with a bunch of Seattle turnovers. The Wiz built their lead to about 28…then the starters came out and the rookies started chucking up shots. So, that 28 point lead is cut to 21 in about a minute…..oh well, there’s only a minute left.

The youngsters finally get us a highlight with a monster Dominic McGuire block a on Delonte West lay-up attempt — this leads to a Nick Young smooth jumper on the other end — just a small glimpse of the future.

And that’s it folks, game over — 108-86.

Stat Check:

• Wally Szcerbiak only ended up with 18 off the bench. So, no crying myself to sleep tonight.
• Can’t believe I thought the Wizards would win, yet Seattle would cover the 9-point spread — guess I thought the homecoming meant more to those Seattle cats.
• Speaking of…trip home for Kevin Durant – 19 points on 33% shooting, close to par with his 20 points and 40% shooting for the year.
• Wiz forced the Sonics into committing 19 turnovers.
• For the rest….just check out the box on NBA.com.

Meanwhile….go wonder about Gilbert’s knee with Gilbertology. I’m still deciding on how to weigh-in myself.

Butler’s 33 Leads Wizards Past Sonics [Washington Post]
Bullets blowout weekend [DC Pro Sports Report]
Washington 122 – Seattle 121 (Wizards 108 – Sonics 86) [Bullets Forever]

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• October 23, 2010 -- Wizards Odds and Ends