[Here, Phil Chenier wears a "Lumberg Collar" while a lobster tempts Steve Buckhantz with buttery lobster flavor.]
Not only will this Wizards team have the opportunity to grow each game, they’ll have the opportunity to grow each quarter, each minute, each play. And part of this is why Thursday’s embarrassment against the Orlando Magic was so disappointing, several players didn’t take the opportunity to get better. Some … no, most … and by default, the entire team (because that’s how they win and lose), came out in the third quarter with the same lack of focus and energy that plagued their squad for the first 24 minutes.
But those opportunities are behind the Wizards. No sense dwelling on wasted opportunity when there will always be another one around the corner, such tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks. Of course, new opportunity doesn’t preclude us from reflecting upon the past, especially when the statistics start compiling to show who isn’t doing their job.
Nonetheless, enjoy and celebrate these new opportunities, especially because this young team will be fun to watch, they just need to know how to channel their efforts. And tonight, lest we forget, will really be the first “official” game of the season … because the hometown television voices of Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier will be back in action, ready to guide us through the basketball that we love.
Phil, with your smooth voice that’s sure to have talked a mean game to a lady within the 24-second shot clock before, and roots in the team’s history, we are ready to be kindled by your expression of the finer things in basketball.
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Ok, enough of this Andray Blatche drama … and before we get to the Gilbert Arenas sentencing drama tomorrow … how about a more fun post surrounding the Washington Wizards? Well, the television duo of Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier who bring the Wizards into your homes, or wherever, each and every game.
Buck and Phil are some of the best. I’ve watched a fair bit of the NBA League Pass, but I can’t even come close to professing knowledge about each team’s TV guys. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t trade the Wizards’ pair, whom the WizzNutzz once called the Basketball Brothers Grimm, for anyone. And this, perhaps, includes one of my favs, Grandpa Hubie Brown.
As an aside, I don’t completely mind the grim nature of Buck and Phil, at least to the past extent outlined by the WizzNutzz … I call it “tastefully snarky.” But whatever, to the matter at hand …
GIMME BACK THAT FILET-O-FISH!
Catchy song, can’t knock it. I imagine the ad exec who came up with it is like the ‘Pet Rock‘ guy of the ad exec world. Dude (or lady) is probably Don Draper-ing it up somewhere right now.
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Q1
7:14: Andray Blatche gets blocked by Mehmet Okur…..a very sad scene to witness. Okur barely jumped, if at all, and Andray took it to the hoop like a four-year old girl chasing after a puppy.
4th Minute: JaVale McGee has got a couple nice offensive boards, but doesn’t use his body/leverage to his advantage. He’s trying to be all arms and hops. So on one, he missed a forced hook and on the second, he got blocked byOkur (who the hell is this guy, Mutombo?).
In the first…..Utah’s passing looks good (6 assists on 9 made FGs = Swiss Cheese Wiz D)….but Deron Williams has four turnovers (two on the first two possessions of the game) to only one assist.
2:00: McGee gets an offensive rebound with two hands, keeps the ball high with both hands on it, and gets fouled on a missed attempt….now that’s the way to do things.
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The Wizards beat an inferior Timberwolves squad, 110-99, Minny’s 10th loss in a row, thanks to veteran swag and strong contributions from the mostly youthful bench.
The four oldest players available (Jamison – 32, Dixon – 30, Songaila – 30, and Butler – 28) combined to score 81 points, 73.6% of the total.
But that doesn’t take away from what Blatche, McGee, Crittenton, Young and McGuire contributed in the win. In fact, Young and McGee led the team in +/-, both finishing +11.
The Wizards bench outscored the Wolves bench 26-16 and also contributed 16 of the team’s 46 total rebounds.
Paced By A Lithuanian
Darius Songaila came out on fire…..before you knew it, he had 11 points in the first 4:34, finishing the game on 8-9 FGs and 19 points, four off his career high.
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“He’s a smart guy, he knows how to play the game. If he had the body of a . . . Kwame Brown, he’d be an All-Star. And he makes the most with what he has.” -Steve Buckhantz on Darius Songaila
Watching (for the first time) Saturday night’s loss to the Spurs late Sunday evening, I’d never before considered an utterance praising D-Song and digging at Kwame in the same sentence. Thank you Steve Buck.
[Runner-Up Quote of the Week: "Wizards looking for a little home cookin', but the stove is not lit." - Steve Buckhantz in reference to the refs.]
If a letter from Steve Buckhantz to The Dagger can’t help the Wizards win, then nothing will.
At the end of game blog #8, I felt compelled to write this as a knee-jerk reaction:
Tinkering with the lineup. Starters. Bench players. Coaching. Hustle. Defense. Three pointers. Rebounds. None of it matters. The Washington Wizards are just not a good basketball team. I’m not giving up on anything, but I’m coming to terms with this concept and expectations for the upcoming games have been reduced to nothing.
Do I feel the same way today? The jury is still out. I certainly won’t staunchly stand by the theory that nothing matters…..of course a variety of factors add up to results. However, when it comes to the equation of Wizards and losing, I simply can’t put my finger on the root. Maybe I’m just looking to lower expectations in order to minimize disappointment. Either way, I’m at a loss. But I’ve invested a lot of time in this franchise over the years, and exponentially more in the past 14 months…..so, I’m not giving up on the team I love, neither now, nor ever.
The Buzz: Eddie Jordan’s Quote (via The Washington Post):
“This team is built for Gilbert Arenas to lead us, this team is built for our all-star forwards to do certain offensive things for us and for Brendan Haywood to have a career year manning the middle for us,” Jordan said. “We don’t have those things. You’re asking people to do things that they are not capable of doing. They are not capable of carrying the load for us like a Dwyane Wade, like a Gilbert Arenas. You’ve got young guys who aren’t going to make veteran plays night in, night out. They’re going to be good here and there, so to be in the game is a credit to everyone in our organization right now. It’s eight games into the season and you’ve got to be positive but you’ve also got to be realistic about things. That’s where we are.”
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With the commencement of the Washington Wizards training camp this past Saturday, the questions are starting to mount, many of which won’t be answered until preseason games are played and upon the Wiz Euro Trip taking place.
Dave Johnson and Steve Buckhantz have been live blogging from camp, and as the Pradamaster mentioned on Bullets Forever, their observations must be taken with a grain of salt.
Question #1: What is Flip Saunders doing at training camp?
As mentioned in the washingtonwizardsblog.com blog from training camp day 1, K.C. Jones is also at camp, but he has ties to the franchise (coached the Bullets from 1973-1976), and hasn’t been in the NBA coaching game since 1992 (Seattle Sonics). The Hall of Famer currently works for the University of Hartford Athletic Department.
Flip Saunders, on the other hand, would seemingly be on the prowl for another NBA head coaching gig. But now Saunders is running defensive drills in Wizards training camp, the occurrence of which was deemed worthy of a bold font in the blogging of Johnson and Buckhantz. My initial line of thinking was to wonder who invited Saunders to camp. If it was Grunfeld, does this ruffle the feathers of Eddie Jordan? I doubt it as Jordan seems like a ‘check the ego at the door’ type and would welcome input from any angle.
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