Posts for category ‘trevor booker’

Chatting with Wizards forward Trevor Booker in the locker room before his team takes on Kevin Love and the Minnesota Timberwolves…

Talk about the matching up against Kevin Love and his rebounding prowess. What do you need to do to combat him?

“He’s just an overall monster. He can post up, he can shoot the three. He’s relentless on the boards, so we just gotta keep a body on him at all times and keep him away from the glass.”

What about Minnesota, how are they scouting you? [NOTE: On the court for pre-game warm-ups, a Minnesota assistant coach pulled Wolves rookie Derrick Williams aside and told him to watch for Booker's left hand (since he is left handed), and told him to play the left drive hard in hopes of maybe drawing charges against Booker.]

“They probably want to take away my left hand, but I can go either way, so… I think they probably rather me shoot the jump shot than drive the ball, and they definitely want to keep me away from the offensive glass.”

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[Fort Stevens Rec Center - NW Washington, DC - photo: K. Weidie]

As I get ready to take an extended summer vacation off to a location across the ocean, I can’t help how different this NBA summer feels. Yes, the lockout… But I’m also thinking about NBA players — who they are, how they are, where they are. Oh yea, and they’re also jumping across the pond lately.

NBA players are… themselves, for better or worse. Real people. I’ve known this. Covering the Wizards closely over the past couple of seasons has enforced this. It’s not breaking news.

It’s the coverage and opt-in exposure surrounding professional athletes as a whole, much less NBA players, that is vastly different now. Although, delving through the late David Halberstam’s brilliant book The Breaks Of The Game — about the world of pro basketball and the 1979-80 Portland Trailblazers — has helped me realize that while the times change fast, many principles simply get updated and don’t change much.

Halberstam discusses many themes in a changing NBA from some 30-years ago that can apply to the league landscape today. But when it comes to drastic change, it involves media coverage operating in a world where players serve as their own branded media machines. Hence, much of the traditional media (and new media) is forced to practice a mechanical-like re-conveyance of what the players put out on the open market. Yes, very different indeed.

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I didn’t catch Friday night’s Wizards-Nuggets game live, but I did DVR it, so I was able to watch the game at my own pace the next afternoon. While I was watching, my wife happened to walk in, and without even looking at the television she asked me, “So how much are they getting killed by this time?”.  I sheepishly answered that they were being “killed” by 24 points, and she just shook her head and left.

That pretty much sums up how it feels to watch and then write about the Wizards these days.  There are instances like this past Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers when the Wizards’ young players seem to put it all together and play competitively, and then there are other nights when flashes of individual brilliance are overtaken by yet another defeat.

Friday night’s 114-94 loss to the Nuggets was no different.  The Wizards dug themselves in a hole with some cold first quarter shooting, they fought hard to close the gap, but in the end, the Nuggets were too experienced and deep for the Wizards.  But if you’re looking for positives, rookie forward Trevor Booker put on a clinic on both ends of the floor during the third quarter. He demonstrated that, even when some veterans get healthy and back on the floor, he needs to still play substantial minutes.

11:34 – 3rd Quarter

Flip Saunders called an isolation play for Booker in the post against the 6’9″ Kenyon Martin. Martin is known for his physical play on both ends of the floor, and this looked to be a challenging post-up for Booker. He faced up like a player of his ability should when attacking the basket, started right, then quickly spun back and executed a perfect jump hook over the outstretched arms of Martin to cut the Nuggets’ lead to 17 points. This prompted Wizards announcer Phil Chenier to say that Booker needs to get more touches down low.

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…he was alone in an abandoned locker room, folded in an office chair with enough lumbar support to carry the weight of his woes.

John Wall has been chosen to be D.C.’s defender — a challenge made that much more difficult since it too often appears that he’s been fated to do so alone. Wall’s teammates have been blessed with the power of flight, but also cursed with invisibility. After being defeated by Warriors from the Golden State this past Wednesday, John Wall put out a quiet plea for help.

On Saturday night, the Wizards were down 68-72 after three tightly contested quarters; Minnesota and Washington were never separated by more than eight points. The coaching staff once again signaled for a gritty, high-energy combination to save the day … while tightening the reins on liabilities. A league of unsung heroes again rose to the occasion to establish order in the most powerful city in the world. Joining John Wall were Cartier Martin, The Enlightened One; Mo Evans, The Old Hand; Trevor Booker, The Beast; and Andray Blatche, The Scapegoat.

“I was extremely happy with the energy our guys played with overall,” said head coach Flip Saunders in his postgame press conference. Saunders also went on to praise the much-maligned Blatche for his sustained effort and fighting spirit and rightfully so. Blatche, of course, has been routinely criticized by fans, the conglomerated media, and even opposing players for ho-hum performances. But last night, he earned his keep and deserved the credit. Blatche and the Wizards scored 35 points to close the game, after scoring just 68 points through the first three quarters. The focus and determination over the last 12 minutes lifted the team to victory, en route to breaking a miserable 7-game losing streak.

A lineup of (never) has-beens stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight. They out-shot, out-rebounded, out-worked, and out-paced the Minnesota Timberwolves. How many times have you said that about any five-man combination this season? You can tally that total one on hand and have fingers left to spare.

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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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[Trevor Booker snatches a pre-game warm-up rebound away from teammate Corsley Edwards.]

What exactly does Trevor Booker do? That’s the question.

Booker’s summer league stats don’t jump off the page. In 28.2 minutes over five games he averaged 8.2 points on 51.6-percent shooting, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 steals, one block, 0.6 assists and 2.6 turnovers. His best game came in the finale against the New York Knicks when John Wall, JaVale McGee and Raymar Morgan didn’t play — he tallied 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes.

After game three against the Dallas Mavericks, Mike Prada of Bullets Forever wrote, “I’m getting a bit concerned that the Wizards don’t exactly know what to do with Trevor Booker, aka ‘Grown-Ass Man,’ on offense.”

And while it’s not yet time to elevate the levels of concern, it should be curious that Booker was not often able to assert himself when the Wizards had the ball. He had a couple nice dunks. Let’s watch real quick ….

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If I had to place Trevor Booker somewhere on the scale of out-going personalities entering the NBA (with 10 being Omar Samhan and 1 being Jarvis Varnado), I’d give him about a 3. John Wall would get a 6.5/7 if you must know.

Not a knock on Booker, he might have tremendous upside personality potential … or he just might be shy in front of media cameras … or maybe he just likes to give very brief answers with little inflection in his voice … or maybe he’s just too cool for school.

In any case, it doesn’t really matter. It’s all about what the guy can do on the court. And from the looks of a brief glimpse at a mini-camp scrimmage Thursday evening, Booker is not afraid to make his presence known.

Actually, maybe Trevor should get boosted to a 3.5 … he did give the media a laugh by saying that John Wall still isn’t faster than him.

Via the WaPost’s Michael Lee on June 27th: Read more »