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Bullets and Colonels Clash at Freedom Hall: An A.B.A.-N.B.A. Interleague First

John Converse Townsend — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:17:51 +0000

September 22, 1971. Louisville, Kentucky. Freedom Hall.

Just over 40 years ago the Baltimore Bullets made the 600-mile trip west from Northern Virginia, where they had battled the N.B.A.’s New York Knickerbockers in their preseason opener the night before, to square off against the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association in the biggest game few today have ever heard about. The contest would be the second act in an Inter-League Exhibition Game (ILEG) series, a sporting event invented by the owners who were looking for something to make “airing out the big arenas, sweeping the floor and printing up tickets worthwhile,” amid rumors of a merger between the two roundball associations. Though early on, these exhibitions were not well publicized, they weren’t without meaning.

The 1971 ILEG series was headlined by two N.B.A. titans, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Baltimore Bullets, both gearing up for another shot at an N.B.A. championship. They were scheduled to play five A.B.A. squads in five A.B.A. cities; the games were held in A.B.A. cities like Louisville and Winston-Salem for the simple reason that the N.B.A. didn’t want to legitimize the upstart league.

Baltimore Coach Gene Shue, two years removed from an N.B.A. Coach of the Year Award, journeyed westward without star guard Earl “The Pearl” Monroe (sent home with knee bursitis) and forward Gus “Honeycomb” Johnson (still working his way back into shape after off-season surgery in both knees), but still had a championship-caliber roster at his disposal. It was a homecoming affair for Bullets guard and Louisville native Westley “Wes” Unseld. Unseld was the star center for a Seneca High School team that won two state championships, and a three-year letter winner at the University of Louisville; the Cardinals played their home games at Freedom Hall, just six miles down the road from Seneca. In the 1968 A.B.A. draft, the Kentucky Colonels drafted Unseld, but lost a bidding war for their hometown prodigy, who inked a four-year $400,000 contract with the Bullets as the second overall selection in the 1968 N.B.A. draft

The Colonels had firepower of their own. The team was led by talented second-year scorer, the 6’9” Dan “The Horse” Issel, and rookie defensive pillar, Artis “The A-Train” Gilmore, under instruction from head coach Joseph “Joe” Mullaney. Mullaney was a college teammate of “hot-shit guard”¹ Bob Cousy at Holy Cross during the mid-1940s, winning a championship in 1947, before playing out brief careers with the Boston Celtics of the N.B.A.—a one-year adventure—and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Providence College hired Mullaney as their head basketball man in 1955, where he coached the Friars to 319 wins in 18 seasons. In 1969, the Los Angeles Lakers employed Mullaney to fill the void left by former head coach Butch van Breda Kolff, who had quit in frustration after a 108-106 N.B.A. Finals defeat to the rival Celtics. Two deep playoff runs, including a Finals appearance of his own, somehow weren’t enough to satisfy then Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke, who fired his new coach after just two seasons.

In June of 1971, Mullaney became the fifth coach of the Kentucky Colonels, replacing former Celtics guard Frank Ramsey, and was in search of early victories with his young roster. ”The Colonels are a young team with great potential—in a sense still in the formative stages,” Mullaney told the press at a news conference after the official announcement. “And it looks like a very exciting opportunity.” At Freedom Hall on that autumn night in September, Mullaney would need to get his tactics right. His Colonels were to face a Baltimore Bullets team that still had a bitter taste in its mouth. The Bullets had been swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the N.B.A. Finals just a few months earlier, making them just the second N.B.A. team to go winless in Finals history. The 1959 Lakers were the first team to do so, and the first victims of the smoke-breathing basketball monster driven by Red Auerbach—a Boston Celtics superdyansty that won eight consecutive championships.

While the N.B.A. Finals are typically billed as heavyweight bouts, Milwaukee tenderized Baltimore as if they were nothing more than a stepping-stone on the path to something bigger. Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson and the rest of the Bucks battered the Bullets, just as The Milwaukee Journal’s Terry Bledsoe had predicted they would:

“It is as though Muhammad Ali had stumbled somewhere earlier in his comeback attempt and Joe Frazier had been forced to conduct his fight of the century against Oscar Bonavena.”

To be fair to the bullnecked Argentine, Bonavena gave Frazier a fight, twice sending Smokin’ Joe to the canvas, though he ultimately fell out favor with the scorecards.

On the night before the Colonels-Bullets game, the Milwaukee Bucks headlined the first-ever N.B.A. vs. A.B.A. contest against the Dallas Chaparrals. The reigning N.B.A. champs, without “The Big O,” Oscar Robertson, who was testifying against the imminent N.B.A.-A.B.A. merger in Washington, D.C., barely squeaked past Dallas and their top forward John Beasley. (The Bullets had actually drafted Beasley in the fifth round of the 1966 N.B.A. Draft, though he never joined the team, instead choosing to spend his career in the A.B.A.)

On paper, the game “looked like one of the monster mismatches of all time,” wrote Sports Illustrated mythmaker Peter Carry. “The Milwaukee Bucks, champions of the Universe and beyond, came to play the Dallas Chaparrals, who are out of this world in quite another way. It was to be a big night for the Bucks, who lost only 18 of 106 exhibition, regular-season and playoff games last year. For one thing, they were introducing an old center with a new title. Kareem Abdul Jabbar started in the post, replacing Lew Alcindor. Otherwise, he was the same old No. 33, crashing for rebounds and scoring 32 points.” Milwaukee trailed in the closing moments of the fourth quarter, but were saved by a McCoy McLemore jumper with 11 seconds left. The Bucks’ 106-103 win was sealed with a pair of free throws from Lucius Allen.

The East Coast contenders from Baltimore felt some pressure to win—not only to properly represent the N.B.A., but also to keep up with the Bucks—but figured the A.B.A.’s Colonels could be controlled. The Bullets were cocksure before the game—superiority by Association, perhaps?—despite being without the services of Monroe and Johnson. At the time, the three-point line (like the 30-second shot clock) was an innovation exclusive to the high-flying A.B.A., but one that didn’t necessarily impress. As Bullets guard Jack Marin took the floor during warmups, he took a long look at the three-point arc taped to the hardwood and boasted, “I’m not just a star in this league, I’m a superstar.” He then missed four of five practice three-pointers. Meanwhile, Fred “Mad Dog” Carter tried, unsuccessfully, to take some hot air out of the contest. “What’s this thing for,” he joked, poking fun at the A.B.A.’s red, white and blue ball. “Trained seals?”

“This is something we’ve been looking forward to for four years,” said Kentucky guard Louie Dampier, burning. Dampier was one-half of a sharpshooting tandem with Darel Carrier, which combined to score an average of more than 50 points in its first three seasons together. “They (the N.B.A.) say we’re weaker and I’d like to prove we aren’t. I won’t say I’ll play harder because I always play as hard as I can. But when they leave here tonight I want to make sure they won’t be looking down on us anymore.”

Winning wouldn’t be easy for Baltimore, not in front of an A.B.A. exhibition game record crowd of 13,821. Colonel forward Dan Issel, who moved from center to make room for the 7’2” Gilmore, would make it particularly difficult. Issel was playing with something to prove. He had been second-guessed by both the media and the public during his rookie season for performing in the sporting extravaganza better known as the A.B.A. rather than with the Detroit Pistons, who selected him in the eighth round of the 1970 N.B.A. Draft. Issel, fueled by doubters, managed to quiet his critics by posting a league-best 29.9 points per game as a rookie, the product of sharp head fakes and a hellstorm of “Issel Missiles” launched from deep.

The game itself was a fast-paced affair. The Bullets fired off to an early 6-0 lead, before Gilmore, the Colonel’s “$2 million baby,” used his defensive talents to jam the Baltimore attack. Issel and Dampier, known for making a mockery of the N.B.A. game by pulling up from distance in transition, quickly found their offensive rhythm to carry the Colonels to a 25-19 first quarter lead. The Colonels extended that lead by as much as 14 points, and found themselves winning 52-41 at the end of the first half. The second half was more of the same; Kentucky took command of the action and cruised to an easy 26-point victory. History had been made that night. Kentucky’s victory over Baltimore was the first time an A.B.A. team had ever beaten an N.B.A. team.

The result made headlines around the nation the next morning:

“Colonels Maul Bullets 111-85,” read the Daily News in Bowling Green.
“Issel blasts Bullets,” announced the Preston, Arizona’s Courier.
“13,821 See Colonels Rap Bullets, 111-85,” added the Milwaukee Sentinel.
“Issel sparks Colonels to 111-85 win over Bullets,” claimed the Cape Girardeau Southest Missourian.
“Colonels Deal Bullets Loss,” chimed the Sarasota Journal.

While the game made headlines, the significance of an exhibition played for pride was debatable. However, the Bucks’ narrow escape over the Chaps and the Bullets’ loss to the Colonels kept people talking for another reason. The A.B.A.’s impressive showings in early interleague play helped to dispel a familiar (and increasingly incorrect) dictum about the state of professional basketball in the United States that summer. As elucidated by SI‘s Peter Carry: “a reasonably good team from the older league could crunch any ABA club, and of course a weak one like the Chaps, even when its starters were off testifying in Washington against the merger. [...] Last week’s action proved they (exhibition games between teams like the Bullets and the Colonels) are too good for that sort of status—no matter what color the basketball.”

Wes Unseld, the lone star in the Bullets’ lineup that night, finished with an insignificant seven points and eight rebounds. Colonels sharpshooter Louie Dampier put up 14 points. Artis Gilmore, in his professional debut, posted a double-double—16 points and 16 rebounds—to go along with six blocks. And Dan Issel, the former University of Kentucky All-American, led all scorers with 24 points.

“They asked why I went to the American Basketball Association, and now I’ve got the answer,” said Issel after the game—he led all scorers with 24 points in the rout. “They—the Bullets—represent the N.B.A., and that’s been pushed down my throat for a year now. Now maybe that’s over.”

Bullets rookie Stan Love, father of Kevin Love, currently of the Minnesota Timberwolves, made plenty of plays on his way to 19 points. Love’s most memorable moment, however, would come at his own expense—courtesy of Issel.

From the Sports Illustrated Vault:

“On Kentucky’s most spectacular offensive thrust of the game, Gilmore crashed high between two beefier Bullets for a defensive rebound and hurled to the speeding Issel a full-court pass reminiscent of Bill Russell. The resulting collision under the Kentucky basket indicated something of Issel’s power and the toughness of Baltimore’s 6’9″ rookie Forward Stan Love, a first-round draft choice from Oregon who led his team with 19 points. Issel caught Gilmore’s pass on the run, drove to the basket and scored, plowing over Love on the way. Issel’s knee slammed the Baltimore player on the chest, knocked him cold and left him gagging. After the trainers from both teams had their fingers bitten reaching into Love’s mouth to make sure he had not swallowed his tongue, the rookie, who had come within seconds of suffocating, took a one-minute rest and returned to the game.”

The very next night in Miami, Florida, the Bullets lost 96-88 to one of the A.B.A.’s poorest teams, the Floridians. That same weekend, the Bullets humped through a two-game series with the Carolina Cougars. They inched by the Cougars in the first game, 106-104, but gave up more than 100 points in the second contest and lost by ten. The following week in Hampton, Virginia, the Bullets would fall to the Squires, 112-107. Despite a 30-point contribution from Kevin Loughery, Charlie Scott and undrafted free agent Julius Erving were too much for the Bullets, combining for 57 of the Squires’ 112 points that night. After trumping the Pacers in Indianapolis, the Bullets were outgunned 121-107 by the Nets and a 40-point assault from Rick Barry, despite a 26 points from Monroe who had caught up with the team.

The Bullets-Nets game would be one of Monroe’s last in a Bullets uniform. About a dozen games games into the N.B.A. regular season, the Bullets traded the disgruntled Earl Monroe to the New York Knickerbockers for Dave Stallworth, Mike Riordan and cash. Though they finished with a losing record of 38-44, the Bullets still made playoffs, only to fall to Monroe and the Knicks in six games. The Bullets would play just one more season in Baltimore—capturing a third-straight Central Division championship, but losing to the Knicks, again, in five games—before moving to Landover, Maryland (the current home of the shambolic Washington Redskins) in 1973 as the Capital Bullets.

The A.B.A. would finally best the N.B.A. in interleague competition in 1973, with a record of 15-10 after getting squeezed 16-41 over previous two years. The A.B.A. would improve upon that mark and continue to play its way to parity, stabilizing its interleague record to 16-7 in 1974 and 31-17 in 1975. The Milwaukee Bucks would lose to the Utah Stars in Salt Lake City in what would be the last ILEG game in history, 106-101. Utah’s victory gave the A.B.A. a 79-76 overall record against the N.B.A.

The two leagues would merge in 1976.

Looking into the Future of Seasons Past

The 6’7” Wes Unseld—described by Issel as a “concrete block” and “as strong as a bull” after their meeting at Freedom Hall—spent his thirteen-year career with the Baltimore-Capital-Washington Bullets. Unseld averaged 10.8 points, 14 rebounds and 3.9 assists, willing his team to four N.B.A.Finals. The Bullets knocked off the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1978 N.B.A.Finals, Unseld was named Finals MVP. His No. 41 jersey was retired shortly after his exit from professional basketball in 1981.

Dan Issel scored 2,538 points in the 1971-72 season, an A.B.A. record. The Horse scored more than 27,000 points in his Hall of Fame-career in the A.B.A. and N.B.A. When Issel retired after the 1985 season, only Kareem Adbul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving had scored more points. He is the ABA’s second all-time scorer behind Louie Dampier.

Louie Dampier became the A.B.A.’s all-time leader in points scored, three-pointers attempted and made, assists, games played, and minutes played. Dampier also holds the A.B.A. playoff game record of 18 assists in one game. And in 1971, he sank 57 free throws straight, a professional record at the time.

Darel Carier became the A.B.A.’s all-time leader for career three-point field goal percentage at 37.7 percent.

Artis Gilmore became the A.B.A.’s all-time career leader in field goal percentage (55.7 percent), blocked shots in a career (750), season (287), and game (40). Gilmore remains the N.B.A.’s career leader in field goal percentage (59.9 percent) and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2011.

After the 1972 season, Gus Johnson spent a split season between the Phoenix Suns and the Indiana Pacers of the A.B.A., where he won the 1973 A.B.A. championship. His No. 25 jersey was retired by the Bullets and he joined the Hall of Fame in 2010. Honeycomb shattered three backboards in his career.

Earl Monroe led the Knicks to consecutive Finals in 1972 and 1973—the year they beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the N.B.A. title. Serious knee injuries forced his retirement after the 1980 season. In 926 N.B.A. games, Monroe scored 17,454 points and dished out 3,594 assists. The Knicks retired Monroe’s No. 15 jersey in 1986 and he was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1990. It wasn’t until 2007 that the Wizards pinned The Pearl’s No. 10 jersey in the rafters.

Joe Mullaney coached nine teams between 1955 and 1985, even leading the Utah Stars to the 1973-74 Finals against the New York Nets. The Stars lost in five games. Mullaney was named Co-A.B.A.Coach of the Year, an award he shared with the man who replaced him in Kentucky, Babe McCarthy. McCarthy lost to the Nets in the Eastern Division Finals and, oddly enough, was fired at year’s end.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct an error; the original version listed Kevin Loughery as a member of the Virginia Squires.

Follow John on Twitter @JohnCTownsend

–

Sources:

¹Shoals, Bethlehem. FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2010. Print.

Carry, Peter. “Red, White and Who?“ Sports Illustrated 4 Oct. 1971: 20-23.

Pluto, Terry. Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1990.

Associated Press. “Colonels Hire Ex-Laker Coach.” Palm Beach Post 22 Jun. 1971: B4.

Bledsoe, Terry. “Knicks Will Be Missed in Final Playoff.” Milwaukee Journal 21 Apr. 1971: 22.

#oldNBAcards: A Wednesday For Wes

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:59:20 +0000

Wes Unseld doesn’t come around much anymore, and it has nothing to do with the lockout. We’re talking the house that Abe built, the Verizon Center.

Sure, he’s part of the franchise’s alumni group and has a seat “for life,” once blogged Ted Leonsis. This was in response to a oddity spewed by New York’s own Peter Vecsey in January 2011, saying Unseld’s season tickets had been “stripped” from him. Dan Steinberg aptly described the curious case on the DC Sports Bog, as both Leonsis and Unseld denied such; and as Mike Wise said, “Let’s put it this way, Tony Kornheiser’s not an evil human being. He has an evil side to him, but he’s not an evil human being. But Peter Vecsey is Satan incarnate.” Always nice to have Kornheiser involved.

Still, season tickets or no season tickets (after all, someone, somewhere had to be miffed enough to drop of a nugget for Vecsey to run with, unconfirmed), Unseld was no where near as present at games last season as he used to be, when Pollin was owner. And that’s okay. He was Abe’s guy. Constancy is neither sacred, nor a vice. Plus, sometimes in life there are other things to do.

New can always be found without the old, but often can’t be appreciated without what’s already been done. And that’s why on this Wednesday, we appreciate Wes, just as the Washington franchise and fans of the franchise always will.

Wes and Connie Unseld.

[via SI Vault]

Did You Know?

Connie Unseld is an educator who has given much of her life to a school in the city of Baltimore, MD, which she and Wes started and named The Unseld School? Their son, and former Washington Wizards assistant, Wes Unseld, Jr., was the first student. Both Connie and Wes, and their daughter Kim, are still very active and involved in the education of students there.
[Via Carroll Magazine, April 2011]

Videos.

Hello and Goodbye to The Baltimore Bullets

Kyle Weidie — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:06:11 +0000

Weekend pictures of Baltimore and stories from its past with pro basketball…

1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD (formerly the Baltimore Civic Center and the Baltimore Arena).

Box of Natty Boh – Soliders and Sailors Monument, W. 29th St. & N. Charles Ave., Baltimore.

Baltimore City Hall.

The Baltimore Bird – E. Pratt St. & S. Central Ave.

This past weekend the girlfriend and I traveled to Baltimore, if nothing but to rediscover the city and show it some tourism love (plus we had a free place to stay). Upon moving to Washington, D.C. in 1990, my father and I would make the drive up the BW Parkway to see the Baltimore Orioles at least 20 times a year, first to Memorial Stadium and then to Camden Yards.

My dad and I were there for everything from Ben McDonald to September 6, 1995 when Cal Ripken, Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games-played streak (16 years ago today… wow). We were there for the only two seasons of O’s playoff action since 1984 (1996 and 1997). But eventually, team owner Peter Angelos, me going away to college almost 1,000 miles away, and the arrival of the Nationals to Washington faded the Orioles into apathy. No more trips to Baltimore either.

The Washington pro basketball franchise, currently the Wizards, played in Baltimore under the name “Bullets” from the 1963-64 season through the 1972-73 season. During that time, they played in the Baltimore Civic Center in downtown Baltimore, now known as the 1st Mariner Arena (and seen in the first picture above).

The passage below from The City Game by Pete Axthelm takes us back to the 1970 NBA playoffs, Wes Unseld’s second year in the NBA coming off his MVP/Rookie of the Year season in 1968-69. The Bullets finished the 1969-70 season with a 50-32 record, third in a seven-team Eastern Division (and third in the NBA), and in the first round of the playoff faced the 60-win New York Knicks, tops in the 14-team NBA.

The first two games of the series were highly competitive, but the Knicks prevailed in both, winning 120-117 in the series opener in New York and 106-99 the next day in Baltimore. Game three swung back to New York and the Bullets trounced the Knicks, 127-113. Wes Unseld had 34 rebounds and the Knicks as a team had 30. Baltimore then won game four 102-92 on their home court, tying the series at two games apiece:

The fans of that dreary city were equally manic. Baltimore’s Civic Center is an informal arena, an all-purpose theaterlike auditorium that offers cotton candy and pizza at small concessions counters and Dixieland music between periods–as if to compensate the patrons for their abysmally poor view of the game. A low-slung sprawling structure far longer than the court itself, the Civic Center has many seats at angles distance from the action. Because of those angles, the noise seldom batters the court as it does in most arenas. Instead it seems to filter down in disjointed cries and cheers; and in that fourth game, the cries reflected all the pent-up frustration of a year and a half of snide jokes by New Yorkers about Baltimore teams. “Who the hell are the Knicks?” they shouted. “Earl the Peal is king of the world.”

[The City Game: Basketball from the Garden to the Playgrounds, by Pete Axthelm - Ch. 15: "The Baltimore Scare," pp. 170-71]

The series went to a full seven games, with the home team winning all remaining games and New York finally advancing by means of a 127-114 victory. Baltimore was swept by the Knicks in the initial round of the 1968-69 playoffs, so pushing New York to a game seven in 1970 was considered progress, especially as the Knicks won their first NBA championship over the Los Angeles Lakers later that year.

Next season, 1970-71, with the NBA going to 17 teams and a divisional format within two conferences, Baltimore finished 42-40, first in the Central Division and second in the Eastern Conference. The Bullets beat the Philadelphia 76ers 4-3 in a first round playoff series, and then avenged the previous season’s loss to the champion Knicks, taking them down over seven games in the the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Baltimore was swept by Lew Alcindor and the Milwaukee Bucks in the ’71 NBA Finals.

In November of ’71 the Bullets traded Earl “The Pearl” Monroe to the Knicks in exchange for Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth and cash; it was about a dozen games into the season in which Monroe only played three. He didn’t want to be in Baltimore anymore and had requested a trade, even flirted with jumping leagues to the ABA as a threat. It seems Monroe never cared much for Charm City. From a 1969 edition of Newsweek (Vol. 73):

Even star guard Earl (The Pearl) Monroe showed no special desire to keep rattling around the usually empty Civic Center. “The less I have to stay in Baltimore,” Monroe said, “the better.”

The Bullets finished the 1971-72 season with a record of 38-44 and were ironically bounced by Monroe and the Knicks 4-2 in the first round of the 1972 playoffs. Not all, however, was looking down for Baltimore. A January 1973 Sports Illustrated article by Peter Carry read:

These are considerably toned-down Bullets compared to the ones who lost the championship round of the 1971 playoffs to Milwaukee in four straight games. Earl Monroe now struts his stuff for the Knicks. Gone too is weary-kneed Gus Johnson, who is best remembered in Baltimore floating on high, his gold-starred incisor twinkling amid a shower of purportedly shatterproof glass as he razed yet another see-through backboard. Only Center Wes Unseld and Forward John Tresvant remain from that squad. Today the Bullets go with the likes of smooth Guard Phil Chenier, spunky Forward Mike Riordan, solid Unseld, silken Elvin Hayes, speedy rookie Kevin Porter and the shifty Clark.

[...]

Events beyond [Gene, Baltimore's coach] Shue’s control forced the transformation of his team and he pulled it off because he was willing to gamble. At the start of last season Johnson showed up with two inflexible knees while Monroe barely bothered to appear, preferring to hold out until the Bullets traded him to a city more commensurate with his life-style. The Pearl went to the Big Apple and Baltimore got the 6’4″ Riordan, a former guard who is now the NBA’s shortest starting forward and most improved jump-shooter, as part of the deal.

["The Bullets Are High Caliber," by Peter Carry - Sports Illustrated, Jan. 29, 1973.]

Despite a 52-30 1972-73 campaign for the Bullets, the Knicks again defeated them 4-1 in the 1973 playoffs en route to winning their second NBA title, again over the Lakers.

Mere flirtations with success didn’t mean much in terms of support. Baltimore and pro basketball (and pro sports for that matter), had a rocky relationship. From Glory for Sale by Jon Morgan:

The Orioles had just come off a season that landed them in the World Series for the second year in the row. The Colts had won Super Bowl V in January 1971 and had come within a game of playing in the championship the next year. The Baltimore Bullets won the National Basketball Association Easter Division title in 1971, only to lose the championship to Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and the Milwaukee Bucks. The sports pages nationwide were full of stories about Unitas; the Orioles’ Robinsons, Frank and Brooks, and pitcher Jim Palmer, and the Bullet starts Wes Unseld and Earl Monroe.

For the compulsive booster like Schaefer [William Schaefer, Baltimore Mayor from 1971-1986], it was hard not to see the benefits of playing in the big leagues, no matter what the costs. He got his first hint of the costs, however, in 1972 when Bullets owner Abe Pollin, complaining about the difficulty of drawing fans to the downtown Baltimore Civic Center, announced he was moving his franchise to a new facility to be built in Landover, Md., outside Washington. Pollin even changed the team name to the Washington Bullets. Thus, Baltimore’s first major-league team in the modern ear became the first to flee.

Worries ran rampant that the other two teams would soon follow the Bullets’ lead. The Colts’ and Orioles’ owners contributed to the jitters with frank assessments of Memorial Stadium.

[Glory for Sale: fans, dollars, and the new NFL, by Jon Morgan - pp. 109-110, 1997, Bancroft Press]

In an inner city heading toward severe neglect due to changing industry, the white flight and a budding drug trade, Pollin escaped as fast as he could. Below, according to Basketball-Reference.com, the cumulative attendance in the Baltimore Civic Center (with NBA rank) and the Bullets’ win-loss record (with NBA rank) during the Baltimore years:

1972-73: 263,660 – 11 of 17 teams (record: 52-30, 5th in the NBA);
1971-72: 272,339 – 11 of 17 (record: 38-44, 9th);
1070-71: 251,130 – 11 of 17 (record: 42-40, 9th);
1969-70: 225,569 – 10 of 14 (record: 50-32, 3rd);
1968-69: 290,147 – 5 of 14 (record: 57-25, 1st);
1967-68: 171,146 – 10 of 12 (record: 36-46, 12th);
1966-67: 129,799 – 10 of 10 (record: 20-61, 10th);
1965-66: 174,880 – 6 of 9 (record: 38-42, 5th);
1964-65: 187,124 - 5 of 9 (record: 37-43, 6th);
1963-64: 195,783 – 6 of 9 (record: 31-49, 7th).

Pollin’s Capital Bullets totaled 414,202 in attendance (5th among 17 teams) in 1973-74, and in 1974-75 as the Washington Bullets, 383,775 in attendance (9th among 18 NBA teams). Attendance totals for the Washington Bullets during the rest of the 70s goes as follows: 440,837 (9 of 18); 467,745 (11 of 22); 446,539 (13 of 21); 524,356 (4 of 22); and 466,823 (10 of 22) in 1979-90. They weren’t packing houses in Landover, MD, but it clearly provided more opportunity than Baltimore, MD.

Struggles with the adequacy of Memorial Stadium continued throughout the 70s decade and into the next. The Colts stuck around until March 1984 when they made a dash to Indianapolis. The Orioles made due with Memorial Stadium until moving to Camden Yards in 1992.

Known as the Capital Bullets in their first season away from Baltimore (some games were played at the University of Maryland’s Cole Field House until the Capital Centre was ready in Landover), the team finished the 1973-74 season with a 47-35 record. But the Bullets couldn’t escape Monroe and the Knicks, again losing to them in seven games in the first round of the playoffs.

Pollin’steam continued to make the post-season and would finally strike pay dirt by winning the NBA Championship over the Seattle Supersonics in 1978, but never got a chance for revenge against the Knicks. The rivalry between Baltimore and New York died soon after 1974 with the teams not facing each other in the postseason since. In six straight playoff meetings from 1968 to 1974 the Knicks held a 23 win to 13 loss advantage.

Overall the franchise went 401-412 (.493) as the Baltimore Bullets. According to the Win-Shares advanced statistic, the players — those who appeared in at least 100 games with the franchise — most responsible for wins in Baltimore rank as follows:

Wes Unseld (1969-73) – 50.9 WS
Jack Marin (1967-72) – 41.3
Gus Johnson (1964-1972) – 36
Earl Monroe (1968-1972) – 33.5
Walt Bellamy (1964-1966) – 27.0

Starting in the 1988-89 season, according to the Basketball-Reference.com database, the Washington Bullets began playing several regular season games a year in Baltimore. Through the 1996-97 season they totaled 35 such contests, winning 19 and losing 16; the last was played on March 29, 1997 with the Bullets beating the Dallas Mavericks 94-87 behind 17 points and 18 rebounds from Chris Webber. The tradition however ended when the team changed their name to “Wizards” for the 1997-98 season and made preparations to move to a new arena in downtown Washington.

A 1997 Baltimore Sun article by Jerry Bembry on the day of that last game read:

Those locker rooms, located near the stage on the Lombard Street side of the building, are still small. And dark. There is nothing luxurious about the old building — one of the funniest scenes there this season was Harvey Grant trying to watch a tape of an opponent before a game on a television that had no knob to change channels and had a vertical hold that wouldn’t.

Most of today’s players will be happy if the Bullets never return to the building. But Chris Webber likes the atmosphere.

“The fans in Baltimore are great,” Webber said. “They really get behind the team.”

["Bullets: Thanks for the memories Tonight's game will be their last in Baltimore," by Jerry Bembry - The Baltimore Sun, March 29, 1997.]

And the next day’s article:

There was no ceremony to mark the Bullets’ final game in Baltimore. No acknowledgment of the great players — Monroe, Unseld, Hayes, Johnson — who wore the Baltimore uniform.

Aside from the sign held by one fan (Bye Bye Bullets/Welcome Wizards/Abe, Don’t Shut Out Balto.) and the playing of the song “Never can say goodbye” as the team walked off the court, the moment passed quietly.

["Bullets leave Baltimore with win Mavericks fall, 94-87," by Jerry Bembry - The Baltimore Sun, March 30, 1997.]

An August 1998 article in The Sun indicated that the Wizards would return to Baltimore for a preseason game in October of that year, but the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season evidently prevented that from happening.

In October 1999 the franchise made good on a promise to return with a 112-99 preseason victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to The Sun, only about 3,000 people showed up to watch. A member of the Wizards PR staff confirmed that that was the last time the franchise played a game of any type in Baltimore.

The Washington Capitals are scheduled to play a preseason hockey game at the 1st Mariner Arena against the Nashville Predators on September 20 of this year. Question is, will basketball ever return to Baltimore?

>MORE B-MORE PICTURES…

Westminster Hall, Edgar Allan Poe burial ground – Baltimore.

“Where Baltimore gets engaged.” – N. Charles St., Baltimore.

Baltimore Hustler, Baltimore Street.

The Washington Monument in Baltimore.

Downtown Baltimore.

Dutch Pot Cafe – Clay St., Downtown Baltimore.

Ladder in Hampden, Baltimore.

Ring buzzer for cigarettes – N. Charles St., Baltimore.

[All photos copyright Kyle Weidie, 2011]

Old Washington Bullets, In Poster Form

Kyle Weidie — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 21:02:22 +0000

A developing lockout trend amongst those with an online presence and interest in the NBA has been to scan/photo old basketball cards and share them on the world wide web.

Some say we are doomed to repeat the past, in the future, if we don’t remember it (or something like that). I say the past is also great for present-day zingers, which is why I’m sure I’ll take part in basketball card scanning in the future (which, one really only needs the summertime to do, not necessarily a lockout – there’s also the fact that my sports cards are spread out between my apartment in D.C., a dad’s house, a mom’s house (both in other states), and a friend’s house in Virginia).

Anyhow, in lieu of those old basketball cards, today, I’m here to share with you some Washington Bullets posters from yesterday, equally worthy of nostalgic zingers, if not more so.

What you are about to gander upon (and please excuse the impromptu, perhaps hard-to-view photos of old-tymey wrinkled posters) comes courtesy of Wizards veteran Basketball Facilities Manager Jerry Walter. Jerry just completed his 20th season with the organization in his current area, but has been working home games in some capacity in upwards of 28 years. He is always polite, often wishing folks a good morning no matter what time of day it is, and when famished reporters await outside of the Wizards’ practice court for interview access, Jerry almost always offers, nay, insists that they hydrate with a cup of water.

Near the end of this past season, Jerry brought in some of old franchise posters as a kind display of his glorious endurance with one of the more hapless franchises in the NBA. (Yes, we know there is a plan to change all of this — the haplessness — but admittedly, by said team proprietors, it’s a process that ain’t easy. So until that happens, hapless fans of Les Boulez we will be.)

Nonetheless, many thanks to Jerry for the history. Because it’s not all always about preservation, but rather simply knowing the fact that the past exists (or existed — I’m still not sure how time works thanks to Through the Wormhole hosted by Morgan Freeman).

Let’s proceed (note: you can click on the images to view in larger scale).

Welcome to 1985-86.

You are now in a place called ‘Bullets USA Town’ where I can only imagine that this assembled 15-piece band is playing the best (or worst) rendition of Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose” ever… or at least the best ever next to the Godfather of Go-Go himself. All I want to know is how do I get citizenship to Bullets USA Town. (Or is it Bullets Town, USA?)

[UPDATE: Crap. Evidently it 'totally' says tour, not town. I can't read. Either that or I wanted it to say Bullets "USA Town" so much that I didn't give a crap how it looked. Darn. Darn it to hell. I promise I can write good cursive. Thanks comments. Anyway, keep reading.]

Left to Right: Dudley Bradley, Dan Roundfield, Gene Shue (coach), Darren Daye, Kenny Greeen, Frank Johnson, Jeff Malone, Jeff Ruland, Perry Moss, Gus Williams, Manute Bol, Cliff Robinson, Fred Carter (asst. coach), Tom McMillen, and Charles Jones.

Welcome to one year earlier, 1984-85.

Can you spot a future U.S. Congressman? Why, that’s Tom McMillen standing to the far left, as if he really did have “White Man’s Disease” back then (Jeff Ruland seemingly did not). Can you spot the future dad of a current NBA player? That would be Darren Daye, father of Austin Daye of the Detroit Pistons (Darren is standing right behind the guy holding the ball, Gus Williams). But the baddest man on the whole scene seems to be Bernie Bickerstaff, standing suited up to the far right — I’m thinking Laurence Fishburne in Deep Cover style.

Standing Left to Right: Tom McMillen (54), Guy Williams (3), Jeff Malone (24), Jeff Ruland (43), Rick Mahorn (44), Darren Daye (25), Greg Ballard (42), Cliff Robinson (4), Gene Shue (coach), Bernie Bickerstaff (asst. coach) – Front Row L to R: Dudley Bradley (22), Tom Sewell (32), Gus Williams (1), Frank Johnson (15).

Manute & Mugsy.

We are all aware of this iconic picture featuring the late Manute Bol and Mugsy Bogues, but did you know it was a promotion for Camalier & Buckley, “specialists in luggage, leather goods, executive accessories and gifts” (with a 10-percent off coupon that expired on June 15, 1988)?

Well, it was. So that’s settled.

Finally, Jeff Ruland.

On-the-record, Ruland scored this basket over Philly’s Bobby Jones and everyone went home happy.

Off-the-record, Ruland vaporized Jones with a post-photo hip-check and resulting gaseous propulsion from the rear. Jones was never heard from again.

I still think that Captain Freedom from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie The Running Man was molded from Jeff Ruland, but then people are all like, ‘Dude, that was just Jesse Ventura looking like Ruland.’

Either way…

Well, I hope you enjoyed all of this, even though, again, photos of old wrinkled posters are not the easiest to decipher with the eyes. If anything on this Friday afternoon, you and I are left lusting for pristine framed versions as a badge of honor for the franchise that we love and/or kind of like.

Cheers and good day.

A Well-Built Foundation of Color Change Success: The New-Look Washington Wizards

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:13:38 +0000

First impression: I like Wizards’ the new digs duds. I really like them. They were done with a style that lends itself to merchandise that people of various demographics would be proud to sport. And isn’t that what it’s all about? Sure, it’s partially about the money, gladly advertised by the team to ‘Buy! Buy! Buy!’, but in order for that to happen, they must look good. People have to want them. I think people will want these.

I attended the unveiling and wrote an online article for the Washington City Paper. I urge you to check it out, it’s all about how the Wizard is not completely dead, not just yet. I halfway expected both home and away jerseys to say “Washington” on the front (the New York Knicks do this), but “Wizards” stays as a reminder to the home fans — that and the color replacement version of the old Wizards logo you see above on the official reproduction guideline sheet, which is just about the only place you’ll see it going forward, according to the team.

The new branding is modern, it’s retro, it provides the colors people expect. It also is a style that can happily adapt itself to further change down the road. Ted Leonsis will zip his lips and slowly back out of a room when the topic of a name change now comes up, but it almost seems inevitable with this well-built foundation of color change success. Only not back to “Bullets.” Not reasonably going to happen.

Still, for those begging for change, this should be more than enough to keep you quiet, which Leonsis and his crew would gladly have you do. Changes to the court and other areas are forthcoming, please digest this phase slowly.

People everywhere will be soliciting all sorts of opinions from anyone with a voice, but I’ll throw up a poll for the readers of Truth About It.net nonetheless. To me, the navy blue at the top of the road jerseys looks a bit off, but expecting all to be perfect to everyone is a bit much. Aside from the particulars, I’m giving one thumb up and one thumb kind of up. So what do you think?

Take Our Poll

Pictures:

The last of the few remaining Wizards.

[photos by K. Weidie]

Hey man, we’re trying over here.

Kyle Weidie — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:30:44 +0000

The faces on the cardboard classics below say: “Hey man, we’re trying over here.”

I’m not sure I believe them all. Or maybe one is trying more than the others … at least as much as a frozen facial expression can indicate. But who’s trying the most? Or which player’s face from the past provides the most hope in the present for the future? Study carefully and vote in the poll below.

Take Our Poll

The Rebounding Darrell Walker … and then there’s Andray Blatche

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:34:20 +0000

This Skybox basketball card commemorates Darrell Walker‘s rebounding prowess as a guard for the Washington Bullets in the early 1990s. In ’90-91, Walker led all guards with 7.8 rebounds per 36 minutes, amongst those who played at least 15 minutes per game and achieved at least 400 rebounds. When strictly looking at per game stats, according to the search results at Basketball-Reference.com, Tyrone Corbin of the Minnesota Timberwolves averaged more rebounds per game as a guard, but he was more a swing-forward to Walker’s true ability to play the point. [Note: Rounded, both Walker and Magic Johnson averaged 7.0 boards per game in '90-91, but Walker was a fraction above Magic.]

In Washington Bullets/Wizards franchise history, according to BBR, only four guards have played in more than 60 games in a season, averaged over 25 minutes per game and over five rebounds per 36 minutes. Those players were: Larry Hughes (’02-03 to ’04-05), Michael Jordan (’01-02 and ’02-03), Darrell Walker (’88-89 to ’90-91) and Earl Monroe (’67-’68).

From the BBR database spanning from 1946-47 to the present day, only two NBA guards have appeared in more than 70 games, had a Total Rebounding Percentage (TRB%: an estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the floor) above 13-percent and a Defensive Rebounding Percentage (DRB%) above 20-percent.

Those two guards are Jason Kidd (2006-07: 13.2 – TRB%; 20.8 – DRB%) and Darrell Walker (1989-90: 13.4 – TRB%; 20.4 – DRB%).

I mention all of this not just to put a classic basketball card of a guard yearning for a rebound on display, but to also note that this season’s Washington Wizards are the tied with the Phoenix Suns for the second worst DRB% in the entire NBA at just 70.6-percent. The Golden State Warriors secure an estimated league-worst 68.5-percent of the defensive rebounds available to them.

This season, Andray Blatche is sporting a TRB% of 13.3 and a DRB% of 19.2 — his career averages in those respective categories: 13.7 and 18.6. One conclusion is that the 6’4″ Walker always worked harder on the boards than Blatche ever has … for his 6’11″ or 7’0″ height.

However, there are so many other factors which go into rebounding statistics that we won’t get too caught up in these numbers other than to point out that on Friday, Washington got out-rebounded 55-43 by the Oklahoma City Thunder; Blatche had two rebounds in almost 31 minutes on the court. On Saturday the Wizards were beaten on the boards 44-35 by Memphis; Blatche performed better with nine rebounds in almost 33 minutes of action…

But you tell me if 11 total boards in just over 63 minutes is getting the job done.

Wizards, Bullets, Kings and A King Share Road Losing History

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:42:20 +0000

[People joked how Saturday's win in Washington over the Celtics was a road game, but Andray Blatche found some friendly fans courtside to celebrate with after the game ... I doubt he'll get the same reception from Spike Lee in Madison Square Garden tonight.]

{photo: K. Weidie}

The most losses an NBA team has achieved in an 82-game NBA schedule?

The 1990-91 Sacramento Kings went 1-40 on the road … the 2010-11 Washington Wizards are halfway there, in the loss column at least.

But as history is, well, history … the one road win for those Kings came against the Washington Bullets in Landover, MD on November 20, 1990. The zinger is that the 34-year old Bernard King had 45 points that night, but the Bullets fell 87-82 — they played in front of a reported 6,105 fans at the Capital Centre (from Sam Davis’ game report in the Baltimore Sun).

Only two other Bullets scored in double figures, Darrell Walker had 10 and Harvey Grant had 14. The rest of the team pitched in a whole 13 points, seven from the bench. On the Kings’ side, the late Wayman Tisdale led five Sacramento players in double figures — including Lionel Simmons (14), Travis Mays (13), Rory Sparrow (11), and Antoine Carr had 15 points off the bench.

King, the player, achieved his 45 points without even making a three-pointer, going 18-30 from the field and 9-16 from the free-throw line.

After their road win against the Bullets, which was only in the eighth game of that season, the Sacramento Kings lost 43 straight road games before beating the Orlando Magic on November 23, 1991. Oh yea, Dick Motta was the coach of those ’90-91 Kings (and the ’91-92 team) … the very same coach who led the Bullets to their only NBA championship in 1977-78.

Milton Kent of the Baltimore Sun had a great column after that fateful game, ‘Bullet commoners can’t keep up with King.’ Read the whole thing, but here are the key excerpts:

It only seemed as though Bernard King popped the popcorn, toasted the hot dog buns, sold the pennants and locked up the Capital Centre when he was done last night.

Maybe if he had, the Washington Bullets might have held off the Sacramento Kings, and denied them their first win of the year in eight tries.

[...]

“We did everything but score points,” said Washington coach Wes Unseld. “When you hold a team to 87 points, you should win that game.”

That would be true if someone other than King had a road map to the basket. During the only period in which King took a prolonged rest, namely the second, the Bullets proceeded to score an all-time team low nine points.

“This is very hard to swallow,” said forward Harvey Grant, who scored 14 points. “It’s a game we could have won and should have won. We’re all professionals and we get paid large amounts of money to play and the intensity should be there every night.”

Ah, intensity. That’s the missing link. How else to explain a 12-for-23 free throw shooting night or how King, Grant and Darrell Walker (10 points and 13 rebounds) were the only players in double figures or even seemed to know how to score.

The kicker:

It is not a pretty situation that King finds himself in. Until Ledell Eackles and John Williams are healthy enough to play, he is the only bankable, fourth-quarter dependable player the hapless Bullets (2-7) have.

See? Isn’t history fun? Aren’t you glad the franchise isn’t in that rebuilding project? That’s what I thought.

The New York Knicks are favored anywhere from 7.5 to 8 points tonight.

[John Wall is given some attention from young Celtics fans sitting courtside after going into the first row for an errant ball on Saturday night.]

{photo: K. Weidie}

ShareBullets: The Back To Bullets Issue, Yi’s Development & Wall v. Rose

Kyle Weidie — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:11:49 +0000

A D.C. pic, commentary, and links …

[Shaw Library: 7th St. & Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

So the Wizards lost to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, putting their preseason record at 2-1. They got out-rebounded 48-32 and after the game, Wizards coach Flip Saunders said it wasn’t so much a result of the three-guard lineup. Via Wizards Insider:

Saunders said the disparity had nothing to do with size or inexperience. “Our bigs played really lethargic, very tired tonight. Very much with a lack of commitment. We have to play harder than the team we’re playing against. We can’t afford to let teams play harder than us, because we’re young and we’re going to make mistakes. And you have to make up for those mistakes with effort plays.”

“MESSAGE!” — And Flip was calculated with his message or call-out to Andray Blatche (three rebounds in 25 minutes), JaVale McGee (five rebounds in 18 minutes), and Yi Jianlian (three rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench). Of course, these numbers don’t tell the full story, exactly how many rebounds the Wizards allowed their assigned opposition to get.

Rebounding will be an increasingly developing theme until it’s not. How’s that for analysis?

Other Game Quotes:

[K.C. Johnson - Chicago Tribune]

If you blinked, you missed a lot.

That’s what the blur of the Derrick Rose-John Wall matchup looked like, which is why John Calipari, who coached Wall at Kentucky and Rose at Memphis, traveled to sit courtside to witness it.

[Nick Friedell - ESPN Chicago]

Hinrich, who was traded earlier in the summer so that the Bulls could clear enough cap space to go after LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, has to be pleased with at least one aspect of playing with the Wizards — the team’s head coach, Flip Saunders, is actually saying his first name correctly. Former Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro repeatedly called the veteran guard, “Kurt” during press conferences.

“Some people just can’t say it correctly, I guess,” Hinrich joked.

Yea, like Ernie Grunfeld.

It’s only the preseason, but we’re definitely going to keep track of the amont of Wall to Wookie alley-oop action this season …

And then there’s the Wizards having a lot of trouble guarding Derrick Rose P&R action …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NinrNh8QtSM

[via Hoops In View]

LINKS!!

>> Back to Bullets.

Ted Leonsis is none too happy with an editorial that recently appeared in the Washington Post regarding the “under consideration” status of potentially changing the team name back to Bullets.

Leonsis swings for the fences with his blog commentary … you should really go read the whole thing. If anything, it’s pretty entertaining. However, it does seem like a bit of an over-reaction on the part of Leonsis, yet necessary … mostly because I agree that the Post is ill-timed with its presumptive editorial commentary.

In my opinion, Leonsis listed a potential return to the Bullets as “under consideration” to appease fans, because, as he blogs, “of the volume of emails that argue both sides of the debate.”

Thus, it will continue to be a hot button issue mostly because the name “Wizards” absolutely stinks, especially in its non-representation of the nation’s capital. So, on one hand, you can’t blame the Post for feeding such a hot button issue; newsprint is dying and you do what you can do (especially when the Washington Post Company relies on for-profit education to keep their paper afloat).

Hell, why do you think I included the “under consideration” matter in the headline of my blog post recycling the news of Leonsis’ released list of “101 Things In 101 Days” … because it’s what stood out to me, and it was certainly what stood out to a lot of other people.

These are the facts.

There is no problem with Leonsis saying it’s “under consideration” at this point and opting to concentrate on other matters. And there should be no huge problem with media outlets covering a matter that likely won’t be resolved until the Wizards name is no more.

>> Yi.

Michael Lee has a good profile on Yi Jianlian in the WaPost that touches on a snapshot of the re-launch of Yi, via training with David Thorpe that TAI covered in August.

Keep in mind a couple small things when it comes to Yi: Bob Donewald Jr., American coach of the Chinese national team, is also said to have had a significant effect on Yi’s summer development, in addition to Thorpe. Also, John Wall’s agent is Dan Fegan, the same guy who serves a role in Yi’s representation. So between that, and how an association with Yi (rather, having him on the roster), opens up more potential in Chinese markets, it might behoove the Wizards to seriously consider signing him to an extension before the November 1 deadline, even if he is still unproven. And with that … Yi seems to be taking huge strides in his development. So, the potential benefits seem to be culminating to far out-weigh the risk.

>> More.

Ken Berger has a story on CBS Sports.com that echos Michael Wilbon’s recent column saying that Arenas “must” be traded in order to have a fresh start, but supported by a “person” “close” “to” “the” “situation” “and/or” “Arenas.”

Berger typecasts Arenas with others who got a fresh start, Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson … I guess so, if by being different from everyone else lumps those three as being similar, which is clearly only a surface glimpse at some of the NBA’s more colorful personalities. Berger also highlights teams that were maybe/perhaps/coulda been interested in acquiring Arenas this summer (Orlando, Dallas, Denver and Cleveland), but concedes that Arenas’ contract was the deal breaker, kinda making the whole potential exercise rather pointless.

The perception seems to indicate that the “blueprint” for redemption is to go to another city, which, I admit, has happened more than not. But Kobe was able to achieve redemption by staying in LA … and I think the Arenas situation may be more complicated and will become more clear with time, which is what the Wizards have … because he is untradeable.

With Redskins WR Devin Thomas being cut, D.C. is where wide receivers go to die. I would say Rod Gardner is the most dead.
[Mr. Irrelevant]

I am very interested in meeting a 60-plus year-old DeShawn Stevenson, J.R. Smith, and lest I forget, Chris “Birdman” Andersen.
[Ball Don't Lie]

Remember when Dwyane Wade questioned the loyalty of the Chicago Bulls this past Summer? Well now, the Bulls are supposedly investigating the injury of Carlos Boozer, and the initiation of said act might have something to do with Boozer pulling one over on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2004 … this according to the NY Daily News.
[H/T SLAM]

Google is developing automated cars. Exactly.
[The Official Google Blog]

The Summer Is Over.

Leonsis’ 101 Things In 101 Days List: Going Back To Bullets “Under Consideration”

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:54:06 +0000

Ted Leonsis is a man of lists. He believes in lists.

In fact, his original “list” of 101 things to do in life, which arose from a day of reckoning in 1983 when a plane he was on was forced into a crash landing, actually landed him an appearance on Oprah.

But getting on the media mogul’s show wasn’t the point. Making that original list helped bring direction and focus to Leonsis’ life. He achieved a lot, financially, before making his list, but clearly, through telling his story in his book, The Business of Happiness, he achieved far more value and meaning in his life, over monetary concern, after making the list.

And thus, as a big believer in lists, shortly after taking over the Wizards last June, Leonsis sought input from his team’s community on what he could do to make their basketball experience and relationship with the franchise better. And with that input, he started making another list.

Evidently, that list grew to the point where a simple benchmark of achieving 101 total improvements in the quality of life for Wizards fans (and Capitals fans, and Mystics fans … since the Verizon Center that houses all teams was part of the package Leonsis fully acquired in June) became a list of 101 accomplishments in 101 days, with more likely to come.

Leonsis has several times mentioned that he would release said list to the public and now, via his blog, Ted’s Take, he has done so. So head over to take a look at what’s been done and what other changes are to come.

Some items are complete (but not really) … In response to a request for “warmer pizza” (item No. 39), Leonsis writes, “Turned up heat in ovens.” Great, but now get ready for complaints about over-cooked pizza. That and requests such as “fresher popcorn” and “fresher buns” (items 37 and 38) really put the pressure on the Verizon Center’s concession vendor, Aramark. But Ted is demanding, so Aramark better be listening.

Some items are “in-development” … such as the ‘I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it’ item No. 29, “Increased emphasis on the Wizards D-League team.”

And some items are “under consideration” … such as item No. 31, “Change Wizards’ team name to Bullets.” (Changing the team colors to red, white and blue, item No. 28, is noted as “in-development.”)

Now, I’m still one who believes that it’s highly unlikely Washington’s NBA franchise will ever be called the “Bullets” again … although I’d be all for it. Nonetheless, all most fans of the team could ask for at this time is that it be “under consideration.”

Overall, it’s an impressive list full of welcome changes. If you believe the releasing of this list and its accomplishments is an admirable and productive act from the new owner, go ahead and drop Mr. Leonsis a line at TheWashWiz@aol.com and tell him thanks.

VOTE: The Greatest Wizards/Bullets Team of All-Time

Kyle Weidie — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 20:02:51 +0000

ESPN.com currently has this “Franchise Five” feature going on for all NBA teams. Basically, they have an interactive page where visitors can vote for the “best” player in franchise history at each position (PG, SG, SF, PF, C).

Here are the candidates:

Point Guard:
Gilbert Arenas, Rod Strickland, Archie Clark, Kevin Porter and Michael Adams

Shooting Guard:
Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Jeff Malone, Phil Chenier, Kevin Loughery and Don Ohl

Small Forward:
Bernard King, Caron Butler, Bob Dandridge and Calbert Cheaney

Power Forward:
Elvin Hayes, Chris Webber, Antawn Jamison, Gus Johnson and Juwan Howard

Center:
Walt Bellamy, Wes Unseld and Jeff Ruland

Of course, having to stick to these positional categories comes on the heels of a summer where eschewing the traditional ideas of player positions has become fashionable. In any case …

Prior to putting any of this together, and again days before the launch, the ESPN.com editors solicited TrueHoop Network bloggers for their input on the respective teams they cover. I can’t remember what I said the first time … but the second time around, I glossed over the candidates, checked some stats, and simply recommended the addition of Gheorghe Muresan.

Now sure, Muresan might not be in the same league as the other center candidates. BUT, he was a crowd favorite, is still often present at games (he works with the team on community efforts), and just might be the best white player to ever suit up for the franchise (for an explanation, check this post: “The Washington Wizards and The White Man“). I figured fans would appreciate Muresan’s presence as an option, even if they weren’t going to vote for him.

But alas, “Ghiţă” seemingly didn’t make the cut.

But I also wasn’t done. I again went back to check stats and history (thanks Basketball-Reference.com, as usual) to make extra sure that no one was missed.

I found a guy who stood out. His name is Kevin Porter, point guard. Here’s part of the email I sent to the ESPN.com editors:

Porter book-ended his career with the franchise, leading the league in assists per game in each stint (’74-75 and ’80-81).

Speaking of that ’74-75 season, not only did he lead the league in assists per game that year (8.0), but also in total assists (650) and assist-percentage (33.9-percent). And this was in the franchise’s first year being known as the “Washington” Bullets; the team moved to Landover, MD from Baltimore in ’73, but was known as the “Capital” Bullets for a year. Porter pointed the team all the way to the 1975 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors (they got swept 4-0).

In ’80-81, Porter’s 9.1 assists per game were good enough to lead the league again (the fourth total time in his career), and he again led the NBA in total assists (734) and assist percentage (39.3-percent). He also guided an aging Bullets team (Bob Dandridge only played 23 games that season and 11 the next in Milwaukee before retiring; it was Phil Chenier’s last season in Washington, he played three more seasons in Houston; and it was the last season of Wes Unseld’s Hall of Fame career), to 39 victories and a 7th place finish in the East. But that was when only six teams from each conference made the playoffs; the two division winners in each conference received first round byes.

Unfortunately, in October ’81 Porter tore his Achilles tendon. But behind rookie Jeff Ruland, second year player Rick Mahorn, and late-20s veterans Greg Ballard and Kevin Grevey, the ’81-82 Bullets still made the playoffs, losing to the Celtics in the East Finals. John Lucas helped make up for Porter’s absence.

Porter’s NBA career was effectively over prematurely at age 31.

Hence, Porter was added to the list of options. And as the ESPN feature points out, he is third all-time in total assists in franchise history (2,593, after Wes Unseld’s 3,822 and Rod Strickland’s 2,712).

So, head over to ESPN.com to vote on your all-time Wizards/Bullets team … mine is reflected in the image at the top of this post.

I see some voters so far favor Walt Bellamy of Wes Unseld. Bells was great, but anyone at the C spot aside from Unseld is blasphemy. Earl Monroe and Elvin Hayes are automatics at the SG and PF respectively. I’m giving Bernard King the slight edge over Bob Dandridge at the SF, mostly because I actually got to see King play.

And for the point guard? Well, I think King, Hayes and Monroe provide enough scoring. Do you really need Arenas or Strickland? Naw, give me Kevin Porter as the point guard leader of this all-time team.

Removing Washington Bullets Gear From Production: The Inside Story

Kyle Weidie — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:39:14 +0000

CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell recently revealed that in late December 2009, the NBA suspended production of retro Washington Bullets merchandise as a result of ‘Locker Room Gun-Gate 2009-10: A Gilbert Arenas-Javaris Crittenton-John Wayne-Peter Vecsey Story.’

Now, Rovell reports that, “the league has approved licensees to make retro Bullets items again.”

In TruthAboutIt.net’s never-ending quest to search for the truth, about it, site investigators have discovered the behind the scenes process of removing Washington Bullets retro items from production. The following footage has never been seen before, ever. I’m talking never. Except for now.

Click the image below to begin your journey
(RSS feed readers, you have to actually come to the site … it’s an animated GIF ‘n’ stuff.)

{or, you can just click here to see the GIF}

R.I.P. Manute Bol

Kyle Weidie — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:22:10 +0000

[Photo via SI Vault]

Manute Bol spent about all of his time as a Washington Bullet before I became a fan of the franchise upon moving to the District in 1990. I barely remember his six minutes and two games during a second stint with the team in the 1993-94 season.

Still, his lore as an NBA player, who was really much, much more as a person, lives on with me and many others. So while I unfortunately can’t recount any personal memories of Bol, who passed away at age 47 yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia, I suggest you remember his legacy by reading the links and watching the videos below.

From the Washington Post’s must-read obituary by Matt Schudel:

When the Bullets drafted him in the second round in 1985, he was measured at 7 feet 6¾ inches in his bare feet — usually rounded up to 7-7 — and he weighed a mere 190 pounds. Mr. Bol had limited basketball skills, but with a fingertip-to-fingertip wingspan of 8 feet 6 inches, he proved to be unusually adept at one aspect of the game: blocking opponents’ shots. Standing flat-footed, he could extend his hand above the rim of the basket 10 feet off the floor.

The Bullets put Mr. Bol on a regimen of weightlifting and pizza, adding 17 pounds to his frame before he made his NBA debut in October 1985. In his rookie season, despite playing about 25 minutes a game, he led the league with 397 blocked shots, still the second-highest total in NBA annals.

Videos:

Charles Barkley pranks Manute.

Manute Bol 3-Pointer/Block highlights.

Manute Bol mix.

NBA.com Manute Bol feature.

2002 George Michael feature on Bol from NBC Washington.

The Wizards and Washington, An Ill-Fated Spell From The Beginning

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:55:58 +0000

At his grand opening press conference as Wizards owner, Ted Leonsis said he was “shocked” that so many fans were contacting him about a name change for Washington’s NBA franchise, especially with all he has to accomplish after officially becoming majority owner, i.e., turning a loser into a winner.

The next day, the issue was evidently so hot-button that Leonsis had to clarify his comments regarding the matter in two venues, on his blog, Ted’s Take, and in a meeting with editors and reporters from the Washington Post.

One can only assume that the shock has now worn off and that the realized issue might be serious enough to not be appeased by a simple changing of team colors that seems to pique Leonsis’ interest the most.

The Wizards as an NBA team nickname in D.C. has never been truly embraced by fans. Some of that surely has to do with winning, or lack thereof, but much of it is because the moniker is in no way a reflection of the Washington area and a city that stands as the capital of the free world.

That such an issue is near and dear to the hearts of many should never have come as a surprise.

From Leonsis’ initial comments, it became easy to deduce, at least to me, that the team nickname would likely never change, but one should expect the colors to incorporate red as soon as possible. Leonsis said last Thursday:

“We intend to listen very, very carefully, but we have so much more to do. There will be no name change, and even if we wanted to change the name, you couldn’t do that for years. It’s not secret that I am partial to red. We’re the nation’s capital. That won’t come overnight either.

But I remember coming to Bullets games when I was a kid and a student at Georgetown. I thought those colors looked handsome. I think we all saw the change in the Capitals uniform and how it was galvanizing. At some point, I don’t think it’s a secret that that will be a change that we would want to go back to more traditional colors. I think that will be the needle that we all have to thread, take the best of what was tradition and great in the past and reinterpret it and re-imagine in so that it’s relevant to today’s consumer.”

Leonsis softened his stance on a potential name change the next day. Via the DC Sports Bog:

* He said a future name change was not off the table, but was years away, and that he would ask season-ticket holders how important this issue was in them “falling back in love with this team.” He also said if that situation ever came up, he would talk to Irene Pollin before making any move whatsoever, and that he shares Abe Pollin’s feelings about gun violence.

* He said there could be ways to de-emphasize the word “Wizards” in the uniforms and emphasize another word like “D.C.” or “Washington,” which would subjugate the word “Wizards” without actually changing the name. He pointed to the Phoenix Suns’s new uniforms as an example.

And on his blog, Leonsis reiterated that any such decision takes time and does not rank as a current priority.

“With all of that going on understanding that to effectuate a name change could take two to three years. This simply isn’t a priority for us right now. We can’t change the name of the team for next season. It is June and the new season starts in October. There will be no name change. We can’t change the name. It is pretty simple.

We can change the colors more easily than the name. We will look into that as part of an overall brand uplift and updating project. That could happen as soon as the following season, but NOTHING new can happen next season. It is too late in the off season to have any changes at all. I am sorry but schedules and production of materials etc. are set years ahead of time.”

All understandable points.

It’s my impression that fans aren’t in a rush and don’t necessarily think a return to “Bullets” is a must. However, as Leonsis prepares to usher in a new era of NBA basketball in Washington, you can’t blame fans for being anxious to move past a Wizards era that they were never comfortable with in the first place.

Announcing a campaign to change the team name sometime within the next 6-12 months, even if it can’t happen for a while, would establish even more excitement and support for the newly named Monumental Sports & Entertainment organization run by Leonsis — if that’s even possible, people seem pretty excited as it is.

“Wizards” as a nickname came about under dubious circumstances — a slight of hand, if you will– and not because of the disassociation of bullets and violence with the team, but because of a “contest” (quotes indicate the loose nature of said contest to the actual meaning of the word) which was held, and run through Boston Market, to find the new name in the first place.

The “contest” involved thousands of submitted suggestions from fans, which were narrowed down to five ill-advised choices by a panel of Abe Pollin, Susan O’Malley, George Michael and Juwan Howard, among others, essentially making fan input moot. The Sea Dogs, Dragons, Express and Stallions were the other “winning” entries, all horrible in their own right and not even close to properly representing the District of Columbia.

At the time, the Washington Post ran a poll allowing fans to vote on one of the five choices, ‘Bullets’, or ‘none of the above’ — the latter two accounted for 85% of the results, according to the DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg.

The Wizards officially became the least of all evils after fans were subsequently asked to call into an team-run 1-900 number (the call cost $1, which was given to non-violence efforts) to vote on their favorite … or so we must assume. The franchise never released the polling results, according to an article by Locke Peterseim on ESPN.com. It was simply announced that the team would be called the Wizards (someone did, however, win the so-called contest for their submission).

And that’s the short story of how a team nickname just never resonated with fans. Little true input and even less transparency, two concepts which are the antithesis of Leonsis’ stated philosophy.

Ted now has the option of a mulligan that he shouldn’t be too prideful to take … the option to handle the most upfront means by which people recognize his basketball franchise in the right way.

But that’s just me. I polled several members of the media/blog world who are close to the team to gauge their opinion on if “Wizards” as a team name has ever been truly adopted by Washingtonians. Their responses are below:

[Mike Wise - Washington Post]

I think the name is offensive to warlocks everywhere. And Harry Potter.

Seriously? The idea that the team name stinks always makes me laugh. If they had been to the playoff 18 of 20 years, won a title and played in three NBA Finals as the Wizards — and then the name was changed to Bullets — everyone would be hankering for their Wiz Kids of yore.

The Washington Justice. Now that’s a name. You just got served.

Something tells me it’s going to be Monuments in three years — hence the company name change.

[Dan Steinberg - DC Sports Bog, Washington Post]

Obviously not. I didn’t follow the team at the time of the change, but it seems clear it was never popular to begin with. Then all the losing made it seem even worse.

Wizards has no geographic or regional meaning, and no associated tradition of winning. But people complained about it a lot less when the team was in the playoffs every spring. Now fans are powerless about the team’s suck, so they take it out by lobbying for a name change.

[Rashad Mobley - Hoops Addict]

The area has not taken a shine to the Wizards at all. It’s a joke. Fans loved Abe and the title he brought to the area, and they admired his attempt to deflect attention away from the DC’s crime rate by changing the name from the Bullets. But the cold reality is, no one equated the Bullets to murders. And it can be favorably argued that rap music had more of an affect on DC area crime than 12 players playing in the then MCI/Verizon Center.

When you talk to area people, whether they are basketball fanatics or casual observers, they treat the Wizards nickname with disdain. They’ll say Wizards and then hit you with a “wink wink” and then say Bullets. Perhaps if something beyond disappointment and near misses could be associated with the Wizards name, it would be different. But that’s simply not the case.

In fact, the only impressive thing about the team name is the alliteration..but that’s the English major in me talking.

[Jake Whitacre - Bullets Forever, SB Nation DC]

The only thing that makes the Wizards nickname somewhat redeemable is the alliteration with Washington. Whenever you look for this team in a list, you know that they’ll be the team on the bottom, whether the teams are sorted by their city or their nickname. As petty as that sounds, every little bit helps.

In and of itself, the nickname isn’t awful, but it’s impossible to think of it without thinking of the way things used to be. No matter how you slice it, Wizards just can’t conjure up enough magic to be cooler than the Bullets. I’ll still take it over the Stallions, though.

[Jarrett Carter - HBCU Digest, formerly of Stet Sports]

I think that the area has not embraced the team name because it was contrived for other purposes aside from winning. Not that Abe Pollin trying to turn the course of violence in the city was a dishonorable thing, it was great. It just wasn’t done expressly to give the Wizards a new era of preparation and excellence towards winning.

Given that the Wizards have mastered sporadic output, fans have not had a chance to rally around something that the Wizards name could carry alone. Aside from animosity towards LeBron James and the Cavaliers, marketing of the brand hasn’t extended beyond the fitted cap civic pride. A sad commentary for such a notable initiative from Pollin years ago, but until the Wiz reach the Eastern Conference finals or better, it will likely stay that way.

[Jamie Mottram -Yahoo!, Mr. Irrelevant]

The name’s not the problem; the team is. When the Wizards are winning, the fanbase will adopt it. When they aren’t, they won’t. Just as they did with Bullets.

[Jeris Jones - DC Sports fan, Truth About It.net reader]

Personally I never really had a large issue with the Wizards name as a brand. I felt the name flows well with Washington and the logo itself was pretty slick. That being said, I never took to the design of the jerseys or the colorway, I feel they are both uninspiring and unintimidating. We could do much better in the overall feel of the team simply by changing to a bold, eye catching color and jersey fonts that are less “jazzy” and more standard in design.

Even though I don’t mind the Wizards name, I would still prefer to go back to the Bullets name and design if put in a position to choose. That red, white and blue design, to me, truly represented the team playing for the nation’s capital, and seeing we are entering a new era for DC basketball it’s time we gave the brand a face-lift as well.

[Rook6980 - Bullets Forever]

For a lot of folks, Wizards is the only name they’ve got. The only name they’ve known. Washington being a transient city, 13 years is a long time….

I think the only ones that decry the Wizards name are us old-timers… the long-time fans. And I don’t think there are as many of us, as there are of the other type ….

[BJ Pierson - Deuce of Davenport, SB Nation DC]

I don’t think it ever really caught on with people. Of my family and friends that are D.C. natives, they still slip and call them the Bullets as I do as well. When the new name is used, they call them the ‘Zards because the Wizards just sounds so cheesy. It just has no connection to the community, there’s no history behind the name and it means nothing to the area unless there is a large collective of warlocks in the region. I dunno anyone that isn’t for changing the name, not even changing it back to the Bullets, but just changing the name in general.

[Thomas Threlkeld - DC Pro Sports Report]

I don’t think many people ever warmed to the Wizards name. I’ve always detested it [Bullets was a very cool name] and I’ve never encountered anyone who truly liked it. The most enthusiasm I’ve ever encountered for the Wizards name is acceptance. The reason, I think, is that the name has nothing to do with the franchise or the D.C. area. I’m old enough to recall when the team changed the name and most people seemed incredulous or ambivalent even then. The only people who seemed to be really keen on the name were Abe Pollin and Juwan Howard. Maybe the name Wizards really did win the most votes in that contest [and maybe it didn't], but if it did it was only because the other names were worse or made no sense either. [Go, Sea Dogs!] The name was chosen because it is alliterative and, I suspect, some lame-brained marketing committee decided it had the most public appeal.

I’d bring back the Bullets as soon as possible.

Cardboard Bullets: The Lore of Ledell Eackles

Kyle Weidie — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:55:18 +0000

On a holiday weekend, where you will no doubt be eating in some sort of gluttonous manner, let’s take a quick look at just one of the rotund members of the Wizards/Bullets franchise’s past … Ledell Eackles.

I won’t be getting into too much of my own historical research and perspective on the player in this post … mostly because several great pieces on Eackles have already been written. Let’s take a look …

“A player so Ledell-icious”

We Rite Goode, by Crucifictorious – September 2, 2007

As offense off the bench, the late ’80s/early ’90s Detroit Pistons had “The Microwave,” Vinnie Johnson. The Washington Bullets had a 240 lb., 6’5 shooting guard who was never in shape, frequently disinterested in defense, and missed more practice than Allen Iverson.

“It’s French for ‘the dell’”

We Rite Goode,by Crucifictorious – September 7, 2007

Chapter Nine: The Contract Dispute
In the summer of 1990, Eackles was coming off his ball-hogging second season (having tallied the aforementioned 29.5 usage rate) and entering restricted free agency; meanwhile, the Bullets had traded Jeff Malone, a 24 ppg shooting guard who was a Rip Hamilton prototype. Though they didn’t know it at the time, the roster decisions made that summer would help decide the franchise’s future for the next half-decade. After two straight lottery seasons, the team was teetering on the brink of its early ’90s tailspin; however, the Bullets weren’t that removed from a five-year playoff run, albeit a run that ended five straight times in the first round, so had some legitimacy left and were looking for a bounce-back year.

Statistical analysis being what it was in 1990, the Bullets decided that to contend with the loss of Malone, they needed another “20-point scorer” (forget efficiency) to pair with the aging Bernard King, who had about one great season left in him. And as Eackles had been the team’s best bench gunner, he and his agent (a New Orleans judge named Eddie Sapir, who was a real character) thought they had leverage.

“Ledell Eackles and the Destruction of Innocence”

Bullets Forever, by ledellforlife – August 6, 2008

Ledell was different in that he finally removed the red and blue colored glasses from my eyes. For here was a Bullet who was truly unlovable; a fat guard that shot the ball at a rate that boggled the mind. Kevin Duckworth and John Williams may have been fat, but fat centers were not unheard of in the NBA. Muggsy Bogues was short, but he could be considered an evolutionary dead end as teams continued to move towards bigger “hybrid” guards. Ledell Eackles was rotund; at a position where svelteness was recommended.

BUT THERE’S MORE! … QUICK HITTING LEDELL LINKS:

>>Playing With Fireworks.

Eackles missed a practice in early 1992 because he had gunpowder burns on his shooting (right) hand. Evidently Ledell couldn’t quite operate a Roman candle when shooting fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

This incident piggy-backed on Pervis Ellison missing the same practice as well. He had to reclaim his Ford Bronco from a towing area. On his way to a December 30, 1991 game against the San Antonio Spurs at the Capital Centre, Ellison got in an accident and had to missed the game with a strained neck. Pervis was allegedly eating a meal of fried chicken on his way to Landover, Maryland and lost control of the steering wheel due to greasy fingers.

Yes, this is our team history.

Source: The Baltimore Sun

>>College.

Ledell spent two seasons (’84-86) at San Jacinto CC before transferring to the University of New Orleans for the ’86-87 and ’87-88 seasons. Part of the season Eackles had to go to a non-Division I school was because he dropped out of high school, Broadmoor High located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with two months to go because of academic difficulties. As a sophomore at San Jacinto, located in the Houston area, Eackles averaged 27.2 ppg on 58.3 FG%, leading the Ravens to a 37-0 record and an NJCAA national championship. He was also named JUCO player of the year that season. Other notable San Jacinto alums include Sam Cassell (’89-91) and Steve Francis (’96-97).

In his very first game as a UNO Privateer, Eackles scored 26 points against USC. In his last season, he scored in double figures 31 times (all consecutive), which is tied for a school record. As a senior, he had 17 free-throws in a game, twice. His average points per game that season, 23.4, stands as sixth best all-time in UNO team history. The 22.6 ppg he scored as a junior is tied for eighth. The 1,358 total points he scored in just two season is good enough for sixth most in school history. The last time a New Orleans player scored over 40 points in an away game is when Ledell dropped 45 in a 96-71 win against Florida International on January 30, 1988.

Eackles was an honorable mention AP All-American in ’86-87 and an honorable mention UPI All-American in ’87-88. He was the American South Conference player of the year in ’87-88. The 25 points Eackles scored against BYU in the 1987 NCAA Tournament is still a school record. In the New Orleans’ first NCAA DI tournament appearance in the school’s history, the 7-seed the Privateers beat the 10-seed Cougars 83-79 in the first round, but lost to Alabama 101-76 in the second round.

That ’87 team, with Eackles teaming up with Wendell Perkins to form a duo known as ‘The Dell Boys’, helped to capture the basketball spirit in New Orleans again. The Jazz had left the city for Utah after the ’78-79 season and Tulane disbanded its basketball program after a point shaving scandal in 1985; it was resurrected four years later.

Suggested reading/source: “Best Krewe In The Bayou: Way down yonder in New Orleans, the Bucs are rolling,” by Hank Hersch – Sports Illustrated, March 9, 1987.
Other source: UNO Basketball Media Guide

>>Other Notes.

In his first NBA start, 53 games into his rookie season against the Rockets in Houston (because Jeff Malone was out with a strained lower back), Ledell scored a then career-high 25 points to go along with Bernard King’s 34 points as the 22-31 Bullets took down Akeem Olajuwon and the 31-23 Rockets. [LA Times]

Ledell’s youngest son, Ledrick, will be a sophomore for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies this upcoming season. Oakland, as a 14-seed, lost to 3-seed Pittsburgh 89-66 in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Ledrick had 17 points off the bench.

Ledell’s older son, Ledell Jr., spent a couple seasons at Copiah-Lincoln CC in Mississippi before playing two seasons at Campbell University, finishing up in 2006-07.

Eackles has at times represented the Wizards franchise in the community. In 2001 he collected donations for an education fund to benefit children who lost a parent or guardian in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. In 2007 Eackles presented a former Miss D.C., also known as K Street Kate, with the Verizon 2006-2007 Pollin Award for community service. In 2009 he answered phone donation calls for the Wizards Care foundation during a televised road game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Eackles was previously an assistant coach for the Washington Mystics but was relieved of his duties prior to the 2005 season.

Check out another old Eackles basketball card at Mr. Irrelevant. Ledell was like butter on a roll.

There’s an ‘Official Ledell Eackles Fan Club’ on Facebook, join it.

Chris Webber’s Rookie Hazing Of Rasheed Wallace

Kyle Weidie — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:51:57 +0000

The Wizards have zero chance of landing the fourth overall pick in tonight’s draft lottery. But the last time the team did have the fourth was in 1995 when they used it to select Rasheed Wallace out of North Carolina.

Those were the days when dreams were big and aims were high — ‘Sheed, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber, a murder’s row of bigs. But instead of success on the court, we are left cherishing the video clip below when Webber (not playing and suited) put a “I’m a rookie, kick me!” sign on Wallace’s back during a game (also not playing and suited). Ahh, the memories. Gheorghe Muresan is also shown not playing and suited.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_t52D6NBRO0

[via A Stern Warning]

And while we’re looking at retro team videos, here’s an old school Bullets sales video:

[via Bullets Forever]

“Sometimes marketing is a lot like basketball. You want to score, but you need help …. the Washington Bullets can help your marketing efforts in a big way.”

Exactly.

Historical Wizards/Bullets Franchise Swag

Kyle Weidie — Sun, 16 May 2010 19:56:55 +0000

On Friday I tweeted, “I am now the proud owner of a pair of autographed Juwan Howard shoes from when he played in Washington.” Now I’m here to share the pictures.

The shoes were won in a silent auction held at work created to benefit efforts in Haiti. My specific contribution went to Doctors Without Borders. The lady who donated them said her husband was an equipment manager for the team long ago.

Judging from this 2000-01 season basketball card where Howard is wearing the Nike Team Max Zoom, he probably wore these shoes in 1999-2000, which was statistically his worst season with the franchise and his last full one in Washington. Knowing that Howard was probably booed more wearing these shoes than any other pair/season in his career makes them extra historical, I’ll assume.

And while I’m sharing recently acquired swag, below is the Tom Gugliotta jersey signed by both Googs and Wes Unseld that I obtained in March. Well, re-acquired. The jersey used to be framed and hung in my room at my dad’s house when I was younger. Between going away to college and a couple moves by my father, the jersey got lost in the shuffle. On occasion I would remember it and wonder where it went. Visiting my dad a few months ago, I noticed the jersey just sitting in a box.

My dad was glad to return it to my possession, even though we got it because of the season tickets he bought. So, many thanks to my pops for letting me have the Googs jersey and for taking me to all those Bullets/Wizards games throughout the years.

Wizards/Bullets Memory Lane Trivia: The Contest Winners

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:23:27 +0000

On April 22nd, I held a Wizards trivia contest to win one of two copies of Stumbling On Wins: Two Economists Expose the Pitfalls on the Road to Victory in Professional Sports by Dave Berri and Martin Schmidt, or some Wizards swag … which, as you can see from the pictures above is a pair of fuzzy Wizards/Zephyrs dice. Fancy, huh?

First, congrats goes to Thomas Pruitt and Wade Smith, the only two respondents to answer all nine trivia questions right. They both win a copy of the book. Also congrats to Marc Salmon, his email address was randomly selected from the entire pool of entries. Marc gets the lucky dice.

Now let’s go over the questions, answers and a bit of team history. In case you didn’t take part in the poll, I’m posting the answers at the bottom so you can take a guess at the questions if you feel so inclined.

#1 Which coach led the Washington Bullets in their ’97 1st round playoff matchup against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls?

Bob Staak
Bernie Bickerstaff
Jim Lynam
Wes Unseld
Jim Brovelli

#2 Which Wizards General Manager has the best winning percentage during his tenure?

Wes Unseld
Ernie Grunfeld
John Nash

#3 Which player did NOT score 50 points in a game while wearing a Wizards/Bullets uniform?

Phil Chenier
Earl Monroe
Antawn Jamison
Tracy Murray
Michael Jordan
Bernard King
Moses Malone

#4 TRUE OF FALSE: Brendan Haywood is in the top 5 of career games played with the franchise.

True
False

#5 TRUE OR FALSE: Gilbert Arenas is the franchise’s all-time scoring average leader in playoff games.

True
False

#6 TRUE OR FALSE: In the 2000s, the Wizards have NOT drafted a player from the Big East conference.

True
False

#7 Which player did NOT make the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team with the franchise?

Phil Chenier
Tom Gugliotta
Jeff Malone
Juwan Howard
Mitch Kupchak
Rod Thorn

#8 On April 4th against the Nets, Andray Blatche came one rebound short of a triple-double. Who was the last Wizard to achieve a triple double?

Caron Butler
Gilbert Arenas
Antawn Jamison
DeShawn Stevenson
Antonio Daniels

#9 Gilbert Arenas made the All-NBA 2nd team in ’06-07 and the All-NBA 3rd team in ’04-05 and ’05-06. Before him, who was the last member of the franchise to make an All-NBA 1st, 2nd or 3rd team?

Juwan Howard
Rod Strickland
Caron Butler
Antawn Jamison
Chris Webber

ANSWERS:

#1 Which coach led the Washington Bullets in their ’97 1st round playoff matchup against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls? Bernie Bickerstaff

Jim Lynam started that ’96-97 season as the head coach, but was fired in early February after a 22-24 start. “It just wasn’t happening,” said GM Wes Unseld, whose team’s $34.5 million payroll was fourth highest in the NBA. Lynam was actually fired in the midst of a four-game West Coast swing, his Bullets losing at the Los Angeles Lakers and at the Utah Jazz in games two and three by a combined 52 points.

Assistant Bob Staak took over head coaching duties for the last game of the road trip; the team lost to the Denver Nuggets by two. Bernie Bickerstaff was brought in to coach over the all-star break. At the time Bickerstaff was the GM of the Nuggets, but that wasn’t expected to last long so he jumped at the opportunity. If you know your franchise history, you’ll know Bickerstaff was an assistant to Dick Motta on the ’77-78 Bullets championship team. So, knowing the nepotistical history/environment of Abe Pollin’s franchise, some called it a “buddy hire.” Elvin Hayes, who played on that title team with Unseld, called the hire a “great mistake.“

Within an hour of his first practice, Bickerstaff called the Bullets out of shape and ran the hell out of them. He also promised his players that he would get his ear pierced if they finished the season over .500. Chris Webber was, however, a tad weary of his new coach. Bickerstaff didn’t exactly get along with his buddy Jalen Rose in Denver.

The Bullets just went 3-6 under Bickerstaff over the remainder of February, but things picked up after that. The team went 11-4 in March and 8-3 in April, winning their last four games of the season, including the very last game in Cleveland, knocking the Cavaliers out of the eight seed in the East and taking the spot themselves.

Overall, Bickerstaff went 22-13 to end the ’96-97 season. Part of his strategy was to relieve Chris Webber from some of the ball-handing duties — remember, these were still the days of “Point Chris” when Webber thought he was a point guard — and put the rock, especially in transition, more into the hands of the actual point guard, Rod Strickland. Part of the issue with Lynam was that he let Webber, who was not known as the most coachable guy in the world at the time, and Juwan Howard have too much free reign in the offense.

Let’s take a quick look at some numbers. Strickland averaged 8.4 assists per game under Lynam. Post-Lynam, his assists jumped to 9.5 per game. Obviously his Usage% went up from 23.6% to 24.5%, but his turnovers only increased slightly from 3.2 per game to 3.4. Overall, Strickland became responsible for more assists while on the floor. His Assist% jumped from 37% to 39.5%, but team assists didn’t increase that much, just going from 23.41 to 23.44. However, team turnovers went down from 15.7 per game to 14.9.

No, these numbers didn’t drastically change, but you can’t argue with the results. Under Bickerstaff, the Bullets’ win-percentage was .629. Before Bernie, it was .468. The following season under Bickerstaff, Strickland was named 2nd Team All-NBA. Unfortunately, the team, in their first season being called the Wizards, was riddled with injuries, as has become the norm, and finished just 42-40, a single game out of the playoffs behind both the 8th-seeded New Jersey Nets and the 7th-seeded New York Knicks.

I can’t remember if Bickerstaff ever got that earring he promised after his team made the ’96-97 playoffs. With the recent firing of Vinny Del Negro, he likely won’t be an assistant with the Chicago Bulls next year, so who knows when I’ll get a chance to ask him. But hey, if he never did, maybe those who believe the Washington basketball franchise is cursed can point to that as a reason.

#2 Which Wizards General Manager has the best winning percentage during his tenure? Ernie Grunfeld

…. But barely over Wes Unseld. After going 26-56 this season, Grunfeld’s mark as GM stands at 241-333, a .420 winning percentage. Unseld is 226-316 all-time as GM (.417) and Josh Nash is 192-382 (.334).

The franchise’s all-time leader is Bob Ferry (698-614, .532) and second is Jerry Sachs (275-217, .559). No other GM in team history is above .500.

#3 Which player did NOT score 50 points in a game while wearing a Wizards/Bullets uniform? Antawn Jamison

The most Jamison scored in a Wizards uniform is 48 points, which he achieved four times, most recently against the Orlando Magic on April 17, 2007.

Otherwise, the franchise’s 50+ points in a game scorers are: Gilbert Arenas – 60 (12/17/06), 54 (12/22/06), 51 (1/5/07); Earl Monroe – 56 (2/13/68); Phil Chenier – 53 (12/6/72); Bernard King – 52 (12/29/90), 50 (3/6/91); Michael Jordan – 51 (12/29/01); Tracy Murray – 50 (2/10/98); and Moses Malone – 50 (4/8/87).

#4 TRUE OF FALSE: Brendan Haywood is in the top 5 of career games played with the franchise. False

Brendan Haywood’s 579 games with the team puts him 6th behind Kevin Loughery‘s 591 and Charles Jones‘ 595. Had Haywood not been traded, he likely would’ve finished the season in fourth behind Wes Unseld (984), Elvin Hayes (731) and Greg Ballard (643).

#5 TRUE OR FALSE: Gilbert Arenas is the franchise’s all-time scoring average leader in playoff games. False

Gilbert Arenas is third with a playoff average of 24.2 over 20 games. He’s behind Don Ohl (26.2, 12 games) and Earl Monroe (24.3, 29 games).

#6 TRUE OR FALSE: In the 2000s, the Wizards have NOT drafted a player from the Big East conference. True

From 97-99, the Wizards drafted players out of the Big East in three straight years — God Shammgod (Providence, ’97); Jahidi White (Georgetown, ’98); and Richard Hamilton (UCONN, ’99), but none so far in the 2000s.

#7 Which player did NOT make the NBA’s All-Rookie First Team with the franchise? Juwan Howard

Howard made the All-Rookie Second Team in ’94-95. The others were All-Rookie First Teamers: Phil Chenier (’71-72), Tom Gugliotta (’92-93), Jeff Malone (’83-84), Mitch Kupchak (’76-77), and Rod Thorn (’63-64).

#8 On April 4th against the Nets, Andray Blatche came one rebound short of a triple-double. Who was the last Wizard to achieve a triple double? Gilbert Arenas

On December 12, 2009, Arenas finished with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against the Indiana Pacers. Of course, that was the game where he missed two free-throws with the Wizards up 113-112 and six seconds left. The Pacers went on to win on a crazy last second play.

#9 Gilbert Arenas made the All-NBA 2nd team in ’06-07 and the All-NBA 3rd team in ’04-05 and ’05-06. Before him, who was the last member of the franchise to make an All-NBA 1st, 2nd or 3rd team? Rod Strickland

Strickland made the All-NBA 2nd team in ’97-98 and Howard made the 3rd team in ’95-96. Webber, Jamison, and Butler never made an All-NBA team with the franchise.

>>The End.

Research Credit goes to: The Washington Wizards 2009-10 Media Guide, Basketball-Reference.com, and The Baltimore Sun article archive.

Nas: Memory Lane

{NSFW}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UfAzKSEFSg

Cardboard Bullets: Don MacLean, the basketball player

Kyle Weidie — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:10:29 +0000

The Wizards’ season is over. And while there will certainly be reflections on said season to come, sometimes you gotta look way back on the franchise’s history via the basketball cards I collected when my fandom was being cultivated by the early 90s Washington Bullets.

One Summer Don MacLean worked so hard that his game improved with increased confidence. Well, at least that’s what this fake headline Upper Deck card says after he won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 1993-94, his second season in the league.

After being drafted out of UCLA by the Detroit Pistons with the 19th overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, MacLean was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Clippers with William Bedford for Olden Polynice and two second round picks. But MacLean didn’t stay in his Los Angeles hometown for long. In early October he was sent back East, again with Bedford, to the Washington Bullets for John “Hot Plate” Williams. Bedford was immediately waived by the Bullets while MacLean spent the first three years of his career in DC.

People used to call MacLean a gym rat. In November of 2000 as a member of the Miami Heat, MacLean became the first player to be suspended under the NBA’s steroid policy, which was in its second season of testing. As a result, Charles Barkley famously said, “I’ve seen Don MacLean naked, and he doesn’t use steroids.” The two never played together, but were both in the 1999 Houston Rockets training camp.

To be fair, accounts hold that MacLean was always a hard worker. Of course, those same accounts also hold that MacLean was an obnoxious John McEnroe type of character on the court. What accounts? “MacLean Deluxe,” which was written by Sports Illustrated’s Curry Kirkpatrick in February 1992 while MacLean was still at UCLA, comes recommended.

Speaking of UCLA, MacLean spent four years as a Bruin and was coached by Jim Harrick. In 1990, MacLean’s name surfaced in an NCAA inquiry because Harrick purportedly visited the player’s home during the recruiting dead period. Harrick was cleared of any wrongdoing.

But of course, between the sketchiness of getting Lamar Odom to play at Rhode Island and all that went on at the University of Georgia, not mentioning a resignation from UCLA under suspect circumstances, Harrick was proven to be an extremely dirty college basketball coach, or at least very bad at not getting caught.

All things considered, between ‘roids and NCAA violations, I guess if you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’ … or however the saying goes. MacLean recently completed his eight year as a UCLA basketball radio analyst and according to Wikipedia, Harrick is a basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net’s west coast operations, although I couldn’t find a link to confirm.

Keep scrolling past the pic for some interesting facts.

Interesting Fact #1:

When MacLean won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 93-94, he was sandwiched, in alternate seasons, by two other Bullets who also won the award — Pervis Ellison in ’91-92 and Gheorghe Muresan in ’95-96.

With three winners of the award since it was first handed out in ’85-86, the Washington franchise is tied with the Indiana Pacers for second most recipients. The Orlando Magic franchise has four MIPs in their history.

Gilbert Arenas was MIP in ’02-03 as a Golden State Warrior.

Interesting Fact #2:

As a junior in 1991, in a hotly contested Pac-10 Conference match-up between UCLA and Arizona which was eventually lost by the Bruins in overtime, MacLean committed an unfortunate gaffe with just under five minutes left in regulation, drawing a technical foul which was a reflection of his John McEnroe-esque character.

After teammate Mitchell Butler (who was also MacLean’s teammate with the Bullets) dunked on Arizona’s Brian Williams, giving the Bruins a 77-75 lead, MacLean grabbed the made shot and threw a two-handed chest-pass at Williams’ crotch while he was still on the floor. He was assessed a technical foul.

You may know Brian Williams as Bison Dele, the former NBAer who abruptly retired at age 30 and later went missing in the South Pacific, possibly murdered, along with two others, by his brother.

Link: Don MacLean stats on Basketball-Reference.com

And now more Don MacLean cards.

When Michael Jordan Smoked Cigars In Front of the Washington Bullets Before Playoff Games

Kyle Weidie — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:53:11 +0000

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This Sunday April 25th will mark the 13th anniversary of the Washington Bullets’ 1997 opening first round playoff game against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. That game represented the franchise’s first playoff game since May 8, 1988 … or, the first in eight years, 11 months and 17 days to be exact.

The ’96-97 Bullets team featured the present-day likes of an ESPN NBA analyst (Tim Legler), a special assistant for the Golden State Warriors (Calbert Cheaney), an analyst for NBA TV/TNT (Chris Webber), a guy who is still playing in the NBA playoffs (Juwan Howard, Portland Trailblazers), a Kentucky Wildcats basketball assistant who was recently charged with a DUI (Rod Strickland), a guy who was last year fired as head coach of the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Jaren Jackson), a guy who is currently a community liaison of sorts for the Wizards (Gheorghe Muresan), a guy who attended the March 27, 2010 Wizards-Jazz game with a lady friend (Chris Whitney), and a guy who assists the DeMatha High basketball program because that’s where his sons played (Harvey Grant) … among other cats.

Recently Webber went on the Dan Patrick Show and recounted a story from the ’97 playoff match-up against Jordan’s Bulls (via Sports Radio Interviews):

“One time we played in Washington. We played a five game series against the Bulls. It was the year they won 72 games. We lose all three games by a total of seven points. I saw Michael Jordan come into our locker room with a cigar, while it was lit, and said, ‘Who’s going to check me tonight?’ And we looked at Calbert Cheaney and we were laughing like little school kids knowing that Calbert Cheaney was going to get him, we knew it wasn’t a game for Mike. He was going to be there and he was going to be playing like he said. Game Three we get off the bus and Juwan (Howard) is from Chicago and used to workout there. I’ll never forget, Jordan was sitting on his Ferrari and Pippen was right there and they have a cigar lit. We get off the bus and we have to pass them with a lit cigar. You want to talk about posturing? Forget Phil Jackson. You got Michael Jordan there behind the scenes smoking a cigar before the game, letting us know that he’s the Red Auerbach before the game even started. It was almost like, ‘I lit the cigar. I’m celebrating already. This is just a formality, you guys getting on the court tonight.”

Of course, there are factual inaccuracies with Webber’s tale … such as, the Bullets were swept 3-0 and lost all three games by a total of 18 points, not seven, and that game three was in Washington, not Chicago like Webber alludes. But it would’ve been cool if Jordan had arranged for his Ferrari to be in D.C. … probably did.

In any case, stories are good, so I thought I’d share.

[Tip of the Hat to Slam Online]

Truth About It » washington bullets

Bullets and Colonels Clash at Freedom Hall: An A.B.A.-N.B.A. Interleague First

September 22, 1971. Louisville, Kentucky. Freedom Hall.

Looking into the Future of Seasons Past

Other reads from Truth About It:

#oldNBAcards: A Wednesday For Wes

Wes and Connie Unseld.

Did You Know?

Videos.

Other reads from Truth About It:

Hello and Goodbye to The Baltimore Bullets

1st Mariner Arena, Baltimore, MD (formerly the Baltimore Civic Center and the Baltimore Arena).

Box of Natty Boh – Soliders and Sailors Monument, W. 29th St. & N. Charles Ave., Baltimore.

Baltimore City Hall.

The Baltimore Bird – E. Pratt St. & S. Central Ave.

>MORE B-MORE PICTURES…

Westminster Hall, Edgar Allan Poe burial ground – Baltimore.

“Where Baltimore gets engaged.” – N. Charles St., Baltimore.

Baltimore Hustler, Baltimore Street.

The Washington Monument in Baltimore.

Downtown Baltimore.

Dutch Pot Cafe – Clay St., Downtown Baltimore.

Ladder in Hampden, Baltimore.

Ring buzzer for cigarettes – N. Charles St., Baltimore.

Other reads from Truth About It:

Old Washington Bullets, In Poster Form

Welcome to 1985-86.

Welcome to one year earlier, 1984-85.

Manute & Mugsy.

Finally, Jeff Ruland.

Other reads from Truth About It:

A Well-Built Foundation of Color Change Success: The New-Look Washington Wizards

Pictures:

The last of the few remaining Wizards.

Other reads from Truth About It:

Hey man, we’re trying over here.

Other reads from Truth About It:

The Rebounding Darrell Walker … and then there’s Andray Blatche

Other reads from Truth About It:

Wizards, Bullets, Kings and A King Share Road Losing History

The most losses an NBA team has achieved in an 82-game NBA schedule?

Other reads from Truth About It:

ShareBullets: The Back To Bullets Issue, Yi’s Development & Wall v. Rose

Other Game Quotes:

[K.C. Johnson - Chicago Tribune]

[Nick Friedell - ESPN Chicago]

It’s only the preseason, but we’re definitely going to keep track of the amont of Wall to Wookie alley-oop action this season …

And then there’s the Wizards having a lot of trouble guarding Derrick Rose P&R action …

LINKS!!

>> Back to Bullets.

>> Yi.

>> More.

The Summer Is Over.

Other reads from Truth About It:

Leonsis’ 101 Things In 101 Days List: Going Back To Bullets “Under Consideration”

Other reads from Truth About It:

VOTE: The Greatest Wizards/Bullets Team of All-Time

Here are the candidates:

Other reads from Truth About It:

Removing Washington Bullets Gear From Production: The Inside Story

Other reads from Truth About It:

R.I.P. Manute Bol

Suggested reads:

Videos:

Charles Barkley pranks Manute.

Manute Bol 3-Pointer/Block highlights.

Manute Bol mix.

NBA.com Manute Bol feature.

2002 George Michael feature on Bol from NBC Washington.

Other reads from Truth About It:

The Wizards and Washington, An Ill-Fated Spell From The Beginning

[Mike Wise - Washington Post]

[Dan Steinberg - DC Sports Bog, Washington Post]

[Rashad Mobley - Hoops Addict]

[Jake Whitacre - Bullets Forever, SB Nation DC]

[Jarrett Carter - HBCU Digest, formerly of Stet Sports]

[Jamie Mottram -Yahoo!, Mr. Irrelevant]

[Jeris Jones - DC Sports fan, Truth About It.net reader]

[Rook6980 - Bullets Forever]

[BJ Pierson - Deuce of Davenport, SB Nation DC]