Parties, commentary and links…

Antawn Jamison is on his own level and you can’t get on it, at least that’s what the promotional party flier above seems to indicate. Jamison’s level these days involves sitting out the past 13 games — likely the rest of the year — due to a broken pinkie finger; and he has to watch the 15-58 Cleveland Cavaliers all the time, which probably isn’t that much different than watching the 18-55 Wizards. Jamison’s level also involves getting paid over $13.3 million this season, which is a pretty nice level regardless of the environment. Back to the promotional flier … Jamison’s level will evidently be on display this Thursday at the Shadow Room, as he is welcomed back to D.C. with a party the night before his Cavs take on the Wizards. Speaking of the Shadow Room, that’s the venue where Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee once got on the level of fighting with each other outside the club on Christmas Eve. The Wizards are just a classic team, on so many levels.

In other team party news, Josh Howard, who has appeared in 409 minutes over 18 games this season, has lent his name to the Wizards-Heat post-game party at Oxygen tonight. The most recently injured Wizard, Trevor Booker, had provided his name for use as well. Wale will also be performing … I still wonder if he roots for the Cavaliers and/or Nuggets.

Links.

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A GIF, commentary and links …

[Consecutive wins for the Wizards? Al Thornton approves.]

Two wins in a row from the Wizards for the first time all season, albeit both at home where they are a much better team, is a sign of progress, especially when one of them is against a very strong Utah Jazz squad. But that first win came against the Toronto Raptors this past Saturday, a grind-it-out affair against another bad team. Ryan Gracia, a current junior at George Mason University studying journalism and sports communication, has followed the Wizards for years, and his family has also long held season tickets. Ryan attended Saturday’s game versus Toronto and below writes about a play that created a winning spark. And below Ryan’s write-up, some suggested links to read.

The Play That Created A Spark.

by Ryan Gracia

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One of the more unique experiences I’ve had in my three short years of covering the Washington Wizards came during the 2008-2009 season.  Eddie Jordan had been fired, Ed Tapscott was the interim head coach, Gilbert Arenas was out for the majority of the season with a knee, and that all added up to a dismal 19-63 record.  But the locker room dynamic was fascinating to watch, particularly after a loss.

During his post-game press conferences, Coach Tapscott’s comments did not focus on whether the Wizards won or lost, but he focused on who played well, how hard his team fought, and the lessons that could be learned.  I did not know whether it was Tapscott’s demeanor, or if he was taking that stance because he knew his time as Wizards head coach was temporary.  I just knew he preferred the diplomatic approach as opposed to, say a Flip Saunders, who is much more pointed with his comments.

Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Deshawn Stevenson were the veterans of the locker room that season, and I always respected how they carried themselves after a loss.  They were somber, angry and frustrated, but most of the time they would answer all questions thrown at them.  It was clear they really did not want to talk to the media, but they understood it was their duty as professionals.  It was also obvious that all of the losing was taking a toll.

Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire (I would include JaVale McGee, but he was relatively mute during his rookie year) were the youngsters of the team, and their collective attitude in defeat came in stark contrast to the veterans.   By the time the media hit the locker room, they would be laughing, smiling, comparing attire and having a good time.  I did not know whether they simply didn’t care about the mounting losses, or if they just had the ability to quickly move on and not dwell on them.  I just knew that on certain nights, the veterans were visibly upset that the entire locker room wasn’t as affected by the losses as they were.

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Upon Rashard Lewis’ arrival in Washington, Flip Saunders lauded him as a professional. Ernie Grunfeld called him a lead-by-example veteran. But these terms easily get demeaned amongst the press conference speak. They are used almost too often to describe just about any veteran who is victim of a trade from contender to bottom-feeder, perhaps as a proclamation of what’s expected from them. But what Lewis has made of his new challenge several games in has given real meaning to these proclamations.

We all know what ‘professional’ means. On the surface, yes, it means you get paid to do a job. A lot of people get paid to do a job but aren’t exactly earning their money … it happens in every profession. Being ‘a’ professional is about more than just earning your keep. For NBA players, it means consistent performance on the court and measured, but worthy, comments in the locker room.

Antawn Jamison was the last professional the Wizards had with an all-star pedigree; some called him the Gentleman Jamison. He was surprisingly consistent for his age, which was only accentuated by the way his game sneaked up on you. In post game media sessions, Jamison could fill a tape recorder with clichés, but he would also give long-winded answers, so one was always sure to find a good quote in there somewhere.

Much of what got lost in the reverberations from the Gilbert Arenas trade was that in Lewis, the franchise might have found their new Jamison. But in a weird twist of circumstance, Lewis means much more to this current group. Toward the end, Jamison was hanging on to hope in an uncompromising manner. He wasn’t on a rebuilding team, he was on a broken team … and he was trying to shoulder the load amidst futility. That philosophy reared its ugly head in the form of a paltry 1.2 assists per 36 minutes for Jamison as a Wizard during 2009-10, a career-low aside from the season he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a Dallas Maverick.

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Gilbert Arenas’ recent Q&A with ESPN.com’s Michael Wallace was disappointing, to say the least. So let’s look back at some interesting tidbits from it, starting with the best part, which came at the end:

Arenas was asked: “Do you look back on anything that played out over the last 12 months with any regret?”

His answer: “Nope. No need to. Look around me. I’ve got a fresh start. I’ve got too much to look forward to.”

At one level, you think, ‘What an asshole.’ I’m sure Arenas wasn’t meaning to be an asshole, but it is an asshole-ish response.

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A D.C. pic, Wizards memories, and links …

[Takoma Recreation Center - NW Washington, D.C.]

On Wednesday, TAI held another ticket giveaway (courtesy of StubHub), this time involving four suite tickets to next Tuesday’s Wizards-Lakers game. A winner was randomly chosen from all those who left comments about their favorite Wizards memory on the TAI FaceBook page. It was kind of a random means to give tickets away … I almost asked some lame question like ‘name your favorite current Wizard’, but instead went with the memory concept, which seems equally generic. Whatever, I was just trying to find a pool of people to give free tickets to, right?

Well, as it turns out, I had a lot of fun reading the favorite memories of various Wizards fans — not surprisingly, most of them involved Gilbert Arenas. But what’s not a lot of fun is only being able to award the tickets to one person. But it is what it is as Mike Miller would say … so a congrats goes to Devin Krotman, who was chosen at random amongst all those who entered. Devin’s favorite Wizards memory is below, along with some other select memories of entrants. Thanks to all for taking time to share.

Devin Krotman

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A D.C. pic, links, commentary and tickets for free ….

The Portland Trailblazers are in D.C. tonight to take on the Wizards … and guess what? They’re giving away John Wall bobble-head dolls to the first 10,000 fans. So if you want one, you best show up on time. What else are you going to do on a cold Friday night in D.C.? Watch Miami (Ohio) take on 25th-ranked Northern Illinois in college football? Sure buddy. Plus, if the game sells out, there’s a chance you could see Ted Leonsis do the “Dougie” … which would most certainly be better than Wolf Blitzer’s “Dougie” (who did it on ‘Soul Train’ of all places? Weird).

In any case, check out my column at the DCist this week where I ponder if the Wizards are still worth watching?

And from the other side, Portland fans have it pretty bad too, Wizards fans — just admittedly not as bad as Wiz fans, at least according to one Trailblazers blogger. Check out what the Portland Roundball Society has to say about tonight’s game.

GIVEAWAY: Wizards-Heat Tickets, December 18, 2010

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Gilbert Arenas is currently struggling to find a set role in the Wizards back-court, and John Wall is struggling with consistency and turnovers. The general feeling is that the current plight of both players is a temporary one, and eventually they will find their individual games, and then learn how to play off each other as well.  This is not a slight to Kirk Hinrich at all, but as Hubie Brown would say, “Now we know Wall and Arenas have tremendous upside, and at their peak they give you the best chance to win.”  And Hubie is always right.

Until Wall and Arenas find that comfort zone, they will have to continue to work hard in practice, trust each other when they do get in the game, and perhaps watch film to correct their mistakes.  The first piece of film they should watch?  The play of Mo Williams and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson during the Wizards 107-102 loss to the Cavaliers.

Williams scored 28 points in just 31 minutes of play, and Gibson added an efficient 19-point game during his 27 minutes of the floor.  Williams did his damage from beyond the three-point arc, on drives and on mid-range jumpers, while Gibson primarily hurt the Wizards from the outside.  During a key 10-0 run by the Cavs, one which saw the Wizards lose the lead for good, Williams had seven points and Gibson had three–including back-to-back three pointers that pretty much sealed the Wizards’ fate.

When I listened to the post-game comments of some of the Cavaliers players and coaches, I couldn’t help but to think about what Wall and Arenas could be.  First there was Byron Scott; Read more »

Slow steps and seconds guesses were the main themes from Saturday’s night home loss to an Antwan Jamison-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wizards let a very winnable game slip away as Anthony Parker, Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams all burried late key three pointers and Washington fell to 1-4 on the young season.

Coach Saunders regretted sitting a hot Al Thornton (23 points on 10-16 field-goals) for the final nine minutes of the game.

“I said to Al that I made a mistake….I question myself the last three minutes about not having Al in there.”

Flip went to the long anticipated three-guard lineup of John Wall, Kirk Hinrich and Gilbert Arenas for the fourth quarter. The trio led the Wizards to a 90-85 lead with five minutes to go in the game after Arenas fueled a 3-on-1 fast break that ended with a flush by Andray Blatche.

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Not too long ago we took a look at some of the worst shooters in Bullets/Wizards franchise history. Now, especially since shooting is such a concern, we’ll take a look at some the best shooters in team history, specifically from the three-point distance.

[Basketball Court - Georgia Avenue/Howard University - photo: K. Weidie]

Last season was the 31th anniversary of the three-point shot in the NBA. Well, sorta. The three-point line was implemented on a trial basis for the 1979-80 season and set into permanent rule for the 1980-81 season. So, perhaps technically this season is the 31th anniversary of the three-point shot in the NBA. Nonetheless, stats on the shot have been kept for the previous 31 seasons and are available thanks to Basketball-Reference.com.

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