I should have known that the NBA Draft Lottery was not going to fall in the Washington Wizards favor when I walked into the media area.  Two members of the Cleveland Browns, Joshua Cribbs and Joe Haden, who are from Washington, D.C. and Fort Washington, MD respectively, were sitting at a table with former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar.  Maybe under different circumstances Cribbs and Haden would have donned the new colors of the Washington Wizards, but on this evening, their roles were to be good luck charms for Dan Gilbert.  They were ensconced in Cleveland Cavaliers gear – the former pseudo-rival of Washington which also happened to be the team that eliminated the Wizards the last time they were fortunate enough to make the playoffs

Two hours later, Dan Gilbert, his charismatic son Nick, Kosar, Cribbs and Haden were posing for pictures in front of the ESPN camera, and celebrating the fact that the Cavaliers had won the first pick of the 2011 draft.  The Wizards, who were represented by last year’s number one selection John Wall, were left with the sixth pick, despite having the fourth-worst record in the NBA.

Despite the disappointing draft position, there were still some positives for the Washington Wizards franchise.  As I wrote for the DCist, in just a short period of time Wall displayed the type of confidence and leadership that the Wizards braintrust probably expected when they drafted him first just one year ago.  He worked the room, he joked around with his fellow 2010 draft classmate Greg Monroe, as well as Kyrie Irving, who figures to the first pick of the 2011 draft class.  He was equally comfortable in between Toronto Raptors President Bryan Colangelo and Mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson; Wall even mentioned that he asked Mayor Johnson about his role in keeping the Kings in Sacramento.

Here is Wall speaking confidently on his summer plans, his opinion of some of the players in the draft and his expectations for his fellow teammates among other things:

Read more »

“Having been from Cleveland and everything we’ve gone through, you’d like to see your hometown do well, so I’m disappointed from that standpoint.”
-Flip Saunders

Yep, ol’ Flip is from Cleveland. But you probably already knew that. The high school All-American and 1973 Ohio Class A Player of the Year averaged 32 points per game during his senior year at Cuyahoga Heights, a school located in the burbs of the Mistake By The Lake.

Actually, my bad. I shouldn’t make fun of Cleveland. Even though Cavs fans lined up by the miles to witness and laugh at the Wizards after the Arenas gun fiasco and the rest of the implosion (including gladly taking the Gentleman Jamison), I cannot laugh at them at this moment. I feel very, very bad for those guys. And with that I say, ‘Join me people of Cleveland, in your distaste for Lebron.’

One quick question … who’s now more indefensible, LeBron or DeShawn Stevenson?

What? Too soon?

Read more »

The battle for Wizards starting shooting guard is crucial. The backup power forward spot almost just as much, especially with Antawn Jamison nursing injury and little to show in terms of front court depth. The backup point guard position, however, is a relatively unheralded story.

The talented and rock-steady Randy Foye is thought by many to be the favorite to spell Gilbert Arenas. Foye is also in the mix to play off the ball some. But, there’s already quite a crowd competing at shooting guard with Mike Miller, DeShawn Stevenson, Nick Young and even Caron Butler factoring in.

And then there’s Mike James. With Javaris Crittenton currently out with a foot injury and an unknown timetable for return, some of the competition at point has been eliminated … or at least postponed. But with two DNPs in five preseason games, is James being given a fair shake?

Read more »

a scene from one of the more popular Cleveland street festivals - flickr/jmd41280

And Milwaukee thought it had it bad … being the target of Gilbert Arenas’ trash talking and all. Maybe his buddy Richard Jefferson will have the last laugh, seeing that now he’s off to dance the championship dream in San Antonio with Timmy, Manu and Tony.

Step aside Brew City, Cleveland is more boring than you. The city that LeBron James may or may not leave in the future has been named the most boring city in America by a TripAdvisor survey of over 3,400 respondents.

Uhh … sorry guys.

Read more »

Some links as I waste my Sunday away, preparing for a couple game sevens, wearing my smelly, dirty homemade Ron Artest shirt, hoping for a Rockets win, or two close games in the least.

This past week, the Washington Post hosted a roundtable of Wizards bloggers. Each blog weighed in on what the team should do at a given draft position. Pretty cool when you think about it … MSM and Bloggers hanging out and stuff.

Pick #1: Keith McMillian, Washington Post
Pick #2: Truth About It.net (this place)
Pick #3: Wizards Extreme
Pick #4: Bullets Forever
Pick #5: WizzNutzz

Misunderstanding Media
Detroit Pistons blog, Full Court Press (on mlive.com), cited four paragraphs from the Bullets Forever contribution on Wizards Insider. Problem being, author Dave Dial failed to accurately represent that it was a blogger roundtable. He quoted three paragraphs written by the Pradamaster of Bullets Forever and one from Michael Lee of the WaPost without distinguishing the two authors. Dial also led with, “The Washington Post’s ‘Wizards Insider’ gives more credence to the fact that if the Wizards do not land in the top two picks they will look to trade the pick,” which is inaccurate. Yes, it is well known that Ernie Grunfeld sees the pick as an “asset”, i.e., trade-bait. However, the roundtable was speculation, and not necessarily an official team report as Dial’s use of the word “credence” seems to implicate.

Read more »

Lake Erie, on standby until the next fire

While the association of sports punditry blowhards will bellow, “No, no, no!!! Cleveland and Washington are NOT rivals!!,” those with common sense beg to differ.

As we found out in early April, a game between a hapless Wizards team and the unstoppable force of LeBron & Co. wasn’t exactly meaningless.

The fact that these two teams seem destined to exchange barbs, not only between the members of each organization, but also amongst fans and journalists, screams rivalry on some level — contrary to popular opinion, a ‘rivalry’ is not solely defined by wins and losses.

Read more »

The friendly bloggers (and their fans) at the Cleveland sports-based Waiting For Next Year have taken upon the task of creating a Mark Price-themed t-shirt (h/t Sporting News).

Price, the current Atlanta Hawks shooting coach, may still be right for Cleveland Cavaliers fans, but that’s far from the case for Wizards/Bullets fans.

A reminder of how the Cavs fleeced former Bullets GM, John Nash (from this May ’08 post):

Today, 4-23-09, is the official Flip Saunders press conference day … ready to put the ‘O’ in Official … I’ll try to listen to the 3 pm presser and blog down some thoughts later.

But in the meantime, why not bag on Cleveland?
(via a hilarious video made by someone from Cleveland that I could probably make about DC, via joeposnanski.com, via Google share with Chris Needham)

Wiz Run-Down:

Flipping Gil
“The thing about Gilbert is, no coach is ever going to have a problem with how much he loves the game. He puts in an unbelievable amount of time working on his game. He’s a competitor and he wants to be great.

Read more »

The Wizards were out of the game before it even started, and I really wish I had bet online. They came out lacking a ton of focus and turning the ball over….key ingredients to a disaster pie.

Cleveland was also aware of everything the Wiz wanted to do offensively before they did it. Javaris Crittenton would come down the court tapping his chin and Mo Williams would do the same. Guess the “intricate” offense (simplified for the youth, I know) of Ed Tapscott and Wes Unseld, Jr. won’t fool many.

To make matters worse, Washington was always a second behind on open passes, a telltale sign of the team going through the motions….a “we got this team in DC, so who cares about Cleveland?” type attitude.

Not to belittle the effort of some individuals, but as a team, it sucked a big one last night….what’s new? The game was no where close to the final 12 point margin.

Enjoy the screen shots. Read more »