John Wall, Flip Saunders, Andray Blatche, Nick Young, Trevor Booker and Carmelo Anthony speak on it from the locker room after Friday’s Wizards-Knicks game…
Big Bad John Wall wants to know. Beckley Mason, Rashad Mobley, John Converse Townsend and Kyle Weidie ask and answer hot topic questions about the Washington Wizards.
MOBLEY: Do we hold Ernie Grunfeld, Flip Saunders and the Wizards to any expectations during this abbreviated season, or do we just assume no significant strides will be made until next year?
MASON: My expectations for this team aren’t altered a bit. The summer is a time when, from a basketball standpoint, players need to be spending their own dime to work out with the best trainers possible. The lockout shouldn’t have affected that reality. Flip probably wishes he had more time with his newest players, but an extra week of training camp wasn’t going to solve the problems with McGee and Blatche, or help the Wizards to land a major free agent.
MOBLEY: John Wall has raised expectations for the Wizards with his play this summer, so it is entirely fair to hold Grunfeld and Flip to the same standard. But given that Grunfeld hinted that he plans on using the amnesty clause next year, he may have bought both he and Flip an extra year. However, if the Wizards win 25 games or less, a new coach/GM combo should reap the amnesty benefits.
Tonight, Butler, along with Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Delonte West, and Michael Beasley (all dubbed as Caron’s “friends” as he is the headliner), will be hosting, depending on which flier you look at, a Worldwide Tour or National Tour at Bed Nightclub in South Beach Miami.
If I didn’t know better, Mr. Butler might be angling for a future career in politics.
Remember that Damon Jones dude? I sure do. The guy ripped my heart out in game six of the 2006 playoffs, hitting a two-pointer from the corner with less than five seconds left, giving Cleveland the 4-2 series victory and LeBron James his first playoff series win ever … and I was at that damn game.
Ever since, I’ve been a Damon Jones hater. He’s always just been way too into himself and his fashionista ways. A lot of flash and little substance. Basically anyone can spend a ton of money on clothes, wear something outlandish every once in a while, and dub themselves a ‘fashion expert’. “Yay.”
The video above could be a perfect example of Jones being a prick. For one, he’s not on a list … but he’s thinks people MUST recognize him because he hasn’t “waited in line for 10 years” — good for Damon. That surely means he’s better than the rest of us.
I could cite some of Oleksiy Pecherov’s mediocre numbers, including his assist per 138.5 minutes rate, but they’re a moot indicator as to his value to the franchise. The 23-year old just didn’t get enough time on the court. However, when a guy’s player evaluation from last year can be easily recycled, a bulk of responsibility lies on his shoulders.
Rail if you will on the Wizards’ player development, or lack thereof, and whether or not Ed Tapscott stunted growth. The fact remains that if Pecherov gave more reasons for increased run, the minutes would have found him, especially in such an injury plagued year. The epitome of his season’s effort was more when he got blocked by the 6’2″ Boobie Gibson in the last meeting against Cleveland than the few positive moments.
Already behind a prideful veteran exempt from the bench (Antawn Jamison), a rookie with more fire and defensive instinct (JaVale McGee), a role player with court smarts (Darius Songaila), an inconsistent prospect with a much better skill set (Andray Blatche), and the occasional Etan Thomas sighting, the Ukrainian goof-ball dubbed ‘Big Oily’ was already in a position where working extra hard was a prerequisite for more time.
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.
