Highlights of John Wall’s improved jump shot plus a mini-duel with Michael Beasley at “Clash of the Superstars” in Washington, D.C.

The NBA’s unofficial stand-in—this summer’s suite of pro-am games—have drawn basketball’s biggest names to the delight of frenzied crowds from Northeast Baltimore to Southeast Asia. The exhibitions have clearly meant something to the players, visible in celebrations after big plays as well as reactions to suspect officiating.

That wasn’t so much the case at Saturday’s showdown at Calvin Coolidge High School in northwest Washington, D.C. that featured John Wall, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Michael Beasley, Jeff Green, Greg Monroe and Kemba Walker. Billed as “Clash of the Superstars,” the charity game had all of the star power but none of the flash; it was a sleepy affair that played more like the final run of a pickup game among friends—very little energy and even less defense.

Although the action on the court didn’t exactly rouse the sparse crowd, a few in attendance had high praise for Washington Wizards second-year point guard John Wall. I caught up with Goodman League commissioner Miles Rawls who talked about Wall’s “spectacular” summer, and explained that while pro-am competition doesn’t compare to the NBA, it’s still an important part of preseason preparation:

“You got to work on the summer stuff to get you ready for the season. His jump shot has progressed tremendously. The more I see him, the more he progresses; that’s the key thing, his jump shot. And I didn’t know he was that athletic, he’s athletic as I don’t know what. I see the progression and the work he’s been putting in. I’ve even seen the technique change on him. At first it was like a push shot, but now I see a lot of wrist in his shot. So whoever is working with him is doing a good job.”

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If it weren’t for the NBA lockout, I probably would’ve watched last night’s exhibition basketball game online just the same. It was either on a very small frame with fair resolution or via more disturbed pixels on a full computer screen blow up, but it was basketball. Basketball involving very good players. Namely, John Wall. It didn’t poetically go down-to-the-wire, but for brief spells, it was enjoyable to watch, even on that small screen streaming from the website of www.wkyt.com television station.

The Dominican Republic national team, coached by University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari, beat a team assembled of former UK disciples who are now locked-out NBAers 106-88 at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Confusing connections? Certainly.

The Pros, a team name eligible to be sponsored by Bud Light in a college atmosphere, featured Wall, his former UK teammates Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins, along with Rajon Rondo, Tayshaun Prince, Keith Bogans, and Nazr Mohammed. They started off with a burst of over-excelled activity, perhaps due to lockout inactivity. They’ve all played in other summertime Pro-AMs, but none of them like this, on a stage against legit, more consistent competition and in front of 24,000. Their desire to give the Rupp crowd a show was clear, but still with knowledge that it wasn’t going to be like their other individual forays into summer hoops, highlights of which courtesy of YouTube mix-videos.

The Dominican Republic team featured some pros themselves — Francisco Garcia, Al Horford, along with another guard familiar with Kentucky, Edgar Sosa, courtesy of time spent playing at the University of Louisville, with Garcia — and they didn’t come to tool around. The D.R. team had been working hard under Calipari’s tutelage for the last two weeks in Lexington. They preparing for international competition at the FIBA Americas tournament set to start in Argentina at the end of August.

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Note: Rashad Mobley is in Los Angeles for the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend festivities where he will be chronicling the activities of John Wall and JaVale McGee as they put their great individual talent on display to the world.  First up?  The Rookie-Sophomore Game…

{K. Weidie}

It feels like an eternity since we’ve seen John Wall outwardly having fun in a Washington Wizards uniform, and no one in good conscience could blame him. At the All-Star break, the Wizards are 15-39 overall, 1-26 on the road, and injuries, trades and flat-out inexperience have kept them from achieving more.

The last time Wall took the court, his Wizards were spanked 101-76 by the Orlando Magic, and he had little help from his teammates. Wall scored 27 points but dished out just one assist — mainly because all others in a Wizards uniform shot just 28-percent from the field.

Tonight at the 2011 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge was a bit different. With a record 22 assists, Wall led his fellow rookies to a 148-140 victory over the sophomores,  but it wasn’t just how he did it that was refreshing, it was the company he kept while doing it.

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Figured a picture of Pookie via New Jack City was apropos considering the title of this post that features commentary and links…

But, unrelated, here are some pictures of Wizards…

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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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By now you’re aware of a report out of HoopsWorld that the Wizards are investigating trades involving Andray Blatche and/or JaVale McGee. Alex Kennedy writes:

“After suspending Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee one game for an altercation outside of a club, league sources say that the Washington Wizards will consider trading either Blatche or McGee in the coming weeks. The team will gauge interest around the league and after shopping the players, decision whether or not a trade would be the right move for the franchise.”

Of course, several outlets took this to mean such maneuvers by the Wizards were spawned as a result of the fight between Blatche and McGee (thanks to Kennedy’s wording). “In wake of fight, Wizards to gauge trade value of Blatche, McGee,” went one headline from Pro Basketball Talk; “Washington Wizards Shopping Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee After Altercation,” went another from the infamous Bleacher Report.

In the interest of getting the facts closer to what seems to be right, it’s worth mentioning that on December 24, ESPN’s Marc Stein Tweeted: Read more »

A D.C. pic, commentary and some links …

[Adams Morgan community bulletin board, Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

Washington, D.C.’s mayoral primaries took place Tuesday, which is essentially ‘the’ race for mayor. Since D.C. home rule was established in 1975, all six of Washington’s mayors have been Democrats. It will continue to be that way via staunch city political demographics. And that’s why the primary decides the race for mayor.

This year, it’s been determined that former D.C. Council Chair, Vince Gray, will replace incumbent Adrian Fenty as the Democratic nomination, and ultimately mayor. I wasn’t particularly a fan of Mayor Fenty … his arrogance and increasing lack of transparency (after he practically ran on the ‘always available’/'Mayor BlackBerry’ platform in 2006) have been very off-putting, yet his aims, for the most part, forward-thinking. Now we have old-school Gray, who provides an unknown, but assumed threat to return to ancient ways. Not exactly fair, but he’s going to have to come out with a bang to fulfill promises and quell the skeptics already lining up. I think I would’ve rather had Fenty’s efforts continue, but am not that torn up about it.

And the picture above, I suppose, can be the icing on how Fenty lost this year’s race. He was in denial over his own obliviousness in addressing constituent needs in a reasonable manner, or pretty much anything in a reasonable manner (don’t get me started about the Nats ticket fiasco), rather opting to perch himself so high that he became convinced that his methods and actions needed no explanation. And so he toppled, got his goofy face plastered on the community bulletin board in Adams Morgan with the caption “Denial,” got that lady in the photo pointing in jest, and finally lost the mayor’s race. Godspeed D.C. — Life continues.

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Man, the NBA rookies are having fun. But they deserve it. It’s basketball, basketball, basketball all day for them. And then all those obligations, which, pertaining to John Wall (the most extreme case this year), have been aptly depicted by the Washington Post’s Michael Lee. Hard-work stuff, truly. So, they get paid millions and scrutinized by those who can’t do what they do. Pfftt … “reporters.”

Anyway … part of all this is why watching these guys have fun is so much, well, fun. So let’s take a look at some fun the rooks had while on their photo shoot Tuesday in New York.

First, we have John Wall messing around with his bro DeMarcus Cousins, playing some one-on-one:

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A D.C. pic and some links …

[500 block of Florida Avenue NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

This year, according to the flier below, Dray will be appearing in uniform, along with Lil’ Dray (wearing backwards red cap to the lower left), and several others, many of whom are listed on the promotional material. E. Taylor, Taz Wube, Rashad Jenkins, Serge Sejour, Todd Hamilton, DJ Quicksilva and Rara The Party Starter … they’ll all be there.

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[Back for more sneaker heads ... the first time we checked out what some of the Wiz kids were wearing for summer league, then what some of the others were wearing. Now here's the second part of what players from other teams wore in Las Vegas.]

Brian Chase, Golden State Warriors

[via Dunbar H.S., Washington, D.C.; Virginia Tech, undrafted in 2003; Maryland Nighthawks (ABA); Gary Steelheads (CBA), Roanoke Dazzle (D-League); Nebraska Cranes (USBL); Los Angeles D-Fenders (D-League); Turkish Basketball League; French Basketball League; Russia A-Superleague; Spanish Basketball League -- Chase played for the Utah Jazz in the '06 summer league, was signed by the team for the '06-07 season but was waived before playing a game, played with the Washington Wizards in the '07 summer league, played with the Miami Heat in the '07-08 preseason, but was released before the regular season, played with the Orlando Magic in the '09 summer league and finally with the Warriors this summer. Chase has yet to appear in an NBA game.]

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