Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson sat in the far stall of the visiting Verizon Center locker room (aka, the Washington Mystics locker room), picking through a styrofoam container holding his pre-game meal before facing the Washington Wizards. I approached the former North Carolina All-American and sheepishly asked for his availability to talk. Different players respond in different ways to pre-game media requests, and the process can sometimes be awkward. Lawson’s furrowed his brow, cheeks full of chicken tenders, and sternly responded, “Can’t you see that I am eating?” An uncomfortable rush shot through my body, the last thing you want to do is bother a professional athlete before he takes the court… routines, even those including chicken tenders, can be sacred. But Lawson immediately broke in it to a huge grin instead, “I am just playing, fire away with your questions.”

The diminutive playmaker is a local product from Clinton, MD and honed his skills in the basketball breeding grounds of Prince George’s (P.G.) County. Lawson is breaking out in his third NBA season, his first as a full time starter, averaging 15.7 points (47-percent FGs), 6.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals. More importantly, he’s led Denver to a 14-6 record, which is second best in the Western Conference. On this particular January 20th Friday night, Lawson’s Nuggets would triumph over the Wizards 108-104. He played a key role with 21 points, nine rebounds and six assists, beforehand admitting that he enjoyed being back home and predicting that his local friends and family would be vocal in the game.

“I went home and saw my mom. It just feels good to be back at home. This is where I grew up so I love it … I got  [friends and family] too many ticket requests. They will be in the stands. They will make it known that they are here.”

During the NBA Lockout, Lawson chose to play in Lithuania for one of the top clubs in the Euroleague, B.C. Zalgriris Kaunas. About his experience, Lawson said:

“I went overseas and tried to get me some Euroball … It was fun. What 22- or 23-year old can say they were traveling the world at age 23? So it was just fun. I learned a lot of things … different culture, different basketball culture. They like to play more physical over there, pick-and-roll, team game.”

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[Wizards, Wall & Wale... highlights from Fan Fest...]

The hope is that the fun of last Saturday’s Fan Fest at the Verizon Center was not just a reprieve from things to come for the Washington Wizards after Friday night’s debacle against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tonight, the Wiz Kids will get a chance for preseason redemption in the City of Brotherly Love, as well as in front of a national audience on NBA TV. It might merely be a minor speed bump en route to a shortened 66-game season slate, but when the next game on December 26 counts, it’s not a bump to be taken lightly.

So before people pile on how bad this Wizards team might be, or rather, lack of evident improvement in this season from the last, let’s give John Wall’s bunch a chance to digest Flip Saunders’ harsh words, to think about their film session that didn’t lie, and for the fearless point guard leader himself to stand by his words of inducing better offense and more astute defense.

But aside from franchise development angst, Wizards Fan Fest was a pretty great event. After about 15 minutes of rest after practice, the team took center court in the Phone Booth for an exhibition display. The feature was two 15-minute, running-clock scrimmages — light in their demeanor, as expected — that brought this NBA follower back to summer exhibition basketball action — little defense and dunking galore. (Actually, with exception, Capital Punishment surprisingly melded entertainment and competitiveness.)

Before, during and afterward, D.C.-area rapper Wale entertained the crowd, serving as the magnet between community and professional basketball to the likely delight of team owner Ted Leonsis. While forever connected to the District, Wale hasn’t always represented the pro basketball team in his city adequately.

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Did you watch the Wizards play the Nuggets in Denver on Friday night? Didn’t think so. Well, if you didn’t sit through the loss, you’re in luck, because below is a recap of words, moving pictures and still pictures.

1st Quarter

10:30 - JaVale McGee chases down a long loose-ball rebound, the Wizards were scattered in their transition defense after a wide-open Denver missed shot. Upon securing the ball, McGee really has only one Nugget in front of him, Kenyon Martin. You don’t mind the breaking attempt so much — one man to beat, open court, why not? The manner is the other side. McGee contorted his body, tried to twist around Martin and made life more difficult than it should have been, as opposed to if he’d just gone strong to the rim. Martin intimidation or self preservation, after McGee missed, he loafed a bit which immediately prompted Sam Cassell to jump off the Wizards bench and yell, “GET BACK!” with a wave of his arm. Denver scored on the other end. 4-2 Nuggets.

9:52 – Nene plants himself under the rim as Danilo Gallinari misses a layup, gets the offensive board and gets fouled on the floor. It’s evident that the Wizards need to have people on the court who can clear space. Yi and McGe don’t do that.

9:07 - You can quickly tell that the high altitude is getting to McGee — him expending a lot of extra, unnecessary energy at times doesn’t help. Combined with his asthma, you got to feel for his situation. He fouls Gallinari who makes one of two free-throws. 6-4 Denver.

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I didn’t catch Friday night’s Wizards-Nuggets game live, but I did DVR it, so I was able to watch the game at my own pace the next afternoon. While I was watching, my wife happened to walk in, and without even looking at the television she asked me, “So how much are they getting killed by this time?”.  I sheepishly answered that they were being “killed” by 24 points, and she just shook her head and left.

That pretty much sums up how it feels to watch and then write about the Wizards these days.  There are instances like this past Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers when the Wizards’ young players seem to put it all together and play competitively, and then there are other nights when flashes of individual brilliance are overtaken by yet another defeat.

Friday night’s 114-94 loss to the Nuggets was no different.  The Wizards dug themselves in a hole with some cold first quarter shooting, they fought hard to close the gap, but in the end, the Nuggets were too experienced and deep for the Wizards.  But if you’re looking for positives, rookie forward Trevor Booker put on a clinic on both ends of the floor during the third quarter. He demonstrated that, even when some veterans get healthy and back on the floor, he needs to still play substantial minutes.

11:34 – 3rd Quarter

Flip Saunders called an isolation play for Booker in the post against the 6’9″ Kenyon Martin. Martin is known for his physical play on both ends of the floor, and this looked to be a challenging post-up for Booker. He faced up like a player of his ability should when attacking the basket, started right, then quickly spun back and executed a perfect jump hook over the outstretched arms of Martin to cut the Nuggets’ lead to 17 points. This prompted Wizards announcer Phil Chenier to say that Booker needs to get more touches down low.

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Some leftover pictures, commentary, and links at the bottom…

Kevin Seraphin.

At some point during the Celtics game, mid-third quarter, John Wall expressed dismay about a questionable call that didn’t go the Wizards’ way … that’s a $50 fine face, perhaps.

On Boston’s subsequent out-of-bounds play, Wall did what he usually does in bouts of heightened emotion, good or bad … he pulled his shorts up.

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The names Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups have been in the minds of  Denver Nuggets fans, beat writers and casual observers all season long and with good reason.  Carmelo has been Denver’s franchise player for eight years now, and he has made it known that he wants to take his talents elsewhere — allegedly to the New York Knicks, but Chicago, New Jersey and Denver are “allegedly” under consideration as well.  If he does leave, whether via trade or free-agency, the Nuggets figure to be in rebuilding mode, which will also affect Billups.  Chauncey is 34-years old, he’s won a championship, and although he’s not the same “Mr. Big Shot” as he was during his title run with the Detroit Pistons, he is still an effective player (15.9 points and 5.3 assists per game).  He’s earned the right to be on a contending team, not one in transition — and without Carmelo, or someone of value in return, that’s exactly what the Nuggets would become.

So when Denver visited the Verizon Center to take on the Washington Wizards Tuesday night, I was curious to see how Carmelo and Billups would perform under the weight of all the alleged trades and transition.  Carmelo had 23 points and seven rebounds, Billups had 15 points and six assists, and both players were integral to the Nuggets’ 120-109 victory.  However, I came away from the game with the names of their two teammates in my mind instead:  Ty Lawson and Al Harrington.

Lawson had 17 points and two assists, and did most of his damage in the second quarter when the Nuggets stretched their lead to 12 points (although it got as high as 17 at one point in the period).  The point guard had seven points in the second, and he kept both John Wall and Mustafa Shakur completely off-balance with his ability to change speeds, get to the basket, and knock down the open shot.

Harrington was a non-factor for three quarters, but he came alive in the fourth quarter when he hit five of the six three-pointers he attempted.  He finished with 21 points, and he did so despite being heckled the entire game by courtside Wizards fans who insisted on calling him Othella, instead of Al (Kyle Weidie detailed this exchange in a great post).

After the game I spoke with Lawson about the way he uses his speed with Harrington about the hecklers, among other things. Read more »

It didn’t seem like a winning night for the Washington Wizards as they prepared to face the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. The movement of the team during warm-ups, the faces of the players, you could tell it was their fourth game in five nights. They weren’t exactly physically weary or mentally downtrodden in appearance, but the air of the team reflected the atmosphere in the Verizon Center, dead … like that oddly quiet elevator ride. Even Baltimore’s Carmelo Anthony being in town barely drew a response from fans, most electing to give him the Prokhorov treatment.

Toss out the box score from the game. The final was 120-109 Denver, but I could convince you otherwise. Washington led 56-46 in points in the paint, 32-8 in fastbreak points, they shot 51.2-percent from the field and made 23 of 27 free-throws. The Wizards were only out-rebounded by three (39-36), all in the defensive boards category, had the same amount of assists as Denver (23), and two less turnovers (15-13). Washington blocked nine shots, which may have contributed to the Nuggets’ 13-2 lead in second chance points, because both teams pulled seven offensive rebounds. Andray Blatche’s first quarter shot chart even looked like this:

Too bad after going 6-8 from the field in the first period, Blatche went 2-6 over the rest of the game (9-9 in free-throws on evening, though, for 25 total points).

The Wizards lost because they were the worse team. Denver was able to move around at will for the duration, earning themselves 12 made threes out of 23 attempts … essentially the difference. Washington only made two out of their 13 three-point attempts. The Nuggets always had the game in hand — winning the first quarter 33-26, the second 35-30 and the third 28-23 — because the Wizard were never really mentally around in the first place. Yi Jianlian and Nick Young each had ten points a piece in the fourth as Washington “won” that final period 30-24.

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Also note: Don’t make fun of Al Harrington for wearing K-Mart brand “Protege” shoes any more … it seems that he’s ditched those for Nikes. Now keep reading…

If you’re local to the DMV area, you’ll remember Othella Harrington. He left the South from Mississippi in 1992 to be the next ‘big’ big for John Thompson in D.C., in line with Ewing, Mutombo and Mourning. But while Othella had a productive four-year career with the Georgetown Hoyas, and a tenured NBA career (709 games over 12 seasons and five teams), a famed basketball big man he was not.

Al Harrington entered the league out of a New Jersey high school in 1999 and has appeared in over 830 NBA games spanning 13 seasons. Different Harringtons to most, a bullet point on the mental cheer sheets of a couple courtside hecklers aided by libations on a Tuesday night at the Verizon Center. As you can gather (and as the title of the post gives away), the most oft-shouted quip by said hecklers was to call Al ‘Othella’ — they really David Letterman’d it, over and over. And over.

Al took exception as soon as that magical zinger was found by the heckler’s inner heckler early in the game. He retorted, “I’m not Othella, you dummy!” to the degree where you wondered if he really thought that they really thought he was Othella.

Harrington didn’t give much reason for them to stay off his case though, especially after he’d already engaged the crowd. Through three quarters, he’d played just 15 minutes and put up six points and three rebounds, no biggie. The Nuggets were up 96-79 heading into the final period, so Al could always just point to the scoreboard as the calls of Othella continued. But he didn’t.

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[Editor's Note: Rashad Mobley has reported on the Wizards with media credentials since the 2008-09 season for Hoops Addict. He occasionally contributes to Truth About It.net, providing excellent analysis and a different perspective from his up-close coverage of the team.]

Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith ended the third quarter, by missing consecutive 24-foot jumpers, and his numbers going into the fourth were anything but impressive. He had made one of his six shots, and he only had four points, as his team held a slim lead over the Washington Wizards.

Things certainly did not get any better when the fourth quarter initially started, because Smith picked up an offensive foul trying to run through Nick Young, and then a technical foul for a delay of game violation. Still, Nuggets coach George Karl never removed him from the game, and despite some momentary frustration, Smith stayed composed.

From the 11:33 mark of the fourth quarter (when Smith picked up the offensive foul) to the final buzzer, Smith shot 6-of-10, scored 13 points and led the Nuggets to a 97-87 victory over the Wizards. He shrugged off a poor shooting performance over three quarters, and decided that he could still play a major role in his team’s fate.

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Ok, it was just one game … two games counting the win against Minnesota. With a 107-97 win over the Denver Nuggets, the Wizards have won two games in a row for just the sixth time all year (three has yet to be accomplished). Is it a reason to think this team just might do something crazy and sneak into the playoffs? Absolutely not. Is it a reason to get excited? A resounding yes.

Energy, effort, hustle and hunger were the themes tossed around the Verizon Center Friday night, the obvious reason why Wizards fans, even those who came to see Baltimore’s Carmelo Anthony, stood up and cheered for a brand of basketball that’s rarely been seen this season, if at all.

“I told guys at shoot-around, ‘We gotta play like a pack of mad dogs,’ and that’s how we played tonight,” said Flip Saunders after the game. The new guys, Josh Howard, Al Thornton and James Singleton set the example and led the way. “Thornton at 6’7″ can play like 6’10″ rebounding-wise, and Josh can play bigger, and of course Singleton. Those are energy guys,” the coach continued.

Thornton can score too, netting 17 of his 21 points in the second half. He arrived in D.C. at 2 am on Friday, and wasn’t able to participate in that morning’s shoot-around, but dug deep and found a way to play some damn good defense against Anthony. “Once Carmelo gets in a groove and gets in jab steps going, he’s very hard to guard. So, I just tried to get in him and frustrate him a little bit and make him take off-balanced shots,” Thornton said. Melo had 23 points in the game, but only five in the second half and zero in the fourth quarter. He shot 1-10 in the second half.

Yes, the Nuggets had to be tired in the second leg of a back-to-back where Anthony had hit a jumper in LeBron’s face to win the game Thursday night in Cleveland. But I’ll also remind you that Denver has the second best record in the Western Conference and these are the Washington Wizards. When asked if all of the new pieces were an advantage because opponents don’t exactly know how to prepare for these new Wizards, Saunders said, “Well, the disadvantage would be that we have a lot of new pieces and we don’t know how to prepare for ourselves.”

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No, this isn't Ernie Grunfeld, it's Keith Sweat (clearly) - flickr/gwen

This Wizards lost their second summer league game against the Nuggets, and as a unit, they did not look good. But Ernie Grunfeld’s not sweating. He’s probably sitting poolside at the Hard Rock, requesting that the waitress blast some Skynard “Simple Man” over the sound system while he snacks on a cucumber and plays it cool in the 108 degree Vegas heat.

But should the Wizards’ Pres. of B-Ball Ops. (GM) be breaking a sweat over what he’s seen so far in Sin City?

On one hand, as we keep telling ourselves, it’s just a summer league game. The roster players out there will be playing vastly different roles come the regular season. They will be asked to do specialized acts and play within themselves, leaving the bulk of the scoring/defensive/creating duties to the ‘big boy’ players.

On the other hand, Grunfeld must be wondering, “are we really depending on JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire (who might be counted upon to play the four spot) to be key cogs, supporting the efforts of Brendan Haywood and Antawn Jamison down low where the dirty work is done?”

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[photo source: flickr/dskciado]

This is Eduardo Alonso Nájera Pérez, a Mexican victim. Probably not of the swine flu, but definitely a victim of capitalist America’s NBA luxury tax, which is designed in a rather socialist manner to penalize those who spend more money.

Many have wondered where Denver would be if they still had Marcus Camby, who was sold to the Clippers for a 2nd round pick. But watching the energy, hustle, and scrapiness of the Nuggets, led by the Birdman Anderson, it’s easy to see how a big like Nájera might fit better than the frail Camby.

Nuggets coach George Karl hated to see the Big Mexican sign a 4-year $12 million contract with the Nets this past summer, but Kiki had an edict from cost-cutting owner Stan Kroenke (even though anyone might question giving that much to a 32-year old). Still, Kroenke and his wife, a Wal-Mart heir, are both on the Forbes billionaires list (Kroenke is ranked 205 and worth a meager $3 billion).

It’s clear that Denver misses a big man to compete with the Lakers. But I’m here to say that the playoffs as a whole misses the Mexican from Chihuahua, the 10th most marketable player in the NBA.

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On this night of Cinco de Mayo, the Denver Nuggets square off against the Dallas Mavericks, playing in the second game of their first 2nd round series since ’93-94.

In 1994, Denver became the first #8 seed to beat a #1 seed in the NBA playoffs (they only played a five game series back then). Pivotal game four of that series was played on May 5th. Dikembe Mutombo led the Nugs with eight blocks, to go along with 10 points and 16 boards.

But it was the play of LaPhonso Ellis in game four which allowed Denver a chance to return to Seattle and win game five. Ellis dropped 27 points and 17 rebounds on the squad formerly known as the Sonics. Both those numbers remain playoff highs for Ellis. Of course, he only played in 16 career playoff games, 12 coming that year with Denver, and four coming in ’00-01 with Minnesota.

You want more? Well, that night, and today, Cinco de Mayo, happens to be LaPhonso Ellis’ birthday.

So, in a random tribute to Ellis, who shares a b-day with Harold “Baby Jordan FAIL” Miner, and former Wizards training camp/pre-season participant, DerMarr Johnson, I present a YouTube clip of a LaPhonso Ellis monster block.

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