Truth About It.net will turn a whole five years old at the end of this October.

Hard to believe/interesting. Nonetheless, over the life of the site from the 2007-08 season to 2011-12, we’ve seen/lived/suffered through 131 wins, 263 losses, four coaches, two owners, one GM/team president, one Phil Chenier mustache removal, and 56 total players (amazingly, 48 players over the last three seasons).

You may have heard of ESPN’s #NBArank project, now in year two. Now hear of #WizardsRank, where we rank each of those 56 players during Truth About It.net’s five-year run.

TAI anonymously polled 27 members of the Wizards pixel establishment — from mainstream media to new media, TAI staffers included, to a few pixel consumers (readers of the site) — and got 17 responses.

Read more »

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.

Read more »

[Larry Brown runs his players though some pre-game drills - photo: Adam McGinnis]

Kyle Weidie mentioned how terrible the Charlotte Bobcats looked in a 108-75 route at the hands of the last place Wizards on Monday night, and “terrible” (“on all cylinders”) was the exact word used by Stephen Jackson afterward to describe the beat down. Coach Larry Brown had a “walk off” press conference. He depressingly discussed how bad a coach he was, blamed himself for letting his young players down and stated that it looked like the first day of practice. Brown concluded, “Maybe it was a pick-up team playing against an NBA team.”

Paraphrased LB: “I suck ‘cuz the team sucks, it is my fault, I’m out.”  His comments totaled a minuscule minute and twenty one seconds. I was too down from his melancholy mood to ask a question before he bolted away from the handful of media members.

Then, it was time for me to go ask players mired in a free-fall of a season, who just got shellacked by 33 points to a team missing their star rookie and jettisoned All-Star, a bunch of Wizards-centric questions or quiz them about how they got outscored 27-4 in the first 9:37 of the third quarter and made only one FG (1-14 shooting) in the entire period. Fun times, indeed.

The “demeanor” on every player was that of a hoop squad that just got embarrassingly whooped, their comments relaying a similar sour refrain as their coach. To fans and media who are critical of professional athletes when they display insufficient remorse after defeats, the mood I witnessed in the Charlotte locker room could be the silver lining for Bobcats fans, because the loss visibly stung.

Read more »

[Ed. Note: I'm going to warn you. Rashad is about to divulge himself as a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Please, do not be outraged. I already knew this and it is okay. He's a fine young man (who's older than me) and you should not hold his fandom of a certain team about 140 miles north against him. Now Mr. Mobley is going to explain why the Bobcats are worth checking out, aside from wondering if Gerald Wallace is going to injure yet another Wizard. -Kyle W.]

I have been a Philadelphia Eagles fan since 1985 when I saw Randall Cunningham running and passing his way to superstardom.   And although they have just one Super Bowl appearance and no titles during my 25 years of  loyalty, my allegiance remains strong.

Unfortunately,  since sports is mostly about business and not fan loyalty, some of my favorite players have left the Eagles via trade, free agency or waivers.  Randall Cunningham retired as an Eagle and then unretired and played for Minnesota; Reggie White left for Green Bay via free agency; Terrell Owens was released and then he signed with Dallas; and just this past summer, Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins.

Read more »

The Wizards worked out four players on Wednesday: Jerome Dyson, G, Connecticut, 6’4, 190 lbs.; Devin Ebanks, F, West Virginia, 6’9, 215 lbs.; Magnum Rolle, F/C, Louisiana Tech, 6’11, 225 lbs.; and Devin Sweetney, G, Morgan State, 6’4, 180 lbs..

Ebanks, an early-entry draft candidate after two seasons at West Virginia, was the big name of Wednesday’s group. He’s currently mocked going 23rd overall to the Minnesota Timberwolves by NBADraft.net, 31st overall to the New Jersey Nets by DraftExpress, and is in Chad Ford’s “next five” after the first round.

Many believe Ebanks to be a lottery talent, but his inconsistency, especially on the offensive end and especially in terms of aggression, has kept his stock waning toward the end of the first round to the second round.

Other the other hand, he’s a good defensive player (6’7″ without shoes and a 7’0.25″ wingspan), a nice very nice rebounder, and has the ability to slash to the bucket. Ebanks has been compared to anyone from Rudy Gay, to Shawn Marion, to Jared Jeffries to Corey Brewer.

Read more »

Now that the franchise worst 16-game losing streak has departed, it’s time to remember the players who have departed the Wizards this season — via trade or release, not suspension or injury, and only those who actually received minutes.

Below you will find portraits of the departed along with their story from the night pictured and a video clip of a selected quote. Enjoy … I think.

{DeShawn Stevenson}

Depart Date: February 13, 2010

Read more »

Amidst all that went on Wednesday night (the trading of Antawn Jamison to Cleveland and a basketball game, of all things), I thought it would be a good idea to stroll around the very sparse Verizon Center concourse (you can probably chop the “announced” attendance of 13,143 by 40%) during halftime and a bit during the third quarter to get a beat on the fan pulse/reaction to the trade.

---

Quick Links

Read more »

Before they lost to the Thunder and before Flip Saunders got extremely perturbed, bumping a 40-game evaluation period down to 30 games when it was originally 20 games, I asked various Wizards what was their favorite present that they gave someone else for Christmas/the holidays. Several of them, such as Dominic McGuire, Fabricio Oberto, Mike James, Mike Miller, JaVale McGee, Nick Young, Andray Blatche, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas answered.

It’s just Wizards being Wizards y’all.

At 10-20, with more than a record’s reason to be distraught, i.e., read this piece on Hardwood Paroxysm by Matt Moore, people ask me if it’s hard covering the team. I say …

1) I’ll always love the Wizards.

Read more »

In my initial Wizards-Pacers game post, I was completely remiss in not mentioning the foul with 0.5 seconds which gave Mike Dunleavy the game winning free-throws.

In his post-game interview, Brendan Haywood cited the defense allowing Earl Watson and Tyler Hansbrough to do whatever they wanted in preceding key possessions as one of the main causes of defeat (along with a horrendous second quarter), but I got the feeling that most everyone on the team felt they got cheated out of a win because an unjust foul was called.

Is that so?

“The call … I looked at it ten times, that call at the end. They called the foul on Brendan Haywood. If the foul was called on Brendan Haywood, the game was over … so that was a bad call.” -Flip Saunders

Read more »

[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.]

---

- When I initially read that the Wizards would unify and rally around the recent passing of owner Abe Pollin, I must admit I had a certain degree of cynicism.  I wasn’t doubting the sincerity of their feelings around Abe’s death, because I have no doubt that he touched each and every one of those players in some way.  Being touched is one thing–translating that into a team that plays well together in every facet of the game is another.  But on a night where Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler combined for 18 points, the Wizards were still able to win by 10, despite losing double digit leads one more than one occasion.  I don’t know whether Coach Saunders has found his rhythm substitution-wise, or if Abe is inspiring this team from above, but it was nice to see the Wizards put two strong efforts together.

-JaVale McGee checked into the game unusually early (with 3.27 left in the 1st quarter), and Coach Saunders clearly must have known that was the right move, because his impact was immediate.  Within 15 seconds of entering the game, McGee had a first block on Jermaine O’Neal.  Two minutes later he scored on a pretty finger roll around O’Neal.  A few seconds later he blocked a Joel Anthony shot, and then he stole the ball from Udonis Haslem with 15 seconds left in the quarter.  McGee only played 15 minutes total, and he didn’t have much of an effect on the game after the first quarter, but it was nice to see McGee do the little things and be seemingly content.

-Just last week I wrote an article about Nick Young‘s inconsistency, and I questioned whether he was truly ready to step in and be an effective contributor to this Wizards’ team.  On Wednesday, lost in the shuffle between Eddie Jordan’s return and Abe Pollin’s untimely death, was the start and solid play of Nick Young.  In that game, Young scored  20 points on 50% shooting, and he seemed to develop some confidence.  Against the Heat, Young’s confidence only increased with a 22 point, five assist performance.  But more importantly, Young played solid defense on Dwyane Wade who had burned the Wizards for over 40 points in their prior meetings.  Wade was held to 18 points on 6-of-19 shooting, and much of that was Young’s defense.  He consistently had a hand in Wade’s face, and he forced him to take some uncharacteristically bad shots.  More importantly, he played well with the starting lineup of Jamison, Haywood, Arenas and Butler.

Read more »