Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up fifth is JaVale McGee. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas | Javaris Crittenton]

I’ve long thought that it was Ernie Grunfeld who made me eat crow after NBA Draft night 2008. But really, it was JaVale McGee. Ok, Grunfeld had big hand in serving what was fed to me. That’s why he’s the general manager with a team of trusted scouts and we are the blogger/fan people. But it was JaVale McGee who made the meal, proving us all wrong.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up third is Etan Thomas. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon]

What can I say about Etan Thomas’ season? Well, at least he has intelligence and social involvement to fall back upon.

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Player evaluation time has come again. You can find the evaluations from ’07-08 here. Up first for ’08-09 is Big Oily Pecherov. My thoughts and some images from the season are below, you can check on the full evaluation report on Bullets Forever.

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.

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The internets are ablaze with one specific Wizards trade rumor today.

That trade: JaVale McGee and the #5 pick go to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the #3 pick. The Wizards would then select heartthrob Ricky Rubio and if for some reason he’s not available, the Wiz would “settle” for Hasheem Thabeet.

[via Chad Ford on ESPN then Bullets Forever]

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I’m a huge Antawn Jamison fan. He’s a classy dude, I’ve nicknamed him ‘The Gentlemen’ (hasn’t caught on), and the women folk say he’s got eyebrows for days.

Jamison is the current patriarchal cornerstone of the franchise. This year’s team MVP? Unquestionably. He possesses the never-quit attitude that should be infecting the locker room via leadership by example … Jamison is quite the opposite of past clubhouse cancers, like Christian Laettner.

But sometimes, everyone needs to be questioned, Jamison being no exception.

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The 2009 NBA Draft is on June 25th, an important day in so many ways. For one, it’s my birthday….the onset of my last year in my 20s…..but it’s also the day that the Wizards will be selecting Blake Griffin with the #1 overall draft pick (hopefully).

And while Griffin might not be a franchise changer like Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Shaq O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, he certainly isn’t a Kwame Brown or Michael Olowokandi.

Griffin won’t magically propel the Wizards to the cream of the crop, but he can certainly be a key cog on a potential contender while keeping the ‘Zards poised for the future.

June 25th is a pretty big date…potentially (Dikembe Mutombo will also turn 43 in beyond-human years on 6/25)….but May 19th is much more important. That’s when the order of the NBA is decided via a lottery.

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Many have believed that 18-year old phenom, Ricky Rubio, would not enter the 2009 NBA draft because of a six million Euro buyout from his current contract with DKV Joventut of the Spanish ACB league.

However, recent reports, including one from Draft Express on February 22nd, indicate that via Rubio’s representatives, U.S. agent Dan Fegan, negotiations are under way to reduce Rubio’s buyout to three or four million Euros.

Rubio is very likely to be a top three pick in the ’09 draft which would be the most favorable conditions for a possible buyout. ESPN’s Chad Ford follows up with a Feb. 27th report that there are strong indications that Rubio will be available in the upcoming draft.

How does this benefit the Wizards?

Well, obviously, the potential lottery pick for a team currently tied with Oklahoma City for the second worst record in the NBA (two games behind the league worst Sacramento Kings) gets more valuable in what is considered a weak draft.

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The Question: “Which Wizard do you think would finish last in a race?”

The Answer: According to the voting via text messaging public, team choir boy, Darius Songaila, would “win” a race between him, Etan Thomas and Andray Blatche in a landslide.

Blatche received a decided 45% of the attending fan vote. Perhaps they believed Blatche’s flatulance would be a detriment, or that a stomach full of nachos would weigh him down, but most likely chose Andray because he just lacks stamina.

After the finally tally, the jumbotron displayed a video montage of answers from the Wizards themselves. Some claimed that Songaila would, in fact, finish last, but more seemed to believe that an unlisted candidate, Oleksiy Pecherov, would be pulling up the rear.

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Well, I’m not doing a game blog for the Wizards-Hornets match-up……which was soooo last year……because I actually attended the game. I’m down South visiting family for the new year, and my pops lives a couple hours from New Orleans (he’s a Hornets fan), so it was natural that we attended the game.

So in place of a game blog, me and my amateur photography skills present a photographic slide show of what I saw:

Game Observations:

• Gilbert Arenas was on the bench during the first half……I can’t remember if he was there for the 3rd quarter or not, but he was definitely absent for most of the 4th and down the stretch.

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Caron Butler is out again (I guess this is the “tanking it” that many have been calling for — you know and I know that if this game meant something, Tuff Juice would be spilling himself on the court.)

Q1

11:48: Andray v. Yao….Ming stars off with a fade away miss, Blatche played decent D on him the last time out.

11:00: Instead of staying with Battier,Young zones to Scola with the ball….Jamison is there, but could stand to be closer as Scola can shoot…..Who’s Your Daddy Battier is open in the corner for the swing pass…..three ball. 3-2 Houston.

10:46: Andray takes a college three (top of key) with 15 on the shot clock — don’t care if you’re open Andray — No, No, NO!!

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