[A John Wall t-shirt seen at the 2010 Columbia Heights Day Festival.]

There’s a reason the Sports-Reference.com family of sites was named one of Time Magazine’s 50 Best Websites for 2010. They have just about everything you’d want, sports fact and statistically speaking, and their search capabilities are always growing … well, if they only had NBA game logs that pre-dated the 1986-87 season.

Nevertheless, I recently gave an assignment to the staff of Truth About It.net, (Rashad Mobley, John Townsend, Arish Narayen and Adam McGinnis). I asked them to go to the Basketball-Reference.com database search page, come up with a creative query, and write something quick about it. I also came up with some quick example searches myself.

For instance, I went to the “Player Game Finder” and ran a simple search selecting ‘Wizards/Bullets’ as the opponent, ‘did not start’ as the role, and sorted by points. (Click here for the full results.)

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Remember last year? I do. I blogged about it and all. In fact, I’ve been blogging about this Wizards team solid since October 2007. And what have I learned most? Curb your enthusiasm. Now, I’m not here to sell you a glass half-empty today that I purchased half-full yesterday. I do, as just about anyone involved with the Wizards, from within the organization to outside, from media to fans, have hope for a better future (thanks to, namely, John Wall and Ted Leonsis).

It’s just that being entrenched in D.C. sports and getting hype for what may lie ahead no longer go hand-and-hand, at least for me. I’m not sure if this feeling has existed within me the whole time, it’s just now I’m older, wiser. Or if the whole Gilbert Arenas gun ordeal last year (as the topping on other D.C. sports futility), which at one point had me contemplating ending this whole blog … briefly, has created a faintly apathetic feeling toward hope (or a hatred of false hope).

My point: Donovan McNabb comes to town and I shrugged my shoulders (and thanks to Mr. Irrelevant, I’ve also been cautioning people that we’ll likely see Rex Grossman start for a couple games). The Wizards land the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft (okay, that was bat-sh*t surprising), and take Mr. John Wall … more shoulder shrugging (sort of).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than thankful that I’ll get to cover Wall, but right now, he’s just a fresh-faced kid who happens to wear the jersey of the NBA team I’m close to.

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Once, when asked about what his team would look like in the coming season, whether it would be more offensively minded, and how it would keep up the intensity on the defensive end, Flip Saunders said:

Well, defensively, the team always takes the personality of their players. The players we have here … are very defensive oriented. The strength of this team from a defensive aspect – how hard they play and how aggressively they play won’t change. What will change is the changing defenses we’ll use, being able to change the tempo of the game will full-court pressure, half-court traps and defenses. Offensively, like our defense, we will always stay aggressive. I always want my teams to attack, and so we will look to push the ball more and score more out of our fast break.

And on whether he would try to evolve a player into a superstar or continue with the teamwork mentality:

In Minnesota, even though we had a great player in Garnett, the team was built on team play. I look for this team to continue that. This team will move the basketball, become a high-assist, low-turnover team playing a very aggressive style.

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Recently, the two first-named Michelle Marie of YoungHollywood.com caught up with Antawn Jamison at some location in the world … and it wasn’t in a dark room featuring an old wooden table, an uncomfortable stool, and a solo Jamison sitting and sipping on some Jameson.

Marie asked ‘Twan how the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to transition without LeBron. The gist of his answer: “It’s going to be interesting.”

Indeed it is, Antawn, indeed it is. He also spit out some generic clichés such as, “It’s a business,” and “It’s not going to be easy.” I don’t think the Gentleman will ever change, and he shouldn’t. In any case, you can watch the video yourself via Yahoo! Sports.

I’ve taken a bunch of pictures while at summer league. The more the merrier is what I say. And I’ll have more to come soon, but the one below is my favorite so far. It was taken just after the Wizards played their second game against the Clippers. The photo is a little blurry because it was taken with more motion (from me and the subjects) than I’d planned for, but I think it turned out just fine. Notice the serious looks on the faces of Flip Saunders on the left and Sam Cassell to the barely right, as if “it’s just summer league.” And then notice how John Wall is just enjoying life.

What most impressed me about John Wall in his debut? His leadership. In fact, I wrote a whole piece about it for ESPN’s Daily Dime … and I’ll link that at some point soon. I’ll also have a bunch of pictures as I sat on the baseline to catch the experience of the game. There will be a bunch more to come on Wall and the Wizards, but until then, there’s a video below of post-game interviews featuring Flip Saunders, Sam Cassell, and of course, Wall (who was rather hard to get to … there was a TON of media in a small, concentrated area trying to interview him. To call it a circus wouldn’t exactly do it justice.) As usual, enjoy.

After the Wizards’ second day of mini-camp, young JaVale McGee messed around a bit with old Sam Cassell for a couple rounds of one-on-one. Let’s check that real quick.

Otherwise, Epic Vale is working hard. And on Friday he was all tuckered out, needing to bend over when initially speaking with the media after the session. He even later Tweeted: “Man … tired ain’t the word … I’m tired as a house.”

Not sure what ‘tired as a house’ means. I imagine that the partied out house of a Miami Heat fan on a celebratory bender is pretty tired right now. Maybe McGee is that tired, except the basketball equivalent.

When speaking about JaVale this afternoon, Flip Saunders twice mentioned that he needs to work on his defensive rebounding. Seems like a pretty big emphasis. Last season, according to 82games.com, the Wizards team defensive rebound percentage was 65% when McGee was on the court. That shot up to 71.6% when he was off the court. So that can’t be good.

Saunders went on to say, “As much from a strength standpoint, going against main type centers, he’s not as strong as some of those guys so he gets pushed around. What happens is he gets in foul trouble so quick and that takes him out of his game. He’s going to have to learn to play at our level and be able to play as far as from the beginning.”

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“Having been from Cleveland and everything we’ve gone through, you’d like to see your hometown do well, so I’m disappointed from that standpoint.”
-Flip Saunders

Yep, ol’ Flip is from Cleveland. But you probably already knew that. The high school All-American and 1973 Ohio Class A Player of the Year averaged 32 points per game during his senior year at Cuyahoga Heights, a school located in the burbs of the Mistake By The Lake.

Actually, my bad. I shouldn’t make fun of Cleveland. Even though Cavs fans lined up by the miles to witness and laugh at the Wizards after the Arenas gun fiasco and the rest of the implosion (including gladly taking the Gentleman Jamison), I cannot laugh at them at this moment. I feel very, very bad for those guys. And with that I say, ‘Join me people of Cleveland, in your distaste for Lebron.’

One quick question … who’s now more indefensible, LeBron or DeShawn Stevenson?

What? Too soon?

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Just a rundown of rather random thoughts, with pictures, after watching John Wall’s workout with the Washington Wizards and being there to interview him.

Wall is one strong kid-looking dude.

I turn 30 the day after the NBA Draft. Not old, but it still feels kinda weird calling a 19-year old who’s about to be the first overall pick a “kid” at my age (although, I’ve been comfortable calling people two years my junior “kid” before, somewhat facetiously though) … but “kid” more in a sense of seeing Wall’s built-for-basketball body while coming to grips that it’s way beyond where he is mentally. He’s just a lil’ guy, except not so little. Not sure any of this makes much sense.

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While Ted Leonsis was getting all the attention today, and deservedly so, there’s also a team being built. Flip Saunders usually isn’t made available to the media before or after pre-draft workouts, so today’s press conference was a good chance to catch up with Saunders and get his thoughts on the process leading up to June 24th.

I asked Flip, with John Wall reportedly set to workout for the Wizards on June 17th, if they’ve scheduled Evan Turner or any other top prospect. So far, the Wizards have hosted more on-the-cusp players who might be available at 30 and 35 or go undrafted.

Saunders deferred to Milt Newton, vice president of player personnel, but later indicated that the Wizards have talked to Turner’s people. The coach also said the Wizards would probably have seven more days of pre-draft workouts with five or six guys each day.

On the process of trying to get players to come workout, Saunders said: Read more »

Most NBA coaches probably still get out on the court to shoot a couple buckets every now and then. Not to say they go out of their way, but there’s always time before or after a practice, or after working out NBA draft hopefuls. And some, a select few, might even try a behind-the-back, through-the-legs layup, which we wouldn’t mind seeing, even if they missed.

Flip Saunders, Cuyahoga Heights’ Finest, did just that after Wednesday’s Wizards pre-draft workout, something only 50% of the head coaches in the NBA Finals can do  — well, I’m making an assumption based on Phil Jackson’s two hip replacement surgeries and his giant sideline chair.

Flip may struggle with trick shots, but he hasn’t lost the shooting touch that once made him Ohio’s Class-A High School Player of the Year and a pretty good player at the University of Minnesota. Let’s watch the coach in action …

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“I know Mr. Pollin had his finger in this pie some place.”

-Ted Leonsis

While talking about pies, you might as well remember the Wizards’ draft lottery color pie and how red was the big winner. And speaking of the red, shall we begin to discuss a team color change?

Here’s a run-down of what was said about the Wizards winning the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery … with some commentary.

Flip’s Preference & The ESPN Lottery Machine

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Some are saying that John Wall in a Wizards uniform should mean the end of Gilbert Arena. They assume the two are incapable of co-existing.

Matt Moore of Pro Basketball Talk and Hardwood Paroxysm makes a solid argument using statistics. On PBT Moore cites Arenas’ high usage rate, and on HP he uses Synergy Sports to outline the types of solo offensive plays involving Arenas last season. Both pieces highlight valid concerns that a Wall-Arenas backcourt will not work because they both need the ball in their hands.

Moore also alludes that the Wizards’ locker room is likely still poisoned and assumes there’s little chance Arenas will emerge from his mess a man changed for the better … and that this would obviously be a bad situation to bring Wall into.

{flickr/Youssef Abdelaal}

Okay, so Ted Leonsis already has one quality that’s in high demand from sports fans … transparency. How many other professional sports team owners have a personal blog where they actually share candid opinion and not boring, patronizing fluff?

Now, more and more, Leonsis is expressing interest in other areas of concern for educated sports fans, especially Wizards fans … advanced statistics.

If you’ll recall, Leonsis proclaimed his belief in basketball analytics on The Mike Wise Show on 106.7 FM in early April. More recently, he reiterated his belief in statistical analysis in an interview with CSN Washington’s Russ Thaler.

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I recently received a copy of “The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work,” by Ted Leonsis, the soon-to-be full owner of the Washington Wizards. I’ve yet to delve into reading, but I get the premise: true success is making money from doing something you enjoy while allowing for yourself and those around you (family, friends and employees/co-workers) to be happy. Doesn’t sound like the easiest task in the world given the constraints of our society today, but that’s why Leonsis wrote the book, to help others understand what he has learned.

“The Business of Happiness” could also apply to the upcoming free-agency of Shaun Livingston. It would certainly make Wizards fans and Flip Saunders happy if Ernie Grunfeld found a way to retain the revitalized guard at a fair price. And it goes unquestioned that Livingston’s basketball presence would also be good for business. But it will ultimately be Shaun’s decision to make, what really matters is his business of happiness.

The guy obviously wants, and needs, to get paid. When you’ve been through a devastating injury like Livingston has, you want some career security, especially when the 24-year old’s athletic skills will continue to diminish with age. But before we get into the balance of playing basketball as a profession and making as much money as possible while putting yourself in a situation to succeed, let’s rewind to look at the player-coach relationship that developed between Livingston and Saunders toward the end of the season. Read more »