“I can…”

…said Kevin Seraphin on draft night 2010, right before he pounded his right fist into his open left hand. Seraphin had just been selected by the Chicago Bulls 17th overall, but the Kirk Hinrich trade was widely known by then, just not official. The 20-year old from the French Guiana was chosen specifically for the Washington Wizards.

He spoke through a French translator during his press conference after being drafted. At one point, in the middle of describing his game, Seraphin busted out his English:

“Rebound, block shot, toughness … like ahh … I can…,” and that’s when he started hitting his fist.

Read more »

The Detroit Pistons, who were pacing the NBA in futility, crushed the 76ers in Philadelphia last night, 94-76. Detroit attacked the rim for 48 minutes and outscored Philly 42-28 in the a paint. Greg Monroe led the way with a 19-point, 18-rebound performance. That win snapped the Pistons’ eight-game skid to start the 2012-13 season, and meant that the Wizards, who fell to 0-7 in Dallas, are the last remaining winless team in the NBA. (Fun fact: The Wizards got off to the worst start in franchise history last season, going 0-8; traditions, it seems, are tough to break.)

But Randy “Rodney Dangerfield” Wittman thinks he knows why his squad is falling short of (playoff) expectations: No respect!

“For whatever reason, this team doesn’t get any respect,” Wittman told NBA.com’s Jeff Caplan. “We go to the rim and had 11 free throws. These young guys just have to make a name for themselves, and it’s just baffling some of the things that are said to me by the refs for why they don’t call it.”

Wittman didn’t stop there: “Maybe we have to send the game film everyday to the league.”

Read more »

[Washington, DC Ward 6 Anacostia Rec Center - photo: K. Weidie]

A free-throw, the most efficient shot in basketball. But the clear irony is that the easiest way to get buckets, son (shout out to Oleksiy Pecherov, who is tearing it up in the Ukrainian Superleague), is often the most ignored difference-maker in games, unless they come at the very end. Then everyone knows the implications, and everyone is watching. It can get pretty lonely at the free-throw line in one’s thoughts.

In a sport where so many flowing events occur at once, instances where observers can focus on one man with the ball are relatively nonexistent. A solo fast-break is one (imagine Dwyane Wade in the passing lane), but even he must watch his back for a futilely hustling defender. Free-throws are another instance. On the court, nothing else is happening, aside the mental and physical jostling along the lane’s hash marks. White noise ready to rebound. All basketball-curious eyes are on a single, methodical routine. The line can be even more of an island when it’s a technical free-throw.

In 2010-11, 11 out of 30 NBA teams attempted 2000 or more free-throws, including the likes of Chicago, Oklahoma City, Miami and Orlando. The cumulative winning percentage of those eleven teams was 0.542. Ten out of 30 teams attempted 1900 or less free-throws, including the likes of Golden State, Detroit and New Jersey. The cumulative winning percentage of those ten teams was 0.508. There are, of course, exceptions. The 19-win Cleveland Cavaliers attempted the eighth most free-throws in the NBA with 2,075. The 57-win, World Champion Dallas Mavericks finished 27th in attempts with 1850. The Washington Wizards finished one attempt above the league average with 1,999, tied with the Charlotte Bobcats for 12th most in the NBA.

Read more »

Cartier Martin is like Clockwork. You need him to be that guy? He’ll be on time. Play defense, hit a corner three, box out and keep the other team from getting a second possession, hit a last-second, game-tying three? He’ll do it. I don’t know if “Clockwork” will stick, but that’s what I’m calling him.

Beautiful shot by Cartier last night by the way. He only sent the game into overtime, no biggie. Kirk Hinrich was supposed to be the decoy, Nick Young the first option and Martin the second, according to Flip Saunders. Let’s take a look after the jump:

Read more »

[Shaw Rec. Center - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

In mid-September, ESPN.com contributor Tom Haberstroh made an attempt to determine the five worst players in the franchise history of each NBA team [ESPN Insider]. The requirements, along with the implementation of John Hollinger’s PER, were:

“… a player needed to have played at least 10 minutes per contest over the course of at least 100 career games with the franchise. Furthermore, we’ve added the “Bruce Bowen Corollary” to exempt players who started for championship teams.”

And the list of distinguished gentlemen for the Bullets/Wizards franchise:

Read more »

Gilbert Arenas’ frustration with what he perceives to be a lack of calls in his favor seemed to culminate on Tuesday night in Toronto. Late in the first quarter, he was given a technical foul by referee Greg Willard for arguing a non-call.

On a drive to the basket, Arenas left his feet for a shot and initiated contact with Toronto’s Amir Johnson. Johnson had his arms straight up, but his body did come into contact with Arenas to the extent that Phil Chenier, Wizards television color-analyst, said he was “incensed” because a foul was not called.

When the whistle wasn’t blown, Arenas circled past the ref on the baseline, clapped his hands together and yelled, “Come on!” This did not warrant a tech. But when Arenas clapped his hands a second time, looking back at the ref and saying something else while running down court, a line was drawn. Willard wouldn’t let Gil continue any further and blew the whistle, adjusting his hands in a perpendicular fashion.

Arenas continued to make impassioned pleas to anyone who would listen. Not as impassioned as Scott Skiles when he was given two technicals and an ejection Wednesday night in the Verizon Center, but it was an issue that continued to be on Arenas’ mind nonetheless, including during the game against the Bucks.

Read more »