A D.C. pic, links, commentary, and whatever you want to call the other stuff…

TAI Recap: John Townsend implores Wizards fans to be more patient because a drastic turnaround next season is not out of the question; if Gilbert Arenas were rebuilding a team, he wouldn’t do it though the draft; Adam McGinnis has one of the rare photos captured from the baseline of Al Thornton’s massive dunk; pictures of Gilbert Arenas and Nick Young in a reunion among friends; Rashad Mobley relays that some young Wizards still don’t understand their role (after several seasons); and when it’s okay for JaVale McGee to dribble full court.

Here’s to NBA draft lottery luck in May for what’s been an excruciating winter for pro basketball fans in Washington. Below the jump, more must-read links…

[Hardy Playground, Washington, D.C. - Yearning For A Sunny Day]

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I wouldn’t exactly go entrusting Gilbert Arenas to head a franchise rebuilding project any time soon. Although, the whole gun thing certainly did have a part in expediting the Wizards’ current rebuilding efforts, so kudos to that.

On the other hand, Arenas is no dummy. Someone who is as quotable and clever-witted as he is, one who has played games with the media in the past, is certainly smart enough to have that brain power translate when it comes to basketball insight as a 10-year NBA veteran (just not always when it comes to where to draw the line with pranks).

Amongst saying this and that after his return to D.C. on Friday night, Arenas had some interesting thoughts on rebuilding and how the Wizards should treat John Wall:

“Just from being a fan of the NBA, I don’t believe in rebuilding teams through drafts. It doesn’t work. Because eventually those guys got to get old at some point. And if they all become successful, eventually you have to pay them … when you can’t afford them. That’s what happened with the Blazers. I mean, you can name every team. They’ll have one, two years of success and then eventually those players … can’t afford them anymore. Oklahoma, you got [Jeff] Green coming up … what are you going to do with him? Then after him you got [Russell] Westbrook, and then the rest of the young guys.

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Back on November 27th when the Washington Wizards last faced the Orlando Magic, four of their five starters struggled mightily.  JaVale McGee was in foul trouble all night trying to guard Dwight Howard; Alonzo Gee, known more for his hustle than his scoring prowess (and now a former Wizard), had eight points and seven rebounds, but really had no effect on outcome. Andray Blatche grabbed 13 rebounds, but scored just 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Kirk Hinrich, starting for the injured John Wall, shot 3-for-12 and finished with nine points.

The fifth starter that night was Mr. Gilbert Arenas, and he lit his future team up for 31 points, and despite the Wizards’ 100-99 loss, Arenas’ play kept them competitive.  He later admitted to the Orlando media that “he had to prove a point” to his friend, and Magic GM, Otis Smith.

Last night, Arenas no longer had to prove a point or show the Magic what he could do, because he was donning the Orlando Magic blue. Rather, Washington fans witnessing his return got more of a meat-and-potatoes version of Arenas; he scored 10 points off the bench to go with six assists, six rebounds and some decent defense. Unfortunately for the Wizards, their starters still struggled, and instead of losing by one point, they lost by 18.

Wall was healthy this time, and put up decent numbers of 14 points, five assists and five rebounds.  But he did not have a good feel for the ball, did not find his teammates consistently and was visibly frustrated by the lack of calls.  He picked up two technical fouls in a span of two minutes late the fourth quarter and he was eventually ejected, and the writers from Truth About It and Bullets Forever immediately began to tally up the resulting fines Wall owed both the NBA and the Wizards.

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Gilbert Arenas begrudgingly dealt with the media on his return trip to Washington on Friday night. Well, that’s not entirely true. He was in no mood to talk before the game. After his Magic handled the Wizards 110-92, and as soon as the press was let into the Orlando locker room, Arenas rolled his eyes and said, “I was doing a lot better about 10 seconds ago.” He then exclaimed that he didn’t mean to be rude, but he was going to go take a shower … as 20 or so members of the media waited.

And they would continue to wait. Arenas knew this. He wants to talk, he just acts like he doesn’t. Yea, you remember ‘that’ guy … because that’s how Gilbert is, always looking for a show, or an angle, or to just make people wait for him. After he disappeared beyond the shower door just next to his spot in the visitor’s locker room, Dwight Howard joked with the media that he wasn’t going to come out.

“Agent Zero!, Agent Zero!,” Howard mocked the mass of microphones and cameras. “Agent One!,” another Magic player responded from across the room. Howard later joked that Arenas was taking a bath while another reporter joked that he might have found an escape route through the drain. Howard clearly didn’t know Arenas and how much the D.C. media, myself included, feeds off just about any quote that comes out his mouth, eager to jettison them into the algorithm in the form of pixels, tiny little pixels. “Well, we’re going to wait,” I responded to Howard at one point.

When Arenas was done with his excruciatingly long shower, he again put on an act of the unwilling.

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Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas were close … still are. When Arenas was traded, before he left town as quickly as a plane could carry him to Orlando, he knocked on Young’s door to tell him the news, and a goodbye. He didn’t even say goodbye to his family (and now we kind of know why), but still … point is, Nick and Gil were a close pair of teammates. Here’s a link to Young talking about Arenas before the Wizards played the Miami Heat on the day of the trade.

Midway through pre-game warm-ups before tip-off of Arenas’ return to Washington as a member of the Orlando Magic, a basketball “mysteriously” went astray from the other side of the floor, bouncing right near Arenas. None other than Young surfaced to claim the errant ball, smile on his face and eager to catch up with his friend. Below are a couple pictures of their encounter…

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Gilbert Arenas’ tenure as a Washington Wizard, on the court and off, will be remembered in a variety of ways. Some long ago formed a set opinion of him, even before the gun incident. For others, that incident tainted his legacy in D.C. forever. Some choose to mostly remember the fun Gil, the one who hit game-winning shots, led his team to wins, and blogged in a fun manner about it all. Still others, such as myself, continue to digest the meaning of his time with the team, and all the extras.

It’s been done before to certain degrees and from certain angles, and yet there is still plenty of time to further contemplate Arenas and the Wizards. But tonight, as Gilbert makes his first return to Washington as a member of the Orlando Magic, it’s time to look back upon his last official act as a Wizard — his last game against the New Jersey Nets on December 16, 2010 — and how the curiosity of his actions, and subsequent loss, is somewhat fitting, also representing just a small decomposing piece amongst the last ruins of a construction project that ultimately failed to get past the second round of the playoffs. We can’t all be champions, and that’s okay … and which is why we seek memories of good and bad otherwise.

Michael Lee had a very good feature story on the Arenas trade in today’s Washington Post. The relevant excerpt:

The deal wouldn’t have occurred without the approval of Wizards owner Ted Leonsis, who had been adamant since the summer that Arenas wasn’t “going anywhere.” Leonsis shot down a rumor a few weeks before, expressing support for Arenas.

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Everyone probably knows a big smart ass and how it’s sometimes hard to determine when they are joking and when they are not. Or someone without a filter that contradicts themselves repeatedly in the same conversation. These are the characteristics of Gilbert Arenas and why I long ago stopped trying to comprehend Gilbertology. I do not have enough degrees to dissect his words, rather, I elect to chalk them up as “Gil being Gil.”

Gilbertology was on full display during Arenas’s lengthy radio interview on Thursday with Mike Wise and Holden Kushner on DC’s 106.7 The Fan.

Arenas discussed his thoughts on John Wall, reflected on his experience in Washington, revealed what he really told Andray Blatche, took responsibility for his mistakes, hoped Wizards’ fans will eventually forgive him, and opened up about his time in the halfway house, where he learned to play chess.

The juicy parts, since we’ve yet to hear Arenas comment on this matter, were him refuting some of the personal dirty laundry that the mother of his children and ex-finance, Laura Govan, had been airing in public. He somewhat told his side of the story and kept returning, often unprovoked, to the sore subject of his failed relationship. You could definitely tell he is knee deep in the angry, bitter stage of grief.

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[Brentwood Park - NW Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

My column last week in the DCist incited some reaction from ’round the web. It wasn’t my intention to incite, rather to simply convey thought-out passion through words, so I cannot find any fault in any passionate responses. Furthermore, I’d like to provide some bullet point thoughts below (and then some links).

• “Bold moves” was in reference to the on-court product and those who have a direct influence (players, coaches, basketball operations personnel, team doctors).
• “Bold moves” was not in reference to the surrounding bells and whistles and other shots of energy regarding the franchise, which are more than welcome — Midnight Madness, an alumni association, more attentiveness to stadium needs — but overall, those are mere distractions from the win-loss column.
• Trading Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas is not classified under “bold moves” … they were necessary moves.
• Other moves have been noted and appreciated for their forward-thinking manner — getting Yi Jianlian for essentially nothing, the 17th pick and Hinrich from the Bulls for minimal returns. But also, what would the rebuilding product look without the luck of the draft and John Wall? I shudder to imagine.
• However, this team, even in rebuilding mode, had some glaring inefficiencies that were easily observed long ago. And now, they clearly have had a detrimental effect upon the on-court product — most notably, a lacking inside presence (demonstrated by both offensive and defensive numbers) and lack of adequate outside shooting (the Wizards are in the bottom third of the NBA in both 3p%, .338, and 3pM/G, 5.4). Solutions to these areas are not found overnight, but more creativity could have been used in seeking stop-gaps for this season.
• Many people, such as myself, are not GMs … but it’s evident that these player personnel issues could have been better addressed while continuing to assume minimal financial risk for the future (if not less – see: OKC trade for Daequan Cook/18th pick from Miami in return for the 32nd pick).
• A post by Washington Post editors on Wizards Insider came close to insinuating that my DCist piece was calling for Flip Saunders’ job … not necessarily the case.
• Flip Saunders is a good coach. He hasn’t been provided with the best roster — or even a balanced roster (as Saunders has made subtle complaints to this point, before and after the Gilbert Arenas trade) — so much of the blame for current and past woes lies on the basketball operations side. But the jobs of both Saunders and Ernie Grunfeld are connected, as in Grunfeld hired Saunders. On June 19, 2003, the Wizards hired Eddie Jordan before bringing Grunfeld on board on June 30 (Grunfeld was released from his contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on June 29; on June 27, he traded Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Joe Smith and Anthony Peeler) … So there are some sensitivities in which position begets the other. I’m not saying that a GM/team president ‘must’ make coaching calls, but it would help if he was in on the process, in the least.
• These are not easy decisions to make, they are “bold” decisions … but also ones which require due diligence and should not be a salve to a frustrated fan base.
• Then again, the fans have seen enough … Perhaps Grunfeld’s past record, before the Leonsis regime, is simply not as much of a factor when it should be.
• To put it another way, Flip Saunders is doing a decent job of developing some of his young players who are coach-able. Those who are not coach-able should be shown the door. But by whom? Should the responsibility of purging the team of unintelligent and unwilling players be tasked to the person who put them there in the first place? Maybe an individual is the best person to correct his own mistakes … I don’t know … but in this instance, that doesn’t seem to be the idea frame for a true rebuilding project.
• It’s not an outlandish opinion or reaction to say that certain aspects of the Wizards’ basketball operations team have gotten stale over the past seven years … but can you get rid of a GM/team president while keeping the coach? What will that do to the coach? Or the GM’s replacement?
• Again, these are not easy decisions to make, but at this point, speaking of Saunders specifically, there’s not a compelling reason to fire him in the middle of this season. As much conviction that Saunders might lack with a young team, it could be more detrimental to their development to have a shocking change of scenery as their effort in games, albeit losses, seems to be mounting … for most players at least.
• I have no problem with Groupon or with the fact that the team is using Groupon to get butts in seats — I actually think it’s a great idea — but sometimes “new age” sales tactics can be poked fun at. Oh well. Roll with the jabs.
• And yes, you do occasionally see ads for Groupon on this very site. Most of them are actually driven by Google AdSense (at least those you might see on the top-level banner or the long side banners). There are small Groupon “banners” to the right under the site’s top image and one at the very bottom of the right-hand side bar. These are simply generic Groupon place-holders which don’t necessarily display product-specific ads. Essentially, I would like to further “monetize” this site with Groupon offerings, but have personally fallen short on taking that next step. Content, not ads, is the goal. We are a small operation with day jobs. It happens.
• Ted Leonsis doing a great job and I applaud his efforts … but just as hard as rebuilding is on fans and those who cover the team, it will be just as hard on a very present owner who is trying in earnest to counteract negativity — “Pixels of Despair” — with uber-positivity.
• The bumps and bruises and tough times don’t just happen on the court … painful work now will hopefully pay off with an even better feeling about accomplishment in the future.
• But until then, we can beg to differ on certain aspects of the “process.”
• Read this, I wasn’t trying to confuse the author.

LINKS!

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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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Figured a picture of Pookie via New Jack City was apropos considering the title of this post that features commentary and links…

But, unrelated, here are some pictures of Wizards…

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