[Fort Stevens Rec Center - NW Washington, DC - photo: K. Weidie]

As I get ready to take an extended summer vacation off to a location across the ocean, I can’t help how different this NBA summer feels. Yes, the lockout… But I’m also thinking about NBA players — who they are, how they are, where they are. Oh yea, and they’re also jumping across the pond lately.

NBA players are… themselves, for better or worse. Real people. I’ve known this. Covering the Wizards closely over the past couple of seasons has enforced this. It’s not breaking news.

It’s the coverage and opt-in exposure surrounding professional athletes as a whole, much less NBA players, that is vastly different now. Although, delving through the late David Halberstam’s brilliant book The Breaks Of The Game — about the world of pro basketball and the 1979-80 Portland Trailblazers — has helped me realize that while the times change fast, many principles simply get updated and don’t change much.

Halberstam discusses many themes in a changing NBA from some 30-years ago that can apply to the league landscape today. But when it comes to drastic change, it involves media coverage operating in a world where players serve as their own branded media machines. Hence, much of the traditional media (and new media) is forced to practice a mechanical-like re-conveyance of what the players put out on the open market. Yes, very different indeed.

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[John Wall weaves his way to the hoop and draws a foul versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.]

It is axiomatic that the NBA is a copycat League, especially given the incestuous nature of most coaching/front office jobs. This season, there is a stunning lack of parity: eight teams have a realistic chance of winning the title (and that’s being a bit generous). The other twenty-two are either a) borderline top-tier, b) making aggressively mediocre moves, c) rebuilding, or d) owned by Michael Jordan. For rebuilding teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the gold standard.

An NBA front office can only pitch a Rebuild to a fan base for so long. Most passionate fans will eventually get tired of seeing a middling product on the court — there has to be ‘A Plan.’ Today, the language of The Rebuild abounds. Organizations are increasingly looking to the Thunder as a model that must be emulated in order to resurrect their franchises. Indeed, Oklahoma City’s ‘blue print’ is the prototypical example of a successful NBA rebuild.

Last year, the Thunder were a Pau Gasol offensive rebound away from forcing Game 7 against the Lakers. This year, at the trading deadline, Thunder GM Sam Presti added Kendrick Perkins to an already formidable, athletic front-court, presumably giving Oklahoma City the size to match up with any playoff contender. Hailed by many to be a case of Presti-fleecing-Ainge, the Perkins acquisition represents the culmination of a four year rebuilding process by the Thunder. After extending Perkins’ contract, the pieces are in place for several years of relevance.

While the media heaps praise upon the current iteration of the Team From Seattle, many more are paying close attention as to how Oklahoma City reached their current perennial-playoff-contender status. Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is certainly a fan of Presti’s work. What transactions are Leonsis and (hopefully) GM Ernie Grunfeld learning from? In short, Presti dealt Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis (back when he was good, sorry Rashard), and took on Kurt Thomas’s expiring contract, all in the name of stockpiling draft picks and maintaining salary cap flexibility for the future. The Thunder also got lucky in the draft: Oklahoma City has three top-5 players. The Wizards are no strangers to lottery luck, but a draft haul like Durant/Westbrook/Ibaka in two years might be tough. Notwithstanding the draft, I’d settle for a front office that recognizes value when it is presented to them.

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Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis transparently concedes rebuilds are messy and painful, as he asks fans for patience and faith while the roster is retooled for the future.  He forgot to mention the word that immediately came to mind after witnessing the Milwaukee Bucks 95-76 destruction of the Wizards on Tuesday night at the Verizon Center: Embarrassing. Those partaking in Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras festivities were better served than fans suffering through another demoralizing defeat.

Flip Saunders was disappointed that his backcourt did not respond to the challenge, Trevor Booker questioned the team’s heart, and John Wall admitted to playing terrible.

The Bucks, who the Wizards hammered just a few weeks prior, blew open a tight game in the second quarter and never were seriously challenged again. They toyed with the Wizards and were able to get any shot they wanted. Milwaukee has struggled with scoring all season, yet, they appeared to be high offensive juggernaut versus Wizards hapless defensive resistance.

Andray Blatche was unable to return after spraining his right shoulder early in the first quarter. To the shock of Blatche haters, the “third option” offensive presence was definitely missed as the Wizards struggled to score points. Sloppy ball-handling did not help the cause either, the Wiz Kids finished with 22 turnovers to only 17 assists. Rookie Jordan Crawford led the team with 22 points but tallied a plus/minus of minus-22.

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[Editor's note: Ryan Gracia is majoring in sports communication and journalism at George Mason University and freelances for work for TAI can be found here, here and here.]

{photo: A. McGinnis, TAI}

As my eyes wandered away from the court for a moment during Tuesday night’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, a rarely-seen-before sight from my peripheral view quickly brought my attention back to the court. The Wizards’ 56^th pick in the 2010 draft was headed to the scorer’s table, getting ready to make just his fifth appearance all season. That sight got me smiling and fist-pumping – and definitely would have unintentionally gotten me on the Verizon Center “Fist Pump Cam” if it were happening then.

It wasn’t just the sight of Hamady N’diaye finally getting a chance to prove his worth that got me excited. It was simply seeing him jog to check in. Let me repeat: He showed excitement to play the sport he loves and actually jogged to the scorer’s table. N’diaye and his enthusiasm didn’t look like the typical substitute hopelessly aiming to show his rares amidst an unknown opportunity. But maybe the change turned out to be exactly that – hopeless at first, yet impactful in a 5:28 stint.

Andray Blatche’s newest shoulder injury experienced three minutes into the Bucks game, depleting (depth-wise) an already-depleted (skill-wise) Wizards frontcourt, paved the way for N’diaye to be thrust under the bright lights of the house that Abe Pollin built.  Flip Saunders was caught in quite a pickle with just Yi Jianlian and Hamady as the only big men hoping for their number to be called at that point in the game. And the Wizards coach made a great choice by choosing the gap-toothed man from Senegal, who hasn’t played for the Wizards since mid-December (with time spent in the D-League in between).

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This is Mike Bibby, son of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, 32-year old member of “Team Dime” and post-game interview backwards hat wearer. Such an unwilling member of the Washington Wizards Bibby was, that on Monday he surrendered a scheduled payment of $6.2 million dollars for the 2011-12 season so he could relinquish hammer and hard hat contributions to Ted Leonsis’ rebuilding project. The Washington team owner subsequently called it, “a piece of unexpected and positive news for our franchise.”

Bibby might have avoided giving his only post-game home locker room interview as a member of the Wizards after a loss to the Dallas Mavericks last Saturday night had I not stopped him as he made his way toward the exit; most other members of the Washington professional basketball press corps were busy giving their attention to another member of Bibby’s now former team. In his answers, Bibby referred to the young Wizards team more as “they” than “us” — understandable, supposedly.

In the exclusive video below, Bibby talks exclusively to those allowed access to the Wizards locker room and answers a question, exclusively asked by someone else,  about getting into the scoring record book for the Washington Wizards, in a less than exclusive manner (as I’ll soon explain).

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When Ted Leonsis said there would be an increased emphasis on player development in his list of 101 Things (action item No. 29), specifically involving the D-League, Wizards followers gave a collective ‘We’ll believe it when we see it.’ Not so much in doubt of Leonsis’ words, but more so because they’ve been conditioned under the tenure of team president Ernie Grunfeld that development and building for the future was paid more of a whimsical, cursory attention, as the franchise’s number one team builder always seemed instructed to focus on winning in the now.

Not that Grunfeld and his team did not pay attention to the scouting and the draft, but rather, for a myriad excuses one could presumably always find (see: the Wizards’ D-League affiliate, the Wizards, being in Bismarck, North Dakota and/or supplying said team with players to develop wouldn’t best jibe with the intricate offensive system that past coach Eddie Jordan was trying to instruct). Essentially, the D-League has never been worth Grunfeld’s time, warranted or not, aside from sending down the likes of Peter John Ramos or Andray Blatche for a spell in the earlier days (2005-06), and when the affiliate franchise was much closer in Roanoke, Virginia (the Dazzle), or during last season when a franchise in flux was interested in taking a gander at cheap labor while likely appeasing the desires of league higher-ups to use the development league for it’s true intent.

In any case, upon surely leaving out detail on the past unknown team development protocol that will only be known to organization insiders, ideals toward positive future development efforts changed when 2010 draft pick (No. 56 overall) Hamady N’Diaye was assigned to the Dakota Wizards on January 5. But such a path to the basketball enlightenment for the one called “H” almost didn’t happen. Unsigned in the days leading up to training camp, sentiment from the team indicated that they’d rather N’Diaye take his talents overseas for a year or two, something those on the player’s side didn’t seem amicable toward. Rather than lose his rights completely, the Wizards ended up extending a contract tender to N’Diaye and ultimately signed him to the team for training camp and into the season. Now, after a taste of life in the big leagues, just a taste, Hamady works on his very raw skills in the landscape of bus rides and meager per diems.

In steps Joey Whelan.

Whelan covers the D-League’s Dakota Wizards for KFYR-TV in Bismark. You can find him at his blog, Wizards Watch, as well as on Twitter, @JoeyWhelan. He has also contributed to multiple basketball sites on the world wide web. Now, Whelan is here with a guest piece for Truth About It.net, catching us up on the development of the uber-personable N’diaye on his road in the D-League. Enjoy. Read more »

Happy Holidays and Happy December 24th. Whatever you’re doing today, hopefully your’e not working. And if you are, here’s to you. I’ll be kind of working … over at ESPN.com’s TrueHoop blog, I’ll be hosting the show today, kicking off the next six weekdays of various hosts from the TrueHoop Network. So throughout Friday I’ll be doing some things over there, and I’ll be doing some things over here at TAI. Thanks for stopping by.

As for the holidays … after all the feel-good stuff, one of the most important aspects of the holiday season is presents … gifts. Sure, just material goods, but also something our economy pretty much depends on. But we all know that presents are best when you enjoy giving them more than getting them.

Last year, I polled several Wizards about the favorite gift that they gave to someone else for Christmas. This year, I asked many of the players about some of the best, and worst, presents that they’ve ever received. It’s all in the video below …

Thanks to The Low Budget Crew for the featured music from their album “A Low Budget Christmas.” Check kevbrown.blogspot.com for more info, download featured at 2 Dope Boyz.

Remember that goofy Bobby Knight “Game Face” display during some press conference long ago? Whether you do or you don’t, let’s take it to YouTube (it’s No. 2 in the countdown of top Knight soundbites):

But what about pre-game faces? Well, thanks to TAI’s Adam McGinnis, we have some of those faces from last Tuesday’s Wizards-Lakers game below. But first …

Truth About It is giving away more free Wizards tickets, this time two lower-level tickets to Saturday’s Wizards game versus the Miami Heat, courtesy of StubHub.

How do you win the tickets? Like last time, at around 3 PM EST this afternoon, Friday, December 17, I will be posting a Wizards-related trivia question on the TAI Twitter account: @Truth_About_It. The first person to email, NOT Tweet, the correct answer to truthaboutit@gmail.com will have two (2) tickets — Section 117, Row F — waiting for them at the Verizon Center Will Call for Saturday night’s 7 PM game.

The trivia question last time was: “Before playing last game @ US Airways Arena in 97, the Wash. Wizards signed a player who prev. played in 345 total gms as a Bullet. Name him”

And Brent Sanet chimed in first with the right answer, which was Ledell Eackles. What will the question be this time? You’ll have to stay tuned to find out. Read more »

Young Kevin Seraphin and young Hamady N’Diaye. Bound by their knowledge of the French language and born abroad, these fresh faces couldn’t be having more fun chasing basketball dreams in the capital of the United States.

Happy-go-lucky guys they are, but hard workers and promising talent as well, especially the bruising Seraphin who you’ve seen more of on the court lately (just observe him set screens), and who you likely could see a fair bit of tonight against the Miami Heat as JaVale McGee’s availability is limited — according to Michael Lee, he’s available, but won’t start.

Rewind back to last Saturday night at the Verizon Center for a second. Into the locker room, before the game while the media is allowed to mingle in the team’s home sanctuary, Seraphin and N’Diaye came bounding through the threshold, literally arm and arm as they’ve been figuratively (Seraphin’s English is a work in progress; N’diaye, fluent in multiple languages, helps Seraphin via French).

Doing a jig-type dance, they were, bringing smiles to faces. My Flip-Cam ignited to capture them doing so when someone from the media contingent dedicated to covering Yi Jianlian requested that Seraphin and N’Diaye do what they called their new pre-game dance again. So now you can enjoy …

From FreeDarko’s Undisputed Guide To Pro Basketball History:

“Madison Square Garden, the game’s most hallowed arena, is the Mecca of Basketball. But this nickname had little to do with devotion to the sport; it was borrowed from the Shriners’ Mecca Temple, a venue that hosted boxing and wrestling matches in the ’20s and ’30s.”

Don’t forget to go buy that book, here’s a reminder why.

So, what happens when some of the Wizards’ big men go through their pre-game warm-up routine while some of the Knicks City Dancers do the same, on the same court? Or when Andray Blatche keeps loose with a game of one-on-one with Sam Cassell?

This video:

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A D.C. pic, links and commentary …

[Dupont Circle Metro, NW D.C. - K. Weidie]

The Wizards are going to start the season with a roster of 15 that includes Cartier Martin, Lester Hudson and Hamady N’diaye. On a developing team, this was the exact, right thing to do. Anything less would have been uncivilized. And if it happens where the Wizards need an extra roster spot to complete an unbalanced trade, I’m sure something can be figured out when and if the team reaches that juncture.
[Wizards Insider]

So Gilbert Arenas shaved his beard. For the record, I think Beards > Long pointy sideburns.
[Gilbertology]

Michael Lee has another good player profile, this time on Kevin Seraphin, which includes a funny quote from someone familiar with the French speaker, Rodrigue Beaubois of the Dallas Mavericks. Beaubois says, “He’s a beast. Physically, he’s amazing. He’s very strong. He’s a big baby, that’s for sure. I really think he’s going to be good for [the Wizards].” A big baby.
[Washington Post]

Now check out Seraphin’s rap in Creole.
[Wizards Insider]

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ESPN Insider has a pretty cool feature … Marvel comic book covers for each NBA team. John Wall is naturally featured for the Wizards. It kinda looks like him, but mostly doesn’t. What I’m most curious about is what that shadowy figure in the background is supposed to represent. Gilbert Arenas? Other point guard opponents? I like to think it’s John Calipari. Click here to check out the comic book covers for other teams (again, you must have an ESPN Insider account … sorry) — the cover for the Cavaliers has to be especially annoying to Cleveland fans … and no, it’s not a rendering of Antawn Jamison playing Mr. Glass.

LINKS.

A panel of six NBA scouts are cumulatively picking the Wizards to finish tied with the 76ers for 8th in the East. Evidently one scout believes the Wizards will be 6th in the East, two others think the Wiz will finish 12th.
[Sports Illustrated]

Hamady N’diaye is as positive as punch as he tries to fight his way onto the Wizards’ roster. With Sean Marks and Adam Morrison being cut today, his chances, along with those of Lester Hudson and Cartier Martin, just got a good deal better. It might all come down to what Ernie Grunfeld values more: the 56th pick or an open 15th roster spot.
[Washington Post]

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A regular season chock full of meaningful games is ever so close. In fact, the last Wizards preseason game is tonight against the Pistons in Detroit Toledo, OH … and then we have to wait a whole eight days until Washington basketball opens the regular season in Orlando against the Magic on TNT on October 28.

Summer is a speck in the rear view mirror. But just before it’s set to disappear, I took the opportunity to ask several Wizards what was the most relaxing thing they did this past summer. Most seemed to enjoy the time they were able to spend with family. One particular Wizard got his heart broken and spent a lot of time watching movies about love. Just watch.

[Featured Music: "Mandatory" by The Five One -- You've probably seen me use music by this local DMV band before; be sure and vote for them for MTV-U's 'Freshman Video of the Week']

A D.C. pic, some Michael Jordan commentary, and links …

[Cavalier Liquor - 14th St. & Parkwood Pl. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

Not All For Nothing, Perhaps.

Michael Jordan, as owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, is trying to do things the right way, this time … so it seems. There’s a must-read on TrueHoop right now called, “Michael Jordan’s Bobcat Comeback.” This induced several thoughts:

• I’m not privy to all the insider knowledge of the disconnect between Jordan’s “people” and Abe Pollin’s “people” during Jordan’s tenure as a player and executive in D.C. — However, just as inept as Jordan seemed to be, or rather, bad at building a team/community environment, one could easily lay blame on both sides of the track. Pollin, a great man for his community and his employees, was also known to be a bit fickle and set in his ways.
• For instance, it seemed to be well-known that “agents” weren’t high on Pollin’s list of likable figures, especially David Falk (Jordan’s agent). One could insinuate that Pollin generalized the nature of agents as “inherently evil,” which might be taking a little too far. Pollin was a man who instead opted for handshakes and looks-in-the-eye in a changing environment that called more for established protocol, and hence, agents as intermediaries. He couldn’t separate the issue of “old school trust,” dealing directly with players, in which Pollin, being the older, smarter, richer man, would have had the advantage, versus the fine print of crossing Ts and doting Is on a legal document as a CYA contingency needed on the part of the players (and teams).
• Of course, I’ve also shared some of Pollin’s sentiment regarding agents.
• So, Pollin might not have always had optimal relationships with agents (although I’m sure there were some he got along with) … but still, it’s easy to deduce how being slow to adopt the necessities of a changing league, or an unwillingness to let bygones be bygones and build more holistic unity, served to the detriment of the Wizards franchise for a long time.
• Which circles me back to my point about Jordan … what if he’s learned his lesson? Or at least has become more willing to see things from a different perspective? Or, has just become a nicer guy to deal with? People can change. It’s a scientific fact. And not saying that Pollin didn’t change, or learn lessons, during my tenure closely following the franchise for the past 20 years, I’m just saying that the “set in his ways” idea is not baseless.
• I recently appeared on a sports talk radio show in St. Louis, At The Buzzer with Brian Doolittle (Episode 17). Brian asked me to comment about the recent signing of Kwame Brown by Jordan’s team … and I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. How should Wizards fans feel about the reunion between Jordan and Kwame? Should they not care? Should they hope they both fail together? Should they hope for redemption? It’s easy to not be a fan of Kwame, and I’ll leave it at that for now, otherwise opting for apathy.
• But it got me thinking … Ted Leonsis, as a minority owner under Pollin, was very instrumental in bringing Jordan to the Wizards in the first place (Jordan and Pollin previously had some “run-ins,” if you will). Leonsis wanted to make a splash with marketing pizazz,  glitter and the what-not (see also: giving Jaromir a then-record $77 million contract in 2001) … both situations failed pretty epically.
• However, as the case with most smart men, the lesson out of the whole situation was not lost on Leonsis, as he has admitted himself. You don’t build teams with big splashes (well, sometimes you do, but it’s rare and risky). Leonsis is undoubtedly better set up to succeed because of what he was able to observe — as a result of his own actions and as a result of how the franchise was previously run.
• The Michael Jordan Experiment, as bitter of a memory as it is/was for Wizards fans, ended up making Leonsis a better owner … and in all likelihood, a better, more consistent franchise (of the community) for the future. Ah, the cycle of life.
• So, you see, perhaps Jordan can change too (and maybe even Gilbert Arenas as well! — Matt Moore, if you’re listening). Maybe Jordan, like Leonsis, can learn lessons from past mistakes that he’s created — Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison. Okay, not much of a lesson there aside from the necessity of doing the bare minimum of due diligence >>>> TINY-HANDED PLAYERS ARE NOT MADE IN ONE WORKOUT … THOSE WITH WISPY MUSTACHES DON’T HAVE NBA CAREERS PREDICATED ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEARS.
• I am now unsure as to why I just typed in all caps (probably for some sort of effect), and why all of this is organized in bullet-point form.
• Otherwise, that’s all I got … hindsight is 20/20, but sometimes you have to go through bad visions to get to better ones … not all for nothing, perhaps.

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A D.C. pic and links …

I came across this big banner hanging on a building at the northeast corner of 13th and L Streets NW, about nine blocks or so from the Verizon Center. It features “Monumental Action” and the Verizon Center website URL followed by Alex Ovechkin, Andray Blatche, Crystal Langhorne, Beyoncé Knowles (I believe), and who appears to be Chris Wright of the Georgetown Hoyas. The logo of the Ted Leonsis-led group, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, is featured in the lower right-hand corner. I’m not sure what other monumental banners are around the city (or DMV area), or how long this has been up (the Monumental logo was released on July 16), but I am curious to see if Blatche will allow himself to be the Wizards representative of Monumental Sports in the future.

Preparation “H”

Michael Lee reports that it’s unlikely the Wizards will sign 2010 second round draft pick (56th overall) Hamady N’diaye, rather likely opting to let him develop in Europe.
[Wizards Insider]

I had a feeling something like this was coming, as N’diaye remained unsigned, and it was previously reported that an Italian team had interest in him. The Wizards will still hold N’diaye’s rights for the future, but now, since it looks like Kevin Seraphin will need a fair bit of time to develop (and he isn’t going to the D-League — link below), it makes sense for Hamady to get more experience overseas.

Plus, if you count the qualifying offer the Wizards currently have extended to Cartier Martin (via Sham Sports), there are 13 players on the roster. Ernie Grunfeld, known for liking flexibility, probably considers the last two spots too valuable to be used up on developing N’diaye in the D-League (remember, if you sign a player and send him to the D-League, he still counts against the max NBA roster size of 15).

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