[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Preseason Game No. 4, Washington Wizards at Brooklyn Nets; contributors: Rashad Mobley (@Rashad20), John Converse Townsend (@JohnCTownsend), and  Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It), all via television.]

Look, it’s ‘what’s his name’ … You know, that guy…

Washington Wizards 88 at Brooklyn Nets 98 [box score] Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Preseason Game No. 3, Washington Wizards at Cleveland Cavaliers; contributor: Kyle Weidie (@Truth_About_It), who watched the game over bootleg Internet television.]

Washington Wizards 99 at Cleveland Cavaliers 95 [box score] Stat of the Game: The Wizards shot more free throws than their opponent for once, 34 to 28, but they made just 23 of them (67.6% — ouch) while Cleveland made 21 (75%). Washington tallying 26 assists to 16 turnovers also somewhat helped. Read more »

[D.C. Council: setting the scene, rating the starters, assessing the subs, providing the analysis, and catching anything that you may have missed. Unlike the real DC Council, everything here is on the table. Preseason Game No. 2, Washington Wizards vs. New York Knicks; contributors: Rashad Mobley and Kyle Weidie.]

Washington Wizards 101 vs. New York Knicks 108 [box score] Stat of the Game: The Knicks shot 18-for-33 (54.5%) from the 3-point line. Steve Novak led the way by going 7-for-7. Read more »

The atmosphere at Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University on Tuesday evening was certainly exciting. Washington Wizards fans gathered in long lines for a free event featuring an open scrimmage, Wizards Girls dancing, Wale rapping, little kids shooting hoops, and to catch glimpses of their new basketball team. When the doors finally opened, people rushed into the arena, trying to score a prime seat as the George Mason band rocked Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

Those anticipating a quality basketball performance, however, were likely disappointed, as John Wall, Trevor Booker, Nene, and Trevor Ariza sat out due to various injuries and were merely spectators during the unremarkable hour-long scrimmage. New assistant coaches Don Newman and Jerry Sichting led the White team against a Sam Cassell and Don Zierden-coached Blue team. Head Coach Randy Wittman looked on, rotating from sideline to sideline all evening and never afraid to get his point across at any moment. Both Kevin Seraphin and Chris Singleton received the brunt of audible displeasure from their coach.

Bradley Beal struggled getting open, Martell Webster knocked a few shots early but then kind of disappeared, and Jan Vesely still has major issues with fouls. Emeka Okafor was a force on defense, but his offensive post moves were lackluster; Seraphin, on the other hand, continued his interior scoring prowess, although at times he let himself get pushed away from the basket by Earl Barron. Also, Jordan Crawford’s shot selection opened the door for critics.

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[Randy Wittman contemplates the next move.]

You don’t want to infer too much from a single preseason game that you’re not able to watch live and can only follow via box score and play-by-play action. Training camp just started less than a week ago (even if a bunch of guys were training in D.C. up to a week before then). Still, the Wizards faced the Bobcats in Charlotte on Sunday afternoon without John Wall (knee), Nene (feet), Emeka Okafor (rest), Trevor Booker (hamstring), and Jannero Pargo (ribs). Okafor’s last game action was in February with New Orleans, and aside from a dislocated finger about 10 days ago, was presumed to be fully ready. Instead, the Wizards started A.J. Price, Jordan Crawford, Trevor Ariza, Jan Vesely, and Kevin Seraphin, and although I’ll once again give another reminder that it was just one preseason game, some of the numbers in a 100-86 loss to the Bobcats reflect some of the exact preexisting concerns going into this season.

Positives and Negatives.

Kevin Seraphin’s scoring touch continues. He was 5-for-11 with 11 points at halftime, but didn’t score again after that, missing three shots in the second half (from 10 and 11 feet and one attempt at the rim). He’ll also need more than four rebounds in 28 minutes.

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The Wizards matched-up against each other for two segments of 5-on-5 action in front of season ticket holders and media on Thursday night. That it was just the third day of training camp was clear, as jumpers on offense tended to clang and more experienced defense usually won out. A white team featuring A.J. Price, Bradley Beal, Trevor Ariza, Trevor Booker, Emeka Okafor, Cartier Martin, Brian Cook, Earl Barron handled a blue team featuring Jordan Crawford, Martell Webster, Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely, Kevin Seraphin, Shelvin Mack, Shavlik Randolph, and Steve Gray  32-14 — the white team won each scrimmage segment 16-7. Below are the video pixels and scenes.

Beal And-1

In this first clip, Okafor gets a relatively easy post catch against Seraphin, turns, and hits a soft-appearing but slightly flat jumper over Kevin. It’s a shot Okafor needs confidence to take. On the inbounds, Booker puts defensive pressure on Crawford and Vesely. Booker is a big guy, but Crawford barely makes an effort to create space, and then he gets on Vesely because he doesn’t initially execute the tough pass. Once on the other end, Booker steps up to help with Crawford’s dribble penetration — Booker and Ariza together make an intimidating defensive combination. The clip ends with what appears to be a very poor entry pass from Crawford into the post (the play is obscured by a coach on the sideline). The blue team turns it over, Beal picks up the leftovers, and he takes it the length of the floor to draw an And-1 against Crawford.

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Now a finable offense?
JaVale McGee flops versus Dwight Howard.

Flopping has become the fashioable conversation of distraction heading into this new, full season of NBA basketball. In all likelihood, there will be less time (and fine money) spent on flopping in year one than efforts spent on conversation leading up to implimentation. With that said, if I lived in Las Vegas and they had odds on which NBA player will be the first to get fined under the new rule, I’d take part. {Blake Griffin! … or wait, Anderson Varejao!!}

Otherwise, having any sort of rule is fine (but we’ll see about that anyway), and the decision to implement penalities after-the-fact (at least from the start), as opposed to during games, is also fine. This will allow the ultimate decision to be more consistent, instead of in the hands of whatever referee is judging whatever game in whatever venue on a nightly basis.

But what do various Wizards think?

Kevin Seraphin

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“I work most during the offseason on my outside shot. I spend a lot of time on this skill,” said Jan Vesely, with hope and wry smile that his jumper will put the league on notice next season.

He’s put in the time, that’s for sure. And on media day, Jan credited much of his preparation for the upcoming season to his participation in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, as well as the ability to stay in Washington and workout in team’s facilities. A Wizards coach, Joe Connelly, also travelled with Vesely on a visit back home to the Czech Republic this summer to work him out. Jan even moved his new fiancee, Eva, to the District in the offseason. That’s dedication. (Although Jan won’t reveal how he proposed her, which happened in D.C. shortly after last season, and he says they haven’t set a date.)

But is Vesely ready mentally? Practicing jump shots is one thing, having the confidence to knock them down when the NBA lights are on is what separates a select few from the masses. Jan need not be aware of the social media snickers when he airballed his first free throw as a rookie, or when he didn’t make a jumper until March. He knows that his ability to play in the Association relies on being able to make outside shots.

If everything works out, maybe Jan should credit dad, too.

From a recent interview his father, Jan Vesely Sr., gave to the Czech outlet, basketmag.cz (translated by TAI’s Lukas Kuba, @Luke_Mellow): Read more »

The Set.

Media Day has been over for several hours and the Washington Wizards have been officially media’d. Quotes, images and pixels of various natures have been broadcast. Hope has been expressed. Do we have the talent to make the playoffs? Yes. How will we come together as a team? We will see, that’s what training camp is for. Will it be tough without John Wall (and Nene to some extent)? Yes, but we’re going to try anyway.

Could one simply tell, from an affair such as media day, that the Wizards are a more mature, professional team? That’s the gut feeling. Have a conversation with Nene, Emeka Okafor, Martell Webster or Trevor Ariza — there’s a difference compared to other teams in recent memory. Now young Wizards have guys they can look toward, knowing their experience, knowlege, and professionalism will provide answers they can trust. There is still as much uncertainty as to what these 2012-13 Wizards will do on the court as the last couple of seasons, but there’s much more of an underlying sense of confidence that they can stay together and tackle any adversity, that they can deflect any punches instead of simply rolling with them.

Make no mistake, until they prove themselves otherwise in the win-loss column, these are still the same Wizards. But it’s a changing franchise. And this year is a new team – the freshest start Les Boulez have had in about a decade.

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[Ed. Note: With the NBA basketball season just around the corner, TAI's Czech correspondent, Lukas Kuba, provides an update/translation of a recent interview that Jan Vesely gave to sport.ihned.cz. —Kyle W.]

“Tutoring session on tie knots.” -@JanVesely24 via Instagram

After one NBA season of not being able to live together in the same city, Jan Vesely now lives in Washington, D.C. with his fiancee, Eva Kodouskova. When asked about their free time activities, he says that they usually go to a restaurant or one of the numerous Washington museums. Jan says that sometimes people recognize him on the street, but not very often. And what about going to movies? In D.C., Vesely says he went to see a movie just once because he’s not too impressed with the ‘American cinema system,’ where a person does not buy tickets for particular seats. “I came late and had to sit in a bad seat,” he says.

[Ed. Note: A recent tweet from Vesely indicated that he an Eva enjoyed a meal at Bistro Bohem, located on Florida Avenue near the U Street corridor. —KW] 

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