Gilbert Arenas tweeted a lot as he brought in the new year. He acknowledged that his gun thing is serious, but that he doesn’t do serious things. He said the Shaq rumor wasn’t true, but indicated that even so, panties, blowies and massages were supposedly at his disposal. Arenas almost complains about the drama in his life, yet embraces it because it gives him the attention he so seemingly and desperately craves. He was just being the crazy (in a good way) Gilbert we know, but yet don’t quite understand.

There are a couple reasons to document Gilbert Arenas’ first 24-hours of Tweeting. For one, you might not be one of his 13,338 growing army of followers, students in the study of Gilbertology. Secondly, Tweets can be erased. This site isn’t going anywhere. And if it does, there’s still always the Internet Archive: Way Back Machine. Also worth considering: It’s quite possible that Gilbert Arenas will deny that he was behind his January 1st 2010 Tweets (@gilbertarenas is not currently a verified account). But knowing Gil (sorta), I doubt it.

During the height of Arena’s Tweets on New Year’s Day, while many were planting a palm-smack on their forehead or pleading with him to stop, I wanted Gilbert to keep going. Not because it provides good blogging fodder, although it does, but more because Arenas was being allowed to be human. Twitter offers celebrities such as him, and normal folks such as you and I, the unfiltered freedom to share thoughts, etc..

Sure, everyone should be careful what they say in a public venue, but with $111 million dollars on your side, you don’t always have to go tip-toeing over people’s sensitivities when it’s your own life. Who is to say that Arenas must shut himself up? Or speak through a mouthpiece, an agent, such as Drew Rosenhaus … could you imagine if he was involved?

I’m just as pissed about the gun incident as the next passionate Wizards fan. These dudes are messing with the franchise I’ll still follow long after they are gone. I imagine I’ll still write something ripping Arenas and Crittenton once all the facts come out. But folks, Gilbert is not a basketball-playing robot. Plus, his tweets are pretty entertaining, albeit a tad immature, a bit naive, and sorta egotistical. Read more »

When I first learned about Gilbert Arenas and guns on Christmas Eve, way back when it was as “innocent” as him getting the firearms out of his humble, grotto-encased abode because he didn’t want them around his new kid when he already had another kid for a couple years, I tweet-dedicated a Christmas song to him … Onyx, Throw Ya Guns.

This latest news warrants its own playlist. And since the good folks at WizzNutzz are making mixtapes for JaVale McGee, I figure why not join in on the fun.

This one’s for you Gilbert and Javaris. I don’t know much about astrological signs, but it seems like Capricorns don’t get along … especially when it involves gamblin’.

Oh yea, Happy Birthday Javaris. You turned 22 on New Year’s Eve. Hope you woke up feeling well today. Arenas will turn 28 on Wednesday.

Oh, and Gil, I’m sorry that the media is camping outside of your house. On a positive note, you made it man … Whitney Houston levels. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a chopper with live video.

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“The Washington Wizards take this situation and the ongoing investigation very seriously.  We are continuing to cooperate fully with the proper authorities and the NBA and will have no further comment at this time.”

Nothing much here from the franchise, just an acknowledgement.

I was g-mail chatting with Tim Varner of the Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell about Wizards and guns earlier. In discussing the inevitability that the real story would have eventually come out (by the way … check out what Mike Jones has to say about this on his new blog), Tim mentioned that it might have been better if the team fully disclosed from the beginning to make it seem like they were taking care of the situation. I might be inclined to agree.

Seems like such a weird/tough thing to handle from media & PR perspective. Perhaps the first instinct is to cover up bad news that is, “unprecedented in the history of sports,” according to the head of the NBA Players’ Association, Billy Hunter. Who knows.

I’ll have some more thoughts on this situation to come.

[via Richmond, VA]

You really have to feel bad for the guy. It seems he’s always been on teams where, especially at his position, the competition is high and the chances are low (well, with the exception of last year). Now he’s forced to wear a boot, his third time donning one this summer, and sit out the next couple of weeks, watching the competition pass him by. Wizards Insider and Wizards Outlet both have some additional details on Crittenton’s injury to his left foot, a double bone bruise and a strained tendon.

It seems like the downside of high competition (if you’re really trying hard to find a negative) has reared it’s head. With so much pressure, Crittenton likely pushed his injury, first experienced in an Atlanta ProAm game in July, more than he would have otherwise. “We tried to speed up the progress of it healing,” he said in reference to each time he’s put on a boot (in Atlanta, in DC before training camp and now), but was never able to get it back to one hundred percent.

He said he’s been able to make it through every practice despite the soreness and pain he was feeling. But on Friday his foot reached its limit and he had to take himself out of practice. The Wizards staff suggested that he get an MRI.

“The MRI came out worse than before,” said Javaris, indicating that it’s one of those injuries that just takes time to heal. He said that continuing to play on the tender ankle would only make it a nagging injury and could possibly lead to surgery.

Crittenton seems a bit down about the set-back, saying “It makes me sick to think about it,” referencing the situation in which the injury occurred (he felt he shouldn’t have been in the game in Atlanta with his team up 12 points in the waning seconds). Hopefully now, he will take the time to heal properly, keep his spirits high, and stay focused. With his length, Flip could turn to him off the bench as a nice change of pace defensively down the road. And in the NBA, another opportunity is always around the corner.

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Last Monday’s Washington Wizards media day seems like such a long time ago.

In addition to me being there, blogging about DeShawn Stevenson’s new tats, the musings of Gilbert Arenas, and the ‘consistent’ goals of Andray Blatche, there was a ton of great coverage from Hoops Addict, Wizards Insider, Wizards Outlet, and Bullets Forever.

Now, after transcribing all of my interview recordings, I wanted to share some of the quotes/pictures that have been relatively unheard/unseen.

{Note: I will be in Richmond for training camp on Saturday and Sunday. There’s limited media access, but I’ll be updating some of the goings-ons via Twitter}

1. What is Gilbert Arenas’ target minutes per game?

One of the biggest (yet most entertaining) mistakes the Wizards made after acquiring Arenas was his back to back 40+ minutes per game seasons of 80 starts each. In Jason Kidd’s 19 14 years, he’s only eclipsed 40 mpg in a season once (John Stockton never did). This is the equivalent of when an NFL team gives their running back 400+ carries (think 1998 Jamal Anderson or 2006 Larry Johnson). Naturally Gil’s future looked bleaker than Jay-Z’s sidekick.

If I am Flip Saunders, I target Gilbert to a conservative 30 mpg. I take him out in blowouts. I don’t let him go for 50. I give him the occasional back-to-back off. I massage his feet during timeouts. I massage his feet at his house. I become a certified acupuncturist. I sacrifice woodland creatures to my altar of Nepthys (the Egyptian god of knee ligaments). Lastly, I call in a bomb threat to Barry Farm.

2. Is this the year Andray Blatche makes the leap?

You don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to know this is “very doubtful.”

Andray is now entering his 5th season in the NBA. We are well beyond the typical make or break point for a player (even one taken right out of high school). Since 2005, he has transitioned from Center, to Power Forward, to occasional Small Forward. He’s one more position fail away from becoming a 6’11″ shooting guard (Jared Jeffries, anyone?). As a result of these position changes, we’ve seen his rebounds per 36 minutes drop each of the past 3 seasons. We could give Blatche another five years and he’ll still be committing stupid fouls and hovering around a 15 PER. The good news is that he hasn’t been arrested in 14 months. Read more »

flickr/Roadsidepictures

I watched the Wizards take on the Timberwolves and Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League long ago, but am just getting my notes/observations on those two games posted.

So in the spirit of better late than never, here goes ….

(Note: I still need to get my post up on the Knicks game and hand out the summer league grades … but only to the players who ‘count’ — Blatche, Young, McGee, Crittenton and McGuire.)

Wizards vs. Timberwolves : Summer League Game 3

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Between hitting up the John Legend concert Friday night, going out for some fresh oysters at Hank’s Oyster Bar on Saturday, followed by a night on the town (really, the oysters at Hank’s, especially the ones from Fanny Bay, BC, Canada, were awesome), and then getting trounced in softball on Sunday afternoon (honestly, I think the final score was 24-2), I didn’t have much time to dedicate to the Wizards this past weekend.

I was able to make it through the T-Wolves game Sunday night, and take notes on it, but fell into a slumber before I was able to watch the Wizards against the Clippers or Knicks, both of which, I understand, were much better efforts from the D.C. boys. Oh, and Andray Blatche didn’t play in either game. Nick Young sat out of Sunday’s game against New York as well.

I aim to watch both of the remaining games tonight and subsequently post notes/observations, and then hand out some summer league grades. But until then, here’s the big media dump on what others have said:

Wizards vs. T’Wolves

Flip Saunders apparently sent word down to the bench at halftime that he wasn’t unhappy with the shot selection or their offense, but that the effort simply hadn’t been good enough, and the second half certainly looked better, anyhow.
…..
After posting double-doubles in his first two games in Vegas, Andray Blatche was completely out of kilter. I didn’t have a chance to catch up with him, but he was matched up with Pecherov a lot in the early going, and it sure seemed to me like he was trying (and failing) to take advantage of his former teammate.

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flickr/Christopher Chan

Checked out the Wizards’ foray into the summer league last night. They won, almost blew an 18 point lead to Cleveland. Andray Blatche came out shaky. His version, via the DC Sports Bog recap, “I came out real hyper, real real hyper.”

Yep, in the beginning he looked like the same ol’ Blatche … ill-advised long jumpers early in the shot clock, turnovers while trying to carelessly push the ball on the break instead of passing to a guard, etc..

Eventually, after a talking-to by Dominic McGuire and assistant coach Don Zierden, he settled down, started hitting the boards hard, and played like a summer league veteran.

Question is, why is a guy with 238 ‘real’ NBA games under his belt nervous-in-the-service when it comes to a summer league game?

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I mentioned the Bullets Forever idea of trading Mike James and Javaris Crittenton to Indiana for Travis Diener and Jeff Foster in the previous post, ‘Finding A Big Man For The Washington Wizards’ … which could quite possibly the first ‘two white men for two black men trade’ in the NBA in decades, if not ever.

Naturally, I wanted to get the opinion of a Pacers fan-blogger on the potential deal. Tom Lewis of Indy Cornrows was kind enough to weigh-in via email:

[The] proposed trade definitely makes sense from an emotionless nuts and bolts perspective. I do think the Pacers are willing to move Foster and with Mike James involved the team could have additional cap room next summer. Plus, as an added bonus, assuming Jarrett Jack does not re-sign and the team keeps A.J. Price in play, James may be a good mentor for the rook since both hail from Amityville, NY.

The Diener/Crittenton parts appear to be a wash. Diener is in the last year of his deal and Crittenton has a team option next summer. Crittenton has some known flaws, namely his ability to shoot the three and too many turnovers which are two areas Jim O’Brien values highly which he proved last season by moving T.J. Ford out of the starting lineup. The physical upside to Crittenton’s game would be worth the gamble though since the team could let him go after the season, not a bad worst-case scenario.

Diener has been pretty efficient running the Pacers offense when healthy which he wasn’t for much of last year. Plus, he can knock down perimeter shots which would probably be the determining factor between the two if Jim O’Brien has a say.

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flickr/art crimes

The rumors,  the possibilities … they must be tired because they’ve been running through my mind all night. It’s getting a little crazy leading up to the draft, but bloggers, MSM types, and the Internets wouldn’t have it any other way.

First of all, I’d like to remind the basketball world, despite the fact that 99% of it won’t see this post, that the Wizards are not “desperate“ to shed salary.

I’ll simply point to a Washington Times piece from late March highlighting that owner Abe Pollin would pay the luxury tax in order to win a championship. No, this doesn’t mean Ernie Grunfeld won’t be looking for creative ways to save money, he just won’t be making any wholesale giveaways in the process.

Pollin is 85 and another title is number one, two, three, four and five on his bucket list. Question the validity of Pollin’s edict if you want, but at least give it the respect it deserves. Some people don’t.

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up fourth is Javaris Crittenton. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas]

I really like the move Ernie Grunfeld made to get Javaris Crittenton, even if he doesn’t pan out. GM Gruns turned an over-hyped 2002 40th draft pick, who probably would have barely lasted with the Wizards, as he did with the Grizzlies, into a still developing/promising young point guard taken 19th in the ’07 draft.*

It’s funny, because I think the Wizards need a long distance shooter like Juan Carlos Navarro aka “La Bomba”. And JCN did hit just under two treys per game en route to making the ’07-08 NBA All-Rookie second team, but got those attempting 5.3 in just under 26 minutes per game. So it’s probably good that the Wiz opted out of a gunner who can’t really play defense. Not playing D should only be reserved for starters like Arenas, Jamison and Butler.

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Today, 4-23-09, is the official Flip Saunders press conference day … ready to put the ‘O’ in Official … I’ll try to listen to the 3 pm presser and blog down some thoughts later.

But in the meantime, why not bag on Cleveland?
(via a hilarious video made by someone from Cleveland that I could probably make about DC, via joeposnanski.com, via Google share with Chris Needham)

Wiz Run-Down:

Flipping Gil
“The thing about Gilbert is, no coach is ever going to have a problem with how much he loves the game. He puts in an unbelievable amount of time working on his game. He’s a competitor and he wants to be great.

“You don’t ‘control’ players. No coach does. Phil Jackson doesn’t control Kobe Bryant and he didn’t control Michael Jordan. What you do is put players in situations where they can be successful. And I think I’ve always done that.” Read more »

The 2009 NBA Draft is on June 25th, an important day in so many ways. For one, it’s my birthday….the onset of my last year in my 20s…..but it’s also the day that the Wizards will be selecting Blake Griffin with the #1 overall draft pick (hopefully).

And while Griffin might not be a franchise changer like Tim Duncan, Yao Ming, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Shaq O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, he certainly isn’t a Kwame Brown or Michael Olowokandi.

Griffin won’t magically propel the Wizards to the cream of the crop, but he can certainly be a key cog on a potential contender while keeping the ‘Zards poised for the future.

June 25th is a pretty big date…potentially (Dikembe Mutombo will also turn 43 in beyond-human years on 6/25)….but May 19th is much more important. That’s when the order of the NBA is decided via a lottery.

Let’s learn more about the numbers and Wizards/Bullets relatedness surrounding May 19th…and yes, I pretty much about to get carried away.

May 19th…. 5/19/09
The Wizards had 63 losses.
6+3 = 9
The 09 NBA Draft

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