Links, commentary, randomness…

Notice how ever since that gig on Who’s The Boss? Alyssa Milano has been pretty much everywhere? Now, this former dream of teenaged boys’ affection hasn’t seemed to tap into a post-sitcom television movie career like Christina Applegate (via Kelly Bundy), but Milano looks like she’s barely aged since her role of Sa-man-THA! Micelli.

Well, not really… considering she was age 10-20 on Who’s The Boss?, but whatever. (And I’ll attribute the increased present-day Applegate popularity to her being blonde … as unfortunate as that may be, in that similar preference has splashed inconsequential news stories like Natalee Holloway across our television sets, but I do believe I’m digressing. Also, while I’m at it, I don’t know anything about the show Charmed (which Milano was on more recently) other than it would be on TNT sometimes when I got up for work in the morning because I’d left the channel on the late NBA game from the night before and I would hate it.)

In any case, good for Alyssa Milano — for staying ‘relevant’ — like I said, she’s been everywhere, including the Washington Wizards website. And I got no complaints. You’re welcome.

Read more »

In early mid-April (the 12th to be exact), when asked as part of an ESPN.com 5-on-5 roundtable which NBA star would have his legacy enhanced the most in the 2011 Playoffs, I wrote:

“The health of Andrew Bynum won’t affect Dirk Nowitzki’s hunger, but Nowitzki’s stomach did just growl. One could argue that Dirk’s legacy has the deepest hole from which to climb. Since blowing a 2-0 series lead on Miami in the 2006 Finals, the Mavericks have been bounced in the first round of the playoffs in three of the past four seasons. A championship isn’t wholly necessary to repair Dirk’s playoff legacy, but if Dallas fails to make the Finals, he may have to live with the label of a regular-season MVP who can’t come through in the postseason.”

Now, I’m not here to exactly toot my own horn as a prognosticator of all things basketball — seeing as I predicted last year’s Wizards to achieve 34 wins (only off by 11 wins), and the bastardly 2009-10 Wizards to achieve 55 wins (yes, I was off by a whole 29 wins here… like I said, “bastardly”) — however, in the same ESPN poll, in reponse to a query on the most surprising thing that would happen in the Western Conference playoffs, I wrote:

“It won’t be surprising when each of the top four seeds in the West move into the second round with relative ease. Nor will it be surprising when the conference semifinals and finals all get pushed to seven games. What will be surprising is when the Dallas Mavericks come out on top in the West and Mark Cuban holds a party for all his friends in the media.”

Read more »

A Washington, D.C. pic, some words, and Wizards links in bullets…

[Calvert Street Bridge at dusk - NW Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

Mike Prada breaks down a good argument on Bullets Forever about why he’d trade JaVale McGee for the No. 2 pick (Derrick Williams) straight up. I previously made a simple argument of why I wouldn’t do it, but certainly wouldn’t complain if it happened. However, from what I hear, such a deal was never really considered seriously, or even “on the table,” because when conversations headed in that direction, the Wizards were turned away at the door. Indications are that Minnesota has been fielding some very creative and interesting offers for the second pick — which make the rumor of the T-Wolves sending Johnny Flynn and the No. 2 to Toronto for DeMar DeRozan and the No. 5 laughable. Nonetheless, lotta days until draft time, folks, so plenty of time for more rumors to float, and plenty of time for David Kahn to play hardball.

LINKS.

> Check out this feature piece on Trevor Booker that I provided some quotes for.
[The Good Point]

Read more »

{image via Internet/Aaron Josefczyk – Reuters}

The Miami Heat may very well win the 2011 NBA Finals, but regardless of triumph or defeat, LeBron will still be the villain. It’s OK.

Washington Wizards fans almost like to gloat that they were amongst the first to whom LeBron exposed himself to — the epitome of privilege that always asks for more and will resort to less-than-savory tactics to get what it wants. So what.

LeBron is a villain, and I’ve spent a lot of pixels communicating this. And I will continue to do so. LeBron is a fact of life.

Of course he’s making you love him as a basketball player, passing exuberantly, rebounding above all, defending with no restraint, astounding with power that compresses rim paint to the point of cracking. He’s no basketball dummy. The only thing that really dwarfs his instinct for the game is what he can do with that freak of a Karl Malone-sized body that he’s in.

Yes, we know LeBron seemingly “checked out” of game four, according to DeShawn Stevenson at least, but does that mean all other memories of amazing are stricken from the record? In a contribution regarding LeBron on HoopSpeak.com (last entry at the bottom), I essentially opined that the hubbub over game four might be a tad premature. But if the Heat don’t win the championship, memories of LeBron’s basketball excellence will certainly be vastly muted.

Read more »

Some sort of D.C. pick, a couple words, and several links…

[12th Street ramp, Francis Case Memorial Bridge, SW Washington, D.C.]

The big scuttlebutt today comes from the Twitter account @DraftExpress. Jonathan Givony reports:

Sources say Washington & Phoenix have been the most active teams trying to trade up for Derrick Williams. T’Wolves want a “veteran big man.”

Interesting. Sure, this could be nothing, but thank god for Twitter for allowing us to immediately go wild with speculation. Still, I imagine Ernie Grunfeld has been working the hotlines like no other, whether for No. 2 or a myriad of other maneuvers. One trade I wouldn’t do, which David Kahn and Minnesota would likely be highly amenable toward, is JaVale McGee and the sixth pick for the second pick. McGee, basketball sense aside, is way too valuable.

Read more »

Antawn Jamison doesn’t get Twitter. Neither does my 70-year old dad (okay, he’s 69, will be 70 next June).

He, my dad, was recently in town and Twitter came up in the dinner conversation. I tried to justify its relevancy by citing how it provides those in the media, bloggers, such as myself, the ability to extend personal branding (as HRO would call it), and even more so, how it’s great for late-breaking news, especially in the sports world. I trailed off and cut the list of merits short after seeing the look on my dad’s face, not mentioning how I’ve actually made friends with people via Twitter.

My pops, mind you, is not completely tech oblivious. He does have a ‘net book’. And I suppose Antawn is in the same boat.

Tom Sorenson of the Charlotte Observer has the first Antawn Jamison, ‘Here I Am’ article of the summer. Sorenson recently caught up with the Gentleman Jamison at his basketball camp in North Carolina. You should read the whole piece, but here are a couple select quotes:

But the Cavaliers crashed and burned in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston and crashed and burned again two weeks ago when LeBron giddily announced he was leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat.

Read more »

I get it. You’re just about tired of hearing about LeBron James. Blah, blah, blah.

Nonetheless, you’re still reading about him and the whole ordeal still makes for fun conversational fodder. So deal with it. And besides, this post isn’t about free agency and LeBron’s “decision.”

So there’s a report out there today (via TMZ, of course … but I first saw it on Ball Don’t Lie) about how some dude filed a suit in Federal Court against LeBron and his mother, Gloria James, claiming that he’s the father of LeBron. The guy, Leicester Bryce Stovell, is trying to sue for millions.

As the story goes, according to Stovell’s suit, Gloria, from Akron, Ohio, was visiting a cousin who lived in D.C. in 1984. At the time she was 15-years old, but going to the club and telling dudes she was in her early 20s … at least according to Stovell, who was 29 at the time.

The club where they allegedly met was called “D.C. Space” — more on that in a second — and on the March night in question, Stovell took Gloria back to his home in Annandale, Virginia where the magic was supposed to have been made. So, LeBron wasn’t conceived, conceived within the boundaries of the District of Columbia, again, allegedly, but you get the point.

Stovell claims he next ran into James, again at D.C. Space, in June of ’84 at which point (after the club at Stovell’s new apartment within D.C.) she informed him that she was pregnant. The suit claims: Read more »

[Editor's note: This is the second piece on TAI by John Townsend, check out his first one here.]

photo courtesy of K. Praslowicz (Sjixxxy)'s Flickr - www.kpraslowicz.com

“Just because you have money doesn’t mean you should overspend on someone that won’t be a part of your long-term future.  If the right opportunity comes along, I think you want to look at it, but I’ve said all along that we might save our powder for down the road, to see what the new CBA brings, to see if there’s a hard cap or a soft cap.  We don’t really know all the rules going forward, so just because you have the cap room doesn’t mean you should go out and spend it if it’s not for the right player.”[1]

These were wise words spoken by Wizards GM Ernie, a new herald for operational procedure and organizational preparedness, at a press conference on June 10.  As a long-time Green Bay Packer fan (my first memories of football were watching Packers games at 4am in New Delhi, India with my Wisconsin-born dad), I understand and fully endorse building a team through the draft.  There seem to be philosophical parallels between Grunfeld and Packers GM Ted Thompson, who firmly believes that the most effective way to build a winning football team is through the draft.  Thompson sees free agency as a complementary tool which can be used to add the types of players to a roster that may otherwise be difficult to find. In practice, this means that the Packers re-sign as many of their own players possible.  Rebuilding post-Mike Sherman, the Packers made 14 draft-day trades, all but one of them down, turning 31 picks into 44.  The Packers’ picks filled the roster with solid “glue guys” and have been able to add impact players including QB Aaron Rodgers, FS Nick Collins, OLB Clay Matthews, TE Jermichael Finley, WR Greg Jennings, and NT BJ Raji.  The result? The Packers are a team poised to make deep playoff runs every winter and are near the top of the NFL in just about every statistical category.[2]

Ted Leonsis, the Wizards new majority owner, made public his commitment to building a “generationally great team” that will ultimately win a championship.  Under new management, the Wizards will aim to hit their targets in the draft, spend prudently, create a competitive, cohesive team on the court that plays with an identity and within a system, and (most importantly) win games.[3] In an open note to Wizards fans, Leonsis also dismissed the generalized notion that the franchise was unwilling and averse to bringing in free agents.  Leonsis noted that that teams must consider using all of the tools at their disposal: the draft, free agency (small, medium, and large), rookie free agency, waiver wire pickups, developmental league players, and finding players in Europe.

All fans want to see that max contract free agent wear their team’s colors.  The addition of a superstar means that the team feels it is close to a winning a title and are prepared to kick down the doors of the championship fraternity. Read more »

Most Wizards fans wouldn’t mind seeing Mike Miller on the team next year, but know there is virtually no chance of it happening, despite Miller’s offer of loyalty immediately after the last game of the season, and more recently telling Comcast’s Chris Miller, “the Wizards landing the number one pick changes everything,” and that he would “love to play with John Wall.”

We know Mike wants to play for a championship contending winner, desperately. His hunger was only increased by the sour taste of 2009-10 with the Wizards. And the 2010-11 Wizards won’t quench his thirst either.

We also know Mike is boys with LeBron James. We know Mike went so far as to name his son, Maverick, after the close friend and adviser of James, Maverick Carter … or so LeBron claims. We know that the 2010 NBA Free Agency dominoes are held hostage by Mr. James. Mike Miller knows this too.

“That’s when everything will start,” Miller recently told Stu Whitney of the Argus Leader, “LeBron and those guys will start making their decisions, and that will open the floodgates for some of the second-tier guys.”

Whitney profiles Miller in a piece entitled, “‘I’m looking for a winner’: Free agent Miller seeks yet another fresh start in NBA,” for the Sioux Falls publication out of Miller’s home state of South Dakota.

Read more »

Mike Miller is keeping his LeBrons …

Okay Mike, I get it and it’s cool with me. Although I may think what I think about LeBron James, I’ve got no beef with you.  LeBron’s shoes are your most favoritest in the whole wide world … and you are BFF with the guy who chose to have a tattoo artist ink ‘Chosen 1′ on his back.

I’m not sure who LeBron thinks actually “chose” him to be whatever it is that he thinks he is (maybe Sports Illustrated is god to him — whatever the case, it’s kind of arrogant).

On a side, but related note: It’s funny … when an athlete is good and some sort of athletic freak-of-nature, he is said to have “god-given talent” (aka chosen). But when someone is born with a disability, it’s called a “being tested.” Oh well and whatever, I’m digressing way beyond my worldly means of comprehension.

The point is, Mike, you named your son after LeBron James’ friend and now you want to keep wearing his shoes. They are light and no other shoe will ever, ever hold you with the same embrace. You say you’ll wear them until they hurt you. Basically, LeBron’s shoes are like a girl you’re seriously dating (but not necessarily one who’s achieved ‘girlfriend’ status … yet).

But here’s the problem, this girl you’re dating (or what the shoes represent: LBJ and the team he plays for, the Cleveland Cavaliers), has had “issues” … not only with at least one of your current teammates/friends, but she has left bridges burning all over the city in which you live/play.

Read more »

Grunfeld, circa 2000 NBA Playoffs, East 1st Rd. Gm. 5 vs. Indiana

Look at this young gent. Suave, classy … proper descriptors of this Ernie Grunfeld that your grandma could easily roll into one by saying, “He looks like such a nice boy!”

Now the goings-ons ’round the Wizards web

Candid Gil

“…what has surprised me is how open [Gilbert Arenas] is. We’ve had a lot of talks about everything, including his relationships with all the coaches he had from junior high to high school to college to the NBA. I have a better understanding of where he’s coming from.”

Read more »

The Wizards were out of the game before it even started, and I really wish I had bet online. They came out lacking a ton of focus and turning the ball over….key ingredients to a disaster pie.

Cleveland was also aware of everything the Wiz wanted to do offensively before they did it. Javaris Crittenton would come down the court tapping his chin and Mo Williams would do the same. Guess the “intricate” offense (simplified for the youth, I know) of Ed Tapscott and Wes Unseld, Jr. won’t fool many.

To make matters worse, Washington was always a second behind on open passes, a telltale sign of the team going through the motions….a “we got this team in DC, so who cares about Cleveland?” type attitude.

Not to belittle the effort of some individuals, but as a team, it sucked a big one last night….what’s new? The game was no where close to the final 12 point margin.

Enjoy the screen shots.

Read more »

Have you missed something on the Wizards in the past 10 days?

Well, you’re in luck…because below is a massive, massive list of links and the best of what was said about the Wiz. Enjoy.

Be sure and check out the Wiz-Cavs Screen Shot Memories on Bullets Forever.

Things You Like To Hear From Gil Arenas
“I just want to flow through Antawn and Caron. They’ve been holding the ship down, so I’m not gonna come in here and step on their toes. I’m just come in here, get them the ball, get some of the young guys the ball, show them the right way to play basketball . . . I don’t need to go out here and score 30 because everybody knows I can do that. Like I’ve said before, my worst day, I can probably average 10 and 10.”
[Wizards Outlet]

Songaila The Hero
Then [Brendan Haywood] paused, started grinning and yelled out “THEN IT WAS THE WHITE KNIGHT! DARIUS SONGAILA, THE WHITE KNIGHT! BACK IN THE GAME! WHITE KNIGHT!!” Songaila sitting next to Haywood getting his shoes on and gave a fist pump and grinned.
[Wizards Outlet]

Songaila isn’t one for emotion, but he really let loose on Thursday, hooting and hollering like he was playing for the Lithuanian national team, not in some relatively meaningless game for a lottery team. “You could feel the energy building up in the arena,” Songaila said. “We were all fired up. I think that definitely showed on the court.”
[Wizards Insider]

Read more »