That apartment building that burned down in Mt. Pleasant, D.C. forever ago. Photo: K. Weidie

Being gloom-and-doom about the Washington Wizards is a thankless job. It also doesn’t accomplish much, which is likely why no one is thanking you, with the exception of gloom-and-doom Wizards fans for which that has become the standard. They feed off it. They know no other way. And when you waste seasons on terrible basketball and unintelligible basketball players (“bad by design,” supposedly, via Ted Leonsis), it’s to be expected.

But PLAYOFFS? Good luck. You might as well be Andray Blatche claiming that you’re working hard in the offseason while making your own T-shirt that says, “Play Off Starts Here.”

ESPN’s John Hollinger, notorious and perpetual Wizards skeptic, pegs this year’s team to finish 38-44 and tied for ninth in the East. Writes Hollinger in his season preview (Insider): “So enjoy the sugar high of playoff contention this year, Washington. Chances are it will wear off quickly.”

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Washington Wizards Media Day is humourously organized chaos woven together with an atmosphere of hopeful optimism for a new season. Players are shuffled from various photo, video and interview stations as they crack jokes with teammates, mingle with organizational staff and mug for the cameras. Many of the fresh faces are also publicly doning their full Wiz uniform for the first time. One of the last stops is the main media scrum where reporters of all stripes jockey for position to quiz the players on a range of topics. How was your summer?; What are your goals for the season?; Can this team make the playoffs?; What is your role? – These are just a few of the routine ways of inducing quotes.

I enjoy this annual show. The overwhelmingly positive and pleasant environment provides an opportunity to dig a little deeper on certain questions that you normally would not ask on game day, off-beat questions that sometimes produce unique responses. This year was no different, as the guys I spoke to are rested and ready for training camp. Below is a compilation of interviews with several Wizards that should get you excited and entertained for the new look season.

Aside from John Wall’s face stamped on the franchise, the Wizards’ backcourt situation was already an uncertain proposition. Jordan Crawford is the wildcard entering NBA season three. Shelvin Mack is the unguaranteed second-rounder entering his second season after a unsteady summer league. Newcomers A.J. Price and Jannero Pargo have three seasons experience and 32 years in age, respectively. Martell Webster wasn’t good enough for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Bradley Beal is just a rookie who only turned 19 on draft night.

Now that Wall is gone till November, the end of it, the windows to the car are smudged with grease, and someone is going to have to see well enough to drive. Much could be dependant on Crawford. Even more, in time, on Beal. And perhaps more contingent upon the success of the spare parts — Pargo, Price, Mack, and Webster — is how the dynamic between Crawford and Beal develops. Especially now. With either guard, it could come down to who is helping make plays.

“Somewhat. I’m not going in with that expectation,” said Beal when asked if he was ready to take on the role of playmaker. “But If I’m put in that situation, then I know I’ll be comfortable in finally doing it. Honestly, I’d like to be a playmaker. I feel comfortable with the ball in my hands and creating for others as well as myself. I don’t have a problem with it.”

Randy Wittman will certainly aim to develop Beal at an honest pace — off the bench and without the pressure of running the offense —  but if the Wizards struggle to score, as past statistics would like to predict, then the best combination of talent could win out for minutes.

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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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Washington Wizards Media Day 2012 will be on October 1, the team has announced. This is what it is like…

Media Day is like trying to herd cats who are also trying to herd other cats.

Media Day is like a speed dating session run by apathetic ex-lovers.

Media Day is like playing Jenga with cameras, pens, iPhones, and recording devices.

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[What does John Wall smell? - photo: K. Weidie]

Media members tend to attach themselves to keywords or catch phrases and then shape narratives around them. Guilty as charged. The Washington Wizards franchise has especially provided an abundance of excellent catch phrases over the years.

Recently, you have “pixels” via the web tech-savvy Ted Leonsis (and now, likely “erudite“). From Flip Saunders, we’ve had “Style over substance” as a JaVale McGee descriptor. Going back further, Gilbert Arenas helped popularize the term, “Swag.” Now most feel that word is overused, how oddly fitting.

“Just like Groundhog Day,” Antawn Jamison used to say. From “Get buckets son!,” via Oleksiy Pecherov to “I Love This Game!,” the NBA’s 90s motto that Gheorghe Muresan famously said in broken English over the television airwaves on draft night 1993, some phrases have been more relevant than others. And I’m failing to mention dozens of them, as they pertain to the Wizards.

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There are many incomprehensible facets to JaVale McGee, but the talent and seeming potential is unquestionable.

How did he make that BLOCK!??! (Or was it a steal?)

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Future basketball historians may heavily sway their chronicles toward the 2009-10 Washington Wizards season. The infamy surrounding the heavily dramatized whirlwind that was Gilbert Arenas, locker room guns and court cases, and the losing that magnified it (or that it magnified) will go down in D.C. lore just as much as team media guides will gloss over the affair.

Meanwhile, Arenas continues to be in the contradictory mode of ‘they wanted me out, but I gave them plenty of reasons’ on Twitter. He is very ‘woe is me’, while claiming a lesson has been learned. If only Arenas knew how to not keep himself from proving maturity when it counts.

The abrupt end of one long-running and significant ownership era resulting from the passing of Abe Pollin will only add to the natural sensationalizing of ’09-10. But old flames — the one time poster boy and the patriarch of D.C. pro basketball — passed by new sprouts on their way out.

The 2010-11 season, on one hand, as another lottery year for the franchise, might be as forgettable as the rest. But a change in ownership is a very important event. Just think about how crucial ownership is to your opinion of the Washington Redskins.

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In the summer of 2006, Gilbert Arenas was cut from the United States national team that was to compete in the 2006 FIBA World Championships (Kirk Hinrich made the final roster).  National Team Managing Director, Jerry Colangelo, attributed the early exit to the groin Arenas injured while going up for a dunk in practice.  Arenas said he never really got a fair shot to make the team.

“No joke, I felt like I was the 16th man on a 15-man roster. You are there to support your team and support your country and be happy to play but you know, I did everything they wanted me to do; but if I did everything they wanted me to do, why am I on the bubble of getting cut? I sacrificed. You’ve got LeBron being LeBron. You’ve got Carmelo being Carmelo. You’ve got D-Wade being D-Wade. Why can’t I be me? Why do I have to transform? I did that and now you are going to cut me?”

Due to this perceived slight, Arenas vowed to get his revenge when the regular season started.  Portland Trailblazers coach Nate McMillan, Mike D’Antoni (then the coach of the Phoenix Suns) were assistant coaches for Team USA, and Arenas said he’d do his best to wreak havoc on their respective teams.

“I’m going to be the silent assassin this year.  I can’t wait to play the Suns and Portland. Against Portland, Nate McMillan, I’m going to try to score 100 in two games and against D’Antoni, I’m going to score 100 in two games. I’m going to try.”

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