A D.C. pic, commentary, links, video, pictures, etc…

[Mt. Pleasant Day 2011 - Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

Do we even know this John Wall kid?

Watching him play at exhibition games this summer, he doesn’t seem like the guy I saw make his pro debut at the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League, much less the player who dazzled us all during an injury-affected, frustration-filled rookie season.

The one potential problem I see with all of this (there’s always a “problem,” isn’t there, pessimist?) is that with the seemingly enhanced offensive and athletic ability over the 2011 Summer, is Wall, as a point guard, setting himself up to take matters into his hands too much if his teammates fail him?

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A D.C. pic, bullets of Wizards links, and words with those links…

A man with a plan, and a pizza.
[Meridian Hill Park, 16th St. NW - Washington, D.C. - photo: K. Weidie]

> John Wall, at his young age, understands how important it is to be an ambassador for the game of basketball and for professional athletes. He also seems to know that it’s part of his job, but in a sense where when he does good deeds, they don’t have to involve a big production or show. He just does them. He takes extra time to sign autographs, all the time… excessively. I’ve seen this. And now, I’m imagining that over time you’ll hear more and more great stories like this one relayed by Dan Steinberg.
[DC Sports Bog]

> Washington Post music writer David Malitz makes a good observation … should the ’04-’08 “Glory Years” Wizards be celebrated as the first team to reap benefit from the Internet age (partially thanks to the rise of blogs, prominently via Dan Steinberg and Gilbert Arenas)? I think so.
[Click Track]

> The Washington Wizards, aka Ted Leonsis, might be looking into what it would take to own a D-League team. This is a good thing.
[Ridiculous Upside]

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Bunch old Wizards in the NBA Finals, this we know. Unfortunately, two couldn’t play in game three last night due to injury, Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler, so they sat on the bench in nice suits while a cat to the far left stuck some finger guns up his nose.

Speaking of finger guns, what is our old pal Gilbert Arenas doing here?

His Twitter @agentzeroshow explanation: “I got on my mo hawk for shawn M..if he can wear a mo hawk durn the nba finals I guess I can wear in my house”

More Former Wizards?

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In contrast to John Wall dropping a Rookie-Sophomore game record 22 assists on Friday night, an NBA team achieving single digits in assists over the course of a regular season game is a pretty rare feat. According to the Basketball-Reference.com database, it’s occurred just 194 times since the 1986-87 season (the extent of BBR’s game box score database). So in roughly 0.3-percent of NBA games over the last 25 seasons. And of course, your Washington Wizards did just that on Wednesday night in Orlando, tallying a mere eight dimes divided up amongst Kirk Hinrich, who had three, along with one each from and John Wall, Kevin Seraphin, Josh Howard, Andray Blatche and Hilton Armstrong.

Teams have now put up a single-digit assist total five times this season. The Orlando Magic dropped  five assists in a 26 point loss to the Miami Heat in just their second game on the 2010-11 season (the day after Orlando blew out the Wizards by 29 points in their season home opener). The Magic also had just nine team assists in a 80-74 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on December 6, 2010. The Portland Trailblazers had eight assists in a 100-86 loss to the New York Knicks on January 11, 2011. And surprisingly enough, Chris Paul’s New Orleans Hornets put up a league season low four assists for a team in a 88-70 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on December 12, 2010.

The Wizards last achieved the single-digit assist mark with nine on December 23, 2008 against the Charlotte Bobcats. That game, Mike James started at the point and went 4-16 from the field with one assist. DeShawn Stevenson and Nick Young were the only guards off the bench and Caron Butler led the team with four assists.

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A D.C. pic and some links for Sunday reading. Hope you’re having a good one …

[The National Building Museum, Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

LINKS.

A Western Conference executive thinks the Wizards could be in the playoff picture in the East, Ben Standig breaks it down.
[CSN Washington]

SLAM has an interview with Caron Butler. He says the time he spent working at Burger King as a kid was a “life-changing experience” (he now owns several BK franchises), and that he will also shadow Mark Cuban (going to board meetings and the what-not) later this summer.
[SLAM Online]

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A D.C. picture, links and commentary …

[Howard Theater - 620 T St. NW - Washington, D.C. - K. Weidie]

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By now you may know that JaVale McGee has been cut from Team USA … and it also served as another example of news coming directly from a player, via Twitter. This is somewhat disappointing (him being cut, not that word came by means of Twitter). Many signs/media reports gave you the feeling that McGee would at least be taken to Europe to participate in training and exhibitions leading up to the FIBA tournament in Turkey, and it would have been good for his development. Then again, maybe he didn’t want to go, knowing he wouldn’t make the final 12. Or perhaps the team thought it would be best for him to train stateside under the direction of the franchise. Regardless of the reason, a lot of eyes, D.C. and beyond, will be on McGee in 2010-11 because of this Team USA experience. If he becomes more of a student of the game, he can really be special.

Dan Steinberg conveys pretty much the gist of the Redskins’ Brandon Banks doing the John Wall dance after scoring a punt return touchdown in their exhibition opener against the Buffalo Bills. Banks did the dance in front of his boy from Raleigh, John Wall, no less.
[DC Sports Bog]

Even the website of a Lexington, Kentucky NBC television station is covering Banks doing the John Wall dance.
[Lex18.com]

Which makes me wonder … how many corny television montages of various folks doing the John Wall dance are we going to see this year? Probably can’t be more than the number of media members who attempted the famed Albert Haynesworth conditioning test themselves.

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[Intersecting paths, Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. - taken by Kyle Weidie]

I recently wrote a piece for SB Nation DC about a Twitter interaction — a musical enlightenment — between the WizzNutzz and Mike James, while the former was in glorious Wheaton, Maryland and the latter was in Kenya, Africa. So go read that now … but there’s also more to the story (after you read) …

@WZZTNZZ further Tweets:

@Truth_About_It u like benga jams we gav @mikejames7? then u LUV @AlexMinoff Extra Golden, strait outta Nairobi NW, near Adams Morgan

Alex Minoff is local to the D.C. area, is most certainly a huge Wizards fan (actually, “rabid,” he tells me), and a member of the music group Extra Golden. You can learn more about Extra Golden in various locales on the web, such as their website or Wikipedia, but basically it’s a band formed by two Kenyans and two Americans — a hybrid of benga and rock.

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Now that the franchise worst 16-game losing streak has departed, it’s time to remember the players who have departed the Wizards this season — via trade or release, not suspension or injury, and only those who actually received minutes.

Below you will find portraits of the departed along with their story from the night pictured and a video clip of a selected quote. Enjoy … I think.

{DeShawn Stevenson}

Depart Date: February 13, 2010

On Halloween Night after the Wizards defeated the New Jersey Nets 123-104 in their home opener, pushing their record to 2-1, (the only time it would be better than .500 this season), Stevenson spoke about how, unlike last season, everybody now wants tickets to Wizards games and that he wasn’t going to dress up for All Hallows Eve.

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{A post-game locker-room scene from the night of January 2, 2010}

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The media feeding frenzy at the Verizon Center has dwindled to a faintly glowing ember. Since Gilbert Arenas was banished, there have been press flare ups here and there, such as when former team icons are removed from the franchise’s edifice and shipped out of town, bringing in fresh new faces. But otherwise, it’s usually just the regulars these days.

But when Arenas was around, two noteworthy instances of media circus come to mind: 1) the Wizards’ first game of 2010, the night of January 2nd against the San Antonio Spurs, i.e., the first game after initial stories of a two-man Gun-Gate were revealed; and 2) practice on January 4th, the day the team left for a game in Philadelphia, where finger guns occurred. That Tuesday’s Sixers game would end up being Arenas’ last in a Wizards uniform (to-date). So, that would make Monday afternoon’s practice Gil’s last one in the arena that used to go nuts for him.

That day, the media came looking for Agent Zero, yearning for any morsel of sensationalistic news they could find, I believe they would call them answers. And while January fourth’s practice probably wasn’t as gonzo as the practice on New Year’s Day (which I missed), it nonetheless provided entertaining fodder in it’s own way.

That day, Mike James took one for the team, becoming the first member of the Wizards, amongst those who were dodging the camera lights, voice recorders and notepads at all costs, to throw his own chum into the shark-infested waters. Others did end up speaking, Caron Butler was later accosted in a side hallway, and Randy Foye spoke with a few reporters after most had given up and left. But James took the first shot for the team. His teammates, including Arenas, were partially able to dodge the unwanted attention because of Mike’s distraction, whether it was an intentional act on his part or not.

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{Mike Harris}

As you probably know, the Wizards today signed Mike Harris of the NBA D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a 10-day contract. Had a brief chat with him before tonight’s game …

“It’s basketball, so it’s always better up than it is down.” -Mike Harris

• Mike has never been to D.C. before, said he’s most definitely not used to the weather.
• Said he’s a “basketball guru” so he already knew a good deal about the current Wizards … played against Al Thornton and the Clippers when he was in Houston, also knows a little about Nick Young and Andray Blatche when he played against them in the 2008 Vegas Summer League as a Rocket.
• Harris said Flip Saunders told him to just come in and “do what you do” and to not try so much to fit in with the team, but to let the team fit to him … just play hard, have a good time, and try not to think to much.
• There is some familiarity, as Mike said the Wizards run similar plays to what they ran down in Rio Grande, just with different calls.
• Mike said he found out about the call-up about five minutes after getting out of tuesday’s practice with the Vipers when his coach informed him. It was about 12:30-1:00 pm when he found out that he had a 4:45 flight to Washington. Harris said he was lucky that he already had a rental car, so getting to the airport wasn’t a problem. His flight was a bit delayed in Houston, so he didn’t get into D.C. until 1:30-1:45 on Wednesday morning.

Here are some more bullets on Harris:

• He turned 26 last June 15th and shares a birthday with Mary Carey (the porn star who ran for governor in California and who once was “courted” by Dwight Howard), Neil Patrick Harris, Andy Pettitte, Ice Cube, Courtney Cox, Wade Boggs, Dr. Jerry Buss, D.J. Strawberry, and Zan Tabak … yes, “the” Zan Tabak, who won a ring in Houston with Hakeem Olajuwon. Take that Barkley!
• Harris went to Hillsboro High School in Hillsboro, Texas and averaged 27 points and 19 rebounds his senior year. He was recruited by Baylor, Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin and Tulsa, but ended up choosing Rice.
• After four seasons at Rice, Harris left as both the Owls’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He was named the WAC freshman of the year in 2002 and made the all-WAC first team in ’04 and ’05.
• The last, and only other, Rice alum to suit up for the franchise was Mike Wilks, who briefly played for the Wizards in December 2007.
• Harris previously suited up in the NBA for the Houston Rockets, but has also played in the Ukraine, China (where he won the all-star game dunk contest and was named to the All-Chinese CBA 1st team), and Kuwait, among other domestic stops.
• Harris will wear #33.

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Amidst all that went on Wednesday night (the trading of Antawn Jamison to Cleveland and a basketball game, of all things), I thought it would be a good idea to stroll around the very sparse Verizon Center concourse (you can probably chop the “announced” attendance of 13,143 by 40%) during halftime and a bit during the third quarter to get a beat on the fan pulse/reaction to the trade.

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Quick Links

• Who will be the Wizards’ Captain? Craig Stouffer of the Washington Examiner reports that Flip Saunders joked, “I’m going to be the team captain.”

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So Mike James has been written about a couple times lately. And with everything else that’s going on, it’s nice to talk about non-legal, non-14-29 record, basketball-related items. But first, here’s a run-down of everything that’s going on (can’t help myself) …

Such as Javaris Crittenton finally appearing in court, pleading to a misdemeanor gun possession, and being sentenced to one-year probation and a $1,250 fine all in about half-a-day. Oh, and since Gilbert Arenas has owned “hundreds” of guns, we found out about him making fun of Crittenton’s gun because it was little. Good one.

What else? Well, Crittenton’s day in court only created more contradictions, brought to you by Dan Steinberg, and not clarity. My favorite one … the idea the Crittenton dealt with fearing for his life with an unloaded gun. Can we all agree that Javaris got rid of the bullets before turning in the gun? Ok, I’m making an assumption, but that seems like where the smart money is.

And not to forget … the NY Post’s Petey Vescey has come out with a piece today that makes him the undisputed number one challenger to Tony Kornheiser for King of the Pricks. I won’t link to Vescey’s piece, but again, the magnanimous Dan Steinberg tucks Vescey’s tired act into bed with a nice warm glass of …

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Lo and behold, the very next game after the frustrations of Mike James were written about by myself and Mike Prada of Bullets Forever, the veteran guard’s name was called to play on Sunday against the LA Clippers. But don’t think it was because people have been calling for Flip Saunders to #FreeMikeJames. After the game, the coach indicated that part of the reason James saw action was because Earl Boykins had an issue with his heel.

Summoned to play for the first time in 80 days, James checked in with 2:33 left in the second quarter and immediately hit a runner off the glass. He also held his own against Baron Davis with effort on defense, but did make a silly, costly turnover on the Wizards’ last possession of the first half.

In the second half, James played just under 17 minutes and scored nine points, dropping two assists to two turnovers. He ended up taking the third most shots among all Wizards, attempting 11 and making four, in 19 total minutes of action. It was James, and not Randy Foye, who received the main minutes down the stretch in the fourth quarter. He and Mike Miller both led the team with +3, the only two Wizards with a positive plus/minus rating.

In his press conference, Saunders threw some credit in James’ direction. “He didn’t always play effective, he made some mistakes, but he played hard and played with energy. If you do that consistently as a team, you’ll find a way to get your way back.”

So, good for Mike, as he’s certainly become a favorite of the media and those on Twitter (such as @wzzntzz) alike. Maybe he can earn more playing time in the future, play up his trade value (in addition to his expiring contract status), and the relationship between him and the Wizards can end in a way that will work out best for everyone.

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For the hell of it, here are some locker room portraits from before and after Monday’s game against Portland. And below the jump, some must-read links that you should check out.

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I started tinkering around with this trade idea last Wednesday, but never followed up with publishing a post. Today, with Yahoo!’s Marc Spears reporting that the Utah Jazz could face a roster shake-up and Mike Jones, of Mike Jones Sports, reporting that multiple Wizards have asked to be traded, i.e., more than just Mike James, it seems like an appropriate time to float this proposal out there. And no, this is not like Bill Simmons’ silly Utah-Washington-Cleveland idea where the Wizards would lose Haywood, Jamison, Butler and James and only get Shaq and Boozer in return … although my idea is almost as drastic.

So here goes …

Utah has the Carlos Boozer issue hanging over their head, the desire to remain cheap, and is a decent team unwilling to take a big step backwards.

Washington is not in a good way. If you read this blog site, you know this. Shot out to any readers in the Philippines who know this (they really, really like the NBA over in the Phillippines).

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