[Wizards 2010-11 Player Preview Index: Gilbert Arenas, Hilton Armstrong, Andray Blatche,
Trevor Booker, Kirk Hinrich, Josh Howard, Yi Jianlian, JaVale McGee, Kevin Seraphin,
Al Thornton, John Wall, Nick Young.]

The Intro.

-by John Townsend

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past three months — no, three years — there is no way you haven’t heard of John Wall. If you’re still under that rock, well congratulations for making it as far as the internet.

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flickr/Keith Allison

In one clip [Stephon Marbury] cries uncontrollably for 5 straight minutes with no shirt on while his homeboy rubs his shoulders – why, I don’t know?! In another clip, he eats Vaseline, claiming his throat is sore and that this would solve the problem. Not to be outdone, he has another clip where he dances to a song called “Barbie Doll!” That was very disturbing. If I was on his team, there’s no way I’m getting undressed in front of him after watching that…

When Brendan Haywood blogged the above quote a couple weeks ago, it struck me as something that could be interpreted as slightly homophobic. But at the time, no one really caught on.

Since the comment seemed relatively subtle, I withheld from drawing conclusions, wondering if it would eventually garner more attention … likely unwanted attention. Perhaps leading Brendan to conclude, like his teammate Gilbert Arenas, that blogging can be a “double-edged sword.”

Well, it happened. Haywood couldn’t resist, once again playing a two-bit comedian in the crowded line to pile on Marbury.

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This is JaVale McGee and his team USA Basketball mini-camp jersey. Don’t ask questions, just know it came from his TwitPic account.

JaVale McGee interview at the USA Basketball mini-camp:

And now the best links from ’round the world wide wizards web …

Somebody Is Noticing

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With Thursday off, the Wizards will be back in summer league action tonight against Oleksiy Pecherov and the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 pm. I won’t be able to catch the game live since I’ll be checking the John Legend concert at Merriweather … so I’ll depend on the usual Twitter suspects to keep me updated on the goings-ons. But until then …

Not this guy again .... (flickr/wizardsdotcom)

More positive signs regarding Andray Blatche? The DC Sports Bog reports:

Many of you have expressed doubts about Blatche’s recent promise to take advantage of his latest opportunity, and it’s understandable, given the relationship between what he’s said and what’s done in the past. I can say that, without a doubt, he’s made some weird quantum leap in talking with the media. I’ve never seen him anywhere close to as good with the media as he’s been this week. Here’s what he said about his teammates, and bear in mind, I asked the question, he wasn’t just offering this up.

“JaVale’s a great player,’ Blatche said. “If he focuses on the things he does the best, that make the crowd love him–blocking shots, rebounding, and then if he’s at the rim and he’s got a put back, put it back. That’s what I want him to focus on more. Because he’s a great player, if he just sticks to that. And Nick, I see a big improvement in Nick. His shot is more efficient, and they have him playing defense this year. Dominic, you know what to expect from him, he’s gonna play defense no matter what. He’s a real hustle player, a lot of energy. So everybody’s making improvements.”

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Like user ooba on Bullets Forever, I attended the Flip Saunders meet-n-greet with season ticket holders at the Verizon Center on Wednesday night. I didn’t intend on going (nor did I really know about it), but my boy Donte invited me that day, so big thanks to him.

Luckily, I had the room bugged beforehand so I could get some prime quotes from Flip … well, if ‘bugged’ means a small recorder I happened to have with me.

It’s kinda funny, I didn’t mean to be the sneaky blogger recording people’s conversations, or a coach talking to a practice court filled with 200-250 people (not sure if I’m a good crowd estimator or not), but like ooba, I just want to relay interesting team news, notes, and Et ceteras to those who weren’t able to attend.

Of course, one must wonder if Saunders was more candid speaking in front of fans, working under the assumption that no one was ‘covering’ the event, than he would have been with members of the main-stream-media.

Then again, unlike MSM types, I’m actually a fan of the team.

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Caron Butler recently sat down with NBC 4′s Lindsay Czarniak for an interview. Interesting tid-bits are below, followed by the embedded video from NBC Washington.

• Butler, like most NBA players, has mad love for the Cheesecake Factory.
• He enjoys the ‘large’ chicken Caesar salad.
• He’s a great dad, often working out from 1-5 am so he can rest and then be home when his daughter gets back from school.
• Tuff Juice has 22-23 straws ready to chew during games … he calls it a fetish.

Wizards Web:

Marbury to the Wizards? [Frank Isola, Knicks Knation]
“Marbury, according to a source, was contacting Flip Saunders almost on a daily basis during the postseason and there is a chance that Marbury could be reunited with his first professional coach (okay, second after Bobby Cremins) next season. Read more »