Today’s concluding media session at Wizards practice, which was held on the main Verizon Center court because it happened to be set up, didn’t have as somber of a mood in the air as I expected.

Then again, the shellacking in San Antonio came way back on Saturday … plenty of time for the players to look forward and put the bad loss behind them, as professional athletes are so apt at doing.

I only got to talk with two players today (not that many talked in the first place; to my knowledge, I only missed comments from Andray Blatche), and had to leave before Flip Saunders finally made himself available. The two players: Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas.

And get this, Arenas actually wanted to talk to the media. The days of him walking by after practice and saying, “They told me I didn’t have to talk to you guys today, only on game nights,” could be a distant memory. Then again, Agent Funeral could also be back at any time.

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The Wizards play the Thunder at 8 pm tonight in Oklahoma City. I’ll be Twittering and perhaps chatting a bit on ESPN’s Daily Dime.

We’ll see if the Wiz have the consistency, energy and focus it takes to win. Word out of Oklahoma is that the Thunder practiced their zone offense at shoot-around today.

Watch out for that Thabo Sefolosha cat. His on-ball defense is something to get excited about … when not playing the Wizards, obviously. It won’t be easy for Mike Miller or Caron Butler, whomever Thabo is guarding. That means … no dribbling around and trying to force things, Caron.

Brendan Haywood will also being going against his old buddy,  Etan ‘The Poet’ Thomas. Wizards Insider has more on the game’s matchup.

Finally, it’s Zero vs. Zero tonight, as my fellow ESPN TrueHoop Network blog, Daily Thunder, points out. Russell Westbrook vs. Gilbert Arenas … hopefully it will be fun to watch (and Gil’s not throwing up stink bombs from deep).

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2:02:59 PM: Your Wizards starters: Arenas, Foye, Butler, Oberto & Haywood vs. Nash, Richardson, Hill, Frye & Stoudemire for Phoenix.

2:06:08 PM: Flip Saunders said he’s starting Randy Foye for his “offensive consistency” – [insert jabs at Nick Young here]

2:08:09 PM: Thunder Dan Majerle was wearing cargo shorts during the Suns’ early pregame warmup — just thought you might want to know.

2:09:03 PM: Will the Wizards come out with Energy today? The 1 pm game time makes it more of a challenge to do so.

2:10:58 PM: @craigstouffer advises to get the fruit plate ready in his pregame write-up http://tinyurl.com/y86uabz

2:11:40 PM: RT @DCWIZ DSteve rockin a straw ala Butler

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8:10:21 PM: Live from the Verizon Center … not the best crowd on hand, guess the Wizards have a way to go before they can win back DC sports fans.

8:11:01 PM: Not even D-Wade and the hometown boy Michael Beasley could get the house packed.

8:15:24 PM: 1:40 into the game, the Mike Miller on D-Wade mismatch leads to two Miller fouls, 3 D-Wade points, and Randy Foye off the bench.

8:17:32 PM: Wade proceeds to take Foye in the post, Flip already looks frustrated. Wade has 7 of 9 Heat pts – Beasley has other 2 on Oberto. 9-4 Heat.

8:24:39 PM: Wiz down 15-6. Flip takes 2nd T.O. 5:35 into game. Wiz w 2 consec. TOs. Brief boos from very sparse/late arriving crowd. Not looking good.

8:33:48 PM: Hopefully McGee will bring some energy to this place, joins Arenas, Butler, Blatche & DeShawn. Wiz down 27-10. VERY lackadaisical so far.

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7:11:42 PM: DC’s own Ginuwine just sang the National Anthem here @ the Verizon Center … Wiz starting lineup: Arenas, Foye, Miller, Oberto, Haywood.

7:13:40 PM: RT @BulletsForever [before the game] Flip Saunders also praised Gilbert Arenas’ defense … yeah, you heard that right.

7:15:02 PM: The Wizards have a huge fire-spitting logo over their bench … now it’s rising into the rafters.

7:15:38 PM: Big cheers for the Return of Gilbert Arenas … decent crowed, but surely as not as packed as you would expect it to be.

7:26:03 PM: 6:26 left in first, Nets up 12-10. Wizards don’t look crisp on offens. Perhaps they are thinking about the plays too much; poor spacing.

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Even though we’re in a state of “this damn economy”, we can rest comfortably that there’s always an NBA player willing to implement his own mini-stimulus package to consumerism … such as Gilbert Arenas and his need to purchase a refrigerator and microwave for one day. And this took place in Michigan, which has recently fallen on hard times … so more kudos to Gil.

How do we know about all this? Why, the Twitter account of one @bigdaddywookie aka JaVale McGee.

{via @bigdaddywookie}

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5:35:20 PM: Walking to the Phone Booth for the only Wizards preseason home game. #ipodcheck ‘All I Need’ Jay-Z, The Blueprint

5:41:46 PM: “Got fiends throwing up on themselves like Willie Beamon.” #jayz

6:57:54 PM: At the Verizon Center, nothing crazy. Missed Flip Saunders’ court interview. Not much to ask the players about in the locker room bf game.

7:08:24 PM: Seen in the Wiz crowd: a bald headed white dude with a Nick Young jersey, but it’s not Dan Steinberg.

7:09:43 PM: Tweet bf Wiz-Mavs start: Stevenson starting for the Wiz, Drew Gooden at C for Dallas .. hope Haywood abuses him.

7:16:25 PM: Haywood getting offensive rebound then fouled by Gooden then crumbling 2 floor holding his ankle sends moans & cuss words through crowd.

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5:26:20 PM: Live from the Siegel Center at VCU … press row front, opposite of the Grizzlies bench. Ready to get this Wizards preseason started!

5:32:43 PM: Heading to the Wiz locker room for some pre-game questions.

5:38:14 PM: Gil listening to Jay-Z’s ‘Already Home’ … Switched it to Biggie’s ‘One More Chance’ (remix) – head phones turned up loud enough to hear.

6:09:30 PM: Dom McGuire looks good hitting warmup shots from the top of the key, but something about his form is still off. Still got that hitch.

6:10:54 PM: Flip Saunders says that he’s seen less ‘silliness’ out of the younger players in the locker room so far.

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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}

I won’t be down in Richmond to cover training camp until this weekend, but there’s plenty of output from those in the mix on the campus of VCU. Here’s the run-down …

(and yes, still jealous that I’m not down there … still making “livin’ money” during the day instead)

Flip Saunders, master teacher [via WashingtonWizards.com]

Project Comeback

Gilbert Arenas hasn’t spoken yet this week, but according to Saunders and some of his teammates, he is rolling right along.

“I thought he looked good. If you look at how his team does [in scrimmages], I think that’s the most important thing,” Saunders said. “One of the main comments that came out from our meeting afterwards with the coaches was they didn’t realize how well he can really see the floor, push the ball and create. He’s gone three practices in 24 hours and Idon’t see any ill effects. He exploded when he needed to explode and got where he wanted to go. He’s trying to understand his role and what we want him to do, and trying to be that leader.”

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