“Know your roll!”

Former Washington Bullet Ledell Eackles, as relayed in :07 Seconds Or Less by Jack McCallum, once wrote, “Know your roll!” on a chalkboard as a member of the Miami Heat, in an attempt to inspire the team. Yes, “roll” and not “role” — the irony easily realized if you know Eackles’ issues with rotundness during his playing days.

But in terms of NBA players “knowing their roles” on the court… What, exactly does that mean? No, really. Because I’ve never quite understood it past being pseudo-code for: ‘Some guys are trying to do things they are not supposed to be doing, nor are capable of doing.’ And maybe that’s enough, although all the talk about knowing roles can still be confusing.

A player knowing his role in basketball makes sense, at one level, as all positions in the game are free-flowing. Sure, you have point guards and centers, but even the lines between those have blurred over time. Basketball is not like baseball where action is often solely focused on one person throwing the ball to a sole person responsible for hitting it; there’s sharing in basketball. Have you been to Lob City yet? (And to a lesser extent, John to JaVale Township?) Nor is basketball like football, where assignments on both offense and defense are specifically outlined. Or even hockey, where one guy’s role is to mind the net, others are more specifically geared toward defense or offense.

Basketball, with its diluted assignments, can thus be confusing when it comes to roles. Positions 1-5 can all score within the offense, or at the drop of a hat with a sudden change in possession. Players do need to know some sort of role for team structure, but even saying that seems overly robotic, and counterintuitive to how fluidly equal the game of basketball is meant to be.

Whatever it all means, it’s no surprise that the young Washington Wizards have a lack of understanding when “role” talk makes its way to the airwaves, i.e., who should be following the offense more rigidly, who is able to improvise and ad lib, and at which point of the game, quarter, or shot clock all these players should be performing within their capabilities.

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[Wizards, Wall & Wale... highlights from Fan Fest...]

The hope is that the fun of last Saturday’s Fan Fest at the Verizon Center was not just a reprieve from things to come for the Washington Wizards after Friday night’s debacle against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tonight, the Wiz Kids will get a chance for preseason redemption in the City of Brotherly Love, as well as in front of a national audience on NBA TV. It might merely be a minor speed bump en route to a shortened 66-game season slate, but when the next game on December 26 counts, it’s not a bump to be taken lightly.

So before people pile on how bad this Wizards team might be, or rather, lack of evident improvement in this season from the last, let’s give John Wall’s bunch a chance to digest Flip Saunders’ harsh words, to think about their film session that didn’t lie, and for the fearless point guard leader himself to stand by his words of inducing better offense and more astute defense.

But aside from franchise development angst, Wizards Fan Fest was a pretty great event. After about 15 minutes of rest after practice, the team took center court in the Phone Booth for an exhibition display. The feature was two 15-minute, running-clock scrimmages — light in their demeanor, as expected — that brought this NBA follower back to summer exhibition basketball action — little defense and dunking galore. (Actually, with exception, Capital Punishment surprisingly melded entertainment and competitiveness.)

Before, during and afterward, D.C.-area rapper Wale entertained the crowd, serving as the magnet between community and professional basketball to the likely delight of team owner Ted Leonsis. While forever connected to the District, Wale hasn’t always represented the pro basketball team in his city adequately.

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Or rather, “Film doesn’t lie,” but you get it…

“Ball Don’t Lie!,” goes the famous saying, extended into pixels forever thanks to Rasheed Wallace. It’s entirely possible that Wallace, when he was a member of the Detroit Pistons, picked up the phrase from his coach, Flip Saunders. Wallace, however, was also said to use it as a member of the Portland Trailblazers. So maybe Flip learned it from watching him. And who knows where Rasheed got it from.

There’s a YouTube video of Wallace saying it during a Pistons-Milwaukee Bucks game after an Andrew Bogut missed free-throw. Ironically, there’s also footage of Saunders, as Pistons coach, saying “Ball don’t lie,” after a Gilbert Arenas missed technical free-throw for the Washington Wizards. Little did Flip know then how much he’d later be involved with Gilbert. But the ball, according to Saunders, isn’t the only think that does not lie. Game film doesn’t lie either.

On Saturday afternoon, after an embarrassing home loss to the Philadelphia 76ers in their first preseason game on Friday, the Wizards returned to the scene of the crime. First up, a lengthy film session to review the 103-78 defeat.

“When you watch film, film doesn’t lie,” said Saunders. “You can see in the film who’s doing the right things, who’s doing the wrong things.”

When asked about the specifics of what the film showed him, Saunders said, “Nothing different than I didn’t see last night.” The coach indicated that his players didn’t move the ball, said that 80-percent of their shot attempts came off one or two passes.

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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.

It is unforeseen where Flip Saunders’ recent “popcorn players” parable/anecdote will fall on the spectrum, but it elicited one of the more revealing quotes from John Wall that I’ve heard. Because we all wonder, how exactly are stars like him wired? And while Wall’s words don’t exactly reveal anything about the inner workings of his neurology, they do show what he cares about: playing every basketball game like it’s his last.

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At the conclusion of an afternoon session on day five of training camp, Washington Wizards assistant coach Sam Cassell cracked smiles while rebounding for John Wall, Jordan Crawford and Shelvin Mack as they performed a shooting drill. Cassell is about to begin his third season on the bench for the Wizards. Forever known for his personality, he doled out positive instruction to the young guards, sharing stories with Wall about a certain game in his playing career where he “killed it” and got the win. Cassell also proclaimed Crawford as the funniest dude he knew, the camaraderie among the trio being rather overt.

The three-time world champion with 15 NBA seasons under his belt is essential to the development of both guards. He’s constantly teaching the young Wizards moves and positioning. Even though Flip Saunders had this to say after practice,:

“Sam does a good job because he has good knowledge as far as played the position. One thing that’s a little bit different is that Sam played a lot different than these guys. And sometimes you have to talk to Sam because the things he wants them to do, as far as shoot mid-range shots and those type of things, that’s not what their game is. Sam’s speed has definitely never been close to those guys. So that’s one thing we gotta watch out a little bit. But he’s got a good knowledge of what to look for.”

Either way, certainly the athletic can learn something from the tactics of the non-athletic. Cassell has also enjoyed past friendly battles of one-on-one with the likes of John Wall, Nick Young and JaVale McGee. Something left in the tank is sometimes best spent on education.

Cassell’s strengths are his bubbly personality, ability to relate to young players and cerebral understanding of what it takes to succeed in the NBA. And that’s not just from 136 playoff games and numerous big shots, but he’s also played under accomplished coaches such as Rudy Tomjanovich, George Karl, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Doc Rivers and Flip Saunders. For those participating in a ‘NBA Coaches Sam Cassell Played For’ Jeopardy category at home: Jim Cleamons, John Calipari, Don Casey, Kevin McHale, and Mike Dunleavy.

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Washington Wizards Training Camp 2011: Day 4

By 7 pm on Tuesday evening, toward the end of the fifth day of training camp, the Washington Wizards will have 72 hours before their first preseason game. How NBA teams are coping with such short turn-around times is anyone’s guess, but the young Wizards have seemingly adjusted their seriousness with the abbreviated schedule. Aside from the hanging free agency status of Nick Young, this preparation experience coincides with the fewest distractions (including the distraction of expectation) that the Wizards franchise has had going into a season in a long time.

But ask most involved if they’re ready for Friday’s contest against a Philadelphia 76ers team in D.C. and a disregard for the affirmative will come back like a knee-jerk reaction. ”Uhh… No way,” Roger Mason said with a smile, “but we’re going to do the best we can. The coaches have prepared us great. The emphasis has been on defense, defense, defense.”

“I’ll tell ya in a couple days,” was Flip Saunders’ response, playing down the importance of Friday’s game in terms of basketball judgement and playing up the gauge of game conditioning it will be. Although, Chris Singleton seemed very ready to go against an opponent instead of a teammate. Plenty of anxiousness to go around either way, but it’s evident that this inexperienced squad is aware of the work ahead. Let’s take a look at some of the action in motion pictures…

What you will see:

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Talk is cheap, and perhaps so is reading. And in retrospect, all the electronic pixels and printed typeface in the world can be just as meaningless as spoken words, as they pertain to future promises and the game of basketball.

Thus, people will readily point out that this is at least the fourth consecutive year of corner-turning expectations for Andray Blatche. Some have given up on him. Some continue to have hope. What’s evident is that he might finally break through toward a specific destination of achievement, or he won’t.

In his post lockout press conference, Washington Wizards coach Flip Saunders mentioned that he and team VP of basketball administration Tommy Sheppard gave Blatche a book on leadership this summer, before the lockout. When asked about that book at training camp this past weekend, Blatche could neither remember the book’s title, nor much of the leadership advice it offered.

“I only read like half of it, because after a while, it was like, ‘OK, alright, I got the message,’” Blatche said with a sheepish grin on his face. He went on to talk about the standards of leading by example and making those around him better. This piggy-backed words from Blatche reflecting that he now has become tired of not being a leader, tired of being on a team more known for goofiness, and tired of playing losing basketball.

“Playing around haven’t gotten us no where,” Blatche said. “All the games is out. I’m 25-years old now, this is my seventh year in the league. This is my time for me to step up and try to have guys follow me on the path I want to go. And the path I want to go is winning… just the total opposite of last season.”

For what it’s worth, Saunders couldn’t remember the title of the book either.

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On Saturday, December 10, the Washington Wizards went through their second day of training camp, fielding an incomplete roster of 16 invitees. Ronny Turiaf was acquired, but had yet to arrive; Hamady N’diaye was signed the next day, Sunday; and the statuses of Nick Young and Maurice Evans continued to be in limbo. The media was given access to the very latter portion of the day’s work, past 8 pm on a Saturday evening in Chinatown as the Wizards prepared for their first NBA basketball game action since April 13, a preseason match this Friday, December 16 against the Philadelphia 76ers in Washington.

The session open to media on the Verizon Center practice court involved two small sets of scrimmaging. One pitted a White team of John Wall (#2), Jordan Crawford (#15), Rashard Lewis (#9), Andray Blatche (#7), and Kevin Seraphin (#13) versus a Blue team of Mike Wilks (#29), Mardy Collins (no number), Larry Owens (#32), Aaron Petway (#52), and JaVale McGee (#34). The second featured a white team of Wall, Roger Mason Jr. (#8), Owens, Blatche, and Petway versus a Blue team of Shelvin Mack (#22), Crawford, Lewis, Jan Vesely (#24), and Chris Singleton (#31).

Things you will see in the video below (in relative order of appearance):

• John Wall working on his jumper.
• JaVale McGee still developing awareness in the post (especially when Jordan Crawford aggressively double teams).
• McGee working on a spinning baseline lefty hook from the left block — it comes up short, but now is the time to work on such moves. Not many will be able to contest if he can progress in jump hook shot comfort with both hands.
• Crawford hitting a running hook in the lane over McGee.
• Shelvin Mack working on his decision-making. One mistake: passing to Crawford in the left corner with the lane open for him to penetrate to the hoop. Crawford made the tough corner step-back over Roger Mason Jr. anyway.
• Jumpers from Larry Owens, Rashard Lewis (“Sweet Lew!”), and Mason Jr.
• Kevin Seraphin trying to learn court vision from the post (he makes a turnover on a cross-court pass), and trying to learn how to balance spacing and a power dribble on a pick-and-roll.
• Andray Blatche trying not to lose the ball in the post, and then showing off his usual passing skills to Aaron Petway for a dunk.
• Mack using a hesitation dribble against Wall, using a slow-down dribble to get the defender on his back, and ultimately finding a cutting Chris Singleton, who draws a foul attacking the basket.
• Wall finding Blatche for a cut and dunk against Singleton.
• Mardy Collins splitting Seraphin’s weak help on a ball screen and finding Petway for a dunk.
• With the blue team down 12-11 in the final scrimmage, Shelvin Mack missing a jumper at the buzzer.

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This is just an Andray Blatche workout. Well, part of one, which took place on December 2, 2011 (as seen after Flip Saunders’ press conference). Nothing much to infer here. It is, just a glimpse…

I will say, as I wrote on Twitter, after seeing Andray for the first time in person from the top of the stairs looking down upon the Wizards practice court, where he and a gang of guys went through a contest of “Can you score?” (in two dribbles or less)… that I thought his physique looked more proportional, which is a good thing.

Saunders was asked on Friday about the likelihood of players around the league not being in shape when they show up to camp. “You’re never in the shape you need to be in,” said Saunders. “No matter how good of shape you are in, when the coach get here, you’re going to say ‘I’m about half in shape that I thought I was going to be in.’ That’s just always how it is.”

Can I say Blatche is more ready than he’s ever been? Not with complete confidence, as my historical perspective on the state of ‘pre-season’ Blatche is limited. Can I say that I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in real games against real competition? That answer would be certainly. Good thing for Wizards and NBA fans alike, the season will be here before we know it.

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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[John Wall tough travels to the hoop at Capital Punishment - photo: K. Weidie]

[Editor's Note: Summertime hoops is raw, folksy, grassroots. NBA players have been putting on shows nationwide, and people have resoundingly enjoyed them. They've featured small gyms with varying levels of organization and management -- if anything, these games have given us an appreciation of the sourcing it takes to smoothly run an entertaining pro basketball event in a big arena. By the time this is all over, people will be craving the beauty of organized game play and coaching strategy battles.

Another exhibition concluded today at Washington, D.C.'s Coolidge High School, I watched it online via ilinksports.com. "The Clash of the Superstars," it was dubbed, because city alliances weren't really involved. A team featuring John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Kevin Durant beat a team with Michael Beasley, Kemba Walker, Jeff Green, Greg Monroe and others 144-128. Truth About It's Rashad Mobley and John Converse Townsend covered the match and will be providing stories at some point in the future.

Until then, let's take a look back at "Capital Punishment," held at D.C.'s Trinity University back on August 20. With the video below, TAI's Adam McGinnis brings the rawness that makes these summer hoops games likely so comforting for those mysterious basketball gods, but not comfortable enough to where they'll be content with watching them forever. -Kyle W.]

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.

The christening of a ‘face of the franchise’ No. 1 overall draft pick in John Wall isn’t lost either, at least in terms of the unknown future that current comfort in Wall’s rookie scale salary provides. Still… all of this at the same time? Very rare are the instances when a team makes such a drastic and quick change in leadership, which is why ’10-11 is equally as sensational as ’09-10.

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I often sarcastically harp that I’m one of the “lucky” few who has watched every single Washington Wizards game either in person, live on TV, or via DVR over the past few craptastic seasons, but Wizards T.V. analyst Phil Chenier has seen almost every game in person, home and away, going on 26 years.

The former Bullets Star has an unassuming and steady game-calling style. His commentary is sharp and void of the preachy “back in my playing days” modifiers, which are so tiresomely prevalent amongst ex-jock pundits. (Looking at you, Jim Palmer & Rob Dibble.)

His pregame “Phil-osophy” segments are usually on point and lack cheesiness. Chenier’s calm diction is in stark contrast to having to suffer through Mark Jackson’s “mama there goes that man again” refrains and overall dull observations throughout the NBA playoffs.

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[Ed. Note: Carter Bryant covered this year's NBA Draft in New Jersey and has previously contributed to Truth About It.net; check him out further at his Twitter account: @CarterthePower. Below, his words accompany some post-draft video I shot of Chris Singleton talking about his defensive mentality and playing with John Wall. Singleton will be introduced to Washington at a press conference today at 2:30 pm. -Kyle W.]

We can all appreciate a good wingman. You’re at the bar, a chance encounter and great conversation have already been initiated. But the third wheel, friend of your target, can’t help but make their presence known. Cue the wingman to help save the day, jumping in to defend from distractions. If he succeeds, then you have a teammate for life. Great wingmen are vital to success, an idea that clearly translates to the basketball court.

The Wizards nabbed the steal of the NBA Draft when they selected Florida State lockup artist Chris Singleton 18th overall. For John Wall’s Wizards, he can be the wingman in more ways that one. I spoke to Singleton briefly in Newark last Thursday. The guy has long arms — a 7’1″ wingspan — and sounds hungry. But you didn’t need me to tell you that.

Even team owner Ted Leonsis sang Singleton’s praises at the press conference to introduce sixth pick Jan Vesely on Monday. Speaking of Singleton in the same breath as Kevin Seraphin, Leonsis said, “I saw him in the workouts. He just looked tough, he just looked mean. And adding that kind of bulk and strength, along with great talent, is what we promised John Wall.”

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The highlights and good times from John Wall’s rookie year represent the icing on the big ol’ cookie (or cake) that vested hype-machine types gladly diddle themselves to while resting assured on pillows encased with media & PR mints at night. Fodder for rainbows, puppy dogs and ice cream, but relatively useless to Wall himself. He doesn’t seem to take comfort in digits and puffery. Rather, he’s the sort wired to be driven toward success by frustration and failure, i.e., he’s a non-believer in the injury/rebuilding excuses readily applied by some around him. Nor does he appear to possess a complacency or apathy toward loving the game of basketball as some of his teammates have so often conveyed. He actually appears to despise such attitudes. At least this is what dime-store pessimists such as myself optimistically believe.

No, it’s not ‘John Wall Wednesday’ here at Truth About It.net, although there could be a subsequent related post coming this evening that would make it three in a row about the 2010 No. 1 NBA Draft pick. But, you see, no biggie when it comes to the franchise pillar. Wall’s inaugural season has barely been put to rest as his NBA future looks to gainfully go from embryonic to full-on fetus mode. And then who knows… a crawl, walk or sprint into the postseason seems inevitable. Rookie year perspective is a prerequisite, yet no one will know how to properly assess Wall’s 2010-11 until a couple/several years from now. In the meantime, let’s take a videographic look at the experience of the rookie’s emotions through his carefully considered and well-trained quotes to the media covering his team, the Washington Wizards. Dissect this one way now and be ready to reconsider down the road.