Flip Saunders on preparing for the last game of the preseason, the ‘Swine Flu’ back-court he will start against the Bulls on Friday, and getting Andray Blatche into his role of coming off the bench.

Brendan Haywood on getting Gilbert Arenas and Mike Miller back from the flu and the Wizards’ ‘Window of Opportunity’.

Caron Butler on his defensive progression

“So far so good. You know, still gambling a little bit after looking at some film. But, it’s still preseason … just trying to focus in on the rotation for the most part, getting to spots, talking and communicating as much as possible. And … so far so good.”

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{flickr/Rick Austin}

Well, I started off trying to listen to the Wizards versus Hawks on DC’s 106.7 The Fan via the Internet. I heard some Randy Foye turnovers, heard him jack some threes and heard him get his shot blocked going to the rack (Foye led the NBA last season with a fifth of all of his inside shots being blocked).

I also heard the Hawks rain threes (4-4) and the Wizards turn the ball over some more (Andray Blatche had three). And this was all in the first quarter as Atlanta took a 35-18 lead.

Thankfully, technical difficulties spared me from listening to the rest as it only seemed to go downhill from there. The most telling stat(s) from the game? The Wizards’ plus/minus leaders were: Paul Davis +5, Vincent Grier +5, JaVale McGee +4, and Mike James +3.

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Caron Butler had his eye on the ball

“Shoot it boy!!”

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In case you haven’t heard, the Wizards added some more bread filler to their training camp crabcakes with the signing of Vincent Grier and Paul Davis. But these are just test crabcakes, when the season starts, they’ll be much more potent.

Vincent Grier

Grier, who spent last year playing in France and has previously made off-season appearances with the Miami Heat (2006) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2008), seems to be one of those ‘dime-a-dozen’ swingmen.

Here’s a synopsis of what I was able to gather via Grier’s Draft Express profile (written in Feb. 2005):

He’s an explosive lefty slasher who can score in bunches, take smaller guards in the post because of his size (6’5″, 200 lbs. or so), and rebounds well. However, he can be out of control on offense, his jumper is inconsistent, and his handles are shaky. He can uses his muscle to play decent defense, but doesn’t necessarily have lateral quickness.

Grier has no chance of making the team. But as goes common knowledge, his simple association with an NBA team might help with a contract down the line. If anything, Flip Saunders seems to be doing his fellow University of Minnesota alum a solid. Seeing the meager client list of Grier’s agent Mark McNeil, they could use the extra help.

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