Washington Wizards Blog

Wizards PR Director Zack Bolno sends another update from Las Vegas where the team is about to play their third game at NBA Summer League (vs. Houston, 11:00 PM Comcast SportsNet).

A RUSSIAN FEAST
A special thanks to Oleksiy Pecherov and Harvey Grant who allowed Dan Steinberg (Washington Post Bog) and yours truly to join them for an unbelievable Russian feast last night at Eliseevsky Restaurant. We had some delicious food, courtesy of chef Oleg Basov. Our waitress, Elena Shokhina, was very patient and friendly.

As for dinner … It initially took Pech about 10 minutes to place our order. He was extremely meticulous and very conscientious throughout the whole process. His main concern was that there would be enough food for everyone at the table and that we would enjoy our dinner.

We finally ordered, or maybe I should clarify my remarks - Pech placed an order for the table - with a grand total of seven differerent appetizers and entrees coming our way over the next two very busy hours. Among the favorites were the potato varenki with sour cream (dumplings in a dish that were delicious) and the shashlik kebabs (tasty pork with a sweet sauce on the side). There were loads of vegetables and potatoes. Pech also devoured a bowl of cabbage salad in record time. I really enjoyed the turkey salad, kasha and borscht. It was the first time that I had borscht and I was pleasantly surprised. It was very tasty and probably my favorite part of the meal.

The evening was very relaxing. We talked about Pech’s experience of growing up in the Ukraine - his family (dad Vladimir and his mother Olga and his 17-year-old brother), his new home - Washington, D.C., and the many adjustments athletes have to make when moving to a foreign country without any family and friends.

In the background, Russian music videos played and we asked Pech about the different artists. Occasionally, Pech would begin to sing the lyrics. He has a fairly good voice and can hold a tune.

It is also nice to watch the relationship and bond Grant and Pecherov have formed in such a short period of time. Grant has become a mentor, and it seems that Pech takes too heart the advice Grant offers him. Pech is a very talented athlete - he also played soccer before he grew to be a seven-footer and took up the sport of basketball. Personally, I am looking forward to Wizards fans having the opportunity to meet and root for this very nice and personable young man.

For now though, it was nice for Pech to feel like he was back home for a night - have some good Russian food, sing some familiar songs, order dinner in his native tongue and share his experiences in a comfortable environment. It was a welcomed escape and change of pace for all of us -albeit for a couple of hours - from the summer league games, the grind of being on the road and the bright lights of Vegas.

SUPERSTITIONS
It’s “Friday, the 13th” … I guess that I figured that someone on the Wizards summer league team would be superstitious. The majority of the players either shook their head no or politely said they had nothing really exciting to offer when asked about today - Friday the 13th - or any of their unique superstitions.

But then I saw first-round pick Nick Young and I figured that he may be the one player on the team who may have at least one superstition.

When broached about the topic regarding Friday the 13th, Nick flashed his vintage smile and replied: “It’s a scary day. When I grew up, everybody talked about Friday the 13th and we would always say that anything could happen. We were always extra careful.”

Young, however, did not have a “scary” or memorable - Friday the 13th story, but he did share with me some of his game day rituals and superstitious.

So what will the Wizards’ first-round pick do as he prepares for his third summer league game tonight against the Houston Rockets?

“Well, I’ll go up to my room and wear my lucky shorts and eat a lot of licorice and gummy bears - and hopefully it will help me out tonight,” said Young. I usually eat a pack of licorice because it keeps me active and gives me a lot of energy.”

And so I asked what the story was behind the shorts? “I’ll always wear my brother’s college shorts before every game. When I first started playing with them in my first game in high school - I did well and so I wear them all the time.”

So Young will relax in his hotel room, wear his brother’s lucky shorts, eat licorice or gummy bears, and then what?

“I’ll call my mom,” Young said smiling. “Before every game, I’ll talk with my mom for a couple of minutes and she gives me her famous quote - ‘Go out there and kick some butt!’

And what if mom forgets to tell Nick her famous line while their on the phone? Nick quickly replied: “I’ll remind her and say: ‘Mom - you didn’t say your famous line, and she immediately will say it before we get off the phone.”

Tonight, Nick’s mom can just tell him to ‘Go out there and kick some butt’ in person as Young’s parents, Mae and Charles, will be attending the game at Cox Pavilion.

STREAKS
The Wizards will look to snap their eight-game losing streak in the Vegas Summer League tonight (Friday) against the Houston Rockets. Washington’s last victory in Vegas occurred in the summer of July, 2005.

Speaking of streaks - Last night, the Rockets had their 11-game Vegas Summer League winning streak snapped against the Dallas Mavericks. In the Rockets’ 98-94 loss, rookie first-round pick Aaron Brooks had 28 points and seven assists, but also added nine turnovers. Brooks, however, leads the summer league in assists (7.5 ppg) and is fourth in scoring (24.5 ppg). Tonight’s game can be seen locally on Comcast SportsNet beginning at 11:00 p.m. EDT.

TICKETS, TICKETS, TICKETS
The Wizards summer league team needs tickets … Three players in particular have requested a significant amount of tickets during the first two games. Wizards forward/center Kevinn Pinkney who starred at Nevada-Reno and rookies Young (Los Angeles) and forward Dominic McGuire (San Diego) who have their families in from California for the games this week. The ticket requests from Pickney, Young and McGuire alone is at 35 and counting … for tonight’s game against Houston.

CONGRATULATIONS CARON
Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler was honored with the NBA Community Assist Award for the month of June. Butler dedicated the entire month of June to community outreach with a specific focus on the youth in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin and the Washington, D.C. area.

Butler hosted Caron Butler’s Summer Homecoming in Racine, which included a reading-time out for local students and the popular Butler’s Bike Brigade, where he teamed up with Wal-mart to distribute 500 brand new bikes and helmets. In addition, Butler was also honored as the City of Racine proclaimed June 8, 2007 - Caron Butler Day at City Hall.

Congrats Caron! This is a very well-deserved honor!