Here are the exclusive photos that I promised to show you all Wizards fans from the pickup games at the Verizon Center practice court earlier this week. Players were divided into three teams (black, yellow and green). The length of a game is seven minutes. Winners stay and play the resting team, and losers leave. The games lasted for about two hours.

Guess who were on Gilbert’s team?
Here is the roster: Caron Butler (SF), Dominic McGuire (PF), Oleksiy Pecherov (C), and DeShawn Stevenson (SG). Pretty good, right? The yellow team was led by guards Roger Mason and former Wizard Awvee Storey. Wizards forward Andray Blatche and center James Lang were on the green team.

Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler sat down with WashingtonWizards.com to discuss a variety of topics including his recovery from his season ending injury, new teammates and his work in the community.

Q: Everyone wants to know how has the injury to your hand recovered?
CB: My hand is feeling good. I am back to full contact. I am playing pickup ball at Verizon Center or Barry Farms, so I am back to full strength.

Q: What aspects of your game did you look to improve on during this off-season?
CB: I worked on my shooting and my range. I also have been working on my ball handling and my conditioning so I will be in top shape when training camp begins. Read More…

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for more exclusive photos from the pickup game at Verizon Center…

I am very excited for my rookie season as a 2007-08 Wizards dancer! The audition process was a long and exhausting weekend, but definitely well worth it. The freestyle round was a chance for the judges to catch a glimpse of our personalities and court appeal. A series of technique combinations followed and I was happy to have made it through to the final round! The final round was an opportunity for the judges to see us perform on the court and for the finalists to dance for the fans at the Verizon Center. The pressure was on and you could tell that we were all very nervous, but as the final team was announced, we couldn’t have been more excited!

We have been practicing for a few weeks now and have already learned a lot of routines we will be performing during the season. With the season right around the corner, it’s important for us to keep up with our workouts and practice hard. I really enjoy being at practice because the routines we learn are a lot of fun to perform, but most importantly I get to dance with my teammates who are truly a talented group of women. The veterans have also been really helpful and have done a great job of welcoming the rookies on the team. Our practices are very productive, but we always find time to joke around and have fun too! I can’t wait to kick the season off and perform for the fans, and I know that my rookie season will be full of great memories.

Melissa M.

Gilbert Arenas (#6 in red jersey) showed up to ball at Berry Farms’ Goodman League in Southeast DC. Kudos to Dan Steinberg’s BogTV.

With almost a little more than a month away from the Wizards training camp, several Wizards players were spotted at the practice court this morning warming up and getting themselves into shape.

Gilbert was working on his post-up moves against Assistant Coach Phil Hubbard with newly hired Assistants Ed Tapscott and Dave Hopla feeding him the ball, while Rookie Nick Young was shooting jumpers on the other end of the court. Later, Donell Taylor came in to work on his ball-handling skill with Assistant Coach Randy Ayers. Deshawn Stevenson was jumping up and down the obstacle cones with Trainer Eric Waters. We got the exclusive practice photos, so enjoy…