Washington Wizards Blog

Comment from FLOYDBT
Time October 26, 2007 at 6:27 PM

Wizards release Mike Hall to break the roster down to 12 i dont know if having so few ppl is a good idea…

Comment from deepakm
Time October 26, 2007 at 9:54 PM

wizards suck and will continue to suck until abe is willing to spend money on decent talent. screw the luxury tax. if you can’t afford the team please sell it. embarrasing

Comment from neal
Time October 26, 2007 at 10:58 PM

I don’t believe we’re only going to start with 12 active players in order to avoid the luxury tax. I’ll bet EG will be picking up at least one FA in the next couple of weeks (which will put us into the luxury tax range).

Presuming Blatche will make $2,556,847 this year (the most likely estimate), the Wiz is $287,374 under the luxury tax limit of $67,865,000. Our payroll ranks 8th out of 30 teams as of now (the Knicks are first). To me that shows that Abe is willing to spend money. I think our old reputation of not being willing to pay the going rate was more due to the views of Wes Unseld.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 27, 2007 at 9:51 AM

A miserable performance last night, but at least DS had a reasonable game.

Obviously, Gilbert is *not* recovered from his injury; you have to be concerned for him.

If we do pick someone up, I hope it’s someone young and with a long-term upside. We are *not* going to have a big year this year, and we should be building.

Comment from FLOYDBT
Time October 27, 2007 at 10:51 AM

True i dont see the wizards being a team that will be in the easts top five…… as of right now i dont see much talent that is still unsigned but how bout sarunis jasikavicus i kno i didnt spell that right but he got released and does any one kno if hes playing over seas…if he is still unsigned that is what we need a guard who can come of the bench and be a productive three point shooter and scorer…..plus he is good friends with darius songaila

Comment from neal
Time October 27, 2007 at 11:41 AM

I’m really discouraged now. I hope they get some intensity back soon.

I’m not so worried about the two position. We have three reasonable possibilities: Stevenson, Mason & Young. I don’t think two of them will bomb.

I’m more worried about Arenas. If he’s less than what he was last year, we’re in trouble. On the other hand, if he has matured as a PG, we could be very good.

Comment from BruceO
Time October 27, 2007 at 1:43 PM

i’ve been saying for awhile now that we shouldn’t naturally assume the top three/ five are fine. Gil had knee surgery and I don’t care how good he is It can affect your play if you’re not fully healed. People were cracking on jarvis hayes cause his jumper wasn’t falling but he also came from knee surgery. The next level on this team is for us to get a long power forward who can rebound, block shots and score in the paint. So at some point Blatche has to become good enough to start over jamison who can score but can’t defend so no solid defensive schemes can work with him in that position. It’s unfortunate and I still want him on this team but from next year on it has to be at a reasonable price. There’s plenty of ways we can utilize the cap room he can give us.
Maybe gil and the rest of the starters major concern was trying to get their feet under them and the made shots didn’t matter, but I feel that if that had been taken care of already we’d be closer to the form exhibited by the likes of Shawn marion, Kg, Nash, bynum who are all in mid season form. I’d be pleasantly surprised if they could just turn it on at the beginning of the season. At this point I’m just glad that no one is injured. (or no one is injured DURING pre season)

Comment from BruceO
Time October 27, 2007 at 2:00 PM

well the good news is last year pre season the offense percentages were kind of blah but their shooting numbers improved as the season started. jarvis hayes played well last pre season as well. Once the season started though we had a rough first month and went 4W-9L or something. We have a rough starting month IMO this year. Previous easy games are now questionable especially with Gil still being a possible question mark. Maybe I shouldn’t worry because Eddie did say he was going to sit Gil during a good portion of the games. Games this year against teams that sucked like boston or atlanta are no longer walkovers

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 27, 2007 at 2:59 PM

well i am a fan that never says we suck so i say we still got 82 games to play i am not going to guess what the outcome is going to be

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 27, 2007 at 11:39 PM

look at the cavs they were “not contenders” last year and they made it too the ship no doubt its going to be hard but don’t look down now because the guys need us to cheer no matter what it may seem like if we get there backs an think they can then sooner or later there going to feel that energy and follow suit we got this guys don’t let it get too you this is preseason an these guys have fought for us when everyone said that Washington would never see a playoff and we have made it year after year we can do this and we will do this!!!!!!

Comment from BruceO
Time October 28, 2007 at 6:10 AM

the cavs were number 4 defensively, were better rebounders and got that heroic takeover effort from lebron and a walkover in round one. Should we be so lucky. They have no offense though. It’s painful to watch when it becomes stagnant. I’m not saying we suck but for us to get to the next level our defense has to improve, we need a bigger PF so people don’t make the likes of bargagni look like an all star. Also i don’t think I’ll rest easy unless I know gil is close to 100 percent. Doesn’t have to be immediately but if he’s close to that i’m content.

Comment from neal
Time October 28, 2007 at 8:51 AM

I guess it’s not surprising that anyone who’s handle is Wizards4Life is an optimistic about our fortunes. Let’s hope he’s right.

Comment from neal
Time October 28, 2007 at 9:16 AM

Good article on Arenas in this morning’s Washington Post Magazine. The guy has really got huge grit, determination, dedication. I guess I shouldn’t whine about his trying to do too much himself.

Arenas has apparently always had high turnovers, high steals, and high points. The implication in the article is that he’s a bit more disciplined than he used to be.

Comment from LilGil
Time October 28, 2007 at 4:28 PM

Well I just got back home from a lil vacation week and what do I read… Anyway I’m the same type of person as Wiz4life and las season I had my head up til the last minute of the 4th game in the playoffs! I ain’t stupid I just try to make it easier for the players to let ‘em know that the fans are always behind (excepet when they actually don’t show any commitment). Anyway I have concerns right now as any single Wiz fans and this preasons brought as many good things to me as it brought tough questions. The season will tell us more about this team. A lil late quote, I don’t see the team making it with a 12 men roster….

Comment from dmac
Time October 28, 2007 at 7:03 PM

The season has not even started and it seems there are some who have no faith in our Wiz.
We suck does not count especially when it relates to the Preseason. If anything I believe the pressure is going to be on EJ. EJ has more talent and depth to work with than in years past. True we don’t have the dominant one in the middle. But how many other teams in the East have the dominant one in the middle. The Wiz need to play as a team and give their best efforts. If Gil wants the max contract from us then he needs to go out and bring the hibachi. Time will tell if we are playoff caliber. One thing can’t do is live off of last years merits. We have to prove ourselves all over again and play some defense. Wiz4life keep standing your ground. I got your back.
I believe EJ holds the key. I believe it is our depth that is going to cause us to have a successful season. Don’t be surprised if AB is starting over BH by game twenty.
I hope BH proves me wrong but I got that feelin that AB is going to bust out.
If DS does not get off to a good start don’t be surprised if Nick get ’s the nod over Roger in the starting spot. D-Mac’s defense will find him minutes on the floor.

Comment from neal
Time October 28, 2007 at 8:04 PM

I do hope EJ has the courage to play whomever is playing best. That would put at least two starters in danger. It would be very difficult for him to do, however.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 28, 2007 at 9:45 PM

We were great in the first 5 preseason games and lousy in the last 2…. I expect us to be somewhere in between come Wednesday. No matter how good your conditioning is coming into camp nobody is in “game shape” yet. That only comes from playing a game every one to three days during the season. They need to get in game flow to get their chemistry back. Unlike past years it hasn’t just been the first team against the subs. Some of our “subs” this year could start for other teams. Once the first team gets back on the floor together for extended minutes we will be fine.

Hey Dmac gotta agree with you…. the Bulls won a couple without a dominant big man? I think we have better bigs than they did too.

I too hope Eddie uses his resources to their fullest this year. He has a lot more of them than he is used to. I felt he could have used Mr. Blatche a little more and Mr. Ruffin a little less last year but then that’s just me. I hope he uses what he has this year.

All except for Gilbert…. I don’t see him coming off the floor without a court order (pardon the pun) unless he wants to. Contract year? He may play 40 a night plus half time?

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 28, 2007 at 10:26 PM

Dmac you know ill be yelling about it i been a fan since we were the bullets and Weber and Gorge Murison were the stars and J.Howard was the AB lol if you were a fan then you know what I’m talking about any way some times i was wishing for 1 win season rather less playoffs so its been a long time for me and I’m not about to call it quits now after trips to the playoffs 3 years straight and last year we were hurting bad at the end now we got all the starters back and we got a bench that we can actually use to play and not just keep the seats hot! but i think we got something new coming because i don’t think after what happened last year that EG is going into the season with 12 players i got a feeling that we are getting a 13th soon

Comment from dmac
Time October 29, 2007 at 7:17 AM

Wizards4Life I have been a fan since Wes won the rookie of the year and mvp in the same year. That was when we had the Pearl from Winston Salem doing his patented spin move. Gus the Honeycomb Johnson was the force inside that we don’t have now.
I remember when they shipped the Pearl to NYC to play with Clyde.
I remember Kevin Porter putting up like 22 or 24 assists one night. Then we had that rookie that reminded everybody of a young Clyde Frazier named Phil Chenier.
Phil was the whole package He had a sweet j and could play some D.
Man when we got the Big E from the Clippers to pair up with Wes down low then it was on. Man those were the days when they wore the John Stockton shorts and nobody ever thought that baggy shorts would usher in a whole era of change in style and attitiude.
When the Bullets won it all that was truly a joyous time in this city. Everybody was hugging everybody. Black and White, Rich and Poor, Young and Old responded to the Fat Lady.
Then I remember the disappointing years when Chris and Juwann were here. Man I thought we had it made. Soon we would be back in the big dance. We needed a point guard who could distribute the ball and we shipped Rasheed to Portland for Rod Strickland and man we had some hope only to be disappointed by a guy who loved hanging out in the bars instead of on the practice court. Man when I saw the potential that C-Webb had it was like wow! MJ made the comment that our league had not seen a big man with skills at the Power Forward position like C-Webb. I was their the night when Rex Chapman hit the game winning shot during the first game of the season. Yea that was at the Capital Centre. Man you would have thought we won the NBA championship that night.
Wiz4Life I remember when LaBradford Smith served MJ 37 in the windy city and bragged about it. The next night MJ lit the Capital Centre up with about 22 points in the first quarter. The amazing thing was they were all jumpers in La Bradfords face.
Then we get Kwame Brown with the first pick in the draft and we see this 7 foot man child
walk across the stage and shake David Stern’s hand and we are saying hallelujah!!!
We finally got our big man. That was disappointing because we Wiz fans thought he would do what Dwight Howard is doing right now (breaking out and blowing up).
Well here we are a new season, a new beginning and with enough talent to make some noise. I like positive people around me, people who believe and don’t doubt. That is what makes it so exciting to anticipate what could happen. nobody is going to tell me that with some chemistry, some determination that we can’t change it from the Big 3 into the Big nine or the Big ten. This will be an interesting year because Gil is in a contract year, AJ’s last year of his big contract and some new blood with AD and his crew coming off the bench it will be interesting and exciting.
deepakm Abe Pollin is one of the greatest men this league has ever had to be in ownership. Abe has always given the fans his very best in trying to give us a decent team to cheer for. Let’s Go WIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment from dmac
Time October 29, 2007 at 8:18 AM

There are rumors on ESPN rumors today that the WIz are a darkhorse for possibly getting Kobe Bryant in a trade for Gil. Anybody interested in discussing this rumor? Who do we give up besides Gil if this is true. I don’t think Gil would be mad if he were traded to the Lakers. Who would we get alongwith Kobe ?

or

Do we go with what we got?

Comment from LilGil
Time October 29, 2007 at 8:54 AM

Honestly I don’t believe this rumour… definitly not, I mean we would have to give Gil and who Antawn? Caron?? Come on this ain’t worth it we got to build our team around a solid core of players who know how to run our offense, and in my opinion we gotta get a real center (an other real center since we have Haywood, which is better than nothing isn’t it!!). And as everyone knows we gotta work on our defense and I’m positiv on that point with all our new guys we have an oportunity of getting a decent defense (any other kind of defense than the one we have had would be decent!!).

Comment from neal
Time October 29, 2007 at 9:13 AM

I remember the old days too - since I lived in Baltimore and watched the old Bullets.

I would give Gil and one of our SG’s for Kobe, but I don’t believe there’s substance to the rumor.

Yes, I guess it will take a court order to get Arenas off the court before he’s played his 40 minutes. Unfortunately. Moreover, I’m afraid EJ is afraid to press Arenas as much as the other guys regarding what it will take for him to be as good as he can be.

EG will be getting at least another player in the next week. If Pecherov’s absence will be very temporary he could give Massenburg a 10 day contract so he can set the record for playing for the highest number of teams.

Comment from dmac
Time October 29, 2007 at 11:29 AM

Neal the rumor is that L.A. wants Tyrus Thomas, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Joakim Noah……..problem is ….Kobe won’t go because there would be no one to play with to stay competitive.
So the darkhorse rumor is that Gil being from LA and carrying some marketable clout now would be a good fit for the Lakers. The key would be the players the Wiz would have to send with Gil to make it happen. If I had a chance to get the best player in the game in his prime I would make this move:
Trade Gil- $11,950,400, Antonio Daniels-$5,800,000, Brendan Haywood-$5,000,000 and Darius Songalia-$3,942,000 or

my untouchable players for the Wiz is CB and AB

for

Kobe Bryant-$19,490,625, Andrew Bynum-$2,172,000, Vladimir Radamanovic-$5,632,000, Jordan Farmar-$1,009,560 and Maurice Evans $1,740,000

New starting lineup-
Kobe -SG Farmar-PG Andrew Bynum-C Antawn-PF Caron-SF
Why stop there. Trade for JKidd or sign him next year when AJ contract is up
JKidd can run the Princeton O

I thought somebody may be bored until the start of the season, so I am on a fantasy trip. You never know what EG may be up to.

Comment from odawg
Time October 29, 2007 at 2:45 PM

Eh, PG-Heinrich, SG-Kobe, SF-Nocioni, PF-Joe Smith, C-Big Ben doesn’t sound like a bad team to me. Duhon and Thabo off the bench at Guard/SF. They’d resign PJ Brown and they’d probably tell the Lakers that they need to keep Noah and swap him for a first rounder.

Of course, I don’t think that Chicago would trade Gordon, Deng, Thomas and Noah/a First for Kobe.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 29, 2007 at 2:55 PM

i think we could get kobe the ? is at what cost im like Dmac there some untradeable players in there CB for one and AB for another i would rather not trade haywood he has show some nice flash as of late but other than that AJ is going to be hevy next year anyway and Kobe is better than Gil in the fact that he is a true leader on the floor and if you want a ship then you need a guy like kobe to lead you there but i dont think we will trade for him and risk half our team to do so if anyone has ESPN insider they should tell us what the thing says about us being the dark horse in the race

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 29, 2007 at 2:58 PM

and on another note thanks for the trip down wizards lane up there Dmac i remember a lot of that and i also watched us trade players that made Detroit what it is now lol but i would never stray from the wizards no other team is worth watching if you ask me

Comment from Brickjp
Time October 29, 2007 at 4:58 PM

I personally would die if we traded Gilbert for Kobe. I can’t stand Kobe. Great individual player, yea. Sells tickets, yea. Team player? I don’t think so. Care about the guys he’s playing with? I don’t think so, just look at what he’s said about Shaq. Shaq is the only reason this guy has ever won a championship. Do we have anyone nearly as dominant as Shaq? No. Yea Kobe is a fun player to watch, but I would have trouble rooting for the Wiz if we traded for him. Gilbert is an amazing player. I hope he stays in DC.

Comment from neal
Time October 29, 2007 at 5:29 PM

On second thought, I couldn’t get very excited about Bryant, either. He’s not a likeable guy. Arenas is too much of a gunner, but you can’t help but like the guy a lot.

Comment from LilGil
Time October 29, 2007 at 5:53 PM

As a Wizards fan my heart would definitly be broken if we traded Gil for Kobe and I think it would be the same for a couple a players in here!!!

Comment from AUNDRA2007
Time October 29, 2007 at 6:00 PM

Lights Camera Action this is the time when the seasoned veterans like to show all there talent and tricks they have learned through the school of hard knocks.Its the time to turn on that swagger there
opponents hate but can’t do nothing about it!Its time for the Maddog Stevenson to reappear!Its time for Agent Zero to know beyound a reason of doubt that he is MVP material! Its time for the toughness of Tough Juice to make a statement offensively and defensively!Its time for the man with a 1000 shots from any angle to reappear and make us proud Big J Jamison with threes and twos from everywhere on the court!Its time to take the big stage”Haywood” and dominant in the middle with a block party never seen before and a ton of rebounds with dunks of all kinds!Its time for the Wizards bench to show no mercy because we will be in there house any they want to prove something!We have the hardest schedule in the NBA the first 30 days so we need to gain a attitude of positivity and perseverance in oder to survive with a winning record from the start. Finally a little motivation”Money was never a big motivation for me,except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game.” from a guy who knowns Donald Trump.

Comment from neal
Time October 29, 2007 at 10:05 PM

OK Aundra, I trust they’re feeling the vibes.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 29, 2007 at 10:07 PM

The fact about it is that Gil is a good player better than most he is a good guy we all love him here in DC but i got a feeling that a lot of you are going to be heart broken when he leaves next year and i know a lot of you don’t believe that he is going any were but look at his last blog he said if something happened where AJ left he would leave now if we give him max we can not keep AJ because we would be way over the cap unless he takes a huge cut in pay and i don’t think AJ (not only that its not fair to ask him to) will do that and he has also said that if things go south here AJ said he wants to play back home again so put 2 an 2 together.. but as much as i realize that i would also like to hope that we do keep AJ i have said this before i hope he gets his Jersey hung in the rafters at the Verizon center and i wish the same for Gil but at this point Kobe might be a good idea because we may come up next year looking like the wizards of old and trust me and Dmac and a lot of others you don’t want to see that again!

P.S. i hate Kobe’s attitude as well but a championship is a championship…. i don’t think we will trade a player like Gil for Kobe but they did trade Shaq for a bunch of stiffs so yeah.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 29, 2007 at 10:52 PM

The fact of the matter is Jerry Buss has just about had it with Kobe. We might even get him even up for Gilbert, but, would anyone want that? I didn’t particularly like it when Gilbert opted out of his contract, but, I’d still rather have him over the “me first” Mr. Bryant. Has there ever been anyone able to get along with Mr. Bryant except for his wife? And that was only after he bought her a massive rock? Given a vote… I vote for Gilbert! Then let the paintballs fly where they may as long as the basketball goes in.

Comment from neal
Time October 30, 2007 at 6:55 AM

I think Antawn will have to take about 1/3 of his present $16.8M salary. And yes, he might leave and Arenas as well. Which would leave us about a billion under the salary cap. Who would be available?

Comment from neal
Time October 30, 2007 at 8:33 AM

Any chance of getting the “classic PG” Jordan wanted?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 30, 2007 at 10:51 AM

Forget the idea of trading Gilbert or anyone for Kobe — he isn’t going to want to come here, and Gilbert, right now, is somewhat damaged goods; no one knows what his recovery will be like.

It’s even a question whether Gilbert, having opted out, will command the same $$$ in his new contract as he would have been due had he not opted out. When you opt out, you say “it’s just business.” Ditto when the tables are turned.

Right now, we are weak at guard. The ‘classic point guard’ wouldn’t have a classic 2 guard to pass to, unfortunately. Now, if Nick could learn the Rip Hamilton game, that would be different! DeShawn is not a catch-and-shoot player, and it’s not clear whether Roger is an NBA player at all.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 30, 2007 at 10:52 AM

I hope hope hope I’m wrong — but November looks like a tough month for our Wizards. I was actually counting on contribution from Pecherov.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 30, 2007 at 10:55 AM

Btw — I noted elsewhere that Brian Chase was just waived by the Heat. Anyone think we should sign him?

The Pistons waived Sammy Meija, whom they liked enough to give a partially guaranteed contract based on his summer play. What about him? The Knicks have waived Demetris Nichols — has he caught on anywhere? He’d be an investment for the future more likely than a contributor this season.

Comment from FLOYDBT
Time October 30, 2007 at 3:00 PM

Mavs just released Center DJ MBENGAa good back up center in my eyes….he can come be the third back up center behind brendan and andray…

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 30, 2007 at 10:50 PM

I’m betting, barring any injuries, we aren’t paying the luxury tax.

Comment from dmac
Time October 31, 2007 at 6:04 AM

I don’t know much about Mbenga. I guess the Mavs let him go because they are suppose to be signing Juwann Howard.
I definitely would strongly consider signing Brian Chase. Especially since Pecherov is injured. The Wiz need to have enough practice players so if someone needs to be rested in between games and practices they can keep it going.