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Media Day is Here

UPDATE: Media day just finished up. We will have quotes coming later. I caught a lot of Antawn, Caron, Antonio, Darius, JaVale, Dominic, Nick, Pech, Dray. Here is a photo gallery from today. Also here are a few things that caught my attention at media day.

  • I know it’s the first day but the entire team looks to be in phenomenal shape, Caron and Antawn looked carved out of granite, especially Caron he said he’s been doing a lot of “Yoga and Band work for his core”
  • Dee Brown quickly became a media favorite (I’m sure the Sports Bog will have some stuff up there). He’s a fun and real nice guy, he talked about how he’s two different people, one when he’s on the court another when he is off. To symbolize this he wears a superman wrist band (we should have a picture of it) when he’s on the court. I think he’s going to be another player that fans will grow to love.
  • Antonio Daniels spoke and said his wrist is fine. He’s looking forward to the challenge of being the starting point guard going into day 1 and to lead this team.
  • I think I’ve made a comment about 10 times that Dominic McGuire has improved his jumper by leaps and bounds. Well the first thing that Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler said when I asked about Dominic’s overall improvement was his jumper and how offensively he’s a different player. Then I interviewed Dominic and when I asked about his jumper, he had a big smile and said that he’s been working really hard on it and he feels much better. His biggest goal this season is to crack the rotation and get some minutes. He thinks his knowledge of the offense, his improved jumper and his defensive presence will help with this
  • Every single player on the team can not believe JaVale’s athleticism. Comments like “he’s the most athletic big man I’ve ever seen.”. “I’ve never seen a big man move like that.” I’ve never seen a guy that tall jump that high.”
  • On the injury front, Pech said his ankle is a lot better and he’s looking forward to a healthy season. Darius talked about his back and said he stayed off of his feet for a little while and feels much better.
  • A lot of media members were asking about Etan’s to other players and everyone was very happy to have him back. The veterans really think he will be a big boost to the team. When asked about last year, Etan said he was very happy he didnt come back, because although he was anxious to get back on the floor but his body wasn’t ready. He’s been working out in pickup games and he said he’s taken full contact shots in those games and feels good.
  • A lot of talk about Nick Young and Andray and their ability to help the team this year from both teammates and the media. Andray says he has worked out very hard this offseason and has really hit the weights. Nick has been working on his ballhandling ability and his ability to move without the ball. He worked with Don McLean in the offseason. He was also very happy about the responses he’s gotten on the movie and he’s very happy people have liked it and learned from it
    • Share | |

    Posted: September 26th, 2008 under Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee, Miscellaneous, Nick Young, Wizards.
    Tags: , ,

    Comments

    Comment from Wizards4Life
    Time September 26, 2008 at 2:28 PM

    spotzwiz you are going to have a long day lol but i love to get to see what the players have to say knowing the season is so close and that there gettin back into the swing of things & we get to see what they might have done to better there game in the off season and so on…

    Comment from dmac
    Time September 26, 2008 at 2:46 PM

    Sportzwiz thanks for the comments. This is very encouraging to receive these comments concerning whre the team is mentally and physically. I am so looking forward to seeing a much and improved Dominic McGuire. Seems like Tough Juice and AJ are looking forward to the challenge. Seems like we have something special in the amking with JaVale. I wander if Andray hit the weights did it seem like he put on any weight. If Andray can come anywhere near close of getting a Superman body like DH he will be a beast to handle. For Nick I believe his improvement will come from his being confident in himself. What I really like about this team is win we really jell as a team I see us putting on a run like Detroit has done and San Antonio.

    Comment from Tom Mandel
    Time September 26, 2008 at 4:31 PM

    F U N !!!!!

    Comment from Tom Mandel
    Time September 26, 2008 at 4:37 PM

    Who’s that w/ JaVale in #27? Looks like a “3″ on his jersey, but does not look like Caron.

    Comment from SportzWiz
    Time September 26, 2008 at 4:44 PM

    hahaha, definitely not Caron. That’s Taj McCullough, him and JaVale get along really well.

    Comment from wiz-skins07
    Time September 26, 2008 at 4:56 PM

    So Dre’ said hee’s been hittin the wieghts this summer…did Nick have anything to say about him hittin the wieghts too. He defenitly needs to add some more muscle…ALOT of muscle…;)

    Comment from ricklevinenyc
    Time September 26, 2008 at 5:04 PM

    Does Dre look like he’s been hitting the weights this summer? Hard to tell from your photos. He looked like he had put on a few pounds before summer league, but still needed to gain some upper body strength.

    Comment from SportzWiz
    Time September 26, 2008 at 5:09 PM

    Dre said he’s gotten a lot stronger and he got pushed around too much last year and he doesnt think that will be an issue this year.

    I think nick could add a few lbs, but i think he has other things to worry about first, and you dont want him to lose quickness or athleticism when he puts on weight.

    Comment from ricklevinenyc
    Time September 26, 2008 at 5:15 PM

    does anyone know if training camp is going to be televised on NBA TV (it was for a couple of days last year I think) ??

    Comment from Reuben
    Time September 26, 2008 at 5:32 PM

    Etan looks too ripped kinda like those men gymnasts
    Everyone looks stronger

    Comment from SportzWiz
    Time September 26, 2008 at 5:40 PM

    i dont think it will be televised, we will have video packages from all of training camp though on washingtonwizards.com

    Comment from Tom Mandel
    Time September 26, 2008 at 6:03 PM

    Why would Nick need to be heavier? He needs to be working on the part of the game that comes from learning and concentration; he is physically and athletically just fine.

    Comment from neal
    Time September 26, 2008 at 7:05 PM

    I think Xtra strength and weight would help Young. It doesn’t follow that that would slow him down. It’s certainly true, though, that just learning everything about the system on both ends is more important for now.

    Comment from GlingGling
    Time September 26, 2008 at 8:02 PM

    Estoy muy emociando.

    I’m with Tom on Nick’s weight. He’s a very much a finesse player. Of course more strength can help him, but that’s down the line.

    Etan looked massive, I love it. Bang man, bang!. He’s gonna give us some nice options at center.

    As we get closer it gets more exciting. It’s really great to hear that everyone is doing good. Go Wiz. Can’t wait for some quotes.

    Comment from Jason C
    Time September 26, 2008 at 10:03 PM

    So Gil and the team was fined $15,000 for him not showing up?

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3611074

    Comment from GlingGling
    Time September 27, 2008 at 12:19 AM

    ^Interesting read.

    Honestly, why would he have stayed? To hear the exact same questions 47 times? I think it was probably worth the $15k to duck out.

    To Media: Leave Gil alone. If he said he might be back in December then ask him again in December. What is the point in harassing him?

    Comment from jmpalomo
    Time September 27, 2008 at 1:10 AM

    Gilbert’s signing could be the worst Bullets/Wizards contract since Juwan Howard.
    3 knee operations in 1.5 years.
    I saw Juwan’s contract kill the wizards for so many years and this could do the same.

    Comment from GrifonRacing
    Time September 27, 2008 at 2:17 AM

    I wouldn’t worry so much these days Jmpalomo. That was in the “Wes” era. In the Ernie era we have a much deeper team than in those days. We did pretty ok without Gilbert last year. If a couple of our young guys and a few second, third, and Fourth (ANDRE lol) year players step it up a notch we will still be a pretty fair team. Fair enough to possibly contend for the East crown.

    Comment from GrifonRacing
    Time September 27, 2008 at 2:27 AM

    If all second, third, and fourth year players “each” step it up a notch we could win it ALL.

    Comment from jmpalomo
    Time September 27, 2008 at 8:44 AM

    Your talking almost 1/3 of your cap space going to a guy who most likely will never be 100%. That’s a shame.

    Comment from GrifonRacing
    Time September 27, 2008 at 1:26 PM

    I’m hoping it just takes him a little time to get to 100%, but, you are right. It was a risk I’m sure the front office was aware of. A lot of us questioned the “contract” given the knee hasn’t been good in almost 2 years now. It is what it is unfortunately. I still believe that if the young guys really show us something this year we could still make a very deep run. Glass half full = Gilbert comes back strong this season or next.

    Comment from GlingGling
    Time September 27, 2008 at 2:35 PM

    You’ll get over it jmpalomo.

    Comment from sgriff17
    Time October 3, 2008 at 12:59 PM

    Guys – I saw Eton and Jamison in the gym yesterday, those guys are absolutely solid and ripped. Good Lord. I felt like a boy amongst men.

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