Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM

Just got back from practice. A couple things that were talked about.

1. Etan Thomas had a “great camp” said Eddie Jordan. Coach Jordan talked about him having a day or two to shake off the rust but that he looks great out there.

2. A lot of very positive talk on JaVale McGee. Coaches talked about how he has made a very big improvement from just the first day of camp to now. Everyone seems to agree that you just see flashes out of him, and he has the ability to become a great player in this league.

3. A lot of talk about the overall depth of the team. This team is very deep at every position and that is huge. Dominic, Nick, Juan, Dee, Darius, Etan, Dray…. just a lot of guys that can come off the bench and be very solid contributers.

Nobody is saying exactly who the MVP’s of camp are, but when asked about who had a great camp a few names keep popping up, Dom, Dray and Dee. If you remember a couple posts back someone asked me about who I thought would breakout and the two names at the top of my list, Dray and Dom. Hopefully they will continue the momentum.

The team is off tomorrow, they’ll get back to work on Monday, and Coach Jordan said he expects a two hour tough practice on Monday. After that they will travel to Dallas for game 1 of the preseason. As always questions are encouraged and I will let you know what I hear.

Comment from doclinkin
Time October 4, 2008 at 1:37 PM

SportzWiz:

Photos are missing from the series: #’s 7,8,9, 11, 15, 16.

And the link to the Glenn Consor DJ wrap-up gives a 404 error.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 4, 2008 at 1:38 PM

Great to hear McGee is showing so much potential, I hope he works hard even though he’s at the end of the bench.

Having Etan at peak performance is great news. He’s going to give us great options at center, love to have him back.

I’m really looking forward to our young squad. Very excited especially about those three potential camp MVPs (Dom, Dee, Dray).

Thanks for keep us in the loop.

Comment from doclinkin
Time October 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM

On second check: the link from the frontpage to the Consor wrap-up works fine. The one from the blog post doesn’t.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 4, 2008 at 3:10 PM

my bad guys, i pulled over the coding from the other site and didn’t match it correctly. Thanks. It’s fixed now. checking out the pics, im showin an error on two of the pages but not those. lemme see whats up.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 4, 2008 at 3:11 PM

they should be up now.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 4, 2008 at 4:00 PM

Great Pics SportWiz!

I love the one where Juan and Pesh grab equal amounts of sky around the basket. I’m curious… Did Juan’s shot go in or did Pesh get a piece of it? That crazy Juan. Playing like a 7 footer.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 4, 2008 at 4:09 PM

Hey SportzWiz or Will. Lately I’ve had to log in every time with my screen name and password to blog. It used to remember me and I’ve never had to log in each time before. Is this going to be the way it works or have I screwed something up?

Comment from neal
Time October 4, 2008 at 5:11 PM

Grifon, that change happened to me several months ago.

Great to hear Blatche is having a really good camp. Is he fouling less?

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 4, 2008 at 5:25 PM

neal, I read somewhere (might have been the washingtonpost insider) that in one night of the scrimmage he had some good numbers but also had several turnovers and five fouls. I think we’ll see a smarter, stronger, more mature Blatche, but I don’t expect him to suddenly not get four or five fouls a game. It became a bit of a running joke last year with me and my Wiz watching buds. We had to get used to it somehow. Obviously I hope for the best but I can live with some fouling if everything else has improved.

Comment from Bmack34
Time October 4, 2008 at 5:38 PM

great blog Dave! thanks for the inside look at the guys. I’m glad to see our bench looking nice and deep. Dray’s looking ready for the season. Hope he’s learning how to stay out of foul trouble. Can’t wait till the big 3 is back together! Looking forward to pre season!

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 4, 2008 at 5:47 PM

SportzWiz I’d just like to confirm that the preseason games are going to be on Wizards Radio. There is nothing next to the radio symbol on the schedule object on the front page.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 4, 2008 at 6:08 PM

the games will be on locally on the radio. We are not sure yet if the radio broadcasts will be available online.

Sorry grifon not sure about that.

As for the play that’s actually Caron, and yes pech did block it.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 4, 2008 at 6:54 PM

hey SportzWiz can you find out if i can get the games on XM? if there not on the net that would be the best way to get them… and it was a great few days of camp i am sure there going to have a hard time picking a few guys when all of them played well and 3 you almost cant let go but one has too and i would hate to be the guy with that job!!!

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 4, 2008 at 7:14 PM

no clue on the xm front. i dont even know how to get that. But i’ll do my best

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 4, 2008 at 9:39 PM

Wizards4Life, me too. How do you tell a guy who works hard and fits the team well that he doesn’t have a place? At least it means the guys we do keep will be quality players.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 4, 2008 at 11:06 PM

Thanks Neal. If it’s happening to you too I know at least I didn’t screw something up

Pesh got it? That’s Great! More good food for thought.

SportzWiz and Dave. Thanks guys training camp was great! Thank you for bringing it right to our computers.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 5, 2008 at 10:35 AM

So many thoughts, questions, ideas, but for now…questions to Bridge and questions about options for cut players.

Bridge, are you the lady with Score? And the son who dreams of playing in the NBA? Do you play kickball with him still? What’s his age? Did you leave Dee a request for an interview? Did Dee reply yet? Most important question is MySpace. Are you still not using it? Would you consider re-establishing your MySpaceprofile? Hope these questions here aren’t too personal. And this is the place for a response. I’m hoping to do what I can to help you and Dee hook up; for your son and for Dee’s encouragement. Don’t know if I can; but even if he has replied; I’ve learned a lot about you!! If you’re the right Bridge!!

If a QUALITY player is cut and still wants to play pro ball; can they still get an offer from a team in Europe or the D-league or even another NBA team who is still looking to fill the roster before regular game 1? Are there any other options? NBA regular season roster is a 14-man roster? So right now Wiz is looking to cut 4 by Oct 29th? Thanks!!

I’d like to explain why I was out? Is this the proper place since it isn’t exactly BBall but it did affect my involvement?

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 5, 2008 at 2:15 PM

Is there are rule the talk has to be purely bball related? I mean things have settled down a bit I don’t see why a little banter would be unacceptable.

The NBA regular season roster is 15 players. With a minimum of 12 (minimum 11 active, one inactive). A maximum of three players are allow to be inactive. So they have to cut three which originally looked like it would be DerMarr, Linton, and Taj. But they did well in training camp so they’ll probably stick around a bit longer. I’ve heard DerMarr did the best and it’s not easy for them to let him go. Dee is safe. If something was gonna go down Juan would probably get the boot in place of DerMarr. But I don’t expect that to happen, we can wait and see/hear what happens in the first three games since Eddie has plans to take everyone from training camp along to those games.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 5, 2008 at 8:22 PM

Just to let folks know tonight’s (sunday) preseason games are available to listen live on NBA.com. Probably a good indicator that the Wiz preseason games will also be available.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 5, 2008 at 9:27 PM

I would say thats a very good sign GlingGling, thanks for the heads up.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 5, 2008 at 10:04 PM

Dee has a new blog out at http://www.deebrown11.com. He talks alot about his experience in training camp!!

GlingGling thanks for your support. I’ll share some more of the woes of life as the season goes on:) Nothing new, finaces, health, relationship, etc. Just took time away from the Wizard Scrimmage; but I really did enjoy the training days and video and audio and just learning more of NBA level ball.

so you think Dee’s safe with a roster spot!! Still, I’ll breathe easier after the 29th!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 5, 2008 at 10:33 PM

Hey — I’m traveling, hence my paltry participation over the last several days.

No one knows what the decisions will be in the competition for final roster spots, but it’s hard to believe Dee will be gone and, as I’ve said, Juan will put butts in seats as a local legend. DerMarr brings something completely different to the table. We’ll see.

I won’t be able to catch the tues. night game, alas, but will watch Wednesday’s contest — looking forward to the season!

Comment from AUNDRA
Time October 6, 2008 at 12:14 AM

It appears to me there is a number of players who want to expand there roles on this fine tuned Basketball Team. I would first like to see our starting rotation continue to do what they have been doing and thats scaping all the way to the end. I would also like to see excellent freethrow shooting and extremely low turnovers with a fluid Princeton Offense/Defense schemes! The second string I believe is even more offensive then defensive but there has to be a balance or there butt will hit the bench fast and furious!
This Deemar Johnson player is unique and if he wants the job then he must keep impressing the home town fans not only with his gifted offensive skills but also his long fast defensive skills also. I like to see Pesh breakout a little more defensively and offensively because he must! On the road is where we as a team need to make our mark because it has been 60-40 when it comes to loses to wins! Boston turned it around and the road is the best place for it to happen in your competitions loud and not so nice arenas of the NBA. I feel we have a great opportunity to do good for all concerned!
Good Luck!

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 6, 2008 at 1:27 AM

slwiz, thanks for alerting me to Dee’s blog. It certainly made me more confident than I already was that he is going to be a Wizard. It really sounds like he is pouring his heart into it and it would be hard for someone not to see that. If it were my decision I’d keep him on heart alone. He sounds like a great locker room guy, someone that can remain positive and pass that positivity on to the rest of the team. You need those guys who are going at 110% all the time. The more of them the better. The more I learn about each player the more I believe in them. Dee will be great for us, I hope he’s able to back up AD while Gil is out and get some solid minutes to show everyone that huge heart he’s hiding under that jersey.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 6, 2008 at 3:05 AM

Dee seems to have solidfied his spot on the team. If everything we have read on the blog and in the press… it will come down to Juan or Demarr.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 6, 2008 at 6:43 AM

GlingGling and ALL; please continue to take advantage of what dee’s offering!! In his entry of September 5 he’s asking for more questions!! Again that’s his own official website at http://www.deebrown11.com

…I really love reading good questions and things my fans want to know about me…so please feel free to write and hit me up when something is on your mind. …I really appreciate the fan support and I know there are fans out there who are curious about a lot of things that goes on so please feel free to hit me up…. …Thanks again your boy

Dee Brown “Illini Prince”
One Man Fastbreak

Dee’s heart wants to answer 10 questions a day; he wants to blog everyday; but I’ve found his time and energy don’t allow for this…so don’t be disappointed when you look and nothing new is there…keep checking…keep submitting your question and he’ll find you best as he can!!

I believe this is for his new Wizard fans, too, because he’s made these entries during September; in the heart of his summer pick up games!!!

Bridge; I think if MySpace isn’t an option; try his Q & A. I’ve let him know you are going to possibly try so he’ll be looking for your Q & A. I explained a little about Score and your son’s desire for the NBA. Hope you two can connect!:)

And I should have said he’s got a new blog ENTRY out (October 5 “Great Week at Camp”); he’s had his blog for awhile. Besides Gil and Dee any other current Wiz players have blogs or MySpace or let fans email them?

Comment from slwiz
Time October 6, 2008 at 7:50 AM

Aundra or others: Mainly Coach Weber runs a motion offense at Illini so when you say “fluid Princeton Offense/Defense schemes! ” could you elaborate? And I thought Princeton offense was the only strategy; there is a Princeton Defense, too? Thanks for any links, etc

Truthaboutit, I think I’ve got some time for salary cap, luxary tax recearch. Hope to have some feedback soon!!

GrifonRacing I’m beginning to look for your name and comments! Hope i can keep learning from you, too!!

Hey Tom; you were one of the first names I noticed early in the summer league being dedicated to the Wizard players. You were missed; glad to know it was travel related. You continue to love Juans ability to generate revenue. LOL

Enjoy your Monday everybody!! We get to watch our boys play pre-season basketball, real soon!!

Comment from neal
Time October 6, 2008 at 9:10 AM

I think it will have to be VERY clear that Johnson is the better player before they cut the guy with guaranteed money (Dixon) in order to keep Johnson. However, we have enough room under the luxury tax limit to pay Dixon, even if he is cut, and Johnson as well. That presumes minimum salaries for both.

Someone suggested a minor league for basketball. Makes a lot of sense. There are SO MANY good players that can’t quite make it in the NBA, or that bloom late. However, the NBA teams would have to contribute a lot of money to keep the minor league afloat. That means they would have less to pay NBA players and the union would probably be opposed to the idea.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time October 6, 2008 at 10:09 AM

Minor league is basicaly the d-league.

Comment from doclinkin
Time October 6, 2008 at 1:13 PM

Point was: how to make the D-League serve as a better minor league system. And the primary additional cost would be:

Expanding the D-League so there’s a one-for-one ratio, so every major league team gets it’s own affiliate.

That’s it. That’s your big ticket cost. That and hiring personnel to assist in the lower league.

The rules alteration that would require Player’s association approval would be a tweak that allows an NBA star to slum in the D-League –IF THEY WANTED TO– to rehab an injury. The way the current rules are written, a vet can’t drop dimes in the D to knock the rust off. The players didn’t want the D-League to be used as a potential threat, a punitive measure by coaching staff, that you could send a guy down to the minors if they didn’t act right. A voluntary only measure can leave a player open to pressure from their coach I suppose, but ultimately I don’t see it as likely.

The main thing would be that the lower level team could then be more responsive to the front office of the Big leagues, they could play similar systems, etc. No 2 year training wheels period to learn the Princeton offense, or whatnot. Understood, this would benefit the Wiz more than many teams I suppose, but hey, that’s what kinda fan I am. But still, having a closer relationship between the D-League affiliate and the parent team would allow for the front office to ask for more PT for a guy, or request that his coaching staff work with him on Defensive fundamentals, etc. Things the Big League coach might not have time to focus on — might not have on court minutes for– in the middle of a playoff run.

The benefit is you get an NBA quality player developed quicker, trained in your team philosophy. The Yankee way. Oriole way (Ripken style).

The tweak that intrigues me from the Wiz angle is the idea of a local team with local talent, and regular try-outs for walk-ons etc. The DMV area has a ton of talent from MoCo to Barry Farms to B’more to PG to whereever. If players didn’t have to ship out to Dakota, the D-league might look like a better option than Europe or whatever, and Eurotalent might even find it’s way over here.

Seems to me extra cost may be offset by revenue uptick when re-habbing stars commonly show up in the lower league to work the kinks out. Ten-game ‘Gilbert plan’ promotions. See ‘Javale McGee grow up!’ You build brand loyalty from the little league on out. Though possibly you get a better more steady audience in towns without Big League dollars.

Just saying, I want my own Wizards affiliate, same way them Lakers get a personal minor league squad of their own.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 6, 2008 at 2:47 PM

Alright Tom, and truthaboutit; you’ve had your laugh; go ahead split a gut: ROFLMAO; you could have warned … Man they take a simple game and put all these numbers and statistics and Tom; you love it!! LOL This is my initial reaction and I’ve only gotten as far as CBA and BRI!! LOL Right now it’s like great; I can’t even remember what the names and numbers of the players are, let alone definitions and abbreviations! This will take time and effort!!

Well, I’ll keep plugging but if I do ask a specific question, please, please use the KISS method. Your minds and experience are for Milt!! But if I can learn some; I’d like to. I also know besides keeping things simple; repetition is a key for me to learn. So I may ask the same question over and over till you want to pull your hair out:) Life is full;…the things we do to enjoy our team and players:)

Comment from slwiz
Time October 6, 2008 at 2:49 PM

Is “union” or players union the same as the Player Association? Thanks.