Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 22, 2009 at 5:05 PM

Hope that Showcase game is televised — would be fun to watch.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time July 22, 2009 at 5:07 PM

i was thinking the same thing Tom. I will post any info regarding the broadcast schedule of that game assuming its broadcasted at all.

Comment from millie mill
Time July 22, 2009 at 7:25 PM

Congrats McGee!!!

Comment from tyrone20000
Time July 22, 2009 at 8:35 PM

What a great opportunity for McGee. Go Wizards!

Comment from neal
Time July 22, 2009 at 8:42 PM

Who is “Coach K”?

Is this a mini-camp for the Olymics? Does that mean that there’s an elimination process?

McGee was really telling people where they should be on D? That shows a lot of confidence and taking of responsibility for such a young kid. Sounds good.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 22, 2009 at 8:46 PM

Here’s an interesting post on what to expect from Andray over at Bulletsforever.

The writer gives year over year stats for 15 players drafted directly out of high school. Basically, once you correct for minutes played, their production doesn’t change appreciably from year 1 to year 6 — except, in general, for FG%. They tend to become more efficient shooters bit by bit every year. That hasn’t happened in Andray’s case, btw.

Best bet? What you see is what you get.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 22, 2009 at 8:50 PM

Who is Coach K???? http://www.coachk.com/

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 22, 2009 at 9:13 PM

Way to go Javle!
Accepting an invitation to attend the July 22-25 mini- camp were: LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers / Texas); Trevor Ariza (Los Angeles Lakers / UCLA); D.J. Augustin (Charlotte Bobcats / Texas); Jerryd Bayless (Portland Trail Blazers / Arizona); Ronnie Brewer (Utah Jazz / Arkansas); Glen Davis (Boston Celtics / LSU); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder / Texas); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies / Connecticut); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers / New Mexico); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder / Georgetown); Blake Griffin (University of Oklahoma); Devin Harris (New Jersey Nets / Wisconsin); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers / Arizona); Kyle Korver (Utah Jazz / Creighton); David Lee (New York Knicks / Florida); Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets / Stanford); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves / UCLA); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies / USC); Paul Millsap (Utah Jazz / Louisiana Tech); Greg Oden (Portland Trail Blazers / Ohio State); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls / Memphis); Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers / Washington); Josh Smith (Atlanta Hawks / Oak Hill Academy, Va.); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder / UCLA); and Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia 76ers / Georgia Tech).

That’s a heck of a group of young players Javale was selected to play with.

Comment from getabigboyoffense
Time July 22, 2009 at 9:48 PM

Tom M. – you provided a link to an article that spoke to the rate of improvement shown by players who went directly to the NBA from high school. It essentially was addressing the correlation between both physical and mental maturation and success in the NBA. Speaking of Andray, the writer stated “Blatche has improved every year.” and, “These numbers suggest that we should expect to see continued improvement from Andray.”

Then you apply your own brand of statistical analysis and write “once you correct for minutes played, their production doesn’t change appreciably from year 1 to year 6…”. So their scoring averages only improve because they get more playing time? What a revelation.

As I’ve written before, there are many ways to apply statistics to analyze a basketball player’s productivity. Recently I mentioned that the EFF scores used by NBA.com to evaluate players showed Blatche to have a higher EFF that DMac and you responded by writing “EFF is a notoriously inaccurate measure.” So much for a common statistical framework.

Blatche has not had a decent coach since he entered the NBA. EJ had no idea what to do with any player over 6’8″ and the LOTTERY COACH was…who cares about what he did. I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see what Coach Saunders gets out of Blatche, but I believe it will be enough for you to have to post a photo of yourself eating your keyboard.

Comment from getabigboyoffense
Time July 22, 2009 at 9:49 PM

SportzWiz, slllllooooowwwww loading. I lost a post when I received a server error.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 22, 2009 at 10:11 PM

Getabig — it was actually *the author* who came back in and revised his own post; I was just reporting what he said. In fact, he underlines not that *number* of points (i.e. scoring average) goes up, but rather FG% (i.e. scoring efficiency), and it seems to be the only thing that changes much over those 6 years.

His point seems to be that in most categories, you know what you are going to get from a player right away, but one important thing does improve.

I didn’t mean to be critiqueing Andray at all. I am not down on him. The opposite in fact — what interested me in that post was that guys who come into the league that young continue to improve at least one key thing for as long as 6 years. Andray’s got some time!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM

Getabig (and others) — when you get a server error, is the message something like: “The connection to the server was reset…”?

I’ve figured out how to deal with that one at least. Just hit the “Go back one page” arrow (top left). Your post should be right where you wrote it in the text box. Now, refresh the page (function key F5); again the page should contain your post just as you wrote it.

Now hit submit again, and it should work.

This works for me — don’t know if it’ll work for others.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 22, 2009 at 10:30 PM

Javale brings a unique skill set to the USA Basketball mini-camp.
A 7 footer who is such a great athlete that he blocks shots plus finishes off the fast break.
Even though he only averaged 15 minutes a game last season he was 4th among all centers in fast break points.
Brendan should worry about minutes next year:
A new coach who has absolutely no loyalty to any of the players and has a young center in Javale who is now recognized by USA Basketball as an up and comer, compared to Brendan who is a good center but is in his final year of his contract.
I’m not saying Javale is going to start or get more minutes but Brendan should take notice and not take his starting position for granted.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 22, 2009 at 11:44 PM

Tom… I’m convinced Neal was just trying to get you to “spell” Coach K’s name. Now don’t go to the Duke website and print it out first

Jmpalomo I doubt Brendan will do any slacking. It was only 2 seasons ago that he had the starting job outright because of Etan’s heart condition. Before that It was like Eddie threw a piece of meat between ravenous dogs to see who would start between Brendan and Etan. He is no stranger to competition. I’m really hoping Brendan (being the coach he is) can really teach JaVale. I “really” don’t think there is going to be much drop off at center this year with JaVale in there. He is so atheletic it hides a lot of his flaws for now. He is only going to get better.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 22, 2009 at 11:54 PM

Grifon, you remember what happened to the relationship between Brendan and Etan when they were fighting for the starting center spot.
We don’t know who was at fault for that bad relationship.
Don’t count on Brendan being a nice guy and helping Javale out this year because Brendan hits the free agent market after this year.
It would be nice, but I wont’ count on it especially after the big fight he had with Etan.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 12:35 AM

@ Neal:

Sha-chefs-key? Oh wait, that doesn’t start with a K …

@ Tom M:

Your suggestion of clicking back one page and reloading doesn’t work for me. Maybe I have a firewall that prevents these things from happening.

@ GR:

I also hope that Haywood can be a basketball mentor to JaVale and Blatche, but it seems to me that they just get along and that’s about it. Brendan may need to be in retirement before he can adequately “coach” a young Big – like how Ewing is doing with Dwight Howard. I agree with jmpalomo that BH will try to maximize his stats this upcoming season to get a nice payout and he’ll be more selfish.

@ jmpalomo:

If I have to deduce who started the meltdown between BH and ET, I would say Haywood. Both guys are opinionated and well-spoken; however, Etan is more politically aware of what he says versus Brendan who provides an opinion outright if you ask him to. In other words, Etan is a bit more controlled with his opinions than Brendan.

Emotions got the better of them two and I am sure both grown men are embarrassed by the hair pulling and WWE wrestling in the Wiz locker room. Also, Brendan is not afraid to throw a punch (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=241025004) and he did rip his name tag from his locker and left the stadium with a hissyfit.

Comment from datonypony
Time July 23, 2009 at 6:31 AM

Hey Tom, what are your opinions on gil as a player? In terms of his ex stats? I never asked before.

Comment from neal
Time July 23, 2009 at 7:08 AM

I’m really optimistic about McGee (although I don’t think he will really challenge Haywood for the starting job this year). One thing that helps is having a mother who was a pro. She must have taught him that it takes a lot of hard work.

I’ll be gone for 10 days. You guys make sure that EG does the right thing. If any trade is made, make sure that GrifonTrotting goes.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:01 AM

When the trouble began between Brendan and Etan, they were both in their early twenties. They’ve both grown up a lot since then, I’m sure. Basketball is a business, a profession, a job. If you want to get the most out of your career, you leave that kind of nonsense behind you.

I’m sure Brendan wants to have the best season he can this year, and I’m sure he wants to collect the biggest paycheck he can in his next contract. I’m also sure he knows that JaVale has *nothing* to do with that.

JM is a relatively raw, very young, phenomenally athletic kid who is still learning the game of basketball. He didn’t even dominate in college as far as that goes, and he has a learning curve before he becomes a true difference maker in the NBA. It’s incredibly fun to watch him, and I have high hopes for him. But I’d sure rather have Brendan in there than JaVale if the game is on the line.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:02 AM

neal — what, you’re not taking your laptop? How about your iPhone? We have to do without you *altogether?*

You know that means there’ll be a *big trade!*

Comment from dmac
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:06 AM

NBA.com reports that Oberto has received an offer from the Wizards for 1.9 million for this season. Detroit owes Oberto 1.9 million fro this season as well. So Oberto would make 3.8 million if he signs with the Wiz or the Spurs. Rumor says he is leaning towards signing with the Wizards. We should know some time next week.

Comment from dmac
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:09 AM

Obertos signing withe Wiz would give us some stability in the frontcourt and allows us not to put so much pressure on McGee. Also we can keep Andray at the 4 spot so he can perfect playing that position. I know we wanted Joe Smith or Drew Gooden but I think this is a good signing. Fingers crossed this works out.
Then we will be ready to rumble with our Argentenian bouncer.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:10 AM

datonypony — I’ll run Gil’s career numbers later on today. Obviously, he’s a phenomenal basketball player and an even more interesting person.

I’ve never thought of Gil as producing consistently at the superstar level, what do you think?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:15 AM

Seems like we’re looking for a guy to play less than 1000 regular season minutes. And be satisfied with that. Makes sense to get a guy at the end of his career for that role.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:46 AM

If Oberto signs with the Wizards, Oberto will be higher on the depth chart than McGee.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Oberto goes back to S.A. and Grunfeld signs Olumide Oyedeji or Mamadou N’Diaye.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:08 AM

was reading sporting news today (not the magazine, the daily online paper), and they came out with there breakdown of the east and western conferences after all the FA signings and the top four teams in each conference. Here’s what thye had to say about the Wizards

(They had us ranked 3rd in the East behind Cleveland and Boston)

What They Did: The Wizards shuffled off their no. 5 pick and some spare parts to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a move that made them the deepest team in the league. They also hired the best coach available, Flip Saunders.

Contender or Pretender: Contender. If everyone is healthy – and that’s obviously the big question here – the Wiz will have a loaded starting five and a great top-to-bottom bench. It will be up to Saunders to figure out how best to deploy all these weapons.

click here to see a breakdown of the top four teams in each conference by Sporting News Today.

Comment from vitality08
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:13 AM

O/T Question: If Rubio knew what the buyout clause was with his Spanish team and that it’d be difficult to pay it, why’d he even bother to enter the draft this year? Seems he should have just finished out the 2 year contract and entered the NBA draft when he was 20.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:27 AM

vitality other have reported that when rubio left he thought he was goin to be the 2nd or 3rd pick in the draft.

heres a quick idea of how much dropping to 5 cost him
#2 pick Michael Beasley will make 4,638 mill
#3 pick OJ Mayo will make 4,165 mill
#5 pick Kevin Love will make 3.4 mill

When he fell those few spots it dramatically changed his pay scale and thus his ability to afford the buyout.

Comment from vitality08
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:34 AM

SportWiz, okay, I can see that but wasn’t it Rubio himself saying where he was interested in playing and where he wasn’t? Seems he caused himself to drop.

Comment from neal
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:37 AM

A parting word:

Rubio became a star in Spain by assisting his teammates and getting a huge number of steals. He is a likeable teenager who became a media darling. However, he’s a below average shooter and is small for the NBA. If he were a black kid from the US with a quiet personality would he have been drafted that high? Presuming he does come and play I think in a couple of years people will be saying he was drafted too high.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 23, 2009 at 10:56 AM

Sportswiz,
Thanks for sharing the Sporting News props for the Wiz.

Looks like Rubio is going to have to get a heck of a shoe deal to make up for all those millions he is going to have to give back.
If Rubio is the real deal then going to the NBA now will get him two years less until free agency. He will become a restricted free agent at year 5 (age 23).
The big gamble is if he gets hurt. Then only his first two years are guaranteed which will leave him with about 2.5 million dollars for his first two years after the Wolves and he pay off his old team.

If I’m Rubio I go to Minnesota and do not sign a shoe contract yet. If he becomes a magician that’s where he will make his big money until he hits free agency.

Comment from Rick
Time July 23, 2009 at 11:54 AM

I’ve got to say, I am so anxious/excited to see a healthy Gilbert play again. I’d almost forgotten how unstoppable he was, and then I watched some old videos!

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 12:20 PM

The Sporting News article is interesting, but I don’t agree with its assessment of the Orlando Magic.

The Magic is the best or second best team in the East even sans Turkoglu. Calling them pretenders is not substantiated. It wasn’t Hedo’s intention to run “Point Forward” duties; he only did it because Jameer Nelson went down. Luckily for Orlando, Hedo was good at bringing up the ball and acting as facilitator and with his skills got them to the Finals. With Jameer back, Hedo isn’t as important to have at his demanded salary level (I think they realized it) and he was shipped to Toronto in a sign-and-trade.

The Magic retained everyone that was important from last season (except Hedo) and they also got Brandon Bass. I still see 60+ wins for this team unless “the master of panic” ruins the team or if injuries hit Dwight Howard and/or Rashard Lewis.

As far as the Wizards are concerned, it is the same old tune with injuries. When the infirmary is empty, the Wiz can coast to 30 wins rather easily. I don’t doubt it after seeing it with my own eyes B.G. (B.G. = Before Gilbert [injured his knee on 4/4/07]). The 4/4/07 date is rather eerie if you believe in mythology and numerology. A Chinese friend told me that the number 4, when spoken in Cantonese, sounds like death. 4/4 is like saying “death death” and thus far, the Wiz have been dying slowly each year after B.G. Numerology doesn’t lie, and for people that believe in this sort of thing, it is far stronger than any statistic or Berri W.O.W. predictor.

Comment from millie mill
Time July 23, 2009 at 12:31 PM

I don’t know if you guys got the chance to watch the buzzer beaters video on NBA.com but here’s the link.

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/07/22/nba_20090722_topbuzzers.nba/

Watch how Glen Davis (Big Baby) pushes that little kid after he makes the game winning shot.

-$2000.00 for front row playoffs tickets

-Have you team get beat at home by a buzzer beater and get pushed out of the way by the player that made the shot. – Priceless!!!

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 12:33 PM

On a completely different note, Slam Magazine re-ranked the top 50 NBA players of all time in last month’s issue. Besides the obvious, I’m pleasantly surprised to see 3 former Baltimore/Washington Bullets players in the top 50 (other names added for reference):

1. Michael Jordan
4. Shaquille O’Neal
6. Magic Johnson
8. Tim Duncan
9. Larry Bird
12. Kobe Bryant
13. Hakeen Olajuwon
16. Moses Malone
22. John Stockton
23. Elvin Hayes <–
24. Bob Cousy
27. Scottie Pippen
30. Kevin Garnett
31. Willis Reed
32. Wes Unseld <–
33. Nate Thurmond
42. LeBron James
46. Bob McAdoo
47. Earl Monroe <–
48. Dennis Rodman
50. Steve Nash

http://www.slamonline.com/online/the-magazine/features/2009/06/the-new-top-50/

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 12:38 PM

Oops, Moses also played with the Bullets and should have gotten a “<–"

Comment from Babakism
Time July 23, 2009 at 2:36 PM

While its great that 3 bullets from the same era are on this list I think it is a travesty that wes unseld is not ranked higher.

The bullets were the winningest team of the 70s

They won more games than any other team in the entire decade.

Yes they only have 1 championship to show for it but they were still the dominant team of that decade and Wes was the anchor.

I’m guessing Bernard King must have gotten knocked out of the top 50

Comment from Babakism
Time July 23, 2009 at 2:58 PM

LEBRON JAMES!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? how the hell is he one of the 50 greatest players of all time??? he hasn’t done anything yet. 1 MVP award………. woop D Freakin Doo. Do I think in 10 years he will have the accomplishments to be listed in the top 50…………… most likely. But to put his name up there now with all those guys is bogus.

As much as I like Steve Nash and he did win 2 MVPs, he has never won a championship or even been in one. Perhaps after a few more seasons and his final assist numbers being over 10,000 assist putting him in the top 50 won’t seem so bad.

Then again when it comes to nash I guess I’m just nit picking lol but from a numbers stand point if you put nash there you have to put mark jackson there who I don’t think anyone thinks is a 50 greatest or even a 100 greatest player

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 3:08 PM

@ Babakism:

Bernard King wasn’t on the NBA’s 50 greatest players (from 1997′s anniversary), thus I doubt he would be included in Slam’s revised 50.

For some reason, the first name that popped in my head as not being on Slam’s list is Nate “Tiny” Archibald. He was Iverson but likes to pass.

Looking at NBA’s 50, I noticed “Pistol” Pete Maravich and “Big Game” James Worthy as notable misses from Slam’s list as well.

If I was doing Slam’s list, I would replace Nash with Maravich and George “Iceman” Gervin with Worthy. Gervin was a great scorer but that’s all I can really say about him. Worthy’s 3 NBA rings on a loaded Lakers team carry more weight than Gervin’s one man show with no rings to show for. And I don’t know who to reject to get Tiny in. Maybe the list should be expanded to 55?

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 3:14 PM

Also, another thing I don’t like about Slam’s list (as you have already pointed out) is that there are players on the list still currently playing.

To me, when you write a list about “greatest” players, those guys have to be retired or dead or both!

At the rate LeBron’s going, he’ll probably be in the Top 10 after his career is over. But even at 42 right now, it doesn’t make sense.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 3:29 PM

Lastly, am I the only one that doesn’t think Tim Duncan should be ranked ahead of (H)Akeem Olajuwon? Deep down, I still feel Karl Malone is the best power forward of all-time. I know championships matter and that’s probably the kicker.

“The Dream” got 2 rings (by beating young Shaq and a desperate Ewing) during the Jordan Era (granted – MJ’s baseball departure gave Houston an opening to win) and “The Big Fundamental” got 4 rings during the Shaq-Kobe dysfunctional dynasty, so I’d say that’s a fair comparison.

Hakeem’s got a quadruple-double and six 5x5s. How many does Duncan have in either category? That’s right – zero.

Comment from Babakism
Time July 23, 2009 at 3:41 PM

My bad n BK it was TNT that named him the next 10 after the 50 greatest and that confused my memory lol

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 4:44 PM

neal (unless you’re already gone) — rubio is 6’5″

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 5:18 PM

Theo Ratliff just signed w/ SA — probably takes the Spurs off the table for Oberto and, maybe even, indicates that we already have a deal w/ him.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 5:22 PM

In case you think nothing’s happening with the Wizards — this is. I have no idea who this kid is — SportsWiz?

Comment from SportzWiz
Time July 23, 2009 at 5:25 PM

its the first ive seen tom.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 23, 2009 at 5:39 PM

Uh oh, I scooped SportsWiz!

Comment from gray16
Time July 23, 2009 at 8:45 PM

just heard the wizards and oberto have agreed to a deal. guess that answers who the wizards will add for a big man.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:00 PM

Once I saw Dennis Rodman and Earl the Pearl ranked back to back I put this Ranking by SLAM in the trashcan.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:14 PM

@ Tom M:

Sorry man, but I beat your scoop on Ira Graham by 2 weeks and I even posted it here (no one reads my stuff anyways).

From the thread “Haywood Talks Summer/Summer League Roster Change”

http://www.washingtonwizardsblog.com/2009/07/08/haywood-talks-summersummer-league-roster-change/#comments

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 8, 2009 at 10:46 PM

**Breaking News** (maybe)

I was informed by a source near the Seattle area that the Wizards have invited Point Guard (don’t cringe @ Tom M.) Ira Graham for a personal tryout.

Can SportzWiz or anyone confirm this information? I wonder if it is the Dakota Wizards instead of Washington Wizards.

- -

Ira told a family member of mine that lives out there, so I consider my source very legit.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 23, 2009 at 9:23 PM

@ jmpalomo:

I don’t think you should let Rodman’s crazy on the court antics and obvious off the court problems cloud your judgment on how good of a basketball player he was. He found a niche (rebounder) and he worked at being the best rebounder. He does have 5 rings, I think.

Dennis is a very intelligent person (again, stay away from the stereotypes for a second). His mind games worked against Karl Malone, right? He did a lot of dirty stuff but he knew when to push the button at the right time. It’s gamesmanship.

As for “The Pearl”, he was a playground legend. He even got the nickname of “Black Jesus”. In the pros, his playground game didn’t translate as well because defenders were obviously better and once people caught on to his spin moves, his game became easier to defend.

It’s always tough to look at these “greatest” lists without putting your own bias into it.

Comment from dmac
Time July 24, 2009 at 7:32 AM

Here are brief comments from the players profile on the type of player the Wizards will be getting in Oberto:
6 ft. 10 in. 245 wt
Big man with good smarts…Seems to always be at the right place…Passes the ball well…A solid post defender……Won’t try to do much on the offensive end.

Looks like we got a good frontline role player for this season.

Comment from dmac
Time July 24, 2009 at 7:33 AM

Profile from hoopshype.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 24, 2009 at 7:53 AM

wiz_fusion — you are so right! You were way ahead of the news. Congratulations to Ira Graham, whoever he is. Probably a happy young man these days.

Ideally, I suppose I wish it were Smith instead of Oberto, or Gooden instead of Oberto. But, if it’s Oberto that’s fine.

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 24, 2009 at 7:58 AM

I’m wondering why SA choose Theo Ratliff over Oberto. I’m not sure I’d put one over the other at this point in their careers, but it’s an interesting decision by SA.

Let’s welcome Fabricio, he is our new Wizard. He should help add defense behind our already defensively minded center pieces (Haywood: vocal team oriented defender, JaVale: Blocks).

One more spot on the roster. Will it get filled? I’m pretty happy with 14 HEALTHY players. It’s a world of difference from what we’ve had in the past. (though let’s not get excited, injuries can still happen in preseason!!!!)

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:03 AM

Tom, it’s OK to wish.

There is a flip side to having Oberto vs. Gooden or Smith. There will be less pressure to take minutes away from JaVale.

I know at Wizards insider they have a quote from Oberto’s agent saying that he thought he could get some good playing time, but I think that’s just classic agent PR optimism. I can’t see him stealing anything more than spot minutes (13 maybe) in the front court. Still, he is probably an upgrade over Pech, though we’ll know more about that once the season starts. I wanna see how Pech does in MN.

Comment from dmac
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:07 AM

ESPN repots that Oberto signed with Wiz because he felt he would be a good fit because he thinks they have a terrrific team.
Also you can find out more about the signing on Yahoo.com on the Wizards team report.

Obert has his own website @ fabrioberto.com

Comment from aznzero
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:38 AM

washington times reported this too. welcome to dc oberto i wonder how he would fit in the rotation

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:41 AM

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/24/wizards-fill-gap-at-center-with-oberto/

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:46 AM

GREAT

Looks like the team is shaping up and coming into form. Also looks like EVERYONE is serious about improving their game, and taking the steps to do it. Might see something special this year

Comment from Phemy
Time July 24, 2009 at 10:14 AM

check this out:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=4352887

especially…

[...]Others who caught the coaches’ eyes included Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon and JaVale McGee, and several team insiders said they were surprised how spry Greg Oden looked.

go mcgee!

Comment from jhough813
Time July 24, 2009 at 10:51 AM

I saw that too Phemy. Javale clearly has done a ton of work in a short amount of time including bulking up, which is why I’m surprised we signed Oberto. I mean, I guess Ernie’s thinking is that you can’t have too many big bodies, especially in the playoffs. I don’t know if anyone else posted it or not but there was an article the other day on The Sporting News site: http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/article/2009-07-22/contenders-have-emerged-after-offseason-moves Deveney states that we’re the deepest team in the league, this before we signed Oberto. Let’s just pray we stay healthy and I have a really good feeling about this year.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 24, 2009 at 1:38 PM

Oberto is a legitimate, veteran big man with championship experience; thus, nabbing him is a good move by the Wizards at this stage of the game. Oberto is making a lot of money as the Wizards will pay about half and Detroit will pay the remaining.

- -
@ Sportzwiz:

On the Wizards Roster page, why isn’t there a college designation after Sam Cassell’s name?

http://www.nba.com/wizards/roster/

I believe, off the top of my head, he went to Florida State.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 24, 2009 at 2:12 PM

I hope we bring a young big to camp along w/ Oberto.

I also hope we make at least one more trade this summer.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 24, 2009 at 3:21 PM

So now that we have confirmed 14 roster spots, 2 guys will have to go to the D-league.

Any guesses? I am pretty sure Crittenton is one but I don’t know about the other. Could it be McGee? Maybe it is McGuire?

- -
@ SportzWiz:

1 more gripe about the Roster page. The URL “Inactive vs. Active List Rules” go to an abandoned webpage.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 24, 2009 at 3:53 PM

wizards_fusion — 2 guys don’t have to go the D-League. It’s just that for any game, only 12 guys can be active.

McGuire, Critt and McGee all played lots of productive minutes at the NBA level last year; I can’t see a reason to send any of them to the D-League.

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 24, 2009 at 4:08 PM

Tom, what kind of trade are you looking for?

Comment from Aj
Time July 24, 2009 at 4:36 PM

I think the wizards are done making moves for the summer.

Comment from SportzWiz
Time July 24, 2009 at 4:50 PM

thanks for the heads up wizards_fusion.

Actually all roster pages are run by the league, I just sent them the error and will let u know when it is fixed.

As for the active vs. inactive (tom touched on it above)
you can have 15 roster players but only 12 active at each game (which is decided before each game)

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 24, 2009 at 5:18 PM

Thanks for the clarification @ Tom M. & SportzWiz.

Isn’t it true that if you’re inactive, you can’t be on the bench in uniform but you can sit in an adjacent row (either behind or to the side) in “street clothes”?

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 24, 2009 at 5:22 PM

wizards_fusion, yes there is a dress code for inactive players but I think they can still sit in the same row with the players (though I’ve seen them a row or two up as well).

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 24, 2009 at 6:15 PM

GlingGling — well, obviously, we’re guard-heavy. So I’d like to trade away a guard for someone at a more useful position. We could use a “stretch forward” — Rasheed Wallace defines the position. Someone who can force the opposition’s bigs to come out. With Antawn starting at the 4, we sort of have that — but not anywhere off the bench.

I’d also like to go 2 for 1, allowing us to add a better player and opening a spot for someone from summer league — some undrafted rookie, whether Heytvelt or someone off another SL team.

Unfortunately, our best trade candidates are Mike James, whose expiring contract I think Ernie wants to hold on to, and DeShawn, who is signed at reasonable $$ for a few years. So I doubt it’ll happen.

Comment from datonypony
Time July 24, 2009 at 7:03 PM

I am satisfied with this roster. Very satisfied infact. I think that we have a pretty good chance in the east this year. COntenders? I don’t think so just yet. But, I believe with solid play we can be good this year as Celtics are getting pretty old, and Rasheed may be a plus or a minus. Magic obtaining Carter imo is stupid, he will destroy their offensive tempo/chemistry. Cavaliers? Same as last year or maybe better. I believe that top4 in east for us.

Tom, stats for gil

Comment from Rick
Time July 24, 2009 at 8:03 PM

I’d like to see Deshawn traded for future considerations. Is that possible. or do we have to take salary back? aside from having one-too-many backcourt players, this is easily the best Wizards roster that I can remember. Of course that assumes a healthy Arenas…

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 25, 2009 at 12:02 AM

What I like about our roster, even being guard heavy, is that everyone with the exception of Brendan, Nick, and Antawn can play multiple positions. That gives us more flexability than any other team that immediately comes to mind. With Flip at the helm and versatile players around him things might just get a little interesting for us.

Rick I actually thought Deshawn was a pretty fair player when he was healthy. I know it’s hard to remember that long ago lol, but, he has been fighting injuries the last few years. I haven’t heard much about the “back” thing as seems to be the Wizards policy. I wonder how healthy he is as you would think at his salary and ability other teams would be interested in him, but, nobody seems to be.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 25, 2009 at 12:10 AM

GlingGling watch Pesh turn out to be a 20/10 guy. That would fit our history lol.

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 25, 2009 at 12:31 AM

GrifonRacing, I’m not sure it will be that dramatic, but Pech may actually get some non-garbage minutes in MN and could even find a bit of a rhythm if he gets 13-15mpg.

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts on the roster. I think any other improvements at this point would be icing on the cake. I think we could make a financial improvement before the trade deadline.

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 25, 2009 at 12:36 AM

I think that with the Oberto signing that Javale will play alot at the power forward spot. I think Andray is going to drop to the 3rd option for the 4 and 5. Javale will be the #1 option off the the bench when Brendan and Antawn go out and also when Caron goes out and Antawn stays in the game (Antawn drops to the 3).
If Javale is successful at the 4 then Wow! for the Wiz.

Comment from dmac
Time July 25, 2009 at 3:59 AM

The only way I can see teaching Javale to play the 4 spot would be for defensive purposes. But also the good thing is that Oberto is experienced as a PF-C.
Man once we get our chemistry together as a team we will give other teams fits. All we have to do is stay healthy. i gurantee you we will not be a middle of the pack team. I pick us to finish no lower than 3rd in the Southeast division.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 25, 2009 at 6:27 AM

Javale going to the USA camp was one of the best things that could have happened to him. Coach K is one of the best teachers of “Team” ball and can teach Javale how to play his “position”. Wish it was longer than three days.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 25, 2009 at 8:12 AM

datonypony — I ran Gil’s numbers the day you asked for them, but hesitated about putting them in because although he is one of the better guards in the league year after year, he doesn’t show up as a superstar.

I don’t want to get into some kind of brouhaha over Gilbert Arenas, who is one of my favorite players in the NBA, so I’ll give you the numbers, but I don’t want to have a big argument about Gil.

Here’s what he does every 48 minutes, compared to the NBA average for a point guard:

Points: 29.2 (vs. average: 18.4)
FGA: 22.1 (vs. average: 15.8)
FTA: 9.5 (vs. average: 4.5)
Adjusted FG% .488 (vs. average: .474)
FT% .81 (vs. average: .79)
Rebounds 5.4 (vs. average: 4.7)
Steals 2.2 (vs. average: 2)
Turnovers 4.3 (vs. average: 3.4)
Assists 7.1 (vs. average: 8.6)
Blocks .3 (vs. average: .3)
Fouls 4.1 (vs. average: 3.6)

Comment from jmpalomo
Time July 25, 2009 at 11:16 AM

It looks like Javale is doing really well at the USA Camp.
From NBA.com’s John Schulmann on Day 2 of the camp:

Dunking ove Greg Oden
“JaVale McGee may have had the highlight of the day, a follow-dunk over Oden, who, to be fair, didn’t have great position for the rebound, because he was helping out on a drive.”

Javale’s team won a scrimmage 33-7
“The second scrimmage was a blowout, 33-7, as the White team had no ball or player movement whatsoever. They were just standing around on offense and couldn’t get any good shots. Their misses and turnovers turned into several fast breaks for the Blue, including a nice alley-oop from Rudy Gay to McGee.”

On the second scrimmage McGee was in the game for the end of the scrimmage (the 4 centers at the camp are Brooks Lopez, Greg Oden, Anthony Randolph and Javale).
“Iguodala missed the free throw, but McGee fumbled the rebound out of bounds. Up one, the Blue team inbounded the ball to Rudy Gay, who, rather than taking a foul, saw a lane to the basket and converted a tough layup over McGee, putting his team up 25-22 with about four seconds left.”

Comment from Babakism
Time July 25, 2009 at 4:01 PM

Don’t worry, I’m sure 2 at least 2 guys will always be injured anyways lol

Sam Cassel did go to florida state where him and bob sura teamed up together

I was reading an article on nba.com about all the guys trying to make the USA squad and they reffered to Kevin Durant as ” a 6-11 guard” thought that was kind of interesting

I think the spurs chose ratliff cause I think he can still block a couple shots a game and is a better defensive presence than oberto

Even if Oberto never plays a minute he will be good for us. Having been coached by Popovich means his profesional approach to pratice and the team might rub off on our young big men. Blatche and Mcgee need someone who will practice hard against them and give them fits in practice so that they can improve.

Tom those statistics are semi-irrelevant

how do they show he is not a superstar? his point average is much higher. Thats his intangable(scoring) but anyways Gil is a combo guard and not a true point guard. Perhaps you should compare his stats against shooting guards or maybe just PG and SGs since that would be a combo lol

I’m assuming your numbers are from only starting point guards?

The numbers just seem rather vague to some up the superstar status of a player.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 25, 2009 at 7:09 PM

Good for Javale. Get that learning curve rolling
We already know that he can dunk, it’s the other fundamentals, that he needs to sharpen up

Also, in regards to D-League, injured players also occupy spots, whereas someone may not be able to go down to the D League, if there are numerous injuries…(we learned a lot last year, albeit the hard way, but we learned a lot)

Comment from datonypony
Time July 25, 2009 at 7:54 PM

Those stats seem fair, we know that his assists aren’t that good compared to other guards obviously, but that’s why he’s the combo guard. I’m really excited to see what approach gil plays this year in according to Flip’s new offensive system

Good for Javale!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 25, 2009 at 10:05 PM

Babakism — I’m not trying to make *any* point about Gil at all. Datonypony asked me for the numbers, and I supplied them.

The most successful team the Wizards have fielded over the last few decades was in ’04-05. We went 45-37 in the regular season, won the first round vs. the Bulls, and competed strongly in the 2d round of the playoffs. Larry Hughes played *extremely* well that year, and it was Etan’s best year as a Wizard. Jeffries was also extremely effective, although he provided no offense. Michael Ruffin was solid as a role player off the bench. The ’05-06 team was also very solid, although our record didn’t quite reflect our productivity stats that year.

In neither of those years — and not any year since, either — did we score as many points as our opponents for the season.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 25, 2009 at 10:10 PM

One further bit of “reality check” information on our scoring differentials vs. our opponents: in ’04-05 we averaged .6 points less per game than our opponents (even tho we won 45).

As a potential comparison: last year, the Lakers outscored their opponents by almost 9 points a game, and Cleveland outscored its opponents by *over 10 points a game!*

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 26, 2009 at 11:26 AM

Gooden off to Dallas for @$5m w/ the incentives.

Given how much concern there was about $$, it seems like there’s been a lot of movement this summer.

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 26, 2009 at 3:37 PM

Another piece of news: Blazers sign Andre Miller which was one of the last teams with the cap space to give David lee the kind of contract he was looking for.

How about a sign and trade? David Lee for Stevenson/Blatche and James? Would this be in line with what the Knicks are trying to accomplish?

Though David Lee is a great player, not sure he could come off the bench.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 26, 2009 at 4:42 PM

Hmmmmmmmmm, he looks good on the knicks due to their awful team. He is a scrapper…..

Gooden was labeled as a “messy” player earlier in the year (kept confusion going on in the locker room), not really sad to see him go elsewhere. I’m content with the bigs that we have for now, to see how it all pans out. It may be a bonus to get rid of some guards for a big though, even if it’s one with some growing to do.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time July 26, 2009 at 4:50 PM

here’s a mixtape of Ira Graham

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02Un0d2pFk0

ernie loves those scoring point guards and this guy doesn’t disappoint. ira’s got a pretty good stroke too.

Comment from millie mill
Time July 26, 2009 at 6:40 PM

Wiz-Fusion,

That kid is nice!! He shoots like Nick Young and really quick. I hope he makes the team. He will be in the D-league next season.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 26, 2009 at 7:48 PM

Podcast interview with Ira:
http://www.sanjuancommunications.com/mns.mp3

Ira is 6’1″ and has been a shooting guard his whole career.

Summer League Analysis on DraftExpress — includes *extensive coverage* of Nick and Andray (by analysts who are not biased Wizards fans).

Comment from GlingGling
Time July 26, 2009 at 11:35 PM

Tom, that was some very critical analysis of Nick and Dray. Not saying it was wrong, but they didn’t hold back.

It was also excessively verbose. I can sum up both players’ analysis in one sentence: They are talented players with the potential to become difference makers.

Comment from Babakism
Time July 27, 2009 at 2:14 AM

LOL@ the Ira highlight video. At the 1:20 mark he gets a guy to jum on a pump fake 2 steps past half court lol@D2 basketball

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 27, 2009 at 7:57 AM

GlingGling — the analysis of nick and dray was in the same vein as the analysis of the rest of the players they covered. It was detailed and well-informed.