Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 7, 2009 at 1:15 PM

Brendan is going to be a *very* successful media guy.

Comment from neal
Time August 7, 2009 at 2:29 PM

Regarding comments on an earlier thread:

Foye will have similar adjustment issues to Arenas. Arenas, Crittenton, James and Miller all had more assists per minute than Foye last year. I imagine he’s always been depended on to score. He’ll have to adapt to just being one of five competent scorers on the floor. It will be a challenge for him, though maybe not as tough a one as for Arenas.

Veremeenko would already be here if he were coming. He still is under a contract that would require a substantial amount to buy out. And as of the last I saw his average minutes indicate he isn’t even a starter for his European club. AND when he was here for last year’s summer league he didn’t look any better to me than the other prospects that were passed over.

Comment from neal
Time August 7, 2009 at 2:31 PM

Haywood may have an excellent career in the media. He’s a smart, well-spoken guy it seems to me.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 7, 2009 at 4:17 PM

And he has charisma, makes eye contact, etc. — he’ll be terrific. (I do mean Brendan — not Vereemenko! )

Re: Randy Foye — no, they drafted him to be a starting point guard. He was taken 7th in the draft and has not really worked out.

The fact that Foye was traded for Brandon Roy immediately on draft day has always haunted him — given that BR is now one of the premier 2 guards in the league (just signed long-term and for big money w/ Portland where he’s played his first 3 years). But, even w/o comparing him to anyone, he just hasn’t delivered what you’d hope for from a number 7 pick.

Minny finally gave up on playing him at the 1 middle of last season, and moved him to the 2. That’s definitely a better spot for him, but at the 2 he gives up a lot of height. Has a tendency to drive wildly into traffic at the bucket and throw something up.

But he can blow up too. We’ll see where he fits in.

Comment from AUNDRA
Time August 7, 2009 at 5:48 PM

Competent scorers is something Agent Zero wants and needs very badly so all the work can be distributed evenly.So if the captain shoots 16 shots and makes 8 thats great and tough juice does the same thats fantastic. However the shooting guards spot and center we also need 12 shots and make there 6 to 10 made to have the balance and assists he needs to lead the team. That leaves 24 shots to be used up by Arenas and the bench for a low total of 80 for the game! The key is we need better field goal percentage from the starters and bench. I like shooting for 50% but no lower than 45% for the game to have a decent chance and 82% free throws as a team! We also have the lowest three-point attempts and the lowest three-pointers made in the conference hopefully we can do much better than that! I looked at Haywood Yardbarker.com
its one of the best and controversial in the NBA. I hope Haywood doesn’t ruffle to many peoples feathers with his comments!

Comment from neal
Time August 7, 2009 at 6:22 PM

Well, Aundra, I hope you’re right. If the work is distributed evenly that means that Agent Zero will be averaging more like 20 than 29. I hope he’s OK with that. And yes, if we could make 47% from the field and 40% from 3 point land I would love it and we would be hard to beat. Having Arenas and Miller should help our 3 point average, and I look for Slick to shoot threes a little better. I think Saunders will put a little more emphasis on this aspect, which will be good.

If Haywood ruffles a few feathers he’ll be controversial and interesting and successful. If he doesn’t tell it like he sees it he’ll be boring.

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 7, 2009 at 6:29 PM

Now I need to find a radio…

As for Gil averaging 20ppg, I’d be surprised.

Comment from datonypony
Time August 7, 2009 at 6:53 PM

Uh this is Arenas we talking about. Asking him to average the same as his sophomor eyear? CMON! Nah he will pass more but I expect no less than 25 points a game

Comment from dmac
Time August 8, 2009 at 12:16 PM

As I stated on a blog earlier this past week Gil will be the NBA comeback player of the year.
My reasons why are:
After the last year Gil wants his team more than anyone. Everyone has spoke about his big contract, his lack of PG skills and doubt whether he really can be the floor general, In many ways we have given Gil a quite a lot of incentive alongwith his own desire to be recognized as one of the best NBA players in the game. Now is his time to build on his legacy and show that he can make the adjustments his teams him to make to create more wins and and once again be a force in the elite.
Gil will probabably on a few nights be over 30 but I see coming as he lets the game come to him like Kobe does.
I think the time off has given him a chance to really mature. What will make the Wiz successful will be how they feed off of his energy and the energy of our new coaching staff. That is why you seeing all of these positive predictions about a great turnaround. Most of all it is because of the return of one of the hardest working players in the game.
Two years ago I would have never thought I would purchase a Arenas jersey. Yester it was one of my birthday gifts to myself. See i don;t want to get on his bandwagon later on. I am on now in full support.
So let’s get ready to see and be a part of one of the most exciting seasons of basketball in this city in a long time.

Comment from neal
Time August 8, 2009 at 1:35 PM

dmac, may I get on your bandwagon or do I have to get a jersey first?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 8, 2009 at 3:35 PM

Happy birthday, dmac!

Hope the upcoming season turns into a *huge* birthday party/present for you!

Comment from datonypony
Time August 8, 2009 at 5:04 PM

Wizards 09-10 Rings now being desgined!!!!! Nah just joking. But one can dream! I look forward to this season. I am a newish wizards fan, only started 2007-2008 and last year so…. Hopefully this one can be the best out of them!

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 8, 2009 at 5:22 PM

I only caught about an hour of the radio show on and off but it was very good. I heard the interview with Phil Chenier and with Gilbert’s dad – both were very good. Haywood has a good vocal personality. No doubt he’ll end up in sportscasting after his NBA career has concluded.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 8, 2009 at 8:35 PM

The radio show was good and I’m not surprised. When Haywood puts his mind into things, he does a good job; like his basketball renaissance after the Etan hair-pulling incident. I hope people would stop calling him “Brenda” at the VC. It annoys me to no end.

I found this very recent link on NBA.com that is rather funny. It is CWebb listing his “fab 5″ favorite Bullets/Wizards of all time (he’s a bigtimer now on NBATV and him and Ahmad and GP make the show entertaining as heck).

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/05/15/nba_amazing_cwebb_fab5_was.nba/

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 9, 2009 at 2:50 AM

wiz_fus, you’re right about CWebb, Ahmad, and GP. They are probably the most entertaining group in basketball sportscasting. They have a great time together.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 9, 2009 at 10:59 AM

Oh yeah — Chris is ExcellenT, brings all his charm and charisma and savoir faire right to the camera. Love him. Wish he was still young and playing for us.

Comment from neal
Time August 9, 2009 at 11:13 AM

The dog days of basketball. Nothing to talk about.

Give an opinion, someone. So we can tell you why you’re wrong.

Comment from neal
Time August 9, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Sorry. That was off-putting. Should have said “So we can discuss the merits of your idea.”

I’ll go first.

James should start again this year.

If Oberto was good enough to start for the champion Spurs, he’s good enough to start for us.

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 9, 2009 at 2:42 PM

Devil’s advocate neal? Though my friend said the same thing as you about Oberto, which makes his acquisition that much more valuable to us.

If Mike James had to start I wouldn’t have a problem, just as long as Dom gets his 25+mpg. Though I find the idea unlikely, I’d like to see where James’s motivation is after this year. His time is probably up, I’m not sure he can get much over the vet’s minimum after this year, if he doesn’t straight up retire. He’s 34, he’s got a big family and a ton of money. I’d retire.

Comment from neal
Time August 9, 2009 at 5:46 PM

Fine. James and McGuire in the back court again. I trust everyone agrees.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 9, 2009 at 6:02 PM

Oh neal… trying to start controversy, are you?

I think we should start our five tallest players. Think of the matchup problems — with each other!!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 9, 2009 at 6:20 PM

Here’s a challenge. Assume for a moment that our starters are Gil, Mike M., Caron, Antawn and Brendan.

Leaving out Mike for the moment, which one of them could we best substitute someone else on the roster for? Whom might we start instead?

Obviously, whomever we left off the starting 5 would have some other important role — what would that be?

Lets hear from you!

Comment from neal
Time August 9, 2009 at 8:30 PM

Young for Miller. Miller backs up Young as well as Butler.

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 9, 2009 at 8:39 PM

I’ll steal neal’s turn.

I know this might sound sacrilegious to some around here but I’d replace the back court with Miller, McGuire, and Stevenson. All at once, moving into a lockdown mode. Miller and McGuire share the point. Everyone plays defense. You’ve got potential scoring in Miller and Stevenson. Now within four minutes of that you have to replace one of them with a scorer, which would probably be Nick. Run the offense around a screen and roll with Nick, he instantly lights things up. If everything goes well you’ve changed pace yet again and you’ve got the opposition reeling. Now the knock out punch, bring back Gil and Caron.

Everything would have to flow, but that’s the plan for the back court.

The front court options are obvious. Blatche and McGee (assuming they are putting a priority on his development).

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 9, 2009 at 8:39 PM

Quick trigger neal!

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 9, 2009 at 9:40 PM

i dont think you put young in over Dom i think if you got 4 people who can score you got to have some D# thats just me if you need some point you got to go with young off the bench but i think if its not mike starting then it will be Dom and him at the 2 you dont need that much fire power on the floor at the same time.. but thats just IMO

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 9, 2009 at 10:26 PM

I like Tom’s idea of starting the tallest players. Andre at the one, Antawn at the two, Oberto at the three, JaVale at the four, and Brendan at the five.

If the other team didn’t steal the ball within the first two passes we might have a chance to get the ball over midcourt. BUT the other team would be done if they let them get the ball anywhere close to the rim

And I agree with Neal. Both James and Oberto should start ….. the bus and get it warm for the other players for the trip to the arena. You instigator you LOL.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 9, 2009 at 10:34 PM

Tom on your substitution question about the starting 5. I could see Dominic start in certain situations. I could see him starting when we play Cleveland with instructions to stay on you know who. And when Crabby sat down bring Caron in for more fire power when they have less. Just an idea.

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 9, 2009 at 11:28 PM

Grifon, “should start ….. the bus”. hilarious.

Comment from datonypony
Time August 10, 2009 at 12:19 AM

We should bench the entire starting line until after all star weekend to give the starters a break XD XD XD XD

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 10, 2009 at 7:57 AM

For example, lets say we turned Caron into a sixth man — and still gave him 30 minutes a game, btw. Not lowering his minutes much and actually *increasing* his usage rate, because he’d be on the floor a lot when Gil and/or Antawn were off the floor.

Then we might start Dom at the 3. He has the quickness and length to defend the position extremely well, and he’s pretty much mistake-free (few turnovers, etc.). We’d still have 3 scorers in the starting 5, and we’d have a much stronger crew off the bench.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 10, 2009 at 7:59 AM

You could do more or less the same thing, except make it Antawn who becomes the sixth man. Especially if Miller starts, as I’m sure he will, we still have a 3 point threat.

Comment from neal
Time August 10, 2009 at 9:01 AM

I love it. We just needed to stir the pot a bit.

Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 10, 2009 at 1:57 PM

5 Things I Think I Know About the Southeast Division
By Ben York (Dime Magazine)

With the vision of the 2009/2010 NBA season becoming more and more clear each day, we’ll take a look at each division and explain what we think we know about each. Sure, there are a lot of things that could change before opening day, but we have a pretty good idea of how each team will look and where we think they’re headed in the upcoming year.

For my third column, here are 5 things I think I know about the Southeast Division…

5. I think I know that the Wizards will win more than 19 games.

Okay, I’m being facetious. There really is no doubt in my mind they’ll win more than 19 games; I’d put them closer to 45 actually. Having a healthy Gilbert Arenas with a clear motive is dangerous for opposing teams. Like Tracy McGrady, Arenas has something to prove – that he could be close to the player he once was. Though, it certainly helps that this season will feature the deepest Wizards team he’s ever had in Washington. Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Nick Young all stepped up in Arenas’ absence and the additions of Mike Miller and Randy Foye should provide the Wizards with a solid core of players for Flip to work with.

4. I think I know that the Magic did all the right things in the off-season.

If I’m a Magic fan, I’d be more than pleased with the additions they made after losing to the Lakers in the Finals. That’s all you could ask for as a fan, right? Clearly, the Lakers were a better team than the Magic last year. Instead of Orlando being content with their roster, they went out and made it better. Losing Hedo to the Raptors shouldn’t be frowned upon; let’s not forget he averaged about 17 points during the regular season and only about 15 in the playoffs. The addition of Vince Carter as a consistent scoring threat will open up Dwight Howard down low, even more so than before. Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes make the Magic one of the deepest (if not the deepest) teams in the Eastern Conference. With a healthy Jameer Nelson at the helm, I’d expect the Magic to be better in all facets of their game in 2009-’10.

3. I think I know that the Southeast Division is the most boring to watch in the NBA.

I covered the Heat and Hawks first-round series for TalkHoops last year and I wanted to punch myself square in the mouth for all 48 minutes of every game. It was brutal. Each team had a few players that I enjoyed watching, but the games were nowhere near exciting. With both the Hawks and Heat failing to score more than 60 points in at least one of their games, it was just painful to watch. It’s funny how similar each team plays in this division – that methodical, grind-it-out style of basketball. And while it may be fun to watch at times, it certainly doesn’t pack the punch that the Central, Pacific, or Southwest divisions do. I’m not trying to knock the division, but there are just so many more teams that I’d rather watch play. Of all the teams, the Magic are the team I’d follow most simply because of how good they could be next year. If I’m honest, other than Orlando, I’d rather watch the Spurs play than any of the other teams in the Southeast; as anyone that knows me will tell you, that’s saying a lot.

2. I think I know that the Bobcats will, once again, disappoint.

I liken Charlotte to the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL. Each season, they come in with high expectations and each time they end up being far from met. Charlotte has just enough talent and ability to be a pretty good team, but not enough to make any amount of noise in their conference, much less their division. Tyson Chandler might make them a bit more flashy than Emeka Okafor did, but they’ll need an MVP-type season from Boris Diaw to be considered anywhere near relevant. Since that has about as good a chance of happening as Steve Nash winning the dunk contest, the Bobcats will once again play hard…but ultimately go nowhere.

1. I think I know that Dwyane Wade will have an even better year.

Topping 30 ppg, 7apg, and 5rpg will be no easy task, but I really think he’ll do it. Does Wade want to remain in Miami? Who knows. The one thing I do know is that Dwyane is poised for (statistically) the best year of his career, and I can’t believe I’m saying that after the season he had in 2008-’09. We all know he’s due for a major payday in 2010 and he’ll work to make sure that happens, but I still think he is going to play with a chip on his shoulder which will make him an even better player. I think what will ultimately help him the most is a much more consistent year from his teammates; Beasley, Cook, and Chalmers should all be able to improve drastically, thus, taking *some* of the pressure off Wade to score.

http://dimemag.com/2009/08/5-things-i-think-i-know-about-the-southeast-division/

Comment from neal
Time August 10, 2009 at 2:23 PM

Good article.

I think he’s wrong. I think we will win about 50. But then every year at this time I’m overly optimistic.

So many things have to come together. Arenas healthy and he, Slick and Foye not trying to just out-shoot the enemy. Slick playing good D. McGee playing with more maturity than we have any right to expect. Blatche playing smart. The coaches selling everyone on the possibilities if everyone plays together.

Comment from GlingGling
Time August 10, 2009 at 2:45 PM

neal, we’ve got the right coach to make those things happen. If we didn’t, I’d be less optimistic about our prospects.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 10, 2009 at 4:46 PM

good find wiz_fusion i would like to take neals side on the 50 wins but i could care less about the season its the playoffs i want to see us do damage in

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 10, 2009 at 4:56 PM

50 games? That’ll be a stretch. The best we’ve done is 45 and that was off of a really great season by Hughes.

I don’t place much hope in being propelled to those heights by Nick, Andray or Foye. None of them have ever performed at even an average level overall for their positions. Final scores only include *actual* — there’s no stat for *potential.*

Miller helps, and of course Gil and Brendan coming back helps. 45 wins would be pretty good, though. That might get us the 4th spot and home court in the first round.

Comment from dmac
Time August 10, 2009 at 8:34 PM

Neal you are automatically on my bandwagon whether you buy a jersey or not of Gil’s.
Thank U for the birthday wish Tom. I looking for the double whammy both my Skins and Wizards making the playoffs. My hope is that this is Jason Campbell’s coming out party. Especially if the O-Line can hold up. Clinton Portis is my favorite Redskin as Gil is my favorite Wizard. They are both players who season in and season out are somewhat controversial but they are true ballers.
I am headed on vacation so I will check with U all when I get back. Neal keep the positive energy going.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 10, 2009 at 10:28 PM

I would be thrilled if “any” of the substitute players propelled us to even one win. I think any propelling will be done primarily by the starters with the subs contributing.

With the addition of Miller and Foye…. if Deshawn and Gilbert are 100%… and JaVale continues to improve/impress I don’t think a 50 win season is that far out of the question.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 10, 2009 at 10:28 PM

Dmac….. Happy Birthday and have a good time on vacation.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 10, 2009 at 11:08 PM

Look out Eastern Conference, Boston is coming back with a vengeance…..I love my wiz!!!, but Boston has a front court that’s VERY lethal to anyone coming down low. All they need is a formidable backup for their point guard and they can start designing their rings now….

Let the games begin

Comment from datonypony
Time August 11, 2009 at 12:50 AM

Cletics haha I believe that they will obviously have a better record than us. But, wizards vs celtics individually as teams I’m sure we got a great chance of taking them down. Their big 3 is getting old and may be starting to show their age. And I would say that we have the better bench.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 11, 2009 at 2:49 AM

They now have Rasheed Wallace, kept Big Baby and also signed Sheldon Williams…I’m a head to toe wiz fan, but wow do the celts look good on paper. They were an injury away from repeating and now that they bolstered their front court, WOW.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 11, 2009 at 8:20 AM

Rasheed Wallace may not have starter minutes in him any more, but he is a major factor when he is on the floor. Glen Davis and Sheldon Williams on the other hand don’t contribute much. Davis is an extremely poor player (yes, he hit one game-winning shot) and Williams has been a bust.

The Celtics, Cavs and Orlando are significantly better teams than the Wizards. But I think we’ll compete for the the 4th position in the playoffs if all goes well.

Comment from datonypony
Time August 12, 2009 at 7:21 AM

Yup hopefully I believe we can do it. Hawks are what they are, Heat…. one man team, nets are too inexperienced and they lost carter so. Not much in our way.Pistons? I dunno, they screwed up their FA period.