Day Two AM Practice
7:36 AM..Dave Johnson and crew here and ready for another day. First a big thanks for all the kind words on the blogging yesterday. We are trying give it a feel like you have an inside pass–which essentially you do–to our training camp. I had to laugh at one of my last posts when I said short intense day…I must have come off the tracks at that point…It was actually a long intense day and the players responded to the challenge of the more physically demanding PM practice…..I thought it was just a good day period. Players looked in shape…you really notice Gilbert Arenas weight loss…Domenic McGuire impressed me again with his defense..in talking with Wizards CSN analyst Phil Chenier…he also was impressed with the evening session and noted the play of Nick Young and Mike Miller…..Milleris a better rebounder than Ithink he gets credit for…On some of the questions after the practice last night….I have to check on replacement refs…and DeShawn Stevenson looks at full strength and has no limits…and Javaris Crittenton…made some tough shots last night….but if healthy it will be a healthey battle for minutes…..
9:16 AM…..made it to the Arena…about half dozen players already here shooting around….again this first of the two practices will be more on technique (offense and defense) and shooting and not as competetitive as the evening sessions which included the scrimmages
SportzWiz checking in…A few quick links for you guys from last night……….
Video: Dave Johnson Recaps Day One
Video: Scrimmage Highlights
Photos: Night Practice
10:11 AM PRACTICE OFFICIALLY UNDERWAY
Posted: September 30th, 2009 under Wizards.
Comments
Comment from lanka124
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:21 AM
DJ – Sportwiz,
Any videos of the scrimmages from last night? Thanks.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Glen is on his way down today and I will say hi….and jgarcia104 great points…talking to antawn jamison yesterday he was impressed with the ipod addition…it’s a unique way to make sure that even in down times players can easily focus on basketball…..
it was a good start yesterday but in talking to the coaches they have a lot they are trying to get done
Comment from wtop
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:24 AM
During the preseason games there will be live blogging like during the regular season games with up to the minute things right
Comment from Wizkid79
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Hey when they scrimmage last night was Gil and Randy on the same team? If so who was running the point and who was playing the off-guard? or did they split time at each postions? Also i read that D-Steve did get hypnotised last night and that he said he couldn’t feel his face was this true? Thanks
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:46 AM
no gil and randy were not on the same team ins crimmages….gil ran the point…but Foye talked to me yesterday how all day he was playing both positions…and in some ways team of combo guards…
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:46 AM
to a question yesterday about javaris…he had a real nice steal in the scrimmage
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:47 AM
and welcome back wtop……and yes all games in pre season will be online and on radio and we will be BLOGGING live during games…as long as you guys like it and want it…we will do it
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:53 AM
Essentially I see it like this. If everyone’s healthy:
PG — Gilbert, backed up by Foye.
SG-SF mix — Caron, Mike Miller.
Plus two of: Nick Young, Randy Foye, DeShawn, Dom — depending on match-up, need, and who is playing well.
Flip has always found minutes for a Trenton Hassel type of defender, so DSteve and Dom are battling each other for that role.
Nick has the ideal size and length for the off-ball motion guard that Flip likes, if he’s average or better on defense then he’ll play every minute his talent allows, until he stops running hard, or starts trying to dribble and showboat.
Jamison may also find time in the SF role if one of the young Bigs is playing remarkably well at Four, especially on defense. His quickshot catch and shoot means he’ll play well as that motion player. In that configuration it should be confusing for opponents trying to figure out which of Jamison, Mike Millions, or Caron is the 2-guard and which is the SF.
Gilbert off the ball as described above, if teams load up on him at PG. Though he can play this role with or without Foye on court since hte team has good passers elsewhere.
PF — Jamison by default though he’s not the best fit for Flip’s defensive scheme. Backed up by Dray.
A healthy Oberto is in the mix if one of the young longbodies is at center –the squad needs the savvy, screening and defense that Haywood and Oberto bring to the court. If Haywood is resting we’ll probably see more Oberto than we expect, at least until the young pups show signs of maturity.
If he develops remarkably quickly JaVale may get in the mix at four eventually, but I doubt he does this year. His talent will force Flip to look at him and try him on court, but Flip loves reliable veterans in his support-role players, and hasn’t developed a playbook yet that would funnel through JaVale as a focal point. Still JaVale next to Haywood is really pretty from the standpoint of intimidating size. Defensively that will be a nice option once JaVale is more execution than inexperience.
Still Dray next to Haywood is plenty big, defensively.
C — Haywood. Oberto if he’s healthy and playing well. JaVale and Dray battle for time here, though for now I think Dray has the edge.
…..
Basically the only players who are sure to wait their chance from a bench position, regularly on the inactive list, are Mike James and JCritt.
JCritt can force the issue of he becomes a defensive pest. Mike James is only active if we have significant backcourt injuries.
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM
DJ — how’s Gil’s outside shot?
My concern about the significant weight loss is that he may not have as much mass behind his lift and this his range might suffer, he may try to muscle it too much instead of simply feeling it drop.
Any real alteration of musculature and body alignment requires some re-calibration before a player feels comfortable in themselves.
Just curious how far his range extends right now or if he’s still refinding his distance.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:01 AM
doclinkin…thanks for all the thoughts…..well researched…i shiuld have you write my pre season article
Comment from SportzWiz
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:03 AM
doc during the shooting drills yesterday, i saw gil go around the world and seeing nothing but swishes. he looked pretty good to me 
.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:11 AM
Gil just looks plaing healthy…it is far cry from two years ago…when we were talking about how much he would practice
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:13 AM
practice under way
Comment from Rick
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:13 AM
are they practicing a lot of zone defense?
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Heh, sure DJ I’ll be your ghost writer. Just get me a seat right next to yours every home game and I’ll write whatever you want me to say…
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:17 AM
you know rick i have noticed specifically a lot of work on zone….yesterday was alot of talk about general defense and …pronciples of help and recover….
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:18 AM
if you are my ghost writer..it will have to be typos to match my style
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:19 AM
doc really *could* write a Wizards column — but I’m going to bet he has other work responsibilities keeping him busy.
Comment from gray16
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:22 AM
about gil’s range.
while he’s much lighter than before, from the sounds of the videos, he sounds stronger as well. he said he didn’t lift much weights before, because he was born strong, but tim grover got him back into lifting weights and got his legs strong again. and we all know leg strength can increase your range for sure. so i think gil will still be able to hit that crazy long ball, but unless there’s 3 seconds on the shot clock, or in the quarter left, i personally don’t want to see that shot.
plus the people at grover’s camp were saying he still has his crazy range.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:32 AM
yeah gray 16 i think he has the range he always had…..i expect us to be disiplned on offense.. and that will help on defene.. and needless to say we have to limit turnovers…with the talent on this team and depth we can be smart and give opposing teams something to think about
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:34 AM
drills are underway…working on getting the ball up court under pressure
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:38 AM
up until last year we were always in the top 5 teams in terms of not turning the ball over. Yes one of those years was bc of antonio but a lot of that had to do with arenas as well. the only real turn overs we usually had was when we (arenas in particular) would try some ill advised full court passes. we would usually get 2 or 3 one game but sometimes it would also result in 2-3 turnovers. in our half court sets we hardly ever turned the ball over. i belive that up until last year we were right around 10 TO per game.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:41 AM
good point jgarcia104….that stat that the average margin of victory is 3 to 4 points game…so it is only a couple of possessions….so that is where those ill advised passes come back to haunt a team
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:41 AM
@Tom.
Work schmork. What could be better than tippytapping the keys talking about basketball…
Shoot, I’m half serious, anytime DJ, if you invite me down to hold your papers for you and box out Benny the Bull I’ll happily take a seat right next to ya… doclinkbox@yahoo.com
But on the more realistic tip: Gil haivng his J back helps a ton. Many of the starting sets of the Hawk offense (Flip runs some part of a modified version of Hubie Brown’s innovation) put Gilbert right at one of his favorite sniper perches on the elbow extended.
Check the nba hotspots chart. In his last healthy season (06-07) Gil was hitting something close to 40% from that spot.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:45 AM
wow again good stuff…maybe we should just collect posts from you guys and make an article…i am not being flip (pardon the pun)…it is good stuff.
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Re: turnovers. Look here’s a stat that’ll pop your eyes out:
After his first couple years in the league, Flip’s teams have never fallen outside the top 3 in the ranking of team Assists-to-Turnover ratio.
Always top 3. That would tend to suggest a pattern…
Yeah I expect we’ll be pretty stingy with the ball this year.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:46 AM
drills run seamlessly….working on help defense
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:47 AM
But thanks DJ. Let me know. Give me a deadline and I’ll fire you a packet of various musings.
Comment from gray16
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:50 AM
i expect our turnovers to be a bit higher than usual. before we were much of a one on one type of squad more than a pg dominant defense. even nash gets his team a lot of turnovers, but when you have so much passing going on like that, it’s hard to keep the to’s down. if we can stay top 10 in least turnovers, with arenas getting around 9+ apg, this team will be a smooth running machine.
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:54 AM
I know theres all this talk about about how Nick has been working on the drills that made Rip and reggie so successful… just a thought but do you think flip will put the 2 guards through a drill focused on shooting off those screens and running around the court to see who has it down? I would like to see Nick and Mike Miller go head to head at it and see who does better. who knows maybe we will have a Rip and a mini Rip… you can never have too much of a good thing 
Comment from WizardsDotCom
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:55 AM
DJ, SportsWiz, FantasticWiz –
Great job, as always. Keep up the good work.
In your opinion, who’s the one guy who stood out in your mind the most (whether it was from on-court performance, work ethic, attitude, etc) after one day of practice(s). Sorry if you may have answered this yesterday. And no, Rob Suller is not the answer I’m looking for…
E
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:56 AM
again eye popping stats…we will be disiplined in all areas..just watchiing this right now there is so much attention to detail….and yesterday making the point that good defensive teams do not commit fouls
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 10:59 AM
and we talk about…fip and offense…but since 2003-04. Saunders has not coached a team with a defense ranked worse than 9th.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:02 AM
great point jgarcia104 and to your pooint…nick and mike miller both had good days yesterday as i mentioned at the top o the BLOG that certainly impressed CSN analyst Phil Chenier as stand outs from the PM practice….
the one thing that stood out for me…was that no one looked like they were struggling to keep up and i think that comes from having veterans..
in the past you would have rookie–and this is not a crticism of them—but who would naturally be in tough position to keep up with the flow and pace of everything
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:05 AM
one on one drill at one end trying to get to baseline..at o ne end working on poick and roll..and on third court gene banks leading what looks like a drill on rebounding
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:10 AM
players are rotating from station to station
Comment from gray16
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM
jgarcia, at this point i definitely think mike miller has the advantage as far as working off of screens. he’s been doing it for years now, and i think it’s a very overlooked part of his game.
people always think of rip when they think of shooting off of screens, but people forget about people like mike miller, ben gordon, and others as well. mike is a great player coming off of screens, and i think he will be able to teach nick just like flip can of how to do it best.
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM
Hey guys quick question.. Did any of you guys watch Shaq’s show on ABC? Shaq VS’s? It was actually kind of funny and mildly entertaining… I tried really hard NOT to like seeing as hes on Clev now.. but it somehow mangaged to find its way onto my Dvr… :/
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:16 AM
back together now..offensive sets
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:18 AM
good point grey.. Melo is also Really good at comming off of screens.. that man can pick you apart and then if you try and fight through it he’ll blow past you and dunk on someone..
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:28 AM
i missed shaq’s show…..is that the same show where he raced micahel phelps
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:31 AM
yea. and he faced ocer de la hoya, ben rothlesburger in a qb competition (the only one he won), kristy may tanner and her beach volley ball partner (i forget her name) and albert pujos in a home run competition
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:34 AM
he is just a fun guy…sahme he is on cleveland the arch enemy…reminds of when flip was meeting with season ticket holders and everyone booed when he said he was from cleveland…it is a good rivalry
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Great write up from Mike Lee on the WPost Wizards Insider on yesterday’s scrimmage. Pretty exciting. I wish we had a Sam Cam to follow around Sam Cassell all the time.
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:36 AM
working from half court to transition
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:37 AM
now back to defense…coaches running offense..
Comment from aznzero
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:38 AM
i miss the ben rothlesburger show. but didnt shaq lose that too. but anyways shaq will now be manny shaqiuoa or shaqmu in my eyes. lol
back to wizards. i like how flip got nick young coming of the screens. it looks like it is working for him. i cant wait for the season to start!
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:38 AM
sam cam would be cool….myabe we shoudl hire you as writer and sam cameraman
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:38 AM
sam has a great voice for a coach…you can hear him…ask the refs in the scrimmage last night
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:40 AM
hey anzero welcome…i think that is one of the curiousities about this team…what will another year older mean for guys like nick young…dray etc…
Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:46 AM
Shoot. I’d run the Sam Cam for free.
My dream is a Big Brother style reality show with Sam Cassell and Gheorghe Muresan each taking up one of the spots, or acting as chaperones. I don’t care who else, Nick Young maybe. One season-long sleepover at Gil’s mansion, on camera 24 hours a day.
Wiz House. Who could turn that off?
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:47 AM
back to offense
Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:55 AM
a ratings winner doclinkin..
practice just wrapped as DRAY made a free throw….again they get in —-work hard and finish…another one tonight.
Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Doc… I like the Idea.. Maybe u, me, and Jeff can team up.. You run WizHouse and me and Jeff will run the Tim Grover Fantasy Camp *nice ring to it huh?* and then use the Sam Cam to bring it all together! lol
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time September 30, 2009 at 12:21 PM
jgarcia-again very funny, hello everybody!!
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time September 30, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Are any of the practices open to the public?
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time September 30, 2009 at 1:28 PM
doc is *on a roll!* — the sam cam is a really great idea.
Comment from SportzWiz
Time September 30, 2009 at 1:43 PM
sam cassells voice definitely sticks out at practice .
Jeff at this moment they are not. will let u know if that changes.
videos are coming…mostly interviews as the team ended early because practice was so smooth. Also have dave and glenn talking about the depth and maturity of the team
Comment from gray16
Time September 30, 2009 at 2:09 PM
how did dominic’s ball handling look? this is an area he continues to improve on, and if he is looking like he is improving on it even more, dare i say put him at point forward every once in a while:D.
also how was his shooting looking. from that video of last nights practice i saw him not even hesitate to take that jumper, great sign there. does he look more confident in his shot?
i don’t even need to ask about his defense, we all know his abilities on that end of the floor.
basically, what’s the word on dominic.
Comment from neal
Time September 30, 2009 at 2:15 PM
gray16 I disagree on one thing. I hope Arenas shoots a a lot of 3’s. Only Miller, James and Foye are better at it. I want him to penetrate or shoot 3’s. No mid-range jumpers – that’s what hurts his shooting %. Let Butler, Miller and Young shoot those, if we shoot them at all.
When is the first pre-season game? Is it televised?
I’ve never been so optimistic. I’m REALLY scared of a letdown.
Comment from gray16
Time September 30, 2009 at 2:28 PM
neal, i do want gil to shoot threes, but not those long bombers unless necessary. but i wouldn’t mind gil toning down his three point attempts, a lot of them before were questionable to say the least. he would jack a shot with 10+ seconds left, and not look to feed his teammates. as a point guard and team leader, you shouldn’t do that imo, but if he’s feeling it let it fly. i want gil to play a lot like chauncey billups does, just with more penetration, because with gil’s athletic ability, amazing first step, and ability to draw contact, he can “tony parker” his way to 30 points easily.
Comment from Aj
Time September 30, 2009 at 3:09 PM
After last year I can not see a greater letdown neal, but it has been so wierd seeing all of our players healthy. It’s like you wait for something to go wrong, let’s hope this is just our year.
Comment from datonypony
Time September 30, 2009 at 3:55 PM
(Knocks wood) Enough said lol. Except this year IF there are injuries, we shouldn’t suffer as much as last year!
Comment from neal
Time September 30, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Like I said before, I estimate that the norm for NBA teams is to have a starter and one other guy from the rotation out at any one time. With our depth, that’s acceptable. Actually, the law of averages should mean that no one is out a single day all year. That’s what’s fair, too.
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Comment from Jgarcia104
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Good to see Arenas out there and having his team come out victorious during the scrimages
thats one step in the right direction.
I think you can see Flip’s adaptability, seriousness, as well as his ablility to get through to the team already. I saw on CSN last night that he gave each player an iTouch that has the entire playbook on it. they can even view clips on how each play is suppoed to be run! on both the offense and defensive side! This way there is accountability with the players and have no excuses. They will all know where they should be as far as progressing through the playbook and they will know amongst themselves and we will see it a little too on who has been studying and who hasnt. Lets just hope they dont lose it or it gets into the hands of the opposing team! Im looking forward to hearing whats going down over there in Richmond today. Thanks again Dave for all the great coverage! and say hi to Glen for me