10 Must See Home Games
With the unveiling of the 2010-11 schedule, Andrew Rosen of WashingtonWizards.com gives you his ten must see home games.
November 2nd vs. Philadelphia: It is not too hard to figure out why the Wizards’ home opener cracked our Top 10 games. First, it is John Wall’s regular season debut at Verizon Center. Second, the game matches up Wall with the #2 overall pick, Evan Turner. Home opener, Wall’s debut, and Wall vs. Turner all in one night, this is definitely one game you’ll want to attend.
November 6th vs. Cleveland: While many of the participants that encompassed the Wizards-Cavs playoff battles are long gone, there are still a few members of the Wizards like Gilbert Arenas and Andray Blatche who remember those tough defeats and will surely look to exact revenge and against a much different cast of players in Cleveland. November 6th will also feature the return of Antawn Jamison to Verizon Center. Jamison was a two-time All-Star in Washington, and played 5+ seasons as a Wizard.
November 27th vs. Orlando: Hopefully by Saturday your post-Thanksgiving food comma will have subsided, giving you the opportunity to check out the Wizards against the Orlando Magic. While the Magic’s neighbors to the south have made most of the off-season headlines, the Magic are just one year removed from making the NBA Finals and have won the Southeast division title the last three years. It will also be a matchup of former #1 picks in John Wall and Dwight Howard.
December 14th vs. L.A. Lakers: Led by Kobe Bryant, the NBA’s defending champions come to Verizon Center on December 14th. The Lakers have previously brought out the best in Gilbert Arenas and it should be interesting to see the head to head matchup of Arenas and Bryant.
December 18th vs. Miami: Without question Saturday, December 18th will be one of the most anticipated Wizards home dates during the 2010-11 season. With the acquisition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to go along with Dwyane Wade, there is no question that Verizon Center will be packed and buzzing well before tip-off. This might be a good time to mention that you can guarantee your seat to this game by purchasing one of the Wizards’ partial plans that will go on sale on August 19th. Click here to fill out a form and receive more information on partial plans for the 2010-11 season.
December 22nd vs. Chicago: In one of the most memorable moments in recent franchise history, Gilbert Arenas hit a game-winning jumper over Kirk Hinrich to give the Wizards a 3-2 series lead over the Bulls that would help propel the Wizards to the second round of the playoffs. Fast forward to today and Hinrich will now have Arenas on his side as he looks to give his former teammates a rude welcoming in their visit to DC.
January 1st vs. New Orleans: What better way to bring in the New Year than a battle between two terrific young point guards in Chris Paul and John Wall. Also, we understand that New Years historically has been known for college football, but we like to remind fans that most of the marquee bowl games (including the National Championship game) are no longer played on New Years and the Rose Bowl’s importance has greatly diminished due to the BCS Title Game .
January 11th vs. Sacramento: This game might throw you off a little bit in regards to the rest but bear with me as I explain. First you have the matchup of former college teammates in DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall, both very talented freshman that led the Kentucky Wildcats to the Elite Eight. While those two won’t see much action against each other, the matchup we are really interested in seeing is between two John Calipari point guards, Tyreke Evans and Wall. Evans was also the rookie of the year last year, something Wall will look to replicate in his rookie year.
January 22nd vs. Boston: In the second half of last season, the Wizards and Celtics met up in two extremely hard fought games that resulted in a 1-1 split between the two teams. In the Wizards’ loss, Andray Blatche held Kevin Garnett from scoring a field goal for the first time in his career, and in the win the Wizards dominated the Celtics, leading by as much as 28 points in their road victory. The Celtics have since added Shaquille O’Neal to their roster, oh and let us not forget that the game also features a matchup of Kentucky point guards, Rajon Rondo vs. John Wall.
February 26th vs. Dallas: While the game against Cleveland brought the return of just Antawn Jamison, the game against Dallas will be the first visit by Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood to Verizon Center since they were traded to the Mavericks in February. The game will also reunite Josh Howard with his former team, prior to his trade to the Wizards last season Howard had played his entire career with the Mavericks.
March 14th vs. Oklahoma City: I know I said 10 home dates, but this one was just too good to pass up. The Thunder enter the 2010-11 season as one of the hot up and coming teams in the league after being a buzzer-beater away from taking the NBA Champion Lakers to a 7th game. The Thunder are led by PG County’s Kevin Durant who last season led the NBA in scoring with 30.1 points per game.
Posted: August 11th, 2010 under Andray Blatche, John Wall, Josh Howard, Verizon Center, Wizards.
Comments
Comment from millie mill
Time August 11, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Those are eleven good games.
The Wizards vs. Bulls is going to be good point guard match-ups.
Wizards vs. Celtics game is going to be a all around good game. I thought we macthed-up well with them last season. Just have to watch out for Paul Peirce.
I going to love watching Wizards vs. Orlando (McGee vs. Howard).
If I had to take out one it would be Wizards vs. Hornets. I don’t think Chris Paul will be with the team much longer. I think Orlando is going to work out a deal with New Orleans, which makes the Orlando game a must see.
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 2:33 PM
I would take out the Dallas game.
I think Dallas is going to fall apart this year and Caron will be traded by February 26. (If we make a run to the playoffs I would love to see him back with the Wiz- we do need a small forward).
Comment from millie mill
Time August 11, 2010 at 2:46 PM
SportzWiz,
Do you know if the Wizards are trying to design another alternate uniform? I would like to see a Black (away) uniform with Gold letters with White and Blue trim. Or a (home) uniform like the throw back Chicago Zephyrs.
Comment from millie mill
Time August 11, 2010 at 2:48 PM
I like Caron but I don’t think we need him hear. His head got a little big towards the end. IMO.
I do think he will be traded before trade deadline.
Comment from Phemy
Time August 11, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Hornets just traded away Collison for Ariza (4 team deal, check espn.com). So I doubt they’ll part with CP3 now…without a backup pg!
Comment from millie mill
Time August 11, 2010 at 4:29 PM
Forget what I said about New Orleans!! That will be a good game too.
Comment from maggicman11
Time August 11, 2010 at 4:56 PM
Derrick Rose on Javale McGee after practice “He can be one of the best centers in the League”
http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2010/08/11/javale2ndflashhighflv-1391262/index.html
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 11, 2010 at 5:25 PM
CB3 wants to be the key man and he will never be. The Wizards are better off with him playing somewhere else.
Comment from gray16
Time August 11, 2010 at 5:34 PM
i don’t think cb3 wants to be the main guy… that was the problem, he doesn’t have that mentality. i think he likes being the back up guy, but that’s my opinion. i just think flip tried to make him a bigger part of the offense than he was comfortable being. dallas is a much better situation for him, even though he’s not all star material on either team imo.
as for the hornets, i have no idea what they are thinking. trading a great young pg for a dissapointing sg/sf… especially when cp3 will probably leave anyway… just dumb imo.
as for the games, i can’t wait for the games against chicago and the kings. those should be some fun matchups indeed.
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 6:49 PM
LARRY BIRD PULLS OFF AWESOME TRADE!
What the heck was New Orleans thinking?
Larry Bird and the pacers should be doing the makarena dance right now.
They gave up Troy Murphy to get an awesome young point guard in Darren Collinson.
That is a “sick” trade for the Pacers.
The pacers kept offering on draft day to get a point guard at the NBA draft only to get rebuffed time and time again.
Now the Wizards have to compete with Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and their two young stud draft picks, George and Stephenson, who everyone is raving about.
That was a “sick” trade the birdman just pulled off.
Somethimes good thing do happen to those who wait.
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 6:53 PM
Fantasy (but I like it)
Caron would look nicely in that 3 spot for the Wiz. He could be the glue that makes everything work nicely.
(we will talk about this more at the trade deadline if the Wizards progress at a very high rate this year).
If not, CB3 becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. He would be the #2 small forward behind Carmelo on the free agent market
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 11, 2010 at 7:14 PM
This was a good trade for all concerned — for each team in different ways.
Indiana got its young point guard; hope he works out well for them. They did have to take on 2 years of Posey’s contract. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move him somehow next summer or even at the deadline this year. They won’t get better this year through this trade, however, because they gave up the guy who produced the most wins for their team last year. Better hope those rookie guards come along quick and that Hibbert does too!
The Nets got a *very* underrated 4 — the position they have been trying to fill all Summer. They’ll be better this year because of him, and then his contract expires, and they can keep him if it makes sense. All it cost them was Courtney Lee, a nice young player but nothing to write home about I don’t think.
The Hornets got an excellent 3 just entering his best years — and made a move that will help them keep Chris Paul. They do need a backup point guard now, however.
The Rockets saved themselves $10m this year by replacing Ariza with Lee. That’s worth doing.
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 7:36 PM
Predictions:
Carmelo leaves Denver next year.
Chris Paul leaves New Orleans in two year.
They both have already gotten filthy extensions. They both should have more than $50 million in their bank accounts by now.
Carmelo back to the East Coast. CP3 to a team that will challenge Miami and Chicago.
It’s the new NBA. Lebron, Dwade and Bosh made it that way.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 11, 2010 at 8:19 PM
What are the biggest problems the Wizards have as a squad right now? Problems in their play, I mean?
1. Rebounding — we don’t have a good rebounder at any position, and certainly not at the 4 or 5. Singleton and Miller were both good rebounders at their positions, and they masked a little bit the deficiencies of other guys.
2. FG % — we only have one high % shooter on our team — i.e. a guy who gets more than 10 points out of every 10 shots — and that’s JaVale McGee, and he just barely gets there. And we have a pretty large number of low FG% shooters — Wall and Arenas the prime examples (and you know they’ll be taking a lot of shots). Howard is an inefficient shooter too. Not to mention Yi and Armstrong.
3. Turnovers — Most years of his career, Gilbert has been in the top 5 in turnovers per 40 minutes. John Wall was the 4th most turnover-prone point guard in the NCAA last year. Andray had the 2d highest TO rate of any 4 who played 15 minutes a game or more.
4. Steals — we were the 3d worst team in the league in steals last year. I’m sure we’ll be better this year, with Gilbert and Wall. Andray is pretty good too. Hard to imagine we’ll be above the average team, however — that would be a big jump.
When you shoot a lower % than your opponent, and he out-rebounds you, and you turn the ball over more than your opponent, and you’re about average in steals, you lose — consistently. Usually by a lot. If you don’t understand why that is, well… of course you do.
That’s why I project that we’ll win 20+ games this season. 
Sorry.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 11, 2010 at 8:21 PM
Hard to predict what anybody will do in a year, and pretty much impossible in 2 years.
But I’m sure lots of players will move.
Comment from Wizards4Life
Time August 11, 2010 at 8:46 PM
i have said this 10 times but 11 won’t kill me so yeah caron said he would love to be a wizard agian to the washington post! IMO i thought he was trying too hard and doing so made him look bad and hurt the team more than it helped
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 11, 2010 at 9:03 PM
It appears that Hamady has drawn interest from Italy’s Cimberio Varese which plays in Serie A league – which is Italy’s highest league. Late last week it was reported that, “Cimberio Varese targets Hamady Ndiaye and Dwayne Collins.”
Comment from tyrone2000
Time August 11, 2010 at 9:07 PM
Miami vs Wizards to see where we are…Cavs are better than they are being given credit for…Jamison vs Blatche
must see…Dallas vs Wizards must see…
I hate to see turnovers but looking at the top 10 players in TO’s per game could it be overrated?
TurnOvers
1 Dwyane Wade , MIA 5.2
2 Stephen Jackson , CHA 5.2
3 LeBron James , CLE 3.8
4 Steve Nash , PHX 3.8
5 Kevin Durant , OKC 3.7
6 Dwight Howard , ORL 3.6
7 Carmelo Anthony , DEN 3.5
8 Kobe Bryant , LAL 3.4
9 Andre Miller , POR 3.2
10 Chauncey Billups , DEN 3.0
10 Boris Diaw , CHA 3.0
10 Manu Ginobili , SAS 3.0
10 Joakim Noah , CHI 3.0
10 Rajon Rondo , BOS 3.0
10 Deron Williams , UTA 3.0
Comment from gray16
Time August 11, 2010 at 9:42 PM
wait….
tom mandel am i hearing you right?….
you just called… trevor… trevor ariza…. trevor anthony ariza…. an excellent 3…
i now and forever give up your rationing and procedure for judging how good a player is
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 11, 2010 at 10:20 PM
Looking above, I see that I did write “excellent” in re: Ariza. That’s an overstatement. He’s good, however. Take a look at his numbers over the years prior to his last one w/ Houston.
Tyrone — w/o question guys who have the ball in their hands a lot will always turn it over more than guys who don’t — duh! if you don’t have it you can’t turn it over!
That doesn’t make turnovers less important. If you are Joakim Noah and get 14.4 rebounds every 40 minutes, then the fact that you turn it over 2.4 times every 40 minutes (and that’s the right number, btw, yours is wrong) is less important than if you’re Andray Blatche and you get 9.8 rebounds every 40 minutes and turn it over 3.2 times every 40 minutes. (In fairness, Andray steals the ball .7 more than noah in 40 minutes, which helps)
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 10:38 PM
Ariza’s stats went down for the same reason it happens to alot of players in sports who are playing for the CASH.
When a player gets paid a massive amount of “guaranteed” money no one know how they will re-eact.
Ariza is living the nice cozy life.
No need to work hard until the next “contract year.”
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 11, 2010 at 10:40 PM
You are never comparing Joakim Noah to Andray Blatche, are you???? Even if they play comparable positions, they are such totally different players that comparisons are ridiculous. Could you ever imagine nba.com stating that the successor failure of the Bulls is dependent upon the performance of Noah?
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 10:49 PM
From Chris Sheridan (Truehoop) on Day 2 of the NBA camp in New York on ESPN on Javale McGee:
“After practice, I spent some time chatting with JaVale McGee, who was cut from the team after mini-camp in Las Vegas but then was invited back when Brook Lopez withdrew. McGee had an interesting story to tell about rifling through the dresser drawers at his grandmother’s house when he was a young boy and coming upon the Olympic gold medal was won by his mother, Pam McGee, for the 1984 U.S. Olympic women’s team. McGee’s aunt, Paula — the twin sister of Pam — was cut from the ’84 team, and McGee’s younger sister, Imani Stafford, 16, won a gold medal earlier this summer for the United States at the under-17 girls World Championship in France.”He’s trying to do what he can do,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “and if we don’t make the final roster decision here, which I don’t think we will, I hope he continues on with us because he’ll keep getting better. At that spot, Tyson (Chandler) is really playing well, and you know what Lamar (Odom) will do when he gets into game shape. But if something goes wacky, to have another big guy is not a bad thing. That’s where he fits in. He’s in the discussion. And when we started camp in Vegas he wasn’t even invited. So he’s made that much of an impression.”
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 11, 2010 at 11:13 PM
LOL….The bottom line is that Ariza (sp) played with Kobe. With the Lakers, there is a system in place, and as long as you know your role and play it, you too will look good.
Houston’s injury problems caused the two major components to be out, similar to the Wiz’s problems. However, the bench players were quality players and made the team better than expected, and Ariza didn’t look so good as an “anchor”.
In the NBA, the system plays a major part in your success/failure. But when you have players such as Kobe, Lebron, and Gil in the past, that command a lot of “attention”, all you need to do is play your role, and success will follow….just ask Caron and AJ and now Ariza.
Wall will make Javale, AB, and other players look good. This team last year can not be compared to this year’s team. Last year we didn’t have a point guard, even with Gil, he wasn’t even totally back, and tried things that his body wasn’t ready for (yet).
New year, new stats. They can be twisted and turned, players names can be substituted for others, but at the end of the day, they are all playing for one trophy……
BTW-Tyrone, great analysis….in order to make it in this league, mistakes are and will be made, the key is when those mistakes are made……i would rather someone have a miserable first half and finish strong in the second half and win the game. Wall will not be taken out for making a mistake, just as none of the players above will be taken out. Making a mistake means that you are trying, not necessarily that you didn’t succeed….how did the saying go “you will miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take”…i guess the same can be said for other parts of the game.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 11, 2010 at 11:46 PM
BTW-moreso than heinrich being a mentor to wall, it would also be nice to hear that Gil is being a mentor to wall as well. Let’s face it, GIl reached higher heights than Heinrich, and his experiences could mean just as much to wall as heinrich’s. I would say, no matter how much marketing we/they are doing with Wall/Gil, the lack of hearing about them working together, says a lot also….
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 6:00 AM
tom… if there were EVER an example of why i say some players play better on certain teams and in certain roles, trevor ariza is a clear as day example.
he sucked with the rockets because he took more on his shoulders. he can’t lead a team. it’s much easier to play the role behind kobe and gasol, and just make plays behind them. that’s so much load off the shoulders.
but when you now have the defense locking in on you, and you aren’t the guy getting sagged off, it’s much more difficult to make shots, hence his big drop in shooting percentage. that’s why i don’t call any role player one of the best players in the league, because a role player can only do so much for you, you need true stars and leaders to take you over, and ariza is not a star and definitely not a leader.
Comment from neal
Time August 12, 2010 at 9:20 AM
I would rather Hinrich mentor Wall than Arenas. Arenas was a shooting PG. I’d rather have a more balanced attack.
I agree gray16. Which is why I think the other four players will benefit from Wall being the PG. None of our guys is an “unstoppable” player like Shaq or Kobe or James. But we’ll have scoring ability from every position. No Ruffin or Oberto that the enemy can sag off of.
A couple of years from now we can hope to develop or trade for a “star” scorer.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 12, 2010 at 10:01 AM
The position a player plays, does not necessarily mean that they can’t teach anyone. All three stars on the celtics helped teach Rondo. Kobe teaches bynum, etc etc etc there is no set rule that position matters, but Cassell is probably the best teacher of a point guard on the team, being that he has won a championship already and no one else in the org has a ring, except for Wes Unseld Sr…cant teach what you don’t know, can’t lead where you don’t go….
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Gotabig — no, I wasn’t comparing AB and Noah; I was talking about TOs and responding to Tyrone2000. Noah’s stats were handy, so I used them to point out that lots of rebounds as it were “covers” for turnovers.
That said, Joakim Noah is an excellent player. He can’t shoot, and so he *doesn’t* shoot — taking, for example, 1/2 the FGAs every 40 minutes that Andray took last year. And a lot of his are put-backs off of rebounds, etc. — which means that in fact he has a pretty good FG% despite being an awkward shooter.
It’s the other things he does that make him excellent. He’s a terrific rebounder, a very effective defender, and he gets lots of blocks and is pretty decent in assists as well. In all, he’s a heck of a player. And, yes, a lot of the Bulls’ success does come from his play.
We can disagree about how productive Andray has been (tho we agree as to his talent), but one thing is certain — other guys being good doesn’t affect how good he is. No reason to ding Noah, hence I assume you didn’t mean to.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:13 AM
gray16 — did I say somewhere that Trevor Ariza was, is or will become “a star?” He’s a good young NBA player. He had some good seasons with the Magic as well as the Lakers. He had a down season w/ the Rockets. I imagine he’ll bounce back this year.
All that stuff about a player being good w/ one team but not good with another has been proven false a 100 times; I’m not going to waste my time proving it false to you again. Players move from team to team and by and large they put up the same numbers wherever they play, for the obvious reason that they are the same guy! Just pick a player and look at his numbers from year to year. Of course there are exceptions — as to any rule. But by and large that’s how it is.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:14 AM
One thing worth pointing out however — there are only a few coaches that typically get better performances out of their players than other coaches, and Phil Jackson is one of them. So that is potentially a factor.
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:19 AM
No, I wasn’t dinging Noah. I didn’t think that it was an appropriate comparison for the reasons you stated. While Noah hustles and really hits the boards, I think that Luol Deng and Derrick Rose are the key players for the Bulls.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:20 AM
dcb — that’s a great point about teaching. It doesn’t have to come from a guy who plays your position. It’s about learning *the game* moreso than learning your own position.
Another thing is that Peirce, Garnett and Allen are consummate professionals. For better or worse, we don’t have guys like that for rookies to learn from.
If you want to learn, however, you will learn. Who did Kevin Durant have to learn from on OKC? I’m not worried about John Wall learning; he’ll be a sponge. I’m going to be watching his turnovers and FG% however.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:25 AM
LOL….Too funny
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 11:34 AM
Gotabig — was Bill Russell a key for the Celtics in his era? You don’t have to shoot and score to affect your team’s ability to win. Not that I’m comparing Noah to Russell, mind you! Nor have the Bulls been the Celtics of that era!
Anyway, the best Bulls team in recent memory was in ’06, before Rose and Noah — and that was Deng’s best year in the NBA too.
(But Ben Wallace — another Bill Russell type! 
— was the biggest reason they were so good that year. They held opponents to under 94 pts/game)
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 12, 2010 at 1:25 PM
I’m shocked no one has made a reasonable offer for James Singleton. There are not enough guys like him in the league.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 12, 2010 at 1:35 PM
I didn’t realize that there were so many players over-seas until I started following shamsports a few months ago. Maybe he can get some burn over there, if no one calls. In fact, i’m pretty sure that he will.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 2:16 PM
The biggest surprises to me are Singleton and Josh Boone. Both of them are very serviceable rotation players. Boone especially would have fit a need for us — much better than his Uconn teammate Hilton Armstrong.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 12, 2010 at 2:51 PM
and what can we do about this latest travesty, but suck it up….it’s not like we aren’t used to being smarter than the gm….lol….heck, i think zoid could make a better gm (blog-wise)….lol
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 4:43 PM
Armstrong is a backup center — singleton doesn’t fill that role.
Boone I think got his $2.99m qualifying offer from NJ — at least they still list him on the roster at hoopshype and the Nets site. If so, he too didn’t fit the goal of 1-year vet-minimum players to fill out the roster.
I don’t have a problem with that strategy, actually. I was mostly upset at the rumor we were going to sign Morrison!
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 5:27 PM
ok, well tom if you consider him excellent, i’ll just have to disagree. if you consider him good, i won’t disagree, even though i don’t think he is offensively talented at all. defensively he is really good and rebounding wise he is decent, but offensively he’s ok but not good. overall, i would consider him good, but basically another version of caron butler, but not as good. behind stars, he will do well, as the main guy, not so much.
i agree on the learning tom, if you want to learn, you’ll learn. i do think coaches can play just as big part with the motivation factor though, but i think flip has that. he’s never satisfied, and never should the player, until they win the championship.
john’s maturity and desire will put him over. we’ve seen with gil that if you really love this sport, you’ll grow into a great player even without being the smartest person in the world lol.
as far as gil around john, or teaching him, i would love to see gilbert’s work ethic rub off on john. if john works anywhere near as hard as gilbert has, he’ll be… unbelievable.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 12, 2010 at 5:50 PM
I think Gil is an intelligent guy, gray16 — quite intelligent in fact. He is goofy, no question, and he can act in childish or thoughtless ways. But nothing about Gil makes me question his brains.
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 6:16 PM
i was leaning towards bball iq tom, as his is quite questionable at times. and even with taking so many dumb shots, his hard work allows him to make them…
off the court i think he’s intelligent, but lacks a lot of common sense. he’s basically got brains but lacks some decision making skills… actually, that might describe his bball iq as well lol.
Comment from Phemy
Time August 12, 2010 at 6:28 PM
… in case you guys use facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/wbf?v=app_124232357623737
you can watch the Team USA showcase NOW, live!
Greetz
Comment from neal
Time August 12, 2010 at 6:46 PM
When does training camp start?
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 7:00 PM
i’ve seen mcgee touch the ball twice…. i’ve seen him take two bad shots…
forget the optimism, he still stinks (or at least his bball iq is non existent)
Comment from Phemy
Time August 12, 2010 at 7:01 PM
Once he gets the ball he shoots/”drives”. So for: 1 def rebound, 1missed shot, 1 TO… but he looks kinda nervous.
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 7:04 PM
that didn’t take long…
Comment from gray16
Time August 12, 2010 at 7:42 PM
man, mcgee was running like a deer on the fast break, but billups got the layup… time to run back on d, and mcgee takes his sweet ol’ time, barely getting back into the picture by the time the other team scores…
i’m really down on mcgee at the moment, i could see armstrong taking the starting spot within a couple of games
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 13, 2010 at 12:42 AM
Whomever doesn’t get it this year, should be gone….they can figure it out on the way home…lol….no matter who the player is.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 13, 2010 at 7:34 AM
McGee just doesn’t seem to be analytical about basketball, and it shows in his play.
On the other hand, here is Kevin Love on what he needs to do for team USA:
“For me, it’s going to be really attacking the glass on the offensive and defensive end,” Love said, “getting put-backs, getting extra possessions, knocking down the three ball, getting to the free throw line and really being that international presence at the four or five spot.”
He knows what he needs to do to be productive, his coach does too no doubt. And they’re in synch.
Why JaVale can’t get there I don’t know. He should have a big advantage in basketball IQ, having grown up in a family excellent players.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 13, 2010 at 7:43 AM
The Lakers have signed their two late round 2 choices. The champions, with no first round pick, manage to improve themselves in the draft! Pretty amazing.
The contract they gave Caracter, the 58th pick in the draft, is *fully guaranteed* in year one. That may be the first time a 58th pick got guaranteed money.
Hamady N’Diaye better turn out to be a player.
Comment from neal
Time August 13, 2010 at 8:18 AM
Anyone know when training camp starts?
Comment from millie mill
Time August 13, 2010 at 8:21 AM
If McGee doesn’t figure out that he needs to run just as fast on Defense as he does on offence he will be riding the pine again this year.
It’s hard to believe that a NBA player that was raised in a basketball family doesn’t realize how hard he has to work on both ends of the floor.
McGee has recipe to be a GREAT Center in this league. Fast, tall, long arms, can jump, and now he has added a little weight. One thing he doesn’t have is a little thug mentality. The mental strength that gets pissed when someone out rebound him or score on him.
Coach needs to find something he loves and tell him, “Every time someone scores on you or rebound over you it’s like that person is taking away what you love.” (Visualize and attack, visualize and attack)
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 13, 2010 at 9:10 AM
@ neal
NBA Training Camps typically start the first week of October – a couple of weeks before the start of the regular season
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 13, 2010 at 9:17 AM
I’m not “totally” concerned if the players are better than Javalle, but hearing that he’s still lacking in fundamentals is not good to hear.
Moving forward, I just hope the light is on and stays on when training camp starts. That’s what matters the most for me.
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 13, 2010 at 9:30 AM
It is pretty obvious that McGee wants to showcase his offensive talents rather than defensive principles. Heck, who doesn’t? No one makes big money in the NBA being a defensive specialist these days. Even the Mbah a Moutes of the world would like to see the ball go into the hoop sometime.
We frequently talk about Blatche’s immaturity – and I have to wonder where is McGee’s? Again, I think many Wiz fans that blog here put so much pressure on these guys to succeed to some ungodly plateau, yet “they are who they are”. If you’re a racist, you’ll always be a racist. It doesn’t matter how “friendly” you’ve adapted with other racial groups. Likewise as ball players – you’ve either got the whole package for NBA success or you don’t.
I’ve arrived at the crossroads with the Wiz “youngins” of Blatche, Young, and McGee. I’ve seen the best of what they guys can do and I’ve probably seen the absolute worst from them as well. It is best to take them from the “Que Sera Sera” approach because, when they fail drastically in your eyes, you won’t feel as disappointed. One thing that Ernie Grunfeld does well is when guys don’t work (i.e., become stale), he gets rid of them. It may take a season too late for it to happen, but it does happen.
Comment from Babakism
Time August 13, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Just bought my first ever Wizards season tickets!!!! had an All Star Plan once but now I decided to take the full season plunge. Section 105 row Q!!! Behind the basket and to the side of the Wizards bench…..very exciting!!!!!!!!!
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 13, 2010 at 10:01 AM
Hmmmmmm, THEY ALL MAKE BIG MONEY…LOL…Ben Wallace-Defense.
Ron Artest-Defense moreso than offense. It’s basically about discipline and comprehending. If he can’t do it, he’ll be out of the league. He could last for years at the end of someone’s bench, all because of athleticism.
Can someone please tell him, the only time you shoot is if you are dunking 
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 13, 2010 at 11:46 AM
Shoutout to Javale for starting a good trend…
http://www.sbnation.com/2010/8/9/1613321/javale-mcgee-introduces-the-anti-shoutout
Comment from chase
Time September 17, 2010 at 11:06 PM
I think the wizards are going to do good this year. I mean they might have A little problems here and there but overall I think they will do pretty good.
Comment from DC_Fan50
Time December 18, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Very Sad, not a JWall fan
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Comment from draftazoid
Time August 11, 2010 at 12:13 PM
Sportzwiz,
I would add:
1/21/11 against Phoenix on ESPN.
This game will mark the end of the first half of the year.
We will see where we are after 41 games are played.