China Takes on Puerto Rico at 11:30am
SportzWiz checking in…For those of you not paying attention to the World Championships in Turkey, you missed an incredible ending to the USA-Brazil game yesterday. In the final seconds, Brazil had multiple opportunities to send the game into overtime but were unable to come through late, falling 70-68. In case you missed it you can check out the highlights here.
While the US played a nail biter yesterday, China had the day off and will return to the court today at 11:30am (ET) to face Puerto Rico. As we mentioned yesterday, Yi Jianlian has been a major force during the Championships, averaging 26 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
UPDATE: Yi dropped in a game-high 24 points and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds, but China fell to Puerto Rico, 84-76. China is back in action at 9am tomorrow against Russia.
Posted: August 31st, 2010 under Wizards.
Comments
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:24 AM
“That’s why Bill Russell was one of the handful of greatest players ever, even though he didn’t take any clutch shots — or many shots at all!” – Tom M.
The greatest scorer in the history of the NBA (Kareem) only took about 5 more shots per game than did Bill Russell. Russell averaged 13.4 shots per game for a 44% fga. Kareem averaged 18.1 shots per game for a 56% fga. I’m not stating this with any disrespect for Bill Russell who is one of my all-time greatest players, but rather to point out that Bill Russell was not at all afraid to put it up, and he took many clutch shots.
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 31, 2010 at 12:32 PM
Looking at the box score (thus far, after halftime), Yi is shooting a very high percentage. Yi and Wang (former NBA player) are *dominating*.
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:00 PM
JJ Barea has 7 reb and Yi has 5 reb thus far (late 4th qtr) … what’s wrong with this picture?
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:01 PM
Thank you dcbutler for your insight and links re: Kevin S 
Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Sun Yue has been playing alright lately in Turkey from the highlights I’ve seen. It would be great to have his size on our team (the guy can play the 1,2, and 3 spots effectively)….I know he isn’t much because he is only like 23 or 24 and he saw limited action on the Lakers last year, but if he worked with Yi and some of the bigger guys on the Wizards he could turn into a play making PF or a guard with post skills!! Plus I think he would be a real bargain addition to the roster!
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:09 PM
The player that has been exciting to me is Patty Mills
Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:09 PM
Oh yeah and I know everyone here probably wasn’t a huge fan of Peter John Ramos, but if the guy had more minutes in the NBA I think he would do alright…..maybe about as good as Hamad Haddaddi is doing on the Grizzlies right now honestly. The guy is starting for Puerto Rico in Turkey and he is putting up decent numbers for them. I’ve also seen him make a couple decent defensive plays as well!
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:13 PM
Update: The Blazers made a qualifying offer to Mills, the Columbian reports.
Analysis: The deal is worth a reported $937,000. Mills, who’s a restricted free agent, still hasn’t accepted the deal. The Blazers already have 15 players signed for the 2010-2011 season, so it’s uncertain where Mills will fit. If he opts to play in Europe this season, the Blazers will still hold his NBA rights.
Comment from gray16
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:17 PM
the entire time i saw of the game (end of the third and all of the fourth) i don’t remember yi getting a rebound…
shooting wise he wasn’t bad until he got tired, he played almost every second of time i saw.
defensively he’s still not good. doesn’t make major mistakes, but doesn’t much of anything that good either.
we’ll see how he fits into the wizards rotation.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:19 PM
Heeeeeeeeey JeffM
No problem.
I was on the previous page reading a debate over Ariza (of all the players in the NBA…LOL….)…he’s a role player that’s not even an elite role player….kind of like a one hit wonder thus far.
Anyhoot, we never gave Ramos a shot, was he that bad???? Its only FIBA, but from what i’ve seen, we may be seeing Yi turn the corner in his career. If he has, look out NBA and hello to the “SHOCKING” Wizards.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:23 PM
From what I have seen of Yi (none of today’s game), he ATTACKED the basket a lot. I would rather him attack and go to the line, than shoot jumpers and be out of position for rebounds. The main thing is that he can attack and know’s how to attack, and doesn’t look lost doing it. That makes me feel better than looking at some players that don’t even have basic fundamentals together. I still think he may be a breath of fresh air down low, and hope that he has turned the corner, to me, he has the skillset.
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Box score of Puerto Rico-China
http://espn.go.com/extra/fiba/boxscore/_/id/300833922/refresh/OFF
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:32 PM
oops, try again
http://espn.go.com/extra/fiba/boxscore/_/id/300833922/refresh/30
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:32 PM
Renaldo Balkman had 8 offensive rebounds!!!!!!
Yi had 7 total rebounds
Comment from crozby
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:50 PM
Yi’s post defense needs to get better. I know he seemed to be a little tired towards the end, but even in earlier quarters it didn’t seem as if he was playing aggressive enough on the defensive end (going for more blocks, hand in the face, moving, rotating faster, etc.). Even Barea took him down low one time. However, his offense looks pretty good. I think he’ll be mixing outside shots with low post play about 50/50, which is good. He scored 24 points today. Maybe he’ll be more aggressive back in the NBA. Flip is not going to allow him to play so-so defense under his system.
Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Yeah I don’t think we gave Peter John Ramos a shot….but then again he was pretty raw when we drafted him and the team was more focused on getting a Big 3 formed
Comment from Wizfan4life
Time August 31, 2010 at 1:59 PM
Yi’s defense has always been a problem…..he is really just a high post shooting 7’0 PF……not really a threat on defense and not really dependable for rebounding
Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time August 31, 2010 at 2:59 PM
I think we gave Party John a shot, I also believe Party John did not make the most of his chance in practice and did not earn it on the floor but he was an all-star in DC nightlife~ LOL….
Seriously, he has looked good and actually looks trim…maybe he will get another shot in the NBA, who knows? A team like Minny, may take a run on him
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 4:00 PM
actually no big man that was worthwhile was brought to dc during that time frame. maybe all of our resources was put into the big three?
anyhoot, here’s how the season starts out….have to hit the ground running (no pun intended):
OVERALL: John Wall gets an intense welcome to the league as the Wizards open the season with nine playoff teams from last season. Cleveland is likely headed toward the lottery, but that still leaves eight, including a much-improved Heat squad. The best part about the early schedule is that after opening the season with the first two games on the road, the Wizards only have one-game road trips in November, with a relatively light schedule at home. Houston and Orlando are the only home opponents projected to make the postseason next season. Wall will also have to contend with point guards Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Jameer Nelson and Aaron Brooks.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 4:06 PM
I *know* we’re going pre-season stir crazy if we’re talking about Peter John Ramos!!! 
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 4:11 PM
he’s playing in FIBA and the wiz drafted him like five/six years ago….
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Oh I know who he is. He got Dray shot for one thing.
Comment from Babakism
Time August 31, 2010 at 5:39 PM
JeffMalone is 100% right about PJR
@Draftazoid you are ridiculous with your obsession with the whole Yi/China/allstar votes thing lol you crack me up every time. That being said, your aren’t wrong about it. In fact on previous threads I’ve backed you up when other people called you crazy. I just think it is funny you are so obsessed about it lol
Comment from Babakism
Time August 31, 2010 at 5:40 PM
@Tom did he really get dray shot? or are you just messing around?
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 6:16 PM
Well, that’s probably pretty strong, what I said. But Dray was out w/ Ramos when it happened. And he was somewhere he oughtn’t to have been. Especially as a then 19-year-old kid, and probably never.
I don’t think Ernie had in mind that Ramos be the team’s “elder” influence on Blatche! Still, Andray could have said “no, I think I’ll stay home tonight.”
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 31, 2010 at 7:53 PM
If I remember correctly, Andray was shot in front of his own townhouse in an attempted car-jacking. I believe that that doesn’t qualify as “somewhere he oughtn’t to have been”.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 7:57 PM
Really ?? Am I remembering… something? …what? that involved him and Ramos and trouble?
If I’m wrong — sorry Peter John!! and Dray too!!
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Well, they were/are both kids, so you can’t blame PJ for that (i guess), but it did seem like a setup….maybe the girl??? it didn’t say where they were coming from.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/ian_thomsen/11/20/inside.nba/index.html
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 31, 2010 at 8:01 PM
I didn’t say that ‘Dray wasn’t with Ramos the night he got shot. I have no idea who he was with. What I said was that he got shot in front of his own townhouse as a result of a car-jacking and that doesn’t qualify as him being somewhere he should not have been.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 8:12 PM
Someone else was blaming PJ at first, and the assailant followed them to AB’s house (from somewhere else) and tried to jack him.
still seems like premeditated….
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Ok, I really didn’t mean to bring up something that’s such old news! It’s way too long ago to be worrying about it now.
Can’t we talk about statistics instead?
Comment from Phemy
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:15 PM
you got it tom:
Would you prefer to have Etan Thomas over Hilton Armstrong? 
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Personally, I have no idea how Hilton Armstrong might perform. However, I would prefer a beach ball rather than Hands-of-Stone.
Comment from neal
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Thomas was much better when he was healthy but I’d rather have Armstrong because Thomas misses about 2/3 of the games with injuries.
Thornton has survived in the league for a few years and is better than about 20% of the guys at his position IMO. To me, that makes him “journeyman”, rather than “bad”.
I think Yi will have a career year and will end the year considered at least “journeyman”. I like that he likes to play inside as well as out and is tougher than Pecherov. He may be hard for defenses to handle. I hope he shoots only 3 point shots and shots from w/i 10 feet. And I REALLY hope he shows up in top shape and the coaches get him to play D.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:43 PM
Thomas was a much more productive player early on than Armstrong is or will be. If you think ET has hands of stone, wait til you get some experience of Armstrong!
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:46 PM
We should have seen the trouble of “H” not making the team when the Wizards signed Armstrong right in the middle of summer league. I should have seen that huge sign. Why would the wizards sign another center to a one year contract that plays the same positon as “H” unless they knew “H” was not going to make it?
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:48 PM
neal — if your starting 3 is not as good as 80% of the guys in the league who play the position, that’s pretty bad!
*Why* do you think Yi will have a career year? Why should he have a year that’s any different from his previous years?
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:49 PM
Peter John had one year with the Wizards to prove he could play. Unfortunately, the Wizards and the rest of the NBA just didn’t think he was ready. He was only 19 years old.
Good for him persevering and not giving up. At 7’3 ” if he can contribute then some team will give him a look.
It’s up to him to show what he can do during the World Championships.
Comment from draftazoid
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:51 PM
Tom,
I am crazy!
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:54 PM
draftazoid — Whether we sign “H” or not, he is obviously a project in the purest sense. No one can have thought anything different when they decided to draft him. He was never going to give you minutes this year; he’s too raw. But, he is a genuine 7 footer with athleticism and brains. Sending him to Europe doesn’t mean we’ve lost interest in him.
As to signing a veteran minimum salary backup Center, that was in the cards from the get go.
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time August 31, 2010 at 9:56 PM
“If you think ET has hands of stone, wait til you get some experience of Armstrong!” – Tom M.
Good grief! Is Armstrong really that bad? Remember we had Calvin Booth for a good while. At least Calvin played some “D”. Care to compare?
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 10:24 PM
This is ridiculous. You draft a player, that hasn’t achieved, so instead of trying to ensure that they achieve, you go pay a million bucks to a “never achiever”. Not to mention all of the guys that didn’t get drafted in the first place, and you invite no big men to SL?
Ernie Grunfeld needs to be fired. It doesn’t matter how the wizards do this year. Outside of the first pick of the draft, which is what Ted wanted, his decisions over the past what?? four years have been atrocious, at best. Regardless, if they seemed “ok” at the time, a person in his position should be able to make decisions that shouldn’t “cripple” a team more and more each year, no matter who owns the team. Just like Eddie was gone because he couldn’t get more players since Gil got hurt, Ernie needs to get let go, due to the inability to 1) get a coach that would warrant getting respected (don’t think for a minute that a rookie is going to give Flip respect, if he’s still performing suspect rotations, or favoring players just because of status and not production, etc) 2) inability to actually build a competitive team in seven years.
This man has definitely MIS-MANAGED this team from the top down……
btw-just like all of my other posts, i don’t need anyone to agree, and just like all of my other posts, don’t try and define me, if you can’t handle criticism, go take a time-out somewhere…
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 10:42 PM
This franchise needs
1) a general manager that can hire a legit scouting team and isn’t blaming their inadequacies on an owner that can not defend themselves
2) a coach that demands respect from their players, whether it be a rookie or veteran, and doesn’t need to be on national tv or radio throwing a player under the bus or mentioning someone (one player) that they coached ten years ago and basing everything on that one player…lol…sad
3) A player does not need to be extraordinary to get production out of them. These players are already in the NBA, that says alot in itself. Being one of 450 people that can play in this league says a lot. None of these men actually “suck”, they just don’t fit in a given system at a given point in time. You can’t change a person but so much, but you can get the most out of a person at all times. That is what is needed.
Comment from dcbutler357
Time August 31, 2010 at 10:49 PM
and last but not least, what really is irking me is how some bloggers get on here acting like they own the dang blog.
If someone is not discussing what you WANT to discuss, start your own discussion, but no one on here can actually say what you’re tired of hearing or seeing. don’t stunt someone else’s socializing growth, because we want to be a brat and change the channel. Let people have their say on what they want to talk about. This passive agressive rudeness needs to stop, there are more opportunities to get something off our chests rather than being bullies on a blog that belongs to everyone
As we can see, there are more followers than leaders, but it needs to be said
WHEW NOW THAT FELT GOOD, my FRIENDS
Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:00 PM
Tom??? Neal said he thought Yi would have a career year and at the end of it at least be considered a “JOURNEYMAN”. You are busting Yi to below the rank of journeyman? He must have the stats of a slug or tree sloth.
I personally have enjoyed his play in FIBA. He isn’t going to get you 20 rebounds a night, but, I never thought he could rebound at all. I’ll take 8 to 10 a night from the guy. If he gets 20/10 a night he may be a tad over journeyman. His personal fouls are down this summer too. Unfortunately not his turnovers. I’ll still take it.
Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:00 PM
Hey DCB… what do you “Really” think? LOL
Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:07 PM
When Ernie came in I thought he was going to be the “Answer”. Wrong lol. This draft was his only good one imo (I know you don’t agree with me but as you stated above about agreeing with you…. LOL). Past that he has screwed up every prior draft and has no eye for talent. Sorry in advance but the Steelers have been good for so long because they have an excellent scouting team. They find players where nobody else looks. Why can’t we put together a team of scouts like that instead of Wes Jr and others? With all the undrafted talent we get the hotel magnate? enough said.
I was hoping Ted knew and liked Pritchard when he became available. I dream at night too
Comment from GrifonRacing
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:27 PM
Ok Wizards get your “stuff” together LOL. I just had a pop up that a Wizards rep wanted to have a chat session with me (no doubt to try to sell season tickets) and when I clicked on the link it told me no reps were there… Duh lol it’s almost 11:30
Comment from Babakism
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:49 PM
my rep was there to answer questions at like 7am lol it was really weird but then I couldn’t call and talk to anybody until like 9am to seal the deal lol
Comment from neal
Time September 1, 2010 at 12:29 AM
Tom, I consider any player not in the bottom one standard deviation of the curve less than a journeyman. You should appreciate that. Yi worked hard with a top-flight conditioning guy, then has gotten excellent confidence-building experience with the Chinese national team. He’s now much more than a 7′ outside shooter now. He’s bound to be better. We’ll see how much better. I think he’s an intriguing player. It will be a challenge for the coaches to figure out how to use him, but if they are able to use his talents and minimize his weaknesses he could be a big welcome surprise.
butler, I accept your invitation for a time out. Would you please join us?
Comment from datonypony
Time September 1, 2010 at 1:46 AM
I need the games to start! Gameday blogs are when I roll 
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time September 1, 2010 at 7:17 AM
As you guys know, I’m following Mikhail Torrance with a lot of feeling. There continues to be good news:
“Happy Walters: Mikhail is up and walkin’ on his own. Not yet able to speak, but is communicating with smiles and emotion. He’s eating small portions of food. The Tip off Club at Univ of Alabama has set up the Mikhail Torrance Fund to help defray some of the medical costs that he n his fam r going to have to incur. He has a long road ahead of him and many hours of rehab in the future.”
Send good energy to this fine young fellow.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time September 1, 2010 at 7:20 AM
Grifonracing, you write: “If (Yi) gets 20/10 a night he may be a tad over journeyman.” Well, yeah.
neal — we’ll see about Yi. I’m sure we all hope for the best out of him.
Comment from wizards_fusion
Time September 1, 2010 at 7:58 AM
re: Yi
I don’t know how it is logistically possible for Yi to average 20/10 if he’s not even starting.
I guess even if he is starting, 20/10 is like Jamison numbers and I don’t see that happening – especially with Wall/Arenas/Blatche running the show.
As a bench guy, 10 to 12 points and 5 to 7 rebounds a game for Yi would be very good.
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time September 1, 2010 at 8:17 AM
“Why can’t we put together a team of scouts like that instead of Wes Jr and others?” – GrifonRacing
I don’t think that Wes Jr. has been involved in scouting, on a full-time basis, in a few years. The loser in charge of Wizards scouting is….Tapout! There is simply no place to hide this guy where he can’t be a detriment to the team. However, I do know one of the folks who run a food kiosk at the phone booth…perhaps.
Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time September 1, 2010 at 8:19 AM
Just spoke with the food kiosk guy and he said “no way” he was going to let Tapout anywhere near his business.
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Comment from draftazoid
Time August 31, 2010 at 11:04 AM
Go Yi!
If Yi does well China’s focus (and their money and their All Star Votes) may change from Yao to Yi.
Remember when Tracy McGrady made the all star team without playing all those years?
The same thing could happen for our Wizards.
(Can you imagine if John Wall beats out Dwayne Wade or Rondo for a starting spot? That would be awesome!)
Ted, great move getting Yi.