Truth About It» POLL: Who Is Kirk Hinrich?

We may never know who Kirk Hinrichreallyis… at least personality-wise. Maybe that can mostly be summed up with three concepts: Basketball, Iowa, Coach’s Son. His game is beyond vanilla, but it isn’t flashy either. He is Kirk Hinrich… under the radar, yet completely noticeable.

Kirk is even more noticeable now that he plays with glasses. They now encapsulate his‘flair’… as much as a pair of Oakley spectacles can I suppose. But who is he? (In those glasses.)

On a recent ESPN Daily Dime chat session, friend of the blog and a proprietor ofHoopSpeak, Beckley Mason, likened Hinrich’s glasses look to that of a character in the movie,Team America: World Police.

I can see it… and yes, I do wish Hinrich’s shades had a yellow tint to them. Him smoking a cigarette during the Wizards’ wacky newpre-game routineinstead of participating would be a blogger’s dream bonus. (And yes, Hinrich probably has good reason to appear to not like a routine that involves players throwing their teammates (the game’s starters) out of a huddle before games… folks can get hurt that way.)

My first thought regarding Hinrich’s glasses went back to NBA big man, journeyman,Danny Schayes… who didn’t wear glasses his entire career either. Here are a couple pictures of Danny viathe Internet.

Pretty distinguished company, in the least.

So whoisKirk Hinrich? Let us know in the poll below.

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Truth About It» ShareBullets: Cracking The Rock

Figured a picture of Pookie viaNew Jack City was apropos considering the title of this post that features commentary and links…

But, unrelated, here are some pictures of Wizards…

The thought had entered my mind before Flip Saunders said something along the sentiment in his post-game press conference after the Wizards’“thrilling” 136-133 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. Could, in some strange way, a game almost blown several times over by the Wizards actually be good for the team going forward? Maybe, just maybe, if the Wizards fight through mistakes at homeand win, despite emptying the entire chamber of bullets into their own feet, then perhaps they can get over that hump on the road. It’s all aboutFlip Saunders pounding that rock, I suppose, and maybe there’s a more considerable amount of cracks in it now.

Speaking of… my column this week at the DCist touches on this theory and the consequences of a bad win, such as the one over Sacramento.Go read it if you please.

Regarding Nick Young’s career-high 43 points, Gilbert Arenas says that he“learned from the master.”Maybe, but I wonder how many times the master had over 85-percent of his field-goals come as the result of a teammate’s assist (12 out of 14 on Young’s 43).
{Wizards Insider}

Speaking of Young’s 43, Rob Mahoney of theNew York Times’Off The Dribble blog relates it to the‘Hot Hand’ Theory.Here’s the relevant chunk of text (for me), but read the whole thing:

“Trying to establish or disprove the hot hand theory by using available data is futile. This isn’t a faith vs. science debate, but one internally within the scientific (read: statistical) community over whether the methods used are an acceptable way to draw conclusions.”

{Off The Dribble}

Kevin Chouinard was the bigwinner of the StubHub ticketsto Tuesday’s game.Kevin also has a blog about basketball calledAnaheim Amigoswhere he wrote something about that“classic” Wizards-Kings matchup… one thing Kevin wondered in particular:

“John Wall crashed into some empty courtside seats in the third quarter.  These seats weren’t just any vacant seats.  Ted Leonsis and his party were in those seats both before and after Wall’s collision.  Where were you Ted?  Why weren’t you there to protect the franchise with that big, lovable Greco-American belly of yours?”

{Anaheim Amigos}

Will JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche ever be a good frontcourt pair?I continue to have serious doubts, but read what Sean Fagan has to say nonetheless.
{Bullets Forever}

There might have been some funny business going on with the game clock during the Kings game(viaThe Point Forward), but that has since been debunked by NBA.com’sJohn Schuhmannand a commenter onSactown Royalty. Basically, the game clock via CSN Washington was screwed up, not the official game clock.

Are the Wizards and Capitals really helping keep the D.C. budget afloat(via 10-percent of the city’s revenue coming from the area surrounding the Verizon Center…so says Ted Leonsis)?
{TBD.com}

Is Leonsis callingGroundhog Daya bad movie here?
{Ted's Take}

On the contrary, it’s a great movie, but something bad to experience… just ask Antawn Jamison, who is now experiencingGroundhog Day in Cleveland. Here’s when Jamison had his Groundhog Day moment in Washington:

Sure, the baby is laughing… but he doesn’t know DeMarcus Cousins(neither do I)… still, I can’t help but feel like he could headbutt that baby at any second. Click to see what the heck I’m talking about.
{F*ckYeahJohnWall}

Maybe that baby should get this DeMarcus Cousins‘Fat-Head’ so he can be scared forever.
{Cowbell Kingdom}

An interesting story by John Canzano about the legacy of Zach Randolph.
{The Oregonian}

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Truth About It» Basketball Gods May Not Set The Stale Table, But They’ll Be Around In The End

{Al Thornton might not be as worried about the Wizards trying to end their 0-19 road record, he just wants his team to win two games in a row this season -- something Flip Saunders' squad was able to accomplish seven times last season, but they never got three in a row. The Wizards haven't won three games in a row since April 4-9, 2008.}

As frustrating as it is to see the Wizards fight to take a 94-90 lead with 5:45 left only to see the Timberwolves snatch the game from their grasp 109-97, it’s not as concerning as how they started the night.It was an all-to-familiar situation for Flip Saunders, one that probably had him invoking the basketball gods, as he’s done before when his Wizards lose a close game late after starting poorly out of the gate. Flip has never wanted his players to scorn the deities of James Naismith’s game, but now with a baffling 0-19 on the road, he’s probably wondering what he did to deserve all of this.

The Wizards are clearly not yet in a position where they cantakegames. And give Minnesota a lot of credit. In the end, they found their rhythm, they moved the ball well, they played like they wanted to be winners. Washington did not. After the Wizards took that four point lead late in the game, followers of the team on Twitter began to believe… it wastheirnight, finally. Not so fast.

After around a minute and a half where neither team scored, here’s what went down: Darko Milicic making a drive on Yi Jianlian from the three-point line, dribbling behind his back and then hitting a spinning, running hook shot in the lane; Kevin Love stopping on a dime and pulling up for a three as the trailer in transition; great ball movement freeing Darko for a hanging-on-the-rim dunk; same excellent ball movement (eight passes!) getting Wayne Ellington sprung for a three in the corner— these were all head-scratching events, somewhat. Sure, they were playing theWizards, but all of this came from theTimberwolves?

Not to absolve Washington from blame on Minnesota’s final run— there were turnovers, bad close-outs and missed free-throws— but sometimes hot teams just can’t be stopped, capped by when Love pulled up and hit his final three with Rashard Lewis’ hand was in his face (he went 5-6 from deep on the night with 35 points, 11 rebounds and four assists). That shot gave the Wolves a 103-95 lead at the 2:19 mark of fourth quarter and essentially the game,when less than two and a half minutes earlier the Wizards were still holding on to that 94-90 lead.

Which brings us back to the beginning. Saunders has also often said that sometimes, late in close games, young players can revert back to old, bad habits. Against Minnesota, those old habits came busting out after the jump ball like Albert Haynesworth’s gut.

Let’s start with Nick Young, who scored 15 points on 5-14 shooting and had the second worst plus-minus on the team at minus-10; John Wall finished at minus-18. Young tightened his horse blinders before playing in Minneapolis. As early as the 10:40 mark of the first quarter, the Wizards ran a setto get him an isolated mid-range post against Corey Brewer in the right corner. Young backed down Brewer with two left-handed dribbles, with his back to the baseline while Darko Milicic came to double from that direction. JaVale McGee sprang wide open in a cut to the middle of the lane as Youngturned baseline, toward the double, and fired a fade-away miss.

This is an old habit for Young (taking poor shots, not seeing teammates), but also a new thing (getting doubled). He must realize that with the glory and trash talk of 43 points comes tougher defenses. And to make his team better, he must see his teammates. Sure, sometimes his assists are low because he’s a niche player getting specific plays run for him. But when doubles come, he’s forced to play a much bigger part.

It used to be where Young’s game transgressions could fade into the background. Yes, the way he would hang his head was noticeable, but there were always more veteran scorers to shoulder the load. Now that’s not the case— Young no longer hangs his head as much, but he also plays a much larger role and can no longer get caught up worrying solely about his game.

John Wall doesn’t have many old habits, but here’s to hoping he doesn’t develop new ones that become old, especially with his pick and roll defense. I’ll get this disclaimer out of the way: he just doesn’t look 100-percent out there (at least Thursday night against Minnesota) … something about his movement that’s not as athletically fluid as you know him capable to be. Is it his foot? His knee? Anything else? Who knows. Wall’s stat line looks decent: 14 points (4-11 FGs, 6-8 FTs), 10 assists, two turnovers, four rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot, but his defense certainly isn’t No. 1 draft pick worthy.

It’s also hard to tell if Wall and his teammates were simply getting abused by the screening action led by T-Wolves point guard Luke Ridnour, or if the game plan was flawed.  Early on, Wall over-played on the screen several times, seemingly with the intent of getting Ridnour to turn in the other direction and not use the screen. Problem is, Wall would jump out and get caught over-playing so badly that he’d get out of position and his corresponding big man teammate (Rashard Lewis or Yi Jianlian in the beginning) would over-help on Ridnour, leaving the secondary defensive help scrambling to cover the roll/fade man.

Again, maybe it was the plan to leave Kevin Love open for jumpers… just notthatwide-open, rendering the implementation of the plan ineffective. Whatever the case, the Wizards’ defensive timing was severely off and whatever the coverage idea was, it didn’t work.

Minnesota’s offensive scheming, which was very impressive at times, sprung Love for several jumpers off P&R action in the first quarter. He finished the period with 14 points on 6-8 from the field (only one of those buckets came in the paint), leading his team to a 28-18 lead after one. After that, it was the same old story for the Wizards… another notch in the loss column and a 10-27 record.

It almost feels like too much to hear increased calls for a coaching change after this single game, but 0-19 is a disturbing trend. Saunders’ team continues to fail in the ‘sense of urgency’ department. Shed all the tears you want about Andray Blatche being injured, or Josh Howard being injured, or there being a lot of new pieces, but those excuses are getting rather old.

This damning sentiment resorted to by theWashington Post’sMichael Leeis rather telling:

“….the Wizards didn’t lose to the Minnesota because of youth. The oldest player on the floor for Timberwolves was 29-year-old Luke Ridnour. Ridnour was surrounded by Darko Milicic (25), Corey Brewer (24), Wayne Ellington (23), Kevin Love (22). Not exactly a crew of chiseled, playoff-tested veterans. And, this was a team that had lost five in a row, with three of them decided by three points.

The Timberwolves don’t have a knack for finishing, either.

So, that excuse about age and inexperience is growing pretty stale…”

Maybe a coaching replacement isn’t around the corner, as Lee also reports that league sources don’t believe Saunders is on the hot seat. So if a change is unlikely to happen at this point, something needs to change with the coach. Flip’s players do not play inspired, they don’t understand focus, they aren’t working as a unit. Sometimes they do, but far too rare than should be acceptable.

It’s not an easy job, but it’s Flip’s job. Maybe there isn’t a sense of urgency surrounding Ted Leonsis’ rebuilding project as a whole, but something must be done about it for individual games. Because the next step after stale is rotten… and the basketball gods aren’t too happy when their ambrosia turns bad.

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Truth About It» JaVale McGee: A Curse and A Blessing

It was during the first minute of last Thursday’sWizards game against the Timberwolvesin Minnesota. John Wall did a nice job of quickly recovering on Luke Ridnour after he came off a ball screen and JaVale McGee did a nice job of helping. The attention paid to Ridnour forced him to attempt a pass, but that got deflected off the backboard by Wall who made the recovery and headed in the other direction. But for some reason, as he was pressured by Ridnour—but not too much— Wall decided to get rid of the ball, which, is not necessarily a bad idea… you can pass quicker than you can run… but perhaps not ideal when the pass goes to the big man McGee in the midst of him jetting up the court.

McGee caught the ball in stride, just before crossing the half-court line, put it on the floor once… put it on the floor again, a in-and-out move versus Darko Milicic… and put the ball on the floor a third time. Before anyone knew it, McGee was past several T-Wolves and scoring at the rim, an incomparable athletic maneuver for someone his size. That’s when Wizards television analyst Phil Chenier said:

“I still say that’s a curse and a blessing… the ability to handle the ball at 7-feet… that time it worked out well.”

Sometimes the blessing of McGee’s talents can be a curse when he thinks he can use them in just about any situation. And this time, he was unfortunately encouraged because it worked. The success rate of McGee pulling off such a feat is likely higher against a team like the T-Wolves, much lower against a team like the Boston Celtics. In any case, it’s never truly ideal. Hence, it’s difficult coming to grips with how to celebrate something that often causes chagrin in the heart of a coach, yet is pretty beautiful to watch.

You appreciate the blessing and hope the result is not always cursed, or at least that young players eventually learn to limit self-induced risk. And in this instance, note that to both McGee and Wall, as the point guard who might one day better know who he’s passing to in that situation. Then you write about it and make a video of the play…JaVale McGee: A Curse and A Blessing.

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Truth About It» Wizards vs. Raptors: Burn After Reading

{Editor's Note: Beckley Mason provided Verizon Center coverage of Saturday night's 98-95 Wizards win over the Toronto Raptors for TAI. You can usually find Beckley at the TrueHoop Network general NBA blog,HoopSpeak.com. You can also find him on Twitter:@BeckleyMason. -Kyle W.}

“Yi has a great set of skills. When he dunked it tonight I was like ‘OK China.’” -Andray  Blatche

On a night when the entire NBA was dwarfed by the NFL playoffs,the Wizards’ nondescript three point win over the Raptors was overshadowed by Chipotle’s burrito giveaway extravaganza.

That’s too bad, because although the atmosphere suffered from flu-like symptoms, the Wizards front line did some things that should hearten the Washington faithful.

To begin, Andray Blatche took a charge. A really good one, too, in which he slid from his help position near the free throw line all the way to the block to absorb the blow from the driving DeMar DeRozan. On a number of pick and rolls, Blatche and McGee even worked in concert to hedge on the ball handler then rotate to the rolling big man.

I talked to Andray before and after the game, so I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a body double out there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the man wearing the number seven jersey was in fact his Doppleganger. Dray missed a number of shots in close where he usually demonstrates world-class touch on the way to a 6-18 night, but was an active rebounder and defender all game, corralling 13 total boards. So basically he struggled with his strengths and excelled in areas of weakness.

The Bizarro theme permeated into the rest of the team, too, inspiring a coast-to-coast one-on-two double-fisted jam from Yi. As‘Dray so elegantly put it afterward “Yi has a great set of skills. When he dunked it tonight I was like ‘OK China.’”

And get this, Nick Young opened the game 0-6… but had three perfectly lovely early assists. Luckily for the Wizards, he went on to replicate his incendiary performance against the Kings from earlier this the week, going 10-13 over the final three quarters for 29 big points. Young masterfully walked the line between aggressiveness and forcing; scoring at the rim, from three, and on a couple very smooth twelve foot fallaways. It was a mature performance from a player threatening to become a star.

The Wizards needed these somewhat unlikely performances, because John Wall continued the disturbing trend toward the league-wide mean on both ends. Wall appeared hesitant coming off of pick and rolls, as though he was focusing solely on reading the defense instead of forcing the defense to react to him. The best pick and roll practitioners must be able to accurately read the defense while also“influencing the read” by applying pressure to the opposition.

As Flip Saunders pointed out, the Raptors played“about fifteen feet off him, which makes it pretty tough to penetrate in the lane.” As a result Wall seemed satisfied with feeding other teammates (and his teammates made some shots), but the Raptors didn’t give up one lay-up to Wall or his pick and roll partner all game. Perhaps one could stomach that fact against the Celtics, but it’s alarming to see such a weak defensive squad use one look to contain Jimmy.

Hopefully Wall learned from his matchup with Jose Calderon. The Spaniard took the Wizards apart by both patiently and decisively attacking off the pick and roll. This was in part because Calderon has a much more advanced midrange game than Wall, but he also sprinted off of his screens to create valuable space.

Counters Flip,“You know, as a point guard, when your team wins and you get nine assists, you can’t totally say that the guy didn’t do the job.”

True. Wall is further along as a play executor than any rookie point guard since Chris Paul and he showed that tonight. One only hopes his nagging knee injury had more to do with his lack of aggressiveness than a conscious decision to alter his attacking style.

But it’s hard to be overly positive about beating a depleted Raptors team at home by only three. At the end of the game I felt like J. K. Simmons in the closing moments ofBurn After Reading, shaking my head and asking“What did we learn?”

It was a win, now let’s torch that performance and move on.

Notes and Non Sequitors:

• The Wizards outrebounded the Raptors 48-39. This was probably the difference in the game and should have made it into the recap.
• Jose Calderon was one rebound shy of a triple double, which for some reason did not inspire him to shoot a fake shot on his own basket to get the necessary board. Still, 21 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and one turnover is a decent line.
• In the Battle of Los Angeles (alums), former USC Trojan Nick Young DeStroyed DeMar DeRozan, who only mustered seven points and no rebounds in thirty five minutes of run.
• JaVale McGee had 11 rebounds and six blocks in only 25 minutes of play. Flip went with more perimeter-oriented bigs to match up with Toronto, but the Wookie was everywhere tonight (as usual, this was good and bad).
• Today’s pregame snack for the Wizards was chicken noodle soup. A few players were eating it out of these tiny styro-foam bowls that probably look normal in a normal person’s hand, but Yi or Rashard looked like they were holding the bottom half of an eggshell. Just thought you should know.

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Truth About It» Wizards-Jazz Play of the Game: DAGGER!

The Wizards looked primed to follow the script we have seem so many times this season: Take the early lead, suffer through foul trouble, and collapse late in the game. However, this wasn’t the case today. Maybe history was on the Wizards’ side, having now won five of their their last six Martin Luther King Day contests.

And while the Utah Jazz were looking to build on yet another winning streak (3), the Wizards had not won two consecutive games since April 4 and 6 of last year. But the Washington Wizards showed fire, heart, and discipline— characteristics that have long been absent from the Verizon Center.

In fact, and to my great surprise, the Wizards lead for 46 minutes and 41 seconds. (The Jazz only found themselves ahead of the Wizards on three occasions, for a combined five points and 1:19 of game time.)

While there were plenty of highlights -- includingAndray Blatche’s chasedown block on Raja Bell, another classicJohn Wall to JaVale McGee alley-oop, and even aJaValevator tip slam late— there was one play that really made a world of difference today, and perhaps even for the rest of the season.

Why? Well, this win over Utah marks the first time all season that the Wizard have beaten a team with a winning record. Granted it was at home, but this is a nevertheless a monumental achievement for this young Wizards team. Next conquest: A road win.

Check out the Jazz-Wizards Play of the Game after the jump.

****

The Wizards found themselves up 101-91 with just 3:11 seconds left in the game. A late push brought the Jazz back to within four points with just over a minute left. Deron Williams drove into the lane and kicked the ball out to Paul Millsap waiting on the wing. However, he missed the open 17-foot jumper, and John Wall gathered the rebound— protecting the two possession lead.

Wall dribbled to center court and allowing several precious seconds to tick off the clock. With 47 seconds left, JaVale McGee met Wall at half court with a beautiful pick. After a quick jab step left, Wall took off to his right. Williams, forced to run around both McGee and Al Jefferson, simply couldn’t establish position ahead of Wall.

As a result, the entire Utah Jazz squad found themselves in or around the paint to prevent Wall from finishing an easy layup.

Using his great court vision, Wall hit Nick“The Thriller” Young in the corner with a perfect one-handed skip pass.

Wall picked up his 15th assist of the game here— a new career high. The nothing-but-net three-pointer put the Wizards up 105-98 with just 40.5 seconds left. Game, set, match.

Take it away, Steve Buckhantz:

Wall driving… lays it off… Nick Young… DAGGER!

See it live and in living color:

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Truth About It» Andray Blatche: Dreamers Welcome, Chase-Down Blocks A Bonus

Before the matinee against the Utah Jazz on Monday, several members of the media kinda/sorta gathered around Andray Blatche— who vies with Nick Young for biggest locker room personality now that Gilbert Arenas is gone. But it wasn’t really in a formal, recorded Q&A session sense… just a gathering to hear whatever was on Andray’s mind as he sat at his locker.

And since it was a day taken to reflect upon Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Blatche started talking about his own dreams— of a basketball nature— and it seemed like nonsense. Or at least the manner in which Dray’s dreams were conveyed seemed to be in an unintentional, thinking-out-loud regard… does anyone remember when Kelly Bundy used to do this onMarried With Children?

Blatche first said he dreamt of a win against the Jazz, owners of one of the ten best records in the league heading into the game, which would also mean the Wizards’ first victory against a winning team on the season and their first two-game win streak. Second, Blatche said he dreamt of a road win. A media member quipped something about the auspiciousness of Blatche’s creative mind… chuckles and an air of‘gotcha’ emerged from the gallery, along with Andray himself. Blatche then said that he woke up, went back to sleep, and later dreamt of the playoffs.

Clearly we’re just having fun here, right?… Just jokes amongst the people who have to put up with each other all year (I think). Blatche probably has dreams of various natures involving anything from the Shadow Room to the Chipotle Burrito Dash as well. What exactly are weseriouslytalking about here? Playoffs Jim Mora, the playoffs.

To make his first dream come true, Blatche started out strong on both ends of the floor against Utah. Just over a minute into the game, he moved his feet and played great help defense against Al Jefferson, got a steal and nailed a jumper on the other end. He hit his second bucket at the 8:52 mark, a jumper without even dribbling, with much thanks to a quick extra pass from Rashard Lewis. Not 40 seconds later Andray was scoring off a give-and-go, assist courtesy of JaVale McGee, of all people. Sure, Blatche got his pocket picked by Jefferson while dribbling too much at the 3:20 mark, but coming out with a 10 point, five rebound and two steal first quarter always makes such mistakes easier to swallow.

Blatche was solid for the rest of the game en route to a 108-101 Wizards upset win. He finished with 21 points on 8-15 shooting, 5-7 from the free-throw line, along with 11 rebounds (four offensive), three assists, three turnovers, three steals and a season-high four blocks. Most importantly, he displayed a new-found desire to move his feet and get to spots on help defense at levels higher than before. Probably also worth mentioning that only three of Blatche’s 15 shot attempts came from beyond 16 feet (according to HoopData, 5.2 of Blatche’s 15.3 shots per game usually come from 16 feet and beyond)— when it may hurt to shoot while recovering from a sprained right shoulder, one just might take less long jumpers and end up playing closer to the hoop like has been desired all along. Weird.

Nonetheless, let’s catch up with Blatche’s dream assessment, post-game:

The Wizards close out January 2011 with Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, Memphis and Dallas on the road and Phoenix, Boston and Denver at home… a slate of inception that could quickly prove that Gazo the Prankster is planting playoff dreams in 7-Day Dray’s mind from Orlando. But baby steps first.

On Wednesday the young Wizards will put budding focus and a 0-19 road record to the test against the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Bucks have lost three games in a row and eight of ten heading back to late December. A disappointing 14-24 on the season, when some, myself included, expected them to be around the fourth or fifth best team in the East, the Bucks have been dealing with failed individual expectations and injury issues— Andrew Bogut is playing through back problems, Brandon Jennings is still out and Drew Gooden just recently made a return to the court. Neither team will be feeling sorry for each other heading into the match-up.

So while we digest Andray’s dreams one at a time, let’s go back and watch a big chase-down block Blatche had on Utah’s Raja Bell in the third quarter that he surely didn’t contemplate during his wildest tossing and turning. Yes, his palm barely gets above rim, but one clearly need not fly at precarious head-colliding-with-backboard levels like LeBron to get the job done.

{This hustle play video courtesy of TAI's John Townsend.}

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Truth About It» Catching Up With D-League Hamady

When Ted Leonsis said there would be an increased emphasis on player development in hislist of 101 Things (action item No. 29), specifically involving the D-League, Wizards followers gave a collective‘We’ll believe it when we see it.’Not so much in doubt of Leonsis’ words, but more so because they’ve been conditioned under the tenure of team president Ernie Grunfeld that development and building for the future was paid more of a whimsical, cursory attention, as the franchise’s number one team builder always seemed instructed to focus on winning in the now.

Not that Grunfeld and his team did not pay attention to the scouting and the draft, but rather, for a myriad excuses one could presumably always find (see:the Wizards’ D-League affiliate,the Wizards, being in Bismarck, North Dakota and/or supplying said team with players to develop wouldn’t best jibe with the intricate offensive system that past coach Eddie Jordan was trying to instruct). Essentially, the D-League has never been worth Grunfeld’s time, warranted or not, aside from sending down the likes of Peter John Ramos or Andray Blatche for a spell in the earlier days (2005-06), and when the affiliate franchise was much closer in Roanoke, Virginia (the Dazzle), or during last season when a franchise in flux was interested in taking a gander at cheap labor while likely appeasing the desires of league higher-ups to use the development league for it’s true intent.

In any case, upon surely leaving out detail on the past unknown team development protocol that will only be known to organization insiders, ideals toward positive future development efforts changed when 2010 draft pick (No. 56 overall) Hamady N’Diaye was assigned to the Dakota Wizards on January 5. But such a path to the basketball enlightenment for the onecalled“H”almost didn’t happen. Unsigned in the days leading up to training camp, sentiment from the team indicated that they’d rather N’Diaye take his talents overseas for a year or two, something those on the player’s side didn’t seem amicable toward. Rather than lose his rights completely, the Wizards ended up extending a contract tender to N’Diaye and ultimately signed him to the team for training camp and into the season. Now, after a taste of life in the big leagues,just a taste, Hamady works on his very raw skills in the landscape of bus rides and meager per diems.

In steps Joey Whelan.

Whelan covers the D-League’s Dakota Wizards for KFYR-TV in Bismark. You can find him at his blog,Wizards Watch, as well as on Twitter,@JoeyWhelan. He has also contributed to multiple basketball sites on the world wide web. Now, Whelan is here with a guest piece for Truth About It.net, catching us up on the development of the uber-personable N’diaye on his road in the D-League. Enjoy.

Checking In On“H”

by Joey Whelan

The assignment of an NBA player to the D-League is always cause for excitement amongst affiliate teams– particularly those that receive as little attention from parent clubs as the Dakota Wizards. So when it was announced that rookie center Hamady N’Diaye would be spending some time wearing the purple in Bismarck it generated a fair amount of excitement from within the organization. The irony ofcourse being that as much as H’s presence was an overall positive to the club, he in no way addresses any of the glaring issues for Dakota, a struggling offensive team in dire need of a play-making point guard and perimeter shooting. But beggars can’t always be choosers, so N’Diaye was welcomed to the D-League with open arms and in less than two weeks time has made a remarkably positive impression on those working closest with him.

The first thing to keep in mind with N’Diaye is that he is very much still adjusting to the pro game, averaging 18 minutes coming off the bench in seven games with Dakota— this following just 12 total minutes of action in his time spent with Washington. So despite the NBA and D-League both nearing the midway points of their respective schedules, the big man out of Rutgers is in many ways just starting his own season. With that said, the handful of games he has played in at the D-League level has only served to reinforce much of what we already know about the 7-footer, while giving hints of what may be ahead for a youngster who has only been playing basketball for six years.

Physically N’Diaye sets himself apart from almost any other frontcourt player in the D-League, possessing a unique blend of size, strength and athleticism. He runs the floor exceptionally well for a player his size, moves well in half court sets defensively (something we’ll get into more later) and has thenecessary strength in his upper body to prevent other post players from establishing comfortable position on the block, something he displayed to a great degree at the D-League Showcase earlier in January when guarding Oklahoma City rookie Cole Aldrich.

There have been minimal developments in his offensive game since college— again, due in large part to a lack of playing time to this point— with his post game remaining very underdeveloped. N’Diaye does a good job of establishing position on the block and holding it, but once he receives the ball, he struggles to create viable scoring opportunities. The biggest issues facing him right now are ball handling and his hands, both leave a lot to be desired. In many instances during his stint with Dakota, he has struggled to catch passes from teammates attacking off the dribble who manage to draw additional defenders. His current scoring average (2.9 ppg) would easily be doubled if N’Diaye managed to hold on to one or two additional passes per game. With that said, when he has caught the ball in the immediate area surrounding the rim, be it on dump-offs or as a result of hitting the offensive glass, N’Diaye has proven to be a strong finisher, wasting little time and movement with the ball, simply exploding to the rim. This aggressive manner resulted in 14 free throw attemptsin his two games at the Showcase, but in the three games since. he has not been to the line once, mostly due to a lack of touches (just five field goal attempts in those three games).

Defense is where N’Diaye has shown the most potential and where his NBA future ultimately lies. A revered shot blocker in college, he has continued to be a shot altering threat at the pro level, managing nearly three blocks per game in his 18 minutes with Dakota, including nine blocks in his two most recent games facing the Idaho Stampede. He is equally effective blocking shots in the post and as a weakside defender, utilizing his length and leaping ability in impressive fashion. With that said, he is still developing his timing, often biting on head and ball fakes which has resulted in a pretty high rate ofpicking up fouls— N’Diaye has accumulated at least four fouls in four of his last five games.

He shows a great deal of upside as a center who can defend outside the immediate area around the basket and on the block. His length and lateral quickness (above average for big man) allow him to defend the pick and roll as well as the high post with a solid rate of success at this time. Particularly in Dakota’s two games with Idaho, N’Diaye showed no hesitation stepping outside the lane to cover forward Jermareo Davidson in face up situations. While Davidson is hardly an elite face-up big man, the fact that N’Diaye willingly dropped into a defensive stance some 15 feet from the rim has to be takenas an encouraging sign. It is, however, fairly obvious he is still developing his feel for defending the pick and roll, something he did not see nearly as often in college. His physical attributes as mentioned make him an ideal defender in these scenarios, but he struggles right now in reading theplay and deciding when to retreat to cover the screener. There have been just as many plays resulting in N’Diaye hedging and breaking up the possession as there have been the rookie getting burned when his man slips the screen. Given his well documented work ethic, this is something he will no doubt improve upon with time and experience.

The best thing to say about N’Diaye’s assignment thus far is his tremendous hustle and team-first nature. He is very vocal on defense and is equally as talkative on the bench, constantly shouting out opposing player movement while providing a steady stream of encouragement to teammates. His amiable personality has made hima favorite of both players and coaches, both groups that have been impressed with the rookie. His tireless hustle and motor will also be paramount to his success in the NBA. Watching N’Diaye now is akin to watching a gifted high school player who, while physically superior to many of his peers, isjust learning to play the game of basketball.

Looking long term, N’Diaye has the potential to one day be called a major steal for Washington as a former 56th overall pick. While his offensive game may never consist of more than finishing looks around the rim and being active on the glass, N’Diaye has the potential to be a major contributor off the bench as a defensive specialist. Pulling an athletic 7-footer who can defend, rebound, block shots and run the floor well for easy scoring opportunities could be quite a find from the final five picks of the draft. With time, N’Diaye can be an NBA level player.

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Truth About It» ShareBullets: A New Tattoo For DeShawn Stevenson

A Photoshop, links and commentary…

Who knows if it’s true…who cares?This isn’t a gossip site. All I know is that someone on Twitter directed me to some site calledMediaTakeoutthat is relaying gossip about DeShawn Stevenson possibly being illegally married to two women at the same time. There’s really no“evidence” as the site advertises, aside from a 2003 marriage certificate to the supposed first wife, which neither proves he is still married to that woman nor married to another. Basically, all this is a bunch of noise (and the story looks to be from early December 2010, but you won’t be stopping me if you’ve already heard). So what do we do with noise sometimes? Why, we stuff it in the Photoshop Machine, ignore the fact that we have a hand in spreading the gossip (once it’s on the Internets, there’s free-reign captain), and come out with the below hypothetical.

Just what if, instead of Abraham Lincoln, Stevenson got a tattoo of Joseph Smith, Jr. on the front of his neck, founder of Mormonism and, of course, polygamist. It just might be a scenario meant for itself.

Another question worth posing… does this provide new nickname fodder for Stevenson? Big Love? Should we call him a regular Bill Pullman? These are the questions to which there are no known, or right answers. That’s life (for DeShawn Stevenson…“Mister 50 (percent)”… Hey! Double entendre!).Now go read some links.

Links.

Michael Lee brought the hammer down after the Wizards’ 20th road loss, via Wizards Insider:

“The Wizards like to talk about they play off the crowd at home, but Bradley Center wasn’t exactly what could be described as a hostile environment. The loudest boos of the night were when a guy walked around the arena wearing a Chicago Bears jersey. Former Bucks forward Yi Jianlian heard some light jeers when he scored in the first half, but there really was no need to fear the deer.”

{Washington Post}

Ted Leonsis warns that there will plenty of Celtics fans on hand for Saturday’s game, a sellout… and that he willnotbe doing the Dougie.
{Ted's Take}

Wonder how many NBA basketball cards depict an old man catching his breath with his hands on his knees… an old man who was a former Washington Bullet (but pictured as a Philadelphia 76er) who is also the current head basketball coach at the University of the District of Columbia.
{Fat Shawn Kemp}

Rashad Mobley writes about loss number twenty.
{DCist}

Speaking of TAI’s Rashad,‘the’ Questlove gave him a birthday shout out, which was yesterday for Mr. Mobley… he’s inching closer to being a man of a certain age.
{@questlove}

Rashard Lewis is battling knee tendinitis, says it’s plagued him since Orlando.And actually, he’s seemed to have dealt with tendinitis his whole career, back to the Seattle days… so it’s not much of a surprise that at his age he’s dealing with it again. It was inevitable. Here’s to hoping he’s able to cope with it well.
{WashingtonExaminer.com}

Dan Steinberg is one of my absolute favs, but he found the laziest reason in the world to write a Wizards-related blog post.
{DC Sports Bog}

David Simon (of‘The Wire’) goes tit-fot-tat with the Baltimore Police Commissioner.
{Warming Glow}

Arby’s could be up for sale… hopefully Ted Leonsis buys it brings one to D.C.
{news-record.com}

The problem with Redskins fans already hating the team potentially drafting Cam Newton is that if they have a chance to and don’t, he’ll probably win three MVP awards.Also, because selecting Cam Newton would be the most Redskinny/Danny Sndyer(ish) to do, and I like it for the irony. And probably also because the entire Redskins culture and environment could ruin Newton, which some people probably think he deserves with the whole check to the dad issue (at least Oregon and Alabama fans). And I say all of this as a Redskins fan. Why not keep swinging for the fences? (And missing.) Finally, I think guys like Mel Kiper Jr. mock draft Newton to Washington as a way to challenge the absurdity of Snyder.
{Hogs Haven}

Speaking of the SEC (in a sense), classic stuff on Florida’s Will Hill.
{EDSBS}

The band I feature in TAI videos sometimes, The Five One, they’re playing at the Black Cat in D.C. on February 11… they’ll be joined by Violet Says 5 and The Mighty Heard.
{thefiveone.tumblr}

Here’s another picture of the former Wizard for the heck of it.

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Truth About It» POLL: A Rip Hamilton trade, a Carmelo Anthony trade or a Wizards Road Win?

{flickr/Tim Yates}

Back on November 24 of last year, my Truth About It colleague Kyle Weidie posed a question to site readers: “Who Will Give The Washington Wizards Their First Road Win?”At the time, the Wizards were 0-6 away from home, but their slow start could easily be attributed to youth, a tough road schedule and the fact that Gilbert Arenas still wasn’t traded.

Two months and an Arenas trade later, the road loss count has ballooned from six to 20, and the cause cannot be easily explained away.  Depending on who you ask and when, blame can be placed on anyone from Ernie Grunfeld to Josh Howard’s knee.  Still, the fact remains that last night’s second halfcollapse in Milwaukeeleft the Wizards with an 0-20 road record to start the season— just nine away from the record held by the1992-93 Dallas Mavericksof 29 consecutive away-from-home losses to start a season.

The Wizards’ next 10 road games look like this:

Mon. Jan. 24– @Atlanta

Fri. Jan. 28– @Oklahoma City

Sat. Jan. 29– @Memphis

Mon. Jan. 31– @Dallas

Sun. Feb. 13– @Cleveland

Wed. Feb. 16– @Orlando

Wed. Feb. 23– @Philadelphia

Fri. Feb. 28– @Miami

Sun. Mar. 6– @Detroit

Tue. Mar. 15th @Chicago

While Washington keeps losing, Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton and Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony have yet to be traded, despite making subtle overtures for the opposite.

Hamilton has seen his minutes diminished, his starting job revoked, and he’s even been of accused of mailing it in— a shocking accusation for a player who’s very game is built on tirelessly running through multiple screens.  Anthony still starts, and he’s still putting up good numbers (23.5 points and 8.1 rebounds), but his wanting to be traded is the elephant in the room, and the Nuggets aren’t playing as a cohesive unit as a result.

There was a rumored trade that would have ended the madness and sent both Hamilton and Anthony to the New Jersey Nets, butMikhail Prokhorov shut that downin demonstrative fashion yesterday.

So why am I bringing up a former Wizard and a Baltimore native in relation to the Wizardss road futility?  The short answer is, something’s got to give.

The Wizards can’t lose all of their road games, Carmelo Anthony can’t be asked to carry a team he doesn’t want to be on, and Richard Hamilton is too valuable of an asset to languish on a Pistons squad that is clearly rebuilding.  So what will happen first?

A)A Carmelo Anthony trade

B)A Richard Hamilton trade

C)A Wizards road win

D)None will happen this season

{Vote in the poll below.}

Source

Truth About It» Wizards go 0-20 on the road, but at least Blatche made Gooden slip

It’s hard to pin-point exactly where the Wizards lost road game number 20 to the Milwaukee Bucks. They came out with a very strong first quarter … that was the easy part. The Bucks hit a couple jumpers and the Wizards didn’t score until three minutes had gone by in the game, but once they got going, they really got going. When all was said and done, John Wall had seven assists to zero turnovers and the Wizards had a 27-19 lead.

The second quarter… not so good, but the Wizards held it down. They went into the half with a 49-47 lead, whittled into by the old bones of Earl Boykins and Corey Maggette— those two combined for 23 points in the first half. Add in what Keyon Dooling offered and you have 32 points from an unlikely Milwaukee trio.

The Wizards started and ended the third quarter poorly. Usually coaches have a saying along the lines of beginning and ending all quarters well— maybe even Flip Saunders has cited that crafty philosophy before (I’m sure of it)— but these young Wizards are not yet in the position to do much less than the opposite at crucial points of the game away from home. The Wizards were out-scored 28-17 in the third and scored 13 of those points in a four-minute span from around the nine minute mark to the four minute mark of the period. Otherwise, not much doing.

But give the Wizards credit, after Andrew Bogut scored back-to-back baskets on the foul-plagued JaVale McGee in the fourth— the first score a back-down hook shot that, for some reason, caused Kirk Hinrich to exasperatingly throw up his arms in disgust (when he said he was going toavoid such actions), the second of which was a tip in— giving the Bucks 16 point lead with 5:47 left (88-72), they fought back, working tooth and nail to make it just a seven point Bucks advantage with 2:32 left (90-83).

But the Wiz Kids ultimately failed, letting the triumvirate of Boykins, Dooling and Maggette combine to push the Bucks lead back to 15 in less than 60 seconds at the 1:35 mark. Game over with Earl, Keyon and Corey totaling 63 points to go along with their 93 total years of age and their 1,993 combined games of NBA experience. Guess there’s a rookie salary scale for a reason.

And there’s a reason why Andray Blatche, despite nice effort all night long— getting his hands active in the passing lanes often, and smartly so— might never stop showing that he’s Andray Blatche, or at least that he has a long way to go before he stops being Andray Blatche.

A stat line of 23 points on 10-17 shooting with seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and foul turnovers errs on the side of‘comes from minutes’ rather that ‘feels adequate’, especially in a loss. The ‘oh brother’ moment didn’t come right after the Wizards amazingly chopped Milwaukee down to seven points with just over 150 seconds left in the game, but rather after their 7-2 run in 67 seconds that cut Milwaukee’s lead to 11 with 4:07 left in the game. The Wizards forced Drew Gooden into a miss and on the other end … Blatche tried, in earnest, to pass the ball off a drive, but Gooden was right there to draw an offensive foul on him.

It seems that Blatche predictably wanted to be unselfish, an intention not lost on Gooden when he drew the charge on Andray’s pass. Whether it be Blatche not knowing how susceptible him jumping to create is around a veteran like Gooden, former Wizard, or that those fake basketball gods were up to something again, the charge turnover drew the facial reactions you see above. And that’s when you knew the game was officially over before it was over, if that wasn’t the case already. The Wizards were so close to being able to,at least, denote a 100-87 road loss to Milwaukee as a‘moral victory’, but fell just short from claiming an imaginary etch in a column that doesn’t exist. Essentially, the loss would be more acceptable if it weren’t for what had happened in all previous road losses… spawning the question, while it’s expected that players quickly forget the past, should followers of the team find themselves yearning to cite the season-long tally in judgment?

And then there’s this:Gooden may have gotten the win, but Andray immortalized him on the Internet because he made him slip with a slick move in the waning seconds. The Internet exists in spite of winning. The Wizards are 0-20 on the road. These are the facts we know. It’s hard to pin-point exactly where the Wizards lost road game number 20, but watching it happen was sickenin’ like Rod Strickland, especially because“sickenin’” doesn’t rhyme with“Gooden.”

Source

Truth About It» ShareBullets: Building On Two

A GIF, commentary and links…

{Consecutive wins for the Wizards? Al Thornton approves.}

Two wins in a row from the Wizards for the first time all season, albeit both at home where they are a much better team, is a sign of progress, especially when one of them is against a very strong Utah Jazz squad. But that first win came against the Toronto Raptors this past Saturday, a grind-it-out affair against another bad team. Ryan Gracia, a current junior at George Mason University studying journalism and sports communication, has followed the Wizards for years, and his family has also long held season tickets. Ryan attended Saturday’s game versus Toronto and below writes about a play that created a winning spark. And below Ryan’s write-up, some suggested links to read.

The Play That Created A Spark.

by Ryan Gracia

There was 5:56 left in the 38th game of the season Saturday night against the Raptors when brilliance was displayed before my very eyes and the eyes of those“announced” 14,651 fans surrounding me inside the Verizon Center. That brilliance was in fact demonstrated by our own Wizards team. Four players were involved to be exact: Nick Young, John Wall, Andray Blatche, and Rashard Lewis– in that order. Here’s how it went down:

1. Young was stuck in the right corner of the court and found an open Blatche at the top of the three point line. Nick was really feeling the effects of those three first-quarter assists at this point.
2. Rather than putting his head down in typical fashion and breaking up any possible hope of the“team” concept by dribbling, making a spin move to the basket or forcing up a shot, Blatche, too, found it in him to share the ball with teammates.
3. He strung a pass to Wall on his left, who couldn’t let Young and Blatche down— they both found time to pass in the same play before a shot went up, so John can too!
4. Wall listened to his inner Spike Lee and did the right thing, swinging the ball once more to an open Lewis, who stood with his hands ready and mouth watering, finally getting the chance again to finish a championship-caliber basketball play in the left corner.

Lewis drained the three and put the Wizards up 86-82. Assist: John Wall (though it could have been given to Blatche and Young as well, for their rare, yet sublime, acts of unselfishness— we’ll let them share a hockey assist for their efforts).

It was a simple play that Lewis had experienced hundreds of times during his days with the Magic– so simple and effective that all the top playoff teams do it each time they step on the court: Boston, the Lakers, San Antonio, Dallas, you name it. They move the ball, they make the extra pass. And the fact that it was such a unique and shockingly good play from an inexperienced Wizards team indicates that the complete quality hasn’t been displayed often by the young guns … but it sure was nice to see it done (and work) at least once, no matter how bad the guys guarding them wearing the Raptors jerseys may have been.

The Wizards created an easy, wide open, can’t-miss shot as a result of some good, old-fashioned ball movement— what has been missing from the team since their playoff days years ago. There has been too much“me” mentality and not enough“we.”  It was interesting that the play started with Young, who is blossoming into a game-changer and more of a complete player by adding increased stats in the form of rebounds and assists to his repertoire, and finished with the newest – and oldest – real professional on this rebuilding team. Could this be the result of a Rashard Lewis-led Wizards team? The effect of having a consistent long distance shooter is certainly paying off (sorry Gilbert Arenas, but consistent you were not)… but we’ll still have to wait and see. A new veteran to the mix is not the answer to all questions surrounding this team, but the affect Lewis has had thus far unquestionably provides positive evidence toward results that only time will tell.

LINKS.

{Sean Fagan - Bullets Forever}

“The Utah Jazz play a style of basketball that is designed to frustrate a young team like the Washington Wizards. Playing the Jazz, one can expect to receive a knee to the back of the leg, an elbow to the sternum and an extra push to the back to remind you that they are still there. While not“technically” dirty, the Jazz teeter as near the edge of playing“smashmouth” basketball as you can in the NBA. It’s as close to a playoff style of basketball that you are likely to see in the regular season and so infuriating that even the unflappable Rashard Lewis drew a technical foul.”

John Wall was a completely different player between the Wizards’ last two games.
{HoopSpeak}

With Andray Blatche being a dreamer and all, Bethlehem Shoals comes up with some other dreams of Wizards players.
{FanHouse}

David Aldridge facetiously wonders if an NBA team is allowed to 0-41 on the road and make the playoffs… then suggests that actually making the playoffs wouldn’t be a good idea for John Wall’s Wizards because they need more lottery picks.
{TBD.com}

Meanwhile, Ben Standig is encouraging Wizards fans to all-out fantasize about the NBA Draft Lottery and not the playoffs.
{Georgetown Patch}

Like the Pistons, Cavaliers and Kings, the Wizards have several players, seven from the Wiz to be exact, who have,“a DNP-CD this season and have earned a start without the player ahead of him missing a game due to injury or suspension,”so says Dan Feldman.
{Piston Powered}

When the’74-75 Washington Capitals ended their 0-37 road losing record to begin the season, they signed a garbage can and acted like it was the Stanley Cup… even went back on the ice to show it to fans.
{Washington City Paper}

Antawn Jamison tells Chris Tomasson that next season could be his last, citing kids, PTA meetings and family stuff as reasons.Personally, I don’t believe this talk one bit. If an opportunity comes knocking, Jamison will gladly forget the frustrations of this year— and the past three years— and suit up for a contender with his versatile game that ages well.
{FanHouse}

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Truth About It» From The Other Side: The Art Of Playing Point Guard From A Jazz Perspective

{K. Weidie}

John Wall has shown signs that he’s starting to hit that dreaded rookie wall. He’s been struggling to fight off injuries,and as a result, his aggressiveness, his explosiveness and his ability to defend opposing point guards has suffered. I’ve been watching basketball long enough to know that all rookies go through this type adversity at some point, let alone rookies who are assigned the arduous task of running a team and saving a franchise. With the Utah Jazz in town to face the Wizards on Martin Luther King afternoon, I knew I would have the opportunity to get some point guard perspective from three different members of that model franchise.

Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan instructed Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton for 15 seasons, and he’s coached All-Star Deron Williams for six. Williams is in the‘best point guard in the league’ discussion along with Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo. His backup, Earl Watson, was coached by former Sonics great point guard Nate McMillan and mentored by a future Hall of Famer Gary Payton.

Among those three men, I was sure I could learn the traits of a good point guard, what Wall might be going through right now and get a good assessment of how he’s progressing almost halfway through the season.

Before the game, Sloan talked about how little the Wall/Williams match-up meant to him, and how important intelligence is to playing point guard:

Unlike Wall, who entered the NBA after just one season in the college, Watson was a four-year starter at UCLA when the Seattle Supersonics drafted him in the second round with the 40th overall pick in 2001. He appeared in 64 games as Payton’s backup and averaged 3.6 points and 2.0 assists in 15.1 minutes per contest. I asked Watson about his experiences with the rookie wall and what helped him fight through it.

“I hit that wall right around this time of year--right before All-Star break. It wasn’t the competition, it was more or less the travel, the wear and tear of your body, learning how to play injured for the first time, and consistently playing at an NBA-level. I think the mental focus that it takes to a backup point guard, let alone a starting one like Wall, just wears you out physically.  And everyone goes through it, but point guards hit that wall hard, but it’ll help them when year two comes. Luckily for me I had Nate McMillan as my coach, and he had played the point, and then of course Gary Payton was a tremendous help to me--in fact he still helps me to this day, we’re still friends.”

I then asked Watson to assess what he saw in Wall up to this point

“I think he has a lot more room to grow, I think he’s going to be a great guard, no doubt. But it’s going to be important for this organization to get the right players around him, so that he can maximize his talents and become a winner. I think that’s important to any point guard, talent and ability are fine, but ultimately it’s the players around you that define your legacy. Plus, he looks like he’s playing hurt right now, so it’s really not fair to truly judge him… later on in the season is when you can really tell what he’s got.”

John must have heard all this talk of injuries and the rookie wall, because he came out on Monday afternoon looking nothing like the player who had been struggling. He controlled the game with 19 points, 15 assists and four rebounds in 40 minutes of play. His seven turnovers demonstrated that he still struggles with controlling decision-making along with the pace of his game, but Wall more than held his own against Deron Williams (28 points and 11 assists)--especially in crunch time.

With 58 seconds left in the game, the Jazz had cut the Wizards’ lead to four points, and had a chance to make the game even more interesting, but Paul Millsap missed a wide open jumper. Wall grabbed the rebound, took advantage of a JaVale McGee screen on the other end, and found Nick Young in the cornerfor that familiar wide open three-pointer. A few seconds later, after being intentionally fouled by Williams, Wall calmly hit the two free throws that put the game out of reach, with the Wizards ultimately taking it 108-101.

After the game, Williams talked about Wall’s performance, and he reiterated some of the points Sloan had touched on before the game:

“I’ve been impressed with the kid since he was there in Kentucky.  He’s playing great this year.  He’s definitely one of the best point guards of the game already.  He played well tonight, picked us apart with his passing, scored what he needed to and hit free throws down the stretch.  He’s one of the fastest, quickest guys.  He’s a smart point guard, he knows how to get others involved, and he’s going to be in his league for a long time and be one of the tough point guards for a long time.”

I also asked Williams if he was surprised at how much energy Wall had played with, given that he seemed to be slumping coming into this game. Williams looked up at me with a smile on his face and said:

“Not at all, of course he’s going to get up to play against me, it’s his first time seeing me. I knew that coming into the game.”

So it seems that match-ups do mean something after all.

Source

Truth About It» From The Other Side: Jose Calderon Does The John Wall

{Editor's Note: When someone has tried to hype up the match-up between John Wall and this player or that, Wall himself before has played down the issue across the board, saying him against anyone could be considered a so-called 'match-up' ... Well, why not John Wall vs. Jose Calderon then? In the way that everything is connected, Calderon is the former whipping boy of Gilbertology -- the sentiment coming from Arenas' blog in February 2008 that Calderon did not deserve to be an NBA all-star. Now Rashad is here to tell it from the other side, not regarding the days of old, but of Calderon against the Wizards of Wall. -Kyle W.}

I was not able to speak with Raptors guard Jose Calderon or Wizards guard John Wall before the game. Calderon was in the training room getting treatment on a foot that was so injured, even Raptors coach Jay Triano wasn’ t 100-percent sure if he’d play. And a pre-game interview with Wall is as elusive as as a Wizards road win these days–I’m sure it’ll happen one day, but it hasn’t as of yet.

However, if I were able to interview Calderon and Wall, I can imagine interview answers going something like this:

Hypothetical Wall:‘Calderon has been playing well, I think he’s averaging 12 points and 10 assists over the past 10 games, so he’s playing at a high level. But he played 36 minutes last night in the Raptors’ loss, and he’s battling a sore foot. I’m going to use my speed and quickness, and try to go by him as much as possible–while staying within the framework of the offense of course.’

Hypothetical Calderon:‘I’m going to have to pick my spots tonight and try to get my teammates involved as much as possible. My foot is a little sore, I played a lot last night, and I’m going against arguably the quickest point guard in the league. My job is to play smart and get DeMar DeRozan and Andrea Bargnani some good looks early.’

If you were handicapping the Wall/Calderon matchup prior to the game, you’d give the advantage to John Wall. Quicker guards like Chris Paul, Jrue Holliday and D.J. Augustin had given Wall fits in recent games, but Calderon does not fit that profile.  Plus, Rashard Lewis told Beckley Mason for TAIbefore the game:

“You know they like to play fast, but we like to play fast as well, because John is our point guard, and he’s better when we play fast… I think if we can defend first and hold them to one shot, and then kick the ball to John and get out and just run, we’ll be better off on offense.”

In the words of Chris Berman,“That’s why they play the games.”

Wall did not attack Calderon, did not exploit his quickness advantage, rather he looked confused in both running and defending the pick and roll. There were also several instances where Wall would have an open shot, but he elected to pass or dribble a bit more before shooting, which is something the basketball gods frown upon. During the last 20 seconds of the game, Flip Saunders had such little confidence in Wall’s ability to guard Calderon that he inserted Kirk Hinrich instead. Despite Wall’s lethargic performance, the Wizards won and Wall finished with eight points (on 4-14 shooting), nine assists and five turnovers. That prompted Saunders to give Wall somewhat of a backhanded compliment:

“You know, as a point guard, when your team wins and you get nine assists, you can’t totally say that the guy didn’t do the job.”

On the other side of the floor, Calderon put in a masterful performance on the second night of a back-to-back. He had 21 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and just one turnover in 38 minutes of play. He drove by Wall with ease. He abused him on the pick and rolls, which allowed him to hit open, mid-range jumpers. He managed to consistently find the open teammate.

Coming out of the third quarter, the Raptors were trailing by five points, when Calderon decided to take over. He found Linus Kleiza for an open jumper, he hit two open shots of his own, he forced Wall into a turnover, and then he blocked one of Wall’s shots. The Wizards called a timeout to stop the bleeding, and Calderon responded with two more assists, and in a little under four minutes, the Raptors went from trailing by five, to leading by two.  In that brief stretch, Calderon had five points and three assists.

Unlike Wall, who seemed to be confused with the Raptors playing off of him, Calderon was comfortable hitting a jumper or driving to the basket. Basically, Calderon was out-Walling John Wall, and even though the Raptors came up short in the end, it was not Calderon’s fault. That distinction went to DeRozan who had been averaging 17.5 points in his last eight games, but only managed seven points on 3 of 11 shooting against the Wizards.

Raptors Coach Jay Triano had this to say about Calderon after the game:

“Jose had one of his best games ever as a Raptor, he was one way from a triple-double, he had a career high in rebounds, so that helped out there. He woke up this morning and he said he felt pretty good, and I’m glad that he did play and he did a great job.”

After the game, I asked Calderon to assess the man he had imitated and torched for a near triple-double. He said:

“I think he’ s going to be a great player, but it’s tough in the first year, and plus he’s dealing with injuries like me. But at his best, he can do a little bit of everything, but my guys were setting good screens tonight, that’s why I was so open and able to turn the corner. But still, I think he’s going to be good.”

I followed up by asking him if he made a conscious effort to go after Wall because he was a rookie. Calderon smiled and said,“No not really.” Tomorrow night,  Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz (arguably the best point guard in the league) will be in town, and his game is all about attacking opposing point guards.  I wonder if he’ll smile afterwards as well.

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