Truth About It» Von Wafer’s Missed Dunk: A Sideline Exposé

Sure, the best thing about the missed Von Wafer dunk on Monday night was him unknowingly flexing/basking in his own non-accomplishment afterward on the baseline, and then turning around to run back on defense only to find a teammate who’d recovered the live ball directly in his path. That teammate, Jermaine O’Neal, ended up being called for a violation because Wafer ran into him after he’d picked up his dribble, causing him to take another dribble. Boston turnover.

Actually, the“best thing” was that Wafer’s dunk would have put the Celtics up four points with three minutes left in overtime; Washington ended up winning by one point. But another“thing” about the failed dunk attempt was the warm towel and icy-hot rubdown that JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche offered Wafer as he easily glided toward the basket, unimpeded and observed from a comfy distance by the defense. Maybe the courteous treatment actually helped Wafer blow his easy dunk off the rim. We’ll never know.

What we do know is what the whole event looked like from the sideline, in picture form, and partially obscured by referee Dick Bavetta:

The Dunk Attempt.

The Rebound.

The Gaffe.

The Reaction.

The Smirk.

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Truth About It» From The Other Side: The Jeff Green Experiment Continues

{The Experimental McGee& Green - photo: K. Weidie}

Around 6:10pm, just 50 minutes before the Boston Celtics were to take on the Washington Wizards, a weary Doc Rivers stepped out of his office to meet with the media.  He exchanged a few pleasantries with the familiar Boston media, and then he got right down to business and told everyone that Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allenand Paul Pierce were going sit the game out.  The starters were going to be Delonte West, Von Wafer, Jermaine O’Neal, Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Jeff Green.

This was a curious move considering the Celtics went into Monday night just one game behind the Miami Heat for the second seed in the NBA playoffs.  The Heat had to visit Atlanta to play the Hawks, and the Celtics had a very winnable game (with their starters at least) against Wizards, who they had just beaten on Friday night.  Rivers seemed to be prematurely conceding that second seed to the Heat by removing his starters from the equation.   He explained his actions before the game.

“We’re gonna sit our guys today and try to get some rest and get ready for the playoffs.  The way were playing, we do need it, so we’re going to take it, plus we don’t have a lot of time.  We got Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday {to rest our starters} and then Wednesday could be a great practice, so I’ d rather do that…The decision ws made in how we played last night {Sunday night's 100-77 loss to Miami}.”

Rivers’ decision meant that West and O’Neal would get the minutes they needed to find their games, as both have missed significant time due to injury.  It would allow Wafer and Davis to get starter’s minutes and refine their respective games before the playoffs, and most importantly, it would allow Jeff Green to find some degree of comfort.

In February, Green was traded to the Celtics, along with Nenad Kristc and a first-round draft pick, from the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson. An alumni of Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland and Georgetown in Washington D.C., Green has since struggled to get comfortable with Boston’s offense.  He has gone from being a starter averaging 37 minutes 15 points and 5.6 points a game, to coming off the bench and averaging just 23 minutes, 9.6 points, and 2.5 rebounds.  When you throw in the fact that Perkins was a well-liked member of the Celtics, and Green was a key part of the Thunder’s nucleus along with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden, it’s not at all difficult to see why the transition has not been easy.

The difficult situation was not lost on his head coach:

In the first quarter against the Wizards, Green’s discomfort was on full display.  He did grab five rebounds in the first quarter, but his six points came on 3-10 shooting, and four of those misses came at point-blank range (which promptedthis tweetfrom Bullets Forever editor Mike Prada).  There were also two occasions in the first quarter (one at the 1:38 mark and again with seven seconds left) when Green could not decide whether to pass or shoot, which led to a 24-second violation.  One might be tempted to blame that on Rondo’s absence, but it was clear that Green simply has not had enough reps to react. Instead, he over-thinks.

To Green’s credit, he shot 50-percent (5-10) the remainder of the game, and he grabbed 10 more rebounds to finish with 20 points, 15 boards and just one turnover.  He still struggled at times in the post, especially when Kevin Seraphin threw his weight around (which promptedthis tweetfrom Truth About It’s Kyle Weidie), but he did not look nearly as lost as he did in the first 12 minutes of play.

Green was most comfortable when he caught the ball at the foul line extended.  At the 6:16 mark of the third quarter, he slowly drifted to that spot, turned and shot in one fluid motion. He drained the bucket. He repeated that same sequence in the fourth quarter to pull the Celtics within 71-70, and again in overtime to give his team the lead at 88-86.  He also shook the first quarter doldrums enough to start making close range layups.

The Wizards ended up defeating the Celtics in overtime, but it was in spite of Green’s play, not because of it.  After the game, Rivers made it his business to point out the good performance of his makeshift starting lineup, Green included:

“{Jermaine} defended the basket as well as you can defend, I don’t know how many blocks he and Baby had, it was terrific.  Jeff Green, 15 rebounds, so there was a lot of good things that came out of this game.”

I asked Green to discuss if he felt more comfortable last night against the Wizards, in comparison to his previous games with this new team:

“Yeah, definitely. Every game I’m getting better and better with my sets and execution, and it’s becoming fun.  We just have to continue to play Celtics ball, which is moving the ball, sharing the ball and communicating.”

Celtics fans might remember and miss Kendrick Perkins come playoffs. It will partially be Jeff Green’s job to make them forget.

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Truth About It» Andray vs. Kevin

{UPDATE:So yea, Garnett is not playing tonight, so there's that with publishing a pre-prepared post without checking.}

A match-up between the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics always brings a bit of intrigue, regardless of win-loss records. This can usually be attributed to the presence of two players: Andray Blatche and Kevin Garnett.

The spat is like big brother, little brother, with Blatche once looking up to Garnett as an upcoming player. Many experts also long ago aptly compared the style of both. Well, a comparison in terms of their ability as lengthy big men who can stretch the floor. But that’s pretty much where it ends. Blatche has always lacked something intangibly significant that Garnett has. If you know anything about the game of basketball, you know what I’m talking about. And that’s seemingly what angers the old Celtic most in his face-offs against Blatche, that Andray is not what he should be. The treatment of little brother never ends in a friendly manner.

Watch during the game. Garnett will attempt to instigate Blatche out of his mental comfort zone with poking, prodding, talking, and everything in between. Last season,Blatche responded to Garnett’s“wolfing”(or woffing) to the point where it caused some strife between Blatche and his own coach, Flip Saunders.

Flip’s main point as one with much experience coaching Garnett: when Andray responds or reacts to any degree, Garnett wins. Since, Blatche has tried his best to ignore Garnett’s prickish antics and just play basketball. It hasn’t always worked out, but the Wizards also always seem to be more competitive than expected versus the Celtics, partial credit due to Blatche.

After the Wizards’ win versus the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday, I asked Blatche if he was looking forward to playing against Garnett again, especially since Washington lost in Boston last Friday. Did he take the bait? Let’s go to the video…

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Truth About It» Wizards Fly Free Against Sleeping Hawks

{John Wall before the tip-off.}

People will say that the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Washington Wizards on Saturday night because they were without Josh Smith. Because they were unmotivated against a free-flying Wizards team with their playoff seeding already set. A date as the five seed going to Orlando to play the Magic awaits the Hawks in the first round, but did they have to get blown out by the Wiz Kids 115-83?

Regardless of Atlanta’s effortless situation, the Wizards countered with one of their best team defensive displays of the season, turning 23 Hawks turnovers into 27 points, partially thanks to 11 steals. And as theWashington Post’s Michael Lee has written, much credit is due to D-Leaguers Larry Owens and Othyus Jeffers— Owens putting in 10 points off the bench and Jeffers scoring 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. The energy of on-the-cusp players has made some of the more contractually secure Wizards not take their situation for granted.

Jeffers’ contagious explosion of hustle shouldn’t be taken for granted for the next training camp the Wizards hold either. He, along with Andray Blatche, were big reasons why the Wizards got off to a 29-18 jump on Atlanta after one quarter. Blatche worked Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia to the tune of nine points, five rebounds and 3-4 from the free throw line in the period. And Jeffers picked up two boards, one offensive, and 3-4 at the charity stripe in six and a half minutes off the bench. The disinterest of Atlanta was especially evident when they allowed Yi Jianlian to counter Jamal Crawford’s 11 points in the second quarter with 10 of his own. Washington led 61-46 at half.

Jordan Crawford didn’t have a particularly good first half. Limited with three fouls, he scored just four points on 2-3 shooting in 15 minutes, but he did have three assists and zero turnovers. In the third, Crawford didn’t try to force his own offense the entire time, even though he did go 1-6 from the field in the period. Instead, he proved that he’s not a limited basketball player by dropping five assists to one turnover and three rebounds. He finished the game with six points on 3-9 shooting with an 8-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, flipping zip passes to teammates with the same confidence he has in his offense.

The Hawks rested their starters in the fourth quarter— Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia, with Kirk Hinrich and Marvin Williams seeing about three minutes each. Atlanta’s reserves of Jeff Teague, Josh Powell, Pape Sy, Hilton Armstrong and Damien Wilkins were badly out-matched by Jeffers, Owens, Kevin Seraphin and Yi, with Washington point guard duties split between Mustafa Shakur and John Wall in the final period.

The Wizards polished Atlanta off 27-11 in the fourth without a care for bruises and bumps from recklessly throwing themselves all over the court, but it seemed that their 32 point win was decided at the beginning of the game when Washington proved they were not going to lay down. John Wall finished with a quietly effective 19 points on 8-15 shooting, seven assists, two turnovers, two steals, five rebounds and a block. JaVale McGee had a ho-hum but active 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes. Blatche finished with 23 and seven, and even Mo Evans pitched in 10 points. For the team, all 10 players available played, and scored, seven Wizards reaching double figures.

If credit for the win goes to anyone, it’s Flip Saunders. His team schemed well to limit Joe Johnson with active double-teaming, and they moved better as a unit to cut off dribble penetration. On offense, the Wizards were prodded to attack by Saunders, finishing with 26 fastbreak points. The coach likely knowing from his years of experience that Atlanta was a team ripe for just not caring. Both Ernie Grunfeld and Saunders have made a great move with Jeffers (and Owens), in not only evaluating prospects, but turning also opportunities for D-Leaguers into a motivational tool. The kids are swimming in the pool, lessons are waiting to be carried forth.

To the photos…

Close your eyes and dunk.

Mo Evans in on the action.

Dray? Travel?

Classic Kirk Hinrich face after Yi dunked on him.

The contortionist.

The Bruce Bowen defense from Mo Evans on Joe Johnson, except not a foot under the shooter to hurt him. Let’s call it a veteran move.

Larry Owens hounds Kirk Hinrich.

More on the floor hustle— yes, that’s Mustafa Shakur under there.

A happy bench shot, for a change.

All good in Wizards Nation, DC town for a night.

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Truth About It» Reunion Saturday: Nick The Quick& Sam I Am

It’s a bit of a reunion Saturday here at the Verizon Center with Mo Evans, Jordan Crawford, Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong facing their respective former teams. But there is another type of reunion going on too, one from the 1993 NBA Draft— between Sam Cassell, who went 24th in the first round that year and is now an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, and Nick Van Exel, a second rounder in’93 (37th overall), who is now a player development instructor with the Atlanta Hawks.

Between the two, there is 212 games of playoff experience (136 for Cassell and 76 for Van Exel), and over 28,000 regular season points scored (15,635 for Cassell and 12,658 for Van Exel). However, according to theBasketball-Reference.com database, in 31 regular season head-to-head match-ups, Van Exel holds a 17-14 advantage. That’s a lot of classic games between two excellent guards. Let’s go to the YouTube archive…

Van Exel passes to Kirk Hinrich pre-game…

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Truth About It» From The Other Side: Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon Talk Jeremy Lamb

There were no NBA games to be watched on Monday night, which meant like everyone else, I had to view that poorly-played NCAA championship game between Butler and Connecticut.  I sat down expecting to see the best from Connecticut’s Kemba Walker, and Butler’s Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. I expected to see these experienced players lead their respective teams to a well-played, nip-and-tuck affair.  Instead, I saw field-goal percentages that rivaled winter temperatures and turnovers that even the Washington Generals would not make.

Connecticut was able to shake off the poor play just long enough to make a late game run and come out victorious 53-41.  Walker had a game-high 16 points to go with nine rebounds, Connecticut center Alex Oriahki had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks, and in a losing effort, Mack had 13 points and nine rebounds. Howard added seven points and six rebounds for the Bulldogs, but he shot 1-13 and he was a non-factor throughout the game.

Although Walker led the team in scoring and made some timely shots throughout the night, the key to Connecticut’s victory was freshman Jeremy Lamb.  After missing his only two field-goal attempts with no points in the first half, Lamb went 4-6 with 12 points in the second half, giving his Huskies a desperately needed cushion.  When Connecticut faced its largest deficit of 25-19 after Butler’s Chase Stigall hit a three 20 seconds into the second half, Lamb scored 11 of his team’s next 18 points during a 18-3 run that saw UConn take the lead for good at 37-28 with 11 minutes left in the game.

As happy as I was for the freshman, I immediately became concerned that this strong performance in an otherwise mediocre game would inflate his ego— and more importantly, his NBA prospects.  I worried that Lamb would ignore Kemba Walker’s shining example of how a good player leads his team from November to March, and attempt to ride into the NBA on the heels of an OK season and a one very good college game (although, worth noting that Lamb scored 97 points over six NCAA Tournament games, an average of 16.2 points that topped his 11.1 points per game during the season).  At one pointI even tweeted that I hoped Lamb had a sub par game,so he would be convinced to stay in college.

Luckily for me, the Detroit Pistons were in town the next day to take on (and lose to) the Washington Wizards, which meant I could ask two Connecticut alums to weigh in on the young Lamb.  Richard Hamilton attended UConn from 1996-1999, averaged 19.8 points a game, and led the Huskies to a title in 1999.  He left for the NBA after his junior year.

Ben Gordon attended UConn from 2001-2004, averaged 17 points per game, and led (along with Emeka Okafor) the Huskies to a title in 2004.  After winning the title, he decided to leave for the NBA a year early just like Hamilton had done five years before.

I fully expect Kemba Walker to follow in the footsteps of Gordon and Hamilton and bolt for the NBA on the highest of high notes.  But Lamb’s future is very much in doubt right now, so I asked Hamilton and Gordon a) what they would say to the freshman, and b) what was involved in their thought processes before they bolted to the NBA.

Ben Gordon on what he’d say to Lamb:

“I’d just tell him to weigh all his options, look at everything, look at all the cons of the situation, look at how strong the draft is going to be this year, who else is in your position that possibly going to go higher than you.  Consult with not only myself, but other guys who made that jump.  I would tell him to consider the fact that there’s probably going to be an NBA lockout.  I would tell him all these different things to basically scare him— notscarehim, but just so that he knows what’s going on. If he’s that confident to make that decision, then my hat’s off to him, but I would try to talk to him as if he was my little brother or something and give him the best advice possible.”

Gordon on how he was advised as an underclassman:

“I went for three years so I was a little more mature at that age, and he’s a freshman right now, so a couple years of college might develop him a little more.  But at that point, there were definitely people who were talking to me, but I pretty much knew for a fact {when I left} that this was the decision I could make, and I was definitely going to be a lottery pick.  I don’t know if they are projecting {Lamb} as a lottery pick now, but that’s another thing, where do you want to see yourself in the draft? Are you satsified with being a first-rounder, or do you want to be high first rounder.  So those are the things that can come under consideration, but once I weighed my options, and listened to people who did it before and gave me good advice, I was comfortable enough to make a decision.”

Rip Hamilton on his advice for Lamb:

“I would definitely tell him to stay. No doubt about it.  I think that next year he can really dominate.  This year he played well, got comfortable, and came into his own, but next year he’ll be‘the guy’ and that’s important.  Every young player needs the experience of being‘the guy’ like Kemba had this year.  Then you got the lockout coming and all that, there’s really no need to rush to the NBA for a guy like Lamb, the NBA isn’t going anywhere— at least I hope its not.  He should stay at least one more year, work on his game, and he’ll be even stronger when he does decide to come out.”

Hamilton on why he didn’t leave UConn earlier:

“{Coach Jim} Calhoun told me straight up I wasn’t ready quite yet.  He said why come out too and be a mid-to-late first round pick and just get a little playing time on a playoff team that doesn’t really need my services.  He said he’d rather see me come back another year and try to be the Michael Jordan of college basketball and we could win the national championship, and I could say I improved my game, and I helped win a title, and be a lottery pick who played from the jump.  I didn’t believe a word of it at the time, but damn if everything he said didn’t come true and then some.  So Lamb needs to listen to everyone, but definitely to Calhoun too.  He hasn’t stayed around this long for nothing.”

{photos: K. Weidie, Truth About It.net}

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Truth About It» Wizards vs. Pacers: It’s All In the Numbers Baby

After the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Washington Wizards last Friday, coach Byron Scott took his sweet time coming out to meet the media. Given how his team performed, I fully expected him to step out of the locker room and give journalists theDenny Green treatment. But when Scott finally emerged from the Cavaliers locker room after 20 minutes, he was rather calm in his words. Perhaps that was because he knew exactly why the Wizards defeated his team.

“I’ve got a few numbers on my mind: 68, 30, 19 and 62.  68 points by their frontline, 30 rebounds by their frontline, 19 offensive rebounds by their frontline, 62 points in the paint… you can’t win if you don’t come with a little bit more of a toughness and a presence in that paint area.  You can’t win.  Blatche and McGee dominated our guys.  That’s something you just can’t account for.  When we have to all of a sudden change a game plan to double team those two guys, you’re in trouble.”

Now, I’m no coach, I didn’t have to address the media after Washington lost in Indiana last night, and given that they have been out of playoff contention since December, I’m pretty emotionless at this point. But after watching the Pacers dismantle the Wizards 136-112, I’m in a Byron Scott state of mind, and I also have some numbers swimming thru my head: 136, 59.5, 54.2, 34, 32 and 10.

136

The Wizards allowed a season-high 136 points to the Indiana Pacers, who went into the night averaging 99 points a game (good for 15th in the NBA). The Wizards should still feel proud that they only gave up 136, instead of the 144 points that the Denver Nuggets gave up to the Pacersback on November 9th. The Wizards previous season-high for points given up this season was 133, when theydefeated the Sacramento Kings 136-133 in overtime.

59.5& 54.2

Washington allowed Indiana to shoot 59.5-percent from the field and 54.2-percent from the three-point line. The Pacers starters alone shot 62-percent from the field and 61-percent from three-point range.  You can’t really blame the Wizards for this one, because so many of these shots were hit with John Wall, Othyus Jeffers, Jordan Crawford or another Wizards perimeter player running out at the Pacers shooter. When a team gets hot, there’s not much an opposing team can do— these are professionals and occasionally these things happen. But a closer examination of the numbers shows that the Pacers scored 46 points in the paint, at a 65-percent clip.  Interior defense was severely lacking, as  this clip from JaVale McGee and Maurice Evans demonstrates:

34

No. 34 is for the jersey number of JaVale McGee, who took a step backwards with the evening’s performance, although I can’t honestly say it was all his fault. He played a season-low nine minutes, and scored just two points, while picking up five fouls— many of which were borderline at best. Roy Hibbert is a fine low-post player who is enjoying quite a year, after a slow start; however, he does NOT deserve to get the kind of calls he was getting. McGee was clearly frustrated for the entire game, and his high-energy plays were missing as a result. He left the game for good at 8:24 markof the third quarter after picking up this questionable foul against Hibbert, his fifth:

Of course, it’s worth mentioning that this foul came 30 seconds after McGee picked up a technical foul for being caught in a retaliation bump against Hibbert. Seven seconds after that, McGee picked up his fourth foul and then some choice words between Hibbert and Blatche led to double-technicals. Indiana’s front line of Josh McRoberts, Jeff Foster and Tyler Hansbrough seemed to make it their business to get physical with the Wizards’ bigs to the point of taking them out of their game mentally.  And whether it was Foster hooking Blatche’s arm on a rebound or Hibbert causing McGee to be a non-factor, it certainly was effective.

32 & 10

John Wall went into the game averaging 8.6 assists a contest, and the Wizards went in averaging 19.6 assists as a team. The Pacers went into last night’s match averaging 19.5 assists, with Darren Collison leading the way at five assists a game. With their 136 points (43 in the first quarter), Indiana had a whopping 32 assists, and Collison topped all players with 11. Sure, the Pacers assist totals were helped greatly by their high shooting percentage, which allowed them to swing the ball until they got that perfect, open shot.  However, the Wizards’ field-goal percentage was a respectable 46-percent, but they only had 10 assists. Wall had just four. There was far too much one-on-one by Wall and Jordan Crawford— the very players who should have been facilitating ball movement. To make matters worse, the Wizards starting front line a had ZERO assists, while the Pacers starting front line had seven.

It would be easy to say that the Wizards were shorthanded and had nothing to play for, while the Pacers had their full roster on hand aiming to clinch a playoff spot (they officially clinched with their win over the Wizardsanda Charlotte Bobcats loss to the Orlando Magic, beneficiaries of asudden, one-night resurgence by Gilbert Arenas). But when you are coming off a three-game win streak, and theowner is singing the praises of the“new big three”, expectations get raised just a bit, even when you’re a 21-57 (3-36 on the road) team. Last night, the Wizards took a short step backwards in their quest to learn how to win, well, because the Pacers wanted it more. They are the team that’s played well for an extended stretch, and not just because their young players see the end in site after a long, mostly futile season.

But let’s not end on a low note. There were positive plays byAndray Blatche(who notched his fourth straight double double with 23 points and 10 rebounds),Othyus Jeffers,andLarry Owens, who was signed from the“D” leaguejust hours before the game.

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