Truth About It» Wizards-Raptors Pregame Conversation: Rashard Lewis

I caught up with Rashard to ask him about tonight’s matchup with the Raptors. The take away: Both teams have the same game plan. The Raptors play fast and loose with plenty of pick and rolls. According to Lewis, the Wizards will look to do much the same.

Lewis identified forward Andre Bargnani and point guard Jose Calderon as the primary threats on the Raptors, as I’d imagine Toronto is concerned about the Lewis-Wall tandem.

Bargnani is a big key for this team, he’s playing great this year. He’s big, so he creates matchup problems, he can shoot threes– he can post up, he can drive to the basket, sets a lot of pick and rolls with the pick and pop or he can roll to the basket… so it’s a number of different things to look out for. And Calderon is also a good point guard so there’s a number of different things we need to be ready to defend with those two.

As for pace, Rashard supposes the Wizards need to push the ball as much as possible, but it has to come from defense. That is, play fast, but not loose.

It’s a big key tonight. We need to come out and hit them first, set the tone . 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 half court, Lewis noted that the Wizards have the ability to really hurt the Raptors’ bigs with pick and roll action (sound familiar?):

We most definitely want to put them in a lot of pick and rolls and not let Bargnani just rest on defense and only play offense because he’s a great offensive players. So we want to put him in foul trouble and attack him. Make him move his feet on the perimeter

Look for an up and down game with plenty of wackiness from these two beat-up, young, unpredictable squads.

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Truth About It» Rashard Lewis Would Rather Be A Roadie

Long ago, in reference to his team’s troubles at the time, former Orlando Magic GM Pat Williams said:

“We can’t win at home. We can’t win on the road… As general manager, I just can’t figure out where else to play.”

The year was 1992 and the Magic fielded a 7-27 record when Williams said his quote that’s become one of the more infamously comical ones in NBA history. The1991-92 seasonstarted out well enough for the Magic, as they won four of their first six games, two of which came against the Washington Bullets, one in Orlando and onein Landover, MD,despite 30 points from Michael Adams.

But when Williams said his memorable quote, the Magic had won just one out of the previous 21 games and held a  4-12 record at home and a 3-15 record on the road. After the quote, the Magic lost their next game at home versus the New York Knicks, but then won four out of their next six games. As irrelevant as all of this is, it all worked out for O-Town. Well, kinda. Their poor record that season landed them the No. 1 pick in the lottery and thus, Shaquille O’Neal, who later skipped town without winning a championship.

This year’s Wizards are in a different situation. Their 10-27 record is slightly less bad than Orlando’s 7-27 record, but Washington’s 10-8 home record vastly contrasts with their 0-19 road record.

Now, in an odd twist of fate, Rashard Lewis, a player the Wizards’ recently acquired from the Orlando Magic no less, a player who has experienced just six of those 19 road losses, doesn’t want to figure out how to play where his teamcanwin more. Instead, Lewis would rather play where his teamcan’twin.

Lewisvia the Washington Post’s Michael Lee:

“I don’t even want to play at home tomorrow. I want to play on the road, to get us a road win…

…It’s embarrassing to not have a road win, and we’re in a new year, it’s January and we’re getting ready to go into the all-star break.”

Well, there you have it. Instead of taking the easy road, Lewis would rather take the hard road and win a game…on the road.

Either it’s just crazy enough to work (mentally, perhaps… not physically, because the Wizards are definitely not playing the Raptors in Canada tomorrow), or Lewis has fond visions of an alternate universe where he’s onewiththe road via a traveling band in concert. Or maybe he’s just a big fan of Mad Max. Either way, Rashard Lewis would rather be a roadie… and can’t say that I blame him.

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Truth About It» Momma McGee On JaVale’s Dunking

During last Friday’s Washington Wizards win over New Jersey Nets, Comcast’s Chris Miller had an in-game interview with JaVale McGee’s mother, Pamela. The questions centered around her thoughts on JaVale being selected for the All-Star dunk contest. She talked about how proud she is to see his growth as a basketball player, his love of dunking, and shared a story where JaVale touched the top of backboard in street shoes at his pre-draft workout for Cleveland. Hilarity ensues at the 1:08 mark of video when Pam interrupts her backboard story to yell this to a passerby:

“Hey dude, we’re on TV… We’re on TV dude!”

There’s no video of the funny exchange, only audio while highlights of JaVale are shown, so the identity of the interview interrupter is unknown, but Gheorghe Muresanissitting in the background. Miller later tries to prod Pam,a former WNBA player and Olympic champion, into revealing if she would be involved in any of McGee’s dunks. She coyly indicated that she would be on-hand for the festivities, but stopped short from officially announcing her participation.

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Truth About It» 43 Points Courtesy of Nick Young’s Hula Hoop

I challenge you to watch the range of emotions expressed by Nick Young after scoring a career-high 43 points andnotlike the guy… he’s made for Hollywood… he’sNick the Thriller.

No“typical Wizards’ losing ways” from the media…
No ranting writers calling for heads…
No outrage of radio call-in shows…
No bloggy posts about how Nick Young is likethe worst passer, ever…

Winning is the big differentiator. The Wizards did so, 136-133 versus the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night…barely.

{BTW, did you know, including Tuesday night's whopping three assists, Young has accrued 17 total assists in the last seven games -- since the Dec. 29 home win versus the Indiana Pacers. Those 17 assists represent 7-percent of Young's previous career assist total ...SEVEN PERCENT!...Over 261 games!}

It’s almost like Nick is making even more progress… in other departments. What kind of bizarro world are we living in?

So…

No ragging on Young for trying to move with the ball, away from the corner and from defensive pressure with 18 seconds on the clock and a 125-119 lead, and then stepping out of bounds…

No wondering about the angst Young was going through, thinking about getting over the 40-point benchmark while trying to be the man securing the ball on the in-bounds pass with Sacramento trying to trap and turn the ball over or foul…

And don’t even talk about that free-throw Young missed with 7.6 seconds left that allowed little Pooh Jeter to abuse John Wall’s footwork and JaVale McGee’s nonexistent help defense awareness to tie the game and send a once improbable scenario into overtime (a scenario that had the Wizards up six on the Kings, with the ball, and 18 seconds left).

Nothing can take away Nick Young’s career-high 43 points.They came early and often, 13 points in the game’s first seven minutes, courtesy of Flip Saunders calling Nick’s number in an offense the team trusted to run. The Wizards got Young immediate looks at the basket, no extra dribbles or time to think. It was very Rip Hamilton-esque, but from someone with much more athletic ability and nicer lift on a fading jumper. Every one of Young’s first quarter field-goals came courtesy of an assist from a teammate— two from Andray Blatche, two from John Wall and one from Rashard Lewis.

Nothing will remove Nick’s memory of shooting in a hula hoop during the final four minutes of the third quarter, where he scored 16 straight points for his team via four three-pointers. Kinda weird that Washington had a nine point lead (80-71) after Young’s stretch began at the 3:49 mark of the third and only an 11 point lead (94-83) when all was said and done at the end of the quarter…

… But we won’t mention that… because the Wizards won… thanks to Nick Young… because that three-pointer he came back and hit early in the overtime session was huge.

How 43 Was Posted:

• Efficiency- 43 points on 22 shot attempts; 7-10 from three, 8-9 from the free-throw line.
• Thanks -12 of Young’s 14 field-goals were assisted by a teammate.
• Technical Help- The Kings were assessed three technicals, via Francisco Garcia, DeMarcus Cousins and Jason Thompson… Young shot and made all three tech foul shots… And what do you know? The Wizards won by three points.
• In The Numbers- The date: 1.11.2011 -- Add those integers together and you get the same sum as 4+3.
• Hula Hoop- Nick said the basket looked like one.

Nick Young Is: The Thriller

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Truth About It» A New Professional In Town

Upon Rashard Lewis’ arrival in Washington, Flip Saunders lauded him as a professional. Ernie Grunfeld called him a lead-by-example veteran. But these terms easily get demeaned amongst the press conference speak. They are used almost too often to describe just about any veteran who is victim of a trade from contender to bottom-feeder, perhaps as a proclamation of what’s expected from them. But what Lewis has made of his new challenge several games in has given real meaning to these proclamations.

We all know what‘professional’ means. On the surface, yes, it means you get paid to do a job. A lot of people get paid to do a job but aren’t exactly earning their money… it happens in every profession. Being‘a’professional is about more than just earning your keep. For NBA players, it means consistent performance on the court and measured, but worthy, comments in the locker room.

Antawn Jamison was the last professional the Wizards had with an all-star pedigree; some called him the Gentleman Jamison. He was surprisingly consistent for his age, which was only accentuated by the way his game sneaked up on you. In post game media sessions, Jamison could fill a tape recorder with clichés, but he would also give long-winded answers, so one was always sure to find a good quote in there somewhere.

Much of what got lost in the reverberations from the Gilbert Arenas trade was that in Lewis, the franchise might have found their new Jamison. But in a weird twist of circumstance, Lewis means much more to this current group. Toward the end, Jamison was hanging on to hope in an uncompromising manner. He wasn’t on a rebuilding team, he was on a broken team… and he was trying to shoulder the load amidst futility. That philosophy reared its ugly head in the form of a paltry 1.2 assists per 36 minutes for Jamison as a Wizard during 2009-10, a career-low aside from the season he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a Dallas Maverick.

Jamison was never much of a passer, however. It just wasn’t what he was often called on to do, he’s always been a scorer instead. Lewis’ game has been similar in many ways, at least as far as career passing numbers are concerned— Jamison with 1.7 assists per 36 minutes over 898 career regular season games, and Lewis with 1.9 per 36 over 883 games. But the difference can be found in what Lewis has done since donning a Wizards uniform.

He was admittedly shocked when he was traded. Or, asdramatized by Gilbertology(according to the supposed words of Nick Young), he felt like“the world just ended.” But Lewis didn’t grow a beard and act civil on the outside while pouting on the inside. He has gradually and seamlessly worked to prove himself on the hardwood instead.

In nine contests with the Wizards, Lewis has averaged 36.4 minutes per game. His 3.3 assists averaged per 36 minutes during that time would be a career high; his 7.9 rebounds per 36 is at a career high level as well. He’s even increased his field-goal percentage in D.C. to 44.2-percent, higher than the 43.9-percent from the field he shot his second season in Orlando (2008-09) before a steady decline with the Magic into this season.

“He’s making the right decisions, not just taking shots just to take shots,” said Wizards coach Flip Saunders about his new professional after Washington beat New Jersey last Friday night. Flip even called Rashard a“professional” twice in one answer.

Lewis makes the extra pass, he’s a threat to spread the floor,he boxes out, he sets an example. You can live with his bad shots because there are so few of them. He has made the best of a less-than-ideal situation by adjusting and relenting his game to the environment… something a a true professional does. The Lewis effect hasn’t just been seen on the court, but also in the manner which he carries himself away from the game.

I recently spoke with JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Hilton Armstrong about what Lewis brings to the team:

I also spoke with Lewis about the impression he’s trying to make on the young Wizards:

Gilbert Arenas may have been a good guy, a buddy the likes of John Wall and Nick Young could play video games with. But what these Wizards needed more was a professional… dependability, not distraction. What these Wizards needed more was a Rashard Lewis.

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Truth About It» JaVale McGee, Elvin Hayes and The Forgotten 1976-77 NBA Dunk Contest

The historical invitation of JaVale McGee,a Washington Wizard, to the 2011 NBA slam dunk contest got the franchise all excited (which in turngot Dan Steinberg all bloggy). You see, this is the first player in Wizards/Bullets franchise history selected to participate in the dunk contest, so there’s little shame in taking the extra, perhaps unnecessary, step of hyping it up, along with showing the player that he has the team’s support. Plus, this franchise, fresh off an 0-17 start on the road this season, needs any good news it can get… and yes, this is good news. But is McGeereallythe franchise’s first?

On Wednesday night’s television broadcast of the Wizards-Sixers game, the trivia question of the night for the hometown D.C. crew, Comcast’s Phil Chenier and Steve Buckhantz, was to name the former dunk champions who have played for the Washington franchise (but for other teams when they won)— Michael Jordan and Kenny Walker was the answer. Other dunk contest participants who have played for the franchise (but again, who played for other teams during their participation) include: Rex Chapman, Robert Pack, Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, DeShawn Stevenson, and of course, Darvin Ham.

Peruse thisall-time list from NBA.com, nary a participant from the franchise for the“official” NBA dunk contest that started in 1984. But there was something about Chenier’s contemplative words as he can Buckhantz bantered about their trivia question before the answer was revealed.

“I know Elvin Hayes participated…,”Chenier trailed off.

Huh?Elvin Hayes?He played for the Washington franchise, starting in Baltimore in 1972-73, and stayed with the team in the District before moving on to the Houston Rockets for the 1981-82 season. Hayes played with the Rockets for three seasons before retiring after 1983-84, before the first official dunk contest and at age 38.

Was Chenier just rambling or was there something to this? A Google/YouTube investigation seemed to be the right move.

We know that the idea of the dunk contest originated in the ABA. About that league’s experience, Bethlehem Shoals writes inFree Darko’s‘The Undisputed Guide To Pro Basketball History’:

Its weapons were far from conventional. In addition to its raw, frenetic play and ceaseless efforts to poach high-profile players from the NBA, the ABA came up with seemingly random publicity stunts; invented the three-point shot and the dunk contest; and staged surreal halftime performances (which included everything from Playboy bunnies to live bears, though never, unfortunately, at the same time). The league used an iconic red-white-and-blue ball that was a master stroke of branding and especially popular on inner-city courts. In theory, each of these PR microvictories brought the league that much closer to the marcoparadise promised by the would-be merger.

And the new NBA wasn’t afraid to adopt the ABA’s marketing pizazz, holding an actual dunk contest in the first season after the merger, 1976-77. A 2005 article/interview onPacers.comby Conrad Brunner regarding Darnell“Dr. Dunk” Hillman, the ultimate winner of this lost and forgotten dunk contest, states:

Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the dunk contest in the final ABA All-Star Game, the NBA launched an aggressive slam-dunk event of its own for the 1976-77 season, the first after the merger. Each team had one representative and players would be paired for dunk-offs when their teams met during the regular season. The big names of the era were involved, including Julius Erving, George Gervin and David Thompson– who was given the opportunity to be eliminated three times by a network (CBS) anxious for star-power. After the third elimination, Thompson finally was dropped from the bracket.

One Internet sleuth has madethe below poston several message boards, comment sections and groups from’round the web (posted in full below for retention’s sake):

Does anyone else have any information about the NBA’s 1976-77 Slum Duk
Contest which was televised during the halftime of the CBS broadcasts
throughout the season?

I have a partial list of participants, and I know that Darnell Hillman
defeated Larry McNeill for the championship.

Here’s who I’m managed to come up with so far -

SLAM DUNK PARTICIPANTS {32?}
Atlanta Hawks– Joe C. Meriweather
Chicago Bulls– Mickey Johnson
Denver Nuggets– David Thompson
Detroit Pistons– M.L. Carr
Golden State Warriors– Larry McNeill
Indiana Pacers– Darnell Hillman
Kansas City Kings– Richard Washington
Los Angeles Lakers– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Milwaukee Bucks– Alex English
Philadelphia 76ers– Darryl Dawkins
Phoenix Suns– Ronnie Lee
Portland Trail Blazers -- Moses Malone
San Antonio Spurs– George Gervin
Washington Bullets– Elvin Hayes

First round -- ???, Denver, CO (McNichols Sports Arena)
Quarter-Finals& Semi-Finals -- 12Feb77, Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee
Arena)
Finals -- 5Jun77, Portland, OR (Portland Memorial Coliseum)

So, this unconfirmed research, combined with Brunner’s report of one man per team and Chenier’s memory of Hayes’ participation (Chenier himself played for the Bullets from’71-72 through part of’79-80), is probably not enough evidence for a full-on report, but certainly enough for a blog post suggesting that JaVale McGee isn’t the first player in Wizards/Bullets franchise history to participate in an NBA-sanctioned dunk contest.

Furthermore, Brunner writes in hisPacers.comarticle:

Hillman beat Moses Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on his way to the title round. He faced Golden State forward Larry“the Hawk” McNeill in a dunk-off during the NBA Finals, with Hillman winning thanks in large part to his signature slam, rock-the-cradle. The contest met with lukewarm response and was shelved. The NBA didn’t revisit the dunk contest until 1984, and it’s been an All-Star Weekend staple ever since.

And Steve Kroner, in a2005 article titled‘Enjoying‘Mile High’ should be a slam dunk’ from theSan Francisco Chronicle, writes:

The competition had an undeniably schlocky feel, all the way to the final between the Warriors’ Larry McNeill and Indiana’s Darnell“Dr. Dunk” Hillman that took place during the 1977 NBA Finals. Hillman, who attended San Jose State, wore a“Bottle Shoppe” jersey at the request of a friend.

Now would be an appropriate time to turn to the offerings of YouTube… starting with presenting the best first: the final battle between the 6’9″ McNeill and the 6’9″ Hillman.

Classic items of note:‘rowdy’ Portland fans shower a couple of the contest judges with boos— Mendy Rudolph, a then CBS basketball analyst and former NBA referee, and Denver basketball writer Larry Bortstein— but the Blazers fans give Boston Celtics great Sam Jones plenty of love as a judge. Also, Darnell Hillman’s afro… which has been anointed with the‘Best Afro’ award byFree Darko’s”The Undisputed Guide…’ in their pro basketball hair index that spans from 1969 to 1979. The flow of the‘fro adds to the gliding movement of Hillman’s dunk attempts (oh, and along with his random, non-NBA tank top and shorts…andthe“Bottle Shoppe” shirt at the end). Hillman’s dunks are by far better than other dunk contestants from those’76-77 days (at least amongst the footage available, which we’ll get to). Let’s check the film of the final courtesy ofYouTube user patvilhauer:

YouTube userWiltatKansashas three uploads of the’76-77 dunk-offs from the preliminary rounds, unfortunately none involve Elvin Hayes. But they all do have a nice aura of unintentional comedy in the sense of how much the game of basketball has advanced… highlighted by the irrelevant-to-winning microcosm of the dunk. Then again, as I once alluded to ina post when I hosted TrueHoop, dunks can be kind of important.

This first video pits Alex English of the Milwauke Bucks versus Mickey Johnson of the Chicago Bulls.It seems to take place on the Indiana Pacers’ home court for some reason… so, the crowd is pretty tame (at least compared to Portland during the NBA Finals… go figure). And the dunks? Well, completely lame in comparison to today’s standards… what you might see in a college pre-game layup line, or even high school.

This next one between Joe C. Meriweather of the Atlanta Hawks and Mel Davis of the New York Knicksseems to take place in a completely random gym. Things get a bit fancy when Davis goes off the backboard, which is lauded as a“timing attempt” by the CBS announcer. But here’s the fun/relevant part to Washington Redskins fans. As you probably know, famed former Redskins owner, the late Jack Kent Cooke, used to own the Los Angeles Lakers (from 1965 to 1979). At the end of the clip below, another CBS announcer interviews Jimmy“The Greek”— apparently these dunk contests were shown at halftime or at some juncture during the 1977 playoffs. The Lakers and Portland Trailblazers faced off in the Western Conference Finals that year and Jimmy“The Greek” seems to be at the Great Western Forum, ready to deliver some gossip on a potential sale of the Lakers’ former home court.“The Greek” says:

“$25-million was offered by Jerry Buss to Mr. Kent Cooke for this affair. But Mr. Kent Cooke is in Las Vegas at the moment, he’s been there since June, of course. He’s had a little problem with his wife of 42 years. So consequently, this had to be sort of curtailed or put away until a deal is be made between Mr. Cooke and Mrs. Cooke.”

The divorce between Cooke and his first wife didn’t happen until 1979 (thus, when the Lakers were sold and Cooke decided to move east to tend to the Redskins), and she received$42 million in the settlement, which at the time was a U.S. record. So, a“little problem” indeed. Not sure if Vegas helped or not.

The Greek was also asked about Tony Dorsett and the general NFL reaction about him going to the Dallas Cowboys (who made a trade with the Seattle Seahawks to jump up in the’77 draft and take Dorsett with the second pick).

“If I know George Allen, he’s called Ben Bradley of the Washington Post and the sports editor George over there 20 times already complaining about it. He is accusing Seattle of being a farm club to Dallas.” {laughs are exchanged}

Sorry to digress, it’s a D.C. sports thing… on to the clip of olde tymey dunking:

This last one pits Joe C. Meriweather in a subsequent round against George Gervin of the San Antonio Spursand is probably the most mundane of all the clips… a couple missed dunks really hurt Gervin.

The story of the lost and forgotten 1976-77 NBA dunk contest is far from complete, especially as far as Elvin Hayes’ participation is concerned. In discussing the phenomenon of this event with Bethlehem Shoals himself over G-chat, he exclaimed that Hillman reminded him of McGee. From Brunner’s article, the‘Rock-the-Cradle’ dunk was a signature of Hillman… and from this past summer league, we know McGee is an admirer of that very same move.

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Truth About It» Flipping A Clear Rebuild On The Wizards’Pick And Roll Defense

You talk about Andray Blatche’s bad defense, you talk about JaVale McGee’s bad defense, you beat dead horses that really won’t die. That’s how things go with the Washington Wizards franchise these days.

Head coach Flip Saunders is not happy, evidenced by the manner in which he cut his press conference short after Wednesday night’s 109-97 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, making his team 0-17 on the road for the season. Saunders wasn’t particularly terse in dealing with the media after the game, as seen on Comcast’s coverage, but it’s something we’ve seen before. He was suddenly done answering questions in his own, subtly annoyed tone, and‘poof’… he was gone, as some media member tried to get in a question to no avail.

But before the abrupt ending, Saunders twice exclaimed how bad his team fared at defending Philadelphia’s pick and rolls and twice pinned most of the blame on his big men, saying,“bigs didn’t give enough help.” Nothing new here. After the loss to New Orleans on January 1, Saunders indicated that his team addressed defending pick and rolls in a soft manner. Not long after Saunders made that comment, I asked John Wall to assess the so-called“softness.”

“It’s not about defending soft,” he said.“You know, I think we were pressuring the ball, it’s just that we’re not doing a great job of hedging. You see when I came off the screen, they big men was there, and they was hedging pretty hard, making me pass the ball and pick up my dribble. I feel like when {Chris Paul} came off a screen, he just had freedom to do whatever he wants to… find teammates and scoring. We just got to do a better job of stepping up and making the guards pass the ball.”

According to Synergy Sports, through 33 games this season the Wizards, in charted plays that end in a field-goal attempt, turnover or free-throws, are allowing the pick-and-roll ball handler to score 0.88 points per possession (PPP), ranked 23rd in the league. They are allowing the P&R roll man to score 1.06 PPP, ranked 22nd in the league. Not the worst in the world, not the best— and worth saying that these stats don’t paint a complete picture of what action develops off of P&R possessions.

Against the Sixers on Wednesday, with a fully healthy squad and a couple days of practice to prepare, P&R ball handler plays accounted for just over 20-percent of the Wizards’ defensive possessions. Philadelphia scored on 68.4-percent of those possessions at the rate of 1.37 PPP. Sixer offensive possessions ended with the P&R roll man 5.3-percent of the time, and that man scored 80-percent of the time producing 1.4 PPP. Maybe rule number one in terms of defending pick and rolls is: Don’t leave the guards out on an island.

TheWashington Post’sMike Wise had a good profile on Saundersin Friday’s paper. My first reaction was…‘Well, that is certainly well-placed and gleaming, considering the escalating hotness of Saunders’ seat.’ On the other hand, Wise’s well-crafted piece offers perspective… perspective that I’ve appreciated all along, Flip’s embracing of the role of teacher. One needs to look no further that the‘willing to learn and implement’ Nick Young to know that Flip’s teaching methods have been successful to a specific extent.

But Wise almost paints a‘woe is me’ picture of Saunders (likening him to an“umbrella-less man caught in a downpour, running toward a Metro stop to escape his miserable job downtown”), yet in the mold of someone who cares, who works hard, who loses sleep… over a depressing job. Teaching at the rate of $4 million this season is how Saunders’ deals with the misery that is the Washington Wizards.

Teaching is great, but this franchise also needs a coach, preferably one who doesn’t have to say,“You can’t coach effort.”Which is not to say that it’seasyto coach effort and that the team’s problems originate with Saunders— concerns regarding him certainly come third after players and management— but Wise’s pieces glosses over the team’s issues as a basketball unit before last season’s gun incident.

It’s easy to point out the difficulties in the present of getting Andray Blatche or JaVale McGee to change their horribly bad habits. But why couldn’t Saunders get the veterans of last year’s team on his page?

Then you start pointing more fingers at management. Then you uncomfortably point fingers at how a sick owner’s dying wishes were to get his team one more championship, and how that goal might have set the franchise back in the long term. Then you point fingers back at Ernie Grunfeld… were his moves strapped by Abe Pollin’s request, or did he just fail in the execution?

Different players, different situations, same pattern.

On his blog, Ted Leonsis commended Wise’s piece andwrites:

We are rebuilding our team. It isn’t like we are suddenly not a productive squad. We were a lottery team the last two years. The team has not been ultra competitive for many years.

{...}

We are 30 plus games into a long season and an even longer rebuild. We will see progress along with setbacks. That is the nature of these rebuild projects. Two steps forward, one step back. No short cuts. We have to have belief in what we are doing and stay with the program.

But what exactly is the program? Leonsis has been very clear about his ideals, but in specific terms of rebuilding… Is there more tearing down to be done? Does the team still need freshly acquired parts? Are they moving forward with old parts, including management and players? Is it a combination of everything? Wouldn’t phrases like,‘It isn’t like we are suddenly not a productive squad,’seemingly indicate that the order which has reigned over the previous several years is less than ideal? I don’t know.

What’s apparent is that something is still wrong with the culture of the franchise, much past hoping things will just‘click’ like pounding on a rock. Flip’s words from Wise’s column:

“…what always happens with young teams, you see progress and then you’re back. It’s like that story about the rock, you know.”

{...}

“…the one where you keep pounding and pounding and pounding that rock. After 200 times, nothing happens. And you think that’s it. And then you hit it the 201st time and you start to see a crack. And hopefully, the older they get, the stinker games become less and less.”

This is about more than just treating player’s basketball IQ’s as rocks. It’s about their surroundings. It’s about NOT glossing things over with words like“stale,”“process,” and“patience.”

“Our main setbacks have come from injuries and uncertainty,” writes Leonsis.

It’s about admitting that rebuilding a team is about much more than that. And it’s not like Leonsis hasn’t, but‘uncertainty’ is rather murky, is it not?

Right now, Wizards fans can only be complacent with their hope and resign themselves to little victories… such as, perhaps, Saunders cracking the ineptitude of Blatche and McGee on pick and roll defense at one point.

But the big picture is much more cloudy, accentuated by bothersome ways to lose games and a team (players, coaches and management), perpetually searching for, grasping for mental clarity, on and off the court.

Much easier written than enacted, but what else can one do when the rebuilding is so unclear?

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