Beware the Ides of March (Wiz vs. Kings)

[dandridge 10]

Tonight was pretty cool. I sat next to the Sacremento bench courtesy of my ticket agent who gave me four free courtside seats due to an email I sent bitching about the direction of this team. Some observations:

1. Sitting courtside, you appreciate a lot more the physicality and quickness of the NBA game. One thing that all my friends all commented on was that the refs probably could call a foul each time down the court...it is that physical. Every play there is a lot of grabbing, pushing, etc...I have a lot more respect for the refs and how hard it is to ref a game.

2. For all the bashing of Jamison, he simply does not take a play off during the game. He is pretty much battling the entire game (and this comes from a guy who my wife calls a Jamison hater). He is also by far the most vocal guy on the Wizards. He is contantly talking and yelling out instructions on defense, which surprised me a lot. Yeah, the guy doesn't play very good defense, but he sure looks like the leader on the team while on the court.

3. My buddy, who doesn't watch a lick of NBA basketball, made an astute observations tonight. Without me saying anything about Blatche, he said, "you can tell that guy has a lot of skill, but he doesn't seem to put out much effort." He couldn't have said it better.

4. During one point in the fourth quarter, I said to my buddy that it was time to start tanking the game. One of the injured players on the Sacremento bench overheard me and said to me, "Yeah, Blake Griffin" with a smile on his face.

5. During the kiss cam segment during the game, Calvin Booth would not sit down. I started yelling at Calvin to sit down so he could be on the kiss cam. He said, "they don't want my ugly mug on camera."

6. Overall, the Kings bench looked disinterested most of the game. The only two players that seemed hyped and into the game were Spencer Dawes and Jason Thompson. The rest looked like they could care less, and half of them were not even watching the game.

Overall, it was a great experience being on the floor and it gave me a different perspective on the game. It was also fun talking to the players. However, I like my regular seats better (Section 111, Row N). I think it is just nicer being a little higher so you can see everything better instead of looking through players. Oh yeah, the cheerleaders look much better from a distance than up close too!

[GilArenas88]

Weres the player of the game thread?

[BigA]

Was Kevin Martin's foot really on the line? I was at the game and they only showed the replay once. It looked like he was behind the line to me.

I suspect David Stern called down to the refs during the review. He can always make sure the Kings get Blake, but maybe he doesn't want to work so hard.

[Ruzious]

The Jamison bashing from some of us stems, I believe, from his constant whiny harping about the young guys as if he has five rings. Jamison plays hard and is a professional, but he's also faux when it comes to being a complete player. He's faux when he says all the right things so smoothly and then goes out and gives up nearly as much as he gets. He's like a sugary breakfast cereal with empty calories and no fiber. He and Caron act like they're all-stars and then they passively aggressively pout when they can't manage more than 16 wins out of 67 games and throw the young guys under the bus at every opportunity.

With how hard he prepares and plays, he's earned the right - especially when he sees most of the players don't prepare and play anywhere near as hard as he does. And at least from what I've heard - Caron has done a lot more complaining about teammates to the media than Jamison has. It can't be a coincidence that everyone who covers the team makes a point to commend Jamison's play and professionalism.

[Benjammin]

Jamison works hard on the offensive end of the court. Time and again on the defensive end I've seen him standing around while average players take him to school. I would agree that Caron has complained more. Jamison is good enough to be a solid positive contributor most nights. Everyone likes to bring up Jamison's numbers in his contribution. While as a starter in the NBA he's made it to the second round of the playoffs once. He has contributed into making the Wizards a solidly mediocre team (when reasonably healthy) in the less than mediocre Eastern Conference. If the Wizards had the opportunity to clean up their cap by losing Jamison and Songaila for cap space, they missed a good chance. I am not saying he is a bad person or a bad player. I am saying that he is a wildly overrated leader and mildly overrated player on the court.

[Dat2U]

For all the bashing of Jamison, he simply does not take a play off during the game. He is pretty much battling the entire game (and this comes from a guy who my wife calls a Jamison hater). He is also by far the most vocal guy on the Wizards. He is contantly talking and yelling out instructions on defense, which surprised me a lot. Yeah, the guy doesn't play very good defense, but he sure looks like the leader on the team while on the court.

I don't quite understand how we can say that Jamison doesn't take plays off. The effort just isn't their defensively. He doesn't sell out. He's slow on rotations, he doesn't close out on shooters and he doesn't attempt to keep his man in front of him. I don't know what he's talking or yelling out on defense but it isn't doing much good from what I see. It's not just about a lack of foot speed or an inability to play defense, its a lack of want to or willingness to give a complete effort. I've seen on rare occassions when Jamison is mad or has been challenged by the coaching staff (i.e, getting sat for defensive purposes), where he's displayed the effort & ability to defend at a decent level. It rarely happens however and is a real indictment on his supposed leadership.

I honestly think the young guys have taken a page from their "leader". Defense just isn't that important.

[Dat2U]

The Jamison bashing from some of us stems, I believe, from his constant whiny harping about the young guys as if he has five rings. Jamison plays hard and is a professional, but he's also faux when it comes to being a complete player. He's faux when he says all the right things so smoothly and then goes out and gives up nearly as much as he gets. He's like a sugary breakfast cereal with empty calories and no fiber. He and Caron act like they're all-stars and then they passively aggressively pout when they can't manage more than 16 wins out of 67 games and throw the young guys under the bus at every opportunity.

Church. We can wax poetic all we want about how important Jamison's leadership is, how great his numbers are and about how he's having a career year. Bottom line, were 16-51 and nearly lost a game to a home team that's balantly trying to throw games. Obviously, some of us on here, many in the media and the entire front office overvalues Jamison's contributions. I think its mainly b/c many of us get wrapped up in those nice empty numbers he consistently puts up and his engaging personality in media related activiites.

[Dat2U]

It can't be a coincidence that everyone who covers the team makes a point to commend Jamison's play and professionalism.

And you know what. Jamison would be a fine asset as a 4th, 5th or 6th man on a time. Ideally contributing off the bench and providing instant scoring and consistent rebounding. Problem is, he's currently our 1st or 2nd best player, is our default "leader", thinks of himself as an all-star and would probably bitch about playing a lesser role at this stage.

I think there's a vacuum of leadership if Jamison has to be the team's most influential locker room presence.

[Benjammin]

Just as a point of reference and clarification, the above quote came from Ruzious, not me, about the ubiquitous nature of the media's adulation of Jamison's professionalism.

[fishercob]

And you know what. Jamison would be a fine asset as a 4th, 5th or 6th man on a time. Ideally contributing off the bench and providing instant scoring and consistent rebounding. Problem is, he's currently our 1st or 2nd best player, is our default "leader", thinks of himself as an all-star and would probably bitch about playing a lesser role at this stage.

I think there's a vacuum of leadership if Jamison has to be the team's most influential locker room presence.

Yeah Dat, Jamison's more suited to a complementary role -- and with Arenas and Haywood healthy, he'd get to play one.

Don't confuse Jamison with Caron. AJ wasn't campaigning for an all-star selection this year. You' might be right about the vacuum of leadership, but how is that Jamison's fault?

[Ruzious]

Just as a point of reference and clarification, the above quote came from Ruzious, not me, about the ubiquitous nature of the media's adulation of Jamison's professionalism.

And a fine quote it was.

[Benjammin]

Just as a point of reference and clarification, the above quote came from Ruzious, not me, about the ubiquitous nature of the media's adulation of Jamison's professionalism.

And a fine quote it was.

I just wanted to make sure you received full credit.

[cwb3]

The Jamison bashing from some of us stems, I believe, from his constant whiny harping about the young guys as if he has five rings. Jamison plays hard and is a professional, but he's also faux when it comes to being a complete player. He's faux when he says all the right things so smoothly and then goes out and gives up nearly as much as he gets. He's like a sugary breakfast cereal with empty calories and no fiber. He and Caron act like they're all-stars and then they passively aggressively pout when they can't manage more than 16 wins out of 67 games and throw the young guys under the bus at every opportunity.

^^^^

All that and his utter lack of defense.

[dandridge 10]

For all the bashing of Jamison, he simply does not take a play off during the game. He is pretty much battling the entire game (and this comes from a guy who my wife calls a Jamison hater). He is also by far the most vocal guy on the Wizards. He is contantly talking and yelling out instructions on defense, which surprised me a lot. Yeah, the guy doesn't play very good defense, but he sure looks like the leader on the team while on the court.

I don't quite understand how we can say that Jamison doesn't take plays off. The effort just isn't their defensively. He doesn't sell out. He's slow on rotations, he doesn't close out on shooters and he doesn't attempt to keep his man in front of him. I don't know what he's talking or yelling out on defense but it isn't doing much good from what I see. It's not just about a lack of foot speed or an inability to play defense, its a lack of want to or willingness to give a complete effort. I've seen on rare occassions when Jamison is mad or has been challenged by the coaching staff (i.e, getting sat for defensive purposes), where he's displayed the effort & ability to defend at a decent level. It rarely happens however and is a real indictment on his supposed leadership.

I honestly think the young guys have taken a page from their "leader". Defense just isn't that important.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on Jamison's effort. I actually think Jamison has put much more effort on the defensive end during the last two years. And, after watching the game last night from courtside seats, I had a much better appreciation of the effort he gives as well as how much he communicates on defense. I agree with you that he is a defensive liability, and for that reason I wouldn't mind seeing him moved. However, I think his defensive problems are more physical than effort related. He's just to slow to guard quicker players and too short to guard bigger players. His defensive liabilities are even more pronounced when you don't have someone who can protect the rim behind him.