Wizards in the Media Thread

[fishercob]

"There's a certain way you say it," Jamison said. "And let's be honest: Some of it is not their fault. This is the first time a lot of guys have been in this situation and the expectations were very high of those guys. Granted they didn't perform the way we would've liked, but you can say that about some of the vets. We didn't perform the way we expected.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR

Also posted this in the Gilbertology thread:

Where are the Jamison haters? Gilbert's throwing the young players under the bus right? This makes you sick to your stomach, right?

It seems to me that Gil agrees with Jamison/Caron/Tap's frustration with the kids' inconsistency of production/professionalism this year. The main difference is that Gil named names. It clearly stings a lot more. I wouldn't be surprised if it elicited better results from the kids, though.

[Benjammin]

"There's a certain way you say it," Jamison said. "And let's be honest: Some of it is not their fault. This is the first time a lot of guys have been in this situation and the expectations were very high of those guys. Granted they didn't perform the way we would've liked, but you can say that about some of the vets. We didn't perform the way we expected.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... tml?sub=AR

Also posted this in the Gilbertology thread:

Where are the Jamison haters? Gilbert's throwing the young players under the bus right? This makes you sick to your stomach, right?

It seems to me that Gil agrees with Jamison/Caron/Tap's frustration with the kids' inconsistency of production/professionalism this year. The main difference is that Gil named names. It clearly stings a lot more. I wouldn't be surprised if it elicited better results from the kids, though.

Well Fisher, I was on the bottom of page 12 stating that it was good to hear that from Jamison, since it is so different from his previously reported public comments. I don't hate Jamison, but nor do I buy into the hagiography that many seem to ascribe to him. He's an efficient, if unorthodox offensive player. Whether he tries hard on d or not, he is frequently victimized by average players. He is very good with the media and apparently well-liked by his teammates. To the degree that his "leadership" has led to playoff success is questionable at best. He's certainly good enough to lose in the first round with playing 38 minutes a game. Now if he's playing 28 minutes a game and there is more of a two-way player at the 4 then his contribution might lead to more significant playoff success. I think the reaction that some on this board to Jamison is an over-reaction and hyperbole to the iconic status many place on him.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

"I will say I just don't see the same craftsmanship that was given me as a young player," he said. "If I went into darkness mood, like training camp, maybe it would have been different. But like I said, when you're not playing, they're not going to listen."

What the hell does this mean? darkness mood? wtf?

[Rafael122]

Article by David Aldridge: http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/d ... index.html

I think what's most interesting is that in this article, he says the Wizards will be looking at trading a couple of their youngsters in the offseason. IMO, I think that's assuming they get the top pick. They are gonna have to clear up room for Griffin (assuming he comes out). I think Blatche and OPEC are most likely to be on the trade block should that happen.

[mhd]

All signs point to Blatche (who we should trade if we draft a big). The other?

1) No way on McGee (too much potential)
2) DMac (doesn't seem to be a knucklehead)
3) OPEC (seems to be a gym rat)
4) Critt (could be, though he seems serious)
5) N1 (seems goofy, but I've never heard of any shannigans off the court. Carter said Young always is on the court).

[Rafael122]

I doubt its Critter. He's shown enough that he could be our backup point guard. He just needs more seasoning and Hopla probably needs to work with this guy this summer. His jump shot is pretty bad.

I think its Blatche and OPEC. OPEC doesn't seem to be a knucklehead per se, but again, if we get Griffin, we'd have like 6 or 7 forwards on this team. Someone has to go.

[Dat2U]

All signs point to Blatche (who we should trade if we draft a big). The other?

1) No way on McGee (too much potential)
2) DMac (doesn't seem to be a knucklehead)
3) OPEC (seems to be a gym rat)
4) Critt (could be, though he seems serious)
5) N1 (seems goofy, but I've never heard of any shannigans off the court. Carter said Young always is on the court).

I think we can all agree on Blatche. He's a definite goner. The interesting thing will be for what? Are we going to use him to dump unwanted salary or maybe package him with our pick for all-star quality vet?

Personally, I'm not against moving Blatche but I'm not against keeping him either. His contract is great. He's still very young and skilled, I think he's also been miscast as a versatile player that could equally be effective at the SF & C positions by the coaching staff when in reality he's about as pure a PF as one could get. He'd be better next to a 7-0 footer or a true low post threat. i think CCJ also had it right when he said he's never played for a good coach. I think we all realize Blatche will be no star but I think he could be a solid role player although I don't like the Tim Thomas like quality of his work ethic.

As for the other young guy, my money is on Young. He's probably even more talented and gifted then Blatche and somehow gets less out of his talent than Blatche does. He's complete goofball IMO. I don't think he takes the game that seriously. He's a tease. His game looks pretty but there isn't much impact.

McGee is a keeper. McGuire is a gamer. Critt is a work in progress but tries hard. Pech seems to have been written off in the organization as a bust but it's not because he doesn't give 100% effort.

[Da HomeTeam]

I doubt its Critter. He's shown enough that he could be our backup point guard. He just needs more seasoning and Hopla probably needs to work with this guy this summer. His jump shot is pretty bad.

I think its Blatche and OPEC. OPEC doesn't seem to be a knucklehead per se, but again, if we get Griffin, we'd have like 6 or 7 forwards on this team. Someone has to go.

Definately Opec...not sure I'm ready to give up Blatche. With Etan likely moving he's a good body to have around. He's versatile and has a decent contract. I'm not even thinking about getting Griffin. We cross that bridge if/when we get to it. Blatche just needs the proper guidance...but then again as long as he continues to hit Josephine's every Wednesday night after home games, its gonna be tough for him to grow up.

[Wizards2Lottery]

I do have to say that besides Jamison's constant whining all season, he's actually grown on me as a player. Didn't quit all year (at least on offense) and played with passion.

Can't fault him for the fact that this team is under the conception that it can be good on defense while keeping AJ at the four. I think he would be a really good SF of the bench for us.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Article by David Aldridge: http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/d ... index.html

I think what's most interesting is that in this article, he says the Wizards will be looking at trading a couple of their youngsters in the offseason. IMO, I think that's assuming they get the top pick. They are gonna have to clear up room for Griffin (assuming he comes out). I think Blatche and OPEC are most likely to be on the trade block should that happen.

The only real knuckleheads on the team are Blatche and Young.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Wow, would you trade Blatche and Young? Blatche I can see just because we seem to have lots of assets now at that position, especially if we get Griffin. Problem with Blatche is his contract is so low and his perceived value around the league so low that you probably can't get anything for him. Maybe some expirings and seconds rounders and that'd be it. But the expirings would be pretty small.

And young is one of the few assets we have at the 2. How can we get rid of him? We could maybe trade him for another washed up two like James, but why?

[nate33]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do not condone the arbitrary dumping of Blatche unless we a getting pretty good return (i.e. a mid first round caliber talent, or the dumping of substantial salary).

Blatche may be a knucklehead and he may not have the work ethic to be a reliable starter, but he remains a quality backup at both the PF and C positions while being locked into an incredibly cheap contract. With our salary situation, we can't really afford to trade one of the few bargain contracts on the roster. Right now, Blatche is the only decent backup center on the roster. And if Songaila gets dumped, Blatche becomes the only decent backup PF on the roster as well. If we move him, we're gonna have to replace him. And chances are, that replacement will cost more.

[Dat2U]

Nate, I'm with you on Blatche. I wouldn't be too thrilled about just including him in a salary dump. I doubt EG does that however. I could see him or Young being packaged with our pick (if its not #1) along with Mike James and/or Etan Thomas for a veteran SG. Maybe someone like Rip, Michael Redd, Kevin Martin or even Vince Carter. Something very similar to what he did in acquiring Antawn Jamison.

I'm certainly more willing to deal Young and would probably do so for expirings. I'm still not a fan of his game. I'd much rather keep Blatche than Young.

[closg00]

Happy to have Michael Lee on the beat, he's a much better writer and a definte upgrade over Ivan IMO.

[Rafael122]

He's actually using the blog. I like him already. All he needed was a chance. He posted some random thoughts on the game last night, which I assume he's going to do for every game.

[TheSecretWeapon]

I'll keep an open mind on Lee, but his past work has been unimpressive. He was utterly unremarkable when he was the beat writer in Atlanta and did nothing special when he was on the Wizards beat before Ivan. The stuff he's done for the blog is decent, but it's counterbalanced (at least to me) with the crummy job he did on the Crittenton piece. Plus, he completely whiffed on Haywood's return. Yeah, everyone else missed that story too, but that's the kind of thing he should have known about and reported.

[closg00]

Big props for what Michael Lee has done with the Wizards Insider column. Today he has a round table of Wiz bloggers on what the Wiz should do if they get the first pick in the draft. I love the blogger idea because these-guys follow the Wiz much more closely than most sports hacks outside of Lee himself.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/

[nate33]

Big props to what Michael Lee has done with the Wizards Insider column. Today he has a round table of Wiz bloggers on what the Wiz should do if they get the first pick in the draft. I love the blogger idea because these-guys follow the Wiz much more closely than most sports hacks outside of Lee himself.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/

+1

Who knew Lee would turn out to so good as the Wizards beat reporter? We all disliked the guy at first because he seemed to be a cocky prick with little to no interest in the Wizards. But I gotta give the guy credit. Ever since he took over for Ivan, he's been doing some pretty good work. He's definitely an improvement over Ivan.

[keynote]

Lee deserves a lot of credit, but WaPo has apparently reorganized their Sports desk to provide better online content. As of 3/3/09:

...The Post Sports Department on the print side has combined with the Sports staff from the Post Web site. So we're all learning new things to produce better coverage on both platforms.

The other contributors to this blog are me, Alexa Steele, the NBA editor; and Keith McMillan, the night NBA editor.

[WizDom]

I'll keep an open mind on Lee, but his past work has been unimpressive. He was utterly unremarkable when he was the beat writer in Atlanta and did nothing special when he was on the Wizards beat before Ivan. The stuff he's done for the blog is decent, but it's counterbalanced (at least to me) with the crummy job he did on the Crittenton piece. Plus, he completely whiffed on Haywood's return. Yeah, everyone else missed that story too, but that's the kind of thing he should have known about and reported.

Looks like he reads the forum
"[Crittenton's] ceiling remains that of a solid backup, but he's worth keeping. Kevin Broom of the Secret Weapon aptly compares Crittenton to Alvin Williams."