Wizards in the Media Thread

fishercob · Post #101 » by **fishercob** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:42 pm

Wizards in the Media thread. IBTM.

MOrgil · Post #102 » by **MOrgil** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:47 pm

overall coverage of the Wizards sucks in washington.

closg00 · Post #103 » by **closg00** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:53 pm

It appears to me that their is/was an agreement between Ivan and Wiz mgmt NOT to report on Gilbert's recovery progress. If you recall, several of Ivan's blog entries would say that for example Gilbert played Nick Young one-on-one, but that reporters were barred from covering it. Or that Gilbert was as practice, but that it was closed to the press.

I'll bet that Ivan was there at the practice, saw Gilbert's drills etc., but per the agreement, did not report on it. If Ivan had said "Oh, I've seen Gilbert engaging in drills etc, but I can't tell you about it, he would have been flamed on his blog. Brown-nosing to keep "sources" typical in reporting.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #104 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:07 pm

He never reports anything interesting and he's always beaten to the punch regarding the few interesting things that happen with this team.

I don't even bother looking at his blog for info anymore.

Soup's Uncle · Post #105 » by **Soup's Uncle** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:11 pm

I think Ivan sucks. I always here about Wiz related stuff through other sources, and the he says, "Maybe some of you all have heard this rumor."

I think he could do a lot better of a job. But who am I to judge? I'm not in his shoes, and I don't know how much access he gets. He probably doesn't get much. It definitely seems that way.

He's more like a Wizards Outsider.

Post #106 » by **LyricalRico** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:18 pm

Ivan Carter is the EJ of beat reporters. Zero inside info and he's constantly being scooped by other sources (even those out of town). I just think he's too buddy-buddy with the organization and isn't willing to ask the tough questions. I'm sure they all love him but it doesn't make for good coverage.

Post #107 » by **miller31time** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:18 pm

Merged the Ivan thread with the "Wizards in the Media" thread.

-miller

newslowsad · Post #108 » by **newslowsad** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:34 pm

Typical trade deadline or offseason post for Ivan:

"Ernie Grunfeld is taking calls"

mhd · Post #109 » by **mhd** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 9:42 pm

Ric Bucher, David Aldridge, JA Adande, Steve Wyche were GREAT beat writers.

Kanyewest · Post #110 » by **Kanyewest** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:57 pm

Jamison might be traded for expirings (and JJ Hickson)

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... pdate.html

doclinkin · Post #111 » by **doclinkin** » Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:36 pm

mhd wrote:Ric Bucher, David Aldridge, JA Adande, Steve Wyche were GREAT beat writers.

Add John Keim of the Examiner before they went online-only. They've had a string of would be Bloggers this year doing the job. Early on it was more opinion than fact. Now at least it looks like they got a guy who's trying to do the job. Sounds like he may have jumped the gun a little. But the instinct to make news is good.

Post #112 » by **nate33** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:06 am

Ivan Carter wrote:-To again clarify: contrary to what was reported elsewhere Gilbert Arenas DID NOT practice yesterday. He did do some non-contract shooting work which he's done before. The confusion probably stemmed from the fact that Caron Butler was quoted as saying that it was good to see Gilbert out there "practicing." What Butler meant was that he was out there on the court.

That's about the fifth time this board has jumped all over Ivan Carter for not "breaking a story" only to find out that there was no story.

Post #113 » by **Rafael122** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:22 am

Nate - mea culpa, but I stand by what I've said on every other issue. It's just not this "did Arenas practice or not practice" story.

The guy still gets out scooped more than anyone I've seen covering the Wizards.

closg00 · Post #114 » by **closg00** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:36 am

nate33 wrote:
Ivan Carter wrote:-To again clarify: contrary to what was reported elsewhere Gilbert Arenas DID NOT practice yesterday. He did do some non-contract shooting work which he's done before. The confusion probably stemmed from the fact that Caron Butler was quoted as saying that it was good to see Gilbert out there "practicing." What Butler meant was that he was out there on the court.

That's about the fifth time this board has jumped all over Ivan Carter for not "breaking a story" only to find out that there was no story.

Quite frankly, I don't believe Ivan's spin. The fact is that Gilbert was at the practice and Ivan didn't mention it while he did mention other trivial tidbits. Caron said what he said and the headline & story in the Express article have not been retracted. Ivan is spinning BS.

doclinkin · Post #115 » by **doclinkin** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:46 am

The Examiner is the only one with quotes from teammates saying how good it was to have him on the floor. I'd bet Ivan had a hard time getting back from PHX (hungover) and missed practice, literally phoned it in.

closg00 · Post #116 » by **closg00** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:10 am

doclinkin wrote:The Examiner is the only one with quotes from teammates saying how good it was to have him on the floor. I'd bet Ivan had a hard time getting back from PHX (hungover) and missed practice, literally phoned it in.

Exactly.

BigA · Post #117 » by **BigA** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:59 am

Is there some requirement that the Wizards have to report it to the league if Arenas practices or doesn't, like the NFL? I suspect that there isn't. They're just "active" or "inactive."

closg00 · Post #118 » by **closg00** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:28 pm

Here is the Caron Quote from the Express article re: Gilbert at practice.

“Today seeing him on court, practicing and handling the contact, hitting shots and pushing the ball up and getting out in transition, was wonderful,” said forward Caron Butler. “It brought back a lot of memories. I look forward to playing with him and getting him back as soon as possible.”

Ivan, you are cold busted :evil:

Post #119 » by **Rafael122** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 1:59 pm

So I take back my mea culpa. Lazy reporting at its finest.

BigA · Post #120 » by **BigA** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:05 pm

closg00 wrote:Here is the Caron Quote from the Express article re: Gilbert at practice.
“Today seeing him on court, practicing and handling the contact, hitting shots and pushing the ball up and getting out in transition, was wonderful,” said forward Caron Butler. “It brought back a lot of memories. I look forward to playing with him and getting him back as soon as possible.”

Ivan, you are cold busted

Ivan Carter from Wizards Insider:

To again clarify: contrary to what was reported elsewhere Gilbert Arenas DID NOT practice yesterday. He did do some non-contract shooting work which he's done before. The confusion probably stemmed from the fact that Caron Butler was quoted as saying that it was good to see Gilbert out there "practicing." What Butler meant was that he was out there on the court.

Note that Ivan does not correctly take Caron's quote from the Examiner. Did he check it out? Was Caron misquoted by the Examiner or mistaken? Obviously Ivan is being told something different from what was in the Examiner yesterday.

There's no retraction in the Examiner today of yesterday's story that Arenas PRACTICED and TOOK CONTACT.

Maybe Ivan's busted. Another possibility is that Caron let something out of the bag.

Maybe Gilbert is pretty much ready, the Wizards and Gilbert have a return date in mind that's been at least partially set for tanking purposes, but need to maintain a shred of deniability. It wouldn't look good with the league to be holding out your best player when he's totally healthy just for tanking purposes.