Wizards in the Media Thread

[doclinkin]

Mike Jones

Who?

[nate33]

In the future, local sports coverage may be exclusively through independent local blogs with media passes - guys like Mike Prada.

[doclinkin]

In the future, local sports coverage may be exclusively through independent local blogs with media passes - guys like Mike Prada.

Would put the kibosh on a beat guy traveling with the team and getting all the ins and outs as a semi-unbiased narrative thread though. Context. And Bloggers are partisans for the most part, even if Baby-Faced Mike is pretty decent at preserving a reasonable semblance of objectivity.

[keynote]

I wonder what kind of revenue (ad revenue or otherwise) independent blogs generate?

I'd say that the True Hoop network is probably closer to the future: a national media outlet acts as a filter and conveys credibility to independent affiliates. The affiliates get the national rub and some sort of discounted content fee.

Anyway, I didn't read the Times much. I will miss Jones' Wizards coverage, but it was clear that Jones' Outlet blog didn't generate nearly as much traffic or interest as Mike Lee's Wizards Insider.

[Pradamaster]

I wonder what kind of revenue (ad revenue or otherwise) independent blogs generate?

I'd say that the True Hoop network is probably closer to the future: a national media outlet acts as a filter and conveys credibility to independent affiliates. The affiliates get the national rub and some sort of discounted content fee.

Anyway, I didn't read the Times much. I will miss Jones' Wizards coverage, but it was clear that Jones' Outlet blog didn't generate nearly as much traffic or interest as Mike Lee's Wizards Insider.

Just to clarify - Bullets Forever is part of a network too - just an independent network called SB Nation rather than an ESPN affiliate. We have a homepage with independent content and 230 or so team- and league-specific blogs that are all among the best out there (we have great Caps, Skins, Nats, UMD and Georgetown blogs, for example). More info's here. http://www.sbnation.com/pages/about

Anyway, Nate, appreciate the praise, but there's no way I or sites like mine and Truth About It are going to replace guys like Jones. They'll just find another internet platform and keep doing what they do. It might take a while, but our whole platform works because we complement those guys, not because we replace them. They're too good with too many sources, etc.

[fishercob]

WHOA!

We may have some serious progress from "the mainstream media. Kudos to Mike Lee! Check out this nugget from his "The Other Side" preview of the Raps:

3. The Raptors have stunk largely because their defense has been garbage. They are allowing 118.3 points per 100 possessions, which is the worst in the NBA. The league average is 106.7. But another problem has been Hedo Turkoglu's difficult transition with his new team. Michael Grange of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the problems are much deeper

.

Anything that shines the light on the correct metrics advances the level of discourse when it comes to the Wiz and pro hoops in general. Way to go Mike Lee. Keep it up.

[DallasShalDune]

WHOA!

We may have some serious progress from "the mainstream media. Kudos to Mike Lee! Check out this nugget from his "The Other Side" preview of the Raps:

3. The Raptors have stunk largely because their defense has been garbage. They are allowing 118.3 points per 100 possessions, which is the worst in the NBA. The league average is 106.7. But another problem has been Hedo Turkoglu's difficult transition with his new team. Michael Grange of the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that the problems are much deeper

.

Anything that shines the light on the correct metrics advances the level of discourse when it comes to the Wiz and pro hoops in general. Way to go Mike Lee. Keep it up.

I love the guy. He is 100 times better than anybody we have in Kansas City.

[keynote]

Thanks for the info, Mike; I thought of SB Nation as another example of a national content aggregator, but I hadn't realized/remembered that your site is an affiliate.

And, to clarify on my end: I wasn't attempting to pry into the economics of your specific business model.

[dnk]

It's a shame about Mike Jones. I'm betting he'll get back on his feet in no time, he did some great work.

And SB Nation is the best. I check Bullets Forever and Japers' Rink a preposterous amount of times a day. (And Hogs Haven to a much lower extent.)

[no D in Hibachi]

Too bad for Mike Jones

The Wash Times is axing all local sports coverage. Hell that was the only reason to read the rag. MJones is a darned good beat writer though, always operating under tough conditions (no travel budget for Wiz writers, etc). Nice guy too, I hope he lands on his feet, tough hit for him personally tho' considering the state of the industry.

Slevin would not confirm that the metro and sports sections will be dropped, saying no final decisions have been made. But with the Times pursuing a national audience, he said, coverage of the Washington Nationals or suburban governments would "be of less interest, if any, to someone in Spokane."

edit-- for proper Mike. I knew that. Typo only.

This is a tough break for Mike Jones. I like Mike Lee of the Post, didn't care much for Ivan Carter, but Mike Jones was better than both of them. His series of stories on Arenas before the season started really impressed me. You could tell he is a great reporter by the way he forged a relationship with Arenas and then basically put together a massive series of top quality work about him. If I were comcast or JFK 1067 I'd hire him. Part of being a good sports reporter is having good relationships with the players on the team. He apparently has than so he'd be an immediate asset.

[closg00]

Mike Lee chat on the Wiz today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02072.html

[montestewart]

Mike Lee has a poll today on what the Wizards should do. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/

Of the choices, the overwhelming favorite was "Caron Butler and Arenas need to stop thinking and play ball." As far as roster moves, the choices were to blow everything up or to make a minor deal before Christmas. I don't consider trading one of the big three to necessarily be blowing everything up; odd that it wasn't an option (they did have a "something else" option).

[Wizards2Lottery]

Blowing everything up would only lead to more chemistry issues. We just need to bury our heads in the sand and hope that it finally clicks for this squad. We have no other choice. We'll be selling extremely low right now.

[LyricalRico]

"It's going to happen. It's not going to happen overnight," Butler said. "A lot of people keep forgetting. They think it's supposed to gel immediately. Gil's been away two years. Roles changed; everything changed. Everybody is trying to adjust to a new situation and circumstance."

Arenas had cemented his status as the Wizards' go-to-guy before his knee troubles, but Jamison and Butler established themselves in his absence, making his return more complicated.

After going 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter against the Pistons, Arenas said he wasn't concerned about whom Saunders and the coaching staff decides to give the ball with the game on the line.

"I'll let them figure it out," Arenas said. "Before, the whole building knew who was going to shoot the last four minutes. In this case, we have enough scorers. Sometimes, I won't shoot in the fourth quarter; I won't shoot in the last four minutes. I don't even think about it. I just go with the flow now. I don't want to get on anybody's bad side. I'm trying to play my role until all that weeds itself out."

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

There are our problems in a nutshell. Caron thinks it's still last season and Gil doesn't want to make him upset. Moving Caron's personality off of the team, regardless of what we get in return, I think goes a long way to solving our chemistry issues.

[closg00]

"It's going to happen. It's not going to happen overnight," Butler said. "A lot of people keep forgetting. They think it's supposed to gel immediately. Gil's been away two years. Roles changed; everything changed. Everybody is trying to adjust to a new situation and circumstance."

Arenas had cemented his status as the Wizards' go-to-guy before his knee troubles, but Jamison and Butler established themselves in his absence, making his return more complicated.

After going 0 for 3 in the fourth quarter against the Pistons, Arenas said he wasn't concerned about whom Saunders and the coaching staff decides to give the ball with the game on the line.

"I'll let them figure it out," Arenas said. "Before, the whole building knew who was going to shoot the last four minutes. In this case, we have enough scorers. Sometimes, I won't shoot in the fourth quarter; I won't shoot in the last four minutes. I don't even think about it. I just go with the flow now. I don't want to get on anybody's bad side. I'm trying to play my role until all that weeds itself out."

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

There are our problems in a nutshell. Caron thinks it's still last season and Gil doesn't want to make him upset. Moving Caron's personality off of the team, regardless of what we get in return, I think goes a long way to solving our chemistry issues.

Whatever, last night I was cruising the DX site just to see who was on the boards for a pick in the teens These guys have numbed me.

[closg00]

I think Wood just killed what glimmer of hope he had left in attaining a on-air gig with his comments from his latest Blog about Tiger.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... rdsinsider

[keynote]

Eh, I don't think it's so bad. Yeah, the "Chris Brown" comments were poorly-chosen, but any harm caused by these kinds of indiscretions will fade over time. He's opinionated and clearly willing to mix it up (as shown by his back and forth with that WNBA player). He's smart, articulate, and he knows the game. He comes across a little arrogant in his blog (e.g., "re-read what I wrote slooowly", etc.), and he's clearly not as charismatic as Gilbert in his prime. But, if he's got the broadcasting chops to back up his desire, he'll have as good a chance as ex-player to get a gig.

[nate33]

Haywood is taking a bit of a gamble. If it pays off, he can become another Charles Barkley and have the ability to say whatever he wants to say with no repercussions. If it doesn't pay off, he'll be seen as radioactive and nobody will want to hire him.

[LyricalRico]

^ It's interesting that you compare Wood with Gil because I think those comparisons could we why he's willing to push the envelope in his comments. Haywood strikes me as one of those guys who's not uncommonly funny but wants to be. So he sees Gil say/do some outrageous things and he tries to copy, but it's not the same.

Guys like Arenas and Barkley get away with stuff that others don't because they have established themselves as those kinds of people publicly (and they are/were really good). Haywood is a complete no-name everywhere except on these boards so when he tries to be "edgy" people's first reaction is "STFU you no-name".

I agree that he's got a future if he sticks to analyzing basketball-related stuff. But he's going absolutely nowhere as an opinion columnist. The sooner someone convinces him that he's not the next Charles Barkley, the better.

[nate33]

Perhaps another analogy would be Tim Legler. Legler was a relative no name as a player, but as an analyst he is a bit more willing than most to be frank and critical of other players.