SB Nation - Sam Cassell

The Bill Clinton Test

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:36:34 -0000

"There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America."

-President Bill Clinton

Had a young bill Clinton grown up with aspirations to lead the world's greatest basketball league instead of becoming President, I think it is pretty safe to say that a Commissioner Clinton would have rewritten this quote by substituting "NBA" for "America" and that last night's game between the Wolves and the Hornets would be one of the great challenges to this basic claim.

Let's begin with what is right. We were treated to an entertaining contest with a command performance from one of the best players in the league. There was the return of a phenomenal talent, flashy play, hustle, flash, broad themes and story lines.

On the other hand, we also had to endure WWE-esque referring, rosters that cause fans to think more about cap space and expiring contracts than championships, awful bench players and two entire squads that could probably be combined into a single squad that would likely be unable to contend for their crippling lack of proficiency at a key position (in this case, the wing).

Was the game entertaining? Yes, but there was always an undercurrent of pure nonsense that was very hard to ignore.

Anywho...the first notable thing about the action on the court was Jonny Flynn being given an up-close and personal view of what the very best point guard in the league looks like. Chris Paul's PG lesson began at the opening tip and did not end until the final buzzer. Each and every thing he did should be put into a downloadable mp4 that Flynn can put on his iPod and watch over and over and over and over. Where Flynn received the ball in the 1/2 court and paused for a moment or two to digest the action, Paul demands the ball and immediately shoots into action. Where Flynn uses his body to jump into larger players to minimize his defender's ability to jump while going for a shot, Paul uses his body to position himself between his defender and the rim in order to maximize favorable angles towards the hoop that allow for both better scoring and passing options. Where Flynn is able to dribble along the baseline and throw passes across the lane to the perimeter, Paul keeps his dribble deep into the lane causing the defense to collapse and open up much more favorable passing lanes. Paul put on a point guard clinic last night. At one point near the 1/2 he had 12 assists on 27 made Hornets shots. He ended the game with 15 assists on 39 made shots. In other words, even more so than the Cleveland LeBron's, New Orleans deserves to have a new nickname. And that's the rub.

I know that Dave Berri has already weighed in on the subject but I would like to add my two cents about it: Chris Paul is the back court version of Kevin Garnett. My only question right now about this analogy is what post-04 WCF year Paul is in with the Hornets? Just how far along on the process of decay are David West and Emeka Okafor compared to their back court doppelgangers of Sam Cassell and Latrel Sprewell? With their GM now at the end of the bench have they advanced to the time of Flip's firing? Will they attempt to move Peja's contract for an even longer deal and then lock themselves into a contract hell every bit as garish as what we saw here in Minny about 4-5 years ago? Hornets fans, I feel for you. There may still be time to get something out a historical player like Paul but I have the bad feeling that you will continue to see diminishing returns in his front court partners while causing an ever-increasing salary cap tragedy. Here's hoping the NOLA Pauls can avoid the fate of KG's Wolves. He's a fantastic player to watch and he's in need of...well, again, the Wolves and Pauls could put together a super team and Corey Brewer and Ryan Gomes would be the best wing players.

Moving along to the other big story of the night, Kevin Love saw his first action of the season with just over 6 minutes remaining in the first. In just under 24 minutes of action Love went 3-7 from the floor (2-3 from 3), 3-4 from the line (leading the team in attempts), 11 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists and only 2 turnovers. He finished with a +7. His impact was immediate and wide-spread. From rebounds and quick outlet passes to spreading the floor with his outside shooting to putting the ball on the deck for the best dribble drive dish of the year by any Wolves player, Love simply impacted the game and it will be very interesting to see how his on/off numbers look and how he impacts the team's overall numbers. The guy simply makes plays at a stunning rate. He's also a massive upgrade over the minutes previously given to Ryan Hollins and Oleksiy Pecherov. Oh, and he now wears a glove. How about bedazzling that bad boy for a Michael Jackson tribute?

Let's wrap this up with some bullet points:

Al Jefferson didn't have a great game (the interior defense was lacking tonight) but he did look a bit lighter on his feet than he has all season. He had a fast break dunk and a nice put back that was great to see.
Corey Brewer must be in some kind of doghouse. Last night he logged just 17:28 and the majority of his lost minutes went to Wayne Ellington, who was able to hit some of the open shots that are frequently given to wing players in the Wolves' system.
Speaking of wing players, as I mentioned up above, this game was conspicuously lacking anything approaching decent wing play on both teams. Both of these squads need better small forward play in a bad, bad way.
As a 2 win squad the Wolves have no business chalking up losses due to referring, but last night's game featured some of the shoddiest officiating in recent memory, highlighted by one of the most baffling calls right before the half where Chris Paul jumped about 5 feet to the side just across half court to draw a three shot foul on Ryan Hollins, who just happened to be running up the court. I suppose the pro-Paul side of this argument could be that Paul was simply being the crafty veteran by taking advantage of refs who he knew would make the call in his favor, but in my mind this play is no different than flopping. Paul acted in a way that he (rightly) suspected would draw a call that had no business of being called. It was WWE/game managing referring at its very worst. It cost the Wolves 3 points. Later on in the game the refs looked away at a James Posey ball slam and there were at least 3-4 plays where Wolves players were hacked going to the rim. Again, not something that you can chalk up a loss because of but it was distracting nonetheless.

Well, that about does it from my end. What caught your eye?

Until later.

Five possible ways to get Caron Butler's game going

Mike Prada — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:23:06 -0000

More photos » by Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP

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It's no secret that there's something wrong with Caron Butler's game. In three games thus far this season, Butler is averaging just 14 points a contest and is posting a dreadful 47.3% true shooting percentage. His PER is down to 11.5, which is barely replacement-level.

Lots of this just has to do with a small sample size, and even if Butler continues to struggle, there's no way he's going to be this bad. Nevertheless, something needs to be done in order to coax better production out of Butler. He can't continue to play and be deployed like he has to start the season.

So, below the jump, let's discuss some ways to enhance Butler's game. I posed five possibilities below, some psychological and some schematic. None of them are mutually exclusive -- you could try all five of them at once. Feel free to comment or add to the list in the comments.

1. Encourage him to be more decisive when he catches the ball

This is the method Gilbert Arenas seems to advocate the most. When asked about Butler after the loss to Miami on Wednesday, Arenas said he needs to be more aggressive.

"Shoot the open shot. Caron's a rhythm player and so, in our old system, he had enough time to get into his mojo and get those shots. In this system, he's gotta get a lot of catch and shoots, and the first initial shot he has he doesn't usually take it. And everything closes up from there. He's just got to get used to catching and shooting."

For his part, Butler also said he got too caught up in "watching the show" and deferred too much. But I'm not sure this is a problem of Butler not making enough plays. Butler's usage rate, for example, is third-highest on the team, predictably behind Arenas and Nick Young. It's a little down from last season, but it's still pretty high. The real problem is that, when Butler does shoot, it's only after he stares the defense down, gives a little juke move and finally shoots. In this offense, he should be shooting right off the catch. He has the stroke, he just needs to have the confidence to do so.

2. Give him a chance to sometimes play like a point forward

As of right now, the Wizards are mostly having Butler catch the ball in two places -- on the baseline and at the free throw line. Butler's ball-handling abilities aren't particularly amazing, as indicated by all the turnovers. However, Butler has shown in his career that he can be a decent facilitator. In 2007/08, when Antonio Daniels struggled with injuries, Butler's assist rate was all the way up to 22%. Why not give Butler a chance to set others up now, just to provide a different look?

Obviously, this would be a departure from the general philosophy of letting Gilbert Arenas make all the decisions. But already, we've seen Flip Saunders put the ball in Randy Foye's hands and allow Gilbert Arenas to come off screens. Why not do the same with Butler?

3. Give him more post-up opportunities

In 2006/07, when Arenas was playing and doing his thing, Eddie Jordan used to run Butler down into the post on occasion to punish smaller players with his strength. Butler's lost a bit of that strength over the years because he's slimmed down so much, but since he's not a great dribbler, why not post him up more in this scheme as well? He could then use the strength he still possesses to get in the lane for higher percentage shots, and I imagine he'd be pretty good at passing out of a double team.

4. Put him in more pick and rolls

As noted above, Butler isn't the smoothest pick and roll player because of his poor handle, but he's also a good passer and he has experience running these plays from the 07/08 season. I have to note now, though, that I'm not talking about your standard high pick and roll play. I don't think Butler does well there because he's not much of a threat to shoot from deep.

Instead, I'm talking about a few different kinds of pick and roll. I wish I could diagram them, but I don't have any visuals.

The side pick and roll: From about 17-feet away from the hoop on the wing or even pushing the corner. Clear out one side of the floor, have a big man set a screen to get Butler moving towards the middle, then have the big guy roll to the hoop or pop to the baseline for the open jumper. Antawn Jamison and Andray Blatche would be good partners for this.
The "post" pick and roll, for lack of a better word: Sam Cassell used to run this one all the time. Basically, Butler would back his way down into the post, someone would come over to set a screen, and Butler would back out while the other guy would come down into the post. The objective would be to get a switch so a smaller guy is guarding the post player. You want to do this with Butler because he's more of a threat to score down there if you can't bring your big guy over.
The pinch post pick and roll: This would involve Butler catching the ball where he often does 17 feet in at the top of the key, only this time, someone like Brendan Haywood should set a screen and try to roll to the hoop. This is a much better spot than your typical high pick and roll because Butler's such a great mid-range shooter. He becomes a threat the closer to the hoop you run pick and roll, so why not do it here?

5. Challenge Butler on the defensive end

I hate using these types of arguments because they're so subjective, but it just seemed like Butler wasn't so dialed in mentally the other day. Not only did he commit some bad turnovers, but he also left Quentin Richardson far too often on defense. However, challenging Butler to guard the top perimeter threats might force him to be more focused all over the court. Flip Saunders has already said Butler is his lockdown perimeter guy, so giving him a chance to prove it might boost his confidence.

Thursday Practice Report: Andray Blatche’s late-night workout, Randy Foye says playing with Gilbert Arenas off the ball is "easy," and Javaris Crittenton’s injury isn't getting better

Mike Prada — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:34:58 -0000

Andray Blatche works with Assistant Coach for Player Development Gene Banks, as Paul Davis looks on. Via my IPhone.

Coming off a big win over Dallas on Tuesday, the Wizards were in pretty good spirits after practice today. Flip Saunders said the club went through a very good practice and emphasized the importance of maintaining those winning habits throughout the "process."

Once again, Gilbert Arenas did not talk to the media, telling NBC's Lindsay Czarniak that he only talks when they make him. So, once again, nothing new on that front. However, there's a lot of interesting nuggets to chew on from today. Make the jump to read about Andray Blatche's late-night workout, an update on Javaris Crittenton's injury, some thoughts about the Randy Foye/Gilbert Arenas backcourt and more.

Andray Blatche isn't resting on his laurels

Andray Blatche had an outstanding first game of the 2009/10 season last Tuesday, notching 20 points, 7 rebounds and only 3 fouls in 35 minutes. But as we all know, Blatche has had plenty of good games in his career. Sustaining that success has proven to be an elusive quest for the 23-year old.

After practice today, Blatche made it clear that he knows his big opening game means nothing if he can't sustain it.

"Tuesday's in the past," Blatche said. "Right after the game, Flip came up to me and said, ‘Last game don't mean s***,' excuse my French."

So how did Blatche try to build on last Tuesday's performance? He called Sam Cassell late last night and asked him to come in to do a workout with him. Blatche said they came to the Verizon Center at around 11:15 and went until about 12:30 in the morning.

"[We worked on] all the situations that would be in the game," Blatche said. "Post-ups, pick and pops, stuff like that. All game-type situations."

It's yet another example of the new "Seven-Day Dray." When asked whether he would have ever come in for a workout that late in the past, Blatche said no. He also joked that the empty arena spooked him a bit.

"Man, it was a little scary, I ain't gonna lie," Blatche said. "I called my best friend. I had to go to the locker room by myself, I was a little scared. It's so quiet, and dark a little bit. I'm telling you all, it's different at nighttime, but I was alright."

Eventually, though, the conversation veered back into Tuesday night. Blatche said Fabricio Oberto did a great job guarding Dirk Nowitzki, and also praised the team's pick-and-roll coverage. He also once again sung the praises of Flip Saunders' offense.

"It just seems like you're always moving, you're always setting picks, you're always rolling, always popping," Blatche said. "You're always doing something. Last year, you set one screen and you stand still and you waiting for something. This year, we're always moving and sharing the ball a lot more."

Even Antawn Jamison admits he thinks Blatche's new approach is paying dividends.

"I think he's getting it," Jamison said. "I think he understands that it's not about what [he] does on gameday, or the day before, or the night before. Little things like that will help you stay consistent and be able to do that night in and night out."

Video below, courtesy Truth About It:

Javaris Crittenton's injury gets worse

Those of you looking forward to seeing Javaris Crittenton return to the court will need to wait a lot longer. Crittenton was limping around on crutches today, with yet another boot on his injured ankle.

Team spokesman Scott Hall told me that Crittenton went to get "an exploratory scope" last Friday that revealed nothing new. Hall didn't mention anything about how long Crittenton was expected to be out, nor did he say that the injury got any worse.

However, Mike Jones talked to Crittenton, and Crittenton told a slightly different story. Crittenton told Jones that he had surgery last Friday to clear up some torn cartilage that had been found in previous X-Rays. But Crittenton also admitted that he was hoping to get this procedure done sooner.

"I wish the procedure would have been happened, so I could have recovered by now," Crittenton told Jones. "They actually saw it on the X-ray a long time ago, but they had to continue looking at different cat scans and X-rays to get it done."

Would having the surgery earlier have changed things? Did they really see these problems a long time ago and unnecessarily looked several more times before having the surgery? I don't know. I think there's a lot of information missing here. But it certainly seems odd, doesn't it?

Crittenton said he has two more weeks of recovery, followed by four weeks of rehab, which means he'll be out at least another six more weeks.

Randy Foye and the "small" backcourt

As I mentioned yesterday, when Gilbert Arenas and Randy Foye played together last Tuesday, the Wizards outscored the Mavericks by 14 points. When I asked Saunders about why he turned to that pairing despite not using it much in the preseason, Saunders joked that "there are a lot of things I do during the regular season that I don't do in preseason." I then asked when we might see it in the future.

"You'll see it a lot," Saunders said. "A lot of it depends on the defensive end. If we're playing Kobe Bryant at the 2, you might not be able to put Randy on Kobe because of Kobe's size. A lot of that is going to depend on defensive matchups. There was a situation in Dallas where they played a couple smaller guards."

Foye said he was wondering when he was going to get a chance to play more with Arenas, but added that "[Saunders] probably didn't want people to see it."

"When you put us in together, Dallas didn't have an answer to that," Foye said. "With two scorers in there together, because if you pay too much attention to [Arenas], you gotta help, then we kick it out to me for an open shot. It's the same [vice versa]."

I was particularly struck with what Foye said later, when he talked about how his mentality and comfort level change when he plays with Arenas.

"When you play with someone of that caliber, it's easy," Foye said. "Everything else comes easy. Like, when they were pressing at the end, they couldn't get the ball, because we could both break the press. When they press and denied him, I got the ball, and when they doubled me with his man, I passed him the ball. It just makes it so much easier playing with another ball-handler."

Foye also praised Saunders' strategic instincts, saying, "it's like he's playing chess up in his head." Regardless, with so many teams nowadays playing small backcourts, the Foye/Arenas backcourt should be a regular staple.

Other stuff:

Flip Saunders was asked again about Nick Young not playing at all on Tuesday. "We haven't really talked," Saunders said. "I think he knows what he's got to do." When asked what he has to do, Saunders said, "Be more consistent, as far as what you're doing. You can't rely on making shots as a criteria for whether you are going to play." Saunders added that Young did some extra work yesterday and that "he'll get an opportunity." Young himself slipped out the door before anyone could talk to him.
Antawn Jamison was there shagging rebounds for JaVale McGee, and showed no major limitations on his shoulder. It's obviously not in game shape, but it wasn't in a sling or anything. That's pretty encouraging.
DeShawn Stevenson was asked about his thoughts on Antonio Daniels potentially signing with Cleveland. In typical DeShawn fashion, he responded in a way where you wonder whether he was joking or being serious. "Traitor," Stevenson said. "I don't talk to nobody that plays to Cleveland." Chris Miller then said to Stevenson, "I'm sure you have a reaction to them starting 0-2." Stevenson's response. "Yeah, yeah I do," and then he walked away.
Saunders said that while his top eight players will remain pretty consistent, his rotation is not 100% set in stone right now, saying that JaVale McGee in particular had a great practice and may play more tomorrow against the Atlanta Hawks. "Now, we're playing a team with a lot more athletic ability, where a guy like JaVale could have an impact."

More pictures:

BWood working on his free throw stroke.

Caron Butler works on his shot while Randy Wittman looks on

Dominic McGuire works on his shot while Nick Young looks on

Morning Briefing: We've Seen This Before Too

JakeTheSnake — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:37:21 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

Sign #48 that it is garbage time: Mike James is busting out the one-handed runners over the outstretched hands of Jason Collins.

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Game Hub | Boxscore

I hate when analysis gets boiled down to someone saying that a team won because they "wanted it more" but it's hard to find another explanation for last night's game. I also hate it when games boil down to one team having more healthy bodies than the other, but again, that's what we had to deal with last night. The good news is that last night was just a preseason game, so there's no point in crying over spoiled milk that doesn't count toward the final standings, but boy, I could go with less games that remind me of last season.

Hawks 113, Wizards 95 - Michael Lee, Wizards Insider

I know Gilbert Arenas and Mike Miller were both in their hotel rooms sick, but that didn't mean that the rest of the team didn't have to show up. The Wizards were understandably shorthanded without their starting backcourt and with Antawn Jamison sitting at the end of the bench and wearing a suede brown sport coat. But the team was out of this game before the start of the second period. It was mostly an eyesore the rest of the way, as the Hawks led by as many as 25.

Hawks Down Wizards Like Falcon’s Balloon; Atlanta 113 – Washington 95 - Kyle Weidie, Truth About It

Make no mistake, there are lots of reasons for continued optimism, but this team still has its work cut out. Hey at least the Wizards have Flip Saunders as their coach and not Jim Zorn. After the game, Saunders said, "The thing that was disappointing. I thought this was a good opportunity for some guys to step up and say, ‘Here’s what I can do.’ And no one, I don’t think anyone really did that." Zorn would have said something like, "This was a growing game … let’s stay medium. Hip-hip hooray!"

No Arenas provides a familiar scene for the Wizards - William Yoder, Agent Dagger

Coming off the bench, Nick Young turned in an offensive performance that makes this Wizards fan hopeful about the teams second unit going into the season. Young scored 15 points on five of eleven shooting while burying two out of three three-pointers. Also coming off the bench was veteran point guard Mike James. James had yet to see many minutes this preseason as the return of Gilbert Arenas and the acquisition of Foye. James took advantage of the opportunity. The point guard added six points and eight assists in 24 minutes Monday night.

Contagious is the Hawks' new buzzword. - Sekou Smith, Hawks Blog

The Hawks didn’t just run circles around the Wizards Monday night. They ran them ragged. So much so that Wizards coach Flip Saunders polished off the night like this: "I hope our guys worked on their conditioning, because from the standpoint of our game plan, we didn’t execute anything tonight. What i thought was disappointing was that this was an opportunity for some of our guys to step up, but no one really did that. We have to do all of the little things offensively and defensively to stay in the game. We definitely won’t be able to play this team this way in the regular season."

Hawks 113 Wizards 95 - Bret LaGree, Hoopinion

Nick Young makes one appreciate Jamal Crawford's relative versatility as a basketball player and restraint as a shooter.

Atlanta Hawks 113, Washington Wizards 95 or where optimism should be desperately rationalized - hawksdawgs, Peachtree Hoops

Jeff Teague continued his good impression from the radio to reality. He took multiple bad shots. Shots that were far beyond rookie heaves He made a couple of passes that were questionable. But the rest of the time, he made other 19th picks of the last couple years look silly. He may not be a top five draft pick contributor, but I struggle to see how he does not have that talent. On the other hand, anyone that expects such is totally, straight against the wall crazy.

Washington Wizards players express mixed emotions about facing Eddie Jordan in preseason game against 76ers - Michael Lee, Washington Post

Butler said that Jordan and the Wizards had a great opportunity for a deep playoff run when they had the best record in the Eastern Conference for the first half of the 2006-07 season. The Wizards' season collapsed when Butler broke his hand and Arenas injured his left knee. That season, the team finished 41-41 and got swept out of the first round. "That would've been our most successful year with him as the coach, but unfortunately, it didn't work out like that, and that's just the luck of the draw," Butler said. "I know he's going to have a lot of success in Philly; and seeing what I'm seeing in practice and the disposition of the players, I know we're going to have a better year here. I wish him the best and obviously I know he wishes the same for me. We're just anxious to get started in our new journeys."

Agent Zero plans addition - The Reliable Source, Washington Post

Okay, we forgive Wizards superstar Gilbert Arenas for quitting his addictive blog: He's just too busy being a dad. "Gilbert takes the night shift," said his fiancee Laura Govan. "He's so diligent when he's home -- takes the kids to school in the morning, picks them up after practice, changes diapers. He's amazing."

Best of Twitterville

Twitter / SEAN K.
The hawks are killing the wizards right now. Its like 3000 to 6

Twitter / Truth_About_It
Glenn Consor: "It's nice to see Mike James make a runner."

Twitter / Truth_About_It
Yea, stopped listening/keeping track of the Wizards preseason game a long time ago. Wiz down 94-73 to ATL with 8:37 to go.

Twitter / Bret LaGree
@Truth_About_It You're missing Vincent Grier's pre-season debut. Maybe his pre-season finale, too, I guess.

Twitter / Michael Lee
Poor Vince Grier. Mike James tried 2 give him his first shot of the preseason, but Teague kicked the ball out of bounds with 0.4 secs left

Twitter / Arthur Triche
@MrMichaelLee C'mon Wizards, at least make it interesting...

Twitter / Michael Lee
At least somebody is into this game for Washington. Flip just got a T. When Mo Evans missed the tech, Flip said, "Ball don't lie."

Twitter / Michael Lee
When Joe Smith miss both FTs, Flip said, "Ball really, really, really don't lie!" Sam Cassell almost fell from his seat.

Twitter / JaVale McGee
Wow Taylor swift sold ten million albums...is that going diamond?

2009 Season Preview

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:00:25 -0000

Team Name: Minnesota Timberwolves

Last Year's Record: 24-58

Key ~~Losses~~ Additions By Subtraction: Calvin Booth, Bobby Brown, Rodney Carney, Jason Collins, Randy Foye, Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants, Mike Miller, Kevin Ollie, Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair, Shelden Williams, Kevin McHale.

Honorary Member of the Addition By Subtraction club: Mark Blount.

Key Additions: Wayne Ellington, Jonny Flynn, Ryan Hollins, Sasha Pavlovic, Oleksiy Pecherov, Jared Reiner, Ramon Sessions, Damien Wilkins, Kurt Rambis, Bill Laimbeer, Reggie Theus, Dave Wohl.

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?

Grab a chair folks, this could take a while.

I think the best way to illustrate just how much has happened here in Wolves Land is to take a look at last year's opening day starting line up:

Randy Foye
Mike Miller
Corey Brewer
Ryan Gomes
Al Jefferson

...add in the key reserves:

Kevin Ollie
Rashad McCants
Rodney Carney
Craig Smith
Kevin Love

...compare them to the line up and reserves from the last game of the 08/09 season (and yes, Kevin McHale thought it would be a good idea to give the paying customers at the Target Center their own special version of a Seniors Night):

Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown
Mike Miller/Rodney Carney
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
Mark Madsen/Kevin Love/Craig Smith
Jason Collins/Shelden Williams

...before finally taking a peak at the rotation in the team's first 2009/10 preseason game against Milwaukee:

Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions/Mustafa Shakur
Corey Brewer/Sasha Pavlovic/Wayne Ellington
Ryan Gomes/Damien Wilkins
Kevin Love/Brian Cardinal
Al Jefferson/Ryan Hollins/Jared Reiner

Let's take a quick peak at those starting/closing day lineups with the dearly departed x'd out of existence:

~~Randy Foye/Kevin Ollie~~
~~Mike Miller/Rashad McCants~~
Corey Brewer/~~Rodney Carney~~
Ryan Gomes/~~Craig Smith~~
Al Jefferson/Kevin Love

~~Kevin Ollie/Sebastian Telfair/Bobby Brown~~
~~Mike Miller/Rodney Carney~~
Brian Cardinal/Ryan Gomes
~~Mark Madsen~~/Kevin Love/~~Craig Smith~~
~~Jason Collins/Shelden Williams~~

And no, I do not believe there is another team in the league with only three remaining players from the rotation of their final 08/09 game. Only the Raptors come close.

What did the Wolves lose?

Net Production by Position

Position	FGA	eFG%	FTA	iFG	Reb	Ast	T/O	Blk	PF	Pts	PER*
PG	-0.5	-.061	-1.5	0%	-1.9	-0.7	-0.2	-0.0	-1.1	-3.8	-7.0
SG	0.1	-.034	-0.1	4%	0.1	-0.3	-0.2	-0.0	-0.3	-1.1	-2.4
SF	-3.5	+.001	-2.5	-1%	0.9	0.5	-0.5	0.1	-0.8	-5.5	-4.2
PF	0.3	-.016	-0.3	8%	-0.2	0.3	-0.6	-0.9	-0.3	-0.5	-2.3
C	6.1	-.057	2.1	4%	1.8	-0.9	0.2	-1.1	0.8	6.0	+2.4

They gave up a whole lot of nothing at the point, a Randy-Foye-January-fueled-it-was-really-worse-than-the-final-numbers-suggest basket of crap at the off-guard, a bowl of ineptitude at the 3, some holy-crap-there-is-nobody-behind-Love at the 4, and Al Jefferson and Kevin Love at the 5.

Enter David Kahn.

While I think it is safe to say that most Wolves fans who were paying attention at the time of his hiring (all 1,700 of us) were upset that the team seemed to have bumbled its way through its most important new addition in years (Kahn seemed to be a secondary choice and candidates from the Blazers and Spurs appear to have walked away from the position), The Demolition Man quickly and confidently made a series of moves that have placed the Wolves in a position to win.

He turned Kevin McHale, Jerry Sichting, and Dean Cooper into Kurt Rambis, Reggie Theus, Bill Laimbeer, and Dave Wohl.
He turned two moderate-sized expiring contracts into Ricky Rubio.
He turned a Sebastian Telfair/Kevin Ollie point guard rotation into a Jonny Flynn/Ramon Sessions one.
He picked up an athletic big who can play the reserve 4/5.
He drafted the 2nd best shooter in the draft late in the 1st round.
He cleared (probably) between $13-15 milion in 2010 cap space.
He picked up another 2010 first round pick.

Best of all, Kahn has made the Wolves interesting again. The process has been full of goofy quotes, funny interviews, nearly weekly roster moves, and the entire Ricky Rubio saga, but the bottom line for Kahn and the Wolves is the results:

Their core is good and tremendously young.
They have drafted the 2 best Euros in the past 2 drafts and stashed them overseas.
They have 3 likely 1st round picks in the 2010 draft.
They will have in the neighborhood of $15 million below the cap in 2010 free agency.
Chances are, they now have a functional point guard on their roster.

This thing is clearly still a work in progress (the team needs help on the wing and the Rubio situation still needs to be resolved one way or another) but it is also clearly pointed in the right direction.

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

Rebounding. Rebounding. Rebounding, and more rebounding. Kevin Love is one of the league's top 3 rebounders, Al Jefferson's game is built to be close to the bucket and he collects a net positive on the offensive boards, and Corey Brewer can hold his own at either the 2 or 3. If there is a player from last year's squad to get a little chippy about his departure, it is Mike Miller. Despite not shooting the damn ball, Miller was a very solid defensive rebounder and it will take a well above average effort from Pavlovic, Brewer, and Gomes to match Miller's efforts on the glass at the 2/3. Miller was the team's 3rd best rebounder and he did so from the wing. That's going to be harder to make up than what I think most people first realize, especially with the crew of Pavlovic, Brewer, Gomes, and Ellington trying to make up the difference. Ramon Sessions should make up for some of the lost rebounding production vis-a-vis Sebastian Telfair, but Miller's loss probably will have some effect on the glass. How much is something that remains to be seen.

In theory, the Wolves should also be a very good free throw shooting team this season. Last year Ramon Sessions had the 25th best FT/FG rate in the league at 36. Kevin Love was 18th at 39. Big Al was all the way down at 154 with 19. By all accounts in college, summer league, and his small sample of preseason games, Jonny Flynn has all the makings of a high-contact guard who will draw a lot of fouls in an up-tempo system. Last year the Wolves had one fairly legit threat of getting to the line at a high rate: Kevin Love. This year they have 3 players who should draw a ton of contact with one guy (Jefferson) who will have a modest rate but a high volume due to his number of touches.

It's pretty hard for me to overstate just how big of a deal improved free throw shooting will be for the Wolves. Last year the Wolves averaged 2.3 fewer FTAs than their opponents. The year before that they were a league-worst -6.9 in that category (which should give you an idea of the relative merits between Kevin Love and Craig Smith). For a team with a -4.9 point differential these are points that simply cannot be left on the board. With the addition of Sessions and Flynn, and with the continued development of Love, the Wolves appear to have addressed one of their biggest weaknesses of the past 2-3 years and turned it, hopefully, into a positive. For those readers who are just casual fans of the game, I cannot stress enough how important the free throw differential is to the bottom line. I also cannot stress enough just how bad the Wolves have been on this front over the past several years.

The final thing the Wolves are going to be good at is physicality. This is something that will be pretty hard to define over the course of the year but I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to be scrappy. One of the most striking things about their play in camp was they way in which guys like Love, Brewer, Sessions, and Ryan Hollins were getting after it. This has a chance of positively impacting the play on the end of the court they need help with the most. I'm not saying that they are going to be a defensive dynamo, but this year's squad has the opportunity to run out a rotation of Sessions, Brewer, Pavlovic, Jefferson/Love, and Ryan Hollins, which is a fairly significant defensive upgrade over anything they were able to offer up in the 08/09 campaign. This especially becomes the case if Brewer develops into the plus-defender we all hope he can morph in to. Sessions/Brewer/Pavlovic has the potential to turn the epic defensive weakness of Telfair/Foye/Miller into a positive for this club. It's probably not a lineup you'd run out there for long stretches of time, but it is something that this club did not have at its disposal under McHale. All three of those players held their 08/09 opponents to below their average production. The same could not be said for Telfair (-0.009% of opponents' average), Foye (whose opponents went 10.8% over their average production against the former Villanova star), and Miller (a mere 5.6% over average production). If you throw Ryan Hollins into the mix, the Wolves may have something approaching an effective defensive unit that they could trot out on the floor for 4-8 minutes per night.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Defense, wing play, turnovers, and outside shooting. I don't really know if there is a good way to break this down in much greater detail but the Wolves are still going to have problems on defense; their 2 and 3 will be manned by a rotation of Corey Brewer, Wayne Ellington, Sasha Pavlovic, and Ryan Gomes, and their backcourt will be led by 2 point guards who will be in their first year with the team. David Kahn has been pretty frontal in his assessment that Gomes and Brewer are both in put up or shut up years. Pavlovic is on a 1-year contract. Nothing is promised or owed to any of these players and if they can't figure it out this year, I think it is becoming more and more obvious that when the Wolves do cash in their draft/free agency chips, it will be for a wing player. At media day and during camp both Gomes and Brewer said enough to make everyone well aware of the fact that they too know the score. As you can see from the positional chart listed above, the score on the wing isn't exactly in the Wolves' favor to begin with.

While I mentioned the possibility of a fairly solid perimeter defensive rotation with Sessions, Brewer, and Pavlovic, the fact remains that there is nothing on this team to suggest a significant overall improvement in defensive efficiency. Until we see some improvement in action, it's hard to believe it in theory. Ryan Hollins gives them a lengthy shot blocker but he fouls a ton. Corey Brewer has the potential to be an A+ defender but he is coming back from injury and is close to completely ineffective on the offensive end of the court. Ramon Sessions is a slightly above average defender at the point but he could end up with a lot of minutes at the 2. The point here is that even with the defensive positives the Wolves have some issues when it comes to weighing their best overall lineups against their best defensive ones. I'd be peachy keen with anything close to a neutral OE/DE ratio.

It can also not be overstated just how bad of an outside shooting club the Wolves are going to be this year. Wayne Ellington is probably their best shooter, their likely starting two guard (Brewer) has a career .250 three point average, their best point guard has 41 career three point attempts (with a .220 average), and Sasha Pavlovic's numbers from beyond the arc have seen a four-year fluctuation of .365, .405, .298, and .410. Could Ryan Gomes be the team's best outside shooter? If that's the case, then the Wolves are in for a long, long year from a perimeter shooting perspective. It's already proving to be a big problem in their limited preseason action.

4. What are the goals for this team?

a- At least a neutral OE/DE rating. Last year the Wolves had a -5.3 point gap per 100 possessions. While this was an improvement over the -7.4 point gap per 100 possessions from the year before, it still is a giant pile of suck. With the addition of a real starting point guard, and the maturation of Kevin Love, here's hoping the Wolves can pick up 2-3 pp/100 poss on the offensive side of the ball and that the return of Brewer and the addition of Sessions and Pavlovic can gain a point or two on the defensive side of things.

b- An increase in pace and shots within the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock. If the Wolves' new offensive is going to pay dividends we should see an increased pace with more shots taken in transition. 36% of the Wolves' shots in 2008/09 were in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock and 26% came in the next 5. If those numbers go up, it means the Wolves are running and getting opportunistic buckets. Last year the Wolves finished 15th in the league with 91.6 possessions/game. That number needs to go up.

c- Free throw neutrality (or more). As mentioned above, the Wolves should have an increase in free throw attempts this season. I have been harping on this point for two years now: You can't win games while losing by a mile at the free throw line. It can't be done. Between Kevin Love, Ramon Sessions, and Jonny Flynn, the Wolves have three guys who can really draw contact and get to the charity stripe.

d- Injury free.Will Kevin Love break the Wolves' 2nd year injury curse? From Shaddy to Foye to Brewer, 2nd year draft Wovles draft picks have all suffered season-ending injuries in their 2nd campaign. This is one curse that needs to be broken this year. (UPDATE: Of course, as this goes to post, Kevin Love breaks a bone in his left hand and will likely be out 6-8 weeks.)

5. Did David Kahn screw the pooch on draft night?

Let me begin by giving a simple yes or no: No. However, the (excellent) addition of Ramon Sessions begs the question of whether or not the Wolves could have walked away from the Draft with Rubio and, say, Demar DeRozan instead of Jonny Flynn. Sure, it would have been a big bet to wait out for Sessions, and who knows what would have happened with Sessions' negotiations if Rubio stayed in Europe and Flynn wasn't sitting there as a sure replacement, but..well, it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the Wolves had two big first rounders and a free agent signing over the summer and they were all at the same position. Yes, it's at a position that has killed the Wolves since the days of Sam Cassell but isn't there a nagging little thought in the back of your head that is whispering "it could have been done better?" I think Kahn has done a terrific job but it will ultimately depend on which point guard(s) stick around in 2-3 years and how much he can get with the one (or two) that gets sent away. Will that equation end up being more valuable than the previously mentioned Rubio/DeRozan/Sessions combo? Who knows?

Projected Finish: 31-51

Poll

How many games will the Wolves win this year?

Less than 15

28 votes

16-20

83 votes

21-25

147 votes

26-30

183 votes

31-35

83 votes

More than 35

30 votes

554 votes | Poll has closed

Morning Briefing: Washington Wins Preseason Opener 101-92

JakeTheSnake — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:38:45 -0000

More photos » by Steve Helber - AP

2 months ago: Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood (33) passes the ball in front of Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol during an NBA preseason basketball game in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

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[Editor's Note: After each game we'll round up the best links and reactions to each game. Throughout the preseason we'll try to tinker with the format to make this as informative as possible for you, the reader. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. -Jake]

Grizzlies vs Wizards coverage | Boxscore

Arenas shows his unselfish side - Washington Times

Arenas showed no hitches as he showed great acceleration and leaping ability and drove past defenders at will. And his court vision was as keen as it ever was as he wove through defenders and still managed to find his teammates. But Arenas hardly looked for his own shot, taking just five attempts. He made only one of them and struggled from the foul line as well, going 3-for-9.

Wizards Control Fourth In Preseason Opener - WashingtonWizards.com

"I thought [Gilbert] was good," said Head Coach Flip Saunders. "He did the things he needed to do in this situation. He had a 20 and 10 game right on his fingertips. He’s not going to miss that many free throws. Nobody should question how his knee is after he jumped over the table in the first quarter (to save a ball). He has given me no indication in the things that he has done that he’s not back. He needs games like this to play and to get used to the flow of the game. He almost got to the point where he was too unselfish."

Wizards Defeat Grizzlies in Preseason Opener - Washington Post

Saunders said that he planned on using Arenas for just "eight to 10 minutes," but Arenas played 11 minutes in the first quarter. When he grabbed a seat next to assistant coach Sam Cassell, the Wizards held a 29-24 lead. Arenas got the Wizards going quickly as he caught the ball in the low post and kicked the ball out to Antawn Jamison for a three-pointer. He then found Nick Young in the corner for a 19-foot jumper, Butler up high for a 17-footer and Jamison for another three-pointer. His best assist came when he zipped a no-look pass to a cutting Jamison for a one-handed dunk. Jamison said having Arenas back provides him much easier looks. "It was unbelievable, having a guy like him," Jamison said after scoring a game-high 20 points with eight rebounds. "On one, I was so wide open I didn't know what to do."

Wizards 101, Grizzlies 92 - Wizards Insider

Mike Miller didn't shoot the ball particularly well (1 of 7), but he had six rebounds. Brendan Haywood, who missed the preseason and the first 75 games of last season with a wrist injury, had six points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in 28 minutes. Mike James had played well throughout the first week of training camp, but he joined the injured Javaris Crittenton and training camp invitees Paul Davis and Vincent Grier on the bench all night, drawing a DNP-CD.

Wizards-Grizzlies postgame - Outlet

The Wizards have to be happy with what they got out of Jamison (20 points, eight rebounds), Butler (15 points, six rebounds), Young (11 points, two rebounds and a steal), Foye (14 points, three assists, three steals), Blatche (13 points, eight rebounds) and even JaVale McGee's eight points, three rebounds in spot duty. Saunders said he was happy with Haywood's play (six points, seven rebounds, three blocks), but that he felt like defensively the team didn't give him enough help, and that offensively he would have liked to see him get more touches. But all in all, the Wizards come from this game without any glaring concern areas.

Wizards host Grizzlies at VCU preseason opener - Wizards Examiner

Tonight fans of the Washington Wizards got to see Arenas as a "true point guard," Brendan Haywood as a shot-changer, and a first look at the offensive powerhouse that is the Washington Wizards. Stevenson and Foye showed their range while Miller showcased his passing talents. Frontcourt reserve duo JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche complimented each other inside and out of the paint respectively in the fourth and ushered in the first win of the preseason.

Griz notes: Iverson sits with hamstring injury - Memphis Commercial Appeal

The Griz saw their first action with the NBA's replacement refs, and it wasn't a smooth experience. On one possession, the Griz had just four players on the court because rookie DeMarre Carroll sat at the scorer's table when he was supposed to replace Zach Randolph. Action continued and Rudy Gay intentionally fouled to stop play. There were 55 fouls called in the game.

Preseason: Wizards Wrap-Up - Straight Outta Vancouver

Michael Conley was perhaps the lone shining example. Sounds like he controlled Gilbert Arenas and forced him to pass more frequently then Agent Zero normally likes him to. His stats suggest an efficient and effective offensive game.

After you check out the latest news from The Onion about Juwan Howard, you can check out the top tweets from last night's game.

Top Tweets

Twitter / Michael Lee
Flip Saunders on making his debut with the Wizards: "I hope they aren’t going to judge me on the preseason games."

Twitter / Washington Wizards
http://twitpic.com/kj3rc - Washington Wizards brand new warmups. Tell me what you think...

Twitter / Truth_About_It
Evidently Richmond is "The Most Powerful City In The World" too ... thought only D.C. held that title.

Twitter / The BF gang
Miller with a hook over Haddadi. I think he's been more impressive running p&r than Randy Foye has.

Twitter / Truth_About_It
Blatche tries baseline spin move on Thabeet, weakly loses position and gets his stuff THROWN.

Twitter / The BF gang
Blatche is having a much better fourth quarter than a second quarter. Some great boardwork in the fourth.

Twitter / Mike Jones
So much for the end of "I can't feel my face." Stevenson 3 followed by the hand-wave.

Twitter / The BF gang
JaVale just tried the Hakeem Olajuwon flick at the rebunder move. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Twitter / Trey Ervine
At the wizards grizzlies game! Allen iverson sat on the bench by himself the first half then didnt come out for the second. Smart buy? ...no

Twitter / GoDanica7
@dwadeofficial man, I just got back from the Wizards/Grizzlies game...why Mike Miller look like Linsday Lohan?!?!

Twitter / ChellyBelle
http://twitpic.com/kjqb6 - Wizards v grizzlies mike miller #6. cute white boy! back to the game

Bold Predictions 2009

Jeff Clark — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:08:38 -0000

More photos » by Steven Senne - AP

The Big 3 is back.

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I've done SWAGs before, but I never could decide if they should be silly or serious. So I'm going to differentiate from those to make serious but (hopefully) bold predictions for the upcoming season.

Rondo will be an All Star (Ray Allen won't)

Ray has been borderline on the All Start team for a couple years now. My guess is that this is the year that the luck runs out for him. I don't see a tremendous drop off in production from him, but I do see Rondo stepping up and taking some of the attention away from Ray. KG will probably get voted in again, full speed or not. Pierce will likely still make the team. It is possible that the C's could get 4 All Stars, but it seems more likely that it will be limited to 3.

Ainge will trade for Nocioni sometime during the season

I'm going to predict December rather than February or earlier. Call it a hunch. I just don't see any need for Noc to be kept on the books past this season for the Kings. I do see a need for him on the Celtics. This makes too much sense not to happen. It should only take a few months for both sides to look at their rosters, look at other options, and decide that this is the best both sides can do.

Ainge will not trade for a point guard (or even pick one up mid season)

Like it or not (and in case I didn't mention it today) I don't, this team is going with a non-conventional backup point guard solution. They seem committed to it and they have good reason to. They can make it work. They can win a Championship with it. Besides, unless they pick up one of the castoffs in the next few weeks (and make a trade to free up a roster spot) then there aren't going to be a ton of good options that shake lose during the season. There is no Sam Cassell or Stephon Marbury that is going to show up on our doorstep. Those options weren't really "the answer" anyway. So I think the team will just work with what it has this year.

KG will not miss major time this year

I think he'll be less than 100% for at least a month or two. I don't think he'll play every game. But I do think that he'll play most of the season and be healthy enough for the playoffs. I don't have any inside information to back this up, but I am optimistic. With that said, let me just point out that the odds are pretty high that someone on this team will actually miss a chuck of time at some point. Age, past injuries, and simple probabilities would indicate that a fully healthy team is not likely. Bill Walker was the first to go down (if you don't count the 1 day Tony missed); who will be the next? Perk's shoulder could pop at any moment. Ray's ankles have been an underlying issue for 2 years now. Pierce has any number of issues that could progress from "annoying" to "limiting" to "out for 2 months." We haven't even discussed Scal's head or Daniels' games missed in years past. I'm not rooting for any of this by any means. Just doing my part to prepare you for the possibility.

Bonus predictions:

Sheed will win 6th man of the year
Tony Allen will play meaningful minutes (before he's traded)
Lester Hudson and Shelden Williams will not
The Celtics will turn the ball over a little less
The Celtics won't win the most games, but will win the Championship (and really, that's all that matters)

Mike James tries to make the battle for minutes even more complicated

Mike Prada — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 23:04:28 -0000

More photos » by Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP

2 months ago: Washington Wizards' Mike James poses for a photo during NBA basketball media day, Monday, Sept. 28, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

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RICHMOND -- Before answering questions from reporters today, Mike James pulled his shirt off in order to weigh himself. The job done, James continued over to the side to talk. The shirt, however, stayed off.

"He came in phenomenal shape," Flip Saunders says. "That's why you see him taking his shirt off."

James says he worked his butt off this summer, hoping to gain a spot in a rotation from which he was counted out. He spent all summer training with John Lucas in Houston and says he's lost "20-25 pounds" from his weight near the end of the season.

"[Lucas] told me two things," James says. "I could either come back this year as old ass Mike James, or I can come back this year as the Mike James of old. I chose the second."

On the court, James stood out both for his crispness in running the pick and roll and for his defense. He was able to routinely get into the lane in today's scrimmages, and he was also picking up the opposing point guard full court. It looked like he was back in Detroit in 2004 pressuring defenders for Larry Brown.

"There is a saying that you can teach old dogs new tricks," James says, butchering the proper use of the phrase. "I learned how to play dead, roll over [and] go fetch the bone to bring it back."

James says two things motivated him: being counted out and the guard-oriented nature of Saunders' offensive system. He admits that he probably wasn't being considered as part of the regular rotation, but that hasn't sapped his confidence.

"For the most part, I was counted out," he says. "Everyone already had the idea of what the team, the rotation and the roster was going to be, and I'm pretty sure my name wasn't involved in much of it. It was 'Just wait around, until someone gets hurt, then Mike will be involved.' But I know I can still play this game at a high level."

James also loves Saunders' offense, which he says gives the guards a lot of power. He says it makes his job easy ("just be ready to shoot"), but also likes how it enables the guard to make plays on his own.

"He has a set offense going into the big man, but when the ball swings around, the ball always comes back to you, and you always have an opportunity to play that two-man game."

James certainly has an uphill climb for minutes. Randy Foye has been playing a lot of point guard and has looked quite impressive himself, while Javaris Crittenton remains in the picture. But James certainly appears to have given himself a fighting chance, something he's not afraid to let the world know about, whether it's loudly declaring that Fabricio Oberto, and not him, is the oldest player on the team, or playfully ribbing Sam Cassell for being "the old guy on the team."

(Asked of James' declaration that Oberto was older than him, Oberto shrugged and said "Yeah, I think he told me.").

"I believe I have a few more years of not just okay basketball, but good basketball," James says.

Leftover stuff from Wizards media day

Mike Prada — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 05:58:45 -0000

More photos » by Haraz N. Ghanbari - AP

One silly photo in a sea of seriousness.

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We already talked about what Gilbert Arenas said, and I already wrote a separate story about Mike Miller and Randy Foye. Here are some highlights from what others said. For more, go to the BF Twitter page and keep scrolling down.

Note: No particular order here.

Nick Young says he's spent a lot of time working with Sam Cassell, who has helped him with some veteran tricks, ball-handling and coming off screens. When asked about whether he felt threatened by all the new acquisitions at his position, Nick replied "I'm confident in myself. I got game too."
Fabricio Oberto said the biggest thing he can help the team with -- in particular Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee -- is his experience. But that's not the only thing he can help with. "Sometimes, the fastest you can run is not the way. It's the security you can bring and how solid you can be, so I think that's what I can also bring to the team."
Antawn Jamison was pretty long-winded today, but nothing compared to his answer about what he thought Oberto could bring to the team. It lasted a full two-and-a-half minutes and began with the words "I love Oberto." Jamison talked about how Oberto understands the need to sacrifice for the good of the team and will do the dirty work necessary.
Like Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson needed an outside source to cure his injury problems. Whereas Arenas went to Chicago, Stevenson went to Vancouver. How'd he hook that up? "My financial advisor has a client who works for the Lakers," he said. "So when they played Orlando in the finals -- I live in Orlando -- I went to talk to him at the hotel. He told me to come out. I talked to Ernie and them, and Ernie and them were supportive and took care of it." Stevenson added that Wizards athletic trainer Eric Waters was there as well.
Andray Blatche once again praised Flip Saunders. "He makes you want to stay in the gym," Blatche said, admitting he was in the gym a lot more because of Flip.
Andray's explanation for his talk about becoming more serious? His mother. No joke. "I had a conversation with my mom, she said 'It seemed like you're too lackadasical, it seemed like you're just goofing around with your friends.' After a while, I talked to her about it, and I was like, 'You're right.'" For everyone's sake, let's hope mom gets through to him when others haven't.

Dominic McGuire says his primary focus is going to be improving his mid-range shot, as opposed to his three-point shot. "I wanted to ... get that to the point where I can knock it down every time I'm open," he said.
Antawn Jamison said that he "hasn't slept well since the season ended" and called last season "the worst of my career."
Brendan Haywood was unbelievably talkative, especially about the defense, or lack thereof, last season. That was part of our problem last year. We had a lot of guys who didn't know where to be."
Brendan on what needs to improve defensively: "We have to have guys in the right positions. It's one thing to get beat by your man, but it's another thing to not know where you're supposed to be. We have to have guys who play good positional defense. The best defensive teams, teams like the Spurs, they play great positional defense." He went on to discuss how the Spurs can be successful despite rotating in non-defense guys like Michael Finley and Brent Barry because of the importance of positional defense.
Haywood was one of two people other than Gilbert Arenas who pointed to the last coaching regime's failure to stress defense. "In previous years, defense wasn't stressed. If you could score, you played. Now, it's a little bit different."
Caron Butler echoed a similar refrain, though he said the team did stress defense more under Randy Ayers in 2007/08. "Because our offense is so hard, and we had younger guys trying to adapt to the Princeton offense, we had to preach it so much, and we never really had an opportunity to really focus on defense," he said.
Caron said he plans on continuing to be a vocal leader and even said he'd be willing to help Gilbert Arenas with leading. "It's important for the franchise guy to be very vocal on this team, but I've been a leader my whole life on and off the court, so I can't change who I am," he said. "It's great to see him make better strides to become a better leader. If he needs advice, I'll help him."
Butler might have been the most optimistic guy there, and that's saying something. "[The Big 3] is truly healthy. No marketing. We're truly healthy." He also says he's entering the season feeling better than any year since his second year in the NBA and suggested his previous injuries had lingered on into many of the previous seasons.
Butler said Arenas told him in Chicago that he doesn't want Butler to change his game. "He told me in Chicago, 'I want you to continue to stay aggressive like you've been. I'll find you.'"
JaVale McGee was the only Wizard to skip media day. Apparently, he was getting his wisdom teeth removed.

Training camp starts tomorrow, so if you want me to focus on anything, let me know. I'll be there all week.

Create A Caption #31: Round 2

erivera7 — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:08:45 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

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Round 1, completed.

Round 2, started.

After two days of submissions, these are the captions that made the cut. The submissions will be listed by number of "recs/votes" in descending order, starting with the leader.

Please vote in the poll for the caption you like the most.

Thanks.

"Tiger, I’m bamboozled you’re not rooting for the Magic. Get on the bus and support them. You know Dwight Howard, right? He got game! I know you like watching Kobe doin’ work, but this is about love and basketball. Orlando’s a sucker free city, man. Do the right thing."

by Ben Q Rock, 6 recs

Tiger: Yo, Spike, I know you about to make another movie and I'mma let you finish, but Spike Jonze is the best director of all-time!

by TheGiantSquid, 6 recs

Spike: The key to become a better celebrity fan is to start a rivalry with one of the other team's players. Preferably, someone ugly like Reggie [Miller] so people tend to take your side.

Tiger: Hmm, does Sam Cassell play for the Lakers?

by bandrewg08, 4 recs

Rules:

I'm sure everyone here is familiar with a "create a caption" competition, but in case someone here doesn't know what this type of contest is .. basically a picture is provided and you, the reader, attempt to come up with a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo. The line can be funny, stupid, witty, etc.

I'll be a judge but I like to have another collective voice determining the winner, that way there's a bit of a consensus among the community. What I prefer for everyone here to do is this .. if you like the caption a fellow member has come up with, "recommend" it. That will be 'your vote', in essence. If you don't know how to "recommend" a comment, go to the comment you like, click on 'actions', then click on 'rec'. You can "recommend" multiple captions/comments, if you want.

So for a quick recap ..

- Write a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo.

- If you like a caption/comment that's been written, "recommend" it.

- After you "recommend" a caption/comment, write something (like +1, for example) to indicate you like the sentence a 3QC member has written.

- The contest will last four days, so whichever caption/comment gets the most recommendations, wins. In case of a tie, I'll determine the winner. [NEW]

- There will be two rounds in the competition. In the first round (Friday/Saturday), submissions are made and votes are tallied. At the end of the second day, the submissions that garnered four or more "recs/votes" will advance. In the final round (Sunday/Monday), votes are tallied for the eligible submissions. [NEW]

- Winner will be announced Monday afternoon or evening. [NEW]

- The contest is subject to change.

Let the contest begin!

Poll

Choose the author which made the best caption.

Ben Q Rock

25 votes

TheGiantSquid

25 votes

bandrewg08

25 votes

75 votes | Poll has closed