I've been absolutely amazed by the outcry that these first six games have caused this season. After all, it's been six games, against high competition. Our guys are for the most part young, and don't have the benefit of years of playing with their current teammates or in their coach's system. They didn't get a training camp or a preseason to acclimate. They didn't get a chance to learn the little things, the chemistry, and the roles that come with playing basketball with the same people every day. However, this, coming from a 10 year vet really opened my eyes. And it is actually really scary.

I've always been a pretty hopeless apologist when it comes to most things Wizards. But today, I think it's time for an overhaul. I think we need a few things. A few things that will at least promote a positive atmosphere for our plethora of young guys to grow properly. Because that's the biggest concern for this team right now. We shouldn't be worried about winning this year. We should be worried about setting our guys up to develop. Turning our young guys into the best players they can be. And I can tell you right now, this environment where people don't know their roles is bad for our youngn's. It's is the reason we all see the way John Wall is overwhelmed with frustration on a nightly basis. There is no way that allows him to focus on his game, and his mistakes, to the fullest. It is the reason our offense is jumbled mess of set-breaking shot-jackers. And it does not allow Flip's offense to settle in or allow our players to develop NBA, team concepts. Not even a simple P&R. It might even be the reason Andray Blatche has never seen the need to become more of a player than he is today.

Continue reading this post »

I never thought hearing the term "lockout" would have as negative effect on my ears as it does today. This thing sucks. It's been exhausting, confusing, frustrating, and even occasionally comical. If it wasn't for Bullets Forever and SB Nation in general, I would be lost all together on the matter. Instead, I'd say I am pretty informed on the issues we can attribute not having an NBA season to at this point. Yet here I am along with the rest of my fellow fans, the victim of Stern's lies, Hunter's terrible (lack of a) plan, and the four different sides of this whole mess.

Continue reading this post »

As we know, John Wall has promised that he will lead the Wizards to the playoffs in the 2011-2012 season. Even if it was a spur of the moment, not so well thought out statement, I am pretty sure Wall plans on following through with it. We get another glimpse at his competitive nature when he says things like how he can't wait to show Derrick Rose and Russel Westbrook who is boss next year. Another extremely confident comment he plans on backing up, no doubt. 

As fans, we obviously want to see our team win. But what would we be sacrificing by actually making the Playoffs next year? Let's take a look at the positives and negatives that would come out of our young squad shocking many and making the playoffs next season, and see if success outweighs the benefits of being a bad team... After the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The Wizards are having a pretty miserable season this year. We have a total of two wins away from Verizon. We have 18 wins on the year and are yet again watching the standings for the wrong reasons. Cheering for teams like Sacramento and Minnesota to keep winning, and maybe even for our own guys to play well, but not well enough to win games and finish with a better record than the other garbage teams of the league. All for the sake of ping-pong balls, and the hope of landing another talented running mate for John Wall.

It is easy for me to enjoy a game where our young guys play hard and hang with a playoff bound team. Even if we don't emerge with the W, games where the team is competitive are the reasons we watch, this season. But the Miami game last night gave me a particularly unique reason to be proud. And the idea of this post is pretty much to highlight something that should give us Wiz fans some pride, amongst all of the losing.

Continue reading this post »

So there is a bunch of talk around here, of the feeling that this team is beginning to implode. That it is blowing up and some major change might be coming(bye-bye Flip??). However, there is no reason that a young, rebuilding team should be dealing with these problems. Honestly, the guys should be out there trying to have fun, compete, and become better basketball players.

Yet, we hear it in the post-game interviews. We see it in the body language. Hell, we see Javale Mcgee screaming at coaches on the court. Now with the departure of maybe the perfect example of what the guys should be doing getting traded to Atlanta in Hinrich, John Wall might just be feeling damn near hopeless. And that, would be the absolute worst scenario for this season. In this brand new NBA where players can prevent their teams from trading for the most value because it is not the destination the player wants to go to(see Anthony, Carmelo trade), and where every star wants to play on an all-star team every night, we need to try and keep Wall happy, at least beyond his rookie season. Let me add, this situation is clearly different than a 'Melo scenario. John Wall simply wants to play with competitors, with competent basketball players. Not an outrageous request. So we need to get some players in here that want to win, that are not consumed with their own losing habits.

But how do we do this, you may ask. Jump for my plan to save John Wall.

Continue reading this post »

There has been tons of Gilbert Arenas coverage today, but I just had to put my final thoughts out there. It sucks to see him go. But there is no question, it was time.

And for those who still hate, honestly, where would this team have gone, the last 7 seasons, had he not decided to become a Washington Wizard? He gave us more memories than any player may ever do again. And he won us some games while he was at it. My fandom would surely not be the same without him. Hell, I honestly might not even be a Wiz fan were it not for Gilbert Arenas. He gave me my first Wizards, and really, my first NBA memories. He was a performer like few others in this league. Gil not only had more talents than almost anybody, but he really put on a show, and he made his fans love him. He has been honest and real and fun for us fans since day one. All of the stories I have heard about Gil leave me with the same impression; he was as humble and confident as you could ask a person to be, he loved his fans here, he liked playing in this city, and he wanted to just have fun and make all those people that cheered for him happy. How different is this than some NBA stars(yeah I mean Lebron)?

Continue reading this post »

So last night's game against the Lakers was a lot of fun to watch. It helped that Nick Young and company were playing outstanding on the offensive end. Were it not for an atrocious first half of rebounding and unstoppable Laker penetaration(coincidence that this was a problem in a game where Yi started?), it could have been an easy win.

So as noted, the first half was kind of the same old problems we have suffered through this year. But the second half... now that was a different story. I saw guys, two guys specifically, come out with energy and hustle and pride in their game. Those two guys were obviously Booker and Seraphin. They played like they wanted to be on the court. They played like they wanted to do whatever it was going to take to get the win. They set the tone that they were going to scrap, bang, and bruise to make plays. And that is what this team needs. We have a set of guards that are going to take care of their business. Our frontcourt can display long-range shooting, consistent penetration, outstanding ball distribution, and occasionaly some defense, on any given night. That leaves us with this need; some front court players willing to do the dirty work. Guys that have the desire to rebound and set screens and set a physical tone. And to simply let it be known that they do not give up easy buckets if you are brave enough to come down there with them. Even the Lebron's and Wade's of the league shy away from driving after a few tough fouls.

And this is what brings me to Blatche....

Continue reading this post »

So I randomly googled Gilbert Arenas's name earlier and looking through some of the old images brought back some old memories. Some good memories. Gilbert has took a ton of heat over the past 8-10 months and I understand alot of it, he brought upon himself. I understand that this is a new Wizards team, a rebuilding team that is building on youth and potential and at the moment needs all of the salary cap space it can get, to help build the future. And that Gilbert doesn't help the youth movement, and his contract surely doesn't help in the salary cap department. But I remember when I felt like this guy was taking over the NBA. He was a rising superstar hitting "Dagger!" after "Dagger!" and putting up 40 like it was nothing. Those where the best days I have seen as a young Wiz fan. We all have talked about Gil hopefully getting his trade value up this season, and hopefully moving him for some cap space or a player to build on. But are we forgetting what he can do on the court? Are we forgetting the love this city had for Gilbert? What if he could actually help this team for years to come?

Continue reading this post »