The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[Rocky21]

I don't know who was supposed to be covering Drew Gooden but that dude went off last night. Blatche? McGee? Yi? He had 25 points in 28 minutes! Good grief.

[StillUnknown]

I don't know who was supposed to be covering Drew Gooden but that dude went off last night. Blatche? McGee? Yi? He had 25 points in 28 minutes! Good grief.

that man has always killed us

[Gator Bait]

if Flip can somehow turn Yi into a physical player, that may be his greatest accomplishment in life

he's still very young though and its obvious he has skill, we just have to add some beast to his personality

He was pretty physical in the lone preseason game I saw. Been good on the boards.

[Upark25]

The funny thing is, I remember having this exact same convo with Kosher YEARS ago. Multiple times. Kosher is like an NBA bully. He roots for the Lakers for whatever reason--not because they win, cause he's no bandwagoner--and the Wiz suck (like we don't know this) so he talks ****. To get his kicks? To feel better about himself? Cause he's just a dick? I don't know.

Meanwhile nobody gives a **** and just wishes he would leave the thread and let us enjoy the little bit of hope we have started to get with Ted and Wall.


Anyway, here's that pic of Yi I forgot to post awhile back:

Haha is that Wang Zhi-Zhi there in the background?? Talk about blast from the past.

[No Excuses]

I'm not happy with Blatche's play either. He's shooting too many jumpers for my liking. However, I really don't like how our guards only look into the post when they have no other option. Saw Blatche posting up Gooden and Ilyavosa a few times last night but the guards just refused to dish it in.

McGee has impressed me with his rebounding and effort lately. He also looks good on defense. He's not playing like a headless chicken anymore. Flip calling him out may have worked. Flip called out Yi and Blatche for shooting too many jumpers as well. Let's see if that works.

By the way, nice to see the crowd give Arenas a great ovation yesterday. Gil was genuinely appreciative of it. Need more support for him rather than people hating. He's our best player and a damn good one at that.

And Morrison is a ****ing loser. God he sucks. There was one play where he got a rebound right below the basket. Instead of going straight up with it and slamming it home or at least drawing a foul, he passed to Blatche or Mcgee (I forget which one) who was like 24 inches to his right and made them do some bull**** fadeaway hookshoot. They made it but still. That's not an NBA play. It was ugly. Dude is a *****. Scared.

Everyone in the crowd wanted Morrison to shoot so badly haha. He passed over a lot of good looks to covered guys. Worse than his offense is his horrific defense. Just an awful defender.

[pjfootballer]

I guess some guys just don't have it at the pro level (Morrison). He was an aggresive scorer in college. I wouldn't call him great, but he was a good player.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

I guess some guys just don't have it at the pro level (Morrison). He was an aggresive scorer in college. I wouldn't call him great, but he was a good player.

I think Morrison's biggest problem is his lack of athleticism.

[WALL-LE]

I think Morrison's biggest problem is his lack of athleticism.

yea hes a narp, when i watched him last night i was like how did this guy tear up the ncaa?

[DoGood28]

And now ESPN says that Gil has been fined $50k for his latest headline. It took all of 4 preseason games for the Wizard of Odd to cause a stir again. I wouldn't be so sore if he didn't miss two whole seasons, so long that I forgot what he looked like. For the better part of 5 years this relationship has been very disfunctional. If not for the Caps and Skins I would be a very depressed VA fan. The Wizards have been bad since before I was born.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wiz...o-re.html#more

Gilbert Arenas starting to reconnect with Wizards fans

Gilbert Arenas didn't participate in the Wizards' open practice on Saturday at Verizon Center, as he is still recovering from a mild groin strain, but he was certainly a marquee attraction afterward. As players took free throws at the conclusion of practice, a group of four boys yelled from the stands for Arenas's attention. When Arenas waved, they giggled and gave each other high fives.

It's not exactly the glory days when Arenas captivated the crowd and connected with fans through his underdog story and post-game jersey tosses. But Arenas doesn't have to search far to realize that there is a significant portion of the Wizards' fan base that will always side with him.

That was evident as Arenas headed off the court and stopped to sign autographs and pose for photographs with dozens of fans. He hadn't signed 10 autographs before a fan climbed down five rows and asked to take a picture with him. Arenas didn't turn down any fan, signing T-shirts, jerseys, posters and scratch paper for about 10 minutes -- about eight minutes longer than any other player, including No. 1 overall pick John Wall. One woman even asked him to sign her forearm.

Arenas repeatedly heard, "We still love you, Gil."

This has been a wild week in Arenas world, with him cavalierly admitting to faking an injury in order to let Nick Young start, getting fined $50,000 for lying to Coach Flip Saunders about it, and really getting hurt in his first home game since returning from a 50-game suspension for bringing guns into the locker room.

Arenas was nervous about the reception that he was going to receive on Tuesday against Atlanta, which may have also contributed to his "sore knee." But he was pleasantly surprised by the applause he received from the sparse crowd in his three-minute performance against Milwaukee -- the day after his reputation took another hit for his ill-conceived means to assist Young. But his interaction with fans is starting to help Arenas break out of that gloomy persona that he took on the first few days of training camp.

The Wizards held an event for season-ticket holders at Six Flags on Friday night, and I heard from a few witnesses that Arenas was perhaps the most engaging player. One person said that fans repeatedly approached Arenas to ask him to smile more, that they couldn't wait for him to get back on the floor. They showed him jerseys that Arenas had tossed their direction several years ago. Arenas traded jokes and laughter for several hours, even though it was a rather chilly evening.

As he signed autographs on Saturday, Arenas joked with fans and made fun of himself in the process. As security encouraged fans to stand behind a barrier, one woman managed to get through to get to Arenas.

"You ain't going to get in trouble?" Arenas said. "All right. I don't want them yelling at me. I already got enough trouble by myself. I don't want no extra pressure."

When Wall finally came over to sign autographs, the fans slowly drifted away from Arenas. The crowd had finally dwindled down, so Arenas walked back toward the locker room. He was asked to talk to reporters, but declined by saying, "Nah. I'm happy right now."

Then Arenas turned around, possibly realizing that he walked off with a pen or something. He returned to sign a few more autographs. Arenas finally left.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

And now ESPN says that Gil has been fined $50k for his latest headline. It took all of 4 preseason games for the Wizard of Odd to cause a stir again. I wouldn't be so sore if he didn't miss two whole seasons, so long that I forgot what he looked like. For the better part of 5 years this relationship has been very disfunctional. If not for the Caps and Skins I would be a very depressed VA fan. The Wizards have been bad since before I was born.

Were you asleep during that three year run when the Wiz were making the playoffs and the Skins and Caps sucked?

Let's be real. They've all sucked for the last decade and a half. I don't think any of them have really trumped any of the others in any type of way. I don't follow hockey much but if my memory serves me correctly, two and a half years ago, the Caps were total **** and fired their coach midway through the season and brought on Bruce from the minors. The Skins are the Skins. I don't think I even need to even say anything there.

Ultimately it ended in disappointment but there were a couple of years there where the Wiz weren't really that far off from where the Caps are now. There was that one season where we were the #1 seed in the East at the All Star break. I don't know about you, but a lot of us thought we were legitimate contenders. And without a doubt Gil was a legitimate MVP candidate for a stretch. When he was hitting daggers every other night.

That's why Gil's downfall has been so heartwrenching. I mean damn. He was DC sports. And now he's just a freak show that everyone is waiting to get bounced out of town. Hell I remember when I got his autograph for my little 6 year old brother. My dad was like, "That's so awesome. He's gonna be in the HOF one day." It doesn't even make me angry. Just sad. Hopefully he turns it around but I'm not holding my breath. He is what he is. His success on the court blinded us to it.

[chipwhich]

Were you asleep during that three year run when the Wiz were making the playoffs and the Skins and Caps sucked?

Let's be real. They've all sucked for the last decade and a half. I don't think any of them have really trumped any of the others in any type of way. I don't follow hockey much but if my memory serves me correctly, two and a half years ago, the Caps were total **** and fired their coach midway through the season and brought on Bruce from the minors. The Skins are the Skins. I don't think I even need to even say anything there.

Ultimately it ended in disappointment but there were a couple of years there where the Wiz weren't really that far off from where the Caps are now. There was that one season where we were the #1 seed in the East at the All Star break. I don't know about you, but a lot of us thought we were legitimate contenders. And without a doubt Gil was a legitimate MVP candidate for a stretch. When he was hitting daggers every other night.

That's why Gil's downfall has been so heartwrenching. I mean damn. He was DC sports. And now he's just a freak show that everyone is waiting to get bounced out of town. Hell I remember when I got his autograph for my little 6 year old brother. My dad was like, "That's so awesome. He's gonna be in the HOF one day." It doesn't even make me angry. Just sad. Hopefully he turns it around but I'm not holding my breath. He is what he is. His success on the court blinded us to it.

GACOLB please.

The Wizards/Bullets have sucked for the most part as a "contender" since they won the championship.

Don't sell it otherwise.

NBA hoops you need all stars. We have never had them.

Thanks.

[No Excuses]

GACOLB please.

The Wizards/Bullets have sucked for the most part as a "contender" since they won the championship.

Don't sell it otherwise.

NBA hoops you need all stars. We have never had them.

Thanks.

How is he selling it otherwise? He brought out the example of one season where the Wizards were truly dominant in the East until Gerald Wallace decided to ruin it (not his fault though). I don't see him painting the entire franchise as having some great history of being contenders.

Chipwich, you're reading comprehension needs serious help. You turn every ****ing Wizards debate into "We aren't contenders blah blah blah". It's not that serious.

[chipwhich]

It's not that serious.

You are right. We are a second tier franchise at best. Why try to oversell it

[No Excuses]

You are right. We are a second tier franchise at best. Why try to oversell it

I don't see anyone doing it.