Wizards forward Antawn Jamison hasn't been able to help his team on the court after suffering an exhibition schedule shoulder separation. But he's trying to inspire his mates in the locker room. Friday night, that meant the post-game gastronomy in Indianapolis had to suffer.
Washington fell to a rather miserable Indiana team by 16 points. According to the Washington Post's Michael Lee, Jamison gave the business to his teammates in the locker room after the final buzzer. Lee reports that a tray of snacks had been "tossed into a corner, shattered to pieces, with fruit and candy scattered everywhere." Quelle horreur!
The Wizards are hoping that a healthy roster, a few new additions and a new head coach will help the team get back to relevance and into the fairly stacked upper echelon of the Eastern Conference. But reconstructing a group that won just 19 games a year ago might be a project that will take longer than a single campaign to complete.
The good news is the Wizards have plenty of positives going for them as they head into the season.
Michael Lee of the Washington Post followed up recent Wizards rumors in a piece this morning on the No. 5 pick and Caron Butler. Lee said the 'Zards and Suns discussed an Amar'e Stoudemire trade, but D.C. balked when Butler became a requirement from Phoenix's end.
Washington GM Ernie Grunfeld famously has little interest in keeping No. 5. Phoenix needs to do two things in short order: get younger, and get rid of its (spiritual) question marks up front (Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal), one way or the other. So can the Wizards and Suns arrange a deal without involving Butler, Gilbert Arenas or Antawn Jamison?
After much discussion, rumor mongering and ballyhoo, Yahoo! Sports reports that the Washington Wizards will make former Pistons and Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders their new head coach, reportedly agreeing to a four-year, $18 million deal.
That's not Yankees money or corporate bailout money, but for the Wizards, that's a pretty hefty chunk of change.
As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.
Only one NBA team can legitimately claim its season ended before it began. Starting center Brendan Haywood, Washington's defensive anchor, tore a wrist ligament during a preseason practice. The injury basically ensured a mediocre defense would be destined for completely awfulness.
But Eddie Jordan's Wizards have always scored efficiently and frequently. Surely, the offense could save Washington. That'd be nice ... except that a month prior, the team's most potent scorer -- Gilbert Arenas -- had another surgery completed on his knee. His return date went from December ... to January ... to post-All Star break ... to Saturday.
You can understand how Washington finds itself at the bottom of the standings.
At 3 PM ET Thursday, the deadline for NBA trades for this season will hit. Moves made after the deadline will be limited to waiver pick-ups; meaning only veterans with short deals will likely shift around. Of course, those veterans (like Joe Smith) might be moved before that can happen.
There are a few parallel storylines heading into the deadline, and (unfortunately) not all of them have to do with basketball. So what should you expect to go down before the deadline hits?
Washington tastes all flavors of bad. The Wizards will almost assuredly end the season among the three worst teams in the league; as such, the team is due at least a top-six pick, with the probability skewing toward Picks No. 2-4.
As Bullets Forever's Mike Prada identified a month ago, Washington also faces a devastating cap figure for 2009-10. Owner Abe Pollin isn't one of these brave billionaires who can afford a $100-million payrolls. So, the Wizards really need to cut at least $8 million of '09-10 salary. Once Thursday passes, the degree of difficulty will become much greater.
But based on reports, it seems instead of unloading expensive veteran Antawn Jamison or hot prom date Caron Butler, the team is considering trying to attach a bad contract to the high pick to slink under the tax while maintaining a talent base.
Part of FanHouse's coverage of the NBA's All-Star weekend, coming to you live from Phoenix.
PHOENIX -- The All-Star festivities will be a little different this weekend, with the addition of the GEICO/HORSE Game on Saturday. If you've ever touched a basketball for longer than about six seconds, you have played a version of HORSE, so getting to see the big boys toss up crazy shots will be interesting.
During the media time on Friday, some of the bigger names talked about the game and who they thought might be the toughest to face in the NBA. The answers might surprise you.
Wizards bosses claimed that the early-season replacement of Eddie Jordan with Ed Tapscott came because the franchise management believe the playoffs could still be reached. At 4-23, Washington is now five games behind Charlotte for 14th place in the East. I think we can rule out the playoffs at this point.
Nevertheless, Tapscott is riding his veterans. JaVale McGee and Javaris Crittenton earned DNP-CDs for the Christmas game in Cleveland. Youthful Dominic McGuire didn't get some time to flourish or wilt until not-youthful DeShawn Stevenson requestedto be benched. There's no hope for this season, and the team hasn't yet given the kids a chance to show they can be successful next season. Lose-lose, mates.
As such, this rumor from the Washington Post's Ivan Carter makes a load of sense.
They are only whispers but I'm hearing chatter that Gilbert Arenas and the team is seriously pondering whether to bring him back at all this season.
By the end of the night, none of them will have scored as many points for the Tar Heels than Tyler Hansbrough. Psycho T is just nine points away from passing Ford and become the all-time leading scorer in UNC history. The Tar Heels host Evansville tonight.
When records fall, there are two stories to follow. One is the greatness of the player who is toppling the record. We all know about Hansbrough and what he has meant to the Carolina program. But the second story is about the record itself and who held it.
It is amazing that Ford has kept this record since graduating in 1978. Again, guys like Jordan, Worthy, Perkins, Jamison, Vince Carter and more have came and went since Ford. Sure, most of the best scorers since 1978 have left early for NBA riches (I think that Joseph Forte would have owned the record if he hadn't left after his sophomore season) but that shouldn't diminish the record.
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison hasn't been able to help his team on the court after suffering an exhibition schedule shoulder separation. But he's trying to inspire his mates in the locker room. Friday night, that meant the post-game gastronomy in Indianapolis had to suffer.
FanHouse 
Michael Lee of the Washington Post followed up recent Wizards rumors in 
Ready or not, here Flip comes. 
As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, 
At 
Washington tastes all flavors of bad. The Wizards will almost assuredly end the season among the three worst teams in the league; as such, the team is due at least a top-six pick, with the probability skewing toward Picks No. 2-4.horesnss.jpg)
Part of FanHouse's coverage of the NBA's 
Wizards bosses claimed that the early-season replacement of Eddie Jordan with 
North Carolina is one of those programs whose history drops jaws. Just the names of the players that have come through Chapel Hill are amazing. 
