Wizards Insider: November 7, 2010 - November 13, 2010
Open thread: Wizards (2-5) at Bulls (4-3)
John Wall's first regular season game against Derrick Rose is justifiably the most intriguing storyline as the Wizards face the Chicago Bulls. But another angle that may play a huge role in the outcome is the Wizards' rebounding against the Bulls. Led by the energetic Joakim Noah, the Bulls rank...
By
Michael Lee
| November 13, 2010; 7:55 PM ET |
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JaVale McGee
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John Wall on first meeting with Derrick Rose: "It's a big game"
You ready for this to get real? (Dennis Wierzbicki/US Presswire) When Derrick Rose and John Wall met in the preseason, the two electrifying point guards raced around each other as if they were in stock cars, leaving their college coach John Calipari to ask to most pertinent question about...
By
Michael Lee
| November 13, 2010; 4:12 PM ET |
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John Wall
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Al Thornton will play, JaVale McGee pledges to rebound more
Al Thornton will play against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. He was examined on Saturday in Chicago and discovered that a stomach virus contributed to his sluggish performance the night before. After his worst game of the regular season, Thornton expressed some concern over the stomach ailment that limited him...
By
Michael Lee
| November 13, 2010; 1:30 PM ET |
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Al Thornton, JaVale McGee
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Al Thornton's injury and rebounding woes contribute to loss
Can't get rebounds like this. (Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Al Thornton's night was over when he was slow to chase down Charlotte's Gerald Wallace and fouled him, allowing the human wrecking ball Wallace to convert a four-point play early in the third period. Thornton appeared out of...
By
Michael Lee
| November 13, 2010; 12:32 AM ET |
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Al Thornton, Andray Blatche, JaVale McGee
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Open thread: Wizards (2-4) vs. Bobcats (2-6)
The Wizards have been bringing along slowly Gilbert Arenas since he returned to action in New York last week. Since scoring 18 points in 26 minutes in his debut, Arenas has seen his scoring and minutes decline. He scored just five points -- and missed six of his seven field...
By
Michael Lee
| November 12, 2010; 6:37 PM ET |
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Gilbert Arenas
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Al Thornton has been "wildly" efficient for the Wizards
You ready for this elbow, Shane? (By John McDonnell/The Washington Post) Al Thornton accidentally popped Houston Rockets forward Shane Battier in the eye with an elbow on Wednesday that led Battier to joke that Thornton "upholds his reputation of being the wildest player in the league. He's just wild."...
By
Michael Lee
| November 12, 2010; 1:38 PM ET |
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Al Thornton
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More of the same from Wall?
In today's newspaper, Gene Wang explains the challenge of John Wall topping Wednesday's dazzling performance. On the blog, Wang describes two sides of Wall. The Wizards face the Charlotte Bobcats tonight at Verizon Center. On the absurd side, Dan Steinberg's DC Sports Bog chronicles another anti-Wall rant from Colin Cowherd....
By
Alexa Steele
| November 12, 2010; 8:10 AM ET |
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Morning brew
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Two sides of John Wall
There's the boisterous John Wall, and there's the thoughtful John Wall. Both sides to the Washington Wizards' rookie point guard were on full display this afternoon following the team's afternoon practice at Verizon Center. Wall's initial temperament was that of the reserved, eager student, receiving advice from Coach Flip Saunders...
By
Gene Wang
| November 11, 2010; 3:25 PM ET |
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John Wall
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Yi vs. Yao never develops
Last night's game was billed as Yi vs. Yao, and in addition to hundreds of millions watching on television in those players' native China, the Washington Wizards promoted the matchup in conjunction with Asian Heritage Night at Verizon Center. The anticipated confrontation never happened, though, because Yao Ming, the Houston...
By
Gene Wang
| November 11, 2010; 8:03 AM ET |
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John Wall, Morning brew, Yi Jianlian
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Open thread: Wizards (1-4) vs. Rockets (1-5)
Tonight's matchup is being billed as Yi vs. Yao on Asian Heritage Night at Verizon Center, and despite the two rarely having faced each other one-on-one throughout their NBA careers, Wizards Coach Flip Saunders said they would do so in this game. At 7 feet 6, Yao's focus has always...
By
Gene Wang
| November 10, 2010; 6:55 PM ET |
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Yi Jianlian
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Trevor Booker hoping to play against cousin Jordan Hill of Houston
It'd be nice if I could fight for rebounds with Jordan tonight. (By Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Trevor Booker said he knows that it probably won't be anything like those intense, one-on-one backyard battles, when he and his cousin, Jordan Hill, would go at each other for several hours...
By
Michael Lee
| November 10, 2010; 11:42 AM ET |
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Trevor Booker
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Saunders: Don't be fooled by Houston's 1-5 record
The Wizards have had three days since their last game, enough time for Flip Saunders to question the effort of his players in practice and command a greater sense of urgency in game preparation. Saunders added another practice on Monday, and now the extra time will be put to the...
By
Michael Lee
| November 10, 2010; 8:04 AM ET |
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Morning brew
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Day after he stormed out of practice, Flip Saunders says, 'message delivered, message received'
When Flip Saunders told his players to report back for another practice on Monday, Al Thornton recalls leaning his head back and saying, "Aw, not another one." The players certainly didn't want to put in an extra two hours of work, but Thornton knows why it occurred. "The first practice...
By
Michael Lee
| November 9, 2010; 3:48 PM ET |
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Flip Saunders
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Wizards big men meet, discuss need to improve
JaVale McGee ranks fifth in the league with 2.6 blocked shots per game. Andray Blatche is one of just 13 players in the league averaging at least 17 points and 7.5 rebounds. But McGee and Blatche know that those individual statistics aren't enough for them to declare the Wizards...
By
Michael Lee
| November 9, 2010; 11:00 AM ET |
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Andray Blatche, Hilton Armstrong, JaVale McGee
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Wizards players understand reason for extra practice
The Wizards have not started a season with a winning record after five games since 2005-06, when they began 3-2. In the four years that have followed, the Wizards have a combined record of 3-17, with two 0-5 starts. They have been able to come back from slow starts before,...
By
Michael Lee
| November 9, 2010; 8:01 AM ET |
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Morning brew
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Lackluster effort at first practice gets Wizards a second
By
Michael Lee
| November 8, 2010; 6:49 PM ET |
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Flip Saunders cuts practice short, orders players to come back later
Flustered by the effort displayed by his team -- and the backtalk from players over calls from coaches during a scrimmage -- Flip Saunders stormed out of practice on Monday. As he left the floor, Saunders told his players, "If you want to get better. Come back at 4." The...
By
Michael Lee
| November 8, 2010; 2:15 PM ET |
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Plenty of praise, plenty of room for John Wall to improve
John Wall's most impressive play last weekend didn't count. With 2.1 seconds left in the first half of the Wizards' 107-102 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mo Williams had just made a layup when Wall tried to respond with a quick answer -- a really quick answer -- as he...
By
Michael Lee
| November 8, 2010; 8:12 AM ET |
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Morning brew
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Forget the "Dougie," Wizards need to learn how to win
John Wall has already showed that doing "the Dougie" isn't a problem. The Wizards need someone to teach them how to win.
By
Michael Lee
| November 7, 2010; 12:26 AM ET |
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