This year's summer project

by Mike Prada on Jul 24, 2008 4:35 PM EDT in Site News Comment 38 comments

We're reaching the dog days of August, when there isn't much on the NBA schedule, save for Olympic coverage. I've traditionally shied away from doing much with the Olympics or World Championships because there are rarely Wizards involved, but since Darius Songaila is playing for Lithuania, we'll probably discuss it a little bit.

Otherwise, though, there's not much out there to discuss.

But rather than cut down the activity of the blog, we traditionally run some sort of off-beat series to keep the content going. Last year, we began counting down what we deemed to be the top 20 Bullets/Wizards of all time. I had people vote on the list, tallied the results, then opened the floor for anyone to write profiles about the player in whatever voice they chose. The list we came up with is here (the numbers are off for some reason). These are the profiles already completed:

#20: Kevin Grevey, by me
#19: Rod Strickland, by SP Yup
#18: Kevin Loughery, by Jake
#17: Jack Marin, by me
#16: Jeff Ruland, by Jake
#15: Juwan Howard, by LoDawg31
#14: Michael Jordan, by me
#13: Antawn Jamison, by facedkr
#12: Chris Webber, by KDP
#11: Bernard King, by jackpitt
#10: Gus Johnson, by LoneWiz54
#9: Moses Malone, by Jake
#8: Bobby Dandridge, by Jake

I have Jeff Malone (#7, by hotplate) on my computer from an e-mail he sent eons ago, but that still leaves six more that people should volunteer to write.

#6: Walt Bellamy
#5: Phil Chenier - LoneWiz54
#4: Earl Monroe - Truthaboutit
#3: Gilbert Arenas -Jake called this one already
#2: Elvin Hayes
#1: Wes Unseld

So there's that to finish.

But once we're done with that, I figured a better project would be to write profiles about 15 players who are memorable for reasons besides their play. Last year, I called them "curiosities," because I couldn't think of another term for them. Basically, these are the guys that Bullet/Wizards fans still echo today even though they were mostly cerebral players. I'm talking LeDell Eackles, Lorenzo Williams, Williams, Dinnerbell Turpin, Brent Price, Gheroghe, Manute Bol, Tyrone Nesby, etc. In a lot of ways, these would make far more interesting profiles than the more legendary guys, plus they also reflect our history better than anyone.

So let's use this thread to brainstorm on guys that should be part of the series. Once we do that, we can determine how many of them should be profiled and who should profile them.

Have at it!

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Kwame Brown...

Dear Diary, JACKPOT!!!!!!!!!!

by Evander holyfield on Jul 24, 2008 6:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Off the top of my head

God Shammgod
Calvin Booth
Popeye Jones
Jahidi White
Kevin Duckworth
Tracy Murray, although most of his mystique is tied in with Rod Strickland’s
And of course, Oleksiy Pecherov

Bullets Forever: Where fancy numbers and YouTube come together.

by JakeTheSnake on Jul 24, 2008 7:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Two more

Tim Legler
Darvin Ham(!)

Bullets Forever: Where fancy numbers and YouTube come together.

by JakeTheSnake on Jul 24, 2008 7:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey I'm new

Darrell Walker, Mugsy, AJ English?

by ReboundingLs on Jul 24, 2008 8:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Many More Suggestions

My fandom goes back to 1983, so here are some oldies.
Definitely Darell Walker. Loved his game. Michael Adams had 2 good runs with the Bullets.. Don’t forget the “Secret Weapon” Charles Jones who despite being undersized and completely unable to score managed to be the Bullets starting center year after year .
Former Congressman Tom McMillan had one fabulous week in 1984 as a Bullet. Current referee and 1984 Olympian Leon Wood had 3 excellent weeks for the Bullets in about ‘85 after being traded for Kenny Green in a swap of rookie first round busts. He was then traded to New Jersey for Associate Head Coach Mike O’Koren.
And of course, the other half of the Beef Brothers, Rick Mahorn the first of many former Bullet/Wizards to obtain a ring in Detroit. And oh yeah, how about Googs too?
Ah, good times!

by hotplate on Jul 24, 2008 8:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

GOOGS!

That’s all I have to say.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It Dot Net

by Truth About It on Jul 24, 2008 9:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

See, I think Googs is too good

For the cerebial list. He was under consideration for the big list, but was disqualified for not playing here long enough (it’s the same thing that DQd Caron Butler).

Michael Adams too (he was an all-star in 1992, remember).

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jul 25, 2008 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

BTW....

I call Earl The Pearl Monroe.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It Dot Net

by Truth About It on Jul 24, 2008 10:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't forget:

Harvey Grant (remember how at one time he was the better Grant?!), Nervous Pervis and of course, “Hotplate” Williams (did someone already name him?)

Perhaps off topic, but still a real part of our history to me is the penchant for giving away young talent that goes on to great success elsewhere: think e.g. Rip, ‘Sheed, Big Ben; or the trend of signing one-time stars who got fans excited but never lived up to their names once they put on a Bullets jersey: Mark Price, Mitch, Stackhouse (remember the beachhouse incident?).

And I’ll second these guys:
M. Adams
Gheorghe Muresan
Manute Bol + Mugsy
Googs

Getting buckets since 2003.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 24, 2008 11:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

the missing piece

Rex Chapman
or Don MacLean

Its always Roger Mason (Jr.) time!

by ledellforlife on Jul 25, 2008 12:17 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don the juicer

“Don MacLean?” Barkley said on TNT, “I’ve seen Don MacLean naked, and he doesn’t use steroids.”

Best line ever.

Getting buckets since 2003.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 25, 2008 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh and

Ladell Eackles

Its always Roger Mason (Jr.) time!

by ledellforlife on Jul 25, 2008 12:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Haywoode Workman

One of the best names.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It Dot Net

by Truth About It on Jul 25, 2008 7:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Memorable Bullets

Tim Legler and Ledell Eackles are a must… And when my daughter was about 15, she had a huge crush on Darvin Ham. When I took her to a fan appreciation day we were in the autograph line for Calbert Cheaney and Darvin Ham. By the time we got to Calbert, she was in a cold sweat (Ham was next) and Cal looked up at her and said, “Are you OK, Girl?”

But what about these lesser lights from the glory years:

Phil “Bags” Riordan
Thomas Henderson
Larry Wright
Nick “Spoon” Weatherspoon

and I can’t believe Jeff Malone did not get consideration for the big list.

If we do Hotplate Williams then it should be a package deal with “The Duck”—Kevin Duckworth… to say nothing of the man we traded for him, Harvey Grant.

Two other guards worth noting were Robert Pack and Jimmy Jones (a great ABA player who was our first guard off the bench for a while in the early 80s but blew out his knee at Cap Center in one ugly, freaky accident).

And why no love for the “Secret Weapon”, Charles Jones?

by khrabb on Jul 25, 2008 7:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Jeff Malone is #7

On the big list…

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jul 25, 2008 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OOPS

I see where Jeff Malone was… sort of buried in a transitional sentence LOL

by khrabb on Jul 25, 2008 7:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I second Charles Jones. A great story.

Bernard King. Another great story.

Mitch Richmond (no room for him in the top 20?), Skiles, Kupchak.

by MR on Jul 25, 2008 8:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

King is already in the top 20

Getting buckets since 2003.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 25, 2008 8:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry, I missed that

by MR on Jul 25, 2008 8:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Calbert Cheaney

He was a monster in college…

Basketball honors

1993: Won all 12 NCAA National Player of the year awards. Unanimous First-Team All America
All-America 1991, 1992, 1993
1993 Big Ten Conference MVP
All-Big Ten 1991, 1992, 1993
Big Ten’s All Time Scoring Leader (2,613)
Indiana University’s All-Time leading scorer
Four time IU team MVP
Selected to Indiana University’s All-Century First Team
1993 USBWA College Player of the Year

A high draft pick – #6 overall in 1993

He never lived up to his hype but he got buckets. He was one of the guys who I remember from the first Bullets team I followed in 93-94.

by DT711 on Jul 25, 2008 9:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

reminds me

hey – now i remember who Nick Young reminds me of…..........

by stevie on Jul 25, 2008 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cheaney wasn't that bad

He was a decent starter for a few years before fizzling. I wouldn’t mind if Young’s career mirrored Cheaney’s, though obviously I’d like it to be better.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jul 25, 2008 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cheaney was a huge disappointment to me

Not Kwame disappointing (well, no one is quite that bad), but you expect more from a number 6 pick. Along with the Jeffries debacle, I would be happy if we never took another Indiana player again.

Getting buckets since 2003.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jul 26, 2008 5:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i could do this for hours

dave feitl
doug roth
bob mccann

sadly, most of the ‘90s and early 00’s i’m fine with forgetting, but i found these guys inspiring

jeff malone
bernard king
charles jones
coach wes unseld getting in fights on the court

and, oh yeah,

darrell walker

by DarrellWalkerFan on Jul 25, 2008 10:55 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

hmmm

just thinking, is it any wonder i have some issues with arenas? walker is about the complete opposite of arenas…

and is there any chance my favorite current player antonio daniels will get remembered as a wizard? probably not unfortunately.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Jul 25, 2008 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Isn't it amazing

The Wiz had two guys (Fetil and Roth) who were actually less athletic than Jon Koncak?

Sorry if they’ve been named already, but how about Steve Colter, Ed Horton, LaBradford Smith, Mark Alarie, Tom Hammonds (talk about a college beast), Chris Whitney, and Jim Maclivane? Also, is the guy we drafted instead of Karl Malone on this list? I can’t remember if it was Kenny Greene or Hotplate…

p.s. I know he would never admit it, but I’ll bet Shaq still has nightmares about Jahidi.

by jvflail on Jul 25, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

steve colter!

by DarrellWalkerFan on Jul 25, 2008 6:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I want to do the write up on Phil Chenier

The most beautiful jump shot I have ever seen in basketball period.

by LoneWiz54 on Jul 25, 2008 2:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Seeing Chris Webber and Michael Jordan on this list

makes me want to vomit. Seeing Howard on this list only causes me to vurp.

"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Jul 25, 2008 2:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

From the looks of it

This list is going to have to be bigger than 15 names.

Of the ones mentioned, the essentials in my mind are…

-God
-Duckworth
-Popeye Jones
-Darvin Ham
-LaDell
-Darrell Walker
-Charles Jones
-Hotplate
-Tim Legler
-Don MacLean
-Gheorghe
-Rex Chapman
-Jahidi
-T-Nez
-Chris Whitney

Wow, that list is getting long.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jul 25, 2008 5:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Terry Davis, Frank Johnson.

I knew Manute Bol, and you sir are no Manute Bol!

by houserocker on Jul 25, 2008 11:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

unless I missed them, I think we add “Truck” Robinson, Greg Ballard and especially Kevin Porter and MIke Riordan! How can these two get no respect??.
I also think Jordan as a bullet/wizard gets listed as an oddity
How about real early guys like Bob Ferry and Bailey Howell? Maybe even Don Ohl?

JV, it was Kenny Green

by Lucky Horseshoe on Jul 26, 2008 1:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dave Bing and Moses Malone both only stopped in for a cup of coffee but are great enough players to get a mention.

by Lucky Horseshoe on Jul 26, 2008 1:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Moses is on the big list

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jul 26, 2008 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rod

Upon further reflection, Rod Strickland is a must for the list. Not only was he “quirky”, but he was damn good for awhile. I think he’s the best ball handler I’ve ever seen.

I'm afraid that Nick Young reminds me more of Ledell Eackles than Calbert. Not in body type for sure, but as the charismatic, one-dimensional scorer off of the bench . I hope that Nick can make the jump from "instant offense" to solid starter that Ledell could never make.

by hotplate on Jul 26, 2008 10:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oops.

That was supposed to read:
Upon further reflection, Rod Strickland is a must for the list. Not only was he "quirky", but he was damn good for awhile. I think he’s the best ball handler I’ve ever seen.

I’m afraid that Nick Young reminds me more of Ledell Eackles than Calbert. Not in body type, definitely but as the charismatic, one-dimensional score off of the bench. I hope that Nick can make the jump from “instant offense” to solid starter that Ledell never could.

by hotplate on Jul 26, 2008 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs