If you've been checking out Bullets Forever lately, you've probably noticed that we've been using the FanShot feature a lot.  The FanShot is basically a quick hit post to a link, picture, video, etc. and it works out great for us because a lot of times there's news that's worth relaying but doesn't really constitute an entire post. The only drawback is that if you only read Bullets Forever through your RSS reader, than you're not getting these FanShots in your reader.  So in order to catch you up on any news that you might have missed, here's a round up of all the FanShots FanPosts from the past few weeks

If you want to subscribe to the FanShots you can do that by clicking here, although we have to throw out the disclaimer that anyone can post a FanShot, so you can't say you weren't warned beforehand.  Also, you can now also subscribe to the FanPosts (formerly the diaries), with the same disclaimer in effect.

Let's start this with some links from the links from the playoff series (which already seems like it was a month ago):

• First, Eddie Jordan's thoughts on the final play of Game 4:  "[Gilbert's] our guy. And look, he made a terrific shot (on the previous possession). Who else do we have that can make that kind of shot? In the end, maybe he could have been used as a decoy. I always say that sometimes a threat is as dangerous as the action. Maybe we could have spotted him up and let Antawn or Caron get in on the last play. I thought about that as the ball was inbouded but it was too late by then."
• An example of a "flagrant, malicious, dirty, thuggish, uncalled for foul" from Jason Kidd.  Somewhere Marvin Williams is saying "Hey!  What about me?"
• Here's the quote from Brendan Haywood that prompted the now infamous Crybaby 23 T-Shirts.  The blowback from the shirt was so bad that now Papa John's is offering 23 cent pizzas on Thursday in the Cleveland area.  Will Jay-Z sell his next album for two cents in the District as an apology for Blow the Whistle?  Don't forget the boycott on Love is still in effect until he does.
• Don't take fashion tips from DeShawn.
• TruthAboutIt and WaitingForNextYear had a great back and forth Q&A. Check it out.
• Jason wonders why the Wizards didn't try to make LeBron go left more.
• Wilbon had a great write-up on Game 5 with an interesting look into Antawn's role as a leader.  (HT: cuppetcj)
  
• After Songaila's suspension for Game 6, And One gathered responses from all sides on the issue.
• Speaking of weird rulings, Vanilla Gorilla wants to know why DeShawn's throat slash was being used in promos for game 5 if it netted him a $25,000 fine.
• Finally, Asian Zero's highlight reel of the series is a must see:

Now let's check out some links as we head into the off-season:

• Some people are calling for coaching changes.  KDP wants to see Mike D'Antoni, mamemimo wants to see Avery Johnson.  For what it's worth, Ivan Carter doesn't think a change will be made.
• Gilbert on who's crazier between DeShawn and himself:  "No, he's crazier than me. I'm already broken. I learned early. He's not filtered. I think about stuff. Mine goes through the filter first."
• The last word belongs to Caron Butler who had this to say about the chances of Gilbert and Antawn coming back this season:

I look forward to both of them coming back. Obviously, I don't have that much input but publicly, I'm saying what I'm saying right now. I would love to have them back. I think that will be the case and I'm almost positive that will be the case.

I just have a hunch, a reliable source.

If you've been checking out Bullets Forever lately, you've probably noticed that we've been using the FanShot feature a lot.  The FanShot is basically a quick hit post to a link, picture, video, etc. and it works out great for us because a lot of times there's news that's worth relaying but doesn't really constitute an entire post. The only drawback is that if you only read Bullets Forever through your RSS reader, than you're not getting these FanShots in your reader.  So in order to catch you up on any news that you might have missed, here's a round up of all the FanShots from the past few weeks:

1. We Rite Goode with excellent analysis on Jordan transition from Michael to Eddie.
2. Give it up to miesteresean for winning the Bullets Forever Fantasy Basketball Championship.
3. Truth About It chronicles the trash talking between the Cavs and Wizards over the last month.
4. Gheorghe Muresan interview!
5. Brendan Haywood's quote on the Game 1 scuffle : "It was nothing really, I set a blind screen and I thought he flopped on it. I went to talk to Delaney about it; James took offense that I was standing over him. At that point in the game, he's not going to get up and do anything. What's he gonna do? Throw a punch? Get thrown out of the game? Shoot, I would've been the MVP like Robert Horry if I got him to do that."
6. Deliver some nets people!
7. More Brendan quoting: "That's just how it is," Haywood said. "You know, any time LeBron gets touched, Mike runs out there like LeBron got shot or something. Calm down Mike. It's not that serious. We're not trying to take him out. It's all within the confines of the game. I don't see how coaches should be running out on the court like that anyway. Isn't there a coach's box? Since we're talking about the confines of the league rules, he shouldn't be out of the box ... You [Ivan Carter] have been covering me for how many years? I mean, it's not like I'm a guy that takes guys out. I've been criticized normally for NOT fouling, right? This is actually different ground for me."
8. The Wizards finished 35th (out of 122) in the latest edition of ESPN's Franchise Rankings.
9. Make sure you check out the final edition of the Blogger MVP Rankings.
10. Empty the Bench makes the case that the Wizards should part ways with Gilbert. Personally, I don't agree, but you can take a look at it for yourselves.
11. Classic video from the final 2 games of the 1978 NBA Finals between the Bullets and Sonics.
12. Bullets Forever won a pretty award.
13. And One compares the Cavaliers to a Mac.
14. Finally, the one person at the Verizon Center that was as cool as Soulja Boi...Tim Russert!

There's several other FanShots that I left out because they're no longer relevant time-wise.  If you want to subscribe to the FanShots you can do that by clicking here, although we have to throw out the disclaimer that anyone can post a FanShot, so if a Cavs fan comes in here and litters the FanShot section, you can't say you weren't warned.  Also, you can now also subscribe to the FanPosts (formerly the diaries), with the same disclaimer in effect.

If you're a reader of Yahoo(!)'s NBA blog Ball Don't Lie (and you should be), you know that they're conducting their playoff preview by asking for getting thoughts from a blogger of each team.  Somehow or another I was lucky enough to be selected to be the Wizards rep in this endeavor.  You can catch my thoughts, as well as those of Carolyn from And One, right here.

Hardwood Paroxysm is doing playoff preview for every playoff team by interviewing 2 bloggers about the team that they cover.  Your Wizards representatives are the asterisk happy Pradamaster and TruthAboutIt.  You can see the answers to their questions here.  Like anything from these two, it's worth the read.

You may have noticed that I haven't done as many link dumps in recent weeks.  If you're looking for one reason that I've cut back it's probably because TruthAboutIt absolutely kills it with his link posts (his last two are no exception) so there's not really a point in re-linking to stuff he covers better than I do.  Alas, some links can fall through the cracks from time to time, and that's where I come in:

• It's still 10 days before the playoffs start, and LeBron already has his excuse prepared.  Awesome.
• My Swog takes a look at the lineup for tomorrow night's game.  I'm trying not to say anything bad because I'm still very afraid that they can beat us throwing out their fourth stringers.
  
• If poetry is your thing, you might want to check this out.
  
• It looks like all hands should be on deck for tonight's game.  Except for Etan Thomas of course, who hasn't had hands all season.
• A look back at the 2003-04 Wizards.
• The Sacramento Bee had two articles on Wizards recently, one caught up with former Kings coach Eddie Jordan, and the other was a quick interview with Gilbert Arenas.
• For some reason, I found this question from a Wizards Insider chat especially odd and enlightening:

  Oakton, VA: Ever thought about a follow up story on Jared Jeffries and how he feels about being in New York?

  Personally, I'm glad he left because I wasn't a fan of his game or production and it freed up cap and roster room. And yes, he is still getting his paychecks just like he would have here in DC. But I have to think part of him thinks twice about the decision he made.

  He is currently averaging 16 minutes and 3pts, 3 rebounds a game for one of the worst teams in the NBA.

  Ivan Carter: Jared lives for the offseason when he can go fishing. That's Jared. And no, he's not loving his Knick experience. Who would?

  That's right.  Jared Jeffries is an avid fisherman.  The more you know...
• Finally, just in case you missed it, here's Andray Blatche Poseying the Bulls:
  

Hey guys, you might have noticed that I haven't posted much this week, and frankly, I have no clue as to why.  I haven't been any busier than normal, and I haven't been caught up in other stuff, it's just sometimes you just get into a funk.  Then there's other times where you get those funks so bad that you're only though for three days straight is "Hey, did you know Roger Mason could dunk in Israel?" kind of funks.  I'm still not sure that I'm really out of it, but I can at least link to some stuff while I'm trying to un-funk myself:

• TruthAboutIt collects a bunch of quotes from the Northwest swing and takes a look into the Caron-Brandon Roy incident.
  
• If you've been living in a cave like Sasquatch Eackles and you haven't seen these commercials watch them now.  Don't wait another minute.
  
• Chuck Brown will be played at Nationals Park for every Nats' home run.  Easily the greatest karma-building decision in Nationals history.  While I'm thinking of it, does anyone else feel that Lastings Milledge could be baseball's equivalent to C-Webb?  They've both already had infamous rap hits, been traded early in their careers because they didn't fit in where they were drafted, and managed to make people salivate with their upside.
  
• Finally, since the we're playing the Kings tonight, it worth bringing this silent clip out of the vault.  When the player stats come up, make sure you're at a place where your jaw won't get hurt from the drop it takes:
  

Here's some links to read up on while you try and figure out what the governor of California is doing in Florida.

• First things first, let's talk about this whole LeBron vs. DeShawn feud.  First, DeShawn called LeBron overrated, and then LeBron came back by comparing him to Soulja Boy.  Then DeShawn came back with part 3 after the Orlando game:
  "I hope we play Cleveland," Stevenson said. "I'm going to get Soulja Boy courtside seats and have him wear a DeShawn Stevenson jersey. Maybe (James) can have Jay-Z there since LeBron's all on his (shorts) anyway."

   Stevenson wasn't done.
   "And tell LeBron to cut that beard off and stop copying me."

  So this little feud isn't going to end anytime soon.  As the feud continues develop, everyone is throwing their two cents in on the issue:
• • Matt Watson on FanHouse:
    I've always thought LBJ's sycophancy for Jay-Z was a bit embarrassing given his arrogance toward everyone else. And if he actually gets Soulja Boy in his jersey, well, double point DeShawn. The beauty of this feud is that it has to take place in the papers since Stevenson is so far out of LBJ's league talent-wise that no one in their right mind would expect it to be settled on the court.
  • Bethlehem Shoals at the Sporting Blog:
    I really wasn't that enthused about this story, and couldn't quite get why everyone else was. The daring it took to besmirch LeBron? A rough approximation of Arenas talking from his own silly putty throne? The facile pop culture comparison? No, it's far more serious than that. After consulting some scientists, I've determined that this one-sided beef could, in fact, quite possibly bring about the end of the world.
  • Dan Steinberg at DC Sports Bog:
    I went on a podcast this week saying I just don't want to go back to Cleveland for Part III of this playoff rivalry, because it's kind of played-out [Ed. note: Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?], but now I've officially changed my mind. Also, DeShawn Stevenson has officially gone off his rocker. Here are some people you don't repeatedly call out: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kimbo Slice, LeBron James. But DeShawn never got that memo.
  Is there a part of me that's afraid that LeBron is going to go nuts and destroy the Wiz if they meet in a playoff series?  Of course there is, but you know I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.  The last match-up had a playoff-like atmosphere and it didn't seem to elevate LeBron's game to some unguardable level.  If DeShawn can play games with LeBron's head and trick him into doing things like giving away his late game plans, I say keep doing it.

• DC Pro Sports Report throws in their thoughts on the whole Hollinger prediction flop.
• Shirt. Of. The. Year.
  
• A great post on the Wiz from Roomofzen.
• Thanks Orlando!
• Do you Miami could use a guy like this right about now?
• Try and guess who was being interviewed here:
  The other game against Orlando you had a career high three blocks...

  Oh yeah!

• Just because the Wizards are out of college doesn't mean that they don't pay attention to the college game.  Here's some of their brackets.  Caron's bracket = MASS HAVOC.
  

Sorry if I'm a tad bit excited, my future alma mater just clinched a birth in the NCAA Tourney with a win over William & Mary tonight in the CAA Tourney, much to the delight of half of Brothers Mottram and much to the chagrin Bullets Forever Ballhype Group member, Gheorge: The Blog.  Of course GTB can take solace in knowing that it was an amazing run and that most graduates of W&M end up much higher on the corporate ladder than their GMU counterparts.

As for your links...

• Probably the most interesting quote of the week comes from Ivan Carter who more or less ripped the Wizards' fan base (or the Verizon Center people, depending on how you look at it) a new one after the Raptors game:
  And I know I've mentioned this before but it is games like last night's when the difference most NBA arenas and the VC is shocking. The fans here in this hockey crazed city were nuts during the second half of that game last night and didn't need piped in sound or goofy promotions to make noise. It was pure, honest to goodness enthusiasm. Or a whole lot of Molsons, whatever.

  Calderon on the Toronto fans: "The fans are always with us and that's why we've won a lot of games this season because they've helped us come back."
  Jordan on the Air Canada Centre, where the Wiz had lost four straight: "It's a great environment to play. This crowd gets into it man and you're really at a disadvantage if you don't have the confidence and the veteran poise to get through it."

  In three years covering the Wizards, I've never heard an opposing coach or player said that about Verizon Center, which too often resembles the gym in Vegas during summer league. At the VC, the staff has to put up a Duke logo or picture of the Dallas Cowboys to get fans to make noise. Pathetic.

  The other half of Brothers Mottram offers a rebuttal for Ivan.  I'd say the reality lies somewhere in the middle (Three cheers for not taking a side!).  I was actually thinking about writing a post on the subject but I couldn't find a way to do it without somehow angering some fan base, so I'm going to leave it at that.
• Mo Williams and Yi Jianlian will be sitting out Tuesday's Bucks-Wizards game.   No word on if it's a sign of sympathy considering Caron's been injured twice in Milwaukee.
• Who's the only player that can compare basketball players to surf and turf?  Gilbert Arenas.
• Calvin Booth > Allen Iverson.
  
• The Good News: DeShawn's game-winner against the Hornets has been re-created with NBA 2K8.  The bad news: The person that made it didn't use the dagger call for the audio.  It's still worth a look:
  
  
• Hardwood Paroxysm recaps the season to date in 28 words: "You have to admire the Wizards' resiliency. They don't complain, they don't freak out. They just keep plugging. They might want to invest in some better trainers, though."
• The first person to make a "My team is taller than your team" T-Shirt gets a prize!
  
• Finally, I think this quote from the latest Wizznutzz post jumped to number one on my top 10 list of Wizznutzz quotes:
  Meantime Andray Blatche is having sophmore troubles. He couldnt be more skinny and bipolar if he was 6 OClock. We should call him PAYCHECK cuz hes just trying to get from game to game. Dray is like a brother walking into an old pawn shop: he's either grinnin and winnin cuz hes about to lay down some packet for an Akai HiFi (auto rewind son!) and hes feeling on top of the world --- or hes slinkin in shoulders down, hoodie up full o shame cuz hes about to sell the family sandwich-maker to buy himself a busticket to nowhere.
  
  

BONUS: The latest edition of the Blogger MVP/ROY rankings are out. Caron got a vote! I'm at a loss as to who could've possibly voted for him, since I now know that it wasn't home cookin'.

• Let's try to pretend last night didn't happen and focus some more on the DeShawn Dagger game.  Here's some reaction from around the blogosphere:
• • SVPStyle
  • DC Pro Sports Report
    
  • DCist
  • DC Sports Bog
  • Hardwood Paroxysm
    
  • Mister Irrelevant
    
  • DC Optimist
  • Dan Shanoff named him NBA Stud of the Night
  • FanHouse notes that he scored more points on Monday than anyone else in the NBA.
  • In addition to all of that there was the whole thing of SI.com goofing up the headline not once but twice.  Thankfully Bobtimist Prime came to save the day.
    

• Everyone knows about Gilbert's blog by now (new post!) but did you know that Caron has a blog too?  Of course, with athlete blogs invariably come blogs about athletes who blog.  There's Gilbertology as you already know, and now there's also The Butler Did It.  Who will step up and create a blog for Oleksiy Pecherov???
  
• Wizznutzz as always delivers the goods.  First, they dug up C-Webb's rap video and then they raise a stink over a recent Wizards' meet and greet.  If only everyone had a personal chef like Brendan's, events like that would be a thing of the past.
  
• In a poll of All-Stars about who they would most like to see win a title other than themselves, Antawn Jamison voted for Kevin Garnett and Caron Butler went with Ray Allen.
• DCPSR hands out some midseason report cards.
  
• Round 7 of the Blogger MVP/ROY rankings are out.
• Spencer Miller is only a high schooler, but if he wants to live up this scouting report, he's going to have to grow up quick:
  Miller has a very unorthodox, yet effective offensive game. He has an unconventional jump shot, almost flicking the ball from chest level on the side of his body, though he gets good lift off the floor on his jumper. However, his follow-through ends up in the correct position, with his index and middle finger point straight toward the basket. He gets the shot off quickly, surprising defenders by shooting unexpectedly. He has great range and connects on the 3-point shot consistently. He also has good quickness and can get to the basket, flicking shots up at awkward angles, which surprises defenders much in the same vein that Antawn Jamison does for the Washington Wizards in the NBA. Though small in stature, Miller has long arms and big hands, which means that he could grow more. He plays hard and competes on both ends of the court.
• Finally, Michael Lee lets everyone in one what was behind the setback in Etan's rehab progress:
  McLean, Va.: Regarding Etan's practicing the other day -- was the shot he took from Haywood?

  Michael Lee: I believe that with all of the injuries the team has been hit with in recent weeks, the team desperately needed some bodies for practice and since Ivan was already there, well, you know ... I'm sorry. Bad joke.

  
  

Here's some links to read up on while you play with your Buckhantz and Chenier bobbleheads...

• Some interesting news to start things off: According to Rotoworld, Arenas said on Monday that he'll re-sign with the Wizards if they re-sign Jamison.  Not really a bombshell, but now it's officially official.
  
• If you can believe it, DC Optimist gives everyone more reasons to root for the Wizards and manages to get at least one person on board.
• With all the trades that have been going down (or were supposed to go down) recently, some of you might be wondering if the Wizards are going to be the next ones to pull a move.  All signs point to no.
• Eddie, is it really a good idea to call one of your players "a Warrior" a day before they play against Golden State?
  
• Brandon Roy got more votes than Caron Butler in the latest edition of the Blogger MVP/ROY Rankings and then he beat him in NBA Live.  Ouch.
  
• My Swog sure took that Warriors loss well.  TAI was pretty upset about the Clippers win.  (Note the sarcastic dyslexia)
  
• If the Rookie-Sophmore game gets too boring tonight, you can always check former Wizard Billy Thomas who's playing in the D-League All-Star Game, or make up for forgetting about Valentine's Day yesterday.  It's your choice.
• Finally, here's a picture of the dynamic duo down in The Big Easy:

Considering that their outfits couldn't be more different, I'm betting someone told Antawn that this was going to be a casual photo shoot and then turned around and told Caron it was going to be a formal shoot.  When he tells everyone in his blog about it next week, you'll remember that I said this.