The Washington Wizards announced that they have waived center Hamady Ndiaye. Before you freak out, let me explain why they did this.

1. Ndiaye is the only player on the roster with a non-guaranteed contract.
2. All non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed contracts if the player remains on the roster after Friday.
3. The Wizards had 15 players on the roster, including Ndiaye, which is the maximum number of players one can have on a roster.
4. Sending Ndiaye down to the NBA Developmental League again wouldn't have done anything because he still would have counted on the roster.
5. Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards would not have had the flexibility to call up anyone from the D-League if a rash of injuries struck.
6. Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards couldn't take back multiple players in a trade for one player.
7. Having 15 players on the roster means the Wizards had to pay all 15 players.

"If you're not scoring the ball, then you got to find your teammates. That's what I did. We told [Trevor Booker] to set the screen and catch the ball at the free-throw line, and we let him make the play."

-John Wall after Monday night's 111-108 win over the Toronto Raptors.

There's no question that John Wall and the rest of the Washington Wizards struggle in the pick and roll. Each of the Wizards' ball-handlers (Wall, Nick Young and Jordan Crawford) have flaws that limit their effectiveness -- Wall's jump shot, Young's poor passing instincts and Crawford's propensity to search shots. Many of the Wizards' big men struggle to set screens, roll properly and finish or make plays as the roll man.

Nevertheless, Wizards fans should be encouraged by Wall's own performance in the pick and roll late in their 111-108 win over the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors elected to trap Wall and prevent him from turning the corner, a different look than simply going under the screen, the default strategy most teams use on Wall. For a young point guard, this adjustment can be tough. But to Wall's credit, he made the necessary read and delivered good passes to Trevor Booker to set up solid scoring opportunities.

Continue reading this post »

• This is a video of the crowd at last night's Raptors-Wizards game during the second quarter (via SB Nation D.C.). This is Ted Leonsis' take on the crowd: "The crowd was very loud last night and I am most appreciative. Thank you." [Ted's Take]
• But it's OK, Ted. We understand [SB Nation D.C.]
• Recaps of last night's game. [Us (gamer, quotes) | SB Nation D.C. | Washington Post (gamer, blog) | CSN Washington (Miller, Johnson) | Washington Times | Washington Examiner | Wizards.com | WUSA9 | District Sports Page | Wiz of Awes | Toronto Star| Toronto Sun | National Post | Raptors HQ (rapid, long) | Raptors Republic | RaptorBlog | Popcorn Machine | HoopData advanced box]
• In case you missed it, JaVale McGee ran back on defense when his team had the ball, which was hilarious and kind of sad. [Deadspin | Ball Don't Lie | DC Sports Bog | SB Nation | Point Forward | SB Nation D.C.]
• How about Trevor Booker's performance last night? [Wizards Insider]
• ... Featuring this dunk on Aaron Gray. [YouTube]
• John Wall referenced something about the Wizards being disrespected during shootaround. I don't know what he's talking about. [CSN Washington (VIDEO)]
• Andray Blatche playing coach, poorly. [@drayblatche]
• Some actual numbers to support that the Wizards make scrubs look like all-stars. [Truth About It]
• The Knicks will come into town tomorrow night without Carmelo Anthony (out 1-2 weeks) and probably without Amar'e Stoudemire due to the death of his brother. They do have Jeremy Lin, though!
• The Wizards fan is my hero. [DC Sports Bog]
• Really good guide by Scott Schroeder as we get closer to the day when non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed. Hamady NDiaye is the only Wizards player in this position. [SB Nation]
• As a follow-up, here's a primer on 10-day contracts, also by Schroeder. [SB Nation]
• Gilbert Arenas scheduled a workout this week. I wonder how many teams will show up. [LA Daily News]
• A look at some NBA Draft prospects who will be in town or on local TV this week. [CSN Washington]
• Tough break for Chauncey Billups.
• Me on SBNation.com about the revival of the sixth-man concept.

Just in case you all missed this, click the jump.

(via Truth About It's John C. Townsend, by way of SB Nation D.C.).

Continue reading this post »

What's a fan to do? There's a tide of general resentment lacking a sure target since Flip Saunders' firing. The Ten Point Plan isn't under fire and it isn't like Ted is charging an arm and a leg for tickets. And who knows, maybe he's inciting the blogosphere to take heat off the team. Apologist insanity aside, Randy Wittman is playing what he's got (Rashard Lewis must be played 20 to 35 minutes a game or every volcano in the world will erupt simultaneously) though I said it before and I'll say it again, it isn't possible to give a full season's worth of Knute Rockne speeches and you damn well shouldn't have to. One can only get pumped up so many times before tuning out the noise. It is impossible to sustain emotional overdrive with the best part of the season still ahead and no clear indication help is on the way.

It's easy to be pessimistic. If we look to the Thunder rebuild, John Wall can't stack up with Kevin Durant (since no one can). There is no Nick Collison. We have no other homerun draft pick to put next to John. If we look to the Celtics rebuild, Javale McGee's trade value won't stack up with Al Jefferson's on his best day. And that's if Ernie Grunfeld is ready to pull off a trade coup that will make Danny Ainge sit up and blink. Twice.

If the fans heard Ernie was ready to pull off a deal for Stephen Curry and Ekpe Udoh involving our lottery pick and Javale McGee, where would we be at? If we heard the Wizards were going after Ryan Anderson, Omer Asik and Chase Budinger in FA, letting Nick Young walk? That's just one cockamamie thought, but I'm posing it for the purposes of asking whether or not there's any hypothetical scenario outside of highway robbery where Ernie Grunfeld redeems himself before his contract is up.

Direct all eyes to (what I believe is) the trade deadline on March 15th. Less than six weeks away.

Continue reading this post »

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Postgame quotes from last night's Wizards-Raptors game:

RANDY WITTMAN

On John Wall setting the tone: "John led it with his play on both ends of the floor. The pace of the game in that first quarter, to me, was incredible. His decisions, going all the way to the basket, his defensive pressure, we just kind of all fell in right behind that. That’s what a guy like him can do when he’s playing like that. That was as good a game as I’ve had with him on both ends of the floor."

On what happened in the fourth quarter: "We still have to realize that when you are a scorer in this league and you are scoring, other teams scout just like we do. They’re going to get the ball out of your hands. We have to be willing passers when that happens. That’s a compliment. They are doubling you for a reason. So now, what we got to do is make the simple plays."

Continue reading this post »

A win's a win. That's the mantra the Washington Wizards have to accept after nearly blowing an 18-point lead against the Toronto Raptors in a wild game in front of very few people at the Verizon Center. If winning close games yields character, the Wizards showed some character, even against an undermanned Raptors team missing leading scorer Andrea Bargnani. The Wizards stepped up defensively in overtime on Jerryd Bayless, who killed them in the fourth quarter, and snuck away with a 111-108 win.

There will be plenty of time to wonder how, exactly, the Wizards nearly let an inferior team sneak away with a win on their home floor. That's for another time, though. For now, given the state of the team, it's nice to see John Wall star, Trevor Booker play to the best of his abilities and Nick Young knock down some shots. The Wizards can't complain about wins, and neither can we.

More notes below the jump.

Continue reading this post »

2011/12 NBA Regular Season
	@
8-17		4-20
February 6, 2012
Verizon Center
7 PM
CSN
Starters:
Jose Calderon	PG	John Wall
Jerryd Bayless	SG	Nick Young
DeMar DeRozan	SF	Chris Singleton
James Johnson	PF	Trevor Booker
Amir Johnson	C	JaVale McGee
PREGAME READING: Meet the Raptors (old) | Raptors HQ | SB Nation D.C.

Pregame notes (constantly refreshing)

• UPDATE: Rashard Lewis won't play with a sore knee. Chris Singleton will start.
• After hinting at possibly getting more veterans involved after the loss to the Clippers, Randy Wittman was asked if there would be any lineup changes. He said no, but clarified that "maybe different rotations, things of that nature" would happen.
• Wittman reiterated that the Wizards' inability to rebound was the main thing that bugged him. "Shooting comes and goes, but rebounding is constant," he said.
• Speaking on that subject, Wittman admitted that one of the problems with JaVale McGee's rebounding is that he goes for blocks that he shouldn't. "You don't want to take his aggression away, because he is a good shot blocker, but he can't be coming over and jumping over other defenders and missing shot blocks, so now his guy is tipping in the offensive rebound."
• I asked Wittman how Ronny Turiaf was doing. "He's got a doctor's appointment coming up in the next day or two with a specialist, and I think we'll have a better feel of how much longer he'll need."
• An astute question was asked about what Wittman and the Wizards can do when there are so few veterans on the court to help calm the young players' down. "I hope [the young players] lean on me a little bit," he said. "I talk to John [Wall] and Shelvin [Mack] -- our quarterbacks out there -- in dead-ball situations, free-throw situations. They're coming over and I'm trying to give them an idea of, 'Hey, they're doing this, so we have to look for that.' I can do that without having to call a timeout and look for everything ... I've got to continue to do a better job of that." Wittman then said he hopes that the young players eventually pick up those things on their own.