Today's links:
- David Aldridge on John Wall assuming a leadership role. Read every word. DA's the best. [NBA.com]
- A really well-done player preview of John Wall, including a David Berri smackdown, (though I prefer doclinkin's here). [Truth About It]
- Practice updates, including stuff on Andray Blatche accidentally elbowing John Wall in the head. (Wall's ok, though) [Lee, Stouffer].
- Reminder: as noted below, Gilbert Arenas practiced today, but Flip Saunders wouldn't say he'd start him in tomorrow's game against the Mavericks. This whole ankle injury seems a bit odd - Saunders misidentified it several times over the past few days - but it's early, so I'm not going to freak out over it just yet.
- Yi Jianlian is getting comfortable, thanks in large part to his new Chinese cheering section. [Lee]
- This is a harsh reminder that the Wizards never have rookies as good as John Wall. [Chase Hughes, CSN]
- With all the bluster about this year, Ron Thompson asks a simple question: can the Wizards simply be better? [CSN]
- This=orgasmic, in a purely basketball sense. [SB Nation D.C., via Wizards Extreme]
- FanFest recaps [Andrew Rosen, Stouffer, WaPo, TAI]
- A transcript of Bobby Dandridge talking at FanFest. Love how Ted Leonsis and company are bringing all these past greats back. [Wizards Insider]
- Kelly Dwyer is the best, but I think he's overreacting to what seems to me to be a pretty mundane description of Gilbert Arenas' wandering during the FanFest scrimmage. So he put a towel over his face, so what? Whenever you have trouble describing what, exactly, Arenas is doing, it's probably not worth your energy to complain about it. [Ball Don't Lie]
- JaVale McGee is angry NBA 2k11 gave him a "25" rating. I'm guessing it's because JaVale never shoots layups. [Samuel Chamberlain, TBD]
- Eddie Jordan is hanging out at Bobcats camp, which puts him in contact with Kwame Brown and Dominic McGuire. [Philly.com]
- This is old, but Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller preview the Wizards like only they can. They're always a must-read. [Fanhouse]
- Wizards Executive VP of Business Operations Greg Bibb runs through his thank yous for Wizards training camp. [The B-List]