Top Stories of the Week: The Wizards are undefeated!

The Wizards’ 2017-18 is now underway. The good guys are undefeated with a 2-0 record before heading out on a big west coast road trip. Let’s get to some links

The Wizards are undefeated, but not flawless

The 2017-18 season started on national TV with the Wizards racing out to a 120-115 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. John Wall also go the NBA’s first major edunk of the season with this dunk on Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot:

YIKES!

Thy then followed that up with a 115-111 victory over the Pistons on Friday when Otto Porter shined with 20 first half points, answering any questions to those of you who think he’s overpaid.

I’m glad to see that the Wizards are looking like an offensive powerhouse, even without Markieff Morris, who is now able to do one-on-one contact drills according to Candace Buckner of The Washington Post.

However, their three point defense is suspect, and they didn’t beat Philadelphia or Detroit convincingly. At any rate, the Wizards made the most of their national TV debut and increased national exposure, so I’ll take a 2-0 start any day of the week. It’s better than the Warriors’ 1-2 start which featured both Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry getting ejected toward the end of their game last night against the Grizzlies, which they lost 111-101.

The Wizards are expected to be an Eastern Conference Power

Historically, the Wizards haven’t been in the conversation for winning the Eastern Conference. And even this season, that’s probably not happening given how the Cleveland Cavaliers appear to be. Still, many in the NBA consider the Wizards to be one of the Top 10 teams in the NBA heading into the season. Given Celtics forward Gordon Hayward’s injury, the Wizards also have as good of a chance as they ever had to make the Eastern Conference Finals as well. Of course, they will also have to remain healthy to get there.

And more links

• Kelly Oubre now has his fourth year option. This is just normal protocol.
• Jen Smith of Wiz of Awes gave some insights from an interview John Wall gave to Taylor Rooks’ Timeout Podcast.
• If you missed the opportunity to listen to Ben Becker and Kevin Broom’s latest podcast, here’s a link to their preseason takes right here.
• Kevin Parrish writes why John Wall should get his third signature shoe. Speaking of which, what’s taking him so long to get any shoe contract?
• Since Donald Trump served in office as the American president and targeted athletes as political pawns, we’ve seen the Mystics link arms hand in hand with the Indiana Fever last summer during the national anthem. The Wizards didn’t link arms with Philly in the season opener, but they did link arms together during the American national anthem last Wednesday according to The Hill and ABC7’s Scott Abraham. One of the main reasons why the Wizards didn’t kneel during the anthem is because the NBA has a rule that all players stand in a “dignified posture.”
• And last week, the Mystics dedicated a basketball court at Hendley Elementary School in Southeast. It is less than two miles from their new practice facility and arena where they will move to, presumably in 2019. Though some Mystics players are in Europe for international team commitments, Elena Delle Donne, Tayler Hill, Natasha Cloud, Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, Tianna Hawkins, and GM/Head Coach Mike Thibault were there for the ceremony.

And that’s it!

If you have another link that you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comments or as a FanPost. Enjoy the rest of your Sundays!