| Ready to “Go All In” Authored by Aaron Archer - October 11, 2006 - 9:43 am
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By Aaron “LyricalRico” Archer
Once the league’s doormat, the Washington Wizards are now a team to be reckoned with. Back-to-back playoff appearances have raised expectations — some are talking about a possible 50-win season and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.
These high expectations drew me and over 2,300 others to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Seigel Center for the team’s public, intra-squad scrimmage this past Saturday. Traffic cooperated in both directions for my trip from Washington DC and one of the highlights was being able to fill up for $2.09 a gallon on my way home.
Upon entering the arena, the first thing I noticed was Antonio Daniels working on his outside shot. From the sweat on his shirt he must have already been there for a while. He was shooting from beyond the three point line and was consistently coming up short from the right side. As he worked his way to the top of the key he continued bounce shots off the front of the rim.
From the left side, he was much better. All you heard was “swish” from the elbow extended all the way down to the corner. If AD can consistently make that outside shot the Wizards excellent offense becomes even more dangerous.
On one of the side courts, assistant coach Mike O’Koren was teaching the offense to a group of younger players including: Donnell Taylor, Andray Blatche, Kevin Pinkney, Mike Hall, and James Lang.
Back at the other end, Daniels was soon joined by DeShawn Stevenson. Both worked on their jump shot with head coach Eddie Jordan doing some rebounding. Other players trickled in and started warming up. In a great show of professionalism Antawn Jamison stopped his shooting to sign a few autographs.
Once the session was called to order the Wizards ran through offensive drills — both fast break, and in the half court. (One loser was still trying to get autographs but thankfully he gave up and sat down.) That practice session served to get the guys warmed up for the actual scrimmages. There were three games of 12, 10, and 8 minutes respectively with five minute breaks in between.
During the first game the starters played all 12 minutes and put on a good show. Gilbert was splitting double teams, Stevenson was getting steals, and Jarvis Hayes was showing good elevation off his surgically repaired knee. Caron Butler made it a point to post his man up and usually settled for a fade away jumper. Apparently he’s been spending too much time with Brendan Haywood.
Speaking of Haywood, he and Mr. Glass (Etan Thomas) were going at it pretty good. They were fighting each other for position and each battle on the block seemed like a microcosm of their battle for a spot on the starting lineup. Neither did much to separate himself but Etan was the better rebounder. On the downside, Thomas looked too short to win many tip-offs in games. It remains to be seen who will win the starting job.
The second game was the time to spotlight the far reaches of the bench. Calvin Booth was active and Donnell Taylor’s jumpshot made a brief appearance. Local collegiate product Mike Hall was intense and hustling, although he seemed to be smaller than his listed height of 6-8. That could affect the decision to keep him on the roster.
The other player of note was Peter John Ramos but not for anything positive. He was weak and goofy-looking on the floor. He never — I repeat never — made contact while setting a screen. It was actually pathetic. Even with his size I have serious doubts about him making the team. More on Ramos in a bit.
The final game was when I finally noticed Arenas wearing a black and white pair of his new signature shoe the Addidas Zero G. They were smart and stylish and are definitely on my fall shopping list. Another thing I realized was that DeShawn Stevenson had played every second of every game. Evidently head coach Eddie Jordan wants to give his newly proclaimed starter all the work he can.
The end of the third game is where we pick up the story about Ramos. Peter John had a couple of post ups late and the veterans, now sitting on the bench, were yelling “OC.” I would think that most players understand that to be the blacktop acronym for “out of control” and it’s usually reserved for players trying to do things that they simply can’t do. If that’s what they were trying to say about Ramos it’s likely that everyone is getting fed up with his lack of progress. Even after the games were over players looked hesitant to give Ramos a high five, sometimes leaving him hanging for several seconds. Like I said — I’m having doubts about him making the team.
The scrimmage showed nothing to reduce soaring expectations or to dampen the spirits of Wizards fans. Our favorite franchise finally has a hand good enough to make any poker player want to “Go All In.” Hopefully their luck holds and they’ll be cashing in their chips after a nice, long playoff run.
Aaron “LyricalRico” Archer can be reached at lyricalrico2k1@hotmail.com with any comments or questions.
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