WizFans 2007-2008 NBA Eastern Conference Preview
The Basketball New Year is upon us; the NBA season tips off on Tuesday. Every team is still tied for first and at this point every fan thinks their team is a title - or at least a playoff - contender. The reality is that only eight teams from each conference make the playoffs and I will attempt to tell you which ones they will be.
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An Open Letter to Ivan Carter
After my interview, about five reporters called me personally to let me know that it was not their intention to disrespect me or my family, but they understood my point of view and how I could have felt that way.
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An Open Letter to Ivan Carter
fter my interview, about five reporters called me personally to let me know that it was not their intention to disrespect me or my family, but they understood my point of view and how I could have felt that way.
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Words From The Heart
Etan Thomas recently underwent open heart surgery to repair a leak of the aortic valve. The Wizards center is currently recovering and discussed his surgery, recovery, and other thoughts with the author and columnist Dave Zirin.
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30 Teams, 30 Days: Washington Draft Preview (16th)
The Wizards need to deal the disgruntled Brendan Haywood away and use this pick to either stock their front court with the best available post player, or add depth to their guard positions.
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Trophy Time: NBA 2007 Playoffs Preview
For die-hard NBA hoop heads, the months of April, May and June are pure delight. Night after night of do-or-die basketball with the best players in the world laying it all on the line for the right to take home Larry O’Brien’s trophy. Last year, the Miami Heat took home its first ever NBA title. Who will be this year’s champion? Enjoy the best basketball on the planet for the next eight weeks and I will attempt to break it all down for you below.
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Random Thoughts From Section 423
I had the fortune, or misfortune, of attending last night’s Wiz game against the Heat. I won’t bother you with borrific details, but I did have some random thoughts on Bullets Chamionships banners, George Michael, Kevin Durant, and more.
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Deconstructing Bill Simmons
In his latest column, cleverly titled, “Welcome to the No Balls Association,” Bill Simmons, AKA “The Sports Guy,” takes the opportunity to lambaste virtually every NBA GM for not doing more to shake up their team’s roster before last week’s NBA trade deadline.
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If I Only Had a Brain
Somewhere late last Friday night, Chicago Bulls head coach Scott Skiles was perusing the Hallmark aisle at a corner drug store. He wanted to find just the right card to thank Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan for giving his team another win. With the Wizards down by 3 entering the fourth quarter Jordan elected to go with his favorite player, Michael Ruffin, at center - effectively gift wrapping the game and handing it to Chicago on a platter. While Skiles is brimming with appreciation, we Wizards fans are seething with rage.
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Vegas Baby, Vegas
The NBA All-Star Weekend kicked into full gear on Saturday night with the Haier Shooting Stars, PlayStation Skills Challenge, Barkley vs. Bavetta Charity Race, Foot Locker Three Point Shootout and Sprite Slam Dunk. Let’s get right into the action.
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Halfway Home NBA Report Cards
Basketball fans, most teams are halfway through the NBA season. There are some surprises, some busts, and some teams are right where we thought they would be.
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Coming up Short
The American way has always been to strive for the biggest and the most. The biggest homes and cars, the most possessions and things. People always want more. Of course many of us have to make do with less - but we’d certainly take more if we had the chance. That’s why it’s so puzzling when Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan routinely chooses to go with less height in his lineups. Indeed it’s more than puzzling. It’s darn frustrating.
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WizFans Western Conference 2006-07 Preview
On Monday we discussed the Eastern Conference teams with risers, fallers, and one more thing from each squad. Today look at the West.
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WizFans NBA 2006-07 Eastern Conference Preview
The NBA is set to tip off on Tuesday. Over the next two days I will break it down team by team with a specific tilt towards fantasy. Get ready for my fantasy risers, fallers, and one more thing from each team.
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Ready to “Go All In”
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.
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Work ethic? Look at your columns, Tom Knott
A couple weeks ago, Washington Times columnist Tom Knott attacked me in his newspaper. Unfortunately, Knott didn’t have the decency to discuss my views with me before publishing his article.
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A Pair of Aces
Interstate 95 connects New York with Florida, Yankee doodles with southern belles, and also two of the NBA’s scoring leaders: Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas. Separated by 6 years and over 100 miles, these superstars come from different backgrounds but are somehow still cut from the same cloth.
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NBA 2006 Lottery Picks Draft Capsules
“With the first pick in the NBA Draft, the Toronto Raptors select Andrea Bargnani." With these words uttered by David Stern, the Toronto Raptors started the festivities by taking the 7 footer from Italy.
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Top NCAA Draft Prospects
Top NCAA Draft Prospects
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Trade Winds A Blowin’ - Who Were the Trade Deadline Winners?
As many NBA fans wanted higher profile players moved (Garnett? Iverson? Pierce?), the NBA trade deadline came and went relatively quietly on Thursday afternoon. I will attempt to break down each trade and the winners of each, starting with the biggest deal and then moving on to the other smaller deals that went down this week.
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Houston, We Have Liftoff
The 55th annual NBA All-Star Weekend kicked off from Houston on Friday with the NBA T-Mobile Rookie-Sophomore game with the Sophomores defeating the Rookies 106-96. Andre Iguodala, game MVP, stole the show with 30 points including four three pointers and a plethora of electrifying dunks.
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Here Comes Da Boom?
Once upon a time Baltimore had a professional basketball franchise called the Bullets. Wes Unseld and Earl Monroe led the club to a championship series in 1971. But Bullets fans walked away disappointed when Unseld and Company were handily defeated in four games by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks. Three years later Abe Pollin, in an effort to make more money, moved the Bullets to Washington D.C. where the team eventually became known as the Wizards. Thus, for the last 30 plus years Baltimore has had no professional basketball team to call its own.
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Rebounding From Bad Stats
Ivan Carter, the Wizards beat writer for the Washington Post, is doing a terrific job covering the team. So the misuse of stats in his latest article about the Wizards must be someone else’s fault.
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No Crying in DC: No Boo Hughes
Tonight, we get to welcome back our pal Larry ‘Smoove’ Hughes. Some ‘fans’ think we should boo him -- he left us, took more money elsewhere to play with ‘King’ James. But I’ll tell you what; personally I’m not booing Larry Hughes -- not now or ever.
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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I was one of nearly 3,000 fans at the Siegel Center for a public intra-squad scrimmage for the Wizards this past Saturday night, making the 200-mile roundtrip from the D.C. area.
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From the Doc: Preseason Outlook
In his first press conference of the season, Coach Eddie Jordan said that Caron Butler (not Jeffries, though it was easy to miss who they were discussing) has had success at both the three and four, creating mismatch problems for the opposition. And that they're going to try Butler at two-guard to see what he can do.
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The Next DC Sports Hero
Who is the next athlete to own Washington in a way that Cal Ripken or Darrell Green, my childhood heroes, did? Let's take a look at the candidates.
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With Hughes Gone, Now What?
When the offseason began, the Wizards seemed to have few questions: what pieces would GM Ernie Grunfeld put around the Big Three – Arenas, Hughes, & Jamison – to build on last season’s success? Who could Grunfeld acquire in a trade for the disgruntled and disappointing Kwame Brown? And who else could the team add with the mid-level exception?
So much for the best-laid plans.
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Wizards Redemption
After clinching the best of seven playoff series vs. Chicago, the Wizards and their fans deserve the party they threw for themselves last Friday. Curmudgeon ESPN analysts scoffed at round two t-shirts, confetti, and streamers adorning MCI Center. But you can’t blame the Wizards and its fans, for cherishing the moment.
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wizards bulls
Brendan Haywood's interior defense is a difference maker in this first round series.
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Wizards vs. Bulls -- True Defensive Stars
If you want to know the offensive value of Gilbert Arenas or Tyson Chandler, take a look in the box score published in any newspaper. If you want to know their defensive contributions, enter the Twilight Zone of opinion and guesswork. That is, until now.
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From the Archives: Collins Mea Culpa
Bobby Simmons was named the NBA's Most Improved Player yesterday. Simmons was originally drafted by the Sonics. The Wizards traded the draft rights to Predrag Drobnak for the rights to Simmons. He spent his first two seasons playing for the Wizards. This article was originally published on April 11, 2003.
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Defense Not There, Wizards Fall Into a 2-0 Hole
Down 2-0 in their best of seven first round series, the Wizards must find a solution for their woeful defense or the team’s first playoff appearance in years will be nasty, brutish, and short.
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Wiz Fold in Fourth, Bulls Take Game 1
In their first postseason game since 1997, the Wizards put on a deplorable (® Bill Walton) fourth quarter performance, permitting the Bulls to outscore them 26-12 in the period to take game one of the best-of-seven first round playoff series, 103-94.
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Evaluating the Wizards Defense
Evaluating individual defense has long been one of the more difficult tasks for basketball coaches, team decision-makers, and fans. Box score statistics do a decent job of summarizing offensive contributions, but are inadequate when it comes to defense.
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Jazzed Up
Before embarking on a five-game Western road trip, the Wizards secured an important home win Saturday night at MCI vs. the reeling Utah Jazz.
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Confessions of a Bullets Fan
Since the team’s lone championship in 1978, longsuffering Bullets fans have watched as a procession of former All-Stars, circus sideshows, and would-be saviors have donned the uniform only to fail. Will 2005 be different?
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Eddie, Kwame and Ernie Offer Reasons for Hope
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You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers
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March Musings
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It’s That Time of Year
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Moral Victories?
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“He Did It Again”
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Better Than Many Thought
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A New Year and A New Beginning
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Jordan and Collins Must Learn to Win With Youth
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An Air of Excitement
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The Jordan Epilogue: Wizards Sign MJ
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Wizards Make Drastic Changes and Aim for the Future
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The Juwan Years….Part 1
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The Juwan Years….Part 2
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Say Yes to a Jordan Comeback
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A #1 Pick and A Lot of Uncertainty
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While Welcoming One Star, Wizards Wait for His Airness' Decision
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Jordan Has Done What He Can…..For Now.
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All year long people criticized Rashard Lewis because of the contract Orlando gave him last summer, but he has paid dividends for the Magic this postseason.
Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger had nice seasons, but they appear to be in that limbo between being good and being bad enough to get help in the lottery.
Billy Knight will be remembered more for his blunders than his successes.
Rudy Gay positively broke out this season and is the Grizzlies' focal building block moving forward, that is unless they land the number one overall pick.
The Bulls were thought to be a talented young team expected to take their collective game to the next level but instead played like a young team with less talent than anticipated.
Maybe it was the green hue that has been sprinkled on the league this season, or Atlanta’s losing record, but there didn’t seem to be a matchup Boston couldn’t exploit before this seven-game relationship began.
Who should the fans blame for the Nuggets sweep at the hands of the Lakers? George Karl barely runs an offense and the team doesn’t focus on defense. However, the answer to the question lies in the team's front office.
The Lakers' offense is synergistic; the Nuggets are a ticking time bomb with no semblance of offensive cohesion.
For the first time since the Run TMC days, three Warriors averaged 20 points a night and by winning 48 games, it was their highest win total since 93-94 when they won 50.
What started out as a very promising season for the Bobcats ended in more of a whimper than a bang, as they failed to not only make the playoffs, but also to better the previous season's win total. 
The winner of this series can be patient, if ambitious. The loser has no choice but to examine the possibility of upheaval.