ESPN The Magazine’s Howard Bryant just trashed Washington, D.C. as a sports town. It’s too much to go into, but the article is pretty weak. If you want to read an article about D.C. as a sports town by a Washingtonian, see http://bleacherreport.com/articles/914880-washington-dc-not-just-a-redskins-town-but-a-great-sports-city.
Also see an article about D.C.’s top stars: Robert Griffin III, Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and John Wall:
It’s almost time for the Super Bowl, and the Washington Wizards are still winless on the road. The Wizards lost their 24th straight road game, Monday, 102-92 in Dallas.
There is no shame in losing to the Mavericks (32-15) in Dallas. But the Wizards should not be 0-24 away from Chinatown.
How can the Wizards be so much better at home (13-10) than on the road? The disparity in records doesn’t make sense because the Verizon Center crowd isn’t known for being particularly enthusiastic, and Washington ranks just 20th in the NBA in attendance.
It’s harder for NBA teams to win on the road than teams in other sports because basketball players need fresh legs and play more minutes than other athletes, but long road trips don’t explain the Wizards going winless on the road. The Wizards have a young, athletic lineup so endurance shouldn’t be a problem.
Are the Wizards partying too much on the road? Do they have a careless attitude? Is it immaturity? Coaching? Low expectations? All of the above?
To read the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
I’m going to start referring to the Washington Wizards as the Bullets on my blog, because the name never should have been changed. I’ll continue to refer to the team as the Wizards on Examiner.com and Guysnation.com, but here on my blog they will be the Bullets.
John Wall had 19 points and a career high 15 assists, and Nick Young scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half to lead the Bullets to a 108-101 victory over the Utah Jazz Monday at Verizon Center.
The Bullets led almost the entire second half as their athleticism was enough to get by the discipline and defense of Utah. Washington raised its home record to 12-8 in front of an announced crowd of 14,925. The Bullets are winless in 19 games on the road.
The Bullets pulled away from the Jazz in the third quarter during a 21-8 run. Wall, the number one pick in the NBA draft last summer, threw an alley oop pass to Javale McGee who threw down a windmill dunk with his right hand. McGee’s free throw gave Washington a 62-55 lead.
For the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
Yi Jianlian of the Washington Wizards. Photo by Mike Frandsen
Chinese basketball stars Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian faced off Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., but it was rookie John Wall who stole the show with a triple-double as the Wizards (2-4) defeated the Houston Rockets 98-91.
The 7-6 Yao, who helped make basketball the most popular sport in China, had to leave the game after six minutes because of a strained tendon in his left foot. Meanwhile, his protégé, the 7-foot Yi, had his best game in a Wizards uniform, scoring 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds, and blocking four shots in front of 16,665 on Asian American night at Verizon Center in a game that more than 400,000 people in China were expected to watch early in the morning.
Wall and Yi hooked up for one of the plays of the game in the third quarter, when Wall passed to Yi for one of his 13 assists. Yi drove past Luis Scola of the Rockets (1-6) on the baseline and threw down a dunk to give Washington a 68-63 lead late in the third quarter.
Yi grabs one of his seven rebounds against Houston Wednesday. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
Wall, the number one pick in the 2010 NBA draft, also had 19 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and only one turnover.
Wall became the sixth player in the history of the NBA to have a triple-double in the first six games of his career. One of those players was Magic Johnson, who was in attendance, sitting to the left of the Wizards’ bench next to owner Ted Leonsis.
For the rest of the article on Examiner.com, click here.
As has been expected ever sinceWashington won the NBA Draft Lottery last month, the Wizards selected Kentucky point guard John Wall with the first selection in the draft Thursday night.
Also in the first round, former Georgetown center Greg Monroe was selected seventh by the Detroit Pistons and former Maryland point guard Greivis Vasquez was taken 28th by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Vasquez, Maryland’s second all-time leading scorer, jumped up and down when his name was called and hugged his parents. Vasquez told ESPN, “We have a great roster. Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo…I just can’t wait to get to training camp and work hard. This means a lot to me and my country back in Venezuela.”
The only other time the Wizards had the number one pick was in 2001 when they selected Kwame Brown right out of high school, but Brown turned out to be a bust. Wall, however, is expected to be close to a sure thing. He averaged 16.6 points and 6.5 assists during his only season at Kentucky and was a Consensus First Team All-America.
To see the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
People are starting to talk a little about the possibility of LeBron James playing for the Wizards in addition to the usual suspects of Cleveland, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Miami. I personally think he’ll stay in Cleveland, and I almost want him to because I believe in loyalty. But as a lifelong Bullets/Wizards fan, it would be great to see LeBron play here in D.C.
With overall number one picks Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg, and John Wall, not to mention Donovan McNabb, do we even have enough room for LeBron? Of course we do.
An astute observer said in one of the comments to my article on examiner.com that if LeBron signed with the Wizards, and Gilbert stays, they would be the most athletic team in the league, with Wall, Gilbert, LeBron, Blatche, and McGee.
Here’s the article on examiner.com: Could LeBron James decide to play for the Washington Wizards?
Ten days ago, this reporter blogged that LeBron James should play for the Washington Wizards.
Is it so crazy to think James could end up in Washington? New York, New Jersey, Miami and Chicago have been the teams most often mentioned, but so far not many people have talked about James coming to D.C., except a few wacky writers.
For LeBron to come to Washington, the Wizards would most likely have to trade Gilbert Arenas. The Wizards are expected to attempt to trade Arenas anyway now that they have the chance to draft Kentucky point guard John Wall with the first overall pick. LeBron would like to play with Wall according to recent reports.
To read the rest of my article on examiner.com, click here.
Ok, I don’t pretend to understand all the salary cap stuff, but is it so crazy to think LeBron James could end up in Washington? The main hurdle would seem to be for the Wizards to trade Gilbert Arenas and his huge salary. I’m sure they’ll try to do that anyway now that they have the chance to draft John Wall. LeBron would like to play with Wall according to recent buzz.
He wants to be known as a global icon, and while Washington isn’t New York and doesn’t have the international ties of the Nets’ new owner, it is an international city. Also, with young players like Wall, JaVale McGee, Andray Blatche, and Nick Young, the Wizards are on the way up, though it’d be another year before they could compete for a title, even with LeBron. The Wizards already have more talent than the Nets and the Knicks. The Bulls clearly have the most talent of the teams that are being talked about. But I don’t think LeBron would want to follow in MJ’s footsteps.
Also, could New York be too big for LeBron after growing up in Akron and playing in Cleveland? Would Washington be a nice compromise between Cleveland and New York?
Personally, I think he will stay in Cleveland, sign a three-year deal, win a title, and then move on so he gets the best of both worlds.
DC is definitely the place to be for sports stars, with Alex Ovechkin, John Wall, Steven Strasburg, and Donovan McNabb.
Nobody thought Reggie White would ever end up in Green Bay. They had a lot of years between their glory days and their subsequent Super Bowls. It has been a long time since the Bullets were great, but they do have a great history – you just have to go back a ways.
How about changing the team name back to the Washington Bullets and seeing James in a red, white, and blue uniform?
Lady Luck visited the Washington Wizards Tuesday night. She was Irene Pollin, the widow of former Wizards owner Abe Pollin.
After years of frustration in the NBA draft lottery, the Washington Wizards struck gold and won the top pick.
Irene Pollin wore Abe Pollin’s 1978 Washington Bullets NBA championship ring for good luck to the lottery selection show in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Click here to read the rest of my article on examiner.com.
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