Good Hoop today...
The Wiz won't officially scrimmage until tomorrow afternoon but Eddie Jordan divided his team up and let them run in an unofficial scrimmage today and the hoop was as real as I've seen all week. The fellas were really getting after it. A few highlights:
-Jarvis Hayes looked great. After sitting out the second practice yesterday, Hayes suited up and was on his game. In one sequence, Hayes backed Caron Butler down to about 11 feet from the hoop, turned, elevated and made a smooth looking turnaround jumper. Later, he made the same shot from the opposite side of the floor. He also had a play where he dribbled to his left from the top of the key, rose up and knocked down a 19-foot J. All net baby. He also had a nice defensive play where he sprinted down court and swatted away a Andray Blatche dunk attempt. I saw good explosion and elevation there. The word I would use to describe Jarvis right now is "bouncy." Still, there are signs that Jarvis is still feeling his way through some things as one would expect from a guy who hasn't played since last December.
On one fastbreak, he was ahead of the pack when he caught a long pass but he the went up cautiously and missed a layup. Later, in a similar situation, he went up with a left-handed flip shot and missed. In time, if the knee continues to get stronger, he'll go up and throw those down.
-DC native, rabid 'Skins fan and former Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr. continues to help his cause. He seemingly made every open shot in the scrimmage, made smart decisions in transition and played tough defense when matched up against DeShawn Stevenson. Mason's ball handling skills are pretty good as well and that's key because Jordan wants that backup guard to be able to swing between the point and the 2.
-It's hardly news but man, Gilbert Arenas is good. I saw every game last season from a front row seat but it still amazes me sometimes to see how quick and strong that dude is with the ball in his hand. Gil had three plays where he split the defense from the top of the key, drove hard, took contact and finished the play with a layup while drawing a foul call. He made the free throws as well. (No Cleveland jitters perhaps?) Also, even though it was just a training camp practice, Gilbert wanted to win. Badly. Dude was competing hard every time on both ends of the floor. The same can be said of Butler and Jamison. Coaches have to love that out of their stars.
-Antawn Jamison sat out most of the practice after taking a Butler elbow to the side of his head. Antawn said he'll be fine and plans on going today. After practice, as I chatted with Jamison outside the lockeroom, Butler walked past, rubbed his elbow and said: "You got a hard head man."
-There's been a Peter John Ramos sighting. PJ was working against Etan Thomas in the low post on one play and showed something. He caught an entry pass, took two hard dribbles to back Thomas down and then flipped in a nice little jump hook with his right hand. Not bad. Ramos was involved in another pretty play that began with GIlbert driving and flipping a nifty little behind-the-back pass to Stevenson. Stevenson drove hard, drew Etan Thamos and dropped off a nice little pass to Ramos, who caught it smoothly and laid the ball up for 2.
Later however, while working against Calvin Booth, Ramos caught an entry pass, went into an up and under move and kind of hesitated. He then dipped his shoulder and the veteran Booth simply took the contact for a charge. The center situation as I see it: Brendan then Etan then Calvin and then PJ Someone wrote in the comments asking whether the Wiz would consider dropping Calvin, eating his salary and keeping PJ. That's an interesting idea. I guess I could see them doing it if Ramos shows some progress this preseason.
-Antonio Daniels looks lighter, stronger and a whole lot quicker than he did at this time last year. He's also far more comfortable with his role on this team. Remember that at this time last year, Jordan was trying to figure out where to play Daniels and Chucky Atkins. It basically took until January to figure it all out. Antonio also got off to a horrible shooting start and, in my opinion, he began to question himself instead of just playing. Now, he's just playing. He's mainly running the second team at the point guard spot. He attacks the basket like always, makes great decisions in the open court and is a leader. I also like what he's done with his jump shot. Remember how the ball tended to come out flat last year? His shot gave him little margin for error. He's getting more evelation and the ball has better arc on it now. I guess he spent the summer working on rebuilding his J and it shows. I'll talk to him about it for an upcoming story.
-Darius Songaila, still out with a pinched nerve in his lower back, is clearly getting tired of watching. I was checking him out while the action was going on and he looked real anxious. He kept getting out of seat to stretch his back and afterward, he was taking some jump shots on one of the side rims. He's officially out for tomorrow and for Monday's preseason opener and it could be a while before he's on the court again. "At this point, I just don't want to push it and end up missing more time." Songaila hasn't played since returning to the states from the World Championships on Sept. 11. Stay tuned.
After my last blog posting, someone asked whether or not I'm going to continue blogging all season. I will. Basically, I'll drop in daily with takes, observations and tales from the road all season long. The NBA season can really be a long, exhausting and sometimes lonely grind for a beat writer so perhaps this will be like a diary. Let's have fun with it.
And since it's my blog and all, I have to put in a plug in for my alma mater, St. Olaf College in Northfield, Mn. Way back in the day I played a little football at St. Olaf and it thrills me to see that the fellas are off to a 5-0 start heading into tomorrow's big showdown with St. John's. For those of you not familiar with Division III football (I know, just about everyone) St. John's is a national powerhouse. The coach, John Gagliardi is the all-time winner and they regularly thump the St. Ola's of the world like the big boys pound early season cupcakes in D-I. I was on one of the few St. Olaf teams to beat St. John's in recent memory and it's going to happen again tomorrow baby. Led by my boy Horace Gant, the big play wideout from Florida, the Oles are bringing it. Um Ya Ya!
Also, I have to give a real quick shout out to one of my former St.Olaf teammates, Sven Olson. Sven, a huge University of Arizona basketball fan and thus a huge Gilbert fan, is over fighting in Afghanistan right now. Sven, when you read this, give me a shout. Your boy Gilbert looks good so far.
I'll check back in later.
By Ivan Carter |
October 6, 2006; 2:34 PM ET
Previous: Les Wiz Day 4 |
Next: Wiz get it started tonight, kind of
Posted by: Bernard King | October 6, 2006 4:05 PM
Just about anyone can be unbuckets in the NBA...
But that's not on hayes yet. Broken freak knee caps say to me he hasn't let anyone down. Let's see how he does with a healthy year or 2 under his belt.
Now haywood... that's a different story.
Is it possible Etan or Haywood could develop this year? We don't need great, just a consistent presence.
Posted by: greg | October 6, 2006 4:19 PM
Money in the bank: Jarvis Hayes will be bootsy collins again this year. We all want to belive, but he's done. I have never seen such a good shooter miss so many open shots.
Ivan and Michael, let's explore the studio space on the trade options a little bit. I am talking realistic options. Let's take a structured approach to this. First, which player (let's narrow it down to 3-5) do the Zards need to be a "serious" threat to Miami? Second, what would it take to get that player? Third, is it possible?
This is what I've been waiting to see from you guys for a while now. Drop knowledge.
I'll get it started. We heard Le Bullez joke earlier about KG. Is that so far fetched? He is 30 now? So, what would it take to get him. The Zards would probably have to give up Blatche/One of the Zards big three (not Arenas) and this year's #1 at the least. Would Minnesota do it? They said KG is not going anywhere, but they will change their tune this year.
Here's a few other names in order of tightness:
Pau Gasol
Chris Bosh
Emeka Okafor
Al Jefferson
Let's get some substantive speculation.
Posted by: The Governor | October 6, 2006 5:08 PM
St.Olaf and college football in the same sentence? Is Ivan Carter serious??? Just teasin'(smile)...Keep up the good work, brother.
Posted by: Kevin Merida | October 6, 2006 5:09 PM
Kobe,
Lebron
Dwayne Wade
Carmelo
Tim Duncan
Posted by: Rob | October 6, 2006 5:39 PM
I'm so glad Abe wasn't tempted to drop Ernie and hire The Governor as GM. We'd be looking back to the Wes era as the good old days.
Ivan -- great update. One additional point on Daniels. He had knee surgery last summer, and many people who have had knee cut-up (myself included) say that it takes a good year or so to get everything back to normal. That may help explain why Daniels looks improved this year. Ask him about it if you can. It also makes me a little wary for Jarvis. I hope the team eases him back into it so that he can be going full throttle come January. For once, the team is deep enough that it can afford to be patient.
Posted by: Henry | October 6, 2006 5:42 PM
"After my last blog posting, someone asked whether or not I'm going to continue blogging all season. I will. Basically, I'll drop in daily with takes, observations and tales from the road all season long. The NBA season can really be a long, exhausting and sometimes lonely grind for a beat writer so perhaps this will be like a diary. Let's have fun with it."
Yay! We're with you all the way Ivan -- let's make some noise this year!
Posted by: Zonker | October 6, 2006 7:16 PM
Ivan,
You mentioned that you see the center depth chart start with Haywood, then Etan, then Booth, then Ramos. Do you get the feeling that Eddie Jordan sees it the same way?
I'm always a little worried about Jordan's tendancy to favor Etan over Haywood even though Haywood is clearly the more effective player. Jordan sometimes prefers hard work and "activity" rather than actual effectiveness.
Posted by: nate33 | October 6, 2006 7:40 PM
Guys, this blog is great! I'd love to see it continue through the season. My biggest concern this year is whether or not we can beat Miami. They just seem to have our number. All this talk about going deep in to the playoffs means nothing if we can't beat Wade/Shaq and Co. Let's hope we elevate our game against them and the rest of the Eastern Conference. I have a big star on my Wiz schedule for Dec. 15th. Keep up the great work!
Posted by: Chico | October 6, 2006 8:17 PM
Is Jarvis Hayes the Wiz's version of Taylor Jacobs (looks great in practice but can't do it in prime time and gets hurt a lot)?
Posted by: JB | October 6, 2006 8:18 PM
Jarvis Hayes=Taylor Jacobs? That's cold, nate33...
Agree with you on Haywood. It's a different team defensively when he's in there. He alters a *lot* of shots, and blocks a few, too. I don't know why Eddie pulls him so much, especially at the end of games when stops are crucial.
Ivan, Michael, we'll be here wit ya all season. Love the blog.
Posted by: keith | October 6, 2006 9:43 PM
There is no doubt that Eddie and Brendan haven't exactly seen eye to eye and that led Eddie to look to Etan when he can. Remember late last season after Brendan's "back injury" during the west coast trip? Eddie went to Etan as a starter and he would have stayed there but then he hurt his back. Bottom line: it won't matter who starts because they will both play. I don't see either guy suddenly morphing into a night in, night out beast. The Wiz just need some solid play. From both. They both look good physically but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Posted by: Ivan | October 6, 2006 10:46 PM
Haywood does change the game defensively, but last season he was much less effective than he was in 04-05. Haywood's primary defensive contribution is forcing misses -- in 04-05 (according to extreme defensive tracking), opponents shot about 33% when Haywood was defending. In 05-06, that number had risen to about 42%. Still better than Etan's, but a significant drop in effectiveness.
Haywood has a physical advantage over Etan -- he's taller, and he has longer arms. He also does something consistently that Etan does not -- he challenges shots. Where Haywood usually puts a hand in the shooter's face even if he can't block the shot, Etan seems to play in the extremes (he either goes for the block, or he sort of does this thing where he stands there while he flexes and glowers). Not surprisingly, the hand in the face is a more effective defensive technique than the "flex & glower".
Haywood's a lot more effective defending in the post. Etan does a better job getting defensive rebounds. Neither guy is very effective against the pick & roll. Haywood will do a decent job on the "show" but then seems to have trouble rotating back. Etan tends to guess which direction the ball handler will go and hedge that way, which leaves the defense vulnerable to an alert ball handler.
The Wiz got killed early last season with pick & roll, but got better when they started letting Haywood sag back toward the paint on the screening action. That gave more room for the perimeter defender to get through the screen, and kept Haywood closer to the basket where he can do more to help the defense. Still not an ideal setup because it leaves the team vulnerable to good 3pt shooters.
Posted by: kjb | October 7, 2006 12:13 AM
Couple of questions:
1. I've been watching the training camp videos on youtube.com, and have been surprised by how laid back Ernie is during practice. Does he even own a whistle? I know they are just 2-3 minute clips that I've seen, but drills just don't seem to crisp to me. I saw a George Karl training camp on NBA TV once and the guy blew his whistle like every 20 seconds to teach something. I know that's an extreme example, but how does Ernie's style compare to the rest of the league? Maybe Michael has a perspective on this since he's visiting other teams camps.
2. Ivan, having seen you in person, I would guess you were either a WR or Saftey? You're a little too tall to have played corner and too smart to have played linebacker. So which was it? I know it wasn't QB cause otherwise you'd be in TV and not print. Let us know.
Posted by: Wei | October 8, 2006 11:42 AM
Sven Olson from St. Olaf? Come on dude, that's too much of a caricature to be true.
Only school in the world that bans alcohol on campus but has a beer drinking song for a fight song (tell me that "um yah yah" thing isn't made to be sung with a hoisted brew)!
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I want to believe in Jarvis so bad. When I saw him at UGA I called my boy to turn the game on as i had just seen the dude I wanted the Zards to draft. I was so giddy when he was there for us...
We all know how that has turned out to this point. I will not believe it until I see it. JH has burned me before.
The thing that I have never understood about him since he came into the league, is why his shooting % is so low. That dude was buckets in the SEC. Can someone become un-buckets? Is there a study on this?
Keep up the great work boys.