Category Archives: Wizards

Video: JaVale McGee Devours a Wesley Matthews Layup Attempt

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Video Courtesy of @OutsideTheNBA

The Wizards haven’t had many highlights this year, so when one occurs it is my duty to publish it to the world. This block by JaVale McGee on Wesley Matthews is worthy of a watch…or two…or three. When watching this try and disregard all of the embarrassing failed block attempts, and wild fast breaks led by McGee that have transpired throughout the year and the ones that will undoubtably happen in the near future. This one was a beaut, and let’s leave it at that.

In addition to Stacheketball Matt founded and runs the NBA blog, Momentum Three. You can find him on Twitter @Matthouston91 where you can mock him about his horrific March Madness bracket, and his horrific favorite basketball team, the Washington Wizards.

Video: Javale McGee Really Wanted That Triple Double

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Joining the list of “I MUST Get My Triple Double” Club is Javale McGee from the Washington Wizards.

I mean, on the stat sheet… a triple double does look good. I suppose if I was on the court, I would probably want it, too, if I was aware of it. But there’s really no need to celebrate it that much, Javale, just because you got that elusive triple double. Your team lost by 19! What’s to celebrate over that? That’s why Kevin McHale and Chris Webber were laughing at this whole thing.

What’s even funnier is that he got a technical foul for doing a pull-up after he scored his 10th and 11th points to secure that triple double. McHale is right; that was not an impressive triple double. It’s more legit if you got it in the flow of the game.

PHOTO CREDIT: AP.

Rey-Rey is the founder of The No-Look Pass, in addition to being Editor of the ‘Stache. You can find him rambling away on Twitter: @TheNoLookPass.

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Thornton Bought Out, Headed to Warriors?

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According to the Washington Post, Al Thornton’s agent negotiated the buyout, seemingly without Thornton’s knowledge. Regardless, it sounds like he’ll be headed to California, joining the Warriors after he clears waivers, as the Warriors like his size, athleticism, and scoring ability.

Erroll specializes on This Day In NBA History for Stacheketball, and buying a lot of kicks. You can follow him on Twitter: @EAbra.

Eastern Conference Players To Watch

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AP Photo

With roughly 25 games left in the season it is time to look at some players who are primed to breakout, or have broken out and need to be recognized. Some young players who have been buried on depth charts for the majority of the year will start getting more playing time on teams who have given up hope, and other young players will be thrown into the fire and expected to help lead their teams to a playoff birth.

Here are 5 guys from the Eastern Conference that are not particularly “main stream” to watch during the remainder of the season, not in any particular order.

Paul George:

  • Indiana Pacers: Forward
  • Rookie from Fresno State
  • 6’8-210 lbs.
  • 20 years old

George has started to play more minutes over the last month or so and has shown signs of promise for the future. His draft stock skyrocketed during the combine, as he showed he could be an incredibly versatile player. He is a stat sheet stuffer, who can contribute with points, threes, rebounds, steals and blocks. In January he played in 14 games and in February 13. In the prior 3 month he appeared in just 10 games combined. He has averaged 9.0 PPG in the last two months, and roughly 3.6 RPG. Right now he appears to be a key role player on a Pacer team that is fighting for a playoff spot. George is also a fun player to watch because of his athleticism and versatility. He is currently one of my favorite players in the league.

Nick Young:

  • Washington Wizards: Guard
  • 4th year from USC
  • 6’6-200 lbs
  • 25 years old

Nick Young is the oldest player on this list at 25 years old. This is his fourth season in the league, but the first where he is getting substantial playing time. Being a Wizards fan, at times I love Nick and then other times I hate him and want him off of the team. He is a scorer, and that is all he is. He is averaging a career high 17.7 PPG. After the departure of Gilbert Arenas (who faked a preseason game to give Nick more minutes) Young’s minutes got a big boost, which led to his scoring surge. Nick is one of those guys where if he makes his first two shots watch out, but if he misses his first two, he ain’t recovering. He can certainly put on some special performances. Also you MUST check out this shot…potential play of the year material.

Jrue Holiday:

  • Philadelphia 76ers: Guard
  • 2nd year from UCLA
  • 6’3-180 lbs
  • 20 years old

Jrue is a key component to the 76ers team that is on the rise. The Sixers and currently 7th in the East and just one game behind the new look Knicks for 6th, after getting the second overall pick last season. Jrue is averaging 13.8 PPG, 6.3 APG and 3.9 RPG. He is quick off the dribble and has a cool head. He makes plays when the Sixers need it and he is a good free throw shooter. While his play has dipped a little bit after a great start to the season, Jrue is still making great strides in his progression. He is only 20 years old and looks like he is on the right path to being a good to very good point guard in the NBA. With all of the ridiculously good point guards in the league right now it is understandable to overlook Holiday, but in reality he deserves a great deal of recognition.

DeMar DeRozan:

  • Toronto Raptors: Guard
  • 2nd year from USC
  • 6’7-220 lbs
  • 21 years old

Let me start by saying that DeRozan was ROBBED in the dunk contest. He absolutely deserved a spot in the finals. DeRozan is more than just a dunker though, he has become a very intriguing two guard in the NBA. He can’t shoot threes AT ALL right now, but hey neither could Tracy McGrady when he came into the league. I use the McGrady comparison because that is the player that DeRozan resembles the most right now. DeMar is averaging 16.1 PPG but over the last two months he is averaging just shy of 19. He gets to the foul line, and converts nearly 80% from the line, which is huge. As a slasher you need to be able to make your free throws. It would be nice to see more rebounding from a 6-7 guard, but it is hard to complain with his offensive production. If DeRozan continues to grow and develop he will be an incredibly exciting player to watch. Also how can you not like someone whose name is DeMar DeRozan.

Austin Daye:

  • Detroit Pistons: Forward
  • 2nd year from Gonzaga
  • 6’11-200 lbs
  • 22 years old

We all know the Pistons are a complete mess. Sadly there is not much to look forward to when watching this team, except for seeing which players actually show up to play, yet for some reason I have found myself LeaguePassing a few Pistons games as of late. While watching the Pistons, Daye was the player that really caught my eye. Most likely because he was knocking down threes, and nothing gets me more excited than watching a player knock down threes… Also he looks like a much taller version of Austin Rivers. So he held my interest. He is averaging 7.4 PPG this season and has upped his 3-point FG % considerably from his rookie season last year, jumping from 30.5 to 43.3%. Despite his size Daye is very much a finesse player, only grabbing 3.4 RPG (6.5 per 36 minutes). With the season pretty much ruined I would really like to see Daye get the majority of minutes at SF.

Others to watch: Greg Monroe-Detroit, Christian Eyenga-Cleveland, Gerald Henderson-Charlotte.

Hit Matt up on Twitter if you think he missed anybody, or just to chat NBA/Pop-Music @Matthouston91

Weekend NBA Doodles

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Back again, dear readers! This week I’ve got the Big O, Kurt Rambis, et al on deck for you. Let’s check it out!

Kurt Rambis

Manute Bol

GRANDMAMA

The Big O, Oscar Robertson

That’s all for this week. There’s more at NBAillustrations.tumblr.com if you want. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Cardboard Gerald is the Baby Spice of the Stacheketball writing staff and the resident Bobcats fan. You don’t need to feel sorry for him, but you can follow him on Twitter, if you’d like (@CardboardGerald).

This Day in NBA History, January 6

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Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant

Ah, January 6. Quite the active day in 1947. Six teams were in action: the Cleveland Rebels, Boston Celtics, Washington Capitols, Pittsburgh Ironmen (named after the Steelers?), Detroit Falcons, and Toronto Huskies. (Who votes the Raptors change names to the Huskies?) Out of these six teams, only one remains in action today. If you picked the Boston Celtics (who didn’t? No, really, who didn’t?), you win!

Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Toronto all lasted a single season in the Basketball Association of America. Some may assume that I must be wrong, that surely the Washington Capitols became the Wizards, yeah? Nope. They made it five seasons, through 1951. How about those Celts, eh? Been tickin’ since ’47.

Speaking of 1951: the longest game in NBA history, ladies and gentlemen! The Indianapolis Olympians squeaked by the Rochester Royals, 75-73, in six overtimes. Six. SIX. And they could only score a combined 148? Really?

In 1989, it was stats galore in a matchup between the Sacramento Kings (7-20) and Blazers (17-12) in Portland. It went two overtimes. They combined for 289 points. The Kings turned the ball over 36 times. THIRTY-SIX. LaSalle Thompson led the Kings with 31 and 16 rebounds. Oh, and seven turnovers. Jim Petersen had seven TOs, too. Rodney McCray, Ricky Berry, and Vinny Del Negro (YES CLIPPER FANS, VDN) picked up the slack with five turnovers each. Kenny Smith had 19 and eight assists, though. Think positively, Sac! Joe Kleine quickly finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and five fouls in 15 minutes, clearly setting the early standard for DeMarcus Cousins. For the Blazers, they only turned it over 13 times, and got to the line for 54 free throws. They made 34. Horrible. Clyde Drexler was at the top of things with an even 50. Kevin Duckworth worked for 30 and 11 boards, and frontcourt mate Jerome Kersey put up 18 and 11. Terry Porter rounded things out with 22 points, 17 assists, and seven steals, in a 147-142 Blazers victory.

One year later, business as usual for the Utah Jazz (20-11). They played in Denver, taking on the Nuggets (20-11). Karl Malone finished with 48 (on 34 shots, and Kobe is a ballhog?) and 14 rebounds, while John Stockton did Stockton things: 16 points, 15 assists, and eight turnovers. Oops. For the Nuggets, nothing special from the starters. Blair Rasmussen had a double-double (12 and 11 boards) and Fat Lever was close to a triple-double with 19, seven, and seven. Jerome Lane only played nine minutes, opening the door for Walter Davis to come off the bench to score 36. Those points weren’t enough, as the Jazz held on in overtime for the 123-120 win.

The year was 1995, a boring night hosted by the Atlanta Hawks. The Washington Bullets fell, 112-90. The Hawks came into the night 12-19, and the Bullets were even worse: 7-21! Horrible, except for one little statistic. With this win, Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens passed Red Auerbach with 939 victories. This made him the all-time winningest coach in NBA history, an accomplishment that stood until last season, when Don Nelson won his 1333rd game (Wilkens finished with 1332 wins).

2001 brought more big numbers for the Philadelphia 76ers (23-8) and Cleveland Cavaliers (16-14). Andre Miller and former Sixer Clarence Weatherspoon were at the forefront for the Cavs. Miller scored 22 to go along with 14 assists, and Spoon put up 19 and 16. But if you’ve forgotten already, this was 2001. With the 76ers. Yes, an Allen Iverson sighting. He was sighted for 54 points. Theo Ratliff nearly had a tri-dub with 12, nine, and eight blocks. Aaron McKie nearly had a dub-dub: 20 points, nine assists. It was enough to hold on, 107-103.

In 2006, Iverson was at it again for the Sixers (16-16). In a matchup against the Lakers (15-16) in La La Land, Iverson scored 31 and handed out seven assists. On this night, though, it wasn’t enough. The Lakers prevailed 119-93 in a game that was never close (37-22 after one). Kobe Bryant had missed two straight games after being suspended for elbowing Mike Miller in the throat, and had his seventh-highest scoring game of the season, finishing with 48. Yes, this was only seventh. He grabbed 10 boards just for fun. Smush Parker (!!) teamed up in the backcourt to provide 24 points. Lamar Odom went for eight, seven, and 12 assists.

In an even more recent game (try last season), the Boston Celtics (24-8) took their talents to South Beach and upended the Heat (17-15) by six, 112-106. Three Celtics went for 20 or more, but Dwyane Wade lit things up with 44. Udonis Haslem added 19 and nine boards off the bench. Michael Beasley was the starter way back then, and if he’d done better than 2-8 in 25 minutes, maybe they win?

Photo: NBA.com

Erroll is a contributor to Stacheketball. Follow him on Twitter: @EAbra.