Brandon Hunter

The other NBA player involved in the Deshawn Stevenson incident was former NBA player Brandon Hunter. According to original reports he was a Cavs player, which is pretty much incorrect.

Brandon Hunter (Forward) was cut by the Cavs before the season started last year, and was cut by the Bucks before the season started the year before. His last real team (reported correctly by the Washington Post) was the Magic, where he played in 2004 for about half a season. He played a similar amount of games for Boston who drafted him with the 56th pick in 2003.

Hunter appears to be on the current roster for a team in the Italian league called Angelico Biella, the same team that Taylor Coppenrath (Vermont) played for last year. Before that he spent some time in Italy, Greece, and in Sioux Falls for the D-League.

At 6'7" and 255lbs, he isn't ideal NBA size, plus he likes to shoot too much. (get it) I don't think we will be hearing anything else from him ever again.

You can find lots of good stats & player information at Rotoworld.

INTERESTING: Brandon Hunter went to Ohio, where in 2003 he led the entire NCAA in rebounding.

Taylor? I Don't Even Know Her

Somehow I missed the fact that the Wizards re-signed my favorite player Quence Donell Taylor II this past week. (So Important That It is Buried In This Article)

Donell "Big Money" Taylor is best known for playing on the UAB team that made it to the Sweet 16 by upsetting Kentucky. A NBA career 2.7 ppg with a high of 15, Donell truely is a force to be reckoned with. His NBA.com Profile lists his greatest professional accomplishments as playing well in summer league.

Check out some of his old dunks in this video from Wizards.com



Wow, those were some, uh, uh, dunks...

Andy Blatch

With Andray Blatche signing, I'd really like to write some funny stuff. However I am busy being on vacation. Go over to Bullets Forever and check out a video of a great new NBA prospect. I really think that if the Wizards pick this guy up, they will win a championship (and draft terrible players)

Jarvis "Needle In A" Hayes "Stack"

Wow what a terrible nickname...

The Pistons have signed Jarvis Hayes which can only make me think one thing. Thank You. Get him and his bull dog out of DC. This guy was the 10th overall pick in the NBA draft. Give me a break. What a terrible player. Jared Jeffries & Jarvis Hayes, players that should have never been drafted. Anyways, here are the last 7 draft picks that were #10.

2000--Keyon Dooling--Who?
2001--Joe Johnson--Generic name, but good player
2002--Caron Butler--Awesome
2003--Jarvis Hayes--Get this guy out of my face
2004--Luke Jackson--Even more who than dooling
2005--Andrew Bynum--Eh I guess he's ok
2006--Saer Sene--Is that a real name?
2007--Spencer Hawes--We shall see

Have fun Piston fans.

BC Zalgiris

The Wizards preseason schedule was released today and besides having a game at the Patriot Center, the only odd thing was a scheduled game versus Zalgiris Kaunas.

BC (Basketball Club) Zalgiris (Named after the Battle of Zalgiris, means green grove) Kaunas (the city in Lithuania that the team is from). I guess if they were an NBA team they would be called the Kaunas Zalgiris, or probably the Kaunas Green Groves.

The team plays in the Euroleague (last place last year) and also in the Lithuanian league (first place last year). Zalgiris won the Lithuanian league 14 out of the 17 years the league has existed. However they have only one 1 Euroleague title.

The most noteworthy player from Zalgiris history is Arvydas Sabonis, the old guy that was on the Blazers years ago. In fact Arvydas is the president of the team. Tyus Edny & Anthony Bowie also played there after their NBA careers.

They don't have a full roster yet (I think...I can't really understand the language). I'm not sure if all the players left or what happened, but so far they have a couple of Division II players and some straight Lithuanians. The only player some crazy NBA fan may know is Marcus Brown, former Murray State basketball player and 2nd rounder that played 2 seasons in the NBA. If you have heard of him then you win the prize.

So the Wizards bench gets to play the worst team in the Euroleague, and I'll probably end up going to the game. Bah.

As usual I looked at Wikipedia. Here.

More Than A Feeling

Garnett going to Boston, along with the other West-East moves, caused me to look at some random stats.

--Last year, 23 Players averaged 25 or more Points Per Game, vs the Wizards.

--Only 7 of those players were in the Eastern Conference (70% Western)

--The Western players included Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Jason Richardson, & Rashard Lewis.

Those names sound familiar. Where have I heard them before. Oh yeah.

This article in the Orlando Sentinal shows how some power is shifting to the Eastern Conference. They mention 5 key moves this off season. 4 of those key moves are the players that destroy the Wizards listed above. Crazy. Not Good, especially come playoff time.

Solution: D - FENSE

Obsession?

I swear I'm not obsessed with DeShawn Stevenson...

Charley Rosen from Fox Sports had the following review of the Wizards signing Stevenson.

An acrobatic scorer in the lane with an improving jump shot, Stevenson is also an excellent defender — one of the precious few semi-stoppers the Wizards have. Indeed, he's one of the league's most underrated players.
Grade: B+ (grade based on the importance of the signing, not overall game)

Acrobatic...once every 41 games
Scorer...eh
Improving Jump Shot...hopefully
Defender...He may be the Wizards best defender, but thats like being the best Keystone Cop...too old...uh...the best D-League player...but he is pretty good
Underated...nope, frozen waffles with anchovies are underrated, DeShawn is rated just right.

Here is how I would have worded it:

An occasional scorer with an off balanced, often rushed, fade away jump shot, Stevenson is also a pretty good defender — the only semi-stoppers the Wizards have. Indeed, he's one of the league's players.
Grade: A+

I'm starting to get the feeling that DeShawn is gonna have a breakout year...

PS: If the big 3 is scoring so much per game, how come DeShawn averaged under 3 assists per game? (tied with Trenton Hassell & over 100 players have better assist numbers)

Wizards Summer League Player Wrap Up

I just watched all of the Wizard's summer league games. This is my assessment of the roster. But in reality, who cares...I ordered them by where they should be at the start of the season.

8. Kyle "Not Cool Enough For A Positive Nickname" Visser (Wake Forest, 6'11", Center)

This guy was possibly the worst player on the entire team. He defiantly would have tied with "Bart Simpson" and "School Sucks". They gave him so much playing time to prove himself but he was just awful. Missed dunk followed by missed lay-up followed by missed pass. He hustled, but all that will get you is a Mugsy Bogues poster & wristband (Or at least that's what I got when I took home the honors at Laranega GMU Basketball camp 1997)

PREDICTION: Gym Teacher

7. The Rest of The Team (Various, 70'9", Various)
They had some guys that made a few good plays. The big white redneck looking fat guy looked OK, but not NBA. Pinnock wasn't too good. They had Humphrey from Florida, but he played 14 minutes total. I was excited after seeing his name on the roster thinking he could be a (insert white small shooter here) type player.

PREDICTION: I hope you took your degree seriously?

6. Brian "Chevy" Chase (V-Tech, 5'7", Guard)

Look Kids, Big Ben...I usually like the smaller players. They play with excitement & a lot of heart. However, Chase is not that great. He shot 22% and that is his strong point. He showed 0 defensive ability and was overmatched by everyone he guarded. RUSTY!!!!

PREDICTION: Back to the D-League (how was he an all-star?)

5. Aaron "Don't Call Me Darius" Miles (Kansas, 6'1", Guard)

I see potential, but not "The Perfect Score" potential. He is a good ball handler & floor leader. Looks like a backup NBA caliber guard.

PREDICTION: Just like Caron was the new Larry, Miles could be the new Donell Taylor. But I like Donell Taylor. So…D-League!

4. Mike Hall "Without the Oates" (GW, 6'8", Forward)
He is the definition of Blah. He does a lot of things pretty well, but not exceptionally. He was better than the other rookies at times, but just boring. I thought he was possibly the best player out there for the Wizards, but for some reason I have no faith in his improving or game changing potential.
PREDICTION: No Room For Him, 10 Day Contracts when the season falls apart again, May see him at Froggy Bottom Bar.

3. Oleksiy Pecherov "Not a Catcherov?" (Eurasia, 7'0", Forward/Center)

Looked like a Songalia but with more range and less post moves. He had pretty good numbers and looked like an NBA player. He rebounds & hits 3's. Too many fouls, not enough blocks. He had pretty good numbers but they won't translate to real games. At least he doesn't prance down court with his arms up high like a big goofy oaf.
PREDICTION: The Ukrane Is Weak! Not a lot Of PT

2. Nick "I like em" Young (USC, 6'6", Guard)
Hmmmm. Exciting at times, looks like a rookie. Coming off the bench he will be a guy that you anticipate dunking over a crowd, and hopefully can knock down some shots. He plays worse defense than Gilbert and looks more like a college player than an NBA player. Luckily the Wiz already have a big 3, so he should fit in well if he knows his role (pass to Gilbert). Future Potential. Gives me a reason to wear the "I Heart NY" shirt I got 10 years ago.
PREDICTION: Excitement & Disappointment, Inconsistency. I'd rather have Reggie Bush, or even a 30 back of Busch.

1. Dominic "Bird On A" McGuire (Fresno State, 6'8", Forward)
I wouldn't go as far to say a steal yet. Kwame Brown had better stats in his summer league year. But its defiantly a great pick. He has an all around game, including some nice shot blocking. He has good size and should make a quick jump to the NBA style. His "Go-To Move" (damn you NBA Live) is a spin, which while works well in Madden & NBA Live, will not work so well in the NBA. If he does it 3 times in a row, it could even result in a fumble.
PREDICTION: DM is to Goldie Hawn as the rest of the Wizards are to Mel Gibson? He should contribute the most out of anyone. Maybe a 6th man (marlon waynes) by the end of the year. At least some PT.