Paul Pierce Makes Soccer Players Look Tough

With Paul Pierce now on the Wizards, we thought we'd take a look at some classic Paul Pierce moments.

Heres a clip from 2009 of newly acquired Wizards forward Paul Pierce. During a finals game in 2008 vs the Lakers, Pierce ran into his own player and crashed to the ground screaming in pain. He was carried off the court by his players and then placed in a wheelchair all the time looking like he just saw the end of Marley and Me. Miraculously, a few minutes later, Pierce returned 100 percent healed. Oh...I thought you were dead bro! Here's the NBA on TNT crew heckling Pierce Mystery Science Theater 3000 style.

Wiz Force Overtime But Can't Top Celtics

Chris Singleton slammed a dunk over Kevin Garnett who was moving out of the way, tying the game with 9 seconds left eventually sending the game to overtime.  However, the Wizards couldn't pull off the win after not being able to get off many good shots in the extra period.

The Wizards started the game much like that have in the past, down 11-2 with only a few minutes past. However the Wiz kept it close for most of the game, and after the Celtics began to pull away in the 4th quarter, the Wizards stepped up to send the game to OT.

It was a miracle that the Wizards even made it to the overtime after several bad turnovers in the final 4 minutes.  The Celtics were abusing Kevin Seraphin who turned it over 3 times in the final few minutes.

Chris Singleton turned out to be a huge spark for the Wizards in the 4th quarter.  With his teammates standing around and jacking up jumpers, Singleton drove to the hoop scoring several layups and pushed the team forward with his hustle that culminated with a slam dunk to tie the game with 9 seconds left.  He finished the 4th quarter with 12 points in the period.

The Wizards offense outside of Singleton and Kevin Seraphin (16 pts, 9 reb) was firing up jump shots with plenty of time on the shot clock.  The lack of driving to the hoop left the Wizards with 0 free throw attempts almost halfway into the 3rd quarter.  The Wiz attempted 7 foul shots in the game, the Celtics 34.

AJ Price and Janero Pargo are not starting (or backup) caliber NBA point guards.  They both were turnover machines and each took their share of OMG jump shots.  Plus look at this awful play by AJ Price.  (Price did finish with 15 points, but lots of random shots)

Brad Beal finally showed some shot-making ability (and not really any other aspects of his game) finishing with 16 points on 6-15 shooting (after starting 2-11).

Seraphin and Price combined for 12 turnovers (6 each)

Next up the Wiz get the Bucks on Friday night at Verizon...

MORE:

• Jan Vesely Put-Back Dunk GIF
• Chris Singleton Ties Game GIF
• Terrible Offensive Play By AJ Price

Chris Singleton Slams It Home To Tie Game

Here is the GIF of Chris Singleton throwing down the slam to tie the game against the Celtics:

AJ Price With A Terrible Offensive Play

On Wednesday night in the first half, the Wizards were playing toe to toe with the Celtics.  After a huge 3 pointer by bradley beal, Chris Singleton stole the in bounds pass and set up an easy 2 on 1 which would have been a huge 5 point swing.

Instead, NBA STARTING POINT GUARD, AJ Price decides to hold the ball for a few seconds, then jack up an ugly 3 pointer.

Then look what he does after the shot instead of following for the rebound...

Jan Vesely Highlights!

I've got the Jan Vesely GIF machine cued up and ready to go, and within a few possessions Janet comes through with a put back POWER SLAM!

Gang Starr Game Preview: Wizards @ Celtics

You know after last week's Bog story about Jordan Crawford and his "steez" that we had to go with a fitting song.  And what a perfect coincidence that the Wiz are playing the Celtics, from Boston, the same area where Gang Starr is from.  So here is your game preview song:

Gang Starr - You Know My Steez

True this song was after the original group broke up, but Guru is from Mass, so he counts....So who will be the Wizards Guru?

Last week against the Celtics the "teacher" was the Steez man himself Jordan Crawford.  J-Craw chill freshed his way to 21 points and along with Kevin Seraphin who shot 8 for 9 from the field, the two were the main reasons the Wizards had a chance to win it at the end.

Seraphin was a game-time decision, and he may not be at 100%, but his unique style of play and post game provides a challenge to the Celtics front court.  I don't really know how he scores, but somehow his goofy play style and hooks find their way into the hoop.

Last Friday Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics, and the way the Wizards play the 3 ball always seems to kill them.  However this game I look for Rajon Rondo to step up his game.  He was fairly quiet last matchup with 12 points and 12 assists.  I don't expect him to repeat that performance facing the weak backcourt of AJ Price and Janero Pargo.

Also...will Bradley Beal show up?  I think he is ready for a semi-breakout game...ready...but willing?

Verizon Overrun By Chubby Clones

On Saturday night the Verizon Center was overrun with stocky white dudes wearing Larry Bird jerseys.  No shirts underneath, just some fat arms that maybe lifted a few weights to cover up the fact that they are chubby.  There must have been dozens of them, possible all clones of each other.  Gattaca! Gattaca!  It reminded me of what it might look like in a drunk tank on a weekend.  Their bodies fueled by Creatine, Sam Adams, and a desire to stroke their hands through Tom Brady's hair.

The crowd at Verizon was made up of at least 50% Celtics fans and the cheers for the Celtics were louder than the cheers for the Wizards throughout most of the game.  "Let's Go Celtics" chants were so loud that the "booos" by Wizards fans couldn't drown them out.  There were more people wearing old Boston swag than Wizards, and the Celtics haven't changed uniforms in like 500 years.

You are wearing a Ray Allen jersey? Really?  Your team hates him, but you are wearing his jersey cuz you bought it when you jumped on the Finals bandwagon years ago and you are too lazy or poor to spend another $15 on a knock-off shirsey?

There was even a group of idiots who did a little bit where all four of them wore Patriot jerseys.  It was so funny I forgot to laugh! (sorry haven't said that in 20 years and felt like getting it out again).  I call them idiots because the jerseys were of Ty Law and Matt Cassell.  Wearing jerseys of players that aren't on the team outs you as a bandwagon fan!

And that is what made it so hard to handle the last shot of the game attempted by the Wizards.

With under 5 seconds left, down just 1 point, the Wizards had a chance to shut up the visiting team crowd.  Instead they fired up a catch & shoot fade away three pointer airball by a Martell Webster who was double-teamed with an extra 3 seconds on the clock.

Typical DC sports.  The Celtics are running away with the game.  The Wizards make a huge run to take a late lead.  The crowd gets pumped up, there is hope in the air...and then...crushed...

Game Notes:



The Wiz had Cartier Martin on the floor in the clutch. If he wasn't on the Wizards he would probably be hooping it up with Shelvin Mack in the D-League.  Meanwhile your #3 pick in the draft was MIA.

Beal had 2 points in just under 22 minutes and went 0 for 5.

AJ Price jacked up shots again and again they didn't go in.  Pargo was playing in the clutch and while he isn't a great player, he seems to help the offense better than Price.  He may be the new go-to PG and that is sort of scary.

Seraphin was good.  Except in crunch time when he decided to throw a pass like he was a PG and turned it over.

In the final minutes the Celtics were handing the game over to the Wizards, but the Wizards decided to hand it right back.  Lots of turnovers and missed jumpers by both teams.

Wiz have the Celtics in Boston on Wednesday...

Wizards Bar Crawl Saturday...Who's With Me?

So one of the worst things someone like myself can do before attending a Washington Wizards game is go on a bar crawl.  The delicious sodas I drink all day beforehand lead to me getting very upset at the game.  I scream, I yell, I cry, and I spill a drink on the people in front of me.  It happens every time, no matter how many times I tell myself not to.

So I think this sounds like a good idea.  Watch a little college football. Drink a few Seaweed Ale's and Budweisers.  Then try not to get thrown out of the Verizon Center.  Who's with me?

If you are going tweet me and we can meet up and talk about my favorite player Janet Vesely...

(I heard the game tix for this promotion are sold out but you can still drop $5 for a wristband to get the $2 budweiser specials)

Musical Game Preview: Celtics @ Wizards

The Boston Celtics are hypocrites.  Several years ago when they tanked the season on purpose to get Ray Allen & Kevin Garnett, they were the bullies of the NBA.  Now that Ray Allen left their "unfair" group of players to join another "unfair" group of players, the Heat, the remaining Celtics players are upset.  Get over it.  That is how you were formed.  Ray Allen wants a championship, not to run a nursing home.

So that is why Boston's own, Akrobatik, and his song Hypocrite was chosen for Saturday's matchup and home opener for the Washington Wizards against the Boston Celtics.


The Wizards are coming off a tough loss to the Cavs where they put up a great comeback and had a 4th quarter lead, and the Celtics are coming off being smacked in the face by Ray Allen and the Heat.  The Celtics are not going to be happy, but they are playing a game on Friday night, where the Wizards have had several days to rest and scout the Celts.  Hopefully for the Wiz, the Celtics take out their frustrations on the lowly Bucks and overlook their second game in two days.

Bradley Beal needs to show up and be aggressive.  He looked sheepish in his NBA debut and he passed up a few shots that the coaching staff would probably like him to take.  While he is a rookie, he is the one who should have no conscience firing up three-pointers, not AJ Price & Trevor Ariza..ug...

Can Earl Barron repeat his efforts from Tuesday night?  Okafor right now is all they have for a big man with Nene & Seraphin sidelined, and he is old, slow, and not very athletic.  While Barron is no superstar, he did have a solid game in limited minutes.  He showed some length, hustle, and he worked hard in the paint.  I don't know if he can keep that up, but if he does the Wizards will be better off.

Rebounds anyone? Seriously! After Anderson Varejo outworked, outphysicaled and outhustled the enire Washington Wizards roster on route to 20+ boards, and 14 offensive rebounds, the Wiz are going to have to do something that NBA players don't enjoy doing.  Box out!  The Celtics don't have anyone as "crafty" as AV but they do tip out a lot of rebounds.

Who is going to stop Rondo?  Kevin Garnett is going to take his 17 foot jumpers, and please just let him.  Pierce will be Pierce.  But the X-Factor in this game is going to be Rondo.  He is way better than every single guard on the Wizards roster and looks to have a big game.  The Wizards may also have problems with Jeff Green and Courtney Lee who could make some turning point plays in the contest.

It is going to be a tough task to take 1 of the 2 back to back games upcoming against the Celtics and their best shot is on Saturday at home in front of the dozens (AND DOZENS) of Wiz fans and the millions (AND MILLIONS) of idiots in green who come out.

...Cuz I won't hit the booty unless it's tight, fat...

Fork In The Wall

An "impartial" look at the Wizards and their upcoming draft by a Celtics fan.  Wizards fans may take offense to some of these views, but that's what comments are for.

By FC Kendrick

I’m not a Wizards fan, let me make that clear from the get go, I bleed green and white always have and always will (side note, growing up a Celtics fan in Las Vegas would be like rocking a Troy Aikman jersey in Alexandria) but I have an unhealthy obsession with all teams DMV and that includes the Wizards.   

So as an impartial observer I can tell you things like Kevin Seraphin is at best a poor man’s Taj Gibson, and far more likely a Nick Collison or Ronny Turiaf type, this a best case scenario.  Sorry all you Le’ Bullet fans that were hoping he’d be the second coming of Al Horford. 

Or I can say things like John Wall is the fastest human being I’ve ever seen on a basketball court, but has the least amount of fun playing the game of any star in the last 20 years.  Does he even enjoy playing basketball?  

These and many other reasons have made 2012 one of the most important drafts in a long time for the Wiz.  Let’s assume that one lucky lottery bounce doesn’t change the course of 40 years of bad luck and history overnight and that Anthony “The Uni’Brow” Davis is off the table.   

Excluding that happening, and we know the ping pong balls could swing any which way, but let’s also assume that the pick lands somewhere in between 2-4 (yeah you can blame me if it’s like nine or ten).  What happens with that pick could determine the rest of John Walls career. 

You may, or may not know, that Wall has not signed an extension yet with the Wizards, hell it really hasn’t even been determined if he even warrants a max payday.  The constant flux in style of play, and the emotionless glare that sometimes takes over his personality indicate, as does his time at Kentucky btw that what John Wall really needs is a big brother.  

Someone to hangout with, but that’s not trying to go clubbing 24/7, someone to jam home an alley-oop and actually point to Wall as the guy that deserves the credit.  He seems like a lonely dude sometimes Ernie and Tedd need to give him a basketball family and a reason to want to be a wizard for a long time (or not CHANGE the f'ing name back to the bullets already)

If the pick is the #2, the best players after Anthony Davis are all one and done freshman, Michael Kidd Gilchrist and Bradley Beals might both end up being stars, but this draft isn’t about finding a star.  It’s about finding John Wall a partner to bring this team out of the garbage with (though I will miss the gun in locker room over a poker game, running backwards on offensive rebounds etc, goofy wizards of the last few years).  

You want someone to finish what Wall started on catch and shoots and flush down alley-oops on the fast break, yeah maybe MKG is the next Scottie Pippen, but John Wall is more Kevin Johnson than Michael Jordan.  Whomever the selection is needs to be someone that Wall enjoys playing with; of all the #1 picks of the last 15 years has there ever been someone who has less fun playing basketball than John Wall.

Wizards Play Basketball For 40ish Minutes, Games Are Still 48 Minutes

Washington Wizards 92, Boston Celtics 100

The Wizards played hard for most of the game but the Celtics were just too good down the stretch and they handed the Wizards their 5th straight loss, and 2nd to the Celts in two nights.  The Wizards remain winless despite playing their best game of the season on Monday night, breaking 90 for the first time.

The game started out odd as Flip Saunders argued a call in the first two minutes of the game and ended up getting ejected for 2 technicals.  Flip was gone, and the Wizards played better...is that a sign?

Andray Blatche played a good game, although mostly jumpers, and had 28 points and 9 boards.  McGee while failing to box out ever still picked up 14 boards and contributed some good offense, hitting a few jump hooks along the way to 17 points.

Wall had 11 points and 8 assists but was forced to do too much and it caught up to him in the form of 7 turnovers.  Wall was the reason the Wiz were in the game, but when he sat on the bench the Wizards did not have a backup point guard in place.  Instead they had Jordan Crawford turning the ball over and hogging the ball for the entire 24 seconds of the shot clock.  Shelvin Mack played 0 minutes.  WTF.

The Wizards "shooting guards" Young & Crawford combined for 4 for 20 shooting (20%) for 15 points.  Pathetic.  Are people done with Nick Young yet?

Trevor Booker & Singleton both bring energy off the bench but they still have some team defense deficiencies.  Rashard Lewis is just taking up space, although nobody is available to replace him, he played 40 minutes.

Next up is Dwight Howard and the Magic in FLA on Wednesday...ug...

No Help For Wall As Wizards Fall

Washington Wizards 86, Boston Celtics 94

John Wall (19pts, 8a, 7reb) led the Wizards, but didn't get enough help from his friends and the Wizards lost to the Celtics 94-86. The Wizards are now averaging only 83.5 points per game, which is downright awful. They have no chance to win games scoring that low.

The Wizards kept the Celtics lead to around 10 points for most of the game, but couldn't break through and take a lead. The Wizards were able to keep that close thanks to John Wall stepping up his game. Unfortunately the Wizards have no 3 point shooters, yet they shoot 16 of them (they made 2). Also unfortunate for the Wizards is the fact that the players around Wall don't help him at all.

Check out the basketball IQ displayed in this photo:

A scene that sums up the Wizards efforts this season:

John Wall gets the defensive rebound inside the paint. In less than a few seconds, Wall is in the paint on the other end of the court. The only problem. The rest of the team is jogging slowly down the floor behind him. If I was John Wall, I would be very discouraged.

Wall is a point guard who plays with speed. He pushes the ball up the court. He wants to run an offense. However, whenever he passes the ball, one of his teammates turns the team offense into an individual game. Instead of the ball swinging around and having an offensive flow, Wall's teammates slow the game down, take unneeded dribbles, and shoot terrible shots.

When Wall is playing on the court he looks tired. He looks frustrated. He looks discouraged. How could he not?

Good Vibrations For 2012: Wizards & Celtics

Marky Mark New Years Edition
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Boston Celtics @ Washington Wizards

Sunday, January 1st (6:00pm CSN)

Washington Wizards @ Boston Celtics

Monday, January 2nd (7:30pm CSN)

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Basketball For The People

The 2012 year will start out really tough for the Washington Wizards who start the year with a home & home against the Boston Celtics.  When these two teams face each other it is always a good show at the Verizon Center, and you can often throw out the records of the teams as the game outcome becomes a toss up.  Last season the terrible Wiz beat the good Celts 2 times at home.  (Of course they lost both games in Boston)

The Funky Bunch

The Celtics have had a poor start to the season, losing their first 3 contests and finally picking up their first win of the season on Friday against the Pistons.  These 2 games are going to be important for the Celtics to get back on the right track and they face the perfect team, the Wizards.  They could be .500 by late Monday night.

Good Vibrations, Sweet Sensations

Last season the Wizards won 2 out of 4 against the Celts.  That is about as far as sweet sensations go for the Zards.

Take A Walk On The Wild Side

I like the Wizards & Celtics to each win at home.  Why not.  I'm betting the farm on it.  Yeah you are right, that isn't a "walk" on the wild side, that is a jump off of the top of the Wild Side bridge.  But whatever, something about the Celts at Verizon.

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Latest Trade Rumor: Ray Allen & The Celtics

A lot of good stuff in the Chad Ford article today, talking about possible trades for the #5 pick including:

"The Celtics would give them Ray Allen."

PG: Gilbert Arenas
SG: Ray Allen
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

Another WOWish looking lineup (looks better on paper). Ray Allen may be old, soft, & streaky, but is a solid veteran shooter. But if the deal was trading pick number 5, Steph Curry, for Ray Allen, I would say Hell no! I'm up for a veteran scorer or big man, but shooting guards, I think the Wiz could draft one or get one cheaper.

Gilbert Arenas T-Shirt Contest

The Wizards are playing the Boston Celtics in what is the Celtics home opener on November 2nd. Celtics Blog Red's Army is trying to come up with a t-shirt to wear to the game.

Regular readers know I think Gilbert Arenas is a first rate ass clown. I don’t think I’m alone. The Celtics open the season on November 2 at home against Washington, and we want to offer you guys some sort of TShirt to wear at the game. Problem is… we’ve got no ideas.

They basically are looking for some kind of shirt that says Gilbert sucks, but obviously much better than that.

I think this is a great idea. I don't care that they hate Gilbert Arenas. I personally would like to come up with some kind of shirt when Lebron James comes to town.

A heckling shirt needs to be very clever, have no bad language, and not be completely tasteless. Not "your mom blah blah" If it isn't done right it just makes people wearing it look dumb. If they pull it off, it will get the attention of the cameras and hopefully Gilbert himself.

Let's see what happens...

• Red's Army

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