Category: Washington Wizards Blog

Wizards blog – Washington Wizards basketball blog

Gilbert Arenas finishes halfway house time

The AP reports:

gilbert arenas

Gilbert Arenas pleaded guilty to felony gun possession in the District of Columbia in January and was sentenced in March to a month in the halfway house. His sentence also includes two years of probation, a $5,000 fine and 400 hours of community service that can’t be performed at basketball clinics.

His sentence started April 9 with two days in jail before he was moved to the halfway house in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. He was allowed to leave the facility during the day. A fan tweeted about seeing him at a local grocery store and posted a picture of him posing near the bottled tea.

Arenas’ sentence called for 30 days at the facility, but he was released slightly early because the Federal Bureau of Prisons doesn’t release offenders from halfway houses on weekends.

The 28-year-old point guard is now free to resume his basketball career. His NBA suspension expired at the end of the season, and he has four years remaining on a six-year, $111 million contract he signed with the Wizards in the summer of 2008.

Sale of Wizards to Leonsis close

The AP reports:

The family of late Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin have agreed to the ”major economic terms” of a deal to sell its stake in the NBA team to Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.

Leonsis, a former AOL executive, and the Pollins ran into some snags in talks this year. But in a statement Tuesday, Pollin’s sons, Robert and James, said they and their mother, Irene, congratulate Leonsis on this ”near-final step in a long negotiation.”

A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press last month that the two sides agreed to value the franchise and the arena at slightly more than $550 million.

Judging Flip Saunders as Wizards coach

Mike Jones of CSN Washington reports:

Judging Flip Saunders as Wizards coach

A winner everywhere he’s been, Saunders was supposed to come in and take the Wizards from the middle of the playoff pack to the ranks of the league’s elite. But, like his talented roster, he came up short. It’s difficult to give Saunders’ coaching this season a precise grade because there were so many derisive elements involved this season.  He – like his players – talked about the need to set egos aside and sacrifice for the greater good, but when things got going, Saunders couldn’t get the Wizards to play together.

Saunders was heralded as an offensive genius, but we never really saw him work his magic on the Wizards. Because he wanted to give Arenas, Butler, Jamison and Haywood time to get used to play together again, Saunders didn’t make them run much of his system. Over-estimating his players, he admittedly let them freestyle while they got back into the groove. But they never got there. The player that suffered the most was Butler, who often looked lost in the system. Was that because Saunders didn’t use him effectively, or was it a result of a lack of focus on Butler’s part, or his bad chemistry with Arenas?  It turned out not making Arenas play within a system was a terrible decision because he wasn’t capable of running the show and balancing scoring with distributing. And so, the Wizards’ never clicked.

How much of it was Saunders’ fault, though? With the agendas that the Wizards had, would the coach have had any success if he did direct them to play within his system? By December, Saunders was publically criticizing his players for terrible shot selection and not playing together, “In all my years of coaching…I have never had to yell at a player for taking bad shots…until this year,” said Saunders, who also stressed improved ball movement.

Greg Monroe to enter NBA Draft

The AP reports:

Georgetown center Greg Monroe is heading to the NBA, planning to hire an agent and skip his last two seasons of college eligibility.

“It was mentally what I wanted to do,” Monroe said in a statement released by the school Saturday. “I feel like I’m ready to make this step after working with our coaches for two years.”

The 6-foot-11 Monroe was a third-team AP All-American as a sophomore after averaging 16.1 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 blocks this season.

Andray Blatche has bright future

Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports (via blog):

Andray Blatche has bright future

The crowd of reporters then encouraged Andray Blatche to say what was on his mind. Blatche slumped his shoulders and finally relented. “Something I can take from this season? Most improved player,” Blatche said. “I feel I worked hard for it. A couple of guys have complemented me, as well. I hope it works out for me.”

Blatche certainly has blossomed since the Wizards dealt away Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood before the trade deadline. In 30 games since the all-star break, Blatche is averaging 22.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists and has recorded 12 double-doubles over that span.

“I was a little nervous,” Blatche said of his intial reaction to the trades, “but also, I knew it was an opportunity for me. I just tried to do my best.”

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld thought that Blatche would be able to respond well after the trades, but this level of production caught him off guard as well.

Wizards sign Cedric Jackson to ten-day contract

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard Cedric Jackson to a ten-day contract.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

As the NBA’s 32nd GATORADE call-up from the D-League this season, Martin (6-3, 190 lbs.) has averaged 16.4 points and 7.4 assists (including a season-high effort of 34 points and 13 assists vs. Dakota on Feb. 26th) in 34 games (24 starts) for the Erie Bayhawks.  Jackson also appeared in eight NBA games this season (three for San Antonio, five for Cleveland), and saw his teams go 8-0 in those contests.  A rookie out of Cleveland State, Jackson is best remembered for connecting on a game-winning three-pointer from three-quarters court in a Cleveland St. upset win at Syracuse during the 2008-09 NCAA season.

Jackson will be in uniform tonight in New Orleans (8:00 pm on CSN, 106.7 The Fan, and 1370 Sports Radio in Baltimore) and will wear uniform #9.

Wizards sign Cartier Martin to 10-day contract

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Cartier Martin to a ten-day contract.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not announced.

As the NBA’s 30th call-up from the D-League this season, Martin (6-7, 220 lbs.) averaged 17.3 points (including a season-high 37 points vs. Erie on March 6th), along with 4.5 rebounds per game in 31 games (27 starts) for the Iowa Energy.  In 10 games for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors this season, Martin averaged 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game.  He has appeared in 43 career NBA games (three starts), including 33 games with the Charlotte Bobcats last season.

Martin will be in uniform tonight in Houston (8:30 pm on CSN+, 106.7 The Fan, and 1370 Sports Radio in Baltimore) and will wear uniform #20.

Spurs sign Alonzo Gee

The San Antonio Spurs today announced that they have signed forward Alonzo Gee from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The 6-6, 220 lbs. Gee had previously been playing with the Washington Wizards where he signed his first of two 10-day contracts on 3/7.  In 11 games -including two starts- with Washington he averaged 7.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 16.5 minutes.  He scored a career-high 19 points in his first career start on 3/26 at Charlotte. Prior to joining the Wizards, Gee had appeared in 36 games for the Austin Toros where he averaged 21.0 points and 6.6 rebounds in 38.2 minutes. Gee has recorded four double-doubles for the Toros this season and notched a season-high 34 points vs. Sioux Falls on 1/6.

In his four years at Alabama, Gee averaged 12.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 128 career games.  Gee started 96 consecutive games with the Crimson Tide and finished his collegiate career 11th in school history in scoring (1,630) and 18th in rebounds (730).  An All-SEC selection in both his junior and senior seasons, he is only the 11th player in Alabama history to score at least 1,500 points and grab 700 rebounds.

Gee will wear #23.