MVN - Most Valuable Network

Antawn Jamison: Production means something

BREAKING NEWS: According to www.espn.com, Antawn Jamison signed a 4-year, $50 million dollar deal with the Washington Wizards.

After all the speculation and rumors, the Wizards made one thing clear: Antawn Jamison will not be leaving the Washington Wizards anytime soon. His incredible on-court production means something in the NBA; something like a $50mm contract. Now the speculative eye turns to other free agents like Roger Mason Jr. and Mr. Arenas; who currently represents himself without the help of an agent. There’s a rumor floating around that the Wizards offered Arenas a 6-yr $100MM deal, but he has yet to answer. More on this story as it continues to unfold…

 Just in case you need to see what production looks like: here’s some more tidbits about Jamison from www.washingtonwizards.com:

Jamison led the Wizards in scoring (21.4 ppg) and rebounding (a career-high 10.2 rpg) last season to earn his second career All-Star appearance.  He was one of only five players in the NBA to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds and posted a career-high 44 double-doubles. 

The 6-9 forward has averaged 20.4 points and 8.9 rebounds in 299 career games with the Wizards.  Jamison has been a captain and led the Wizards to the playoffs in each of his four seasons with the club. 

Wizards get McGee - good or bad pick?

 The Wizards had two draft picks in last night’s draft:

18 - JaVale McGee

47 - Bill Walker

The second pick (Bill Walker) was sent to Boston for cash considerations. Here is the scouting report on McGee (per yahoo sports): 

Strengths: An incredibly mobile athlete with good size and excellent length (7′6″ wingspan) to go along with an intriguing, developing skill-set. Has a solid frame capable of putting on more weight, and huge hands. On the offensive end, he shows flashes in most facets of the game, with hook shots and turnaround jumpers in the post, ball-handling ability on the perimeter, and a developing jump shot. With his size and athleticism, he’s capable of finishing many tough shots around the rim with extended dunks, and should be a good threat as a finisher in pick-and-rolls. His shot-blocking potential is immense, and he already has made an impact in that regard with his length, athleticism, and timing. His upside is through the roof and has only begun tapping into his potential, seeing significant minutes for the first time this year.

Weaknesses: Very weak physically, struggling to finish through contact and hold or establish position on the block. Fundamentals and footwork are lacking, and he rushes and forces a lot of shots in the post. Is content to fade away frequently and has no left hand to speak of. His shot selection, decision making, and basketball IQ in general are highly questionable. Not a very efficient player at all and doesn’t always recognize limitations skill-wise. A terrible free-throw shooter. Defensively lacks all fundamentals and is ineffective aside from a few impact plays a game, especially in post where he’s pushed around. Motor and toughness are questionable. Has much development to do and has high bust potential.

Outlook: A likely mid-first round pick due to his incredible upside, but is a while away from contributing and has considerable bust potential.

There has been mixed responses from Wizards fans on the blogs; with some saying he is a Tyson Chandler type of Center while others say he is complete garbage and will never see the floor. I have never seen him play, so I’ll let you tell me if this was a good pick or not…

The Shaq/Kobe beef lives on!!!

Even though this has nothing to do with the Wizards, as a basketball fan and a Kobe hater (there’s no excuse for his snitching on Shaq) I had to put this out there in cyberspace.

 ”Kobe, tell me how my A** tastes”

Just a snippet of Shaq’s rhymes after the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the NBA finals. Click here to watch and listen to Shaq’s freestyle in NYC. (If you are at work, make sure to put your earpiece in.)

 This is why Shaq is one of my all-time favorite players. Sure he’s over the hill, but he’s seven feet tall and 350 lbs. with multiple championship rings, and he has no fear. In this freestyle he went at not only Kobe, but Patrick Ewing and even the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While his comparisons to the late great Notorious B.I.G. are somewhat ridiculous in terms of rhyme skills, Shaq still holds the mic down better than any other professional basketball player I’ve ever heard spit a flow.

Afterwards, here’s what Shaq told Stephen A. Smith:

“I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what mc’s do. They freestyle when called upon. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. And by the way, don’t forget, six albums, two platinum, two gold. Anybody who knows me knows I’m a funny freestyler. Check the NBA DVD when I was wrapping about Vlade Divac during my first championship run. Please tell everybody don’t make something out of nothing.”

That’s simply public relations bulls%*t Shaq. To devote an entire freestyle to Kobe losing without him says a lot more than “it was all done in fun”. In addition, he brought up the Colorado snitching incident and his divorce, so he clearly has a lot more hate than love in his blood for Kobe.

I can’t wait to read your feedback on this one…

What should the Wiz do on draft day?

The Washington Wizards are a team at the crossroads. They are good enough to make the playoffs, but not good enough to make it past the second round. What should they do with the 18th pick to get to that elite level?

Here are some options from rumors I’ve heard around the net:

- Package their draft pick with a current player on the roster in exchange for a star quality player

- Pick a Point Guard

- Pick a Center/Power Forward

I truly don’t know what the Wizards are going to do and to be quite honest, I doubt they know what they are gonna do either. There are a lot of moving pieces in this organization right now; such as offers for Arenas or Jamison that the Wiz might have to match (none yet), what to do with Roger Mason, the Etan Thomas saga, the faith (or lack thereof) in Brendan Haywood, etc. etc.

My take

The Wizards simply do not have the explosive scorer or the excellent defense to win the NBA finals as they are currently constructed. As much as I love Jamison and Arenas, neither one of them can be referred to as a “defensive stopper”. They try to have Stevenson fulfill that role, but in this day and age of the NBA, teams must have at least 3 good defenders on the floor at all times who can score as well as defend.

Therefore, somebody (a starter) has to go. Butler is a budding star, always in the top 5 in steals per game and is more of the solution than the problem, so he stays. Stevenson is their best perimeter defender, inexpensive and is a fairly good scorer, so he stays. Haywood had a career year and if the Celtics can win it all with Kendrick Perkins, Haywood is just as good if not better. So the choice comes down to Arenas or Jamison. To keep both means more of the same, but to lose both would cause the Wiz to scramble for a consistent scorer.

I say let somebody else pay Arenas his MAX money and resign Jamison to a 3-year deal; allowing him to retire as a Wizard. Jamison’s game isn’t very demanding on his body so as he ages, he will probably continue to score well, but his rebounding will diminish; so he can be a serviceable veteran and a good mentor to the younger players. In the meantime, use the leftover Arenas money to find a somewhat young but NBA experienced, pass-first, defensive minded point guard who will turn Butler into the Superstar we all know he can be. Jamison can be his wing-man and let the rookies and youngsters (i.e. Blatche, Pecherov, Young, McGuire) run with the new point guard who would rather get 10-assists per game than 40 points.

Use the first draft pick on a Power Forward/Center who wants 15 rebounds more than he wants 30 points. Use the second pick on the best center, power forward or point guard available.

Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know how you feel below…