For Sale At The NBA Store

Have you ever taken a good look at everything that's available at the NBA online store? Probably not, huh? I mean a really good comprehensive deep dive look at anything and everything you can get branded with your favorite team's logo or just the NBA logo in general? I didn't think so. Me either. Like me, you probably think you need a new t-shirt or hat or jersey and go buy that and get out right? Yep, that's what I thought.

Well, in a moment of wonder this weekend I took a more in depth look at some of the merch available on the site and I have to tell you there are some crazy things on there. What do I mean? Washington Wizards nail file? Yes they have that but it's not that crazy. Washington Wizards cheese board with serving stage AND tools? Of course they have that. They actually have three different Wizards branded cheese board and tool sets in the store. But compared to some of the other things they are trying to sell these actually seem like reasonable purchases to make. How about some Washington Wizards toddler girls fake Ugg boots in pink? For sure they have that too but that's not even what I'm talking about. I mean stuff that makes you wonder who would ever buy the item and why they would even make it in the first place.

So from a Saturday morning browse of the NBA Store website, here are ten of my favorites. And yes, I think I looked at every Wizards item for sale on the store.

1. Kevin Seraphin Game-Used Jersey

Among hard-core jersey and memorabilia collectors out there, picking up a game-used jersey, ball, pair of shorts or whatever is clearly a big deal. The actual object used in the game is a hugely important collectible especially if it's an important game that the object was used in. The NBA uses different balls in each quarter of some events during All-Star Weekend so they can auction more stuff off to collectors. And if you want more proof that this stuff is valuable to collectors, just ask Eli Manning, who was accused of passing off non-game-used items to a company selling them as authentic game-used.

This particular item on the NBA Store's website is Kevin Seraphin's jersey from the game three victory over the Toronto Raptors in the 2015 playoffs. It's selling for a whopping $450 (although all the pics on this post are from a 20% storewide sale so there's an opportunity to pick this item up cheaper if you act fast). So let's even say there's a hard-core Seraphin fan out there who wants to be a completist and get the entire available Keveeeeen collectible collection in the world. Is it worth $450? or even the sale price of $360? Before you answer this, keep one thing in mind: Kevin didn't even play in that game. Randy Wittman gave him a DNP - Coach's Decision. This item ain't worth anything close to $360 in my opinion.

2. Washington Wizards Basketball to Duffle Bag

I kind of feel bad putting this item on this list because I know whoever invented this product must think this thing is the nuts, like the best idea that's ever been thought of and it's going to sweep the nation. My question to the folks who green-lighted this product is: what were you thinking and do you understand your market here?

So the basic premise here is that it's a bag but it's also a basketball. Now you can't actually play basketball with it. The bag just folds up into a cloth or vinyl or whatever material the ends of the bag are (see below). I don't quite see the advantage. I mean sure it's smaller so I guess it's easier to store somewhere in the home but if it's just smaller why does it need to look like a basketball. If it's intended that you actually carry it around while smaller, why would you want to carry a faux basketball around with you? Isn't that inherently more unwieldy than carrying a bag that has handles? I'm not sure I understand.

I hope the person who invented this product got paid and I hope whoever approved it got talked to about future approvals. I mean it's not a bad concept I guess. I just see the reality of the application a little lacking in thought. Not spending $40 (or $32 on sale) on this one. I'll stick with my...well, I don't actually own a duffle bag really so there's that.

3. Women's Washington Wizards Red Knit Thong

I'm glad they clarified the women's part of this for us.

I'm all for Wizards branded shirts and shorts and bags and hats and glasses and coolers and pretty much whatever else you can brand. But do we really need Wizards thongs? I thought the point of wearing Wizards branded gear is that you are showing your support for your team and that it gives you an identity that you can maybe share with strangers. Maybe I'm off with that concept and if I am that's fine. It wouldn't be the first thing that I've been wrong about in life. 

But what's the application here? Finding out your girl is secretly a Wizards fan and that she's showing you in a sexy way? I don't understand. Oddly enough, the name Andray Blatche comes to mind when I see this product. Not as a wearer mind you but a purchaser. Like in bulk to hand out or something like that. Let's move on.

4. Washington Wizards Craft Beer Flight

I know I just got done saying I'm all for Wizards branded whatever, but tell me how you actually use this product.

I'm still waiting. And if you are explaining how it's for sampling glasses of craft beers I already know that.

Think about when the last time you ever poured yourself a few glasses of craft beers in small glasses for sampling at home. Have you ever done that? I haven't. So let's say you do anyway and you insist on having a wooden rack of glasses to do so. Do you do this alone or with friends? I'm hoping with friends. If you are alone why not just drink the whole bottle and why put everything in a presentation rack.

As an aside isn't the rack just so you can move the glasses easily from the spot you pour to the sampling table? If it's at home, can't you just have the bottles on the table? I mean it's not like you have four kegs at home is it?

If you decide you really need one of these, don't you really need more than one of these? Assuming my friends theory is correct. And if you do are you really shelling out $70 per set? How often are you doing this to justify that price, even if it is 100% acacia wood? The only application I can see for this product is a Wizards themed bar. And let's face it, there aren't any of those right now. Are there?

5. Washington Wizards 15" x 18" Modern Team Print

I'm trying to think about where to start writing about this one. Let's start with the established date. I'll skip the whole lack of Bullets thing and just the overall appearance of this product and the price and the fact it come in black and white also.

I've written before about the conflict that exists out there when it comes to what year the Wizards franchise was established. If you believe that the franchise was still the franchise back as far as you can trace it, then you'll go with 1961 for the founding year. That's the year that the future Wizards started play in Chicago under the Packers nickname. If you are a member of Abe Pollin's family or believe in the same logic as that guy, you'll go with 1963, which is the year Pollin moved the franchise to Baltimore. Pick one and go with it. If we want to re-write history and say the team started in 1963, that's not a hill I'm going to die on.

However, when it comes to this sign, it clearly was not made or approved or checked by anybody who is remotely familiar with the street naming convention of Washington D.C. Capital One Arena (formerly Verizon Center) does not sit at 601 F Street North. It sits at 601 F Street NorthWEST. The address of the building is wrong in a way you can only get it wrong if you know nothing about D.C. which where the team plays.

Just real quick for the designers of this sign: the city is divided up into quadrants, with the United States Capitol as the center both north-south and east-west. The four quadrants are predictably northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest. While I guess you can argue there technically I guess may be an F Street North, when you stick a number on it, it doesn't work. The NBA Store should contact everyone who bought this sign and refund their money in my opinion.

6. DeJuan Blair Framed 15" x 17" Collage with Team-Used Ball

Let's say for the sake of argument that you hate what I wrote about item 1 on this list. Let's say for a moment that you don't care that Kevin Seraphin didn't actually wear the jersey IN a game (rather than TO a game) and that you'd buy the thing to go in your Seraphin shrine if only you had the spare few hundred dollars laying around. Fine. I could see that this person I've just described might be out there somewhere in this world.

Now, a framed DeJuan Blair Wizards collage for $70 ($56 on sale)??? No way. No way in hell. Blair played in 29 games for the Wizards and totaled far less than 300 minutes of game action. Even if you are obsessed with DeJuan Blair I'm not even sure you can justify paying for this product. And they sort of have to have these things made and in a warehouse, right? I mean if they were custom made to order, wouldn't they just not have a DeJuan Blair version on the website at all? If anyone actually ordered one of these, the NBA should just send it for free along with a credit for the entire purchase price. 

Close second on this one by the way is the Trey Burke autographed basketball for $130.

7. Washington Wizards Green St. Patrick's Day Paddy's Pride T-Shirt

Ever since I moved to this country I haven't quite been able to understand America's fascination with St. Patrick's Day. I don't understand people feeling connected to Irish heritage that nobody can really explain to them and I don't understand people lining up outside bars at like 6 a.m. on March 17. You want to get drunk then fine. I got no issue with that. But wearing green and insisting you feel connected to your Irish roots over pints of Guinness (or more likely Miller Lite) one day per year, I don't buy it.

Having said that, I understand it's a thing. And I can understand why the NBA (and Fanatics, who runs the NBA Store) would want to profit from it. But isn't this shirt really just a Boston Celtics shirt in disguise? I know the word Wizards is on there (established 1963 by the way) and the Monument Ball logo in green is with it, but they are contained inside a shamrock which is one of the Celtics' team logos. If you insist of resurrecting this March 17 foolishness every year and insist on having a green Wizards shirt to wear that day, I'd say get a different version than this one. Yes, there are far more to choose from on the site.

8. Washington Wizards Historic Blast iPhone 3G/GS Skin

I can see there being Kevin Seraphin and DeJuan Blair fans out there. I can see there being folks who want a duffle bag that folds into a basketball out there. I can see there being people out there who want a throwback Wizards iPhone cover (established 1963 again notice). But for this old an iPhone? I don't see it.

I have to tell you this product is only on there for one reason and that's if someone mistakenly buys it, then Fanatics makes a couple of bucks. There can't be anyone who's bought one of these in the last year, can there? There's absolutely no way. Tell you what, if Fanatics shows me proof that someone has bought one of these since last September 17, I'll go ahead and get one too. This is just occupying space on a website. It should be deleted and all stock should just be destroyed. 

9. John Wall 60" x 80" Reversible Plush Blanket

Can I say something about this product before anything else? I LOVE it. I think it's awesome. It's the one product on this list I'm not criticizing overall (I will nitpick). How cool would it be to go to bed every night with this thing. You can wear a virtual Wizards jersey every night. And on the other side is a court so you can spread it on your bedroom floor, set up a hoop and play ball. It's fantastic. If I were 10, I'd have this on my Christmas list.

I just don't get the backpack. Why is John wall standing next to a red Wizards backpack? Doesn't make sense to me. I also don't get the liquid-repellant fabric. Is that comfortable to sleep under? Doesn't matter I guess. If I were a kid, I'd still want one.

10. Washington Wizards 10.5" x 13" Sublimated Team Logo Plaque

I'm furious about this product. I can excuse someone for getting the address of our arena wrong I guess, although honestly I cannot see how that could really happen. Don't you just look up the address in Google? There's no way it comes up as 601 F Street North. But I'm distracted.

I have never ever ever ever ever seen any piece of Wizards merchandise with "Since 1962" on it. And by that I don't mean that I HAVE seen "Established 1962" or "Founded 1962" or something like that. There is no way anyone (and I mean anyone) is maintaining the Wizards franchise started play in 1962. There's NO WAY! This product is just wrong. Plan and simple, it's wrong. And I don't care if there person who designed this sign was a Chicago Zephyrs season ticket holder (that's the incarnation of the Wizards that started play in 1962) it's plain and simple wrong. Fanatics should be embarrassed at this. If anyone ordered this thing, they should drive to that person's house, insist on having it back and destroying it and offer the buyer any single item on their website for free. Including the never worn in a game Game-Used Seraphin jersey if that's what they wanted. This is bad. I'm upset.

So that's all I have to say on this matter. I'm sure I've missed things. I'm sure you can visit the site yourself and find some things that are more outlandish. Especially if you search in some other teams' catalogs because I'm positive the Wizards have one of the smaller product selections. Tip-off in 31 days. Can't wait!!

2014 Off Season Priorities

The NBA Finals started tonight, a re-match of last year's seven game Miami Heat - San Antonio Spurs series which the Heat stole after the Spurs absolutely blew it in game six on their home floor. Just like last year, I'll be rooting as hard as I possibly can against the Heat, hoping they have just worn their roster just too thin after last off season's roster cuts, particularly (and I hate to say this based on his time in Washington) Mike Miller. Miami may come to regret that move.

The fact that it's NBA Finals time and I haven't written about the Wizards' off season priorities also means that I am behind in my blogging, so far in fact that one of my priorities or the team has already been resolved. What can I say? I have a full time job and I took vacation the last week or so during the Conference Finals. I'd be right on time if I could just write this blog full time. I'd also be a lot poorer.

The state of the Wizards seems to look a lot brighter this off season than it did last year. Instead of heading back to the Draft Lottery for the sixth consecutive year, the team is coming off its second most regular season victories and its most successful playoff run in the last 35 years. The starting five produced pretty well this year and the bench certainly improved in the second half of the season. Last year I thought a couple of tweaks could get us the seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs. Turns out I shot too low. Yet, as with any team that finished in the five spot in the Eastern Conference in recent years, questions remain and there's a long way to go before the Wizards can be considered a legitimate contender.

This year's off season will look a whole lot different than last year for a number of reasons. Unlike last year when the team held the number three pick in the Draft, this year our only selection comes in the second round, meaning the chance of us snagging a contributor on June 26 seems pretty remote, especially considering our recent track record in the Draft. The Wizards also face two of their five starters (Trevor Ariza and Marcin Gortat) being unrestricted free agents, as opposed to last year's one (Martell Webster). Fortunately the team possesses a good amount of salary cap space to sign free agents and last year's off season signing of Al Harrington, who presumably had other options available to him, is likely a good indicator that free agents might actually want to come play in Washington.

So with all that in mind, here's what I'd do if I were running the show at Verizon Center. I'm not, for which most fans should be eternally grateful.

1. Re-Sign Randy Wittman

I realize this has already happened. The Wizards signed Randy to a new three year deal at a rumored $3 million per year this past Tuesday. The third year is a team option, so it's really just a two year deal guaranteed. I've written a couple of times in this blog that I thought Randy was a key in turning the culture of the franchise from a group of irresponsible knuckleheads to (dare I say it) a model of professionalism. While the Wizards had some significant concentration lapses during the regular season which led to some bad losses, overall the team took their performance seriously and the playoffs were a totally different story. Randy clearly had the team's attention.

The knock on Randy seems to be his past coaching record. Local media seems to delight in trotting out Randy's "worst winning percentage in NBA history of all coaches with a minimum 400 games coached." I think it's safe to say this current year's team is likely the only one other coaches would actually envy, so it's no surprise that the results this year were far better than all his other years as a head coach in the NBA when he was working with rebuilding teams with little talent.

I'm not sure what a realistically better option there is for this team at this time. We have a coach who clearly has the commitment of the entire roster who just led the team to it's most successful season since 1979. I'm not sure what more we could want. Certainly bringing in a rookie coach (which happened a lot this past off season) doesn't seem to make sense. The only other option would be to get a proven winning coach who wants to come to D.C. to coach. George Karl seemed to be the popular choice of some local writers. But there are no guarantees in going that route. I think the players' support for Randy and the job that he has done so far makes him the logical and best choice. Way to go, coach. Well deserved!

2. Maintain the Starting Five…Or Close To It

The Wizards face an offseason where two of their most productive starters are unrestricted free agents, meaning the team has absolutely no control over re-signing Marcin Gortat or Trevor Ariza. Both will likely command large salaries on the open market and I'm sure their agents are salivating over the deals other teams will put in front of these two guys.

For me, the biggest challenge for the Wizards this off season is at the starting center spot. Marcin Gortat is a legitimate NBA starting center. Nobody else on the team is, even if Kevin Seraphin stays with the squad. With the Wizards expected to have more than $15 million in salary cap space there's certainly a lot of cash to hand out this off season. Will Gortat be the team's top priority? What about Ariza? Ariza is clearly the team's best defender and had perhaps the most productive offensive year of his career. He was absolutely deadly from three point range.

For me, the priority is Gortat. There are so few true centers in the NBA these days and I think Gortat values playing in Washington with John Wall with Randy Wittman as coach. The sort of chemistry he has and could have with Wall is difficult to find. I'm hoping there's a hometown discount in there somewhere. After all, what's one or two million dollars less per year? One year of his next contract is going to get him more money than I will make in my lifetime. It's for sure enough to keep him comfortable.

I would also love to see Ariza back next year, but at a sensible price, which in my mind may be the same as he made this year. I love Trevor Ariza's play. If it weren't for Martell Webster on the team, I'd be wearing a number 1 jersey to Verizon Center every game. I love Trevor's ability to shut down opponents and I love his ability to score the three. But I also believe John Wall has something to do with his offensive output. I thought it was a mistake to start Ariza over Webster this year since Martell performed so well last year. But Ariza at the starting three spot worked exceptionally well this year, whereas Martell's production fell off significantly. If we can't retain Trevor next year, I believe Martell will fill in adequately until Otto Porter is ready. And I believe Otto is the real deal.

I'd try to get both Ariza and Gortat back in the fold. But if negotiations proved too difficult, I'd wrap up Marcin first. He's just way tougher to replace.

3. Shop Frugally

The Wizards end of season salary cap number was $70,204,382. Of that about $70 million, $9,140,915 (or so) was spent on four guys in the last year of their rookie deals, specifically Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, Jan Vesely (I prorated his salary at 54 of 82 games) and Chris Singleton. Rookie contracts are typically the best bargain going in the NBA, a chance to get relatively high production out of guys whose costs are kept low by the rookie salary scale. John Wall, for example, played a little more than 15% of the team's total minutes and made slightly more than 10% of the team's payroll. Next year John's salary will almost double. His minutes won't.

Seraphin, Booker, Vesely and Singleton occupied about 13% of the team's payroll (again, prorating Vesely's number) but only played 14.5% of the team's minutes. Booker was by far the best bargain here, costing about 3.3% of the salary number and playing about 7.9% of the minutes. The other three actually cost more than they produced, even at the relative bargain that is a rookie contract. Next year we are not going to be able to afford that kind of waste if we want to challenge teams like Miami and Indiana, especially with John Wall's salary increase and potential sizeable contracts for Gortat and Ariza, if the team opts to go that route.

I think it's safe to say Chris Singleton will not be back in Washington next year and I suspect neither will Kevin Seraphin, unless we really can't find anyone else to back up the center spot. I think Booker stands a pretty good shot at getting a multi-year deal at or about his current salary (just less than $2.5 million) and I think if the Wizards can wrap him up at that number, they should. The real trick will be to maximize the value with the money that last year went to Seraphin, Vesely and Booker. Drew Gooden and Al Harrington proved to be great value for veteran minimum deals. I'd love to see Gooden back with the team at a similar price point in addition to some other free agent vets that can still contribute. A couple of former Wizards in Emeka Okafor (assuming his back isn't forcing him into retirement) and Caron Butler seem like guys we should at least take a look at.

4. Improve Free Throw Shooting

I can't tell you how many games the Wizards blew this year because of their free throw shooting but there were a number, enough that some serious thought needs to be given to how the team as a whole improves their performance from the charity stripe. The Wizards shot just 13 of 26 from the free throw line in an overtime loss at Oklahoma City in November and faced similar difficulties (11 for 18) in a home loss to Atlanta the next month. One more free throw in regulation in either of those games would have wiped out the extra session and given the Wizards a regulation victory.

Overall, the Wizards finished 25th out of 30 teams in free throw percentage during the regular season. Jan Vesely was the worst of all the Wizards shooting a pitiful 33.9% from the line, good for 450th in the league (there were 463 players who shot a free throw in the regular season this year). And just in case you believe shipping Ves to Denver cured the team of its free throw woes, the team actually shot worse in the post season. Collectively, the Wizards managed to hit only 69.6% of their free throws in the playoffs, good for dead last among the 16 teams who played beyond the regular season this year.

During the 2007-2008 season, the Wizards hired Dave Hopla to help with free throw troubles they were experiencing during the previous season. Dave managed to get the team's free throw percentage up from 76.5% to 78.2%. That may not seem like a lot of improvement; it represented only about 34 points over the course of the 2007-2008 season. But trust me when I say I'd love to have had a few extra points in some of our games this year.

Over and above the 34 extra points, the biggest difference Hopla made that year was with center Brendan Haywood, whose free throw percentage jumped from 54.8% during the 2006-2007 season to 73.5% one season later. Instead of being a free throw liability at the end of games, Brendan became an asset, allowing him more time on the floor to coordinate the Wizards' defense (the Wiz were pretty much hopeless on D without B Wood those years). That change doesn't show up on the free throw statistics but it made a difference. Unfortunately, the next year Dave was gone and so was Brendan's free throw prowess. He shot 47.6% the following year.

If there's a guy out there who can help Nenê raise his 58.3% free throw shooting mark, I'd sign him up. The difference in that one player alone would be worth a lot of money. Remember, there's no salary cap on the coaching staff.

5. Develop a Developmental League Strategy

The National Basketball Development League started the 2013-2014 season with 17 teams. Of those 17 teams, 14 were in an exclusive relationship with a single NBA franchise. For NBA teams affiliated with a single D-League franchise, this allowed the NBA team to have their personnel run basketball operations, appoint the coaching staff and run the exact same offensive and defensive schemes in the NBDL. This arrangement provides a huge benefit for players that are assigned to the D-League by the NBA team. The value in this type of relationship has been cited as critical to player development by a number of NBA teams.

The other 16 teams without a single D-League affiliation do not have the same benefit. Instead, those 16 teams share the remaining three NBDL franchises but have no control over playing time or playbooks, meaning the development component of D-League assignments is basically a crap shoot. The Wizards, not surprisingly to this fan, are one of the 16 teams without an exclusive relationship.

The 2014-2015 NBDL schedule will feature 18 teams, the highest total in league history, after the New York Knicks established a new franchise in White Plains. The Knicks were single affiliated with the Erie Bayhawks last year; the Orlando Magic have managed to snag the Bayhawks as their D-League team next year. Of the 18 teams which will participate next year, all but one have an exclusive relationship with an NBA team. Over the past year, the Memphis Grizzlies have secured the Iowa Energy as their exclusive partner and the Phoenix Suns did likewise with the Bakersfield Jam. For the other 13 NBA teams, that means all 13 share a single NBDL franchise, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Fort Wayne is about 550 miles from Washington.

So what exactly is the Wizards' plan in relation to the D-League. If there's one area this franchise has struggled with, it's player development. Are the Wizards actively resisting, slow to react, or just executing some other strategy that is just not apparent? It is not unreasonable to envision a D-League with 30 franchises, one per NBA franchise, in the near future. But what happens until that day for the Wizards? Is sharing a Development League franchise with 12 other teams really useful? I'd love to know.

Embarrassing

Last night the Washington Wizards dropped their fourth consecutive home game of 2014, this time to the Houston Rockets 114-107. Last night's game was perhaps the most thrilling game I have seen at Verizon Center this NBA season, but I left the building embarrassed for our team and our organization on what was perhaps one of Kevin Seraphin's best nights as a Wizard and for sure one of Marcin Gortat's worst.

The first period last night was played to a draw at 29-29 so there were early indications this might be a high scoring affair as opposed to Friday night's game in Indiana which was also tied after one but at 18-18. But after the first, the Wizards came out empty in the second and the first half of the third periods, getting down by 25 at one point after the halftime break. There's honestly no excuse for this team coming out after a competitive opening period and taking 18 minutes off, especially since that's the exact reason why they lost against Dallas, Toronto and Golden State in our prior three 2014 home games. Each of those games was competitive for three quarters but the difference in each game was the quarter that the home team just didn't show up.

Of all our players on the court last night, it looked like Marcin Gortat was the most lost, scoring five points, snagging three rebounds and committing four personal fouls in just less than 20 minutes. It looked like he had no ability to stop Rockets' center Dwight Howard, who just backed Gortat down to the basket each possession. He ended the game with a minus 21 plus/minus rating, meaning the Rockets outscored the Wizards by 21 when he was on the court and didn't play a minute in the last quarter. Bradley Beal actually had a worse plus/minus rating last night, but at least he managed 13 points and is likely not 100% healthy.

After digging themselves a huge hole, I guess the team felt it was better to make some effort than completely roll over and so in the last half of the third quarter and the first half of the fourth, we witnessed one of the greatest Wizards comebacks I can ever remember, launching a 34-7 run to change a 90-68 Rockets lead into a 102-97 Wizards one. For a team that was utterly defeated to do this speaks volumes about this team's ability and inclination to play this way (one is good; the other isn't). I've called for the Wizards to play 48 minutes each and every game several times in this blog this season. I just don't understand why they don't get it and come prepared every night to not take a minute off. 

Kevin Seraphin played just less than 23 minutes last night but went 8-13 from the field en route to scoring 18 points and bothering Houston's big men, including Howard, with his defense effectively enough to swing the game back our way. Only four Wizards finished with a positive plus/minus last night: Seraphin (+14), Martell Webster (+19), John Wall (+1) and Nenê (+11). Seraphin's performance stood out more than anyone else's, although it certainly wasn't a solo effort.

Unfortunately, the euphoria of getting up by five, which had me high fiving every Wizards fan I could find within reach two rows behind me, wore off fast as the Rockets scored the next 10 and killed our rally and our hopes for a home W in the new year. Still searching and Miami's up next. Not looking good.

The Wizards second quarter effort, immediate post-halftime effort and their failure to put the Rockets away was extremely disappointing. One day this team has to get that effort is required every minute. Too many games are getting away from them due to poor execution. There is nobody on this team good enough yet to make up for 12 minute collective lapses in concentration. 

But as disappointed as I was with the team's effort last night, that's not what had me leaving the building embarrassed. I left my seat in Section 415 last night for good at 10:28 p.m. with less than 15 seconds of game time remaining. I know what you are thinking: 10:28 is pretty late, right? Right! Must have been an 8 p.m. start, right? Wrong! Double overtime game, that would have done it, right? Well that's true, but this game ended in regulation. No extra periods last night.

The game last night let out about 75 minutes later than it should for one reason and one reason alone: the roof was leaking. With nine seconds gone in the second quarter, one of the officials noted water on the court near the scorer's table and pointed upwards, as if to indicate that water was dripping from above. All this is pretty difficult to see from the upper deck but people pointing up at the underside of the roof and then bringing out towels followed by buckets is a pretty sure indicator that the roof is leaking. While that explanation was never offered to the crowd, sure enough that's what happened. 

Somehow, someway 35 minutes later, after teams of people were scrambling about on the catwalks above the court, the leaking stopped and play resumed. Well, it stopped until just after halftime, when there was another 22 minute delay for more leaking. Now admittedly it was raining yesterday but roofs in NBA arenas just can't leak. They just can't. No matter what. That sort of thing just isn't going to sit well with anyone in the league all the way up to the commissioner including, I am sure, Wizards majority owner Ted Leonsis.

This is not the first time there has been water dripping from above this NBA season at Verizon Center. Earlier this season, I believe it was a December 6 game against Milwaukee, water was dripping on the center court side of the aisle that divides Sections 109 and 110 so much that the staff actually relocated a number of patrons who were being dripped on. It had been raining that day if my memory is correct in a similar fashion to the weather yesterday.

Now, as an architect, I realize that water dripping from above does not always mean a roof leak. I also realize that if it is a roof leak, the actual location where water is entering the building may be a lot different than where the roof membrane is compromised. But clearly there's a problem. Having to stop a game not once but twice due to water dripping on the court means something is seriously wrong and needs some immediate attention. And who knows, maybe after the game earlier this season, the staff at Verizon Center has been all over this issue.

But if they haven't, they need to get on it. Fast. The Wizards have enough public relations issues due to the history of wins and losses over the past 35 or so years. We can't have water dripping in our building causing more negative perceptions. We need to get this fixed immediately because it's embarrassing. I've sat through some pretty horrendous Wizards losses the last 14 years but I've never been more embarrassed for the team and the organization than I was last night.

The First Dozen

When the 2013-2014 NBA schedule was released back in August of this year, I highlighted the Wizards' performance in the first 12 games of the season as a critical indicator of the season's success. Eight of the first 12 games were away from Verizon Center but only four of our opponents in those first dozen games made the playoffs last year. For a team last year that struggled on the road and against non-playoff opponents, I saw this first stretch of games as a potential bellwether of how our season might turn out.

Friday's road loss against the Toronto Raptors in Canada marked the twelfth game of the Wizards 2013-2014 season and I'm still not sure what we have. Our record this year is clearly way better at 4-8 than it was last year at 0-12 but my hopes that this year's team can duplicate last year's mid-season form, when we ran off a 21-15 record between January 7 and March 22, haven't been realized. In fact, I'm not sure we are any closer to understanding if this team is the playoff team they want to be after the first 15 percent of the season.

So in my confused fan state right now, and after having watched the Wizards knock off the New York Knicks last night behind a quality second half at Verizon Center, below is a six pack of thoughts about the first dozen games of the current season.

1. The East Is Terrible

OK, so this thought is not so much about the Wizards but about the Eastern Conference in general. But this fact, unless it changes drastically, is going to continue to keep the Wizards in playoff contention even if our record continues to languish below .500. At the close of Friday night's games, only four teams in the Eastern Conference could claim winning records: the Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls. Every other team in the conference, including the Atlantic Division leading Toronto Raptors and championship hopefuls the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, had lost more than they had won.

The Conference is almost begging a team or two to take a step forward and fill in behind the four winning teams listed above and I don't see why that can't be the Wizards. Sure, we're not going to win the Eastern Conference title this year. As of this date, that looks like a two team race between the Pacers and Heat. But why not step up and make the playoffs, even if it's as a seven or eight seed? I see an enormous opportunity, especially with the Nets and Knicks in questionable at best shape. Go for it guys!

2. What Happened to the D?

Last year the Wizards managed to finish in the top third in the league in defensive efficiency behind some underrated individual defenders and some solid team defense. This year, the Wizards are hovering around the top of the bottom third of the league in that same category. Better than at the bottom of the bottom third, but not like last year.

I guess I'm hoping that part of this is early season jitters. In the first month of the season teams often struggle to defend more than they do score. Great defense over a long period of time relies on team play and a deep understanding of defensive schemes and responsibilities. Everybody has to be on the same page. Great individual offensive outputs can often be pulled off at the expense of poor defense and thus it's easier to have great individual offensive games than great team defensive success.

But there's no doubt we miss Emeka Okafor and probably to a lesser extent A.J. Price. I'm not knocking the Emeka for Marcin Gortat trade. I completely believe we made the right move to bring someone like Marcin in (we'll talk about the draft pick later) but he's not a premiere rim protector like Emeka. The last line of defense is often missing at the hoop without Okafor. We've been exposed badly in some situations especially by opposing teams' point guards either dribble penetrating or cutting to the rim without the ball. Hopefully with time and commitment from everyone, team D will improve to maybe the low teens.

3. The Team Is Paper Thin

One of the most glaring deficiencies about the Wizards team last year was a noticeable lack of depth. Other than Trevor Ariza, we really lacked dependability when we went beyond the starting five. Four of our roster spots were taken by guys (Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin, Chris Singleton and Jan Vesely) who were inconsistent at best, and that may be really kind, and we had effectively no backcourt depth.

So one of the off season priorities for the front office seemed to be to correct that situation. We re-signed Martell Webster, inked Eric Maynor to back up the point guard position and towards the end of the summer added free agent Al Harrington. I'm not sure that's fixed our lack of depth. Before the game against the Raptors Friday night the Wizards ranked 29th in bench scoring, ahead of only their opponent that night. In the 96-88 loss that night, the Wizards amassed only nine bench points, far behind Toronto's 25.

Admittedly, both Ariza and Harrington missed that game due to injuries, but Jan Vesely being the first man off the bench speaks volumes about the team's depth. Despite Jan's improved play in this first month, he can still only score on fast break and putback opportunities. Maynor as the backup point guard hasn't added much at all so far and I don't think Garrett Temple, while a quality third string guard, is the answer as a first backup in the backcourt. The team has managed to pull off wins in three of the five games both Ariza and Harringon have missed which is encouraging. But eventually somebody needs to step up and become a dependable bench player. Maybe first round draft pick Otto Porter is the guy, if he ever gets over the hip flexor and suits up.

Marcin Gortat's addition has been key through the first 12. I can't imagine where we would be without him.

4. Personnel Decisions Continue to Haunt Us

The Wizards' roster this year consists of four true backcourt players, one true center and ten other frontcourt players. Martell Webster and Trevor Ariza are still being used as shooting guards for periods in some games but they are really small forwards. Who's kidding who there?

One of the reasons for the Wizards being so forward heavy is our draft history. In 2010 we nabbed two forwards in the draft in Kevin Seraphin and Trevor Booker. A year later we selected Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton. Despite middling or lower production over the years each of those guys has been on the team, they are still all under contract and consuming roster spots. At this point in the season, only one of those four is averaging more than 15 minutes per game (Vesely) and the four combined are contributing less than ten points per contest. Singleton's out with an injury so these comments are a little unfair to him, but I'm not sure he's cracking the rotation in a significant way. That's four first round picks taking up almost 30 percent of the roster and contributing less than ten percent of the offense. Ideally, I'd love to have someone more dependable in one of those spots. Fortunately, all four are not under contract next year; that doesn't help us this year.

I see two potential personnel decisions that might loom large in the coming year. First, Eric Maynor has a player option on a second year with the team. I know it's only 12 games in but Maynor does not appear to be the answer at the backup point guard position. There's such a noticeable dropoff between him and John Wall. Second, there's that 2014 first round draft pick we gave to the Phoenix Suns in the Okafor-Gortat trade. I hate trading first round draft picks but if it gets us into the playoffs this year, it's probably worth it. If it doesn't, Gortat's likely gone and so is our draft pick at some point.

5. There Are Concentration Lapses

I know basketball is famously a game of runs. More than any other sport mostly due to just the frequency of scoring in the games, there are going to be periods in the game when teams just outscore the other team by an astounding margin. And it's likely going to happen whether you are the winning team or the losing team. Having said that, the Wizards' scoring droughts in some games have been so obvious and noticeable that it has either put them totally out of the game; put the game out of reach quickly; or almost wasted an outstanding effort.

Most noticeable in the first 12 games were the San Antonio Spurs' 16-0 run after the Wizards had battled back to within three in the third quarter; the Oklahoma City Thunder's ten point comeback to force overtime with less than three and a half minutes to play; and the Cleveland Cavaliers' 36-13 run to almost steal the win after the Wizards led by 27. In each case, the Wizards seemed to lose focus on what it was they were supposed to be doing on the court, and they lapsed into lazy, one-on-one hero ball and it cost them at least the Oklahoma City game and it almost took the Cleveland game from them. We haven't won in San Antonio since 1999, so it's pretty difficult for me to argue that unselfish play would have won that game.

I know this team is young to the point where arguably the two best players on the team are 20 and 23 (in Bradley Beal and John Wall) and I also realize neither of those two has had a veteran to mentor and teach them how to play their positions at the NBA level. But they have got to remember to listen to head coach Randy Wittman. I'm sure Randy is reminding them to share the ball and run the offense. They need to do it. It will save Randy's job and may save the season.

6. We Should Be 7-5

I'll end these observations on a hopeful note. In all honesty, this team should have won seven of the first 12, not four of first 12. We held a double digit lead against both Philadelphia and Cleveland in the second half at home and managed to squander both games and let the visitors walk off with a victory. We also had the Thunder dead to rights in Oklahoma City before Nenê picked up his second technical foul and the team lost all focus. There were also no games we won in the first 12 that we should have lost, so the three additional victories we should have is a true number.

In spite of that optimism, however, we didn't win seven of the first dozen games but the three we threw away should serve as a reminder for the team to realize they can achieve a winning record if they put forth 48 minutes of concentrated effort per game. I know that's going to be difficult for this team. Ideally everyone would like a few games where they can mail them in, but it doesn't appear our team is talented enough to do that. 48 minutes guys, not 36, 40 or even 44. 48! Do that every game and we might be OK.

On to the next 72! I feel better than I did last year.

Meet The Team

As of this writing, the Washington Wizards are off to an inauspicious start to the 2013-2014 season, going 0-2 in their first two games with honestly no realistic end to the losing with upcoming games against Miami, Brooklyn, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. It might just take a fluke of a game. I figured we could pick up a couple of easy Ws against the Philadelphia 76ers both here in D.C. and in Philly in the first four games of the season but somehow Philly has managed to go 3-0 to start the year so I'm counting on a loss Wednesday when we play up there at this point. So before I get too frustrated to deal with writing about this team for a while in a positive light, I thought now would be an appropriate time to look back on last Saturday's Season Ticket Holder Party at Six Flags.

The Season Ticket Holder Party (or the Meet The Team Party as it used to be called) is one of the most important events of the year for the rabid season ticket holder. I once left a business meeting in Roanoke, VA early so I could get back to D.C. for this thing. It's the event where fans like me can stand in line for about an hour to get some stuff which is essentially worthless autographed by my favorite players and add it to my rapidly expanding autograph collection, which is displayed in various locations throughout my condo in and around my also expanding bobblehead collection. And yes, I know I'm too old to be collecting autographs and bobbleheads. Let it go!

This is how it all starts: standing in line to get to the spot in the park when you really stand in line.

I've attended the Season Ticket Holder Party / Meet The Team Party every year since the 2003-2004 season. I missed out the first three years of my tenure because the team didn't have this sort of thing during the Michael Jordan years (presumably because it would have been a complete mob scene if MJ was signing) and I think I bought tickets too late the first year I signed up in 2000-2001. The format and location of this event has changed over the years drastically. I love the current format because it rewards resourcefulness and planning (which I have in spades) and aggressiveness (which I don't have; just can't knock little kids out of the way) is of little to no value. Let me explain.

The first couple of years I went to this event at Verizon Center were pretty much a free for all. The players were rarely at tables signing in an orderly fashion but were instead just standing around in random spots around VC or in some cases giving locker room tours. I remember talking to Jared Jeffries one year as he helped kids into the moon bounce set up at the west end of the building. I think that same year I almost literally bumped into Gilbert Arenas while trying to get my bearings and Kwame Brown was giving locker room tours; we each shook his hand before the tour and he introduced himself ("I'm Kwame"; yeah, no kidding!). In those days getting autographs was literally a mad scramble: it was almost impossible to plan because there was no rhyme or reason to where guys were located and the lack of lines meant that sometimes getting something signed involved pushing your way to the front of a loose mob. There were also no name tags so it was sometimes difficult to tell who was who. My friend Mike helped me identify Larry Hughes one year by the "LH" tattoo on his neck.

There's plenty of this going on. Notable here are Jan Vesely knowing he's just had his fourth year declined on his rookie contract and John Wall, who is not exactly Mr. Personality during these things.

The event stayed at Verizon Center through the 2009-2010 season (with one random year at the Newseum) but the team decided to change the format once we started to make the playoffs. In those middle years of my season ticket holder tenure, the team decided to distribute color coded tickets to attendees which allowed you to stand in one (and theoretically only one) line to get autographs from 2-3 preselected players. There were ways to get additional tickets if you tried, including grabbing more than one ticket the years they handed them out at the door and trading for different colored tickets with other fans the years they mailed them. These years were the worst. They rewarded neither resourcefulness and planning nor aggressiveness. It didn't matter how early or late you got there and you had no control over who you wanted to stand in line for: your fate was predetermined by the color of the ticket you owned. It also hindered any ability to get a single year's team collected on a single ball or whatever other object you elect to get signed. I like to use the box the season tickets come in.

Chris Singleton, Jedi Knight, with Bradley Beal and Glen Rice, Jr signing away furiously.

Then when Ted Leonsis took control of the team, he moved the event out to Six Flags in Prince George's County. This year the event was held on a Saturday afternoon in the picnic area of the park since the place was still open to the public; the past three years, it's been held at night on a weekday. In all four years I have been going to Six Flags for this thing, the format has been essentially the same: players are arrayed in different positions around the park with orderly lines set up and start signing about an hour after fans are admitted. For those who are resourceful and can plan, the hour before signing allows scouting out of locations to determine who is where and laying out the ideal sequence to get players in priority order. It's been tight the last two years but I've been able to get the entire team both years so I can check that box in my neurotic obsession about this stuff.

Basketball cards: my new favorite item to get signed.

Because of the rush associated with this event, there's very little opportunity to interact with players which is too bad (conversation after all slows down the line for others and hinders the annual complete set of signatures quest). But some players can't help themselves and I can't get by Kevin Seraphin without a couple of sentences in French (after a couple of sentences my language skills betray me) and without him showing stuff to his neighbor. Kevin's one of those guys who loves being semi-famous and having fans. He has his own hashtag on Twitter (#KevinSeraphinLife) and loves the spotlight that being a backup center for an NBA team affords him. He's humble but there's also no question he has an ego that he likes to have stroked. Last year I pulled up a picture on my phone of him as Superman and he made me show it to Earl Barron who was sitting next to him. This year he had to show Trevor Ariza the gold basketball card (above) I handed him so Ariza could be impressed by the kind of products Kevin inspires I guess.

This is the sort of event that makes me feel a little more engaged with the team. I know most of these guys must hate sitting at tables for an hour signing stuff for fans who should have outgrown this stuff years ago but I think it's great the team makes this happen. Fans are the reason these teams exist so I guess for one day anyway it makes me feel good as a fan that we get something exclusive for the money that we are forking over. Maybe one day this event will cease having so much value for me. Until then, I'll be leaving business meetings early or whatever else I have to do to get over to this each year.

This year's season ticket holder box, signed by the team.

Off Season Priorities

It's conference finals time. My rooting against the teams and players I dislike the most has helped bump the Brookyn Nets, Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks from the postseason so far. I'm still delusionally hopeful that the NBA Finals this year will feature the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs despite the current deficit the Pacers face in their Eastern Conference Finals. I like the way Indiana's team is built around a defense first, no star system. In my wildest imaginings, I could see the Wizards resembling that team in the next few years. 

In the meantime, there's been some good news for the Wizards in the form of a top three Lottery pick when the team could have stood still at the eight spot or, God forbid, moved down as far as 11th. That win gives the team a whole lot more options when approaching the off season. It's a lot easier to make deals with a number three overall draft pick than it is with the eighth pick.

When I look over the Wizards roster at the moment, I see some glaring holes that need to be addressed. However, for the first time in years, I feel pretty good about our top five guys under contract, which coincidentally can be fashioned into a credible NBA starting lineup of John Wall and Bradley Beal in the backcourt, Trevor Ariza and Nenê at the forward spots and Emeka Okafor in the middle. I think management has done a good job cobbling together a unit that can score and defend at a playoff caliber level in the NBA.

Beyond the "starting five" listed above, the team is thin. We have some free agents whom we may or may not try to re-sign and a bench of four guys on their rookie contract deals. It's definitely easy to understand how this team finished tied for seventh worst in the NBA last season. Despite that assessment though, we may actually not need to tweak our roster that much to slide into the seventh or eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Sounds crazy but it might be true. Here's how I view our offseason priorities.

1. Draft The Best Available Player

For the first time in several NBA Drafts, the Wizards are in a position where they don't need to draft someone who has to start next season or even contribute in a major way right away. I am sure between now and draft night both the front office of the Wizards and most folks in the press who cover the team will debate whether the team should draft for need or take the best player available. Here's my message to everyone: the Wizards have needs at every position; select the best available player, even if that player is a guard and has to come off the bench behind John Wall or Bradley Beal for the next four years.

Fortunately, the Wizards this year moved up in draft order by winning the Draft Lottery and hold the third overall selection, rather than the eighth spot based on order of finish. The third overall pick allows the Wizards far more flexibility in making a draft choice and should allow them to not only get a quality player whether or not that player can contribute right away. If I were drafting for need for the Wizards, I'd select a center. The Wizards have young potential at every position except center (I'm putting Seraphin at the four for the purpose of this discussion). But if the right player isn't there, I'm picking the best available. Based on early projections, it appears Nerlens Noel (center), Ben McLemore (guard) and Otto Porter, Jr. (forward) are the top three talents in this year's draft. If that proves to be true, I'd take whichever one of those three wasn't selected in the top two and hope I made the right choice. To me, the draft is a total crap shoot anyway.

2. Re-Sign Martell Webster

The Wizards signed Martell Webster right before the start of the 2012-2013 season as a presumed sixth man at a pretty much bargain price of $1,600,000. Martell turned that opportunity into a season with career highs in points, rebounds, assists and three point field goal percentage while managing to shoot almost 85% from the free throw line. He replaced Trevor Ariza in the starting lineup when Ariza went down with an injury in December and never gave it back. He embraces coach Wittman's game philosophy and also seems to play off other players on the team, and particularly John Wall, very well.

So it looks like Martell has set himself up in a "contract year" to be paid really well or even overpaid. It seems like the Wizards are in a position where they have to pony up some dough to keep him or risk losing him to free agency like we have lost other players in the recent past. If I had a vote, I'd pay Martell. In fact, I'd probably pay him (assuming he would accept it) the full mid-level exception for a period of three years. That would allow us to bring back our starting five from last year plus sixth man Ariza and then start to incorporate other players into the mix, including our first round draft pick and whatever other free agents we retain or sign. And with a three year deal, Martell would be coming off the books in time for the team to throw a boatload of cash at Bradley Beal after his rookie contract expires.

I wonder what the offseason holds for Chris Singleton and his over life size billboard at VC.

3. Figure Out The Seraphin / Booker / Vesely / Singleton Thing

Over the past three seasons, the Wizards have drafted four small or power forwards in Kevin Seraphin, Trevor Booker, Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton. Other than the "starting five" mentioned earlier in this post, these four are the only players currently under contract for the 2013-2014 season. I believe the Wizards drafted so many players to fill potentially one position because they hoped one of the four would naturally rise to the top of the pile and become a regular rotation player (or even a starter) on their rookie deal. That hasn't exactly happened. If you could take Seraphin's offense with Booker's rebounding and defense and Vesely's passing, I think we'd get what I think we intended to get.

So it's probably time to part ways with one or more of this group but which and how? Over the past season and a half, Seraphin has clearly established himself as the most reliable of these four. Towards the end of last season, once he shook off injuries from the first half of the season, Booker emerged as the better of the other three primarily due to his ability to rebound consistently. Trading Vesely and Singleton for someone or some thing of value would be the best thing for the Wizards but to make a trade they need to find a partner willing to take a gamble on one of those two. It may be that we have to trade Booker to get a team to accept one of the other two and hope that whatever we get back is of greater value and that whomever we don't trade can contribute something of real value going forward.

4. Find Some Backcourt Help

During the 2012-2013 season, A.J. Price started 22 games for the Wizards and Garrett Temple started 36. Both guys were thrust into a starting role by injuries to either John Wall or Bradley Beal. I like both A.J. and Garrett as pieces on this team and as players. I love A.J.'s high assist-to-turnover ratio and his ability to play defense. I love Garrett's size and ability to defend both guard spots and toward the end of last season, I actually liked his ability to score in bursts. But if this team is going to succeed beyond maybe squeaking in to the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, I'm confident when I say that these two guys cannot be our third and fourth guards next year.

If I were running the Wizards, I'd try to re-sign both A.J. and Garrett at the right (i.e minimum) price. I think they both did enough to earn a spot on the team next year. But I'd also go out and find some help to be a first backup at both guard spots. At the point guard, I'd love to find a former starter that had a good contract who is now willing to accept a role for less money backing up John Wall. A guy like Devin Harris would seem to be a good fit. He's coming off a 5 year, $43 million deal and last year was supplanted in the Atlanta Hawks' starting lineup by Jeff Teague. He's still a good point guard and he can defend. If we could wrap up someone like that for a couple of years, I think that would help tremendously.

At the shooting guard first and foremost, we need someone who can score in bunches and I'd even overpay a little or find someone traditionally not thought of as a defender to get that instant offense off the bench. I'm thinking someone like Nate Robinson here. Nate made the veteran minimum with the Chicago Bulls last season but clearly saved some games singlehandedly for that team in the Bulls' playoff run this past spring. If we could wrap up a guy like that for a year or two at a reasonable (less than $2 million per) price, I'd do it. 

5. Fill The Roster With Professional Veterans

During the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, after it was clear the team wasn't competing for a playoff spot, the Wizards starting auditioning players from the D-League for a spot on the team. Larry Owens, Shaun Livingston, Cartier Martin, Othyus Jeffers, Mike Harris, Cedric Jackson, Mustafa Shakur and Alonzo Gee all made stops in D.C. during those two seasons. I believe the organization's hope was that one of these players would prove to be a diamond in the rough, and we'd be able to pick up a quality rotation player for very little investment. It didn't work. The Wizards couldn't or wouldn't afford to sign Shaun Livingston, who proved to be the most effective in his time in Washington, and they missed out on Alonzo Gee, who last season started all 82 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

During the off season last year, the Wizards traded Rashard Lewis and his $22 million plus salary to the New Orleans Hornets for Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza. While it first looked like the trade may have been a mistake because we took back another season's worth of salary when Lewis' expiring deal would have given us cap flexibility this summer, the veteran presence of Okafor and Ariza helped the team immeasurably. Both Emeka and Trevor are smart professionals and both understood and supported the plan to make this team into a playoff contender. Sure they cost more than someone on a rookie contract or a D-League call up, but their maturity and  experience was essential in allowing other players on the team to weather tougher times last season. When it comes to filling the rest of our 2013-2014 roster, I'd love to see the Wizards invest in high character, veteran players who provide leadership on the practice court, from the bench and in game situations in spot duty.

So that's how I see the Wizards' priorities for the 2013 off season. I'm looking forward to the NBA Draft on June 27 and the start of free agency three days later. Hopefully we can pull together something between now and the start of next season that will allow a playoff appearance in 2014.

Will the future ever get here for Dippin' Dots??