A beautiful, crisp fall day. Not a cloud in the sky, not the hint of a rain drop anywhere, barely any breeze either.
So we can rule out the weather for causing the lights to go out Patriot Center – and in a wider area around George Mason and Fairfax, from what I gather – an hour into the Wizards practice Saturday afternoon.
“I guess you could say that we shot the lights out,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders, who was forced to work on skeleton offense and situational plays. Just a few minutes before 4 p.m., there was news that the power was to be restored in the next 10-15 minutes. But before that could happen, the Wizards called off the rest of practice and the players bolted – just in time to miss seeing the lights indeed come back on.
But again, reporters didn’t get to see a minute of the action so not a lot to say in that department. Saunders did say that Gilbert Arenas, who missed yesterday’s morning session, participated in scrimmages on Friday night but tweaked his ankle again and sat out on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Andray Blatche, who apparently just took possession of his contract extension gift, did rejoin the full team action on Friday night.
“He’s going through and doing all the stuff,” said Saunders. “He’s had no restrictions on what he’s doing.”
The Wizards will conclude training camp at Patriot Center on Sunday by having a one-hour practice before the fan fest starts. The players will then have an open scrimmage at 12:30, which Flip said should consist of 3-4 10-minute running quarters.
Saunders also said that no decisions had been made on roster cuts yet, but he, team president Ernie Grunfeld, vice president Tommy Sheppard, vice president Milt Newton and assistant coach Ryan Saunders were chatting after practice.
Who will they keep? Who will they cut? Much depends on the team philosophy going forward. With 12 players already under contract, the Wizards have three spots available, but they could always choose to leave one or more open to retain flexibility when the midseason deals start to unfold. Plus, we’re still not exactly sure how the new D-League rules work.
Still, with five out of the six days of training camp complete, let’s make some projections that may or may not prove true. Based on their fit within what the Wizards want/need and limited observations in camp so far – and knowing full well that scrimmages are yet to be played on Sunday – here are a few guesses as to who has helped his stock this week:
Adam Morrison. Saunders has complemented him multiple times, partly because he’s been asked but still. Morrison fits the need that the Wizards backcourt creates. With players like Arenas and John Wall, who can both create off the dribble, Morrison offers a nice combination of size and perimeter shooting ability.
“He’s got his legs under him,” said Saunders. “He’s shooting the ball a lot better right now, he’s got good size. His biggest thing, surprisingly, is he’s been very communicative. I think that’s a positive.”
Lester Hudson. He’s performed admirably, and he’s well-versed in the comparisons with former Detroit Pistons spark plug Vinnie “Mircowave” Johnson. “Yessir,” said Hudson. “I make shots. He made shots. We score points in a hurry.”
But there are things that are out of his control, namely a roster full of guards: Arena, Wall, Kirk Hinrich and Nick Young. Even if Young moves to the three, there aren’t a lot of minutes available to Hudson, no matter how well he plays.
“Sometimes you have to be in the right situation, right place,” said Saunders earlier this week.
Hamady N’Diaye. He’s been real energetic in practice and in scrimmages, and he’s such a great guy to have around – always smiling, pleasant, and working hard. But he still has a way to go, and the Wizards really hadn’t planned on him being around this year. With Kevin Seraphin signed, Washington already has its project big man. N’Diaye was supposed to be in Europe. His infectious personality could help his case, but that’s not usually how basketball decisions are made.
With that out of the way, who remains a question mark?
Sean Marks. He’s been injured, and Hilton Armstrong has been praised by Saunders. The outlook doesn’t seem to be good despite how much experience Marks being the teammate of some of the best big men in the game – Tim Duncan, Amar’e Stoudemire and Shaquille O’Neal.
Who’s stock has gone down?
Cartier Martin. It’s a tough situation for Martin, who impressed in his short time with the Wizards last spring to earn himself an invite to Las Vegas over the summer. And in Nevada, Martin played well enough to get an invite to camp this week. But the Wizards have small forwards to spare in Al Thornton, Josh Howard, Nick Young and as was pointed out above, Morrison. Without a legitimate shot, it would seem unlikely that Martin becomes a permanent member of the roster.
Again, these are projections. More evidence will be on hand, perhaps, when the team scrimmages on Sunday.
