I May Have Already Mentioned This, But The Whole Offensive Goaltending Rule Is Stupid‏‏

On Sunday night at the end of a very heated game between the Washington Wizards and my Chicago Bulls, Joakim Noah tapped an errant shot that was going in any way through the hoop and the Wizards’ bench threw up their arms, disgusted at this heinous, earth-shattering crime they had just witnessed. The play was clearly one that could be classified as offensive goaltending, as Noah’s hand and the ball were obviously within the cylinder.

Sports Blog Movement NBA Preview: Southeast Division

With the NBA season right around the corner, we here at Sports Blog Movement are doing exactly what you would expect a bunch of sports bloggers to do; pretend like we know what the fuck we are talking about when it comes to what this campaign may bring us.  With that, here’s my rundown on the Southeast Division, complete with five good questions that may make or break each team’s year.

1) Miami Heat

Let’s be honest, the Heat should have a cake-walk through this division. They are the two-time defending champs, and they have have all the major components back in place for at least one more season. In other words, they should have this race more sewn up than the incumbent in a Guatemalan “election.” The only way the Heat don’t win this division is the same way that Guatemalan incumbent “loses.” That means Eric Spoelstra’s big job is to keep LeBron James out of slow-moving convertibles in Dallas in 1963.

In all seriousness. the Heat are going to face some salary-cap issues in the future, but in the present this is all about their chance to join the Kobe-led Lakers and the Jordan-led Bulls in three-peat territory.

Vandalism is Illegal…

There is a theory that I would like to introduce to you. Its called the Broken Windows Theory. Many of you probably already know what it is–especially sociology majors.

The theory states that if there is a neighborhood that is filled with filth and trash, the windows are broken in the buildings, and its basically a neglected part of a city then it will be more susceptible to crime and impoverish ways. It also states that if you clean the neighborhood up and fix the windows then crime will become less likely in this place. This theory was proposed by a pair of sociologists named George L. Keiling and James Q. Wilson.

With a theory always comes a counter argument, though. The opponents of this theory point out that this theory is more coincidence than correlation. They say that there are more variables to crime than a bad environment. While living in a bad environment does not help, it doesn’t exactly prevent change either.

That brings me to this, the culture of the Washington Wizards has been a hapless and ill-fated one for quite some time now. The franchise has been through the trials and tribulations of Kwame Brown, Jerry Stackhouse, and, more recently, Gilbert Arenas. We’ve lost our long time owner in Abe Polin and Ernie Grunfeld is still making personnel decisions. Ted Leonsis is determined to ride this “rebuilding process” out even though it has been made clear that this franchise currently has no direction.

With all of that being said, the NBA and the Washington Wizards have received a blessing in John Wall. By blessing, I don’t mean ultra superstar player. He’s not there quite yet. But there is potential for Wall to be one of the best players the NBA has ever seen. No one is faster than Wall from end to end and he also has the strength to finish at the rim through contact.

Even with the recent influx of uber-athletic point guards, none have more potential than Wall. They’re all fast, but they don’t have the speed that Wall does. They are stronger than Wall–for now–but none of them are the natural passer or point guard that Wall is. Derrick Rose is more of a scorer, the same goes for Russell Westbrook. Wall? He wants to make his teammates better first.

Wall was picked 12th overall in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge this past Thursday. Among those that were chosen before him were Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Jeremy Lin, Kemba Walker, Marshon Brooks, and last but not least Ricky Rubio. He was the seventh guard taken overall in this draft after earning the MVP honors in last years Rookie Sophomore game and finishing second in ROY voting. He would’ve placed first had a certain power forward not been considered a rookie.

Which one of the guards above have put up better numbers than Wall this season? You can make the argument that none have. I know that we’re all going Linsane right now, but you must take in consideration Jeremy Lin’s sample size. Also, if it weren’t for a shooting slump through his first 10-13 games Wall would probably be considered one of the league’s top point guards on a terrible team. Over the past 20 games Wall has averaged 19 points and 8.7 assists per game. Over the last seven games Wall has averaged 22.2 ppg, 9.1 apg, and has shot 52% from the field. Is that Linsane or what?

We all know how Chuck and Shaq are on the air. I’ve gone from loving Inside the NBA to changing the channel as soon as the last game goes off. I can’t stand either of them, but this isn’t their fault. This shows what having a bad team and playing in a bad environment can do for a player.

Wall leads all second year players in assists with 7.6 and is second in scoring behind only Blake Griffin. With all of that being said, he is still being questioned as being the number one pick in last years draft. Especially with Jeremy Lin jumping on the scene as of late. Fair or unfair, it’s happening and only winning can change it.

Wall is doing just about all he can with the team that he has to change this environment. Being a leader on the floor isn’t a stat and it won’t be leaned on here. The national media will continue to bash the Wizards until they are a team that is at least in playoff contention. There aren’t many players who are more talented than Wall but his play will continue to be looked over as guys like Kyrie Irving resurrect a franchise that couldn’t go any lower from their last season and Jeremy Lin continues to fill the seats in the Big Apple.

Being in one of the largest markets in America isn’t going to help until it is utilized correctly. Wall must be seen more on the national stage; the Wizards don’t have one nationally televised game outside of NBA TV this season. Wall has to emerge as the next great point guard in the NBA to get recognized.

After being picked 12th in the draft in this meaningless sideshow, it seemed to have some meaning to Wall. He tweeted Motivation some time after the BBVA draft. He’s watching, just waiting for his moment to explode and receive his well deserved recognition.

Vandalism is wrong, TNT. I don’t care about any other Walls, but please let this one keep its clean slate.

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Living in Washington, DC affords us many wonderful experiences.  One of them is affordable ticket prices to sporting events.  Sad, but true.  The Verizon Center is just blocks away from where we work, and so we attend Washington Wizards games quite frequently, but his trip I was really excited because I got to check out my favorite team: The Chicago Bulls!

As I witnessed the visiting Chicago Bulls taking on my hometown Washington Wizards in the beautiful Verizon Center (four rows from the floor), I realized that Derrick Rose is a certified beast of a player. I also realized that he makes the Bulls a great team that CAN’T win without him.  What’s more is that John Wall WILL be a certified beast of a player, and he MIGHT make the Wiz a good team that CAN’T win without him. Let me clarify what I’m saying:  The Bulls are a good team without Rose. I would dare say that they can be a playoff team without him. They got great players: Noah, Boozer, Deng, and Hamilton just to name a few.    But Rose makes Chicago a championship contender.  In contrast, the Wizards one and only irreplaceable is Wall. Who are the other pieces, and why can’t we get the similar type of players? I’ve been a Wizards/Bullets fan my entire life. Its the ONLY local professional team that I truly support.

Rarely is the Verizon Center packed for a Wizards Game nowadays however, for this game-The Phone Booth was PACKED! Many were Bulls fans like me, but the Wiz had a lot of support.  The Bulls came off heartbreaking loss (at least it was heartbreaking for me) to the Miami Heat.  I was glad to see them bounce back.  I did have a few concerns.  The Bulls had more turnovers, less rebounds, less scoring in the paint, but still managed to win the game. That can’t continue.  The main difference?  Free Throws…the Bulls had more chances at the line.  They won’t go far in the post season with shaky play like this. 

 I danced in the streets when Wall was drafted AND when Ted Leonsis took the ownership of the team. I KNEW that brighter days were ahead. I’m still waiting!  Don’t get me wrong, I like some of the pieces that we have:  Nick Young and Trevor Booker are good role players for us. And I LOVE Javelle McGee!  I think this guy is going to be a star. But he’s playing out of position. He’s not a center, he’s a forward, which gets me to my point:  We need a big man. Someone who can play down low and wreak havoc in the middle.  I do have some suggestions:  we can make an effort to draft JD Sullinger this year, because it’s a lock that we won’t make the playoffs this year. Or, we can make a play for the Grizzlies Marc Gasol. Or, (and this is my personal preference) we can sign the Pacers’ Roy Hibbart. The rumor going around is that Hibbart wants out of Indiana after this season. This makes the most sense. Roy has really developed as a low post presence, and he has ties in DC as a former Georgetown big man. This will free up McGee to play his natural position to roam and run that baseline. But no matter what the Wiz do, Wall needs some help…..desperately.

Speaking of help, the Dwight Howard rumor mill continues to churn.  Now the star is saying he would not be opposed to playing in Chicago.  I’m going to remain calm but if that were to happen?! OMG!  We are truly East Coast basketball people and while our teams are on opposite ends of the spectrum, the game was entertaining.  Our seats were amazing and I can’t wait to check out more games!