NBA 2007/2008 – Pretemporada – Washington Wizards vs Zalgiris Kaunas
in Indianapolis and Boston for the first two games of the regular season we check the starting lineups first for zageris kis from Lithuania they’ll start paulus Yunis selus ukaus and yonas maulus in the front Court Yunis and maulus played with Darius sanila this past summer on the Lithuanian national team and in the back court it’s Dean Collins and Marcus brown brown who played at Murray State in Kentucky and Collins who played at LSU before transferring to Tuskegee the Wizards will go with Karan Butler Brendan Haywood and sanila who started just one game last year after missing the first 45 with back surgery the native Lithuanian Antonio Daniels and Deshaun Stevenson in the back Court Gilbert Arenas and atwan Jameson will get the night off 52-year-old Eddie Jordan in his fifth season is head coach of this team assisted by Michael Corin Phil hubard Randy SS West onel Jr Dave h Eddie toscot and the Wizards head athletic trainer Eric Waters and there is romantis grigas the head coach of the zerus team zeras who is a one of the powers in Euro league and of course has won their own League many times but they struggled last year going two and 12 in group play they won the Euroleague title in 2003 2004 and as you can see they have a tremendous contingent on hand here in our nation’s capital take a look at our ones to watch Phil well again this is a key time for the young players to get more experience out there they’ve been averaging about 20 minutes per game and we’ll keep an eye on Nick Young Peto as well as Maguire to see how they continue to develop they’ve improved over the last couple of games already our officials tonight James Capers Jr Tommy Nunes Jr and O Landis pool s Garis quanas as you look at the new high defin scoreboard will be featuring that throughout much of the season the only one of its kind in the league and it is beautiful lots of changes here at Verizon center and the scoreboard is the most prominent [Applause] one Karan Butler first time Allstar last season along with Gilbert Arenas who was named to the starting lineup for the third straight year Gilbert will sit tonight’s game out Des sea Stevenson got a new contract Gilbert had the knee surgery after an April 4th Collision here in this building against Gerald Wallace of the Charlotte Bobcats had the knee surgery and is back from it trying to work himself into a Groove but he’ll get AR rest tonight so we’re underway here in Washington Steve Buck hats and Phil shenir glad you’re with us tonight the only home preseason game for the Wizards three more to come against Atlanta Detroit and Toronto and again Washington in the first four preseason games averaging a little over 21 steals uh excuse me forc turnovers they’ve averaged about eight plus steals so uh they get the the turnover but you see Brenan can’t convert on that basket he’s got to make those baskets uh when he’s close like that either dunk him or or have the right kind of touch to get those balls to drop down he is too good of inside position zeras struggling a bit in their offensive sets and again the Wizards are looking looking to be more defensive minded now they have an open shot and they score paulus Yunis gets the basket for zeras who played twice against NBA teams losing both games lost to Golden State 107 to 88 and lost a close one in Toronto the other day 105 to 99 yeah and you notice in both games though they’ve given up a lot of points so look to see Washington and once again Brenan with good inside position great effort inside but just hate to see him get that inside work that hard and come away with nothing well he’s going to come away with two free throws here and his free throw shooting in the preseason has been improved oh once again Brendan working hard to get inside position Powers his way up again that’s a makeable shot he’s got to get that touchdown and out of frustration finally slams it down but that won’t count he’ll have to earn his to from the line and he gets the first one brenon Haywood in his seventh season from North Carolina will be 27 years old on November 11th Cleveland drafted him originally back in 2001 with a 20th pick dealt to Orlando the Wizards got him for luron profit gets them both so the game is tied at [Applause] two knocked out of bounds and it should be Washington ball again I I got to mention that I’ve been impressed so far with Washington’s rebounding they’ve really done a good job on the defensive side not giving up a lot of offensive rebounds and then as we said crashing the offensive glass to make some things happen there and a holding foul is called on paulus Yunis to forward keys to the rest of the preon Phil well you don’t want to forget about your offense so I think it’s important to get that offensive continuity going we haven’t seen a big scoring out output for Wason so far and that means getting that field goal percentage up and this particular game Let’s Play for Pride uh only two teams of the international teams have won in fact the Memphis and Toronto the only two teams to lose to these International Teams in preseason so far Dean Collins connects he played at LSU back in the mid to late ’90s then the tusti institute on the division 2 level Wizards hit the boards but rebound comes down to zil Garis Marcus Brown for three a little bit off the mark and Haywood has it tipped away and saved inbounds by a hustling jeras kis Squad this time Daniels the aand shot Antonio Daniels getting the start tonight coast to coast and he is knocked to the ground and fouled well he had an option Deshaun Stevenson was filling the lane on the far side but all of a sudden he saw the opening down the middle and that’s what he does so well puts the ball that’s where you want the ball in the middle you have Karan on one side DeShawn Stevenson on the other so you have some Outlets you also have your trailers but when you see that opening you make the decision to take it all the way and you saw the foul on on uh well it put d to the line I didn’t see who fouled him that’s my that’s my mistake that’s that’s okay so who committed the foul well I’ll get to that in a moment it’s going to be a challenge all night that’s a long three-point attempt put up by Marcus Brown and then thrown and knocked Away by Washington zeras known as the Green Forest it’s basically a nickname Kus is the city in Lithuania where this team hails from northern Europe located on the Baltic Sea a country that borders ltia bellus and Poland about 3 and a half million people and clearly basketball is the number one sport in Lithuania and that basket will not count and the foul will be called on Darius sangila native Lithuanian himself well speaking of Darius sangila he was quoted as saying that this team over in Europe has a has a history somewhat uh like the Boston Celtics they’ve won 13 titles in the last 17 years so they have a strong winning tradition Stevenson pressures gets the loose ball and then lays it up and in well just too strong for brown so he was able to muscle his way past him and then get his way to the rim and drop it in nicely danan Collins directing traffic for South Garis and the three-pointer good from Collins thean moved to Germany then to Italy back to Germany and finally [Applause] Lithuania awood against the 7 foot2 player and it counts and the foul is called and the foul was called on aurelus zukus fo2 let’s see if he keeps that right foot down or the left foot I should say and that he did keep it down I thought for a moment it was traveling but instead he takes a strong with the two hands flushes it down gets the foul and he already has five points Brandon is three for three from the line the foul was on jukus that’s his second [Applause] [Applause] personal looking to go inside the ball knocked away and an offensive foul is called on zal [Applause] garus substitute coming in the game danis shalena checks in for zirus replacing yonas maulus and I think the foul was called on maulus and that’s his second personal 8 minutes to play first quarter nice play Daniels inside couldn’t finish Heywood tips it up and in but great back door cut by Daniels and good recognition by Butler Dewan Collins pops another and [Applause] [Music] connects Wizards are three and one in preseason play open up with a win against Cleveland beat Dallas over at George Mason’s Patriot Center last Saturday night knocked off Philadelphia at wacovia Center and then lost the other night to Chicago the Chicago team really threw the Wizards out of whack with their defense yeah well they were very good offensively too I notice they had 28 assists in that game and that’s a team that really shares the ball well talking about Chicago M so uh they’re very good at both ends of the floor another three-point shot from dwan Collins who was a member of the 20022 2003 Alba Berlin team that won the German national title he’s four for four has 10 points two of his shots have been three-pointers Stevenson will try another jumper and that one’s short zeras on top by [Applause] [Music] two Baseline jumper off the nice kick out and Karan Butler has the rebound Butler nice pass inside and DeShawn Stevenson hit the floor very hard and he’s slow to get up he landed on his right side with his entire weight but he’s pulled himself up off the floor Wizards giving a antoan Jamon and Gilbert Arena AR rest tonight I think they’re going to get the foul on yunas watch his momentum carries him into Deshawn and he unfortunately hits him below the waist there so that takes his feet out and desan hit the floor hard they did call it on Yunis and that’s his second personal as Stevenson misses the free throw and now Tanaka beard will check in the game another United States star who is from nearby Baltimore Maryland played High School in Ogden Utah and then college ball at boisey State you know it’s interesting I remember uh in the 70s when I was playing they only allowed two American players to go over to any of the European teams and play I think and they wanted to cultivate Talent over there I think they’ve done that so now it’s pretty much open you can have uh pretty much as many uh Americans or non non-players from that particular country Tanaka beard makes his presence felt instantly as he gets a nice shot after Haywood got a good block and out at the other end of foul is called on danis shalena correction I think they got the foul on beard and that’s his first personal and Karan Butler to the free throw line Butler last year averaging 19 points 7 and A2 boards about four assists and over two steals per game he’s in his third year with the Wizards after they got him from the Lakers for kwami brown and lauron profit back in the summer of 2005 Stevenson comes out we get our first look at Andre blch and Roger Mason Jr and you can see from that stat Washington already to the line eight times make it nine not times seven of nine from the free throw line so getting to the free throw line something that they did very well last season as well zerus with a onepoint lead and they threw the ball away but Tommy Nunes junor says it was tipped by the Wizards and they’ll give it back to the squad from Lithuania with a big contingent on hand tonight here in our nation’s capital the Timeout on the floor earlier this evening the Wizards organization bringing a gigantic card that they’ll give to Aton Thomas and asking fans to sign the card so that they can let Aton know they’re thinking about him and certainly we all are wishing him well you saw the billboard get well soon Thomas on undergoing open heart surgery last week and uh understand that the card is about uh close to 6 feet tall almost as tall as you almost as tall as a Tom no he’s taller than 6et tall as you I said yeah no that’s almost as tall as me Paul Evans our statistician standing over 6 feet tall heck Lori Green our stage manager is about 6 ft tall yeah I think uh they’re allow allowing fans to come up there and sign it up until the end of the third quarter yeah I did hear that I also read where it’s possible that Aon could could be released from the hospital uh as soon as this weekend or sometime after this weekend so we’re all wishing and hoping and praying for him long jump that uh missed pretty badly well I think he was incid between whether he was shooting it or a pass and uh beard was right there to to put it back in So Tanaka beard Has Come Off the Bench too help this team out here in the first quarter gon Butler driving scooping layup no good blatch is there to put it up and in that’s what the Wizards are going to be counting on much of this season especially with Theon Thomas out and that’s the play from Andre blch in the middle and he showed in a few games last year where those long arms can really be advantageous very active in there sporting a new look too new haircut yeah inside nice pass but the layup is missed and here comes Butler the other way and an blocking foul was called on zirus and it’s charged to Dean Collins well for Andre Blackville this his third season of course he came off the shooting incident his first year miss training camp and really was not much of a Factor last year beginning to show some signs and now really this year I think he’s made huge strides I I agree and of course this is is the typical year in your third season when I think teams and organ organizations really look to see a player make some major strides and and either implant himself into this league as a Bonafide player or not and and I think that’s what uh the challenge that Andre has uh has taken upon himself he’s put a lot of work in during the summer and so far it seems to be paying off but again they can really use that size and that agility that he has on the inside and clearly uh that was manifested by the faith that Ernie grunfeld has in him grunfeld signing Andre blch to a new 5-year contract extension this past August so he expects great things from him he thinks he’s going to be a terrific player there’s Ernie grunfeld and I understand there were some teams that were very interested in trying to see if they could pick blat away from the Wizards Andre just 21 years old and he had that birthday on August 22nd nice move inside the shot missed and with a rebound tied up at 16 looking for sanila and he’s held down low by Goran urick that’s something else I’ve seen from Andre uh this year well in the in the preseason at a at the top of the key there at 7 feet he’s able to kind of look over the defense he made he’s made some good decisions and he has a very good touch for his entry pass that time setting up sanala and forcing the foul Darius sanala native Lithuanian but of course played his college ball at Wake Forest prior to the Wizards played a couple of seasons in Chicago after his first two years in Sacramento gets both freeth throws last year he played a total of 37 games he missed the first 45 after surgery to repair that herniated disc in his back EDD Taps got shared something with me kind of funny he said he went up to darus said so this is where you’re from you’re so you’re kind of like a god there you’re kind of like the man he said no I am the man I like that kind of confidence in Darius well if he’s the man then what would arvita sabonis be because he’s the real man not only the man but the president of the team he’s the man that pays the man right Butler inside and he lost it out of bounds they’ll give it to Washington of course Arina sabonis for years playing with the port Trail blazes and for years considered the best big man to ever come out of Europe and do you remember when the Wizards would travel to Portland the Lithuanian contingent that would wait for sabonis after each game uhhuh and they did that and now they’re going to call a foul on sanilo which is very interesting I thought he was held coming to the ball but nevertheless that contingent would show up for every Portland game and every game that Portland would play on the road much like the crowd here huge crowd for Lithuania here and he would wait after each game patiently talk to every fan sign every autograph it was quite something to [Applause] [Music] see Marcus Brown guarded by Roger Mason Jr with six to shoot splits Defenders challenges lays it up can’t get the roll and blch is there we talking about a seven quarter like blat that can bring the ball up if there’s no Outlet Roger Mason leads to his jumper nice form by Roger Mason Jr has that stroke working nicely in the preseason that’s knocked away and bl has the steal up ahead to Daniels Racing for the ball and now he goes inside to blch for Butler underneath draws contact score the field goal and he’ll go to the line on two separate occasions it’s been Andre blat that has ignited the fast break he’s got the ball in the middle and got things off and running Wizards on a 9-2 run with a timeout in DC well Andre BL right here has come into the game and made things happen very quickly he’s going to get this rebound and again at 7 ft to be able to handle the ball as well as he does you see doesn’t see an outlet so he pushes it up himself leads to this Roger Mason basket they hustle down to the other end Blatz now comes up with the steal once again ignites the break and they get something good out of it Washington has a nine to nothing advantage in Fast Break points and hre bl showing his versatility for those of you who may not recall his story his rookie season blch was shot in the chest in September that was in 2005 in nearby Alexandria Virginia when a couple of men attempted to hijack his car near his home the bullet went just above his chest area nearly glancing his heart and uh through his wrist exited out his side clearly he was not in any shape to play basketball uh he was happy to be alive missed all of training camp so his rookie season was a a bit sporadic came back last year and played 56 games averaged about four points three and a half rebounds once again good pressure defensively by the Wizards kind of got this team out of sink kind of threw their timing off and running their offense it results in a a poorly shot and Washington uh got the rebound and watch again good pressure out there they’re talking out there you see BL step up the air ball there Karan is off and running you have a foul there blocking foul sending Butler back to the line and already Washington going to the line 14 times they’re 11 for 14 from the free throw line and zeras has not attempted a free throw and the Wizards have out raced him on the fast break 10 to nothing so far that last foul called on danis [Music] shellena and we get our first look in the game at Marco papovich who played college ball at Southern Idaho in division two he’s from Croatia where’s number 24 for this zeras team spinning inside ball knocked away on the floor but Sav here’s [Applause] papovich oh picked off nicely by Butler and Butler with a big slam right into the face of mantis cetus give mantis some credit for challenging that shot but you saw Butler just rise up above him and throw it down Wizards on a 14-2 r and Alexi Petro in the game for Washington from the Ukraine not far from Lithuania pass knocked out of bounds by zerus and wizards ball boan had a couple of options he had Roger Mason spotting up behind the three but he also had Andre blatch underneath the basket that was his intended target Wizards will get their first look tonight at Dominic Maguire checking into the game and giving Karan Butler a rest as we check our quarterly report and Collins has 10 points fors alaras Brandon Haywood started fast has seven points for Washington awood getting a rest now they go with Mason and Peter off blatch Nick Young in the game along with Dominic Maguire here’s Maguire inside pass nicely done for black yeah good recognition Maguire with a huge height advantage over papovich but then made the right pass to a cutter from the other side and blz had the easy two so Butler takes a seat with 10 points and four rebounds six of seven from the free throw line in 10 minutes of Play cetus Misses tipped around to blch Black stutter step and fouled by papovich one more you’re seeing Andre feeling very comfortable if he has to take that ball down the middle himself doing just the right thing and we’re going to take a look at him again we’ve already shown you a couple of times where he’s felt comfortable now once again and this time has to stutter step much smaller opponent but still is able to get by him and draw the foul something when you look at a man with a 611 frame like that who can handle the ball and of course has always been an excellent passer he sees the court extremely well you know I’m often asked about what’s the difference between players nowadays and and and years ago you know when you played or before when you played and and then that’s it right there I mean bigger players are becoming more agile and more capable of doing a lot of things out there on the floor blatch two of two from the floor two of two from the line three rebounds six points and Nick Young called for the foul what are your impressions of Nick Young so far in the preseason Phil well you know the jury’s still out I think he’s he’s a player that is so talented playing at USC he was used to getting his shots certainly handling the ball a lot now he has to be a lot more selective on his shots he has to do a better job of setting his opponents up and getting high percentage shots and then putting them down papovich around the screen long jumper from Kett is no good and blch with another [Applause] rebound Peter off not afraid to take that jump shot [Music] 3118 Washington with 30 seconds to play first [Applause] quarter papovich around blch kicks it out swing it to the corner for urick and 3 seconds is called on zirus fans you’re ready to see Gilbert Karan and atad Jameson take on fellow NBA Allstars and go for the Wizards All-Star plan to see the big three as they match up against some of the NBA’s best for more info log on to washingtonwizards.com or call 202 66155 Antoine James and Gilbert Arena getting a rest tonight they will not play blch for the Baseline jumper tell you what Phil he’s looking better and better and more comfortable as you said in each game and that and that’s the key word there feeling much more comfortable looking comfortable out there good first quarter really was Wizards pretty much dominated they went to the free throw line 18 times and made 15 of them while zerus did not take a free shot and Washington ends the quarter on a 20-2 run including the last 15 it’s 338 step over and help his man out to deny any penetration down the middle and again it’s just good team defense they continue to rotate well cover up Force things to go outside and eventually you get the turnover with the 3se second call Wizards did not commit a turnover in the first quarter while zeras committed six and as you see Washington with four steals 15 of 18 from the free throw line I’m really impressed with 15 for 18 from the free throw line Washington not turning the ball over but also doing a good job uh defensively latch nearly had it stolen away regains possession and now there’s pressure on him and he lost the ball [Applause] [Music] into the corner the long jumper off the rim and Roger Mason Jr’s there and he is fouled by papovich Washington really tightened up uh the last five or six minutes of that first quarter uh zarett shooting six of 13 over the first 8 minutes but then the last 5 minutes only two of 13 so Washington do a much better job and as you said forcing the turnovers and really getting them out of their out of their offense whistle and a foul call on yonas maulus who played on the Lithuanian national team with Darius sanila this past summer [Music] [Music] Mason Works free for the open J little bit short rebound to BL and the ball tipped out of bounds by Tanaka beard it’ll be Washington possession that pass got away but I tell you what I saw just what Andre BL had in mind he was going to whip a quick pass over to Petro and had Petro been able to handle it it would have been an easy [Music] two fresh 24 young with that Wicked crossover the jumper is good good that’s his patented move folks you’ll get used to it he likes to cross over from right to left shaking the defender well they like the fact that he’s a player that can create his own shot papovich trying to do the same and he got fouled by Nick Young Wizards will be in Atlanta on October 22nd that’s this Monday then Detroit on the 24th and Toronto the 26th there’s the young jumper papovich free for his Baseline shot [Applause] good and James Capers JR says score the field goal and a loose ball foul on Dominic [Music] Maguire so that’s going to put Jonas maulus at the free throw line for the first free tries of the night for Lithuania Dominic got called for that foul but I like what he’s trying to do he’s trying to pay attention to detail box out even you know when you see the ball go in playing it all the way to the end of the play that time got a little over physical and picked up the foul so the basket and the free throw for the Lithuanian Squad that won the Euroleague title in 1937 39 and in 2003 last year struggling did not get out of their group going just 2 and 12 so they vowed to make this a comeback season here’s Maguire wizard second round pick from Fresno State Peter off nice move to free himself and he scores yeah you see him kind of slow the pace down he realized that he had a great size Advantage he took his time and elevated over the defender we didn’t know much about his ability to play in the low post but he shown Us in the preseason that he’s got some pretty good moves there once he started getting to the low post early on he was spending awful lot of time out on the perimeter Baseline shot from Manis cettus 3723 Washington and the Wizards turn it over papovich again for the long jumper good three-point field goal for Marco papovich who came in Off the Bench Wizards who had no turnovers in the first quarter now have two don’t want to start getting careless with the ball fans beginning to chant from the Lithuanian contingent BL hits another that’s one way to make that Defender respect your outside shot Andre blch has made all four of his jumpers all two of his free throws has five rebounds a couple of [Music] assists Petro tips it up with blat and Petro in there you’ve got two pretty well seven-footers Peto top of the key for three little [Music] [Applause] [Music] short Wizards are three and one last year they went four- four in the preseason nice pass off underneath shot is missed and Nick Young tips the rebound to himself [Music] blch again underneath petol beautiful pass there that that’s the passing I was talking about being able to see the floor clearly and identify those passing lanes and quickly deliver the pass good job Andre BL who went to heninger high school in Syracuse for four years then a fifth year at South Kent prep in Connecticut fou is called on Roger Mason Jr me time Maguire pet off Nick Young will’ll hear from the rookies when we come back to Washington after this timeout uh everything’s new It’s a Grind right now just learning means new for me you know I don’t know much about this I looking forward to be part of the team and I will do my best to help my team doing a lot of extra work outside of basketball and going to get donuts and you know doing all the little things too going to get donuts welcome to the NBA did they make you go get donuts your first year well not Donuts but uh I did I I think I did that once for tres van cuz uh when we were staying over the quality in I had they had a dut shop right around the corner I had to go get him but I do know they used to make you carry the bags the ball bags the clocks whatever uh added equipment was being brought you had to carry it and you would have first one kicked out of first class if they didn’t have any first class seats well this is a an unusual luxury for Eddie Jordan remember last year none of these rookies were around even Petro who was drafted right a season summer before last but didn’t play here and now they’ve got essentially three rookies that are going to be counted on and hopefully help this team mhm showing good signs so far nice dish off and CET is scores mantis cetus played in the Japan World Championship nice pass from the big man as well here’s blatch Andre with a good spin move working underneath changing direction and scoring off the glass well that’s going to be a handful for any big man when you talk about somebody that has that kind of Mobility he has not missed Phil he’s made all five of his shots has 12 points and five rebounds nice pass little hook shot doesn’t go latch had it off his fingertips taken by maulus Bret have got a piece of that shot I’ll see if they give him credit for a block shot papovich off a screen can’t connect but chased down by zaras and cthis will set it up again under seven minutes to go in the first half Steve Buck hats Phil shenir that was tipped and Petro has it Wizards run three onone Bo I tell you what Alexi has to be careful making sure he stopped I think a better Defender probably would have stepped in there and gotten that charge in that three-on-one situation got to make sure you deliver the pass but again how nice is it to have another seven-footer that feels comfortable handling the ball papovich was fouled on a three-point attempt and Nick Young the guilty party so he’ll shoot three see here’s this fast break I’m talking about Petro does a good job to this point handling to the middle it’s three-on-one actually fouron one and you can see he’s up in the air his momentum could take him slightly forward good Defender gets locked into that position gets that contact possibly get the charge yeah that Defender sort of turned his back and went away from him didn’t take advantage of the positioning and now papovich for three Lithuanian Squad was a bronze medal winner in 9296 and the two th000 Summer Olympics and we mentioned arvita sabonis that’s the head coach grigas other notables from Lithuania of course z who plays for Cleveland zunis IL galus cunis marchelonis cunis Yesa caves who played locally here at the University of Maryland and a former Washington Capital star DUS zubis from Lithuania there’s Darius s Gila Donell Taylor in the game for the [Music] Wizards Peter off off a screen 43 little strong hit it twice and a loose ball foul will be called on Donell Taylor course’s another Lithuanian player from the area linnus Caza who plays for the Denver Nuggets born in Kus Lithuania but went to montros Christian in Rockville Maryland playing a couple of Seasons under Stu veter and was named the Gatorade high school player of the year for the state of Maryland in 2003 and see I think that just goes to back up I mean this is a country of less than 4 million people and you’ve named the number of people that have made it to the NBA are pretty well respected in terms of their basketball game and I think like you said before basketball is the number one sport there in Lithuania and uh uh they have they have players to show for and Bourne in America but of Lithuanian descent Johnny Unitus dick buus and Vitus gerelus Taylor in the lane a little bit short and the rebound comes to Collins Dewan Collins a reaching foul called on Dell Taylor I meant to mention you talked about that and uh well I’ll save it for after this break 17-point lead cut to 12 with a TI time out just under six to go first [Music] [Applause] half there’s a look at the new high defin scoreboard installed here at Verizon center in its 10th season as we see the Wizards leads zeras by 12 and our quarterly report what a performance from Andre black wow you can’t get much better than that line 14 points of perfect six for six that’s by rebounds a couple of steals we’ve also seen him set teammates up and igniting uh a fast break where Washington has a huge Advantage there so uh yeah he’s off to a terrific start tonight and throughout the first four games I might add looking uh showing you that mohawk look there yeah just noticing that yeah nice young fell the the brunt of some jokes supplied by Gilbert Arenas often they trade barbs back and forth season before last arenus uh covered bl’s face with shaving cream when he fell asleep on an airline flight and then you can’t be too sensitive around these guys not around Gilbert Arenas and and and that wasn’t good enough for Arenas he walked into the back and asked us if anybody had a camera so he could take pictures of we gave him our cell phon so that we could take pictures and record a video of it which we still have to this day haven’t made it public yet but we’ll see what we might be able to get for that I was going to say a little blackmail there sounds like in this day and age everything seems to show up somewhere nice give and go and another foul this time will be charged to Nick Young as zeras ran the transition nicely there let see the important thing about a game like this is to maintain your focus and concentration Washington had a lead I think as large as 18 at one time and uh you you want to stay with your your offense you want to stay with your game plan in terms of Defense forcing turnovers keeping things out the middle and keeping their opponents in a low percentage shooting situation Nick Young having to retreat on defense reaches in gets the P piece of the ball but also the foul and he picks up his fourth personal and both free throws are missed and the Wizards 17-point lead down to 11 Mike Hall in the game former star at George Washington University Maguire all the way and that’s rejected by zus and O Landis pool wants to hold things up because the 24 second clock never moved they’ll put it at 21 seconds well coaches never feel real comfortable especially the coach on the offensive side because what it does is it disrupts your opportunity for fast break or you you usually find your defense is still scrambling trying to get back into position and you blow the whistle to set the clock you know they don’t think too kindly of that no I can imagine shot Miss but the follow is there from zalcus who when you just take a glance at him you think of zunis with same number and uh looks a little bit like him mhm nice pass beautifully done Maguire to Hall he also has made a couple of real Nifty passes tonight uh finding the open man even though he had a shot himself papovich again off the screen that guy can get hot but he missed it and blch with excellent position his sixth rebound of the game here’s Hall from the Baseline for the open jumper no [Applause] good four and a half to play first half Wizards up by [Applause] 11 black with another nice Ste but you pull those arms up there he becomes about 15 ft tall but more importantly he had his eye on the ball he was able to pick that pass off because he had good Court Vision he saw the ball as well as the cutter Taylor lost the pass and turned it over and that will result in an easy two for zel [Applause] Garett and the lead is down to single digits at nine after the Wizards led by as many as 17 in this quarter so garas on a 20-2 run Daniels pulls up way short on the jumper and the rebound to toan [Music] nice play by Donell Taylor for the steel going to go all the way to lay it up no good follow not there by Maguire and the rebound by zeras and a foul is called on Donell Taylor that’s his third personal well Donell really had nowhere to go on that shot thought he was going to be able to draw some contact but uh that wasn’t the case and Washington will send this team to the line did a good job of staying inbounds and just the presence of zalis causing Donell Taylor to fret a little bit and now Eddie Jordan will get Darius sanila and Brendan Haywood back into the lineup algera seven of 10 from the freethrow line all in the second quarter they didn’t chew one charity shot in the first and the Wizards 15 of 18 from the line all in the first quarter that happens quite a bit you see one team get a huge Advantage from the line and the next quarter of the next period you find uh things flip-flop and now apparently there’s some blood on one of the players and Wizard’s head athletic trainer Eric Waters will be summoned onto the court and now they’re going to well they were pulling asking for a Bandon wondering if it was one of the wizard players or one of the players from it was one of the zeras players and they got their trainer to work on it and it was Dean Collins the shooter misses on his free throw and puts a hex on the rim I don’t see that too off that’s what he maybe that’s what he did there was a lid on top of invisible lid yeah there it is [Music] so the lead is eight for the Wizards who run Eddie Jordan’s offense leaving sunila now Taylor Donell Taylor pumps up the shot and rims it alyo underneath papovich he couldn’t handle the pass interception by Daniels Daniels strong to the hoop and throws it down boy we talked to him before that Philadelphia game one of the things he said is first of all that his body fat was what 4% said he was in the best shape he’s ever been in work went back to San Antonio work during the off season but uh did a good job of picking that last pass [Music] off Antonio can still get it done 32 years old Wizards maintain the lead by [Music] 10 Wizards by 10 over zeras of kis in Lithuania there’s tight end Mike sers boy that’s one guy wouldn’t want to try to tackle he is just a beast they list him at 270 he’s huge just hurting people on the football field hey Wizards fans time for home rule the Wizards are ready to take on the Orlando Magic in their home opener that’ll be two weeks from tomorrow night Saturday November 3rd tickets are still available on sale for games through the end of December in fact including matchups against sha in the Heat LeBron and the Cavs and the Phoenix Suns soal 202 397 seat or log on to washingtonwizards.com to get your tickets right now Donell Taylor penetrates and is called for traveling welcome fans across the country watching tonight on NBA TV as well Steve Buck hat Phil shenir our statistician Paul Evans here in uh Washington and our Comcast sportset crew back together again for another season of Wizards basketball Antonio Daniels with Mike Hall Donell Taylor Brendan Haywood and Darius sanila on the floor for the Wizards that’s tipped away and a foul called on Tanaka beard third personal on beard what about the wizard shooting so far this preseason Phil well uh up to tonight you can see the first four games 37% but they’ve been putting a lot of their energy and effort into the defensive side and you expect that offense to pick back up and tonight that’s what uh that’s what has happened right around 45% shooting Haywood is mused by beard and draws contact and Brendan Haywood will head to the free throw line where he is three for three tonight when you come out here early and watch these guys work especially Brendan that’s a move that he really likes to uh uh work on it looked to the middle and then turned back to his right with the jump hook shot and uh as you said Steve Brendan has been working from the line and so far tonight is perfect well he was a 55% free throw shooter last year down from 58 12% the season before tonight he is shooting 100% And is 5 for [Applause] [Music] five 5139 and let’s see what happens they’re going to call Goal tending and a foul is called so count the basket and I believe the fouls on Darius sanilo well remember when we talked about playing good defense means maintaining and and containing the dribble penetration and that time it got away from them we saw Collins get along the Baseline and get to the basket I think whoever blocked it I thought it was Haywood got a piece of it but it was after it came off the glass so the third personal foul called on sanila and Collins completes the three-point play and again cuts the lead to nine with one and a half to go here in half number one from Washington and sanila with a quick move let’s see if they count the basket I don’t think they will I think he was poed to out on the floor yep but uh haven’t really seen darus he’s only taken two shots and you know he’s such a very solid for perimeter shooter has good form and good balance on his release really hasn’t gotten into the offensive flow so far tonight he too is a player that uh along with Andre vad I’m sure the coaching staff is really looking towards uh him contributing [Music] Ma effects I should say from the back surgery he had last year that was for a herniated disc and it caused him to miss the first 45 games of the season sunila was actually drafted by the Celtics with a 50th overall pick in 2002 then they traded his rights to Sacramento for a couple of future second round picks but he decided to play in Russia in the 2002 2003 season and while he was born in Lithuania he went to uh high school at New Hampton prep in New Hampshire Donell P Taylor with the Baseline jumper off a nice pick under a minute to go 5542 Washington Wizards playing without Gilbert arenus and Antoine Jameson they get the night off Wizards hoping that a healthy team will put them back where they were last season when they were healthy and that was about mid way through the season when they had the best record in the Eastern Conference yeah look back over December and January they had a 22-9 record and of course as you said ended up uh in first place right around Allstar break and that uh enabled Eddie Jordan to coach the All-Star team the Eastern Allstar team but yeah this was that time this was one of the hottest team in the league and had some exciting wins out on the west coast not to mention right here at the Verizon Center then as you recall Antoine Jameson injured a knee and missed 12 games in that stretch that came at the uh end of January here and the Wizards went 4 and eight in those 12 games and that really hurt them then he came back healthy and then of course in April they lost Arenas and a couple of days later lost Gan Butler yeah that Trio has been been one of the top scoring Trio over the last couple of years nice play forced interception but the pass a little too strong for Daniels thrown out of bounds I think ad hesitated for a minute I don’t think I think uh Mike made a nice pass and I think there a little bit of hesitation stopped him from getting running that ball down so Z GIS can take the final shot of the half trailing by 15 the jumper and it does not go at the buzzer from shellena and a big half from Andre blatch who did not miss he made all six of his field goals both of his free throws six rebounds three assists and 14 points halftime of the Wizards up by 15 we set it back to our CC sportset studios in Bethesda and join David Lee [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] on a night where all stars Gilbert enus and Antoine Jameson are getting arrest the rest of their Wizards teammates have done the job leading zirus kis of Lithuania by 15 points in the first half of play Andre blatch was all but perfect in the first half of play BL in fact did not miss coming off the bench making all six of his field goals both of his free throws six rebounds three assists three steals karad Butler had 10 points he was six of seven from the free throw line and had four rebounds well he last year one of the league leaders in steals comes away with one of his two steals in that first half here gets a nice pass from Andre blad and then Powers his way eventually with the three-point play once again seeing that passing Lane taking care of business and then flushing it home Butler a good night for him 10 points uh four rebounds played about 10 and 1 12 minutes to play the leading scor is for zerus Dean Collins had 17 papovich Off the Bench for 10 beard had six cetas four and the uh Lithuanian Squad fighting back they were down by 17 they cut it to eight and the Wizards went up by 15 at the half coming up tonight on Sports night Kelly Johnson goes one-on-one with Santana Santana Moss and uh we’ll look at the Ravens and the bills preview and homecoming for the turps in College Park it’s all coming up on Sports night Wizards will be back here on November the 3rd that’s 2 weeks from tomorrow night and that is the opener of the the home opener of the regular season against the Orlando Magic they’ll open the regular season in Indianapolis on October 31st and 29 later play at Boston to take on the new look Celtics yeah that’ll be their home opening a lot of people are looking to see what kind of uh progress that team is going to make with the major changes add adding Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett Gilbert Arenas has already guaranteed a victory in that game at Boston if you go to Gilbert’s blog which you can see from either the Wizards website washingtonwizards.com or go to nba.com uh it’s rather entertaining and uh fairly enlightening you know that’s a popular thing now I noticed I saw where LEL Deng just started his blog of course Gilbert was the first player to start that uh fact about a year ago to the day uh back last year in October and you’ll get all kinds of information from Gilbert including uh the release dates for Gil zero his new shoes he’ll have 20 different look shoes throughout the course of the season in different locations all customized and all personalized by Gilbert Arena so keep an eye on that as well here’s Karan Butler’s jumper a little short tip up and in by Darius sanila the native Lithuanian that’s darius’s first field goal tonight underway third quarter Steve Buck hats Phil shenir and our cobcast sportset crew art producer Rich wolf director Chris grain graphic artist Matt mrr and our entire Comcast sportset crew back for another season of Wizards basketball once again that precious angala stepping out and putting a lot of pressure on Collins and forcing the turnover oh the Lithuanian contingent is a large one you can see them they’re dressed in their native colors and they’ve come all the way from as far as Chicago some from New [Music] York that was outside the building earlier as sanala hits again and they were parading around with the Lithuanian flag very proud group and very energetic and they love basketball sounded good before the game cheering for their squad [Applause] and foul will be called inside and it is on Darius sanila in fact we heard the Lithuanian national anthem before the game and we hear the Canadian national anthem quite a bit but never the Lithuanian national anthem that was interesting that’s first time we’ve played him mhm soccer and cycling are very big in Lithuania but not as big as basketball and that basket will not count a lane violation was called on aurelus zukus and uh part of the celebration here a gift exchange prior to the game I don’t know what the Wizards got because they’re in a bag but I know that they gave a Wizards DC hat to the Lithuanian Squad and an offensive foul is called on Brendan Haywood got to stay still when you set those picks and they caught Brendan moving around trying to head hunt and uh it’ll be another turnover the seventh for Washington looks over at orlandis pool gives him a big smile P looks back at him as if to say yeah well I got you on that one Yan cunis with a turnaround [Music] Jer Yunis and Jonas maulus both played with Darius sanila this past summer on the Lithuanian team Butler drives and gets an easy left handed lay beautiful crossover fake towards the Middle with the right then crossed back over with the left the big man left open and just like Z he drops that one down aurelus zukus he’s from Russia standing at 7’2 with the Wizards answer well a nice give and go between Gan Butler and Antonio Daniels three-point shot not there rebound up taken by Lithuania Squad and maulus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] converts Wizards are three and one in the preseason victories over Cleveland Dallas Philadelphia losing to Chicago the other night Butler Springs free and connects the Gan Butler the only one of the so-called big three that’s playing tonight Jameson and Arenas have the night off the Wizards will be in Atlanta on Monday night take on the [Applause] Hawks Alis Yunis with another outside jumper 6752 Washington [Music] DeShawn Stevenson answers well both teams uh coming out in this third quarter both teams have shot the ball well Washington has been a little bit uh better at getting easier shots ball on the floor nearly [Music] [Applause] stolen they swing it Marcus Brown no good battling for the rebound rejected by Haywood and now they’ll reset another block for brandan Haywood three-point shot is Good from yonas [Applause] [Music] [Applause] maulus Stevenson knocked away from behind and a loose ball foul will be called on Marcus Brown though they got it on Theus jasus like I said before I think it’s important not to allow these games to kind of get away from you and make sure you stay within your offense this is the time to really work on that timing and execution and uh at both ends of the court for that matter Daniels on a fading jumper not there the rebound comes to Yunis his eighth rebound of the game many times ukus just picked up his fourth personal Wizards by 14 nice pass knocked off the hands of zukus and it’ll be Wizard’s ball I like the idea of jacanas trying to make that pass off the reception with the left hand he’s a lefty anyway [Music] Daniels nice move Haywood is there for the rebound and the follow slam that’s the benefits of penetration you force that defense to kind of commit themselves to one player if there’s a missed shot you have offensive rebound opportunities 11 points four rebounds for Haywood Butler with anticipation nice move for Daniels and an easy layup that was beautifully done it really was starting with the steal by Butler and then had to having to go behind the back to avoid a Defender that set up the three onone then he gets the assist too 7355 and O Landis pool stops play and calls a foul on Antonio Daniels well Gan who had two steals in the first half comes away with another one and then goes behind the back now it’s three onone delivers the pass to Daniels for the easy layup nice job done into the corner another three fired up not there ad will run the break for sanila knocked up into the air he wanted to foul didn’t get it and then Stevenson steals it Deshawn Scoops for Butler underneath Haywood nice [Applause] [Music] passing that’s ball Al gas lost in Golden state 10788 that game was in Oakland and then they lost up in Toronto 105 to 99 and a foul as Butler tries to come around for the [Music] steel so the Wizards have their largest lead of the game when we come back we’ll hear from Gilbert Arenas on the status of his knee and his preparation for this season oh the knees doing doing better um I just got uh I got my knee drained so I’m going to be out for with three days this is going to be my third day I’ll be back on Monday ready to play so you know I needed some of that fluid that was restricting me from getting stronger in my leg you know now that I got that out you know my knee feels a lot better you had a chance to speak with Gilbert before the game Phil and uh do you get the impression that uh he’s working his way back to 100% on that knee oh yeah I mean I I didn’t detect any kind of concern uh on his part uh like I said watching him play obviously the shots not falling for him but uh um obviously watching him move left and right cutting we’ve seen him Hit the Floor a couple of times I mean that’s what you want to see plus you don’t want you want to see if there’s any mental anguish uh after surgery as a guy being a little tentative in terms of driving we didn’t see that we haven’t seen that from G you look at the smile on his face there doesn’t seem to be any mental anguish there he’s a happy lucky guy and coming off his third straight All-Star appearance of course he started for the Eastern team after gaining a flurry of votes there in the last couple of weeks to get that starting [Music] spot Stevenson nice pass Haywood Block they’ll call a jump ball Brenda’s trying to say that one guy was underneath underneath him that’s what happened kind of took his legs out so he wasn’t able to elevate at all it was the secondary Defender that got his hands on the ball and I think they’re still going to stick with the jump ball yeah even Karan Butler went over to Tommy Nune Jr to talk to him about that call well take a look again nice pass from deshaan and you got somebody sandwiched in between them now not a bad [Music] call and uh it’s interesting I was going to say wasn’t that uh beard with the block and they had somebody else setting up there now they got it we haven’t in in our preseason telecast we have not heard any repercussions whatsoever from the Tim duni incident this summer now that may or may not surface you know later in the season when gains take on much more meaning right become critical down the stretch who knows what kind of heckling these guys may find themselves a part of but so far you really haven’t heard anybody even mention what happened well hopefully that’s the case that they that they don’t uh have any repercussions from the fans just let them do their job but you look at other stories how about Kobe Bryant I just don’t see him leaving the Lakers I think there’s too many variables uh the salary cap being a major one and what do you replace uh you know there was talk of Chicago possibly giving up some players but uh a lot of players yeah yeah so you so now he goes to Chicago he’s in the same situation although I think he has some pretty good talent around him and I understand there’s a point guard there was with uh the Lakers that uh is a rookie that is doing quite well they’re very high on his play of course that’s probably been one of their weak areas is point guard play also the Celtics with their new three we alluded to that momentarily in the first half but with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett there to join Paul Pierce they are formidable to say the least yeah well I’m not ready to to to give them the the Eastern Conference or even their division yet obviously they’re going to be much improved but I mean to pull all that together I mean you’ve got to have it’s necessary to have that point guard that that glue that that distributes the ball and makes sure that things run very cohesively uh I think the three of them are at the stage in their career where personal I uh goals are not that big of a thing they want to win a championship they want to get deep into the playoffs and it appears so far in the preseason we’ve seen Kevin Garnett very selfless and share the basketball you see R Allen who’s had a couple of really big scoring games in a short period of time in terms of preseason minutes Marcus Brown connects on a three-point shot and cuts the lead from 20- [Applause] [Music] 13 Daniels pressured he’s in some trouble find Peter off he’s got to fire the jumper he does and he misses so the lithuanians with a bit of a spark trying to get back into this game maulus is fouled on the pass there’ll be no shots taken once again Washington shooting just under 50% for the game they’ve had a lot of good things working for them offensively obviously uh points off of turnovers but they’ve also executed their offense so you have a couple of times down where you take some long shots the shot clock winds down uh so now you’ve got to make sure you get back into your offense run it and get those high percentage shots that you were getting when you were being successful and we are in a penalty situation so two shots for yonas maulus who misses the first and Eddie Jordan will get Dominic Maguire and Nick Young back into the game give Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson a rest so it’s Daniels young Maguire blch and Peter off for Washington Wizards went 41 and 41 last season and as you recall they were swept in four games by Cleveland after losing both gon Butler and Gilbert arenus down the stretch Daniels nice move didn’t get the shot up he got fouled outside while zirus is on an8 to nothing run since the last time out papovich back in maulis comes out well defensively you can see Zer is trying to really overplay the passing Lane that’s when you have to loosen them up by going back door get your Cutters to be active force them to play you honestly on defense here’s Nick Young the rookie from USC nice move lays it up and in [Applause] Nick Young had a brilliant career at USC pack 10 scoring leader and uh Wizards took him in the first round then they took Dominic Maguire in the second round 47th pick Petro was taken season before last in the first [Music] round Fade Away jumper not there and Peter off the [Applause] [Music] rebound season before four last the Wizards got into the playoffs and they were beaten by Cleveland in six [Music] games for a super pass from Maguire first with the penetration forc the defense to adjust and then the dump off to pet off who’s playing off the ball nicely done of course two years ago that was a second round playoff series between Washington and Cleveland after the Wizards went down 02 to Chicago and then one four straight games to take that series Pretty three-point shot from Marcus Brown who played college ball at Murray State in Kentucky Portland took him in the 96 draft he was 46th overall Pistons also signed him but he moved to France he also played in Italy turkey and Russia going to mention he also played with sabonis when he was there in Portland so of course now he’s playing for his teammate not with him back up excuse me Phil and misses the shot and then perov is called for [Applause] traveling did not see that call but uh Eddie Jordan and his Squad get up off the bench new coaching staff that includes Randy SS Dave hppa and Eddie [Music] [Applause] Tapscott well we’re going to take a look at the three y you rookies you have pet off there and Nick Young and I believe this is BL here and just a nice play the penetration by Dominic Maguire and then he dumps it off to Petra off for the easy to you like that move he seems like he likes to go to his left you know sometimes you pick up those tendencies in players but I’ve noticed a lot he drives to his left tonight uh the three guys doing quite well even though Maguire hasn’t scored he does that four assist and he’s been very active at both ends we’ve liked uh a lot of what we’ve seen from all of these rookies and they’ll be called on this is a Wizards team that of course is without Aton Thomas Aton having open heart surgery back on October 11th last Thursday and then they did not bring back Jarvis Hayes they did not resign Calvin Booth or Michael Ruffin those are the players lost for the team and hopefully Aton will get back as soon as he can that’s a kickball and then they brought in Nick Young Maguire perov they resigned Roger Mason Jr Mike Hall is battling to make the team Tony massenberg is also on the roster right now but not signed to a guaranteed contract M so the young guys are going to be a big factor on this Wizard’s team Washington concentrating on defense from the very beginning of training camp and that is a goal tending [Music] call play nicely set up uh get the ball to the high post and then the LW pass BL getting that shot after it touchs the [Music] backboard Wizard’s uh lead is down to 11 they led by as many as 20 Maguire there’s his first field goal of the game he got it but once again driving to the left and then finishing off with the right [Music] hand papovich little strong but right to beard and nice pass underneath and urri shot not there locked away Mason the other way for black on the Baseline good boy he is just getting scads of confidence and what’s really good he’s hitting that medium range jump shot shot open shot that he probably will be getting especially early on in the season starts knocking that down with consistency that’ll be great for for Washington Marcus Brown off the [Applause] pick 13-point lead 10 seconds to play quarter number three Nick Young drives lays it up doesn’t get the roll bles there for the follow slam tell you what he’s just done everything right he’s only missed one shot Seven rebounds couple of steals assist as well good night for Andre blad having a monster game with 18 points and Alexi Peter off three of seven four rebound six points young guys beginning to shine as Washington’s lead back up to 15 after three quarters of play in DC made both of his fre throws seven rebounds 18 points again these are hustle plays alert plays he’s taking advantage of what’s there crashing the offensive board his man had to leave to help he took up the slack and got the two-hand throw down you like all the things that he’s doing so far his numbers are outstanding but his hustle and his alertness are also very impressive latch also has three steals in 20 minutes of play and you look at the numbers through three quarters pretty impressive absolutely you like that first one here 50% shooting 51% almost also out rebounding their [Music] opponents actually outrebounded slightly so we’re underway here in the final quarter of play from our nation’s capital Steve Buck hats Phil shenir and our Comcast sportset crew three-pointer away and not there petro and a loose ball foul on zerus charged to Tanaka beard played High School in Ogden Utah went to boisey state in a 93 was selected by Grand Rapids in the CBA draft 76th overall but he also played uh many countries Italy Spain Istanbul France Venezuela Russia and now Lithuania you get to tour tour Europe that way it’s not bad Roger Jason has such a pretty release you see the rotation the ball coming off the fingertips and he’s got great range too that was a walk and a missed attempt by papovich and Peter off has it and the seven-footer brings it up to court wow tip not there and Mason the rebound yeah we’ve seen he and bl both of them have to be aware that uh with the NBA players a lot of they’re going to step in and take that charge so you really have to be in control if you’re going to handle the ball in the middle on that break now I’m getting a good look at bl’s Mohawk that he’s got without the headband Nick Young on the crossover couldn’t get it Petro trying knocked out of bounds and it goes to zirus Peter off from the [Music] Ukraine not far from Lithuania lithuania’s coach rantis grigas said that uh while it’s fun to play the NBA teams he’s not really worried about winning games he said that’s not our goal we’d like to win games but that’s not our goal our goal is to get into a Groove and get back to where we were season before last last year they struggled couldn’t get out of their group but of course won it all a couple of years ago well you know this is a team as we said that has a lot of history a rich history uh in terms of uh winning basketball they’ve had 13 titles the last 17 years they also have a player that kind of connects the two teams uh enus Watley who played for the Wizards back in 85 to 887 there you see Enz there also played with this team in fact he was a member of that last uh Europe Cup Championship team and played with Arvid sabonis so uh he’s here right here here of course stays in this area and up until about a year or two ago he finally started taking up golf he’s been playing basketball up till then follow slam it won’t count basket interference called on Dominic Maguire good idea he was right up there to get it but still in the cylinder again you like that uh mode of attack that he’s always in ball just kind of hangs it was just about to drop out of the cylinder but uh good call by the official enus Watley a sec star down at Alabama in his college days he has a son that’s a terrific athlete going to a prep school local Prep School Roger Mason Jr speaking of which went to Sidwell Friends and then Good Counsel here in the nation’s capital perov can’t find the range on that jumper tonight and a foul called on Washington in fact Roger Mason Jr who went to the University of Virginia where he starred collegiately went to Sidwell Friends and was a classmate of Chelsea clintons at the time and then came out of UVA was taken by the Bulls had a shoulder injury which caused him to drop somewhat in the draft but hopefully has found a home literally here in Washington where he’s born and raised here blocked by Maguire that’s what he did in college last year fifth best in the nation and Mason Jr is fouled by Marcus Brown I mean you look at his build and you wouldn’t you wouldn’t guess Maguire to be uh the shot blocker that he is but the quickness the long arms and again just the tenacious attitude of uh staying with the play regardless Nick Young for the three-pointer just missed bles there for the rebound he’s got the open shot but he won’t take it eighth rebound for him Roger Mason Jr connects on a [Applause] three and driving to the hoop is Marcus Brown he got nudged and fouled and he’ll shoot two timeout on the floor with 842 to go in this one and the Wizards On Top 9172 Wizards leads GIS by 19 they’ve led by as many as 20 Dominic Maguire taken by the Wizards with a 47th overall pick played his first two years at your Alma modern Phil Cal and then transferred to Fresno State sat out the 0506 season and played as a red shirt Junior last year and you mentioned number five in the country in Block shots showing you some of that Talent there but also setting up his teammates couple of nice assists and he’s been the real surprise of this preseason training camp of course a lot of local fans wanted to see DJ strawberry who was still available at that time get picked up by Washington but boy you got to be happy with what they’ve got in Maguire at 67 guy that can play a couple of positions and certainly as hard knows course DJ doing well out there in Phoenix he’ll be playing with them for a couple of years Maguire last year averaged 13 1 12 points almost 10 rebounds the 3.6 block shots at Fresno State with second Team all Western athletic conf conference and the whack all defensive team set the Fresno State single season record with 114 blocks and had 15 double doubles and a couple of triple doubles last year and we talked about this in a previous game uh at his High School Lincoln High School once blocked 18 shots in a single game which was one shy of the San Diego High School record set by galani McCoy and Dominic Maguire will be 22 2 years old tomorrow so happy uh birthday coming up for Dominic well nice move by Nick Young wants him take it to the left and then spin back again that’s that’s that type of ability that uh uh attracted uh him to the Wizards and they were very excited when he was still available with the 16th pick called the foul on paulus Yunis there’s Eddie Jordan and Eddie’s uh coaching staff of course Michael Korn and Phil hubard his top assistants there’s Mike and there’s Eddie Tapscott behind them Eddie’s a new addition along with Randy SS and Dave hopa also West unel Jr yep and there is uh Randy Ares to Eddie Jordan’s left and he is instituted a defensive philosophy attitude and presence my how the game has changed which used to be a time when you only had one coach period yeah now you’ve got six or seven of them well as you told me you used to be when training camp lasted 28 days that’s right and every day was a two a day and now it lasts about a week so happy for the season to start you know I bet you were nice rebound inside and put back by Tanaka beard big presence on the [Applause] Court Mason with a good crossover and then he got papovich out of position and he fouled him and I think we’re noticing defensively since this second half began that uh Zar is trying to pick up defensively really tight but that opens them up to uh to some penetration and we’ve seen that the penetration crazy we’ve seen them Force the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foul Nick Young and they call him for traveling good call well officials it’s a point of uh emphasis this year once you establish your pivot foot got to keep it down [Music] [Music] Dean Collins pulls up over Nick Young and misses off the rim but maulis is there for the rebound up 7 and 1/2 minutes to go and regulation here from Washington papovich free no good 9376 [Music] wizards Andre blz having a huge game lost it then got fouled Inside by maulus and he’ll shoot a pair of free throws well good thing they call that foul because I thought Andre was stumbling a little bit and he was off balance he was about to uh commit a traveling violation and we’ll get Donell Taylor into the game Andre blch played in just two of the four playoff games last year in the series against Cleveland established career highs last season in points with 14 and uh had 12 rebounds in a couple of games both of them here against San Antonio and [Music] Minnesota and had four blocks in a game at Philadelphia that also was a career high for Andre gets them both Wizards from the line tonight 17 of Correction 25 of 28 [Music] Tony massenberg up off the Washington bench to check in a foul is called on the [Music] [Applause] Wizards so here comes Tony massenberg who played his college ball not too far away at the University of Maryland and is uh looking to become the first player ever to play for 13 different NBA teams he’s matched the record with Jim Jackson and Chucky Brown playing for 12 teams and if he makes the wizard Squad it would be 13 and I say teams franchises M because you count Vancouver and Memphis as one franchise played for three different coaches at the University of Maryland so he’s used to change in other words played for Lefty Delle at Maryland played for Bob Wade and of course Gary [Music] Williams nice kick out leaving the open three-point attempt for yonas maulus good that all started with Nick Young going for that steal that left a four on five situation the penetration forced everybody else to adjust and eventually leave the open shot and Eddie Jordan takes a timeout with his team up by 14 Wizards had a big first quarter outscoring this team 33 to 18 next two have been even and uh fourth is pretty even Washington maintaining that lead that they got in the first we check the game summary boy what a night for Andre BL 20 points only missed one field goal also eight rebounds also cast in on some assists and steals gr Butler very solid 14 points four rebounds and three Steals and the turnover situation Washington had no turnovers in the first quarter they have 10 for the game that match with 18 for the game for zarus so save for the loss in Chicago the other night the Wizards have forced their preseason opposition position into lots of miscues turn around not there 12, 872 in attendance here tonight at Verizon center the home to the Washington Wizards celebrating its 10 year anniversary short jumper off the glass and beautifully done for yonas maulus and the lead down to 12 Wizards led by as many as 20 in this half [Music] looking for massenberg down low instead to Maguire Donell Taylor pretty fast move he’s probably the quickest player on this Wizard’s team that was an explosive Baseline move and then he finished right there at the rim maulus has 16 points 15 in the second half and then a loose ball foul will be charged to Zach Garis and uh Jonas maulus can’t believe the call he impresses me as a real hustle player he stays after it he’s Hit the Floor several times watch him come from the top side not getting boxed out and then at the end of that play after the foul was called he paid for it C caught a forearm from Tony massenberg that’s his sixth foul yeah he is checked out of the game with six [Applause] personals now member of the Lithuanian national team and danis shalena will check in as Tony massenberg goes to the free throw line for the first time in this [Applause] [Music] game andtony will have another shot one of two for the big man from Maryland 98 83 five and half to go here in quarter number four three more preseason games for Washington all on the road Atlanta Detroit Toronto and a foul called on a reach in it’s on Alexi perov and two shots will be coming for Dean Collins Alexi has to move those feet in that situation make sure he cuts off that lane force that pass that’s what Eddie Jordan wants to see his players do keep players out of the paint forc him to make that shot and then recover to the perimeter Shooters Collins had 17 points in the first half his first basket first point I should say here in the second both of them coming at the free throw line play at LSU from 95 to 98 then the Tuskegee [Music] [Applause] Institute here’s Don Taylor again quickly to the Baseline and draws the foul on paulus [Applause] Yunis players uh that have made Moves this year at least 20 point scorers Ray Allen Zack Rand going to the Knicks he’s made his presence felt in the preseason of course Kevin Garnett and we’ll see Rashard Lewis here on the opening night for the Wizards November third right here first game for Washington home game but I think that that’s going to be a good addition to uh to Orlando I think he’s going to have a big impact on them uh I’ve always liked his game he’s a big 69 610 guy that can shoot the three but you can also do some damage inside you can combine him with Dwight Dwight Howard pretty formidable absolutely you know people are almost afraid to equate teams from the East with those of the west but you look at the squads in the East and it is going to be a dog fight this year for that conference you’ve got Toronto good Orlando Boston Miami Chicago Detroit Cleveland and Washington all of these teams are going to be vying for the title yep a lot of people are thinking that uh the balance of power starting to change from West back to the east what a nice delivery again from Maguire he was the one that got the assist Nick Young got the basket something that we noticed in the summer league in Las Vegas he could really do a lot more than just loock shots had excellent Court awareness could pass the ball could get his shot off when he needed to was a very physical presence inside and of course a great shot blocker yeah he has five assists [Music] tonight three-pointer not there but Collins the rebound four minutes to play in regulation Collins nearly pmed it he got hammered by massenberg and he’ll shoot two so zal garas which lost to Golden State in Toronto is in danger of going 0 and three for head coach romantis grigas fans two upcoming Wizards preseason games will be broadcast exclusively online log on to washingtonwizards.com on Tuesday October 22nd Thursday October 24th to hear Wizards radio announcer Dave Johnson call each game live in addition and Dave will be blogging on washingtonwizards.com throughout each game and answering your questions during each broadcast all on to washingtonwizards.com to listen and don’t forget to submit your question and that game on the 22nd is on a Monday not a Tuesday Monday the 22nd of October of course this year Dave Johnson will have company in the broadcast uh arena there Glen conort yep joining him as uh color give David chance to catch his breath a little bit course he gets such a good night’s sleep on those Select Comfort mattresses I don’t know why he would complain he doesn’t sleep very much cuz he’s up at 5: in the morning I think for sure you just hope you don’t have a hotel room next to Dave Johnson because you’re getting up with the chickens Peter off stumbles inside has it stolen away up ahead to Collins racing and he lays it in easily [Music] [Applause] 104 to 92 with 247 to play in regulation Wizards looking to go four and one in the preseason Nick Young nice pass petol he’s hit hard and he’ll shoot [Music] two speaking of Dave Johnson and Glenn Conor there are our counterparts on radio with the team all season long once again [Applause] two plain load full of Lithuanian contingent here in Washington that came over from Chicago several others from New York they love their basketball in kis and right now their team trailing the Wizards 104 to 92 does it help uh to play I know it helps to play anybody other than yourself but when you’re playing an international Squad like this how does that benefit you as an NBA team well I mean like you said any game that helps I think psychologically obviously you’re going to be the favorite they’re going to be the underdog you have to play with the pressure from all all sorts uh but to stay again into your offense stay disciplined and make sure you’re doing what you want to do out there not allow yourself to get uh kind of wild and crazy that uh basket that’s taking the shot of us is uh being photographed by Kurt farmer our robotics look at that thing there’s a lot of wires on that you don’t want to you don’t want to touch that Phil it light you up like a pinball machine I don’t think either one of us could touch it even if you were on my shoulders you wouldn’t be able to touch it Matt schliftman is our other robotic operator here tonight our colleagues from Comcast sportset and for those of you watching around the country on NBA TV glad you’re with us Wizards have led throughout this game led by as many as 20 zeras cut it to eight at one point in the second half [Applause] here’s Alexi Peter off drafted two summers ago by the wizards but did not play with the team last year he’s from the Ukraine seven-footer excellent outside shooter and has uh displayed some prowess with the inside game as well they’re hoping for his big frame to help out with the rebounding that’s going to be critical for Washington this year urick inside blocked by Maguire how like that again locked with the left hand that time and actually got it from a standstill jumped off the two feet straight up and got the block averaged 3.6 blocks per game last year with Fresno State that was fifth in the nation nice play good pass and Donell Taylor caught him sleeping the recognition of Nick Young yeah he saw that Defender sneaking up to try and help on Maguire you had Don Hill went back door received the pass you know something uh in addition the question you just asked me about the the benefits of playing a team got another one is the idea that I mean they’re real excited to play these NBA players so they’re going to come out here with a lot of energy and you got to make sure you match that energy yeah well they only lost by six points up in Toronto the other night and they’re an excellent team obviously meantime as you saw a moment ago Maguire got another block shot but what a pass to Nick Young and he scores oh my that thing had some English on it to bounce right up into his hand and that uh had backto back block Shots by Maguire giving him four block shots for the night remember coming into this game he was tied with Andre blch with seven block shots in the prior three games beard is fouled by massenberg and he’ll shoot a pair but Dominic Maguire at 692 20 and believe me these are the kind of plays that really get the attention of coaches they like I mean that’s saving what would have been a two two-point uh basket there and comes right back on beard gets the block there and he keeps him in play as well yeah Tanaka beard who has the uh the hitch in his jump shot the hitch in his free throw he makes the first he’ll have another mat is cetus checking back in for Dean Collins one of the leaders of this team and one of the three players from the United States on the squad Collins with a big night he had 26 points along with seven rebounds and eight assists a minute to go and the Wizards set to improve to 4 and one on the preseason their only lost to Chicago last week in the windy city nice pass underneath score the field goal and count the basket for danis shalena he had to get that shot off between two Defenders one being Donell Taylor who uh went behind him was that who the foul was on was it Taylor or I think they got Peter off missed free throw ball out of bounds it will go towards Washington with 48 seconds to play [Music] and substitutes coming into the game Vil mantis Delise checking in 69 forward from [Music] [Applause] [Music] Lithuania nice pass to massenberg blocked from behind running jumper not there and Petra of the [Music] rebound shot clock is off and the Wizards can hold for the rest of the game Nick Young does not appear he’ll take another shot well he did he fooled you didn’t he and he Nails a three and how do you like that what a way to finish the game Nick Young fires up a long three and hello it goes and there’s a couple of seconds left at least a 610 of a second remain after Nick Young hits the shot to give him 15 points for the night on six of nine shooting so the Wizards do in fact improve to 4 and one in the preseason winning tonight 115 to 9 six over zerus for Phil shenir Steve Buck hat Wizard basketball a presentation of Washington sports and entertainment Comcast sportset in the NBA to again our final the Wizards 115 zagas 96 we go to the Comcast sportset Studios For Sports night postgame Edition with Michael Jenkins and Dave branch
