Washington
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Antawn Jamison chatted with fans yesterday and unlike most chats, this one actually had some substance. Credit Jamison with answering questions in an intelligent and interesting way.
Here are a couple interesting facts:
1) He prefers to play power forward instead of small forward, and thinks Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett are the hardest players he ever had to guard, and that they are the two best players right now.
2) He reminds us that the chemistry on the team extends past the well-known Golden State connection between himself, Gilbert Arenas, and Larry Hughes, to also encompass Brendan Haywood, with whom Jamison played in college. He also played pickup games this summer with Etan Thomas.
3) His idols growing up were David Robinson and Scottie Pippen.
One thing we can learn is that his game does indeed resemble some kind of warped average of Robinson and Pippen: he's a four with some of the skills of both the five and the three he admired.
Chemistry is perhaps the most important issue in basketball. A team can overachieve if it plays together, where overachieve simply means do more than what appears possible on paper.
Yet even on paper the Wizards are a strong team. Even on paper they are a potential playoff team.
Given the chemistry they are mixing together, it could well be one of the season's surprises, much like Milwaukee was last year. The benefit that the Wizards have is that their progress won't rest solely and squarely on Kwame Brown's shoulders. Should he be able to contribute in the way we all hope he can, so much the better. If not, the Wizards still have a solid team.
NEXT GAME
The Wizards (25-57 last season) are on the road to face the Indiana Pacers (61-21 last season) on Monday, October 11th in a 8:00 p.m. tip. There are no scheduled plans to broadcast this game at this time. Tickets are available for this game at Conseco Fieldhouse.
TEAM NOTES
See quotes and pics of the Wizards during training camp at nba.com/wizards.
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison stopped byThursday night to discuss the upcoming season.
INJURY UPDATE
Kwame Brown(surgery to repair fracture in right foot)will miss the first month of the season. He is expected to be able to practice full-speed by the end of November.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: Power forward Michael Ruffin has caught Jordan's eye after just three days in camp."He has been the standout — no question about it," Jordan said. "He's working hard, battling for rebounds and playing very good defense. I'm surprised at how well he's working out." ... The Wizards were visited at yesterday's morning session by owner Abe Pollin, University of Kentucky coach Tubby Smith and Norfolk State coach Dwight Freeman.
John N. Mitchell ofThe Washington Timeswrites: One glimpse at Peter John Ramos and it's not hard to see why a professional team in his native Puerto Rico tried to sign him at 14.As the story goes, a former player in Puerto Rico's Superior League who was visiting family in Brooklyn spotted the teenager, immediately placed a call to team officials and not long thereafter the team's owner was on a plane to New York with hopes of signing Ramos. "It goes something like that," said Ramos, selected by Washington with the 32nd pick in last summer's NBA Draft.
Victoria Sun ofThe Cincinnati Postwrites: UK head coach Tubby Smith was at the Washington Wizards' training camp at Virginia Commonwealth University Thursday to visit former UK guard Gerald Fitch, who has a partially guaranteed contract with the Wizards.
Rick Bonnell ofThe Charlotte Observerwrites: Bickerstaff coached White when he was a rookie with the Washington Wizards.White was the last of a generation of Georgetown centers who included Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. They were all rugged, White so much so that he was in constant foul trouble as an NBA rookie.