Jordan Crawford ate Skittles in the middle of the game.

Via: SB Nation

Somethings just never change. Even after removing Andray Blatche, the President of the Knuckleheads and Javale McGee, the secretary of  doing stupid things on the court, the effect they left on the Wizards remain in effect. I hope you enjoyed those tropical flavored Skittles, Jordan Crawford, because they didn't help your game very much. He scored only 3 points and went 1 of 5 from the field. John Wall must have wanted to get in on the candy too, as he went for 9 points on 3 of 12 shooting. The rainbow is the devil.

Taj Gibson scored on his own basketball against the Wizards.

Stupid Taj Gibson, the last thing that Washington needs is more help. Oh, wait. They are still the Wizards. Does Taj get an offensive rebound for tipping in his opponent's shot into his own basket though? This is a serious question.

Ish Smith leaped over John Wall and still blocked his shot.

This has probably never happened in the history of NBA. I don't believe anyone has ever jumped over their defensive assignment, land, turn around and then swat the shot with perfect timing. Usually the guy on offense will undercut his opponent for the foul, but I guess John Wall didn't want to risk another injury. This Ish Smith guy must have legs made completely out of fast twitch muscle fibers for him to bounce right up after landing, too bad they would fail him later in the game. Because you see, when you embarrass John Wall at home, good things won't happen to you.

At least his legs got him back up in less than a second.

The Round Up - January 7th, 2013.

Stats Rundown

LaMarcus Aldridge dropped 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and handed out 5 assists in the overtime win against the Orlando Magic. For the last few years, this guy has been consistently posting up 20 and 10 every night, but his effort always goes unnoticed due to the lack of success. Fortunately the arrival of Damian Lillard and growth of Nicholas Batum gives him a team that he finally deserves. Portland will be a fun team to watch in the next couple of seasons.

Missed 6: What does J.J Redick and Gordon Hayward have in common? Well, they both missed only six shots in their respective 27+ point games. Redick went 6 of 10 from the 3, scored 29 points and dished out 5 assists. Gordon Hayward had 27 points (4 of 5 from the three), 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks in the Utah Jazz victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Hayward needs more playing time, he is solid on both ends of the floor and will reward you with plays like this. I know nobody keeps count, but aside from LeBron James, and Kenneth Faried, this guy might lead the league in transition blocks.

Grizzly Surprise:Wayne Ellington first made his name in the blowout victory over the Heat at the beginning of the season, but he has been quiet ever since. That was until last night, where he shot 6 of 7 from the three, and scored 26 points on 11 shots, he only missed once.

Dimes: Jameer Nelson has become the Orlando Magic' all time leader in assists with 2,777. Not to take anything away from Jameer, but it can't be too difficult when you played with a healthy Dwight Howard early in your career.

Rookie Watch: Bradley Beal has earned 3 consecutive Rookie Watch honors and deservedly so. This is by far his best game in terms of contribution. He had 22 points (7 of 17), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and the game winning shot to embarrass Kevin Durant in his hometown.

Time Machine User: I think every Boston Celtic fan should thank me because ever since I uploaded my piece on their problems, not only have they fixed those said problems, they are now also on a 3 game winning streak. Paul Pierce went off for another big night at the MSG, going for 23 points (10-18), 3 rebounds, 6 assists and a couple of daggers down the stretch to get the victory.

The Celtics got into the heads of the Knicks in this game, especially Carmelo, who shot 6 for 26 from the field. Apparently Kevin Garnett said some things to cause Melo to go into the Boston locker room for a yelling match. Later, he was filmed waiting for Garnett in front of the team bus. Nothing physically actually happened off court, but people on twitter said (not legitimate sources) KG made sexual remarks (involved cheerios, or something) about Melo's wife during the game. 

Smash: J.R. Smith and Tyson Chandler executes the perfect pick and roll.

Headbands: The New York Knick leads the league in using head bands to cover up cuts on players' heads. (Via: @BeyondtheBuzzer)

Bizarro World: First, the Washington Wizards beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, making them probably the best championship contending team killers. They are 2-2 against the Heat and Thunder, 3-26 versus the rest of the league.

Then we have the Chicago Bulls shooting lights out from behind the arc. For a team that usually makes 5 threes a game at a rate of 36 percent, they went for 10 of 14 against the Cavs last night, and 71 percent of them fell. It is a miracle.

Jokes: Every single tweet from Kobe has been gold so far. He even addressed the rumored fights with Dwight Howard in the most twitter way possible, via photo. (Via: @kobebryant)

Pop Death Stares: You can already guess that Coach Pop doesn't sit well with losses. (Via: @HPbasketball)

Don't be like Pop, enjoy your morning.

The Round Up - January 6th, 2013.

Remember when Mike D'Antoni said the Lakers practiced defense for 30 minutes. It is coming back to bite him in the ass.

Stats Rundown

Kevin Durant A.K.A. Velvet Hoop A.K.A. Mr.Efficient got 22 points on 6 of 11 shooting, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in the victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Honorable Mention: To Alan Anderson's 27 points (10 of 14 shooting, 4 of 8 from three), 4 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench for the Toronto Raptors. You might want get familiar with this dude, because he can play.

Dishin': Tiny Ty Lawson dropped an easy 21 points on the Lakers' "defense," and handed out 10 assists while doing so.

Boards: Injured back or not, Dwight Howard scored 14 points (6 of 7), blocked 4 shots and tied his career high of 26 rebounds against the Denver Nuggets.

Time Machine User: Kobe Bryant is still solid at age 34, he had 29 points (11 of 26 shooting), 5 rebounds and 7 assists. He did everything he could (offensively) to win this game for the Lakers. With less than a minute to go, the Black Mamba knocked down a quick three to cut the Denver lead to 3. Then this happened:

After the Kobe slouch, he went back to the other side to hit a tough turn around three to make it to another one posession game, but unfortunately the foul game never went their way. Needless to say, he is not too happy.

Via: @Sixfever

You can't blame him though, because not only he set a franchise record with 17 straight games of 27+ points, he scored 18 of it in the fourth quarter. The rest of the Lakers only scored 4. 

Betrayal: Javale McGee will take every opportunity to dunk the ball, even if it means smashing it on his own teammates. Poor Andre Miller doesn't even know what was going on.

Highlights

Copyright Infringement: Someone call Jamal Crawford and tell him that we have a case. We are going to sue Andre Iguodala for using his patented behind the back move in transition.

Skates: It is kind of unfair that Kevin Durant can be 6'10" and so smooth (velvet) at the same time.

 
Athletic Reptiles: Told you the Raptors can dunk, why doesn't anybody listen. Then again, he dunked on Serge Ibaka, who bites on everything.

The Globetrotters grants Kobe's request to play the Washington Generals.

Martinez/Getty

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers are off to their worst start since 1978. After a summer block buster trade that landed Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, this team was expected to be instant Championship contenders. But they now stand at 9-13, they are on a 4 game losing streak into the first quarter of the season. The players are frustrated, and for the first time in his career, Kobe seems lost. He is so defeated that he even suggested playing the Washington Generals in an attempt to bring life back into his team.

“Every game for us has a lot of meaning to it at this point,” Bryant said after a 116-107 loss to the Knicks in Madison Square Garden. “Maybe if we were rolling, playing well … at this point, I wish we had the Washington Generals on our schedule.”

Kobe asks, Kobe gets:

For those who don't who the Washington Generals are, they are simply an exhibition basketball team full of losers that never managed to beat the Harlem Globetrotters more than once. There have not been reports of Kobe accepting the offer, but they do play the Washington Wizards today, which is a close second.

Good thing Kobe didn't challenge the Globetrotters, because they got his moves down and are ready to defend against it.

Via: Slam

Javale McGee presents: The Most Javale McGee minute of NBA Basketball.

When Javale McGee was shipped out to Denver, a little part of us died inside. While we are glad that he is developing into a solid NBA player under Coach Karl, we missed the Washington Knucklehead moments. He offered comic relief in those retina torturing games with his volleyball spike blocks that ends up into the cheap seats, the countless unforced turnovers and the most ridiculous dunk attempts during games. But as much as he is trying to shed his image with a healthy amount of consistent play, he is always good for some classic Javale McGee plays and we love him for that.

A D.C. Sports Anchor was a little too excited about the Wizards' win over the Heat.

This dude threw professionalism out the window when the Washington Wizards defeated the Miami Heat, but can you blame him? If your team, that also happens to be the worst in the league, gets their second season victory against the defending champs, you should be allowed to go a little crazy. Just ask the guy that almost killed himself after the first Wizards win, he was lucky Emeka Okafor was there to save his life.

Source: SB Nation

Emeka Okafor caught a falling Wizards fan.

Attention: This is what happens when your favorite team that has gone under a 12 game losing streak to start the season and finally wins one at home.

“I was just so excited about the first win of the season that I leaned over too far,” said the fan, who declined to be named out of embarrassment. “I didn’t realize [Okafor] was too far away.”

“He was falling over and I saw the guy,” Okafor said of the incident. “He was smiling the whole time. Before I got there he had stopped himself. I just helped put him back into the stands.”

 “He was over [the railing] but he had a huge smile on his face. He had absolutely no awareness of the danger he was in,” Okafor said with a laugh. “That’s a first for me. I haven’t seen that before.”

Imagine if the Washington Wizards was extending a win streak instead, he would have done triple bye bye birdie off his seats and planted his head right on the stadium floor. But that was not the case, he is save and alive, and has Emerka Okafor to thank for. Too bad, he will forever be remembered as the way-too-excited guy that almost killed himself in a Wizards game.

Source: Washington Post

Jordan Crawford almost got away with shooting Jan Vesely's free throws.

Oh, man. Jordan Crawford almost pulled one on the referee. You can't blame them, who seriously pays attention to a Washington Wizards and Charlotte Bobcats game. Even the announcers didn't notice until Jan Vesely bricks to two free throws. Do they practice this? I mean it looked so natural, almost like Jan Vesely knew instantly what Jordan Crawford tried to do. I think we can just conclude that Jordan just really likes to shoot the basketball, which speaks for his "great" shot selections in games.

John Wall and Justin Bieber both don't know how to wear pants properly.

John Wall and Justin Bieber would make great friends because they both don't like wearing pants like normal people. They like to show off their underwear and will own the look by probably calling swag, causing millions of more people doing the same. It is 2012 not the early 2000's, nobody should sag their pants anymore and men should not be allowed to wear skinny jeans.

Sources: @BeyondtheBuzzer, Latin Rapper

The Feed: Washington Wizards vs. Cleveland Cavaliers [10/30/12]

Recap:

Kyrie Irving and company defeated the Wall-less Wizards 94 to 84 in the first official game of the 2012 - 2013 season. I know it was not the best way to start the NBA off, but this was surprisingly entertaining to watch. For those who missed out on Kyrie Irving in the previous hectic 66 game season, the reigning Rookie of the Year was ready to put on a show. The Wizards had no answers for the sophomore allowing him to finish the game with 29 points. Without John Wall, and Nene, Washington could not buy any offense, relying on Jordan Crawford, which turned out like you would have guessed. The kid jacked up a shot every time he got the ball, scoring 11 points on 13 attempts.

Anderson Varejao put in a near triple-double performance, with 9 points, 9 assists and a ridiculous 23 boards, something no one has ever done in an opener since Wilt chamberlain in 1967. The "Wild Thang," (Yes, that is his actual nickname, I found out today too.) probably broke another record today, drawing two charges in two consecutive possessions against the same player and no, he did not do any flopping except for the curly locks on his magnificent head. His contribution on the offensive glass (12) created multiple offensive opportunities that eventually led his team to victory. 

Cleveland was in total control of the entire game, leading every quarter except the fourth, where they blew a 16 point lead. The Cav's second unit were just unable to find points and play defense, they got outscored by the Wiz's bench 46 to 23. It didn't really matter though, once Byron Scott re-inserted his starters, the lead was quickly erased, handing Washington, their first loss of the season.
 

Offensive Set:

Cleveland often struggled to score in a half court set, if they don't put a shot up before the opponent's defense are set, they will usually run a pick and roll with the ball handler, who will shoot or attack the basket off the screen. They are most successful with Kyrie and Dion on the floor pushing the pace for a quick bucket.

Majority of the time, Washington, tends to set up in the half court (this is likely not going to become their offensive scheme when John is back, but with A.J. Price as your starting point, somethings had to change). The set they ran the most was a on ball screen, where the ball handler passes to a forward standing on the wing, and cuts through the right side with the help of another 2 screens. The recipient of the ball returns it to the original ball handler who has now on the weak side, where he will either have a shot or a pass to the big man.The Wizards seem to favor an attack on the weak side.

Defensive Set: 

The Cavs traps the ball handler hard when their opponents are setting a screen, this was effective in forcing a few turnovers. However, neither teams played great defensively, Wizards' rotations were horrible, they were either too slow, or late. In the 4th quarter at around the 2 minute mark, Tristan Thompson was left open in the same spot for 3 straight possessions, where he threw down three back-to-back-to-back dunks that were so similar, you would have thought there was a disruption of the TV signal, causing a weird loop.


Rookie Watch:

Dion Waiters simply outplayed Bradley Beal. He has great awareness, taking good shots, making the right plays and oozes confidence. He finished with 17 points in 28 minutes.

Tyler Zeller wasn't really a factor in this game, he did seem nervous to start but managed to get 5 points and 2 boards.

Bradley Beal made a good debut, 8 points, 2/4 from three point within 21 minutes. Wittman should have gave him more opportunities, needs to draw up a few plays for him to be effective as a shooter.

Javale McGee, Nick Young and Gilbert Arenas had a paintball battle.

That was a cool tribute to Coach Carter in the beginning. Rich What?

Javale McGee was pretty much camping through out the game, but the man is 7 foot tall, all that surface area moving around is not a good idea. Also, I wonder what it is like to get hit with the paintball grenade.

Oh, and insert obvious Gilbert Arenas playing with guns jokes here. Too easy.

Source: @JaValeMcGee34

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen had a dance off.

It was Scottie's 47th birthday, 2 days ago and apparently the best thing ever went down:

Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan surprised his former teammate Scottie Pippen for Pippen’s 47th birthday party Monday night. Pippen’s wife, Larsa, planned the secret bash at Chicago hot spot Sunda. Sources told us the fun night ended with a dance-off between Jordan and Pippen to the Trey Songz and Fabolous song, “Say Ahh.”

Can you even imagine the greatest basketball duo bust a move in those clothes, at their current age and to above all else Trey Songz's "Say Ahh." That is the epitome of a song that older people shakes their head to, and grumble about how the young generation ruined music.

With all that said, video/pictures or it didn't happen bro.

Sources: New York Post