All posts in basketball

06Mar

Beal and friends hold off Heat for overtime victory

In basketball, blog, photos by b murf / March 6, 2018 / No Comments

Led by All Star shooting guard Brad Beal, the Washington Wizards jumped out to a huge first quarter lead over the Miami Heat at Capital One Arena, March 6. Unfortunately for the home team, by the time the opening quarter ended, Miami had already cut the deficit to just five points. At halftime, the Wizards led by nine. But once again, the Wiz were unable to close out the Heat. Thanks to 30 points from Beal, who made six of seven shots from three-point range, and 19 points and seven assists from point guard Tomas Satoransky, the Wizards were able to hold off and eventually spick up a 117-113 overtime victory.

With point guard John Wall still sidelined as he recovers from knee surgery, these are the types of gritty performances Washington needs more of if they’re going to make any noise come playoff time. To see more of my photos from this game, head over to The Sports Capitol.

16Jan

Wizards have no answers for Antetokounmpo

In basketball, blog, photos by b murf / January 16, 2018 / No Comments

After winning six of their previous eight games, the Washington Wizards hoped to continue their hot streak as they hosted the Milwaukee Bucks for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee matchup at Capital One Arena, January 15. Shortly after tipoff though, it was readily apparent that forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had other plans. The Greek Freak dominated the day with 27 points and 20 rebounds, leading the Bucks to a relatively easy 104-95 win over the Wizards. All Star point guard John Wall had 27 points and nine assists, but Washington’s 24 turnovers were simply too much to overcome. To see more of my photos from this game, head over to The Sports Capitol.

12Nov

Cavaliers prove too much for shorthanded Wizards

In basketball, blog, photos by b murf / November 12, 2016 / No Comments

One day after the defending NBA champions visited the White House, the Cleveland Cavaliers remained in our nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards. While LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and friends are a tough enough opponent as it is, the Wizards faced the Cavs without the services of shooting guard Bradley Beal, who sat out the contest with a sore hamstring.

Led by all star point guard John Wall, the Wizards actually managed to go toe-to-toe with the champs throughout the first half — and led the game by as much as 12 points during the opening half. But Washington’s lack of depth was evident in the second half as Cleveland cruised to an easy 105-94 victory at the Verizon Center on Veteran’s Day.

Special thanks to Hoop District for allowing me to cover the game on their behalf. To see the full gallery of my action shots, click here.

29Jan

10 thoughts on the wizards 96-94 loss to the kings

In basketball, blog by b murf / January 29, 2013 / No Comments

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Monday night I headed to the Verizon Center to cheer on one of the local sports teams. As you might expect, that’s not all that unusual.

But I wasn’t there to take in a Washington Capitals. Instead, for the first time in a long, long time, I was there to see the Wizards in action.

Unless I’m mistaken, the last time I attended a Wizards game, they were a mediocre playoff team led by the trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Need to say, none of the current players on the Wiz roster were on this squad back then.

And while they’re more than likely destined to miss the postseason for a fifth-consecutive year, the Wizards are actually playing halfway decent basketball these days. With that in mind, here are 10 random thoughts that come to mind after watching the Wizards fall to the Sacramento Kings 96-94:

1. This team is clearly nothing without point guard John Wall. With him, the Wizards were easily the worst team in basketball — going just 5-28 in the 33 games Wall was sidelined while recovering from a stress injury to his left knee cap. Since his return, Washington has gone 6-4 and has actually been competitive every single night.

The same holds true, albeit to a lesser degree, during individual games. Wall is a dynamic player with speed most players can only dream of, so when he’s pushing the ball up court in a hurry, it often times leads to easy buckets for the Wiz. Without him prominently involved though, Washington’s offense is a lot less formidable and often times struggles to score with any level of consistency.

05Jul

introducing baby mcfanboy

In baseball, basketball, blog, football, hockey, murf by b murf / July 5, 2011 / 7 Comments

Just a quick programming note for the website. As you can see from the photo above, the McFanboy clan has signed a new free agent. After an extended stay at the hospital, everyone is healthy, happy and (finally) … home. It’s going to take us a little while to get the hang of this whole “parenthood” thing, so please bear with me if a couple days go by in between posts. I promise, the new guy is worth the trouble. Cheers.

23Jul

what we’re reading

In baseball, basketball, blog, football, hockey, links by b murf / July 23, 2010 / No Comments

(courtesy photo)

Sorry for the lack of content this week. My schedule has been fairly hectic, but with Redskins training camp right around the corner, it’s a safe bet that I’ll be back in action next week. In the meantime, here are a few links to tide you over:

The Washington Capitals are in the news this week and it’s for all the right reasons. The Caps donated equipment to the USA Warriors Ice Hockey Program and then hosted a hockey clinic involving 40 wounded servicemembers. Very cool stuff.

In other Caps news, Alex Ovechkin recently suited up for Dynamo back in Mother Russia. To recap, while Albert Haynesworth, the Redskins $100-million athlete, can’t be bothered to practice, Ovechkin, the Caps $100-million man, is willing to play pickup wherever they’ll have him. Which team do you think is happier with their investment?

And finally, the cleverly-titled King of Leonsis blog asks the simple question – is Tomas Fleischmann worth the cash? The answer is no, but you should still give it a read anyway.

The Nationals won 7-1 yesterday, which is newsworthy because it was the first time the team won a game in which Stephen Strasburg wasn’t involved since July 8th. Prior to Thursday’s victory, the Nats were 3-0 in Strasmas games and 0-7 when anyone else took the mound in their last 10 games. And yet, team president Stan Kasten believes his Nats are “so much closer than it appears.” Spend some money to get some more depth in the lineup and I might actually agree with you, Stan.

If the Nationals are going to be competitive anytime soon, they’ll likely need to add more to the lineup. That would mean players like Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham and Matt Capps – all of which have been mentioned in trade rumors over the last month – would likely stay around. SB Nation DC looks at the value of keeping Dunn on board.

According to Bullets Forever, Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld is the 18th best GM in the NBA. I’m not sure I’d rank him that high – especially after giving Gilbert Arenas a six-year, $111-million contract in 2008 and his continual desire to trade away top five draft picks and get nothing in return – but it’s still worth checking out.

In preparation for training camp, the folks at NFL.com take a look at the 2010 Redskins. In their opinion, the transition to a 3-4 scheme on defense, the wide receiver battle and the renovated offensive line are the biggest focal points.

In other Redskins-related news, Skinscast is back for a fifth season. With a new general manager, a new head coach, a new quarterback and countless other changes from last season at Redskins Park there’s no shortage of stuff to talk about concerning the burgundy and gold.

And finally, former Redskins tight end Clint Didier has a new teammate – Sarah Palin. Try not to hold it against him.

09Jul

d.c. sports: state of the union address

In baseball, basketball, blog, football, hockey by b murf / July 9, 2010 / 1 Comment

(courtesy photo)

Now that LeBron-a-thon is over and the rest of the sports world can return to some semblance of normalcy, I thought it would be appropriate to take a moment for an impromptu state of the union address for the D.C. sports scene.

In no particular order, here are 10 thoughts on all of your favorite local sports franchises.

1. Strike while the iron is hot and trade Gilbert Arenas to Cleveland. Like, right this minute. Seriously. Do it.

My plan all along was to wait for the New York Knicks to fall flat on their face and miss out on the big-name free agents like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, etc.

Unfortunately, Amare Stoudemire took the money and ran, which leads me to believe that the Knicks aren’t likely to be as desperate to acquiring someone with name recognition. Maybe if Isiah Thomas was still calling the shots it could happen, but I doubt that their new regime is in as much of a hurry to pull the trigger on an Arenas deal.

Same concept, different city.

The Cavaliers just took the biggest stomach punch in the history of professional sports. Their chosen son just went on primetime television to break up with them. Honestly, it’s more disrespectful than anything Albert Haynesworth has done since he came to D.C.

But the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. The Cavs could swallow Arenas’ contract if they shipped the Wiz back Antawn Jamison and some spare parts. The Cavs are obviously reeling from this blindside hit – so much so that their owner, Dan Gilbert, guaranteed Cleveland will win an NBA title before James. His remarks reek of desperation, which is exactly what you want if you’re looking to unload someone with as much baggage as Gilbert.

So let’s get on the phone now and make it happen before they have a chance to even rebound. Do it for the kids.

2. While we’re at it, be sure the deal includes a sign and trade for center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. I’m pretty sure he still has his Wizards jersey from the last time he was traded here, so you’ve got that going for you. Which is nice.

3. Speaking of the Wizards, their roster is starting to take shape after Washington drafted John Wall and acquired combo guard Kirk Hinrich and disappointing forward Yi Jianlian via trade. But regardless of what happens with the artist formerly known as Agent Zero, they’ve still got some work to do this offseason.

Personally, I’d like to see them sign Josh Childress. Dude’s got some game and he’d be an upgrade over Nick Young or whoever else he’d be taking minutes from. The only issue seems to be that after a stint in Greece, Childress seems to be a highly sought after player. No worries. If the price tag is too high, then the Wiz should turn their attention to re-signing Josh Howard once he’s fully recovered from his knee injury.

Unfortunately, the Wizards renounced the rights to Howard this week, as well as Mike Miller and Randy Foye (you know, the two guys they traded away a top-five draft picks for one year ago). So yeah, general manager Ernie Grunfeld continues to make the job harder than it needs to be.

Is it too late to include Grunfeld in a package deal with Arenas to Cleveland as well?