Sorry it has been awhile since my last blog.  I’ve just been super busy getting ready for the season and recuperating from our on the road, all over the country and world pre-season tour. To be honest with you the pre-season seemed like a season. We were on the road so long that my wife and daughter forgot who I was when I returned home. It has been great getting home and seeing the both of them.

   Last week was a tough week for me as I lost two of my dear friends. George Mitchell from Union Beach, NJ was 42 years old and leaves behind his wife and two kids. We played alot of ball together and shared many laughs and memorable times. I’ve been praying for George’s family. He is going to be missed by many. Then I lost another friend of mine from Baltimore, Craig Noppinger. It has been a few years since I last saw him. We spoke a few times about him coming to a Wizards game, it never happened and now it never will. I pray for the Noppinger family as they were like my family when I was living in Baltimore. I will never forget the times we shared together, Nick (Craig’s father) and I would play Craig and Dave (Craig’s brother) two on two. The result was always the same Dave and Craig would be fighting with one another and Nick and I would be laughing. Afterwards we would go back to their house and Peg would have cool drinks for us and food as well. I always told the guys to enjoy their time with their dad, because my dad left when I was a young boy.

     Unfortunately I could not make both funerals. We were on the road, like we could be anywhere else during the pre-season. In San Antonio and then Columbus, Ohio. I got back to DC early Saturday morning around 2:30 am. Slept for awhile and then Carole, McKenna and I  went up to Baltimore for Craig’s prayer and memeorial service. It was not the best of times to see the Noppinger’s. I pray that they find comfort in our Lord as does the Mitchell family.

   Everyone enjoy your family and friends because life doesn’t last forever. Enjoy everyday and thank the Lord for it. Make the most of it and most of all help someone and make someone smile. It’s not all about me. Don’t forget to let everyone know that you love them. Take care and God Bless.

    Left for Berlin on Saturday late afternoon. Carole and McKenna took me to the airport, as always it is tough leaving them. It does not get any easier leaving your loved ones. Once settled in on the plane I watched tape of our last couple of pre season games. Watched tape with Pech for awhile. Did some reading as well. Unfortunately I did not sleep at all on the flight.

    We arrived in Berlin safe and sound. Stayed at the Ritz Carlton which is right around the corner from the hotel that I stayed in on my last trip to Berlin two years ago before joining the Raptors. Berlin is a beautiful city and the weather was perfect, not too cold. Great for walking around the city and seeing the sites and sitting at the sidewalk cafes. Mostly everyone speaks English which makes it easier for everyone of us that cannot speak other languages. Had a bite to eat once we arrived at the hotel and afterwards we checked in and went to our rooms. Luggage was already in our rooms, the Germans are very organized and take pride in their work. Later that day we had practice.  The guys were a little sloppy which was to be expected. Everyone was tired as well as jet lagged.

    After practice we ate at the hotel and then Mike O’Koren and I went and did a little site seeing. I fought hard not to sleep at all throughout the day. Then I hit the bed and was asleep immediately. Had a wake up call and went to the coaches meeting.  Practice at the O2 Arena. The arena is brand new and is a thing of beauty, it has all of the modern technology and then some. Once practice was over with there was a clinic for the Special Olympics. Andray, Dom, Dee, Etan, Dermarr, Juan, Javale and Pech coached the kids. I am not sure who had more fun the players or the kids. I know that I had a blast coaching them and it was an experience that I will never forget. Once that clinic was over Darius asked me to help him out with a clinic for four Lithuanian kids. I stayed with him for his clinic and then went back to the hotel for dinner and some sleep.

     Game day. Coaches meeting, shootaround. Relaxed at the hotel, went for a walk and packed up for our flight out after the game to Barcelona. Took the first bus over to the arena. It felt odd taking the bus as I always cab it to the games during the regular season with some of the players to get some work done before everyone else arrives. The Hornets stung us good, they stung us early and often. We were horrible. We are going to miss BWood in the middle, he had a great year for us last season and he was really looking forward to building on it. Antawn did not play due to his knee contusion from the Dallas game. Antonio did not suit up because of swelling in his knee. Juan is out with a slight muscle tear in his calf and Nick Young is back in DC working on getting his knee right. Nick has a “floating particle” in it. That does not sound good to me. I am not a doctor but it seems as if it would need to get scoped to remove the particle. Gil did not make the trip either as he is re-habbing his knee still. If we could get everyone healthy at the same time we could be very good.

    It seems as if the injury bug has bitten us again. Linton Johnson has a broken toe (tripped on some luggage). How crazy is that.

    We left for Barcelona after the game. Had to go to the airport and through security. Got on the plane with a bunch of the NBA people as well as the referees. The flight to Barcelona was a little over two hours. Once we landed we hopped on buses to the terminal and then went through the terminal and got on some other bus to the hotel. We got into Barcelona after three. To the hotel around four thirty and the bags did not get to our rooms until after six. Needless to say everyone is very zombie like. The funny thing is that we had a police escort from the airport to the hotel and the police didn’t go over 30 kilometers an hour. I mean at four in the morning there is nobody on the road. Our police escorts to the arena and back are no quicker either.

     Had a breakfast meeting and practice. Went across the street to a shopping mall and bought a couple of items. I bought four items by credit card and they had to ring up each item on a seperate receipt. Imagine that. I tried to explain to them that there must be an easier way ( like one receipt) with my broken Spainish. No luck. I have not found too many English speaking people here, especially at the hotel. Met for dinner and then I went up to my room to get online and watch TV. Needless to say I had to have a technician come up and take care of my problems. The cable for the internet was broken off at the end and the TV got one station. To my surprise these problems were rectified in a matter of minutes.

   Woke up this morning more tired than I have been in some time. This schedule is something else and the season hasn’t even started yet. It is going to take some time to get back on track. Had a good practice, the guys were very competitive and worked hard. Came back for lunch and some rest. I have not napped at all on this trip but today I took a two hour nap, couldn’t go any longer without some rest. Tonight we have our team dinner, tomorrow night is the game with a nine o’clock pm tip. After the game we will fly back to DC. Should get in around nine on Saturday morning. We will have the rest of the day off and report ready to go on Sunday. Practice again on Monday and Tuesday before going on the road again to San Antonio. After San Antonio we will go to Columbus, Ohio to play our last pre season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That is a trip that Randy Ayers should be looking forward to, as he coached at Ohio State and more importantly he will get to see his mom. It is always a GREAT day when you can be with loved ones.

    Take care have a blessed day and don’t forget to let your loved ones how much you love them and how much they mean to you.

     Camp has just broken and we are on the bus heading back to Washington, DC. I have  my head phones listening to “THE BOSS” can hardly wait to see Carole and McKenna. The coaches have been in Richmond since last Wednesday. That was ten days ago but it seems much longer. Every one is anxious to get the season under way.

   The players all worked hard throughout the week that they were there. Tonight it was capped off with a scrimmage. The gaame was open to the public. The fans were great as was everyone at VCU. Everyone at VCU went above and beyond their duties in making us feel at home. We had both of our floors down there. The facility is top notch with plenty of room for training camp.

    BWood was our lone casualty as he hurt his wrist yesterday in practice. At this time we don’t know the extent of his injury. Let’s hope that Wood is back quickly and better than ever. It is amazing to see Etan out there after all that he has been through. Dee Brown has great speed and quickness, he can pressure the ball fullcourt and push it on offense. It is good to see Pech out there. The poor kid loves the game and wants to play but unfortunately he has had problems with both ankles. Nick and Dom should be much better with a year of experience under their belts. Andray had a great camp and he needs to continue to improve and sustain it. Antawn, Caron and Antonio are our captains and you couldn’t ask for better pro’s or people to be your team leaders. The young guys don’t know how lucky they are to have them in the locker room. Javale is our first round pick and he really is something, he just needs to get bigger and stronger. JaVale does some amazing things however with his speed, quickness, agility and reach. Darius is Darius solid and steady doing whatever it takes for us to win. His back is getting better. D Steve is rounding into game shape and is ready to be our stopper once again this season.

   Also in camp are Juan Dixon, DerMArr Johnson, Linton Johnson, and Taj McCullough. They all are working hard and have brought alot of energy to camp. Looking forward to seeing them in pre season.

   While at camp Gilbert had the guys coming over and starting the day off with 300 makes. Gil was also getting the young guys to go thru the offense. Can’t wait to get him back healthy.

   Could everyone out there please pray for our equipment manager and his family. Jerry Walters is a great guy but his mom isn’t doing well. JW as he is affectionately known had to leave camp to be with her. He is in my thoughts and prayers. Hurry back.

  Keep reading and I’ll keep blogging.

 Peace.

    Camp starts tomorrow here in Richmond, VA at Virginia Commonwealth University. It is hard to believe that we were here a year ago, time goes by so quickly. The coaches came down on Wednesday. I am truly blessed to be part of this staff. We are all looking forward to another year together. The coaches all get along well and work together, we also have our share of laughs. You better not have thin skin around this crew.

   The players get in later today and we will have dinner with them. At the dinner we will talk about our goals for the season. We will also remind them of the things that we did well last year and what we need to improve on. Also at the dinner Coach Jordan will introduce Hall of Famer KC Jones and Flip Saunders. Coach always brings in guest coaches for the guys. Last year Pete Carrill came in as well as Brian Winters. Coach Carrill was very impressive with his vast knowledge and understanding of the game. We all learned so much from him during camp. We all look forward to this wonderfull opportunity. What a career KC has had. In college he won two championships as a player, then goes pro and wins eight out of nine. We all enjoy listening to KC talk about the old Celtics and what they did. It is an honor to be around someone like KC.

    Flip arrived today and I am looking forward to hearing his philosophies on the game of basketball. He has a brilliant basketball mind and we are all looking forward to picking his brain.

     The coaches are eager to get going. We took a ride over to VCU to look at the gym and to see how the floors looked. Both of our floors were shipped down the other day. Unfortunately when we got to the gym the floors were not down. The VCU crew will have them in place later today.

    It is a great ime of the year. Baseball is winding down and the playoffs are around the corner. Pro and College Football have started up. Hockey is being played and we are getting ready to tip off.

    I am in San Antonio at the moment working out Antonio Daniels. He makes his home here. San Antonio is a great city. I love it here and the people are all so friendly. I fell in love with this city from the first time I was here. That was when Utah lost to Kentucky in the Final Four. Antonio and I have been working out at the Spurs practice facility. WHAT A GYM!!!! It has everything there for the players. Why would anyone want to leave. Two full courts, state of the art weight room with all the bells and whistles. Outside they have a swimming pool, sand track and an incline to run up. The incline looks like a ski slope.

   Everyone at the facility treated me so well. I would just like to thank the entire Spurs organization for all of their help, hospitality and use of their facility. I am already looking forward to returning and I haven’t even left yet. Hopefully I will get out of town before Hurrican Ike arrives.

   Antonio is a true professional. He is always in great shape and always takes care of his body. He has been working out at the Spurs facility all summer long and looks like he could play forty minutes a night. He has been very impressive in our workouts. We go twice a day. First workout is at 6:30 am and we go for about two hours, working on form shooting, shooting off the bounce, as well as catch and shoot. Then we are back at it at 7:30 pm. During this workout we have been concentrating on his three point shot. We need him to shoot it like he did in his fourth year when he knocked down 40% from there.

    At the facility I was fortunate to run into  some former campers. Brian Morrison, Juan Dixon, Salim Stoudamire and Desmond Farmar. They were all there working out or being invited to the Spurs camp. I wish them all the best of luck and the best of health.

    I have been so fortunate working out our veterans this summer. My trips to Charlotte to see Antawn, Brendan and Darius are always a joy. These three guys come in and really work. Antonio is no different. Looking forward to getting back to DC and work with our younger guys. It will be interesting to see the improvement of Andray, Dominic and Nick. We need for them to step it up this season.

    Camp starts up for us on the 26th of September at Virginia Commonwealth University. I will keep everyone posted as to what is happening in Richmond. Take care and God Bless.

    Everyone say a prayer for the friends and families of 9/11. It is so hard to believe that it was seven years ago.

   It is hard to believe that Labor day is coming so soon and that marks the end of the summer. Where did it go? This summer went by so quickly I can hardly remember what went on. Let’s review the summer. Memorial Day I was in Denver doing my shooting camp for Mark Sharpley. The camp is always sold out. (Have I really been doing this   camp for ten years) Talk about time flying. Let’s not talk about flying at all, why ruin anyone’s day. From Denver I went over to China and the NIKE All Asia Camp. NIKE runs a great camp no matter where it is. After returning stateside I was in DC doing workouts for the upcoming draft. We brought in alot of players and got to see them both on and off the floor. Then it was off to India for Basketball without Borders. India was an experience that will never be forgotten. We don’t know how lucky we have it here in this country. Once stateside I was back in DC for our mini camp for the summer league. Once we broke camp we left for Vegas. Interesting having the summer league there. After Vegas I got home for a few days to spend time with my wife and daughter. Maine is beautiful. Got to spend some time with Carole and McKenna over a weekend that was work for me. We spent some time at the CT STARTERS CAMP and I got to see all of my close friends there. I have no idea how long I have been doing this camp. Afterwards we were off to the Cape and another camp.Then I went to Charlotte to work with Antawn and Brendan. It is a joy and a pleasure to work them out. They work hard and they listen. What more can you ask of them. Off to Vegas again for the camp that Tim Grguvich runs. I was very excited to work his camp and after working it, I realized it was much better than I expected and I expected it to be GREAT. Coach Grguvich is the best, Thank you so much for letting me work it and I look forward to returning every year. Got home for a couple of days and now I am back here in Charlotte with Antawn, Brendan and Darius. They are all working hard. So that is a little capsule of my summer. Hope everyone had a pleasurable one. Enjoy the remainder of it.

   I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog. I really didn’t think that there would be much interest, but I have received alot of feedback from people that read it. I promise them I will try to write more often.

   Take care and God Bless everyone and their families.

   Sitting here in the US Airways club room. They weren’t going to let me sit in there without paying for a membership. It seems the airlines are charging for everything these days. I just paid two dollars for a coke on the flight from Portland, ME to Philadephia. The flight was delayed leaving ME, so I missed my connection and they want two dollars for a coke. At check in it now costs fifteen dollars for the first bag and $25 for the second. That is each way. So in addition to paying close to $1,800 for a ticket they nickel and dime you to death.

   Now that I missed my connection I will not get into Vegas on time to Tim Grguvich’s camp. I HATE BEING LATE!!!!! No longer in a first class seat but a middle seat. Is this deja’ vu again. Just the other week on US AIRWAYS the same thing happened. Flight was canceled in DC then took a bus to Philly. First class to middle seat in coach. Then last week from Charlotte to Portland the flight was 3 hours late. I haven’t had much luck flying on this airline. What’s the sense of paying for a first class ticket and then get a middle seat. No one seems to care, or are they willing to try and do something about it. I have flown alot of airlines and this one may be the worst.

   In the past I always tried to fly CONTINENTAL and I just acheived my million miles flown on that airline. I know this because they sent me a tag saying so. CONTINENTAL was the best at one time, but they have fallen in the customer service department as well. CONTINENTAL has gone down hill ever since the new guy took over for them. I had been a platinum memeber for years and in 2007 I flew 72,500 miles up until September. I only needed 2,500 miles to maintain my platinum status but I didn’t reach as I joined the Wizards and stopped flying. Never heard a word, email, letter to see why I stopped flying. Nineteen years I was a loyal CONTINENTAL flyer. Now I get elite status the rest of my life. SILVER ELITE which is like not flying at all. Thank you CONTINENTAL what a great gift to give a millionmile flyer. How touching. (I am being sarcastic.) Can’t wait for my next flight with you guys.

    It seems to me nobody cares any longer. People are treated poorly and the airlines don’t care. Flying is a hassle and if I never fly again that would be alright with me. It seems like everyone has had their full of the airlines, but what do you do if you have to travel. My word to travelers is good luck. As I am blogging I hear people on their phones talking about their flying experiences and none of them are positive.

    Now that is off my chest, sorry to vent to my readers all two of them. (Brian and Pringle)

    I am actually surprised that people log on to the site to read what I have to say. To them a GREAT BIG THANK YOU. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy writing it.

    Now if I only could get to Vegas on time. I even tried to see if I could get out of Boston. I was willing to drive down there from Portalnd but no luck there either. I tried to see if other airlines would work, other routes, etc…. no luck, so now I am stuck.

    I am looking forward to working camp and see what players will be there. I will write from Vegas, if I ever get there. Happy traveling. The thing that always gets me mad is that the airlines never compensate you for your time that is lost and can never be retrieved. I wish that I could get all of my time back and spend it with my wife and daughter. Remember this, that our time is precious and so is everyone else’s.

  It is hard to believe that July is coming to an end. It has been a very busy July starting with the trip to India with the NBA Basketball without Borders. Coming home and going right to mini camp for summer league in DC. We practiced for a few days and went right to Vegas afterwards. We stayed in Vegas until the 20th and took the red eye home. Arrived in Baltimore and ran into a couple of college coaches heading to Vegas for all the AAU tournaments. I started thinking of how hectic my summers used to be doing two, three, four and and sometimes five camps in a day. All of the running around tha I did for close to 20 years. Without doing the camps I would not be where I am today. I would like to thank everyone that has ever had me come into their camp and let me do my thing.

    Now I am in Charlotte, NC working out Antawn and Brendan. They are a joy to be with, they both listen and work very hard. I only wish everyone was as coachable as these two professionals. They do the right things as far as their off season workouts go. They work on their bodies and don’t get out of shape and then they work on their games. I am happy that the Wizards have re signed Antawn and Gilbert. Now we have to stay healthy. It will be interesting to see who we will pick up to replace Roger Mason.

   July was a month that I did the most camps and it is also the month that I took the most shots and it is the month that I always had my best shooting percentage. Note the more you shoot the better you become. Miss all of my friends at Eastern Invitational and the West Coast All Star camps. These camps have turned out a number of big time players and continue to do so. It was exciting for me to speak in front of all the talented kids and coaches at these camps.

   Hope everyone is having a safe, fun and healthy summer. Take care and God Bless. I will be blogging again from Las Vegas as I am heading out there once agian to work Tim Grugvich’s camp. I am looking forward to working his camp and spending time with the palyers and coaches. Before heading there I will get home to Maine and spend a couple of days with my wife Carole and daughter McKenna. I am blessed to have them in my life.

  We had a few practices in Washington DC before heading to Las Vegas. We have several of our players going this year. Andray Blatche, Nick Young, Dominic McGuire and of course our number one pick Jevale McGee. JeVale is long and athletic with some skills. He needs to gain some weight and get stronger. That will come as he gets older. Then we have Dee Brown who we just picked up. Also at point guard we have Dontaye Draper and Jonathan Wallace. At the two spot we have Gary Forbes. The forward spots are Vladimir Veremenko (VV), Frank Elegar, Taj McCullough and Oleksiy Pecherov. Pech is injured again, hopefully he will see some action before the end of the week.

   Our flight out to Vegas was cancelled on Sunday evening, so everyone had to meet at the Verizon Center at 5:30 am on Monday to bus up to Philadelphia for a flight out at 11:30am. Got up to Philly with no problems. Had to sit and wait for three hours before boarding the plane. We had to fly coach as there were no first class seats. I feel sorry for the big guys sitting in coach. Our flight was an hour late leaving. We finally arrived in Vegas at 2:00pm got our bags, checked into the hotel and left for the game. I told the rookies welcome to the NBA. Where nothing surprises me anymore.

   We played sloppy which was expected considering the circumstances. A lot of fouls and turnovers. Have to execute better in our half court sets and do a better job of defending off the dribble.

   Carole and McKenna have been in Vegas since Friday along with our babysitter Chelsea. It was great to see them.  They will be here until Wednesday morning. At least I get to see them and spend some time with them.

   Yesterday we had a scrimmage at Durango High School. We played a half against the Nuggets and a half against the Raptors. It was great seeing all of my friends from Toronto. BC, Sam, Keith, Kevin, Micah, Paul, Rory, Scott, Joey Graham, Jay, Alex, Eric. I hope I didn’t leave anyone out.

   Today on our way to shootaround for tonights game versus the 76ers the bus broke down. Amazing things happen in the NBA. What else can go wrong on this trip for the Wizards. Keep reading the blog for updates.

  Take care and God Bless. Tell those that you love, that you love them.

  Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I just returned from India with the NBA’s Basketball without Borders. Trying to adjust to the time difference. I had a wonderful time over in India because of the great job done by the NBA. Everyone that was involved with the camp did an excellent job. It was my first Basketball w/o Borders in what I hope will be the first of many more to come. 

   This was also my first trip to India. My wife and I were both looking forward to this trip. We arrived in India and the heat and humidity hit us immediately. At the airport the chaos began. Most airports are chaotic, but in India it is a little more so. Leaving the airport I found out that the lines on the road are there for decoration. The horn is used more than anything else and the cars do not use blinkers. Every car no matter how old or new has dents and scratches, not to mention being covered in dust as well.

  The hotel was very nice and so was the staff. The rooms were a nice size and the food was very good. They had some very good restaurants there at the hotel. Outside the hotel grounds there was alot of poverty. India has alot of poverty throughout the country. On the way to the Taj it was nothing but mile after mile of poverty and garbage, waste, etc… Cows running around the streets, people sleeping wherever they can on the sidewalks, somewhere there is shade. Kids with no shoes or shirts. It was a very disturbing trip to the Taj seeing all of the people out on the streets with nothing to do or anywhere to go, no purpose in life, no jobs.

   The Taj is an unbelievable building.  Being on the grounds of the Taj, it is easy to forget about the poor and all of the poverty. After the tour we were met outside the grounds of the Taj by the poor once again. There is no escaping poverty in India. Also the flys were out in full force. Now I know why you have to get your shots before going to India and then you have to take Malarone for Malaria.

   It was a trip of a life time and I am glad that I went. I cannot thank the NBA for this wondrful opportunity and I cannot thank everyone that was on the trip for their hospitality and friendship.

   I will be blogging about the summer league. It’s great to be home in the greatest country in the world.