Quick Hits

SLAM is giving Wizards center Etan Thomas an opportunity to write a regular column for the online section of their website. In his first article, Thomas discusses an interaction he had with a referee and his reactions to the referee's surprise that Thomas writes poetry.

We were playing a home game against Cleveland, and after a timeout a referee with dark, slicked-back hair (who shall remain nameless) approached me. He said that he had heard that I write poetry, have a book, speak at universities, am into politics, etcetera, and he asked me if this was true.

I replied, Yes.

To my surprise, he responded: “You’re not as dumb as you look.”

I turned toward my teammate Antawn Jamison, who also heard the exchange, and we both looked back at this ref with eyes of bewilderment, as if to say that we couldn’t have possibly heard him right.

He saw that I was in no way amused, without even the slightest hint of a smile, and attempted to clean up his statement, saying, “Well I think it’s great, I could never do anything like that…” I simply nodded my head and returned to the game.

Sometimes someone can make a statement that is so unbelievably blatant that it renders you speechless, left without a response or reaction, until you think about it at a later date. This was one of those times for me.

The rest of the article is very interesting and it ends with one of Thomas' trademark poems. Thomas is incredibly articulate and I recommend this column to any NBA fan.

Also, on the latest "Daily Fix" podcast from The Basketball Jones, they address the Wizards' disappointing 4-9 start. Skeets and Tas mostly attribute the struggles of the team to defense. Tas brings up the loss of Jared Jeffries, while Skeets discussed the overall team mindset and the lack of rebounding. They also touch on the loss of Darius Songaila and wonder whether Gilbert Arenas and his antics are a distraction.

Speaking of TBJ, Lowpost's Jason Gurney interviewed Skeets in the latest of his "Meet the Blogger" series.

Personally, I don't think a lack of defense can explain why the Wizards seem worse than last year. It can explain why they aren't any better, but defense was a problem last year and the Wizards still were a 42 win team with a point differential of a 47 win one. The problem to me really seems to be the complete inability to put together a complete game. The defense has played well in some games, the offense has played well in some games, but neither have come at the same time much this year. This is a team that could really use a shot in the arm off the bench to put the pressure off their starters.

Also, let's wait to see how the Wizards perform with this easier stretch coming up. If they can't get back close to .500 by the turn of the calendar year, then we can honestly say that the problems are substantial. Right now, it's much more difficult to tell.