N-2une (Wizards Preseason edition ft. Ron Mercer)

[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: All right folks, thanks for tuning in, and my name is Johnny Junior, otherwise known as Jay-2, and you are now N-2une with the DC sports scene on 106.7 FM!
*cheesy intro plays*
Jay-2: It's almost fall, y'all. The air's getting colder, the kids are going back to school, and once again, it's time for our annual Washington Wizards Preseason episode! We're gonna talk a little bit, take in a few calls, and basically try and get you as hyped as we can for the coming season. Now, my co-host's out this time around, so you get the pleasure of hearing my voice for most of this program!
*cue a "booooo" sound clip*
Jay-2: C'mon, you know I wouldn't do that to ya! I'm too modest and shy. I've invited a very special guest over, Ron Mercer. That's right, Wizards starter Ron Mercer will be in the building very soon, and he'll be available to answer your calls and junk. But for now, you know I'm a music guy, so you know I've got a few tracks for you. Coming up right now is my boy Busta Rhymes, still burning up the charts with Janet, "What's It Gonna Be?!"

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Jay-2: All right, I'm gonna take in a few calls right now, y'know, give Ron some time to get here. Gotta fight that traffic and all that. Yo, my man, who's this?

Random Caller: Hey, this is Mike DeSoto from Charles Town, West Virginia.

Jay-2: West Virginia!? Man, you're waaaaay out there, nice job picking up this station. Anyway Mike, you are now N-2une, whatcha got for me?

Mike: Well, I was just wondering what you thought of the Francis thing. I mean, here's a guy who was born and raised in the DMV, leaves, comes back and becomes a star in Maryland, enters the draft...

Jay-2: ...and we don't pick him. Guy was right there at #3, almost made up for That Season We Won't Speak Of. Hometown team, hometown guy...

Mike: You don't think it had anything to do with Joe, huh?

Jay-2: I dunno man, maybe? Ya always gotta worry about a guy getting too comfortable and getting lazy, playing for your home team isn't for everyone. Management probably didn't want Joe hanging with Steve and cruising the DC night scene together and stuff, you know, doing all the stuff that led to Joe's game falling off last season.

Mike: They got that Maryland connection, so you know they're friends and all.

Jay-2: Right, right. It's not like we got nothing out of it though. We got Rashard Lewis and Lamar Odom out of it, really looking forward to seeing what those two can do.

Mike: I just wish he didn't get picked up by the Celtics.

Jay-2: Yeah, nothing worse than having a guy with an axe to grind against you in your division. This may come back to haunt us later down the road, but if 'Shard and Odom can grow, we might have a nice big Forward combo. It'll be like having Hollywood Rob again...hold on, I've got another call. Sup?

Random Caller: Sup homie, this is Big Roy, from Riggs.

Jay-2: Riggs Park, DC in the house today, you're N-2une my man.

Roy: It's good bro, so what's the deal on the big free-agent frenzy? It's like the best period we've had in years, man, it's not like anyone saw this coming.

Jay-2: Well, we had the money to spend after all...hold up, I made a list for those who haven't been following...let's see...we've got the Dream, Hakeem Olajuwon, Ron Harper, Sasha Danilovic, Bobby Phills. It doesn't sound like much when you hear it, but you factor in new guys like Rashard Lewis, Dion Glover, and Lamar Odom, and you're left wondering how we're gonna get time for all these guys. I'm thinking we'll see a few cuts, or some trades, or something.

Roy: Well I'm like, "What's going on here?" I mean, last season was...shoot man, that junk was ugly. And now it looks like we're gearing up for a playoff run, but I know that ain't the case.

Jay-2: Yeah, it's full-on youth movement one moment, huge spending spree the next...gotta wonder if management's given up on trying to develop guys and are just moving full speed ahead. It's a logjam out on the wings, I can't imagine what these rotations are gonna look like. I mean, who goes on IR on this team? We're packing the full 15. But anyway man, thanks for your call, and thank you Mike DeSoto. We've got the lightning round...
*thunder sound byte plays*
Jay-2: ...coming up next, quickfire-style. Quick questions, quick answers. First I'm gonna give a quick summary of what's been going on, and then we're gonna get some more callers in here. But what we're gonna do right now is slip into the future courtesy of one Seal. 1996 in the house, y'all.

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[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: Love that song man, good vibes. All right, here's what you've been waiting for, the recap. All right, last season...yeah, forget about last season. Bottom of the league, worst season in franchise history, all that stuff. Lotto comes, didn't get #1. I know a lot of y'all were thinking hard about Baron Davis or Shawn Marion, but that's how the lotto balls bounce. Ended up with #3, passed on hometown guy Steve Francis in favor of a trade, Rashard Lewis and two draft picks, one in the current draft. Yeah, I can't believe it either. We draft Lamar Odom with that pick at #9, gives us two forwards under 21. Dion Glover's picked up in the second round, pick 30 for those keeping score. Looks like the youth movement's underway, huh? Not so fast, because free agency comes and we land two-time champion, living legend, the Dream, Hakeem Olajuwon, we get get Bobby Phills - he kicked our tail back in Philly, and he swept us in Milwaukee, now he's gonna help us out - we get Ron Harper, and finally, we pick up Predrag "Sasha" Danilovic. Joe Smith's still in the Blue n' Bronze - I know a lot of you guys wanted to personally ship him off first-class to anywhere after he partied all last offseason, but he's back - and we're all just sitting and waiting for more news heading into training camps and the preseason. So that's the recap, and next we have the lightning round.
*thunder sound byte plays*
Jay-2: I'm tired now, so to keep those chill vibes going and to catch my breath for the lightning round...
*thunder sound byte plays#
...I got another track for ya, this one's fresh of the Life soundtrack - check the movie out, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy - it's Maxwell, holding it down for that Neo-Soul movement with "Fortunate."

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Jay-2: Pure smoothness right there. All right, all right, just got word that Ron Mercer has arrived. Yes, Ron Mercer, the Mercenary, is in the house. So we'll go ahead and move on with the lightning round...
*thunder sound byte plays*
Jay-2: ...that's starting to get annoying. Anyway, let's get things started while Ron gets up here. Call in, gimme all all your questions, comments, whatever. We'll take about 3-5 calls, and the Ron Mercer will be joining me for a little bit and we'll take some more questions and talk a little more about these new-look Wiz Kids. Let's get this thing started y'all, send in your calls!

[JNR]

Hey there, this is Swaggy J from Minneapolis. Love the show, man, big fan. My question for Ron is do you think you'll take a big step forward in your third year?

[IamQuailman]

This is Swaggy Douglas hailin' from Milwaukee. Why you gotta be cray and max a guy like Bobby Phills? Especially at his age?!

[NickMalone77]

Mick Nelon, From Charlotte, North Carolina: Somehow, I'm getting reception down here from your station. Anyways, I got a question for that guy you have on. After going through a tough season last year, what did you guys do to pass the time? And also, what are you looking to do to improve here in the offseason? Thanks for the time....Go Hornets!

[aburns211]

Jay-2, Fans are perplexed by the off-season moves that have stockpiled the small forward position. Can you shed some light on this situation? How do you plan to get all these guys into the rotation?

[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: What's happening Swaggy J? Ron just hit the studio, so hold on a sec...

: ...Man, y'all get this thing goin' quick, huh? Didn't even give me time to sit down, man. What's good, 2?
*Ron has a thick Southern accent, giving him a real easygoing tone of voice to go along with his attitude*
Jay-2: It's all good right now in the studio, man. We got the Swag Krew calling in right now from the cold ends of the US, and yeah man, what can we expect out of you this season?

: Well I personally felt like I didn't quite have as good'a season as I could've had. Last season was my first as a full-time starter, an' it took me a long time to adjust. This time around, I'm goin' back to shooting guard - Y'all heard it here first, I'm the starting SG - an' I'm looking to score more'n shoot less, if ya know what I mean. I put some points on the board last season, but I missed a whole lotta shots to go along with it. I'm also looking to step my game up defensively, y'know, I been hangin' at the gym with Brevin.

Jay-2: Good, good. So can you shed some light on Bobby Phills, man? I don't know the exact figures on the deal - I think Swag D mentioned a max - what's the deal on snatching him up?

: Man, I think it was a two-year max, but only one's guranteed or somethin' like that. It doesn't affect our cap long-term. An' Bobby, he's a warrior man, like an old samurai or somethin'. First I heard of the signin' is when he called me, talkin' about things I should work on and gettin' in the gym an' stuff.

Jay-2: Alright, so it sounds like Phills is gonna play the locker-room leader role. That's good man, I know he played a big part in turning those young boys up in Milwaukee around. Man, the calls are coming in hard and fast, we got folks from North Carolina and stuff calling in. What's good y'all?
*The two listen to Mick Nelon's and A. Burns' questions*
: Aw man, last season...it was rough, man. To tell ya the truth, I don't know. I mean, I know Joe partied an' Juwan started looking for a new house somewhere else - I heard he did th'same back in Charlotte an' Jersey - but other than that, we all just showed up to the game, got whooped, left, showed up to practice an' then tried again the next game. That's actually one of the thing we're tryin' to do differently this time around - spend some more time together, gettin' t'know each other better an' all that.

Jay-2: I gotcha, it was a bit harder to do that last time with all the guys coming and going.

: Yeah, yeah. We're tryin' to fix that, I mean, I already talked about Bobby callin' me and me going to work on D with Brevin - we're puttin' a focus on more of that this offseason.

Jay-2: Alright man, we kinda hit on this earlier in the show when Big Roy from Riggs called, and one of our callers just hit on it - small forward logjam. By my count we have Lewis, Odom, you, Phills, Harper, and Danilovic. That's some kinda competition.

: Well, I dunno if it's gonna be that much of a problem, I mean, I'm movin' back to SG, an' I heard Bobby wasn't gonna play at forward for us at all. I dunno if he's backin' me up then, but I know Dion ain't. No disrespect man, but y'know what it is. I honestly think it's just insurance. Y'know I struggled a bit last season, an' we had to scramble to sign guys when guys like Travis went down. An' guys like Sasha an' Harper can play both wing spots. So I'm guessin' this is all 'bout injury-proofin' our team an' makin' it easier on 'Shard comin' in.

Jay-2: Cool, cool. We're gonna take a little break and then come back. Again, we've got Ron Mercer here with us, yes Ron Mercer is in the house ready to answer your questions. But first, from one Jay to another, we have another movie joint coming up, this one from the hit movie Rush Hour. So we're gonna play this track for y'all right quick, and then me, and my boy Ron Mercer are gonna take some more of your calls.

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[Conroy]

Sports Guy Bill Simmons here, can ya talk a little bit about matching Joe Smith. It appears you were bound and determined that Maryland alumnus Steve Francis and Joe Smith would not play together (as you already alluded to) in DC or Boston. And a follow up has Joe said anything? He would have slid in perfectly as the starting Power Forward for the Celtics.

[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: Hey, the Sportsguy showed up! Nice to have somebody who actually talks sports for a living in here. And yeah Ron, do you know anything about Mighty Joe coming back? Nearly everyone in DC thought he was as good as gone after his antics last season.

: Yeah man, we pushed for Joe to come back. Management wanted him out, but the guys all actually came together an' petitioned to re-sign Joe. They agreed to exercise his RFA rights, but told us that they wouldn't pay him more than 2 mil. Turns out that Boston only offered him 1.5, an' management did what we asked 'em to. As for Joe himself, we ain't heard much from him since the signin' was announced. He did wanna team up with Steve in Boston, he was really pushin' for us to draft him. But I think someone told him what happened, and it must've gotten to him. I think he's startin' to realize that he was once the franchise guy, the future, an' he flushed it all away last season. Hopefully he comes back strong, man. We could really use him.

[Bowtothebill23]

Yo this is Jack from Oakland. I'm driving through DC on my Eastern Conference Presser road trip. Got a question for Ron. Dude, what the hell happened to you this offseason? Did you practice at all?

[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: What's going on Jack? I wish Ron was here to answer your question, bro, but during the last break, he just up and left. No "Goodbye" or "Thanks for havin' me on the show" or anything like that. Maybe that has something to do with what's going on, I dunno.

[WigNosy]

When you matched Joe Smith's contract, there was immediate speculation that Juwan Howard and his large contract would be on the trade block as soon as today. Is Juwan a part of the long-term plan in Washington?

[Xist2Inspire]

Jay-2: Now that's a good question. From what I've heard, Juwan Howard's a real piece of work. He plotted to leave New Jersey, he engineered his way out of Charlotte, and Rob said earlier that he was looking for houses out of state all throughout last season. When you factor in his age, it's probably in the best interests of everyone if they deal him off soon. I mean, he's putting up great numbers in the prime of his career, why not trade him while his value's at an all-time high, rather than struggle for the playoffs? I honestly can't see Juwan staying in DC past this season, to be honest.