RizDaPrince

[GM Rizzo]

Pretty cool stat tracker for upgraded roles

Man has an apple watch on his chise. That's a neat touch

Can't take credit for it. The fine folks over at 2kdraft.com are the ones who came up with it. I'm loving it so far as I'm getting a real, authentic build up with MyPlayer rather than what I was trying to do with the actual game mode, grinding for VC.

[GM Rizzo]

Confidence. It's all about confidence in this league.

Coach Brian Keefe showed the confidence in Prince to up his minutes and role on the team. His teammates were showing confidence in the young wing by playing off him from time to time or even calling plays on the fly when they spot a mismatch. And Riz was showing confidence in his own skills, even against the league's very best.

But was that confidence going to backfire on the rookie?

In the nine games since his meeting with the coaching staff, Prince hasn't been exactly lighting the world on fire as he's sporting a shooting slash line of 40.6% from the floor, 19.2% from deep and 54.6% from the line. If the Wizards weren't dealing with injuries to starting point guard C.J. McCollum and 6th man Corey Kispert, one has to wonder if the coaching staff would have rethought their recent decision to prop Prince up in a more prominent role.

But to close out the calendar year, there was a glimmer of hope for the 19-year old Swiss army knife forward. While it was a loss against the Knicks, Riz was able to get some extended run in front of the Wizard fans en route to his career-high scoring output of 18 points. He was able to connect on seven of 12 field goal attempts, get to the line four times and knock down a triple, showcasing his three-level scoring chops. If his touch around the rim continues to improve, it should help open up some space on the perimeter for him to get off some clean looks from three.

At 9-21 on the season, the Wizards are essentially out of playoff contention. Does Prince play the good soldier role and continue to try to play winning basketball or is it time for him to put his confidence on the court to use and really assert himself as an alpha on this squad?

[Captain Canada]

Had one hell of a game against the Knicks. Slowly starting to build up your stock.

[GM Rizzo]

Had one hell of a game against the Knicks. Slowly starting to build up your stock.

It was a rare night where I was able to get to the rim - and actually finish - while also shooting well from the perimeter. I desperately need to get my jumper down.

[GM Rizzo]

Welcome back…

[GM Rizzo]

Struggling doesn’t begin to describe what’s going on with us, man! We are nearly half way through my rookie season and we don’t have but 13 wins to our name? Losing twice for every win is something I won’t ever get used to, I promise you that.

I hope that is the legacy I leave here in Washington, but I need to prove to them I belong here. They also need to prove to me that they trust in me. This roster log jam has got me all sorts of twisted. I need to show them I can play both forward spots but I haven’t given them the best excuse to play me at the three because my jumper been mad cold this season.

I’d say 80% of my minutes have been at the four, which is cool with me, but is going to be tough to break through. My boy Ky[shawn George] is locked in as the starter already and he’s been doin’ work. We got the old head Khris [Middleton], but he’s already hinted to the guys this ain’t for him at this point of his career. Then there’s [Cam] Whitmore, my top competition, that’s a walking bucket. The front office might fall in love with those point totals, but what about defense, rebounding and passing? I got him beat there.

What would really mess me up here in D.C. is if the rumors are true and the Wiz bring in a true center to play next to Alex Sarr. If that ish happens, I might need to peace out. They got to do what’s best for them but I also need to do what’s best for me and my career and being buried on the bench isn’t it.

After coming off my career-high against the Knicks, I thought I was ready to prove my worth and start to really take over. That didn’t happen. I’ve been inconsistent in my minutes, pressing too hard at times while being too passive at others. I had myself a tough stretch of games, but headed “home” gave me a sense of belonging.

My family made the six hour drive up from Southern Cal to Oracle Arena. They said they were dying to watch me play an NBA game, but I think they was there for Steph because that boy still got it! I found myself on the bench and even on the court just watching him practically float around the court and torch us with ease. I ain’t never seen 40 points look so easy in my damn life!

I was there to play for my team and my family. Alex Sarr was finally back from a short term injury so I feared that would eat into my minutes a bit. Lucky for me, big fella was in foul trouble early so I was seeing some extra burn.



This dude Trayce was trying to big boy me in front of my fam and I wasn’t having that. He lit a fire under my ass that I needed and I hope it showed what I could do on the floor for this squad. I don’t care if we were down 15-20 all game, I’m playing hard until that clock hits triple zeroes. I won the tip against his fat ass and CJ McCollum drained a triple. The next possession he missed a 15-footer on me, I ripped the board and pushed in transition to find Sarr running the floor like a god damn deer for the slam.



After getting another stop, Sarr repaid the favor as he grabbed a board of his own and saw me streaking down the floor. Kuminga was trying to play catch up but was too late when I elevated. Get someeee!!!

I think the scouting report going around on me right now is that my jumper can’t be trusted. When I get the rock, a lot of time the defense is going under the screen and really messing with my mind. I’ve never been given this much time to get off a shot and I’m struggling. Early in the 3rd, Sarr hit Podziemski with a screen and instead of fighting over it, he just hugged up on my dude rolling to the rim expecting me to just dump it off. Instead, I collected my feet, rose up and fired like I got drafted to do. Splash!



A small scoring spurt looks good [nine points on 4-8 shooting, 1-3 from deep] but my extended run saw me grab 13 rebounds, dish out three dimes and block a shot. This is the type of versatility I bring and if this front office don’t see it, I guarantee another team will!

This is the building block for me. I’m not going backwards. I’m not losing minutes to nobody. This is a lost season for the Wizards, but it’s going to be the start of a long, successful career for me!

[Captain Canada]

Glad to have this back! Getting back into the swing of things. That's a tough burst of games there.

[GM Rizzo]

Glad to have this back! Getting back into the swing of things. That's a tough burst of games there.

Appreciate you tapping back in. I’m having fun with my Mavs ‘chise but this is also a nice change-of-pace to keep things fresh for me.

[GM Rizzo]

Headed back to D.C. after our loss to the Warriors, the team was looking to get some rest on the five hour flight home. These team planes be crazy with the WiFi and everyone getting their own 32-inch at their seat. Straight luxury.

Most of the guys will just toss on a movie. Some just pop in their AirPods and vibe out while trying to close their eyes. But lately, some dudes be bringing their Xbox or PS5 on the flight and hittin’ the sticks on some 2k25 or Madden. These games can get wild but it’s great to kill some time when we are always on the go.

In the back of the plane I heard some cackling from some guys, but the one that was the loudest was Cam Whitmore. He was calling cats over to get a laugh in. Cam is a big MyTeam player on 2k, always spending his cash on packs. We tell him he’s better off gambling, but he don’t want to get banned like Jontay [god rest his NBA soul].

He ripped a pack and saw a card that fueled him to point and laugh at one of the rookies in the league. As I became curious, I popped out my chair in the 3rd row and slowly made my way back. When I got close enough to see the screen, it was clear who the card was…



This mutha… was getting his laughs at my expense?!? Nah dawg, I’m not here for that! I was real close to pushin’ up on him until C.J. grabbed my shoulder with a firmness of a dad and pulled me back to the front of the plane.

He gave me a talkin’ to like a dad would his teenage son preparing him for life. He pointed at Cam and told me not to worry about him. Dudes like that - one dimensional scorers already on their second squad on their rookie deal - have a short shelf life in the NBA. They won’t be given the chance to overstay their welcome, instead having to go overseas to really make some money because just getting buckets isn’t good enough.

I’m no hot head, but I ain’t going to get punked by anyone. I was ready to show Cam what’s up, but I’m glad Old Man McCollum stopped me. I don’t want word to go around the league that I am potentially a problem in the locker room. I want as many doors open as possible to give me every opportunity to play and extend my career.

Besides, this is my first damn MyTeam card! How many people in the world can say that?!? Ok, those ratings are straight ass but that’s from opening night! I know I’ve shown enough growth in just half a season to get some bumps. Who knows, maybe I’ll be featured in one of them promos down the road and get myself a 99 overall or something!

For now, I want to be reflective. I’m a professional hooper on the best league in the world. Little boys and girls watch me on TV, sit in the stands and cheer me on and even play as me on video games. I have no complaints about this life, man!

[NaturalThunder87]

The grind continues. Rough set of games in that last 10 update, but Riz ended it on a semi-high note with 9 pts and 13 reb. Hopefully he can string together more consistent stretches of games like that.