First Pick Blog

Natitude. If you don’t know what it is, don’t even bother calling yourself a Nationals fan. Last night, the Washington Nationals clinched a berth to the postseason for the first time in franchise history as the Nationals. This will be the first time our the District will see playoff baseball since 1933. A warning for those who use the metro regularly, get ready, cause you will be seeing lots of red within the next few months, or so you would hope. I personally went to around 15 Nationals games when I was home this summer from Nebraska.

Now that I am currently back in school, I envy those (Ben) who will get to go to postseason games. I know that he will be there to support the team as will other “die-hard” fans. But here is a statistic that may surprise some of you. The Nationals currently rank 14th in attendance this year. Yes this is not a bad spot to be in, but the Nationals deserve better. You are looking at one of the best teams in baseball. This is a team that goes out every night and gives it all they got. Harper never takes a play off. Zimmerman, the hometown kid from UVA, has been through the ups and downs, but wanted to stay in DC his whole career, and recently signed an extension. Werth is on the road to redemption after struggling in his first year as a Nat, but is currently the spark they need in the top spot of the order. Desmond is one the top shortstops in baseball and like all the other players, is young.

And then there is the pitching, the best in baseball. This will be a first time for many fans and players in the sense that other than Werth, there is not that much playoff experience on this baseball team. They need your support. This team deserves to sell out EVERY game this postseason. In my opinion we should be selling out all games for the rest of the season. We need to have a home field advantage. I am tired of seeing the Yankees and Phillies come into Nats Park and take over. Sorry if this sounded like a rant, but as a “die-hard” fan, over a thousand miles a way from the District, I challenge you Nats fans. Make it so loud and packed, the whole city can here ya. This is the start of something special. Yes we will see postseason baseball for many years to come, but you never know. This team is something special, and they need you, I need you too. Go out there and “Get Your Red On,” and show all of baseball that the Nats both on the field and in the stands are the best in baseball. Bring home a World Series. #Natitude

By Ian Holleran

Top recruits usually don’t play basketball at Iona. Lamont “MoMo” Jones is an exception. A former top recruit from Oak Hill Academy, MoMo committed to Arizona. Jones played two seasons in Tucson and averaged 9.6 points per game his sophomore year. Instead of returning to Arizona for a junior year, Jones transferred. He wanted to be closer to his family. Jones ended up choosing Iona, and boy are the Gales happy he did. Jones has the Gaels thinking NCCA Tourney this year as he is averaging 16.2 points per game this season. The Gaels are 22-6 and are a team to watch come tournament time. The scary thing is that Jones is not even the leading scorer on his team. Senior Michael Glover is averaging 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.. March Madness is closing coming upon us and we all know anything can happen. With senior leadership like Glover and NBA type talent in junior Lamont Jones, Iona is a team that could not only just pull an upset or two, but have a legitiment chance to make a deep run that could land them a VCU or Mason type run.

After a promising game the night before, the Washington Wizards lost last night in LA to the Clippers by a score of 102-84. Don’t let the score fool you though. The Wizards were down only three at the half and had plenty of chances in the second half to take control of the game. DC had a lead with just under five minutes in the 3rd quarter on a Nick Young three-pointer. The Clippers ended the 3rd on a 8-0 run though and led 74-66 heading into the 4th. What ensued was the Clippers outscoring the Wizards by 10 points in that quarter and winning by 18.

The score looks a lot worse than the actual game though and there are some positives to take. This is the same Clippers team that ran the Wizards out of the Verizon Center just a few weeks before. The Wizards came out this game and played very competitive for most of the game despite just shooting 5-22 for three point land and 39.5% from the field. John Wall led the Wiz Kids with 18 points and 12 assists. JaVale McGee dropped 18 points including some high flying jams. Blake Griffin lead LA with 23 points and 15 boards and former Wizard Caron Butler had 21 points.

Next up for the Wizards is a matchup with Gordon Hayward and the Jazz on Friday in Utah at 9pm EST.

By Ian Holleran

Last night the Washington Wizards defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 124-109. This improved the Wizards to 7-22 on the year and gives them a mere 3 wins on the road. While this win may seem like just another game for a team that has fans more excited for the NBA Lottery rather than the playoffs, there may be some hope. Not only did the Wizards beat Portland by 15, but they did it to a team that had only lost 3 home game prior to losing to the Wizards.

The Wizards came out looking like a team that could compete with anyone. Led by a career-high 35 from the ever so smooth Nick Young, the Wizards shot 60 percent from the field. The Great Wall, aka John Wall, added 29 points and 9 dimes. The Wizards also received solid play from JaVale McGee who added 18 and 11. Another positive to take from last night is the production from the bench. Jordan Crawford poured in 21 and Jan Vesley had a career-high 9 rebounds. If the Wizards can play at this level night in and nigh out, they have a shot to compete. We will find out if this was a sign of things to come or if it was a one hit wonder. The Wizards take on Lob City, aka the LA Clippers, tonight on the road. Tip off is set for 10:30 EST. Check back later for recap from the game.

Check out this video of Highlights from the win

By Ian Holleran