Gilbert's Arena

Team USA Fails Again...

2006-09-01T15:17:00.000-04:00

Watching the US team lose to Greece felt like watching a McDonalds All-American team get smoked by 5 old guys in rec-specs at the YMCA. Athletically, Greece was a joke compared to us, but they figured out our weakness and then exploited it ruthlessly.

USA went up 12 in the 2nd quarter, behind pressure defense that was suffocating the Greeks, and it looked like we were about to run them right out of the building. But then Greece figured out that all they had to do was run a high screen and roll EVERY FREAKING TIME, and they proceeded to wax the floor with us for the final two and a half quarters. They literally ran the exact same high screen and roll play on EVERY possession. Results varied from the ball-handler popping a three when we sagged under, the ball-handler driving to the basket for a layup when we fought over the screen, the screener stepping back for a spot-up jumper when his man jumped out on the ball-handler, or the screener rolling hard to the basket for a layup when we switched. It honestly seemed like Greece must have scored on 20 consecutive possessions in the 3rd quarter.

Beyond the failure to defend the pick-and-roll, there were definitely some other problems. For one, our horrendous free throw shooting killed us. We shot 20 for 34 (58%). We still could have won this game if we had respectable free throw shooting. But more importantly than that, this team just had NO idea how to attack a defense as a team. Our half-court offense was a joke. In fact, I would feel uncomfortable even saying that we had a half-court offense. Unlike in past years, we had guys who could spot up and hit jumpshots, but it doesn't matter if you're not creating open looks through your offense. NBA players only know how to attack 1-on-1, NBA-style. But is it their fault? NBA defensive rules are such that NBA offenses focus on creating mismatches in isolation. You pick which one or two defensive players you want to attack and you pick which one or two guys you want to attack them with. So how you can you take these guys out of their system, throw them onto a team with a bunch of other guys accustomed to that system, and then expect them to know how to attack an entire defense using their entire team in the offensive scheme after 3 weeks of practice? It's just not gonna happen. Combine that with the fact that alot of these guys never learned to play team basketball in high school, and alot of them skipped college or only played for a year or two in systems that were tailored to their individual abilities, and you start to wonder if any Team USA will ever be able to play the game the right way to win internationally. The only hope is that the new Team USA system of 3-year commitments will allow these guys to gel over the next few years, and hopefully begin to add more complexity to their offensive system than just standing and watching Melo, Wade, and James go 1 on 5.

In other news (sort of)...

Just as I expected, Gilbert Arenas's supposed groin injury was a load of BS from Team USA that was designed to let Gil exit the team gracefully without getting formally cut:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/30/AR2006083003244.html

Not surprisingly, Gilbert isn't too happy about it, and he's blaming the assistant coaches, Mike D'Antoni of the Suns and Nate McMillan of the Blazers. He feels like the roster was pre-set before training camp, and that he never really got a fair shot at making the team. But most importantly for Wizards fans, Gilbert is already talking about how he feels disrespected and how he's going to take it out on the league this year. He especially felt slighted by the fact that he's one of the top scorers in the game, yet he was asked to change his game to fit in, whereas LeBron, Melo, and Wade were allowed to be themselves.

Heres a nice juicy quote from Gil that should get any Zards fan REALLY fired up for the 06-07 season...

‘‘I’m going to be the silent assassin,’’ Arenas said. ‘‘I can’t wait to play the Suns and Portland . . . against D’Antoni, I’m going to score 100 in two games.”

Gilbert's dropping AT LEAST 30 a game this year, no question!

Arenas won't play in the World Championships

2006-08-14T23:16:00.000-04:00

With the deadline looming for the USA team to trim their final roster from 14 to 12, Gilbert Arenas made the decision easier for USA officials by pulling out of the tournament with an apparent groin injury. According to National Team Managing Director Jerry Colangelo, Arenas strained his groin in practice on Monday and was sent home as "a precautionary move" since "he has had a history regarding groin pulls". To be honest, I think that Gilbert was going to be cut in the next few days anyway, so this may just be a way to save him some embarrassment. Coach K has been playing Arenas and Bruce Bowen (the likely final cut) less and less, with the pair bottoming out at 6 minutes each in Sunday's win over Lithuania. Every other player got between 10 and 20 minutes.

Coach K has settled into a rotation with Chris Paul running one unit and Kirk Hinrich running the other, and frankly I don't blame him. Both Paul and Hinrich are pass-first point guards, and with the amount of scoring talent on the roster you need a PG who will distribute the ball, not a scoring combo guard like Gilbert. Another factor is that Coach K has stressed intense, full-court, defensive pressure on the ball, and Paul and Hinrich are both much better individual defenders than Gilbert. The final factor is that both Paul and Hinrich can stroke the open 3, so Gilbert doesn't even have an advantage over them in that department.

As strange as it sounds at first, I actually see the fact that Antawn Jamison will be the lone Wizard representing the US in international play this summer as a good sign. It shows that Jerry Colangelo built this team to win in the international game, rather than assembling a roster for star power. Jamison is not nearly the NBA star that Gilbert Arenas has become, but he's a much better fit for this international team than Gilbert would be. As much as Jamison struggles to defend quicker 3's and stronger 4's in the NBA, he can comfortably defend most 4's internationally because they are typically similar to him in terms of size and athleticism, and many prefer to face the basket and shoot jumpers. Additionally, on the offensive end his deadly spot-up shooting is invaluable because it will prevent teams from just sagging back in zones as they did against Allen Iverson, Richard Jefferson, and company in '04.

> In other news...

1. The Zards are still undecided on whether or not to leave Oleksiy Pecherov in Europe for another year. Apparently his rights are owned by a team in the Ukraine, and he was merely on loan to Paris Basket Racing last year. If he stays overseas, the Ukrainian team wants him to play for them, where the level of play is significantly lower than it is France. So now the braintrust is debating whether its worth it for him to get alot of playing time against Ukrainian competition, or if they should just buyout his contract and let him work against our big men in practice every day (and potentially play some games in the D-League).

2. The always amusing acerbic wit of Tom Knott was on full display today as he ripped Isiah Thomas for signing Jared Jeffries. A sample:

<< "What Jared brings to us more so than talent, he brings chemistry," (Isiah) Thomas said. Jeffries also brings an unsettling number of rim-busting layup attempts. This proclivity is not helpful to team chemistry or to a team's points on the scoreboard. >>

Knott also praises Ernie Grunfeld for not matching, predicting that the Zards would have been paying Jeffries big money to be our 8th or 9th man by 2008.

3. Wizards jerseys are only $39.99 during nbastore.com's summer clearance sale. You can also get Arenas or Jamison USA jerseys HERE. I'm excited to pick up the white Arenas #10 USA jersey. But then again, I'm someone whose jersey collection is extensive enough to include Tim Legler and Detlef Schrempf, so you may feel differently.

Off-Season Round-Up

2006-08-09T01:50:00.000-04:00

With Ernie Grunfeld’s recent announcement that this is the team we’re going to camp with, I think it’s about time to do our off-season wrap-up. Here’s what’s gone down over the past few months:

> Eddie Jordan signs a 3-year extension

Locking up Eddie was the key move to our off-season. When was the last time we had a coach who stopped by for longer than a cup of coffee? Here’s Ernie Grunfeld’s take:

"We have a very young and talented team that has made great strides under Eddie's leadership. This contract extension will provide our team with the kind of continuity and stability that we will need to have continued success in the future."

It sounds a bit cookie-cutter, but its true. We’re building a team that fits Eddie’s system, and we’re developing young players who should get better each year.

> Free Agency: Jeffries out, Songaila and Stevenson in

As I said at the end of the season, I expected Ernie to let Jared walk, because somebody out there would offer him more than he was worth. Well, once again, that somebody was Isaiah Thomas, and Knicks fans don’t seem particulary excited about, comparing Jeffries to surprise (to put it nicely) 1st round pick Renaldo Balkman (http://yankees2000.blogspot.com/2006/08/new-knicks.html). Isaiah see’s alot of value in JJ because he’s tall and versatile (and has a good attitude), but the reality is that he just does a lot of things decently. If you’re gonna play a guy 30 mpg who stinks offensively, he better be awesome defensively or on the boards. Jared was merely solid and versatile.

Jared got the full mid-level from the Knicks, as well as some other sweeteners in the deal that only a rich team like the Knicks can pull off, like 80% of his salary getting paid upfront each year. Instead of throwing cash at Jared, the Wizards went out and got incredible deals on 2 players who fit exactly what we need, and for less combined than it would have taken to keep just Jeffries.

First of all, we added a big man whose skills perfectly fit our offense. Darius Songaila had his best year as a pro for the Kings, and its no coincidence that the Kings run the same high-post offense that we do. Songaila has nice range on his jumper, and is very comfortable facing the basket from the top of the key, and at a well built 6’10" he’s comfortable guarding opposing 4’s and 5’s. Don’t be surprised if we go small with Songaila logging minutes at Center over Haywood. The price tag on Songaila? Just over 4 mil a year, a steal.

As for DeShawn Stevenson, I’ve never been a huge fan, but at the price we got him I’m ecstatic. We essentially signed him to a 1-year deal at the veteran minimum ($932,000). All he’s being asked to do is guard the opposing team’s best perimeter player, and he’s a better perimeter defender than last year’s stopper Jeffries. Also, like Ernie said after the signing, DeShawn wants to be here and JJ didn’t: "We feel that we have plenty of players on this team to pick up (Jeffries’) slack. We want players who want to be here and are excited about the situation here."
I also love the fact that Stevenson is both clear on and enthusiastic about his role: “They told me they felt that if they had a defensive stopper in the playoffs for three plays they would've went farther. I'm not saying I'm the best defensive player in the world, but I'm going to go out there and do what I've got to do… (The Wizards) don't have a guy right now who's going to go out there and focus on defense. They have a lot of scorers. I am starting to come into my own, and I know my niche in the league. I have been working on my game, and that is what you have to do to get better in this league. I feel this is a great team for me, a great fit."

I also believe that the unspoken motivation behind letting Jeffries walk was Andray Blatche’s play in summer league. The highlight was a 38-point explosion against the Memphis Grizzlies. In 4 games in the LA Summer Pro League, Andray averaged 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. In the games I saw on NBATV, he continued to show incredible athleticism and quickness for someone 6’11”, and he clearly looks most comfortable playing on the perimeter offensively. The Zards brass are not going to come right out and say that they want Andray to play a bigger role this year, it would be unfair to put pressure like that on such a young kid, but they are in a nice position now where they’d love to see Blatche step up and seize playing time, and if he’s not ready they can lean on Jarvis Hayes and Stevenson to take over Jeffries’ minutes for at least one year (both will likley be FAs next off-season).

> NBA Draft: Zards take two big Euros

Our first round pick was a 6’11” Ukrainian named Oleksiy Pecherov. As I predicted, we went for a face-the-basket 4/5 with excellent range on his jumper. Oleksiy is still under contract in Europe with Paris Basket Racing (Tony Parker’s former team), and given the signing of Songaila who has similar skills, I expect that he will be sent back to France for another year or two of playing time and seasoning. I saw Oleksiy play in 2 summer league games for the Zards, and I liked what I saw. First of all he’s big and rugged. He’s definitely big enough to play Center in the NBA, and he’s not afraid to use his body. He got physical around the basket, and did a nice job on the boards. Second of all, he has range and he’s not afraid to use it. He was letting fly from the NBA 3-point range with no qualms. But despite this perimeter orientation, he didn’t let his size go to waste on the perimeter. Whenever a shot went up, even if it was his own shot, he crashed hard to the rim. He really seemed to like to mix it up, just as much as he liked launching threes. And finally, he could put the ball on the floor. Its amazing to see a guy that large drive into the line and use two or three dribbles, and Oleksiy did it several times with confidence. Final verdict: he’s only 20 years old, he’s gonna log plenty of playing time in France this year, and I really like his prospects down the line to be a Mehmet Okur type offensive player, but with more of an inclination to bang defensively and on the offensive boards.

Our 2nd round pick has a very similar scouting report to Pecherov. He’s a 6’11 forward from Belarus named Vladimir Veremeenko, who has 3-point range, and is comfortable putting the ball on the floor. From what I can tell though, he seems to be a bit more of a 3/4 (slighter build, less inclination to scrap inside) whereas Pecherov is more of a 4/5. There has been very little chatter about Veremeenko, most likely because didn't play in summer league, is under contract with a team in Russia, and is expected to stay there for the time being.

> Gilbert and Antawn are playing in the World Championships

Both of our boys made the cut and will be traveling on the 14-man roster to Asia. I was in Las Vegas last week for the first exhibition game against Puerto Rico, and the team was very impressive. It’s easy to say that it was just Puerto Rico, but that was the same team that beat us 92-73 in the ’04 Olympics. That said, everything changes when we play in foreign arenas.

In Vegas, the team looked VERY different from the ’04 squad. We played defense hard, applying full-court pressure, and bodying up tight in the half-court. Other than Carlos Arroyo, the ball-handlers for Puerto Rico couldn’t take the heat. Our big men were also prepared to contest the perimeter, which is important when we face teams filled with 6’11 jump-shooters. Offensively, we had shooters and pass-first point guards. Chris Paul, LeBron, and Kirk Hinrich were looking to get everyone involved, and guys like Arenas, Jamison, Carmelo, Joe Johnson, and Shane Battier were spotting up and hitting 3’s. We used our defense to create turnovers, and then we pushed the ball in transition to utilize our athleticism. It was EXACTLY how the U.S. needs to play if we want to dominate.

Now on to the big question for Zards fans… how much playing time are Gil and Tawn gonna get? Judging from the first two games (the second was a drubbing of Yao-less China), its impossible to tell, as Coach K split the team into two shifts of 7 and alternated them each quarter. On Tuesday however, against a Brazil team featuring Leandro Barbosa, former Spur Alex Garcia, NBA prospect Tiago Splitter, and Anderson “Side Show Bob” Varejao, Coach K seemed to go with more of a set rotation. Unfortunately Gilbert got treated like he does in the All-Star game, logging a team-low 6 minutes. The starters were Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony (has been on fire offensively in the exhibition games), Lebron, and Dwight Howard (who was an absolute rebounding monster against Puerto Rico), but Elton Brand, Joe Johnson, and Kirk Hinrich came off the bench to log significant minutes along side Lebron and Chris Paul. Hopefully Coach K was just giving Hinrich an extended look, and those minutes will go to Arenas once the World Championships roll around. Given Hinrich’s significant defensive advantage over Arenas however, I wouldn’t count on it.

> 2006-2007 schedule

The Zards schedule was released about a week ago, and our opening game will be a rematch on national television (ESPN) against the Cavs. The excitement of last season's first round match-up with Cleveland clearly caught the attention of the rest of the league, and it looks like the NBA wants to push a nice little rivalry between the teams, and between Gil and LeBron.

We are scheduled for eight games on ESPN, one on TNT, and at least one on ABC. That means that on average the Wizards will be on national TV at least once or twice a month. Bring on the national exposure!

> Expected 06-07 Rotation

1: Arenas, Daniels
2: Hayes, Stevenson
3: Butler, Blatche
4: Jamison, Songaila, Ruffin
5: Haywood, Etan
Pine: Booth, Taylor, Ramos
15th Roster Spot: Is it a camp battle between Awvee Storey and Billy Thomas, or will Grunfeld unearth someone new?

The Wizards potentially have a rotation that could go 11 deep this year, with Calvin Booth, Donell Taylor, and Party John Ramos the only players guaranteed to ride pine. Like I said before, don't be surprised if you see a line-up with Songaila starting at the 5. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Stevenson start at the 2 as a defensive stopper, with Jarvis Hayes coming off the bench as a primary scorer in the 2nd unit.

> LESS THAN 2 MONTHS UNTIL TRAINING CAMP STARTS

In the meantime, enjoy Gilbert and Antawn in the World Championships:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/photo?slug=getty-71491085nb002_usa_portrait_5_11_41_pm&prov=getty

And don't forget to vote on the newest Wizards dancer:
http://www.nba.com/wizards/dance/pick_a_dancer0607.html

Ladies and gentlemen, the Gilbert’s Arena mock draft!

2006-06-06T17:25:00.000-04:00

This draft lacks a clear hierarchy at the top, but it’s incredibly deep. There are going to be some excellent players that come out of the late 1st round and the 2nd round of this draft.

My mock is a combination of who I like personally and who I think teams will actually take. Sometimes I go for who I would take. Other times, I just don’t think the drafting team would agree with me, so I try to read their mind. The blurb for each pick should make my rationale more clear.

It’s probably a bad idea to permanently post something like this on the internet, so that people can see what an idiot I am for years to come. Oh well, here goes nothing:

> 1 – Toronto: Andrea Bargnani – Combo Forward, Benetton Treviso (Italy)

Obviously I’ve never seen Bargnani play, but Brian Colangelo seems like someone who would jump at the opportunity to draft the next Dirk. And unlike Darko Milicic when he went #2 to the Pistons, Bargnani is actually a solid contributor for one of the top club teams in Europe. So in terms of immediate impact, don’t think Darko, think Pau Gasol. Comparison: Dirk

> 2 – Chicago: LaMarcus Aldridge – PF, Texas

LaMarcus Aldridge fits an immediate need at the 4 for the Bulls. Tyson Chandler is a defender and rebounder at the 5, so the Bulls are in desperate need of a scoring big-man to fill the hole left by Eddy Curry’s departure. Aldridge has a nice mid-range post-game that reminds me in a lot of ways of Jermaine O’Neal. That said, the Bulls might want to trade this pick for a veteran, given the overall youth of the squad. Comparison: Jermaine O’Neal

> 3 – Charlotte: Tyrus Thomas – PF, LSU

I’m not as high on Tyrus Thomas as everyone else seems to be. Some people compare him to Shawn Marion, but I don’t see Marion’s ball-handling skills or jump-shot. And until I see an indication that Thomas can develop his non-athleticism skills, it seems like a huge risk to spend a pick this high on him. Ideally, he’d go back for another year, and we would see what kind of skill progression he is capable of. At the moment, the player he most reminds me of is another undersized, low-skill, high-athleticism PF, Kenyon Martin. Comparison: Kenyon Martin

> 4 – Portland: Adam Morrison – SF, Gonzaga

I think Adam Morrison is going to be a bust, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Portland took him here and turned around and dealt Darius Miles to try to win back some fan support. It’s tough to be an All-Star swingman at the NBA level when you have a 12-inch vertical and a complete lack of lateral quickness. Morrison’s not going to overpower anyone either, so I’m not exactly sure how he’s going to score at the pro level. And he can’t guard anyone either. So yea, good luck with that. Comparison: Ed O’Bannon

> 5 – Atlanta: Randy Foye – Combo Guard, Villanova

Foye could be very successful at the NBA level if he lands with a team that doesn’t try to force him into a specific PG or SG role. He just needs to be a Guard. Atlanta could pair him with Joe Johnson in the back court, run a fast-paced offense, and really have an exciting young team along with Josh Smith and Marvin Williams. It’s tough to come up with a good NBA comparison for Foye, because I really think he’s a unique player. Comparison: Gilbert Arenas

> 6 – Minnesota: Rudy Gay – SF, UConn

Nobody’s gotten a more unjustified bad rap this season than Rudy Gay. As the youngest core player on a stacked team with a strict coach, how can you expect him to take all the shots and demand the ball in clutch situations? Cocky, veteran leaders like Marcus Williams and Rashad Anderson aren’t about to just turn the reins over to a 19-year-old, not matter how talented. Even so, playing within the UConn system and letting the game come to him, Gay led the Huskies in scoring and steals, and finished just behind Armstrong and Boone in rebounds and blocked shots. His game is perfectly suited to the 3 position in the NBA, and the Wolves should pounce all over him if he’s available at #6. Comparison: Rashard Lewis

> 7 – Boston: Rajon Rondo – PG, Kentucky

Rondo is a tremendous athlete and energetic floor leader who was trapped in the wrong offensive system at Kentucky. In an open-court game, his defensive tenacity and speed would be devastating. His upside reminds me of TJ Ford or Tony Parker, however he is a far better rebounder than either. Like Ford and Parker, his shot is pretty awful, but on a team like Boston he could get to the rim or feed shooters like Pierce, Szczerbiak, and West. Comparison: TJ Ford, Tony Parker

> 8 – Houston: Brandon Roy – SG, Washington

Brandon Roy keeps getting mentioned as a higher and higher pick, and I’m not exactly sure why. He’s a nice player, but he doesn’t do anything particularly well. He’s not overly quick, he’s not particularly athletic, he doesn’t handle the ball or see the floor like a PG, he’s a little short to play SF, and he’s not a lights out 3-point shooter. So where’s his niche in the NBA? I don’t see him being anything better than a nice complimentary player on a good team. Is that worth a top-10 pick? Comparison: Mo Peterson

> 9 – Golden State: Marcus Williams – PG, UConn

Marcus Williams is old school. He plays at a steady place, looks for his teammates first, and will make you pay if you leave him open. And when its crunch time, he has no fear of taking the shots. Throw in his high dribble, and there are two obvious old school comparisons for Marcus... Comparison: Mark Jackson, Rod Strickland

> 10 – Seattle: Shelden Williams – PF, Duke

I expect a tremendous instant impact from Shelden Williams. Much like happened with Carlos Boozer, I think we get so overexposed to Duke big men that we forget what they are capable of and start looking elsewhere for guys with more upside. In reality, how is Shelden Williams any different from Emeka Okafor two years ago? Similar height, same shot-blocking defensive impact, and both have efficient post games that feature a jump-hook. Comparison: Emeka Okafor

> 11 – Orlando: Rodney Carney – SF, Memphis

In my mind, Carney is the most overlooked player in the draft. I would have no qualms taking him in the top-5. He’s an absolute FREAK of an athlete, and he improved his 3-point shooting ever year, to the point where he now hits at a 40% clip. With his size, speed, jumping ability, and jump-shot, how can you stop him from scoring? Comparison: Jason Richardson, Shawn Marion, Richard Jefferson

> 12 – New Orleans: Patrick O’Bryant – C, Bradley

I wouldn’t be shocked if O’Bryant ends up going higher, due to the dearth of legit Center prospects in this draft. Especially if he impresses in workouts. From what I saw of O’Bryant in the NCAA tournament, he could be an impact pivot player in the league. He looks to be a legit 7-feet, and was very nimble and athletic. Comparison: Robert Swift (I’m high on Robert Swift’s potential, so that was a compliment)

> 13 – Philly: Kyle Lowry – PG, Villanova

I’m not sold on Lowry’s NBA potential yet, as I think he benefited from all the attention that Randy Foye and Allan Ray drew, and I’d like to see how he could step up on his own. However, if the Sixers decide to move Iverson, a local product with an NBA body, quickness, and strength like Lowry could be a tempting replacement. Comparison: Jameer Nelson

> 14 – Utah: Ronnie Brewer – SG, Arkansas

For some reason, I’ve just never seen this guy play. I guess they just don’t show a lot of Arkansas games in the northeast? Utah needs a SG badly, and I feel like saying JJ Redick to Utah is just a knee-jerk reaction to the fact that Utah is a Mormon state and once featured a white-wash backcourt of Stockton and Hornacek. Comparison: N/A

> 15 – New Orleans: Shawne Williams – SF, Memphis

A ton of talent, but seems undisciplined and raw. Definitely a boom or bust pick, and 15 seems like a good time to try it. Comparison: Eddie Robinson

> 16 – Chicago: Hilton Armstrong – C, UConn

He’s big. He’s athletic. He can rebound. He can block shots. He has no offensive game to speak of. Comparison: Joel Przybilla

> 17 – Indiana: JJ Redick – SG, Duke

JJ should stick around the league for a long time due to his 3-point shooting, but I don’t know if he’ll be a starter since his lack of quickness could spell doom on the defensive end. Comparison: Voshon Lenard, Jeff Hornacek

> 18 – Washington: Alexander Johnson – PF, Florida State

This may seem a bit high to some who don’t know his name, but I think he could really be a nice fit for the Zards. He’s 6’9, he can run the floor, he’s extremely athletic, he has range out to the college 3-point line, and he showed his dedication last off-season by hiring a dietician and slimming down to 225. I harped all season on the need for the Zards to ditch B-Wood for more athletic big-men who can run the floor with Gil/Caron and hit a jumper from the high-post to open up our half-court Princeton sets. Johnson is exactly that kind of player. Comparison: David West

> 19 – Sacramento: Tiago Splitter – PF/C, Tau Ceramica (Spain)

I haven’t caught any Tau games lately, but I’ve read that Splitter is a tough, strong PF. It seems like he’s been a draft prospect for the past 5 years. Apparently he still has a huge buyout, so he’d have to go to a team like Sacramento that can afford to wait on him. Comparison: N/A

> 20 – New York: Mardy Collins – Combo Guard, Temple

Whenever I’ve watched Temple games, I’ve been underwhelmed by Collins. He’s not particularly great in any aspect, but he’s 6’6” and can play the point, and you know how NBA scouts inexplicably get their knickers in a bunch when it comes to tall PGs. Comparison: Reece Gaines, Jeryl Sasser

> 21 – Phoenix: Jordan Farmar – PG, UCLA

He’d be a nice back-up and potential long-term replacement to the injury prone and aging Steve Nash. Especially since it’s becoming more and more clear that Leandro Barbosa isn’t really a PG. Comparison: Mike Bibby

> 22 – New Jersey: Olexsiy Pecherov – PF, Paris Basket Racing (France)

The Nets need a skilled PF, and scouts say this guy should fall in this range. Comparison: N/A

> 23 – New Jersey: Leon Powe – PF, Cal

I love Leon Powe. He’s tremendously skilled and a rugged rebounder. If it wasn’t for his knee injury after his freshman year, he could have been a potential top-5 pick. I expect the Nets to use both their picks on big guys, and Powe could be a steal in this spot. NBA Comparison: Ike Diogu

> 24 – Memphis: Mohamed Saer Sene – C, Verviers-Pepinster (Belgium)

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Sene at the moment. Supposedly he’s tremendously raw offensively, but an outstanding defensive force and an extremely active player. Comparison: Theo Ratliff

> 25 – Cleveland: Shannon Brown – Combo Guard, Michigan State

Lacks the size to play the 2 and I don’t think he handles well enough to play the 1, but he’s a great athlete and an excellent scorer. He could fit well with a player like LeBron who dominates the ball in most cases anyway. Comparison: Bobby Jackson

> 26 – LA Lakers: Quincy Douby – Combo Guard, Rutgers

If he played somewhere other than Rutgers, Douby would be getting more hype. He can shoot the lights out from three, and he’s also very versatile in his ability to defend and play some point guard. He’d be a nice pseudo-point guard in the triangle offense. Comparison: Ron Harper, Derek Anderson

> 27 – Phoenix: Maurice Ager – SG, Michigan State

Ager was the best player on a team that featured two other potential first rounders, Shannon Brown and Paul Davis. He has the size, athleticism, and jumper to succeed at the 2 in the NBA, so why is nobody talking about him? Is this another Michael Redd situation where people inexplicably ignored him in the period leading up to the draft? Comparison: Latrell Sprewell

> 28 – Dallas: Guillermo Diaz – SG, Miami

Diaz is an undersized, athletic, gunning SG with a questionable attitude. Somebody will take a chance on him. Comparison: Dejuan Wagner

> 29 – New York: Cedric Simmons – PF, NC State

Has been rated a lot higher than this in most mock drafts, but I don’t see it. He had one good game against Duke, but I don’t think it was indicative of his level of play all-season. He seems to be a bit slow-footed to me, and I’ve never seen the “excellent athleticism” that he’s reported to have. Comparison: Melvin Ely

> 30 – Portland: James White – SF, Cincinnati

Coming out of high school, James White was overrated. He was a tremendous athlete with very little skill or basketball acumen. Everyone wrote him off after he was an early bust, but he quietly improved his game from year to year, and he finally put it all together last year for Cincinnati. Comparison: Stacey Augmon

My favorite sleepers:

> PJ Tucker – SF, Texas

He can flat out play, and he was the unquestioned leader of a stacked Texas squad. In my mind, he’s this year’s Josh Howard, in similarity of both game and circumstance. Teams will overlook his success at the college level, and they’ll all be surprised when he continues to do the same things in the pros that he did at Texas. I don’t see why he can’t find success as a rugged 3 in the NBA. Comparison: Josh Howard, George Lynch

> Mike Gansey – SG, West Virginia

I personally would draft Mike Gansey before I took JJ Redick. He can shoot just as well, but he’s much more athletic and far more versatile. And he’s a scrappy leader. Comparison: Luther Head

> Kevin Pittsnogle – PF/C – West Virginia

Pittsnogle would be a great fit at back-up Center for the Zards. He could stretch opposing Centers all the way out to the NBA three-point line. Comparison: Sam Perkins

> Denham Brown – SG, UConn

He’s a tough defender and he has NBA three-point range. That’s a recipe for a long career. Comparison: Aaron McKie

> Ryan Hollins – C, UCLA

He’s a legit 7-feet and he’s freakishly athletic. So what’s the problem here??? Comparison: Sam Dalembert, Dan Gadzuric

> Gerry McNamara – PG, Syracuse

He’s quick, he’s a leader, he can shoot the lights out, he gets a ton of assists, he comes up big in big games... so why doesn’t anyone talk about him? I don’t see why he can’t at least be a solid back-up PG. Comparison: Speedy Claxton

Some other guys that I think have a chance to stick around the league:

> Dee Brown – PG, Illinois

His jumpshot is inconsistent, and he’s never seemed like a great playmaker at the Point, but his speed and energy alone should make him a pesky defender and fit well with a high-pace team. I would jump all over him if I was drafting early in the 2nd round.

> Richard Roby – SG, Colorado

I’ve never seen him play, but my boy Mike says he’s legit. Apparently he’s got an NBA body and can really stroke it.

> Allan Ray – SG, Villanova

Everyone focuses on Foye and Lowry at Villanova, and it seems like Ray has slipped through the cracks. He’s smaller and not as strong as Foye, but he could be a decent bench scorer.

> Pops Mensah-Bonsu – SF, George Washington

He’s got an NBA body and athleticism. If he can play lock-down defense and continue to improve his skills, he might carve out a nice career for himself.

> Daniel Gibson – Combo Guard, Texas

He can shoot, but he’s tiny as a SG and hasn’t yet learned to run the point. Where do you play him?

> Josh Boone – PF/C, UConn

Big and strong but kind of a stiff. Reminds me of someone like Chris Taft.

> Steve Novak – Combo Forward, Marquette

He’s tall and can launch 3’s, but he’s skinny and slow. Could be useful off the bench.

> Hassan Adams – SG, Arizona

Tremendous athlete, but shaky ball skills. Reminds me of former USC Guard Jeff Trepagnier.

> David Noel – SF, UNC

He won’t blow you away, but he’s strong, smart, tough, and athletic. He’s kind of a poor man’s PJ Tucker, if that makes any sense. He could do some nice things off the bench for an NBA team.

> Daniel Horton – PG, Michigan

I always liked Horton, but he never could win at Michigan and was always overshadowed by other Big Ten PGs. When he gets away from the mediocre coach and mediocre talent at Michigan, I’m hoping Horton will show what he’s capable of.

> Eric Williams – PF, Wake Forest

He’s undersized at the 4, but he uses his body well to get off his go-to hook in the post. In the end though, his lack of size and lack of athleticism are probably the kiss of death. Think Lonnie Baxter.

> James Augustine – PF/C, Illinois

If he can hit 10 to 15 footers with consistency, run the floor, defend opposing 5’s, and rebound his position, Augustine will stick around.

Bum City:

> Aaron Gray – C, Pitt

Too slow-footed and lacks touch. He missed WAY too many easy shots at the college level.

> Paul Davis – PF, Michigan State

He was outrageously hyped out of high school, but his mediocre athleticism doomed him. I don’t see how any part of his game translates to the NBA, other than the ability to occasionally hit a 15-footer.

> Nick Fazekas – Combo Forward, Nevada

Similar to Steve Novak, but taller, skinnier, and more awkward.

> Darius Washington – PG, Memphis

I wouldn’t touch this guy with a 10-foot pole. He thinks he’s Allen Iverson, but he’s not nearly as talented, and he plays out of control.

> Carl Krauser – PG, Pitt

He’s had an eye on the NBA for a long time, but he never developed his jump shot, and he lacks top-end quickness.

> Taquan Dean – SG, Lousville

I just don’t think he can compete athletically at the 2, and he never showed any PG skills.

> Marco Killingsworth – PF, Indiana

Undersized, a bit stiff, and can only use one hand.

> Mustafa Shakur – PG, Arizona

Shakur is another extremely hyped high school player who never developed his game at the college level. His jump shot is iffy and he lacks NBA quickness.

> Craig Smith – SF?/PF?, Boston College

Has an outside shot if he can slim WAY down and convince someone he can play the 3.

> Aaron Afflalo – SG, UCLA

He’s a nice complimentary college player.

Ernie Grunfeld talks to the media

2006-05-19T11:49:00.000-04:00

Inside Hoops recently posted a full transcript of Ernie Grunfeld's post-season press conference. Here is the full transcript, interspersed with my reaction to and analysis of each of his statements:

On the end of the season: “I think right now we are all disappointed on how the season ended for us. We played a very exciting series against Cleveland. I just finished meeting with most of our players and they all feel like we should still be playing -- and that’s good. The series hurt them and bothered them. At the same time, it gave the players added motivation for next year. We are very excited for what the future holds for us. I think the players are going to use this series as extra motivation to come back and be ready for next season. Our players understand what’s expected of them. They are very competitive and they have a lot of pride, and I think they showed that with the resiliency they showed after some tough losses this year.”

I still believe we were the better team than the Cavs, and look what they’ve gone on to do against Detroit. Say what you will, but this team as constructed could have done some damage in these playoffs (at least until we played the Heat…)

On his goals: “When I first got here we said our goal was to become perennial playoff contenders. We just made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in 18 years. I think we have put ourselves in a position where we have achieved some of those goals. I think the nucleus and the core of this team is set going forward, where we can remain competitive. We have a very good core of young players. This is still a very good, young team. I think we learned a lot from this playoff experience and our players still have a lot of room for growth.”

It's crucial that Zards fans maintain perspective on how far we've come in just 2 years. Let’s take things one goal at a time. Goal #1 was to become a perennial playoff team. Check. Now we have to build our young nucleus into a championship contender. It doesn’t happen overnight.

On the focus of the off-season: “The main focus we are going to have for this off-season is to have our player development in place. That is the only thing we can control. We can’t control what type of trades there may be out there or things of that nature, but player development is in our own hands and our players still have room for growth. I think overall we are heading in the right direction. I think this year’s team has shown that when we play up to our abilities we can compete with anyone in the league. We have had some big wins over the top teams in the league this season. We have shown that we can play at the highest level. I am excited about next year and I am excited about the future of this franchise.”

A basketball skill-set is not a static thing. People underrate development, both on an individual basis and a team basis. Most basketball players don’t peak until their late 20’s. And basketball teams only improve as teammates get used to playing with each other, learning each others strengths and weaknesses, etc.

On the biggest area for improvement: “We all know, the coaching staff and the players included, that we have to become a better defensive team. I think everybody realizes that and it is something that we have to continue to work at. Defense is a team thing. If you look at the Detroit Pistons or some of the other better defensive teams you have to play overall team defense. If you are naming individual defensive players there isn’t a player in this league that is going to shut down another player, except for maybe Bruce Bowen. Besides that you have to help your teammates. I think we have several players on this team that have the ability to be very good team defensive players. Caron and Antonio have shown the ability to be good defenders. Jared is a defensive player and we have shot blockers back there. Everybody has to improve overall, individually, and from a team standpoint. I think the coaches and the players realize that. Eddie has said that several of the players, like Antawn and Gilbert, have said that if we are going to make another significant move we have to improve defensively.”

Our team defense breaks down for 2 reasons: individual weak links and incessant switching.

First of all, Gilbert and Antawn play HORRENDOUS on the ball defense, which puts far too much pressure on the rest of the team to rotate and cover for them. Antawn just doesn’t have the lateral quickness to stay in front of 3’s or the strength to bang with 4’s, which is why I think he’ll be more suited to an instant-offense role off the bench as he moves into his 30’s. Gilbert on the other hand, SHOULD be an excellent defender. I just don’t think he focuses on it, or necessarily realizes that he’s not playing up to his potential. Hopefully this will come with age and maturation.

And then of course, there’s the incessant switching. When you already have weak individual links in the defense, and then you switch on every single screen, it further increases the amount of scrambling we end up doing. We give up an insane amount of easy buckets due to confusion on a switch or a horrendous mismatch created by switching. The switching also enables guys like Gilbert to feel comfortable laying off a defender and sagging under screens. It promotes defensive passivity. We need to change our defensive mindset, by locking up man-to-man and fighting through screens. Take responsibility for your man and lock him down. Defense is as much a mindset as a skill. Switching should only be employed as a secondary strategy to throw different looks at an offense.

On the future: “I think we’re getting closer to where we want to be, and I think we’ve shown that we can compete against the best teams. We can go win a road game in Phoenix or win a road game in Denver, and beat San Antonio and beat Detroit in Detroit. I think that one of the things that we have to do next year is play more consistent basketball through the course of the season. But when you make changes it takes time for the cohesiveness to come together.”

I would like to think that our inconsistency in this manner (beating champs, losing to chumps) is entirely due to immaturity. It’s so easy to forget how young we are. As a team we need to learn to come to play every night, and our best player (Gilbert) needs to learn how to help the team win when his shot’s not falling. He needs to be better at getting his teammates involved and taking over the game in other ways than burying 3’s.

On contending for a Championship: “It doesn’t happen over night. You get knocked around a little bit before you start knocking everyone else around a little bit. It depends on how our players develop. It depends on how much we improve as a unit. Just because you have some core players that you feel comfortable with, doesn’t mean that you don’t tweak the roster a little bit to improve in certain areas. That’s what we do, but having said that, I feel comfortable with what we have and we’re confident that when these players are hitting on all cylinders, we can compete with anybody in the league.”

It doesn’t happen overnight, unless you’re LeBron James.

On making the playoffs again: “We wanted to be a playoff team. You don’t go from not being in the playoffs for four or five years to winning a Championship overnight. It’s a process. You have to build it. You have to get a core group together, and then you have to keep that core group together. You just have to pay your dues in playoff type situations. Sometimes they aren’t pleasant. This was not a pleasant series for us but I think it’s a series that we can learn from and will learn from. We put ourselves in a position to advance, but unfortunately some things did not go our way down the stretch. I’ve never seen a playoff series where you lose three one-point games all on buzzer beaters, but those are the kind of things that we can’t let happen in the future. I think our players learned from that and hopefully we won’t repeat those things next year. We’ll give Cleveland credit. They made the big shots when they had to, and from a fans standpoint, it was an incredibly exciting series -- hard fought, exciting plays, a lot of energy, a lot of intensity, and hopefully we can play Cleveland again in the future. That’s the way rivalries are built. Rivalries are not built in the regular season. They are built in the playoffs.”

I’m a little nervous about our tendency to say: “We should have won this series, but we just missed shots at the buzzer.” When you’re going up against a great player like LeBron, you can’t give him the opportunity to win games at the end, and you can’t give the refs the opportunity to take the game away from you either. You have to go out and win the game in the first 47 minutes. We had control of several games in this series, only to let the lead slip away before falling to LeBron and the refs at the buzzer.

On Eddie Jordan: “I think Eddie has done a terrific job here. We went to the playoffs each of the last two years. The players have improved. We fought hard every night, and I think he has done a very good job for us.”On Eddie Jordan’s contract: “We’ll have internal discussions about that. We’ll sit with Mr. Pollin as the summer progresses and we’ll have discussions about that. We’ll have discussions about our players and we’ll have discussions about what direction this team is going. There is no timeframe for anything. Right now we are still hurting and smarting from the playoff elimination and I think that’s healthy. All of these issues will take care of themselves as the summer goes along and we’ll continue to have our internal discussions.”

I really can’t get any kind of read on what Grunfeld’s thinking regarding EJ. Part of me says that he’s going to renew his contract, but hes just being Grunfeld, not revealing his hand to the media, being patient, waiting to see how things shake out this off-season. Or maybe he’s planning on replacing him with a guy of his choosing (Pollin hired EJ before he hired Grunfeld), so he’s just biding his time to see what the coaching market looks like? I don’t know, but personally I would reward EJ for taking this team from Hawks/Raptors territory to the playoff promised land, and helping Gilbert turn into an All-Pro, Antawn into an All-Star, and Caron into a potential All-Star.

On the team: “I’m comfortable with what we have because I think we’ve shown that we can compete at the highest level – against anybody. Having said that, you always look for things to see if you can make your team better. I think we’ve shown in our three years here that if the right opportunity presents itself that we’re not afraid to pull the trigger. The only thing that we can control is what we have under our roof currently. I feel good about what we have under our roof currently and we have to take a very aggressive stand in terms of developing those players and making them better and making them more cohesive. It will help having another year under our belt to learn each other. This playoff run wasn’t just about the playoffs itself, but in fighting to get to the playoffs and fighting to get home court advantage and fighting to get the best possible seed. This group went through a lot of tough times together. They played some big, big must win games – not only in the playoffs but in the regular season, and I think that’s going to be beneficial to this group in the future.”

Ernie’s starting to sound like a broken record, but I find it reassuring that he’s so adamant about taking the prudent long-term strategy: be patient, plan on building around our core, but don’t be afraid to pull the trigger on the right opportunity.

On the core: “Gilbert Arenas has made great strides in the last three years. He has become a real superstar in this league and everybody has acknowledged that. He is a great competitor. Players like Caron (Butler), Antawn (Jamison), and Antonio (Daniels) have provided a lot for us and they can still get better. We have young role players in Jared Jeffries, Brendan (Haywood), Etan (Thomas) and Andray Blatche and Donell Taylor -- who are both very young. We feel like this core can stay together for quite some time. Obviously we are always looking for ways to improve and tweak it, and the draft is coming up, so we will see what that holds for us.”

Average age of Ernie’s core (as listed above): 25

On Caron Butler: “Caron brings a lot to the table. He’s an extremely well rounded player. He can do a lot of different things out there on the floor. He’s very tough and hard nosed. He has a swagger about him -- a confidence that is very important. That rubs off on his teammates. And he fills up the stats sheet. He gets his points and rebounds. He had 20 rebounds in that last contest – that’s unheard of for a small forward, but he’s that type of player. He can get his own shots. He gets steals and he gets assists and I think if he can continue to improve, he has All-Star potential.”

Prediction: The next non-Gilbert Wizards All-Star won’t be Antawn, it will be Caron. Kwame for Caron was an absolute STEAL.

2 key indicators:

1) Caron’s improvement as his first season with the Zards went on:

February – 17 pts on 47% shooting, 7 boards, 1.5 steals
March – 19 pts on 47% shooting, 7 boards, 1.5 steals
April – 23.5 pts on 51% shooting, 9 boards, 3 steals

2) Larry Hughes’ year-to-year improvement as he got more comfortable playing in EJ’s offense with Gilbert and Antawn. I expect similar improvement from Caron, since so much of our offense is reading and reacting based on a) the defense and b) the movements of your teammates:

Hughes 03/04 – 19 pts on 40% shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists
Hughes 04/05 – 22 pts on 43% shooting, 6 rebounds, 5 assists

On Jarvis Hayes: “He’s doing extremely well. He’s right on track. I met with him today and his attitude has been terrific. Injuries are something that you can’t ever tell about but our doctors tell us that he should see a 100% recovery. He’s going to start running full speed in another three or four weeks so we have four or five months to get ready for the regular season. He’s shown that he has legitimate NBA talent. He’s very versatile. He’s a good defender. He can really spread the defense with his outside shooting ability, and he’s very athletic. He’s a very solid NBA player and we’re excited for him to be 100% healthy.”

As I’ve said before, Jarvis could be a real key for the Zards next year. Losing Caron for 5 games at the end of the season really shined a spotlight on how lackluster our scoring punch is beyond the Big 3. If we let Jared Jeffries go, Jarvis could even wind-up starting for us on the wing next to Butler. At the very least, he’ll be one of our first options off the bench and a primary scorer in our 2nd unit.

On Jared Jeffries: “Jared is a restricted free agent which means that we can match any offer that he may have. We had discussions with Jared about an extension last summer but we could not come to any kind of terms. At the appropriate time we will sit down with him and his representatives and see where we are. I think Jared showed improvement this season. He is a very versatile player and a very solid contributor for us.”

I believe Ernie when he claims to have no idea how the Jeffries situation will play out. Jared obviously has value to our team due to his work ethic, team-first attitude, and versatility, but Ernie WILL NOT overpay to keep him. I’m sure that Ernie has an exact price in his mind for what Jeffries is worth to the team without jeopardizing our future cap flexibility (much like with Larry Hughes last year), but due to the fact that we can match any offer, I am sure that he will let the market set the price for Jared. Given that this year’s free agent class is one of the worst in recent memory, and Jared is 24-years-old and 6’11”, I am willing to bet that someone will sign him to an offer sheet that’s higher than we’re prepared to match.

On the frontcourt: “I think our big people had some success – and we’d like to see more consistency from them. That is one of the toughest positions in this league to fill. If you look around the league, I think the game has changed drastically over the last five or six years. Very few teams have dominant big men. You might have two or three low-post dominant players in the league – Shaq, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming – after that, players become more perimeter oriented. I think the game has changed because of the zone. If you look at some of the best teams in the league, like Dallas and Phoenix, they didn’t have any kind of low post presence to speak of this season. Brendan Haywood had some good moments playing against Ilgauskas. He neutralized Ilgauskas in the playoffs and Ilgauskas was really their second option. For us, that was a nice performance from that standpoint. I think he has room for growth. Etan had a lot of injuries last year. He had some situations that he had to deal with and I think he has the opportunity to provide some good things for us. We all know that the strength of our ballclub, especially from an offensive standpoint, comes from the perimeter from Gilbert, Antawn and Caron. They are the highest scoring trio in the league and there is a lot to be said for that. Our offense comes through them, but we do need more from our big people up front and I think that the players that we have, have the ability to improve and to get better. We didn’t have a real problem in the regular season as far as rebounding, but I don’t think anybody questions that from a defensive standpoint we have to do a better job overall protecting the paint.”

Ernie makes an excellent point that the game is changing in terms of big men. That’s why I think we should trade Haywood now, to a team that doesn’t necessarily recognize the decreased value of a traditional 7-foot sloth. He’s just 26, his contract is extremely reasonable, and GMs like Isiah Thomas and Billy Knight are still running teams (into the ground). There are two kinds of big men we should focus on in the draft, trades, and free agency:

1) High-post jump-shooters:

a. Why? It will open up our offense far more than a traditional post scoring threat. The Princeton O is designed to set-up high and free up the baseline for backdoor cuts, lay-ups, and attacking perimeter scorers. A jump-shooting big man would draw opposing shot-blockers out of the paint, and make Gilbert, Caron, Antawn, and AD that much more effective.

b. Who? Brad Miller, Primoz Brezec, Joakim Noah, Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, Eddie Griffin, Zach Randolph, David West, Rasheed Wallace, Troy Murphy, Brian Cook, Channing Frye, Kevin Pittsnogle

2) Athletic big guys who run the floor, rebound, and finish at the rim:

a. Why? They fit in well with our running game. They can get up and down the floor with Gilbert, Caron, and AD, and they can get their points by finishing on the break-up, following up missed shots when our guards attack, and tracking down long rebounds off missed perimeter jumpers.

b. Who? Marcus Camby, Tyson Chandler, Stromile Swift, Chris Wilcox, Nene, Dan Gadzuric, Hakim Warrick, Drew Gooden, Eddie Griffin, Anderson Varejao, Darko, Jason Maxiell, Ronny Turiaf

On competition for playing time: “I’m glad that players aren’t happy when they’re benched because that tells me that they care enough to get their positions back. This is a competitive situation and the coach is going to put the players out there that he feels is going to help him win the most. I think it was a healthy competition during the season between Brendan and Etan. Etan started at the end of the season a little bit and Brendan started most of the year. Brendan is a professional. He works hard and he is going to show steady improvement. He is only 26 years old, as is Etan, and they still have plenty of room for growth.”

I’ve said it a million times this season… we are a much better team with Etan or Ruffin in there (or even with Jeffries at the 5) letting the Big 3 take the shots, focusing on rebounding position and running the floor, than we are with Big Wood posting-up and taking 8-foot fade-aways.

On ways to improve: “We have our first round pick this year and we have our second round pick. Last year we only had a second round pick and we got Andray Blatche -- who we feel has a lot of potential. This is going to be a very important summer for him and a very important summer for Donell Taylor and Peter Ramos to see what they can do and what they can give us. We’re going to spend a lot of time with them. They are going to be playing in summer league. They are going to be here working out – working on their individual skills, getting stronger, getting in condition. I think that for those that saw those young players play, they had some real good moments. Obviously they need more playing time and they need to be part of the mix. They need to get their confidence level up and I think that those players have a chance to be solid NBA players.”

This is a big summer for Blatche. He has as much potential as anyone in last year’s draft; I honestly believe that. I’d put him up there with Bogut, Williams, Williams, Paul, Villanueva, Frye, Bynum, and Green. How many guys in the league at Blatche’s size have his combination of skill and athleticism? I want Blatche to show this off-season that he’s willing to work to improve his game and earn a spot in next year’s rotation.

On potential additions in the off-season: “I think we’ve shown that we’re not afraid to pull the trigger, but the Yao Mings and Shaquilles don’t just grow on trees and plop into your hands that easily. To get something really good, you have to give up something really good also. If we were going to get one of those types of players, another General Manager isn’t just going to hand me something on a silver platter. We want to improve in every area, and I think we have people in place to do the job.”

It's so nice to finally have a GM who knows what he's doing!!

What to expect from Gilbert's Arena this off-season

2006-05-18T16:15:00.000-04:00

As you’ve probably figured out by now, my posting in the summer months is going to be a lot less frequent. Between my trip to Germany for the World Cup, moving across the country (Boston to San Fran), and the fact that the Wizards aren’t actually playing any games, it’s going to be tough to maintain my in-season posting regimen. That said, I will try to react to any Wizards news that does pop-up, and of course I will try to post about the draft and free agency.

Going into the off-season, here are some dates to keep in mind:

> NBA Draft: June 28

> NBA Free Agent Signing Period: starts July 12 (negotiations can start July 1)

> Training Camps Open: October 1

And some key issues to keep in mind:

> Eddie Jordan’s contract is up

> Jared Jeffries is a RFA

> Our big men suck

> We don’t play any defense

> The Free Agent pool is terrible

> We have the 18th pick in both the 1st and 2nd round

And don’t worry, even if I disappear for long stretches of time, I’ll be back in full force next season.

Around the Web:

> Gilbert made 3rd team All-NBA. There is no doubt in my mind that he will use the fact that he was the lowest vote-getter on the All-NBA teams to motivate him for next season. On a side note, the NBA should really get rid of the silly rule that you have to vote for a true Center on each of the three All-NBA teams. The position’s practically dead, and pretty much will be (except for Yao) once Shaq’s gone. At least let guys like Dirk and Gasol, who often play as the only big man on the floor for their team, qualify at Center. Or else, let voters decide who they think qualifies at each position, like the NBA coaches can when selecting All-Star reserves.

> The NBA rumor mill is already sending Eddie Jordan to the Kings, because he runs the Princeton O and used to coach in Sacramento. I hate how the media just runs with BS stories like this.

> Tom Knott addresses the Ernie to Sacto rumor HERE.

> Grunfeld expects few roster changes:

"We had a lot of new pieces this year and I believe in continuity," he said. "I believe in consistency and that you can't make wholesale changes every year and expect to have that good chemistry.”

As I stated in my Epic Off-season Analysis, this is exactly the strategy we should be taking this off-season. We just need to have patience. If a good deal for us pops up, we’ll take it. But otherwise, we need to think long-term. It’s great to have a GM that we can really trust with the future of the team.

> After watching the Pistons-Cavs series, Joe Gross makes a plea for the Wizards to focus on defense this off-season. I certainly agree with him to a certain extent, but I really hope we keep our up-tempo style in the process. I’m a big proponent of basketball as a “beautiful game” (Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy deserve lifetime bans for their mid-90’s thuggery, in my book), and watching the “small ball” in Round 2 of the Western Conference playoffs has been a thing of beauty. Mike D’Antoni and Avery Johnson are proving themselves as phenomenal coaches. D’Antoni has shown an uncanny ability to get the best out of each one of his players by focusing on what they CAN do, rather than on their shortcomings (Raja, Diaw, House, Tim Thomas). Avery Johnson has devised a plan to attack the Spurs with quickness and full-court speed that has the Spurs reeling. By contrast, the Eastern Conference playoffs (especially some of these Pistons-Cavs slug-fests) have been relatively tough to watch.

> Gilbert’s dunk on LeBron from Game 2:

Epic Off-season Analysis

2006-05-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

A) What we have…

The Core (average age = 26.3): These are the guys who shouldn’t be going anywhere this off-season. Looking at this list though, one thing is clearly missing… SIZE.

> Gilbert Arenas (age 24), Caron Butler (26), Andray Blatche (19): Arenas, Butler, and Blatche should be on this team for the next 5 years at least.
> Antawn Jamison (29): Jamison shouldn’t be going anywhere yet, although his expiring contract NEXT off-season will be enticing trade bait.
> Antonio Daniels (31): We signed AD to a 5-year contract last year, so he’ll be around for the next few years as a veteran leader.
> Michael Ruffin (29): In my mind, Ruffin has earned a spot as a bench big-man for the next few years. He won’t demand a big contract, and he’ll always know his role.
> Eddie Jordan: It’s time to give Eddie a contract extension. The grass is always greener on the other side, but I think we need to reward the man for bringing us back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in my lifetime.

Question Marks:

> Jared Jeffries (24): Jeffries is a restricted free agent, giving us the right to match any offer. As a 24-year-old with his size and athleticism, he is certain to receive at least a Mid-Level offer from someone. But is he really worth it?
> Brendan Haywood (26): Haywood is a reasonably priced, relatively young Center. His development has been frustrating. Should we trade him now while other teams still see his potential?
> Etan Thomas (28): We overpaid Etan a few years ago, and his contract is the only bad one on the team. Will anyone take him, and would it cost too much to get rid of him? Maybe we should try to get him playing better next fall, and then look to deal him at the deadline. Why sell low?
> Jarvis Hayes (24): Who knows what to expect from Jarvis at this point. He’s still young, so we still have time to find out what we have.

Developmental Squad:

> Donell Taylor (23), Peter John Ramos (20): These guys need a few more years before we’ll know if they can develop into NBA rotation players. The coaching staff will be working closely with them over the summer.

Roster Filler / Spare Parts:

> Avwee Storey (29), Billy Thomas (30): At age 29 and age 30, Storey and Thomas are likely to be replaced by young guys with higher ceilings. I expect that our 1st and 2nd round picks will take their roster spots.

B) And now on to our options…

Free Agent Big Guys (RFA = Restricted Free Agent):

> Ben Wallace: Big Ben isn’t going anywhere.
> Al Harrington: Is Al Harrington really worth the price he’s going to demand?
> Nazr Mohammed: Mohammed isn’t any better than Haywood.
> Joel Przybilla: Przybilla is a terrific shot-blocker, but you know somebody will overpay for him (Toronto?)
> Nene (RFA): With K-Mart on the outs, the Nuggets are expected to lock up the young and talented Nene, despite injury troubles.
> Drew Gooden (RFA): Say what you will about Drew Gooden failing to live up to the expectations of a top-4 draft pick, but he’s quietly developed into one of the better offensive rebounding PFs in the league. Does Cleveland want to pony up to keep him? Maybe they think Varejao can step in? He could be an interesting sign-and-trade option.
> Chris Wilcox (RFA): A lock to resign in Seattle.
> Reggie Evans: We have him already. His name is Michael Ruffin.
> Zo Mourning: Old. Sick.
> Lorenzen Wright: His best days appear to be behind him.

Rumored to be Available:

> Kenyon Martin: His attitude doesn’t worry me, because George Karl is a dick. K-Mart’s knees however, do worry me.
> Kevin Garnett: We don’t have enough to make this happen. It would take a big package of talented youth from a team like Golden State, Chicago, or Boston.
> Jermaine O’Neal: I don’t see why they would trade him. I think it’s just media BS. He’s not the problem with the Pacers.
> Zach Randolph: His skills are immense, but his attitude is a significant question mark, and his contract is HUGE. Maybe he’d be fine if he got away from the train wreck that is the Jail Blazers?
> Darius Miles: I don’t like his game (or lack of a game, to be more precise). He’s also completely insane.
> Stromile Swift: Physical specimen who has struggled to put it together in Memphis and Houston. However, I honestly think that Houston’s and Memphis’ slowdown offenses are a HORRIBLE fit for him. Stro’s per-40-minute numbers have always been solid, but he’s never gotten more than about 20 mpg. He reminds me of Chris Wilcox, and look what Wilcox did when he finally got extended playing time in a system that suits his skills (31 mpg, 59% shooting, 14 pts, 8 rebounds).
> Jamaal Magloire: With Bogut’s development and the presence of Dan Gadzuric on the bench, the Bucks are rumored to be dangling Magloire. He is overpaid, though.
> Carlos Boozer: Boozer has been rumored to be on the trading block seemingly since the day he set foot in Utah. However, I really don’t see him going anywhere, given his stellar play over the 2nd half of last season (18 points and 9 rebounds per game in his last 30 games). If Utah could find a 2-guard, they could be one of the top 5 teams in the West with Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Boozer, and Mehmet Okur.

Potential Deals:

(Note: I am not implying that these are all good ideas for the Wizards. I am just listing deals that could be possible.)

> Denver – Kenyon Martin for Haywood/Thomas/Hayes: Hayes gives Denver the perimeter shooter they’ve been looking for at the 2, and Haywood and Thomas help with Denver’s interior depth. Given Camby and Nene’s fragility, this could make some sense for the Nuggets.
> Golden State – Haywood for Murphy (must include others to make contracts work… Hayes/Etan/Booth?): Golden State wants to get rid of Murphy’s contract and turn the PF position over to Ike Diogu. Would Haywood get it done? They might see him as a significant upgrade over Adonal Foyle at the 5.
> Houston – Stromile for Wood: This could make a lot of sense for both teams. Swift would fit our up-tempo style, and the Rockets currently have the decrepit Dikembe Mutombo backing up Yao (not to mention Yao’s foot problems).
> Milwaukee: Trade scenarios work, involving Magloire/Gadzuric and Haywood/Thomas. Plus, Milwaukee was the team that tried to sign Etan Thomas two years ago. But do any of these deals really make sense? It would basically just be rearranging similar parts.
> Portland – Thomas/Haywood/others for Randolph: Randolph’s reputation has taken a big hit, enough so that there may not be many suitors for him. If Portland really wants to dump him, a package of good-guy big-guys might get it done. Randolph’s only 24, he’s a 20-10 machine, and his high-post game is ideal for our offense. If Portland would take this package, I would seriously consider it (after doing some hardcore background checks on Randolph). Randolph was a model citizen at Michigan State, so maybe he just needs to be in the right environment.
> San Antonio: Here’s a thought out of left field… what would it take to get Luis Scola’s rights from the Spurs? Luis Scola is one of the best PFs in the world, and given the success of his Argentinean teammates (Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni), as well as his domination of Ben Wallace and Jermaine O’Neal in the 2002 World Championships, there’s no reason to believe that his game won’t translate to the NBA. With Nazr Mohammed expected to leave the Spurs, and Rasho Nesterovic and Fabricio Oberto the only big-men remaining, the Spurs would certainly be interested in Brendan Haywood. If we could work out a deal to get Scola to come to the US in advance, I would gladly give up Haywood and our 1st round pick.
> Utah: Will they shop Boozer? Would they be interested in a sign-and-trade of Jeffries, packaged with Haywood, and possibly our first-round pick?

Thinking outside the box:

> Trade Jamison to get into the top 10: If we could move up and get our hands on someone like LaMarcus Aldridge or Andrea Bargnani, would it be worth the risk? A core of Arenas, Butler, Blatche, and someone like Aldridge would be as talented and promising as any in the league. We could also use 2 first-round picks to facilitate other deals. Some teams in the lottery that might be willing to trade picks/youth for Jamison:
1) Minnesota: The T-Wolves would kill for Jamison, given the rapidly closing window of Kevin Garnett.
2) Houston: Could we get Swift and their lottery pick (plus cap-filler)?
3) Boston: They have been stockpiling young talent, most notably Al Jefferson and Gerald Green. However, Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak aren’t getting any younger. Would the Celtics jump at the opportunity to turn some of their youth into a veteran scorer like Jamison?
4) Chicago: They have been desperate for a PF who can score, would Antawn fit the bill? He might be a nice offensive balance on their front line to Tyson Chandler’s defensive presence.

> Stick with what we’ve got: That’s right, do nothing. Roster consistency is extremely underrated in the NBA. Sometimes it pays to just take some time and let your players develop both as a team and as individuals. Given the relative youth of our squad, this might not be such a bad idea. If we let Jeffries go, we could focus our coaching staff on developing Blatche, and hopefully prepare him for 20 minutes per game. We could use the 1st round pick on a young big guy with a game that suits our system. Standing pat wouldn’t be the worst thing that ever happened, and next off-season Jamison’s expiring max contract becomes a huge trading chip.

C) In the end….

We don’t have much money to sign a FA (although we could use Jeffries in a sign-and-trade), and the pickings are pretty slim anyway. I think Jamison stays for now, since his value will be much higher a year from now when his contract is expiring. I think we’ll let Jeffries go because Grunfeld is not going to overpay to keep him (see Larry Hughes). With Hayes returning and increased time for Blatche, we should be able to replace Jared. We need Etan to work hard in the off-season to get his game back where it was in 03-04. Haywood will probably stay (although I wouldn’t mind a Haywood-Swift deal). Given Wood’s reasonable salary, he’s actually a very good value for us despite his inconsistency. We’ll use our #1 pick (18th overall) on a young big-man (don’t worry, I’ll do a draft preview). Will we use the Mid-Level Exception? Not if it means we’re overpaying someone in a weak FA market. Fiscally, it might make sense to refrain from using it, and focus on next off-season for re-signing Arenas, clearing Jamison off the cap, etc.

So, here's next year’s projected roster:

1 – Arenas, Daniels
2 – Hayes, Taylor
3 – Butler, Blatche
4 – Jamison, Etan, 1st Rounder
5 – Haywood, Ruffin, Ramos, Booth, 2nd Rounder

Arenas will be one year better. Caron Butler should be a bigger factor in his second full season with the team. The return of Jarvis Hayes will give us another scoring option on nights when any of the Big 3 struggle. Jamison will be his usual 20-10 self. And between Haywood and Ruffin, we should manage to get effective interior play.

Making panic moves now for the sake of change could be devastating to the long-term future of the team. As constituted above, this team should win at least 45-50 games, and we would be set up nicely for what should be a FAR more interesting off-season in 2007 (Jamison’s expiring deal, ridiculously loaded draft, tantalizing free agent pool).

Maxico's Reasons for Optimism

2006-05-10T11:05:00.000-04:00

(Note: My boy Maxico talked me down off the ledge after Game 6, so I thought I'd give him a forum to do the same for my readers. Enjoy!)

Who am I? I’m the one on the phone with Coach ten minutes after Game Six telling him, “Flush the entire bottle of Quaaludes down the toilet before you get any ideas!” Don’t get me wrong; I was devastated like the rest of you. Just like many of Gilbert’s Arena’s loyal readership, I shared the following regimen of self-therapy:

> Got ridiculously drunk.

> Watched Sean Taylor’s Greatest Hits about 27 times.

> Sold my car to finance a hit on Damon Jones.

Yeah, it sucks. We all wanted to see Gilbert Arenas play the role of God, show America that he can go toe-to-toe with LeBron, and lead his team to a series victory all the while. If we were lucky, maybe we could steal a victory or two from Detroit and garner some legitimate national attention. But instead, the enduring images of the Zards this summer will be of two missed free-throws, and "Mr. 14 Seconds" wide open in the corner.

If you read Mike Wise the day immediately following the game, you might start telling yourself that this loss destroyed the team’s psyche, we missed out on a one-time-only opportunity, and this team is still hundreds of miles from greatness. Let’s not be so reactionary. I (and hopefully I’m not alone) think a lot of positives came out of this series:

1) Gilbert Arenas DID go toe-to-toe with LeBron James. They had a fantastic scoring duel, and Arenas cemented his spot as a top 15, maybe top 10, player in the NBA. Sure LeBron’s points/gm eclipsed Gil’s, but Arenas still outscored Dirk, still outscored VC, still outscored Kobe. He hit THE most amazing shot to end regulation in franchise history (If there actually was a more meaningful/miraculous shot than the game sixer, please let me know. You just don’t see so many Bullets games on ESPN Classic!).

I guess it’s too bad that he had to miss those free-throws. Now that’s what fans and the media will remember about him from this series. And as we all know, when Gilbert’s talent is questioned, his confidence crumbles and he regresses as a player. Oh wait….IT’S THE EXACT OPPOSITE!

So what do we know? Gilbert’s a franchise player who is insanely driven to improve his game, despite the fact that he can already score with anyone in the league, and now the chip on his shoulder is (somehow) even bigger. If that doesn’t give you some assurance going into next year, maybe this will:

2) The emergence of Caron Butler. Did you hear that Caron sleeps with a nightlight? It’s not because he’s afraid of the dark; it’s because the dark is afraid of him. Seriously though, how excited are you that this guy is on our team? He scores, he brings energy, he intimidates, he fights for every ball. Coach has touched on this, but late in the season when Tough Juice was out, the Zards looked lost. When he’s on the floor, we play with a whole different swagger. He has surpassed Jamison as the 2nd most important player on the team, and next year look for him to put up All-Star type numbers. In a lot of ways he’s the perfect complement to Arenas. Whereas Gilbert whines to the refs, Caron pushes opposing players to the ground. When Caron’s having an off-shooting night, he doesn’t jack up a shot every time the ball touches his hands hoping to find a rhythm; he turns into the scrappy rebounder who still gets his on put-backs and free-throws.

Our young core is Gilbertology and Tough Juice. If all goes as planned, they’ll be our core for the next half decade, and that may be just a tad more exciting than the prospect of Googs and Calbert Cheaney. Still not convinced?

3) We have a competent GM and coach. Former Bull’s vice president of basketball operations Jerry Krause once infamously said, “Players don’t win championships. Organizations do.” Although that's a pretty ridiculous thing to say when Michael Jordan is on your team, the impact that the front-office can make in NBA basketball definitely is uncanny. Look at the nearly seamless track-records of success in cities like Detroit, Sacramento, and San Antonio over the past few years. All of those teams have seen dozens of players come and go in the turbulent waters of free-agency and salary caps. What is the constant? Men who know what they’re doing are making shrewd personnel decisions, and they always seem to right the ship. Conversely, if Wes Unseld is running the show, it means that any coup he will pull off (Chris Webber!), he will undoubtedly squander (Mitch Richmond. Otis Thorpe.). For the first time since I don’t even know when (the late 1970's maybe?) we have a front office that has a plan and has the know-how to pull it off. I’m not claiming to be Dr. Jack Ramsey, but it’s abundantly evident that before we can be elite in this league we need an athletic big man. Do you think that Ernie Grunfeld and Eddie Jordan don’t know this? I’ll leave the off-season blue print for Coach to outline (Coach sez: "Coming later this week!"), but I am supremely confident that the Zards brain trust will once again take advantage of the Mitch Kupchacks of the world this summer.

This is just the beginning of a long run of success. I’m not saying dynasty, I’m not even saying Eastern Conference Champions, but for years to come we will have playoff-caliber basketball inside the Beltway. And after the debacle that was 1988-2004, this prospect is definitely something to be excited about. And if you still are unable to rouse yourself from the depression of a devastating first round playoff loss, I advise you to go to this site immediately.

-Maxico

2005-2006 Senior Class Superlatives

2006-05-08T22:47:00.000-04:00

The 2005-2006 Wizards... the year that was...

(As voted upon by the Wizards fan-base. Results verified by Ernie Grunfeld, Principal, and Eddie Jordan, Dean of Students.)

Most Likely to Succeed: Gilbert Arenas

Despite missing the potentially game-winning FTs in Game 6 against Cleveland, Gilbert Arenas proved without a doubt in this year’s playoffs that he is a key member of the next wave of NBA superstars (along with LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul – all are under 25). His unreal 30-footer at the end of regulation was one of the best shots in Wizards/Bullets history, and his back and forth battles with LeBron will hopefully be continued in future playoffs.

Cutest Couple: Antonio Daniels & Caron Butler

After the free agent defection of Larry Hughes, there was legitimate concern that we wouldn’t be able to replace his production. It didn't help matters at all when Daniels got off to a horrendous start and Butler had to come off the bench while he struggled to grasp the offense. By the end of the season though, the duo was the heart and soul of the team. Caron’s aggressiveness and toughness was indispensable (as a 5-loss stretch without him showed) and AD was as reliable and productive as ever after the All-Star break (14 points and 5 assists per game). Meanwhile, Larry Hughes missed extended time with an injury for the 7th time in 8 seasons, and his scattershot jumper proved to be a poor compliment to LeBron James in Cleveland.

School Spirit Award: Jared Jeffries

Jared Jeffries did everything and anything that his Wizards teammates and coach Eddie Jordan asked of him. No matter whether it was playing shooting guard or center, or covering point guards or power forwards, Jared Jeffries was always up for the challenge and brought an immense amount of energy to the floor. Although his role in the offense sometimes bordered on hilarity, Jeffries never got discouraged, and he always attacked his responsibilities with limitless effort.

Most Dependable: Antawn Jamison

One of the eldest members of the Wizards rotation (although he’s only 29) proved as reliable as he’s ever been during his pro career. Tawn averaged 21 points and 9 rebounds (top 20 in the NBA in both), as well as 40.1 minutes per game (9th in the NBA) and 35 double-doubles (8th). Except for a brief slump in December, Jamison could be relied upon for a steady 20 points and 10 rebounds night in and night out. Although he could stand to work on his defensive fundamentals a bit... (cut off the baseline!!!)

Most Artistic: Etan Thomas

This award goes to The Big Poet in a landslide. Don’t forget to buy his book on amazon.com. Hopefully this off-season he focuses more on training than on poetry. This past season, an ab injury prevented him from fully preparing for the beginning of the season. If he can’t live up to the contract we gave him 2 years ago, we’re going to need to dangle him to teams in need of interior help.

Girls' Choice of Brother: Antonio Daniels

Antonio Daniels’ smart decision-making and steadying influence was crucial to the team’s success over the last half of the season. He was especially indispensable as a counter-balance to Gilbert Arenas. He often took the pressure off Gilbert by taking over the ball-handling responsibilities and creating opportunities for teammates. In the playoffs, when Gilbert was shadowed tightly by Larry Hughes, Daniels was even able to step up and fill the scoring void. AD should be an instrumental veteran leader of this team for years to come.

Biggest Flirt: Brendan Haywood

In his 5th NBA season, Wood was as maddeningly inconsistent as ever. Some games, he flashed his tremendous potential, as an intimidating presence on defense and an aggressive force attacking the basket on offense. Other games, I had to cover my eyes so as not to see a 7’3” man shoot another fade-away. At age 26, I have to believe that “what you see is what you get” when it comes to Brendan. With his reasonable contract, relative youth, and the dearth of quality NBA bigs, he could be our best trade-chip this off-season.

Class Clown: Gilbert Arenas

I have a new Gilbert Arenas story (at least it’s new to me) to pass on to you all. Yet again, the victim of Agent Zero’s hijinx was rookie Awvee Storey. I’ll let the Washington Post’s Ivan Carter handle this one. From April 27th: “Before the last game at Philly, Gilbert had the ballboys betting whether he'd lay a flying drop kick on Awvee Storey. So a little while passes and Awvee's sitting there doing an interview with a guy from Philly when I notice Gilbert with his head poking around the corner of the trainer's room, watching Awvee. He had this goofy grin on his face and then he sprung out and got Awvee right in the chest. One of the ball boys paid up.”

Most Respected: Caron Butler

Caron brought a toughness to the team, a relentless attack attitude that is missing from many of our players. When he went down with a thumb injury at the end of the season, we completely collapsed. But once the trainers finally let “Tough Juice” back on the floor, we immediately returned to top form. His gritty performances in Game 5 and Game 6 of the Cavs series were especially impressive. In Game 5, he fought through a horrible start and rough shooting night by swarming the passing lanes, attacking the basket for easy transition opportunities, and crashing the boards with abandon. In Game 6, he continued his tremendous effort on the interior, pulling down an astonishing 20 rebounds. I expect a HUGE year out of Caron next year, entering his prime at age 26, with a year under his belt as a Wizard.

Gone, But Not Forgotten: Jarvis Hayes

On nights when one member of the Big 3 struggled, Jarvis Hayes’ wing-scoring prowess certainly would have been useful. Hopefully the former lottery pick can put his knee struggles behind him and make an impact for us next year.

Best Dressed: Andray Blatche

Our lone rookie draft pick, Andray Blatche spent a fair amount of time looking dapper on the bench in a suit. But when he did play, he looked even better. His skill set in a man his size is exceedingly rare. The only real NBA comparison for his size and game is Lamar Odom. Ernie Grunfeld found Michael Redd in the 2nd round in Milwaukee, and I'm optimistic that he's done it again.

Best Hair: Party John, of course

Hopefully his game will some day be as sexy as his hair.

Best Looking: Michael Ruffin and Calvin Booth

Michael Ruffin's offensive game is as ugly as his mugshot, but he's a tremendous defender, a strong physical presence, and a terrific rebounder. There was no pretense of involving him in the offense, as was often the case with Etan or Haywood, so Gilbert/Antawn/Caron could focus on scoring, while Ruffin focused on cleaning the boards. By the end of the season, I thought he was our most effective big man. As for Calvin Booth... well... that's just not a handsome man.

Most Studious: Billy Thomas

Billy Thomas graduated from Kansas in 1998, and after 7 years of hard work in Europe, he finally seems to have found a spot in the NBA. He has crafted his game in the Bruce Bowen mold (3-point shooting and defense), and he has become an Eddie Jordan favorite.

Shyest: Donnell Taylor and Awvee Storey
The rarely utilized underclassmen of the team should have ample opportunity this summer to work on their games, play a leading role on our summer league team, and come back in 06-07 as mature contributors to the squad.

(And yes, I know I'm pretty much the worst photo-shopper ever. It's part of my charm.)

Blogger analysis of LeBron's game-winner

2006-05-05T10:56:00.000-04:00

Free Darko and The Mighty MJD both had excellent reviews of LeBron's game-winner. MJD thinks the shot had little to do with LeBron's greatness. Instead, he credits the pathetic Wizards defense for allowing LeBron to catch the ball in the corner and waltz to the basket. Meanwhile, Free Darko agrees that LeBron's bucket looked easy enough that it's not hard for us to discount it. However, he makes the excellent point that LeBron makes EVERYTHING look easy. Would another player have been able to do what he did in that split second? Would another player have been able to quickly read the defense, explode around Jamison, tip-toe the baseline, and make a swooping layup from under the rim, all under the pressure of your first playoff overtime? I tend to agree with Free Darko on this one. There's definitely a middle ground that takes into account both the Wizards' atrocious defense and a precocious young star's innate ability to take advantage of it under pressure.

Take a look:

The Mighty MJD

Free Darko

Also, if you haven't checked out the Queen James photoshop artistry, a capella song, and subsequent remixes, you're gonna wanna go ahead and do that:

WIZZNUTZZ

It's finally time to address Game 5

2006-05-04T20:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, I think I’m starting to pull myself together, so it’s finally time for a few thoughts about Game 5. Then I am putting it past me and looking forward to Game 6 in DC and Game 7 back in Cleveland…

1) Antawn Jamison… didn’t you play 6th grade basketball??? Didn’t your grade school coaches ever teach you to put your freaking foot on the baseline?! Use the sideline as a defender! Cut off the baseline! Good god, man. That was the perfect baseline trap, James would have been screwed.

2) Why in the hell did Gilbert decide that it was a good idea to launch a contested 70-footer after LeBron's layup in OT? Why didn’t we call a freaking timeout, move the ball to half-court, and run a play for a good look at the game-winner? And it wasn’t just Arenas’ fault. Why did Jamison inbound the ball? He’s a veteran guy. He should know better. He never should have picked up the ball. He should have been too busy calling a timeout.

3) I know it’s kind of odd for me to finally be asking this question at this point, given all that I already know about Gilbert, but is he COMPLETELY insane?

First, from Mike Wise in the Post:

It was late, going on 12:30 a.m., so late that LeBron James had already showered and was putting baby powder on his big toes. The Cleveland Cavaliers' locker room was emptying out when one of the most unlikely people walked in… Gilbert Arenas…

"Yo, that was my Game 5," Arenas said to James. "You took my Game 5. I had my speech prepared and everything after the game. And you done messed up everything."

James kept his head down, smiling to himself… He seemed stunned that Arenas would come over to affectionately badger him after such a rough loss -- a loss that left Washington one game from elimination.

Arenas wouldn't let the ribbing go as he waited for Hughes to dress.

"I was going to be Mr. Game 5, I was going to be perfect in Game 5s," said Arenas, who deadened the United Center a year ago in Game 5 with a last-second jump shot that all but ended Chicago's season. "You took that game from me. That was my game."

There were only a few people left in the locker room, and Hughes finally let out an uncomfortable laugh, as if he wanted James to know Arenas was having fun while also letting his friend know that his attempt at humor did not go unnoticed.

Arenas kept going, motioning toward Hughes putting on a pair of nylon mesh shorts -- Wizards shorts.

"Man, he has got to be fined," Arenas said. "Somebody fine him in here right now. You see this?"

James kept dressing and smiling while not completely acknowledging Arenas. He almost seemed deferential to the veteran player in his own locker room.

Seriously, what the hell goes on in this guy’s mind?

And further to the point, some quotes from Gil on ESPN.COM:

(Arenas) recounted his unorthodox decision to visit the Cavaliers' locker room after Wednesday's game. He said he delivered two messages -- good-naturedly, of course.

"You go in there and you tell them, 'We did good tonight,"' Arenas said. "'This is exciting; this is good basketball. Even though y'all won, we played our hearts out, and we'll see y'all when you come down."'

But he didn't stop there. He wanted James and Co. to know that his "Mr. Game 5" plans had been blown to bits.

"I knew somehow I was going to get the last shot," Arenas said. "It worked that way with 3.6 seconds left, and LeBron messed it up, so I had to give him a piece of my mind. 'You messed up my Mr. Game 5. Now I've got to wait all the way until next year to be called Mr. Game 5.' Jerry West has Mr. Clutch. I wanted Mr. Game 5. ... I was going to have T-shirts made, too."

And just how did the Cavaliers react to all this? Arenas said they looked at him as if he was an "idiot."

"Like usual," Arenas said. "Larry Hughes laughing."

Really Gilbert? Why would they look at you like you’re an idiot? Was it because you were already designing your post-game t-shirt in your head instead of checking to see if we had any timeouts left?

But you DID drop 44. I still love you.

4) "We could have had this series 4-1, when you look at it," Gilbert Arenas said. "That's two game-winners that's been hit, but that's what happens. It's been a good, exciting series. When I think it about, I'm like, 'We're better than them.' We just have to go out and put this team away."

If we had played better defense Wednesday night, we wouldn't have had to worry about game-winners. Eric Snow sucks, but even he's not going to miss uncontested lay-ups. We can win with LeBron dropping 40, but not with Snow, Hughes, and Murray combining for 54.

5) This series REALLY deserves to go seven. It might destroy my soul in the process, rendering me emotionless and unfeeling, but the basketball in this series has been so incredible, the battle between Arenas and James so entertaining, and the teams so closely matched, that this series HAS to go seven. In a similar vein, The Cavalier over at YAYSPORTS! has a really great piece about the competitive nature of this series, his desire to see a Game 7 even though he really should want the Cavs to win in 6, and the ghosts of the past that still haunt Cavs fans. It’s definitely worth a read (even for Zards fans, despite the repeated disclaimers from The Cavalier).

Game 6: Friday night at 8:00pm on ESPN

Kobe is a dirtbag

2006-05-04T12:07:00.000-04:00

My coping mechanism for dealing with last night? Trashing Kobe Bryant.

How come not a single media outlet has shown a replay of Kobe absolutely DRILLING Raja Bell in the face with an elbow on the play before Raja's clothesline?

This picture is the best I can find. You can see the Ko-bow beginning to move towards the general direction of Raja's face, but I can't find an impact shot.

There's nothing on youtube, either. SOMEBODY must have the video somewhere, right?

However, youtube does have this video of Kobe being a dirtbag against Raja and the Suns in January:

Game 5 Log

2006-05-03T22:12:00.000-04:00

This isn't a cheezy attempt to imitate the Sports Guy's running diaries. I'm just so worked up for this game, I need somewhere to channel my nervous energy. I'll probably still end up biting halfway through my finger nails. Here goes:

1st Quarter:
- Gil is starting the game off aggressive, attacking the rim. In the first 5 minutes he's gotten to the rim 3 times.
- Lebron is passive early, letting the game come to him. It looks like Jeffries is the primary defender tonight.
- Butler is matched up with Snow. Caron's gotta exploit that.
- Hughes is hot early. This isn't a good sign. However, the Zards are getting most of their points at the rim. That IS a good sign.
- The refs are clearly calling it very tight tonight. Every little bit of contact is a foul. And as I typed that, they just called a BS flagrant on Etan. He went for the ball and came down through the ball. With the help of the flagrant, the Cavs just went on a 7-0 run, all at the FT line.
- End of 1: Was 27 - Cle 25. Jamison has 10, Gil has 12 (two 3's, two layups, two FTs). Larry Hughes has 11 on 4-5 shooting. James has a quiet 8.

2nd Quarter:
- Lebron just got called for a travel! There is a god!
- Butler is really struggling. He should be scoring over Snow easily.
- This is outrageously tight officiating. Hughes just got called for a hand tap, then Varejao got a foul on a bump, followed by Ruffin on a bump. The refs aren't allowing any flow to this game.
- Gil is heating up. After back-to-back 3's, he's got 4 for the game. One was a ridiculous fastbreak pull-up three. Jeff Van Gundy chimed in to say "That's not a good shot, unless it's Gibert Arenas." Gil needs to be careful not to start settling for jumpers.
- Defensively, we're not stopping LeBron's penetration. Move your feet! Take charges!
- The offense is all Gil and Antawn at this point.
- Lebron just has a ridiculous sense of entitlement. He's crying about EVERYTHING.
- What happened to Larry Hughes this quarter? Where are Gooden and Z?
- And Lebron just cried his way out of a blatant charge to close the half. Unbelievable. Sir Charles at the half: "It's like the refs huddled and said 'that's LeBron, we can't give him his 3rd foul.'"
- End of 2: Cle 52 - Was 51
- Cleveland has 25 FTs to Washington's 8 (11 for LeBron, and he's still crying!!)
-Gil has 20, Jamison 20, and Butler just 3. LeBron has a steadily efficient 23.
- Foul trouble will be an issue in the 2nd half, thanks to the tight officiating. Jeffries and Haywood have 3 fouls, and Antawn and Butler have 2 each.
- Gil had zero points in the last 8 minutes of the 2nd. With his first-step, it is absolutely beyond me why he just disappears for long stretches. He should always be attacking the basket to create for himself and others.

3rd Quarter:
- Butler starts off with a quick jumper and a steal. Let's get it going, Caron!
- Ugh, its a lackadaisical start for the Zards in the 3rd. Nobody is getting back, LeBron just had a vicious put-back dunk, and we gave wide-open j's to Gooden and Z.
- Gil's been effective tonight when he posts up Hughes, both passing and scoring. I haven't seen much of that from Gil this year, but from what I've seen tonight, he should do it more.
- Arenas attacks the basket and draws an and-1 on Big Z, his 4th foul. In a game called so tightly, Gil should be living in the paint, racking up fouls on the Cleveland big guys.
- Wow... even I can admit that should have been a charge on Gilbert. Instead, that's 4 fouls on LeBron. I guess that's a makeup for the one at the end of the first half. Either way, he should have 4. On the bench, LeBron's lips just mouthed something along the lines of "the refs won't let me play the MF-ing game!" What a baby.
- This is a huge stretch. Can we make a run without LeBron in the game?
- OK nevermind, nobody's getting back for the Zards. The King-less Cavs are getting easy transition buckets.
- Arenas is bombing 3's again. He's over 3o points with 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and he's 6 for 7 from three. Is the big run coming here? Van Gundy is SWEATING Arenas right now. Some tidbits: "greatest 2nd round pick ever", "yes, I'm fawning over him", "very few have his combination of quickness and skill"
- Nope, still no run. Instead, there's a jumper for Snow, some turnovers, nobody's getting back, Varejao's getting offensive rebounds. GUH.
- Butler's just not getting it done offensively. Antawn had to come back in even though he has 4 fouls.
- Larry Hughes just hit a 3?! And now we're getting killed by Flip Murray! What the F? Who are these guys?
- And it's Murray again at the buzzer. That's 10 points in the quarter for Flip, thanks to horrendous Zards D.
- End of 3: Cavs 85 - Zards 81
- Phenomenal job by the Cavs protecting the lead without Lebron (even extending it by 3 points). Meanwhile, James is barely paying attention on the bench, still moping and crying. What an unbelievable baby. Support your teammates!
- Arenas has 34 (14 in the 3rd quarter), and Jamison has 25. LeBron has 25 (just 2 in the quarter), Hughes has 20, Flip has 10 (4-for-5), and freaking Snow has 10 (5-for-7).

4th Quarter:
- It's officially time to start freakign out. I'm sweating through my shirt, and it's not even hot in here. Is there any way this doesn't come down to another James/Arenas shootout?
- Just like that, it's an 8-point hole. Thats OK... we prefer to play from behind...
- Apparently standing with your arms straight up while the shooter jumps into you is a foul when you're guarding LeBron. Jeffries is going to foul out of this game having committed one legitimate foul.
- WOW, a ridiculous spinning 20-ft fadeaway from LeBron, but Antawn answers with a quick three.
- The Cavs are abandoning all pretense of an offense at this point. They're just isolating LeBron on the wing. It's safe to say that Jeffries is going to foul out in the next 2 minutes.
- And just like that, Jeffries is on the bench with 5 fouls, so now Butler is on James. Caron has 3 fouls, so he can be a little more physical.
- The 4th is halfway gone and the Cavs are still up 7. We need to get some stops and force some turnovers if we're going to make a run. The pace has slowed to a crawl this quarter, which is perfect for the Cavs.
- Where's Gilbert? He's been conspicuously absent this quarter. Daniels, Jamison, and Butler are taking all the shots. Gil is just standing around the perimeter. Get the rock and attack, for the love of god!
- Now Butler has 5 fouls too. How are we going to stop James? This is NOT good.
- Daniels layup, Butler steal, Jamison three, and its a 3-point game!
- But James won't miss. Christ, he's gotta be on pace for 50 in this quarter alone.
- Arenas is still nowhere to be found. He's not even involved in the offense. He's 1-for-2 in the quarter, James is 6-for-8.
- Jeffries just fouled out by bumping LeBron's forearm with his stomach. LeBron's ability to lead with his forearm, create contact with that arm, and then get the call is just ridiculous.
- LeBron buries both FTs, making it a 7-point game with just over a minute left. I'm not giving up hope yet, but I don't see how we're going to pull this out.
- Apparently Daniels has decided to do his best Arenas impression in Gil's absence. AD's 3-point play cuts it to 4 with a minute to play.
- Iso for LeBron... Zards double him... jumper for Snow.... Nope! Zards come down... Jamison floater... nope. But Caron boards... tough layup... YES! 2-point game! Cavs timeout with 35 seconds to play!
- Hmm... let me guess... the Cavs will isolate LeBron on the wing?
- Yep. Here's the double... LeBron swings it... stolen by Arenas! NO, out of bounds. Good god!
- STEAL!!!! Butler layup! TIE GAME!!! HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!
- OK... well... its gonna be LeBron's ball with 7 seconds left. We have to double him again, right? Make Eric Snow or Flip Murray beat us with a jumper. Or maybe Lebron will take 5 steps without dribbling to beat the double-team.
- I think i just peed myself a little bit.
- COME OOOONNN!!!!
- LEBRON MISSED. THE GOLDEN CHILD MISSED.

Freaking Overtime:
- OK, I'm back from a jog around my apartment complex. My hands are still shaking like a crack fiend's, but at least I can sort of breathe now.
- Maybe Gilbert will show up for overtime?
- Wise words from my boy Maxico: "Close games are only great experiences in retrospect. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar or not a real fan. I don't feel healthy." I couldn't agree more.
- First possession, Arenas scores on the post. OKAY
- Jeffries is gone, Butler has 5 fouls, Jamison 5, and Arenas 4. Like I said before, this is going to be a factor.
- Eric Snow has all 6 Cavs points in OT??? What in the hell? He's got 18 tonight. Thats 4 more than his season high!!
- Gil has 4 points in OT so far (and 40 total). Come on Agent Zero, take this game over!
- Man... Butler missed a FT and then Jamison missed a layup and a FT. Throwing away 4 points like that will come back to haunt us. The game is still tied though. And after an awful start, Butler has willed his way back to 18 points on 8-for-16 shooting, 10 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals.
- Why isnt the ball in Gil's hands? We're running a 2-man game with AD and Antawn, and it led to an AD fade away 3! What are we doing???
- Okay, Butler is just a F-ing badass. What a tough MF-er, he's relentless. It's a 1-point game with a minute left after Tough Juice's huge offensive board and subsequent FTs.
- Drew Gooden has now fouled out of 10 of his 13 career playoff games!
- A steal and a full-court layup for Gil! 1-point lead! YEA BABY!
- This Lebron "we are all witnesses" commercial right now is killing me. KILLING ME.
- LEBRON JUST PLOWED OVER CARON AND THEN FOREARMED HIM TO THE GROUND, AND THEY CALLED IT ON BUTLER! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME?! That's about the 9th foul that LeBron's drawn by jamming his goddamn forearm into Caron or JJ.
- Butler's gone, and LeBron hits both free throws (with an emphasis on "free", as in "free gift"). 25 seconds left, Zards down 1.
- GIL GETS FOULED ON THE DRIVE. 2 FTS with 3.6 left. I seriously might hurl...
- That's 1! Tie game...
- Definitely might hurl.
- That's 2! So clutch! 1-point lead!
- I don't know what to do with myself right now. I can't feel feelings anymore...

THE LAST POSSESSION OF THE GAME:
- You know LeBron's gonna take this no matter what. It's gonna be one of those tough fade-aways.
- Caron and JJ both fouled out because of James' forearm, so who's gonna guard him? Oh god... Ruffin.

........

i'm gonna go barf

Back in Business

2006-05-03T10:02:00.000-04:00

First of all, I would like to sincerely apologize to my readers for skipping out on them during a phenomenal weekend of Zards and NBA basketball. I was in Southern California for an incredible, weekend-long, music festival, and sometimes you just have to make tough decisions in life. No regrets.

However, I did catch Game 3 live from a sports bar and checked out Game 4 on TiVo. I hate lingering on things that happened several days ago and have already been beaten to death by the media, so I will address the weekend's action very briefly.

Game 3: Yes, Lebron's travel was obvious. He took a step, then jump-stopped, then switched pivot feet, then took another step, and then jumped again. Everybody knows it was a travel. Lebron knows he traveled. A Cavs fan came up to me after the game and apologized for winning on such an egregious travel. But I'm over it. Refs eat their whistles in the last minute of playoff games, especially when it involves a superstar. If you don't want to risk losing the game to the refs, then put the game away yourself. The Zards had control of the game most of the way, but they couldn't hold onto their lead. And in the end, we had a wide open shot for our best player to win the game. We should have won this game regardless of the officiating.

Game 4: I'm kind of glad I knew the score already when I watched this game, because I probably would have been suicidal by halftime. The Zards came out completely flat, and they looked like they had no idea that they were playing in a huge game. I figured Arenas would come out like a bat out of hell after missing the game-winner in game 3, but instead he was AWFUL in the 1st half. Luckily, Arenas had a vintage Gilbert halftime which led to a vintage Gilbert 4th quarter. As I'm sure you all know by now, Gilbert went into the locker room at halftime and changed all his clothes (even his socks, shoes, and underwear), and then he proceeded to come out and outshine Lebron in the 2nd half. Gil's dominant 4th quarter (20 points) was a thing of beauty. That said, I really wish he could put together just one complete game during this series. You Zards fans know what I mean... one of those games where he shoots 50%, scores 45 points, hits 5 threes, gets to the line 20 times, and looks like he could have gotten 50 if he wanted it. He had 11 games this season with 40 points or more, and it would be great if a national audience could see Gilbert absolutely dominate a game from start to finish like we know he can.

Game 5 is tonight at 8:30pm on TNT. Just to emphasize how important this game is, here’s a stat I saw last night on the NBATV broadcast of the Kings-Spurs game: the winner of game 5 in a “best of 7” series that’s tied at 2-2 goes on to win the series 84% of the time. If we can win tonight in Cleveland, we’ll have the opportunity to come home on Friday and put the Cavs away. If we lose, we’ll have to win at home to force a game 7 on Sunday back in Cleveland.

Around the Web:

> ESPN Insider’s Scouts Inc. still likes the Zards in 6. For those of you who don’t have an Insider subscription, here’s a summary of why they still think we’ll win in 6:

The Zards will continue to make Lebron beat them all by himself from the perimeter.
Hughes hasn’t been able to contain Gilbert, and Gil will continue to catch the Cavs big men out of position and draw fouls.
Offensively, the Zards motion offense and penchant for attacking the rim will limit dry spells, however they must do a better job taking care of the ball.
The Zards will keep trying to take charges on Lebron rather than challenging his shot. If he kicks to shooters, the Cavs can’t consistently beat anyone with their jumpers.

> Washington Post: Gilbert is averaging 15 points per 4th quarter in this series.

> Tom Knott: The Cavs don’t have an offense, they have LeBron James and not much else.

> There are some great quotes from Gilbert in this Washington Times piece:

“If you want to keep me off the line, tell your team to stop hacking... If I know you are fouling, I'm coming inside because I know those are free throws, baby. I don't shy away from the contact.” -- I love that attitude. If he gets to the line 15+ times, we’re going to win the game.
“[Larry Hughes has] become a spot-up shooter, and that's not what he does. Here he stayed on the right side of the court, and I stayed on the left side of the court — no problems. In Cleveland they want to play half-court unless they get out on the break. There aren't that many opportunities where Larry is going to be free." -- This was exactly the reason I thought Hughes was a TERRIBLE signing for the Cavs last off-season. In a free-flowing, fast-paced system like the Wizards’, Hughes is great. But on a team like the Cavs, where they slow it down, focus on half-court sets, and James dominates the ball, Hughes is terrible. Somebody like Bobby Simmons would have been a much better fit for them, and much cheaper to boot.

> The New York Times has an in depth profile on Gilbert Arenas’ jersey collection project. My favorite jersey in his collection is definitely Jason McElwain’s, the autistic high school team manager who rained threes on his school’s senior night. If you haven’t seen that video yet, it’s pretty incredible: CLICK HERE.

> It was revealed before last night’s Suns-Lakers game that Kwame Brown is under investigation by the LAPD for sexual assault. Surprisingly, Kwame, who is prone to distraction, came out and played a very solid game despite limited minutes due to foul trouble. He was 6-for-6 from the field, and he showed that all he really has to do to be effective with his size and athleticism is just A) hang around the basket for dunks when Kobe gets double-teamed, and B) consistently hit a jump hook, since he can get that shot off over just about anyone. Although he’s still a FAR cry from Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O’Neal (and always will be), if he can relax and simply not panic when he gets the ball, he should be effective around the basket on basic moves. On a side note, I still have yet to see Kwame smile even once this season. Just like in DC, his on-court body language has been consistently depressing this season.

> Mike Wise profiles Cavs coach Mike Brown.

Why does the Sports Guy hate Steve Nash?

2006-05-02T14:13:00.000-04:00

So I just read the Sports Guy's new NBA column, and I think my head is about to explode. How can he make ridiculous statements like this and just act like everyone should know they are fact:

"We just spent three weeks arguing about the 2006 MVP Award, which was the perfect vehicle to separate two groups of people: Those Who Understand Basketball, and Those Who Need To Pull Their Heads Out Of Their Butts. See, LeBron and Kobe were the only two acceptable candidates; they meant more to their teams than anyone else and submitted two otherworldly statistical seasons."

Those who understand basketball know that the Suns would be awful without Nash! Those who understand basketball know that Nash meant just as much to his team, if not more, as Kobe and Lebron did to theirs. Just because he doesn’t score like Kobe and Lebron, he’s not as valuable? Just because he didn't average 30 points per game, he didn't submit an "otherworldly statistical season"? 19 points, 10.5 assists, 51% shooting, 92% free-throw shooting, and a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio is pretty unreal in it's own right.

From a scoring standpoint, 51% shooting from Nash is infinitely more impressive than someone like Tony Parker’s FG% when you look at the shots Nash takes. Parker never shoots 3’s, and he enjoys a similar effect with Tim Duncan to the one Dwyane Wade enjoys with Shaq. When you have a post-presence like that, you can’t double team on the perimeter, and its hard for a post defender (typically the team's best shot blocker) to rotate off Shaq/Duncan, so somebody has to come from farther away to stop penetration. Combine that with exceptional quickness in a guard, and nobody can keep Parker/Wade from getting to the hole for easy buckets. Meanwhile, it’s Nash who makes himself impossible to double-team. You never know what he's going to do with the ball, and he does it completely under control while playing at an unbelievably fast pace. For example, take a look at John Hollinger's "True Shooting %" statistic, which factors in the points created with each shot attempt (via 2-pointers, 3-pointers, or FTs), and guess who jumps to #1 in the league, and by a large margin? Steve Nash. His true shooting percentage is 63%. The next highest is Eddy Curry at 60%. Tony Parker is 19th at 58%. And FYI, Lebron is 36th and Kobe is 44th.

What about assists? Hollinger's "Assist Ratio" is the percentage of a player's possessions that end in an assist. Nash is 2nd in the league, behind only Eric Snow. But, do you know how far down you have to go on that list until you find a player who also averaged as many points per game as Nash did? Joe Johnson all the way down at # 41. So Nash this year was an unparalleled statistical combination of shooting/scoring ability and the ability to create points for his teammates? That's not statistically otherworldly?

Furthermore, the Sports Guy goes on to make several ridiculous arguments against Nash. First of all, he says that the only reason to vote for Nash is that it's fun to vote for a little white guy with floppy hair. So everyone who votes for Nash is a racist??? Secondly, he says that Nash struggles to take over in close games. That's ridiculous! Nash, much like Lebron, doesn't have to take over the game by scoring HIMSELF. It doesn't matter who scores, as long as the basket is made. Plus, that's the exact same argument that's been leveled against Lebron all season, a guy who the Sports Guy claims is clearly a better candidate than Nash. Not to mention the fact that I've seen Nash take over games by scoring quite a few times. He only does it when he has to, but the guy can flat out fill it up when he wants to. He's an absurdly accurate shooter, and he’s such a creative dribbler he can get off his shot whenever he really wants it. Finally, the Sports Guy makes an argument he's made several times, that Jason Kidd never won an MVP so neither should Nash. Well guess what, I think Jason Kidd was robbed by Tim Duncan a few years ago. Kidd absolutely carried those Nets teams to back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, and he was completely deserving of the MVP Award during that time. You can't hold Duncan beating out Kidd over Nash's head, they're totally unrelated. The Sports Guy also throws in Payton, Isiah, Stockton, and even Mark Price, but that's ludicrous. Unlike Kidd and Nash, none of those guys was ever considered the clear-cut top point guard in the game.

In the end, the Sports Guy just proves that HE is the one who doesn't understand basketball. The reason the Suns are losing this series to the Lakers has little to do with Kobe vs. Nash as an individual match-up, which is what the Sports Guy seems to want you to believe. Rather, it has everything to do with the fact that Nash’s teammates are choking like dogs. Once again, Shawn Marion is folding like a freaking lawn chair in the playoffs, and the trio of Barbosa/Jones/House has been utterly AWOL, forcing Nash to do too much on his own to try and make up for it (note his increased scoring in the playoffs of 22 pts/gm). If Nash had Stoudemire to take over the scoring load, this would be a different situation. Meanwhile, Kobe’s teammates have really stepped up, the keys being Lamar Odom and Luke Walton. Early in the season, Odom was in the Scottie Pippen/initiator role in the triangle, and he really struggled. Now its Walton, and he’s perfect for it. He’s such a great distributor, he’s even getting the offensively challenged Kwame involved. The whole team is involved in the offense and now even Kobe is buying into it (Phil Jackson is an unbelievable coach). Plus, with Odom now playing closer to the rim as more of a finisher, he's averaging 21 pts and 12 boards and shooting 51% in the playoffs. And none of this takes into account the fact that Phoenix is shooting 43.5% from the field, a 4% dip from their regular season performance. The Sports Guy too often focuses on individual offense and individual match-ups when he analyzes NBA team match-ups. It’s not tennis Bill, it’s a freaking team sport!

(Tomorrow, it's back to focusing on the Zards in preparation for Game 5. I promise!)

Don't Cry, I'll Be Back Soon!

2006-04-27T10:46:00.000-04:00

I'll be out of town until Monday, so check back in on Monday night or Tuesday morning for my post to wrap-up the weekend's action.

It's a quiet off-day in this series, and most of the attention around the NBA is focused on the Lakers upset of the Suns last night, highlighted by Kobe's vicious dunk on Steve Nash (which can be viewed HERE). The Zards and Cavs get back at it on Friday night at 8pm at Gilbert's Arena. Uh... i mean the Verizon Center. Game 4 will be Sunday at 7:30pm. Thanks to Tuesday's cheeky shenanigans, home court advantage is ours now, so if we defend our turf the next 2 games this series belongs to us.

Around the web:

> Washington Post:
1) Wizards should stick to the game plan from Game 2
2) Haywood is doing a great job on Big Z

> Cleveland Plain Dealer:
1) LeBron BeFuddled
2) Drew Gooden came up big in Game 2
3) a report on the Cavs home crowd in Game 2

> Yet another story about Tough Juice’s hard knock life.

> Here's a random Cleveland area paper/journal/almanac that seems waaayy to into the Big 3. It's like they're trying to bait them into being overconfident.

> This is a couple days old, but it has the transcript of Brian Windhorst’s ESPN Insider chat about LeBron. It’s also interesting to note Windhorst’s prescient analysis (at the top of the page) after watching Game 1 on tape: “I couldn't believe how everything went the Cavs way, like the Wizards missing key open shots and not taking advantage of so many things that could’ve shifted the tide. What I'm saying is, I really expect things to be very different (in Game 2).”

> This is about a month old, but i just found it. I would find it hilarious if I hadn't spent an hour last weekend listening to a friend from San Jose scream about Baron Davis' shot selection and Mike Dunleavy's contract in a frustrated rage. Now I just feel kind of bad for Warriors fans. God knows we Zards fans have been there before.

> Gilbert quote of the day: "Once I threw my jersey to this petite woman in the stands, and this guy basically snatched it away from her. She looked at him for a minute, and then she started to punch the guy in the face."

Enjoy this weekend's games (and the NFL Draft), and check in with Wizznuttz or Mr. Irrelevant if you need your Zards fix.

-Coach

Around the Web

2006-04-26T11:50:00.000-04:00

Tons of great stuff on the web today, so let’s get right to it:

> I’m sick of sports writers jumping all over LeBron for not always taking the last shot. He’s NOT going to take a bad shot. He’s NOT going to shoot a 25-foot fade away with 2-men in his face when he has a teammate open for a better shot. So get over it! In last night’s case, he got double-teamed at the top of the key, and Varejao looked wide open for an easy dunk. Gilbert just came out of nowhere and made a tremendous defensive play. The irony is that the same instinct that earns LeBron all the praise, the desire to get the best possible shot for his team, is the same instinct that people then turn on him for at the end of games. He’s always going to get the best possible shot for his team on every possession, whether it’s his own shot or a dunk for Anderson Varejao.

> Tom Knott shoots from the hip, and as always, it really cracks me up. Today, Lebron is a “wimp”, who “walked around in a snit, making all sorts of ugly faces” and looked “as if he was ready to burst into tears”. Oh, and the Cleveland crowd is “addle-brained”. Tom Knott, you are the man.

> Maybe after he finished whining last night, LeBron went to his favorite amusement park to ride the tea pots?

> Michael Wilbon loved the physical play on LeBron last night, and he compares it to the Jordan Rules that MJ struggled with for so long against the Pistons. The Charles Oakley quote is especially amusing.

> Mike Wise gives credit to Eddie Jordan for the Zards’ feistiness last night.

> Yaysports was none too happy last night, declaring a 7:00pm bedtime for all Cavs fans. The doctored Nike “Witnesses” ad made me laugh out loud too.

> Cavs fans are telling themselves its okay, because they only lost by 5 despite the fact that LeBron was horrible, and that LeBron can’t possibly play that badly again. However, Bud Shaw in the Cleveland Plain Dealer points out that the Cavs also can’t possibly see “Drew Gooden’s best impersonation of Bill Walton at the Final Four” again.

> Cavaliers Corner: “We are all witnesses… that LeBron is indeed human.” Also, apparently Mike Brown adamantly defended LeBron’s pass to Varejao. He takes the blame on his own shoulders, since he directed the team to get a quick high-percentage bucket.

> This link will only work if you have an ESPN Insider subscription, but Chad Ford shows that he has clearly never watched a Wizards game when he describes Antonio Daniels as a “disappointing replacement for Larry Hughes”. Thanks for mailing it in, Chad. How’s Hawaii treating you? He also says that the Wizards have needs at Combo guard (uh… what?) and Center, and suggests Patrick O’Bryant, Hilton Armstrong, and Josh Boone as possible options at the 5-spot. I wouldn’t mind O’Bryant at #18, but he’ll probably go in the lottery do to the dearth of Centers in this draft. I don’t want anything to do with Boone or Armstrong. If we’re gonna draft a big man, I want someone who fits our offense. I want a high-post 5 who can hit the 15-foot jumper (think Brad Miller in Sacramento). The Princeton Offense is a beautiful thing to watch when you have a 5 who can draw the opposing 5 away from the rim to open up the blocks for cutters (and for guards like Caron Butler who have post-up skills). The only guy like that who should be available when we pick is Kevin Pittsnogle, but his lack of rebounding for a guy that size concerns me.

WE ARE ALL WITNESSES... to suffocating Wizards defense?

2006-04-25T22:12:00.000-04:00

Washington 89, Cleveland 84

For the first time this season, I can honestly say that the Zards won a game with their half-court defense. We switched up our defensive philosophy after the Game 1 double-teaming debacle, Lebron was frustrated all game, and the Big 3 scored enough this time to pull out a win in a hard fought defensive battle.

This win was all about our defensive strategy against Lebron. First of all, we let Caron Butler and Jared Jeffries cover Lebron one-on-one. But rather than body up on him, we sagged off him and dared him to shoot jumpers. As is often the case, Lebron couldn't hit from the perimeter with any kind of consistency. Then, when he tried to drive to the basket, we put a body on him each and every time. Option 1 was to slide into position and attempt to take a charge. If he was able to avoid the charge, then we fouled him HARD to avoid giving up the lay-up. Both the charge calls and the physical play clearly frustrated Lebron, and he appeared more and more tentative in the half-court game after we clearly established our new philosophy in the first quarter. Meanwhile, with only one man dedicated to Lebron, he had a hard time finding open men (just 2 assists in the game), and Cleveland's spot-up shooters were rendered ineffective. Donyell Marshall only managed as many field goal attempts this game as he had 3-point makes last game (3).

Essentially, our defensive philosophy led to Cleveland's offense consisting of:

Long jumpers from LeBron.
Spot-up jumpers or contested drives in the half-court offense from Larry Hughes, a player whose game is basically only effective in the open court.
One-on-one post-up opportunities for Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who has always struggled to score on Brendan Haywood.
Post-ups and offensive rebound putbacks from Drew Gooden, which was basically the only consistent offense the Cavs had all game. Gooden was 11 of 12 from the field, and dominated Antawn Jamison on the offensive end.

The results? LeBron, Hughes, and Ilgauskas combined to score just 51 points on 15-for-53 shooting (28%). As a team, the Cavs shot 36%.

Offensively, it still wasn't pretty, but we did enough to win. Gilbert led the way with 30 points, despite the fact that he didn't play particularly well (by HIS standards). He was extremely tentative in the first quarter, so much so that I was screaming at the TV for him to play more aggressively to jumpstart the offense. At halftime, Charles Barkley validated my argument by declaring that Gilbert needed to step up, be aggressive, and be the star when his offense wasn't clicking as a team. Luckily for the Wizards, Caron Butler really caught fire late in the 1st quarter, and the whole team seemed to come alive after that. Butler was our best offensive player in the first half, as he scored the majority of his 21 points in the first stanza, and it honestly felt like we would have been blown out if he hadn't stepped it up. In the 2nd half, Butler disappeared (partly due to foul trouble), but Jamison came alive. Antawn was especially huge in the 4th quarter, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the 4th quarter alone, including 2 enormous threes.

In the end, a game that played out as a defensive battle came to a fitting conclusion, as a beautiful strip by Gilbert Arenas underneath the basket iced the game. However, after I finished jumping up and down in celebration, I was left with one burning question. If LeBron had had one more rebound, would he have been credited with his 2nd straight playoff triple-double for a 26 point, 10 rebound, 10 turnover game?

This is OUR series now. This road win was the first big momentum swing in this series. We just have to head back to DC and protect our home court this weekend.

One more thing... did anybody else catch the split-second camera shot of Caron Butler right after the buzzer sounded? He turned toward LeBron, and mimicking the pre-game clip of LeBron that ESPN and TNT have been incessantly showing since game 1, he pretended to throw chalk powder in the air and wave his hands to the crowd. (Haha, and right as I finished typing that passage, TNT just showed the clip in slow motion on the Spurs-Kings halftime show. I LOVE ME SOME TOUGH JUICE!)

A little reading for your afternoon visit to the john...

2006-04-25T13:42:00.000-04:00

just found an article in today's LA Times about Gilbert: LA Times

The Zards' Cap Situation

2006-04-25T10:48:00.000-04:00

This weekend, NBAdraft.net put up a summary of our cap situation this off-season. They peg our 06-07 payroll at $56 million, which would put us roughly $4 million over the estimated salary cap. The good news is that we have Gilbert Arenas signed for the next 3 seasons, and Caron Butler signed through the next 5 years at approximately half of Larry Hughes’ cost. Gilbert will be just 27 when his contract expires, so an extension would take him to age 32. So it is realistic, and even quite probable, to expect that Arenas will be a Zard for the next 8 years. Thank you jeebus!

The only real contract mistake on this roster is Etan Thomas, as he’s got 4 years left at $6.5 million per year. Luckily, he’s an active big-man that can play Center, and he’s a good guy, so that means his contract is definitely tradable. Some people complain that Antawn Jamison’s contract is too much, since it’s easily the biggest on the team, but I’m not too worried. His veteran presence, shooting, and double-doubles have been instrumental in revitalizing this franchise, and he’s only 29. He should definitely continue to post double-doubles over the final 2 years of his contract.

The Zards should be able to pick up someone with the mid-level exception this off-season who is of similar caliber to the Antonio Daniels pick-up last year, but that’s not the kind of move that’s really going to improve this team to the 50-win level. I think the key to this off-season is going to be Brendan Haywood’s contract. He might be the most tradable starting Center in the NBA. We all know he’s never going to be a star, but A) he’s only 26, B) he’s a legit 7-footer, C) his contract is eminently reasonable (4 years left at $5 mil per year), and D) there’s nothing more than hot garbage available at the Center position in this year’s draft. Haywood would be a VERY attractive trade chip for just about any team in the league. I bet we could get something interesting for some combination of Thomas, Haywood, and our first round pick (18th overall).

Another year down the line, I think the key for the Zards will be Antawn Jamison’s expiring contract. He’ll be 31, reaching the point where a physical and statistical decline is imminent, and he’ll have an expiring $15 million contract that teams will drool over. Plus, at that point, Andray Blatche should be developing enough to begin taking over playing time. I am REALLY high on Andray Blatche. His size, skills, and game remind me a lot of Lamar Odom, he’s got great instincts, and he’s very physically mature. Don’t be shocked if he earns a steady rotation spot next season.

In the end, despite giving us bonus points for unloading Kwame for Caron, NBAdraft.net only gives us a C-grade for the state of our cap. They are far more pessimistic than I am, stating that “with little cap room and no good trade bait, it will be very difficult to become a contender”. I believe in Ernie Grunfeld though. He built the Knicks into a Finals team, then he put together the Cassell/Big-Dog/Allen teams and found Michael Redd in the 2nd round in Milwaukee, and now he’s quickly made one of the NBA’s most downtrodden franchises into a back-to-back playoff team. We have our young core (all 26 or under) of Arenas/Butler/Blatche, we always have the mid-level exception, we have a very tradable asset in Haywood, and we have a huge trading chip in Jamison in 2007. That’s more than enough for Ernie to get it done.

Notes:

> Obviously, game 2 is tonight at 7:00pm on TNT. Just remember, nothing important has happened in an NBA playoff series until someone loses at home.

> This link won’t work unless you have ESPN Insider, but Scouts Inc. still likes the Zards in 6.

“Prediction: I don't give up easily, Wizards in 6.”

Why? A) pace, B) Butler getting tough with Lebron, and C) the Cavs supporting cast laying their typical bricks. The Cavs will keep running a slow offense through James to try and control the game. If Butler plays Lebron, Scouts Inc. thinks that Tough Juice can slow down James by getting mean and tough with him, unlike Jared Jeffries. He also expects more double-teaming, which Lebron will counter by hitting his teammates for open jumpers, which is exactly what the Zards want. You have to force guys like Eric Snow, Drew Gooden, and Larry Hughes to beat you. The Cavs shooters were bums in the regular season, and Scouts Inc. expects the supporting cast to keep missing those shots in the playoffs (as do I). On top of that, if the Zards can control the pace by running and shooting like we’re capable of, then it’ll be our game.

> Mike Wise profiles the Cavaliers’ brain trust.

> Ivan Carter: The Zards need to make Lebron work on the defensive end.

> Wizards selfish? Easy tiger, it was just one game where the shots weren’t falling.

> Cleveland has confidence in Eric Snow’s scoring ability. I have NO IDEA why. Apparently they don’t realize that he’s 33 years old and shot 39% over the past two season. We should keep leaving him open and dare him to hit shots again like he did in Game 1.

Can you tell it's been 10 years since the Cavs last made the playoffs?

2006-04-24T11:47:00.002-04:00

It's a 7 game series fellas, in case you didn't know... yaysports.com

Mulligan!

2006-04-23T23:28:00.000-04:00

No doubt about it, the Wizards got smacked at The Q on Saturday afternoon. But here's the beauty of the NBA playoffs, it's not a big deal. As a lower seed on the road you're expected to lose, but if you can steal just one game out of the first 3 in your opponents building, you only need to protect your own home turf to take the series. Last year was the perfect example of this. We lost our first 2 games in Chicago on the road, and the pundits were ready to write off the series. But no NBA series takes a true momentum swing until someone pulls off a road win. As should be expected, the Wizards came home and won both our games at MCI, tying the series at 2. The first significant win of the series came in game 5, when Gilbert hit the game winner in Chicago, sending us back to DC with a chance to close out the series. We get our 2nd shot at stealing a road game from the Cavs on Tuesday night, and even if we lose again, there's no need to panic. Neither team is in a hole until someone drops one at home.

As for Saturday, I don't think this game needs too much of a recap, since it was barely competitive from the beginning. Were the Cavs just clearly a superior team? Was Lebron a singular dominant force that was impossible to overcome? Not really. It was simple, our shots just weren't falling. Arenas, Butler, and Jamison combined to shoot 15-for-47 (32%). We're not even going to beat the Raptors on the road if our Big 3 is shooting like that. The Cavs didn't even play that well. Lebron got his (as he always will), Donyell Marshall hit some open 3's from the corner, and Eric Snow miraculously nailed a few perimeter jumpers. That's about it. We shot ourselves out of this game from the beginning, and you could see that we got more and more discouraged as we continued to miss jumpers. By the middle of the 3rd quarter, we seemed to give up, knowing it was over. The players know they're not going to win any defensive slug-fests, and we're not going to outscore anyone when we can't hit an open 15-footer. Hopefully the Big 3 can get it going on Tuesday, and if not, we head back to DC on Friday to even this series where our jumpers are far more consistent.

Notes:

> Charles Barkley had a great point about Gilbert Arenas on Sunday night on TNT. He said that Gil is a very good player, but that he won't be a great player until he learns how to help his team win games when he's not hitting his shots. Just take a look at Gilbert's splits in Zards wins vs. Zards losses. In wins, he shoots 50% from the field. In losses however, he only shoots 40% from the field, AND his assists actually go down as well. In games when Gilbert's not shooting well, he should do everything he can to get better looks for his teammates. His assists should be going UP when his shot's not on. He should also get to the line alot more, since the best way to get your points on a poor shooting day is by getting yourself to the line for freebies. One reason the Wizards were a mediocre road team this year was that Gilbert is only a 42% shooter on the road. If he could learn to make the team better with other aspects of his game, the Wizards would be much more of a consistent team on the road.

> ESPN's Chris Sheridan seems ready to anoint Lebron as the greatest playoff performer of all-time after 1 freaking home game against "The Team That Wasn't There".

> Mike Wilbon on Sunday: Lebron was great, the Zards were not.

> Mike Wise was on point with this column on Sunday. Lebron was excellent, but he's not the reason we lost. We lost because the Big 3 couldn't hit the back side of a barn.

> Kornheiser also takes a sensible approach this morning: "You don't have to win the first game to win a seven-game series. Should the Wizards win Game 2 tomorrow night, hello, they'll have wrestled away home court. And come on, nobody looks at Cleveland and thinks, 'Ohmigod, how are we going to beat them?' Beyond LeBron, how many of the Cavs do you think are going to Springfield other than by Greyhound? Cleveland has one great player, and four guys named Moe. The Wizards should beat them. But they'll have to get Arenas, Jamison and Butler mo' better real quick."

> Tom Knott: "The outcome was not about James, really, although the panting gushers in his midst will be certain to portray it that way. You figure it takes two teams to deliver a masterpiece. The problem is there was only one team on the floor."

> CNNSI has a running diary of Lebron's debut, which may or may not have also involved the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers as well as the Washington Wizards. It includes hard-hitting revelations such as the fact that Lebron thinks he is "a human being just like everybody else." Thanks for the great work, Chris Ballard.

> If you're still feeling a little down about Saturday's debacle (not to mention Lavar Arrington's traitorous signing with the New York Giants), this really REALLY helps take the edge off. I watched it about 10 times on Sunday.

Links to peruse while eating a bagel and drinking a glass of freshly squeezed Tough Juice

2006-04-21T10:01:00.000-04:00

Check out The Basketball Jones’ Eastern Playoffs Preview. I heard their Wizards expert is terrific:
http://www.thebasketballjones.net/2006/04/21/tbj-eastern-playoffs-preview/

> Washington Post:

Wilbon’s playoff preview:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042002110.html

Arenas vs. Hughes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042002125.html

Etan Thomas is ready to go, and Gilbert’s ready for the media spotlight:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042002036.html

> Washington Times:

Will Lebron get the superstar treatment? http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20060421-122904-2317r.htm

Caron Butler’s journey to the NBA
http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20060421-122858-4238r.htm

> Other stuff:

Get inside the head of the enemy:
http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/

It sounds like Sir Charles and Reggie Miller are on the Wizards bandwagon:
http://www.sportsfeatures.com/index.php?section=pp&action=show&id=30863

USA Today is drinking the Tough Juice:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/playoffs/2006-04-20-butler_x.htm

Stupid SI likes the stupid Cavs in 7:
sportsillustrated.cnn.com

Jai Lewis impresses NFL scouts:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/20/AR2006042001987.html?nav=hcmodule

Wizards-Cavs Preview

2006-04-21T01:31:00.000-04:00

In preparation for recording The Basketball Jones Podcast I jotted down some answers to several warm-up questions that J.E. Skeets and Tas Melas sent me. I typed up my thoughts and fleshed them out a bit, and now they serve as the perfect preview for the upcoming Zards-Cavs series (starting Saturday at 3:30 on ABC).

> How do you think your team will play and how have they been playing?

As far as I’m concerned, the Zards played as well as they can to close out the season. You have to ignore the 5 games (all losses) without Caron. We can't win without our entire Big 3 in the line-up, because the rest of the team is just too deficient on the offensive end to make up for it. In our last 10 games with Butler healthy, we were 7-3. When we’re firing on all cylinders, we push the pace, attack the passing lanes on defense, and force an up-tempo game.

> Major issues plaguing/helping your team?

2 major things will motivate us against the Cavs:

1) King James and his hype machine. Gilbert loves to be the underdog, he wants respect, and the whole team will be playing with a chip on their shoulder as the media fawns over Lebron.

2) Larry Hughes. The common wisdom said that losing Larry Hughes would set this team back, but we're right back in the 5th spot. Hyper-competitive Arenas will want to show his buddy Hughes that he shouldn't have left, and Butler and Daniels will want to make a statement that they're more than just adequate replacements.

> Keys to the team's success?

Key #1: Keep Lebron on the perimeter. In our 3 victories over the Cavs, the biggest key has been that Lebron has stayed on the perimeter and shot jumpers. Whether it's playing off him and forcing him to hit from outside, or Haywood stepping up and forcibly protecting the rim, we need to prevent Lebron from getting easy buckets in the paint, and make the Cavs live and die by his often streaky jumpshot.

Key #2: Go small, play a transition game, and make it about guard play. The Cavs weakness all-season has been the play of guards like Eric Snow, Damon Jones, Sasha Pavlovic, and Flip Murray. Arenas, Daniels, and Butler have had their way with those guys. If we go small by sliding Jeffries to Center, like we did in our big win over Milwaukee this week, we can take Zydrunas Ilgauskas out of the game and put pressure on the Cavs guards to take care of the basketball. Even with Hughes healthy, that would be an advantage for the Wizards, as Hughes has always had a high turnover rate.

> Past playoff performance?

For the first time as a Bullards fan, I can actually say that playoff experience is on our side. We won a tough series as the 5 seed last year against Chicago, before taking our beatings (and hopefully learning some lessons) in the 2nd round against Miami.

2005 was the first playoff exposure for Gilbert, and he showed his mettle by burying the series winner in Chicago. Now it’s Gil’s 2nd time around, and he knows he can win a game at the buzzer in the playoffs. Can Lebron? While Gilbert goes into Eastern Conference Assassin mode during crunch time, will the 21-year-old be biting his finger nails?

The rest of our Big 3 should be ready for the playoff pressure as well. Caron has playoff experience from his days with the Wade/Odom/Butler Heat team, and Jamison's a grizzled playoff vet now thanks to his Dallas days.

In addition to the experience edge, the Zards should also have an edge in confidence. We’re a combined 6-1 against Cleveland and Detroit this season, so fear and intimidation will not be a factor.

> Your prediction?

Wizards in 6. We’ll go 3-0 at home, and 1-2 on the road. We’ll win the series in front of the home crowd on May 5th at Verizon Center.

And just for fun, here's the whole enchilada...

Round One:

Pistons over Bucks in 4
Heat over Bulls in 5
Nets over Pacers in 6
Wizards over Cavaliers in 6

Spurs over Kings in 7
Suns over Lakers in 5
Clippers over Nuggets in 6
Mavericks over Grizzlies in 4

Round Two:

Pistons over Wizards in 6
Heat over Nets in 6

Mavericks over Spurs in 7
Suns over Clippers in 6

Conference Finals:

Pistons over Heat in 6

Mavericks over Suns in 7

NBA Finals:

Pistons over Mavericks in 6

check me out on The Basketball Jones Podcast

2006-04-20T20:07:00.000-04:00

I just finished recording the Wizards section of the The Basketball Jones playoff preview podcast. Thanks to J.E. Skeets and Tas for giving me the opportunity to let their listeners know that the Zards will beat the Cavs in 6. Before we face Detroit, hopefully they'll let me back on to talk smack about our 3-0 record against the Pistons this year.

The podcast should be available for download sometime Friday morning, and you'll be able to get it HERE. The Basketball Jones Podcast is also available on iTunes, so check it out and subscribe to get it weekly.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, because you don't know what a podcast is (Hi Dad!), then take a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

Also, if you seek relationship advice from 7-foot, floppy-haired Germans, go here: http://www.nba.com/features/dear_dirk_mailbag_050321.html

We're #5! We're #5!

2006-04-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

It was an ugly game, except for Caron's wizardry (pun intended!), but we got the job done. The 1st quarter was especially sloppy. The Wizards looked tense, and the Pistons starters (minus Chauncey Billups) didn't really look like they cared. The Pistons held a 24-19 lead after one quarter, but the starters gave way to the likes of Carlos Delfino and Jason Maxiell in the 2nd, and the game was pretty much over after that. The Zards took an 8-point lead into half-time and the Pistons never really got any closer: Zards 96, Detroit Ex-Bullets 80.

Caron Butler was spectacular last night: 33 points on 13-for-22 shooting, 12 rebounds, 3 steals. Granted, much of it was against guys like Amir Johnson and Alex Acker, but we can still hope that it's an indication of what's to come in the playoffs. Both Butler and Jamison continued their strong play, and we're going to need top-notch production from them against Cleveland.

The Wizards and Cavaliers kick-off the playoffs on Saturday at 3:30 in Cleveland. This series should get a TON of national hype, being that it's Lebron's first playoff appearance. Hopefully the national attention combined with a series victory over the Cavs will get Gilbert some of the ridiculous, media-bandwagon overhyping that Dwyane "Jumpshot" Wade's been getting for the last 2 years.

Notes (lots of stuff on the web today):

> ESPN’s Daily Dime: Caron was "Wednesday's Best", Chris Webber actually showed up for the Sixers last game (what a professional!), Chris Sheridan calls Zards-Cavs "a toss up" but picks the Cavs in 7, and Marc Stein omits Gilbert from his All-NBA teams... BEHIND TONY FREAKING PARKER!!! SHOW ME ONE NBA GM OR SCOUT WHO WOULD TAKE PARKER OVER ARENAS! ONE! I DARE YOU! (deep breath... and moving on...)

> Sports Illustrated has a small interview this week with Gilbert Arenas. A lot of it is old news, but there are two pretty funny parts:

Earlier this season, Gil drenched Awvee Storey with a water hose for 3 minutes while he was on the can. Says Gilbert: "It was hilarious. But for some reason, he still wasn't laughing."
We all know about "The Eastern Conference Assassin", but apparently Gilbert has given himself quite a few other nicknames. Previously, he's gone by "Black Fever" and "Hurricane", and he's currently going with "The People's Champ". He even had clear bowling balls custom-made with boxing gloves inside of them.

> Apparently Larry Brown wants to bring Jared Jeffries to the Knicks this off-season for the mid-level exception. He would seem to duplicate alot of the things that David Lee already does for them (at a cheaper price), but whatever, it's the Knicks so logic doesn't apply. I do think the Wizards should let Jeffries go, that money could be better spent elsewhere, but at the same time, I wouldn't wish a contract with the Knicks on a good guy like Jeffries.

> Mitchell Butler sighting! The Washington Times catches up with Gilbert's Arena favorite Mitchell Butler, a mainstay of the mediocre mid-90's squads, unsung star of Blue Chips, and randomly reappearing 2004 12th man.

> George Mason Power Forward Jai Lewis will audition for NFL teams today, in the hopes of following in the foot steps of Antonio Gates. I love this quote: "It's tough to teach a guy to be 6'5, 280 or 290 pounds and to move like that." Thanks, Sherlock.

> Scottie Reynolds, a McDonald's All-American from Northern Virginia, asked for his release from Oklahoma now that Kelvin Sampson jumped to Indiana. I wonder if Georgetown or Maryland has a shot at keeping him home now?

> Speaking of Maryland, Ekene Ibekwe and DJ Strawberry might be declaring for the NBA Draft (apparently they don't realize there's not a 3rd round anymore). However, Gary Williams fired back and said they’re not going anywhere. The Terps program hasn't seemed like much fun since the Juan Dixon days.

> It's pretty funny that Adam Morrison used to look like THIS. Somehow, I don't think Larry Bird was ever into Rage Against the Machine and Che Guevara.

> And just for fun... a statistical wrap-up of Kwame Brown's 2005-2006 season

28 minutes per game, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 0.71 assist-to-turnover ratio (1 assist and 1.4 turnovers per game), 0.5 steals, 0.5 blocks
Hollinger Stats league ranks: 142nd in Player Efficiency Rating, 167th in Turnover Rate, 33rd in rebound rate (just 20th among Centers)
Most statistically similar players at his age? Donald Hodge, J.R. Reid, and Iakovos “Big Jake” Tsakalidis
Ernie Grunfeld, my love grows stronger for you by the day.

Wizards-Pistons games make me sad...

2006-04-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

Watching the Pistons is kind of like having all 3 of your ex-girlfriends show up at a restaurant at the same time, 15 pounds lighter and with breast implants, while you're dining with the mediocre girl you've been dating to help you get over a cold streak.

At least we got our very own championship core of Jerry Stackhouse, Rod Strickland, and Ike Austin for them. If my walls weren't plastered with posters of Gilbert Arenas, I would definitely have a poster of this man over my bed.

NOTES:

> The Post's Mike Wise focuses on last night's Arenas-Redd duel.

> On SportsCenter last night, NBA analyst Greg Anthony picked the Wizards as the most dangerous playoff team in the East. His reasoning? We have the top 3 scorers in the league, the only team in the East that plays great defense is the Pistons, and we're the only team in the league with a winning record against the Pistons this year.

HUGE WIN!

2006-04-18T21:41:00.000-04:00

Washington 116, Milwaukee 103

What a performance tonight by the Zards! That was EXACTLY how we need to play in the playoffs. Arenas dropped 43 points, got to the line 19 times, and took over the game offensively in the 4th quarter during a 29-13 closing run. Jamison and Butler both shot 50%, and each had 20+ points and 9 rebounds. Most importantly though, we played the game at our pace. We pushed the ball constantly without forcing anything (just 9 turnovers), and attacked Milwaukee on both ends of the floor (16 forced turnovers, including 10 STEALS).

The Bucks gave us their best shot, too. TJ Ford played as well as I've ever seen him play (26 pts, 8 ast, 6 reb, 4 stl), and Michael Redd was absolutely unconscious in the 2nd half and finished with 43 points. In the end though, the Bucks couldn't stay under control while playing at the Wizards frenetic place. Eddie Jordan made the Bucks play OUR game, by playing Jared Jeffries at Center for most of the 4th quarter. In response, Terry Stotts had to take Jamaal Magloire out and go small. The Wizards are a far more comfortable team in the full-court game than the Bucks, and Milwaukee showed it by turning the ball over and committing silly fouls. We really can't play any better than we played tonight, so that's a great sign heading into the opening weekend of the playoffs.

We're heading to Detroit Wednesday night for our final game of the regular season, and we're in the driver's seat for the 5th playoff spot. Indiana and Chicago are in our rearview (1 game back with a game to play) and Milwaukee is lying in a heap at the side of the road (1.5 back with their season over). Detroit has nothing to play for and their starters will be on the bench, so we should be able to take this one if we come out playing hard.

Here are the scenarios going into the final day:

1) If we win, we finish 5th and play the Cavs. Yay!
2) If we lose, and just Indiana wins, we finish 5th. (Cavs! Woohoo!)
3) If we lose, and just Chicago wins, we finish 6th and play the Nets... :(
4) If we lose, and Indiana and Chicago both win, we finish 7th and play... Miami! NOOOOO!

More Love for Gilbert

2006-04-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

Mr. Irrelevant spreads the love for Gilbert this morning:

> http://journals.aol.com/dcsportsguy/mrirrelevant/entries/2656

There are a couple of funny links at the bottom worth checking out, as well as an interview with Gilbert.

Also, here is a link to the 2005 SI article about Gilbert that refers to his pitbulls (first paragraph):

> http://www.wizznutzz.com/gilbert_si.html

I've been looking for this article for a while, so thanks to the The Wizznutzz for posting it for all to enjoy. Apparently, my memory was slightly off. Gil didn't buy treadmills for his dogs, he brought them into the Warriors training facility and tried to see how fast he could get them to run on the treadmills. That's even better!

In even MORE wonderful Gilbert Arenas news, the Washington Times reports today that Gil is planning a bowl-off for the ownership rights to a 2001 Chevy Monte Carlo. Apparently he won the car from his friend last year by pretending to be terrible at Halo and then convincing his friend to bet his car on a game. For the past year, Gilbert has kept the car in his garage, and occasionally he takes pictures of it and sends it to his friend to taunt him.

Oh, and I guess I should also mention that the Bucks, Pacers, and Bulls all won last night. If we lose tonight to the Bucks, we lose any chance at the 5th spot. Should be a playoff atmosphere tonight in Washington. If you're not excited for this game, there's something wrong with you.

Playoff Picture

2006-04-17T17:17:00.000-04:00

According to the Wizards website (www.nba.com/wizards/news/06tie_breakers.html) there are 3 basic ways the Wizards can secure the 5th spot in the East:

> Wizards go 2-0

> All four teams go 1-1

> Chicago and Milwaukee both go 0-2, and Indiana goes 0-2 or 1-1 (we only have the head-to-head tiebreaker over Indiana)

The Wizards site also breaks down what would happen if there was a 3-way tie or a 4-way tie. It's a little bit mind-numbing to actually try to read it, so here's the summary: If we get into a 3-way tie or 4-way tie situation, we get the worst seed no matter what.

Moral of the story: JUST GO 2-0

Weekend Wrap-up

2006-04-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Before I get to this weekend’s action, READ THIS IMMEDIATELY. A few highlights:

> Gilbert plays on-line poker in the locker room at halftime of games.
> During the summer, he bowls 3 to 4 hours a day, every day, and his high score is 277.
> He thinks resting in the off-season leads to burn out. I’m not sure how that works, but I like it.
> He wants to write and film his own shoe commercials this summer and post them on-line. One of his ideas features Ron Artest going into the stands after a fan, only to slip and knock his own teeth out.

Sometimes I love Gilbert Arenas so much it hurts. Moving on…

On Friday night, we traveled to Chicago, where we suffered our 5th straight loss without Caron Butler (L, 103-101). There were two major reasons we lost this game, and the horrendous charging call on Jared Jeffries on the last play of the game wasn’t one of them. Although Andres Nocioni clearly shouldn’t have gotten that call, I also don’t think it should have been a foul on Noc. If anything, it should have been a “no call”, in which case the clock would have run out. The real problem was that Jeffries didn’t call a timeout when he got the ball with 3 seconds left on the clock. I’d rather set up a play for the winning shot than have Jared Jeffries careen wildly down court toward the basket in a full-court one-on-one situation.

That charging call aside, the real reasons we lost this game were: A) Ben Gordon, and B) Gilbert Arenas’ calf. Gordon went 9-for-9 from three, tying the NBA record for most threes in a game without a miss. He was lights-out in the 4th quarter, and it didn’t matter if we had a hand in his face. He wasn’t missing. Meanwhile, Gilbert was ice cold in the 4th quarter. At the mid-point of the 3rd quarter, Arenas was 11 for 20 from the field with 30+ points, but then he came up limping. He went to the bench where the trainers massaged and treated his calf. When he came back out a few minutes later, something was clearly wrong. Antonio Daniels was bringing the ball up the court, Gilbert wasn’t moving at all on defense, and he stopped driving to the basket. When he shot jumpers (which was all he did for the rest of the game), he had no lift, as he was clearly jumping off one leg. To make a long story short, Gilbert shot 2 for 12 over the last quarter and a half. Game over.

On Saturday, our Eastern Conference competitors handed us a gift. Philadelphia lost to Orlando, Indiana lost to the lowly Charlotte Bobcats in overtime, and Milwaukee got drubbed by the Atlanta Hawks. So going into Sunday’s game against the Cavaliers, we had a 1/2 game lead for the 5th playoff spot. Then we got more good news…

Caron was back! And it made a world of difference. The Zards played with the kind of aggressiveness, confidence, and energy that's been missing over the past 2 weeks. We looked like a different team. Gilbert was picking his spots rather than forcing his shot, we constantly pushed the ball up the court and relentlessly attacked the rim, and Antonio Daniels’ production became a luxury off the bench rather than a necessity. The game was over after 3 quarters, as we took a 26 point lead into the final stanza. The Cavs even conceded the game at that point by pulling Larry Hughes, Lebron, and Big Z. Caron was clearly the player of the game, finishing with 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists (box score). With the win, we finally clinched a playoff spot. About freaking time!

This week, the Zards have Milwaukee on Tuesday in our final home game of the year, followed by the Pistons on the road on Wednesday (hopefully with their starters resting). We need to lock down the 5th spot, and at this point we control our own destiny thanks to a one game lead over Milwaukee, Indiana, and Chicago. We are a better team than the Cavs, as our 3-1 record against them this year shows. We can definitely beat them in a 7 game series, and in the 2nd round we’d face the Pistons rather than the dreaded Heat. The Pistons are clearly the best team in the league, but at least we have confidence against them. We’ve beaten them twice this year, including a win at The Palace, so we won’t be afraid.

Notes:

> Michael Wilbon jumps on the anti-T-shirt bandwagon. Says Wilbon: “It’s time for the Wizards to act like they’ve been there.” AMEN.

> Eddie Jordan has given Caron the nickname “Tough Juice”. I like it.

> Get your off-season dose of Clinton Portis! The Mighty MJD

Awards and Bizarro Awards

2006-04-14T14:05:00.000-04:00

I was going to post year-end awards for the Wizards today, but given the fact that I can't think about the Zards right now without curling into the fetal position, I think I'll just focus on league-wide awards. Everybody and their mother offers their award choices this time of year, so I thought I'd throw in my "opposite day" award choices as well, just to spice things up a bit.

First-team All-NBA: Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Elton Brand, Dirk Nowitzki

Picking this team was easy this year. Every single one of these guys was a cut above the rest. Nash is the league's best PG. Kobe carries what might be the league's worst team without him. Lebron is gonna win his fair share of MVPs before he's done. Elton Brand lost weight, worked on his jumper, and became the league's best traditional PF. Dirk is the unquestioned stud on what might be the West's best team.

72nd-team All-NBA: Orien Greene, Sasha Vujacic, John Salmons, Scott Padgett, Brian Scalabrine

If you've never seen any of these guys play before, you're lucky. Orien Greene and John Salmons are perfect examples of NBA scouts' inexplicable love for tall guys who can play PG, even if they can't do anything other than be tall and not dribble off their own foot. Sasha Vujacic is just horrific. I honestly think he leads the NBA in air-balls this year. Does anyone keep track of that kind of stat? As for Scalabrine, his selection to the squad is due to the fact that he gets paid $15 million dollars by the Celtics to (in the words of my friend Rookie) "bring nothing to the table but his tangy, Irish breast-milk". That leaves my nemesis, the dreaded Scott Padgett. I have had a burning hatred for Scott Padgett since the first time I saw him play at Kentucky. First of all, I hate his goatee. That thing just gets under my skin. Second of all, he has managed to convince basketball coaches and scouts on all levels that he can actually shoot, just by shooting a lot. He's not a good shooter! In fact, he's a very mediocre shooter. He just keeps shooting, and then he acts all upset when he misses. Why do people buy into it? Are they mesmerized by the goatee?

Most Valuable Player: Steve Nash

I evaluate this award by answering a question: "Who is the most indispensable player on a good team?" Nash is my choice again this year, ahead of Dirk and Kobe. Nash was the best player in the league last year, and he took it to a whole new level this year. I didn't even think this team could make the playoffs without Amare, Q, and Joe Johnson, but Nash turned guys like James Jones and Raja Bell into scoring machines. And I don't care that he doesn't rebound or play lock-down defense. His effect on that offense is clearly a net positive over any negative effects he has on their defense. And why should Nash's rebounding matter? It's not his job. Nobody complains that Tim Duncan doesn't shoot 3's.

Least Valuable Player: Antoine Walker

Who is the most dispensable supposedly good player on a good team? It's gotta be Antoine Walker. It's kind of sad to give this award to Antoine, because he had so much potential when he came into the league to become a dominant Point-Forward. But his lateral quickness eroded each year he's been in the league, it doesn't seem like he's worked too much on his ball-handling, and he fell in love with the 3-pointer in Boston. Now he just stands around the perimeter and heaves 3-pointers with one hand while cashing paychecks with the other.

Most Improved Player: Boris Diaw

Diaw gets this award over Gerald Wallace (only player in the league to average 2+ blocks and 2+ steals per game, and he's only 23!). My roommate and I used to watch Hawks games sometimes just to rip on Diaw's phenomenal lack of production. We used to send each other Hawks box scores whenever he put up lines like: 32 minutes, 0-for-1 from the field, 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal. Last year, he might have been the MVP of my 72nd-team All-NBA squad. Now he's the best Point-Center in the league. Go figure.

Least Improved Player: Stromile Swift

I was always a Stromile apologist. I thought he just needed to get out of Memphis and go to a team where there weren't so many players crowding the rotation. At some point, a player with potential becomes too old to be considered anything other than a bust. I think it's about that time for Stromile. Well... unless the Rockets fire Jeff Van Gundy and the new coach gives Stro more PT. He just needs a coach that will let him play in an up-tempo system. It's the coach's fault right? The coaches are holding Stro back!

6th Man of the Year: Mike Miller

Mike Miller has quietly developed into one of the league's best long-range shooters. When he comes off the bench feeling it, there's nothing you can do to stop him. Just ask the Wizards (30 points) and the Nuggets (41 pts).

12th Man of the Year: Sean Marks

I'm not really sure what the bizarro equivalent of a 6th man is, so I'm just going to use this award to give a shout-out to the league's most underappreciated 12th man, Sean Marks. Raise your hand if you know who Sean Marks is? Nobody? Well, did you know that Sean Marks has been in the NBA for 6 years?! Well done Sean Marks. Well done.

Rookie of the Year: Chris Paul

Not much to say here. Nobody else is even close. That's why I'm gonna give out a 2nd ROY award...

Long-term Potential Award: Andrew Bynum

The league's youngest player showed that he belongs in the NBA, and he's still growing! By the time he's done, he'll be Shaq-sized, and he has a soft touch, great attitude, and excellent feet. Barring injury, this kid should develop into a perennial All-Star, and sooner than you might think.

Worst Rookie of the Year: Marvin Williams

Okay, so maybe he hasn't been the worst rookie in the league. He's just been mediocre. But the Hawks should have picked Chris Paul, so Marvin Williams is going to be judged against Paul for the rest of his career. Hawks fans are hoping that he develops into an All-NBA stud at the 3, but I'd put my money on Josh Smith before I'd put it on Marvin.

Defensive Player of the Year: Trenton Hassell

I think this is the hardest category for the average fan to evaluate. Typically, people base their choice on 3 things: stats (blocked shots and/or steals), reputation (i.e. media hype) , and watching guys try to guard Kobe or Lebron one-on-one (on ABC, just about every Sunday). In reality, most people have no idea who's really playing the best defense within their team's concept. Some guys might be racking up steals or blocks by gambling. Other guys get a rep for being defensive stoppers because they don't do much else (Bruce Bowen) or because they run their mouths (Ruben Patterson). So, since I'm not really sure who actually is the best defensive player in the league, I am going to choose who I think is the best defensive player never to get any credit for it, Trenton Hassell. He's the real Kobe Stopper, but you never hear anyone mention it. He was phenomenal against Kobe in the playoffs 2-years ago. I've honestly never seen anyone cover him better. And check out Kobe’s stats versus the T-Wolves this year. The only teams he scored less against were Utah and Orlando, and those were both smaller sample sizes.

Worst Defender of the Year: Ricky Davis

Ricky probably isn't the worst defensive player in the league, but he gets this award because he's a worse defender than Wally Szczerbiak, and nobody seemed to realize it! After the Wolves-Celtics trade at the deadline, the sports media was talking about how this was a great trade for the T-Wolves, because they were going to instantly improve their defense. I would like to thank the sports media for proving once again that they don't actually watch NBA games that don't involve the top 5 teams in the league. Wally is slow-footed, and he's not a good defender, but he plays smart team defense, he's always in the right place, and he knows his limitations. Ricky Davis on the other hand, is an atrocious defender. His favorite defensive maneuver is to body-up on the opposing team's best scorer, talk trash to him, follow about 2-feet behind him as the player easily cuts open to catch the ball, bend down and slap the floor while talking more trash, stand flat-footed while turning and watching as the player goes right by him, and then acting all upset and confused that it happened. It's the Scott Padgett appraoch to defense. He's also a big fan of jumping wildly into the passing lanes 10 times a game, giving up layups 90% of the time, just to get 1 steal that he can turn into a fast-break dunk at the other end. It only took about a month for T-Wolves fans to realize what they got themselves into.

Coach of the Year: Mike D’Antoni

I waffled back-and-forth between D'Antoni and Avery Johnson, but in the end, I had to pick D'Antoni and his amazing mustache. The style of play that he has brought back to the league has produced some of the most entertaining NBA basketball in decades, AND he's winning doing it. That deserves to be celebrated. Now I just need the Suns to win a championship so the whole league will copy their style of play, and then Jeff Van Gundy will get fired for good, and the Heat/Knicks basketbrawl era will officially be dead. Good riddance.

Worst Coach: Larry Brown

What a freaking disaster.

The 2nd Best GM Award: Larry Harris, Milwaukee

Joe Dumars owns this award for as long as he wants it, so I figured I'd just name it after him and move on to other candidates. I briefly considered the Clippers' Elgin Baylor, until I realized that he may actually have been worse than Wes Unself for a solid 15 years, and you can't just ignore that. So, I'm going with Harris instead. The Bucks seemed to be on the verge of disaster just a year ago, with Michael Redd demanding a huge contract from a notoriously cheap owner and TJ Ford's career potentially over. Now, they're one of the best young teams in the league, with a core that has big-men, ball-handlers, and shooters (Ford, Mo Williams, Redd, Bobby Simmons, Andrew Bogut), none of whom are older than 26.

The Rob Babcock Memorial Worst GM Award: Billy Knight, Atlanta

I would have given this award to Rob Babcock, except Toronto unceremoniously canned him halfway through the season. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Raptors are still paying Alonzo Mourning and Alvin Williams, and they face Vince Carter several times a year, so they won't forget Rob Babcock in Toronto for a long time. Since Rob couldn't make it, Billy Knight will gladly accept the award in his stead. Unless Billy knows something we don't know, the "5 Small Forwards" line-up will never be a winning strategy in this league.

And just for fun, one more category...

Most Overrated Players: Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker

That's right. I said it. Dwyane Wade is one of the league's most overrated players. Now don't get me wrong, Wade and Parker are both very good players, but they aren't as good as the hype they are getting. I mean, comparing Wade to MJ??? COME ON. I don't want to hear that kind of stuff until Wade gets into the gym and develops something I like to call a "jump shot". I can specifically remember all 3 times I've ever seen Dwyane Wade hit a shot beyond 10 feet. As for Parker, he's still a very one-dimensional player. He is very fast and he has a quick release and great touch around the basket (thus his 50% FG percentage), but that's his entire game at this point. He's still not a great passer, and like Wade, he really needs to work on his jumper. Honestly, would you take Tony Parker over an underappreciated PG like Mike Bibby? Bibby would shoot 50% from the field as well if he never took a shot beyond 15 feet, but Bibby takes 3's because he can make 3's.

Most Underrated Players: Manu Ginobili, Raymond Felton

Everyone knows that Manu is a good player, but it's a little known secret that he's a top-20 player, because he has such an unconventional style, and his statistics aren't gaudy. Manu does absolutely everything well, and he's one of basketball's premier winnners (both in the NBA and internationally). He can take over the game in so many ways, and it's different from game to game, whatever it takes to win. Do you know who the top 5 players in the league last year were in terms of net +/- (on-court vs. off-court)? Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Manu, Dirk Nowitzki, and Steve Nash. And, despite struggling a bit this year with injuries, Manu's PER (John Hollinger’s "Player Efficiency Rating") ranks 18th in the league, between Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

In all the hype over Chris Paul, Raymond Felton's stellar rookie season has gotten lost. If you haven't been paying attention, take a look at Felton's post All-Star performance: 16.4 points, 7 assists, just 2.5 turnovers, and 40% shooting from three. Those #'s are just a tick under Paul's over the same period (17.5 pts, 8.2 ast, 2.3 to) and Felton's 3-pt shooting has been far better than Paul's (27.5%). And if team performance is more important to you when evaluating a PG, it's worth noting that Paul's team has gone 9-17 during that stretch, basically the same as the Bobcats (8-16).

Take a deep breath...

2006-04-14T11:04:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not posting yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It would have wreaked of panic and desperation, and that wouldn't have been good for anyone. We Wizards/Bullets fans may have issues and complexes that have built up over the past 20 years, but it wouldn't be fair to use this site as an emotional outlet or on-line shrink. Keeping that in mind, I will attempt to summarize (calmly and coolly) what we have gotten ourselves into...

We are 4-6 in our last 10 games, and we have lost our last 4 games, including a heartbreaking loss to the Bucks on Wednesday night. We now have just a 1 game lead on the Bucks and Pacers, and just a 2 game lead on the Bulls and 76ers. So yes, you read that right, we are only 2 games out of the 9th spot in the East, with 4 games to play. The Washington Times does a nice job summarizing the obvious today, that we suck without a consistent 3rd scorer (I never thought I'd find myself missing Jarvis Hayes), but i think it's clear what the real problem is...

WE NEED TO BURN THOSE GODDAMN T-SHIRTS!

I'm not usually a superstitious person at all, especially when it comes to sports, but when you are as miserable of a franchise as the Bullards have been over the past 20 years, you can't take any chances. Clearly, someone or something has not been on our side over the past 20 years (or maybe the franchise was run by Wes Unseld), so why get all cocky and mess with karma now?

If anyone associated with the Wizards organization in any way somehow reads this blog, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure that those t-shirts do not make it to Chicago tonight.

Big Game Tonight in Milwaukee

2006-04-12T14:33:00.000-04:00

The Wizards can clinch a playoff birth tonight with a win at Milwaukee. Not only that, but a win would give us a 3-game lead over the Bucks for the 5th spot, with 4 games to play. Indiana plays a weak Celtics squad at home tonight, so there's a good chance that both Indiana and Milwaukee would both be just a game behind us if we lose tonight.

Milwaukee is a very well-balanced team, with plenty of ball handlers (TJ Ford, Mo Williams, Charlie Bell), wing shooters (Michael Redd, Bobby Simmons), and quality big men (Andrew Bogut, Jamaal Magloire, Dan Gadzuric, Joe Smith). They're still a pretty young team, so they are inconsistent, but they can be scary when they put it all together at the same time. They can also be scary when Redd gets red hot (no pun intended), or even Mo Williams. Williams dropped 35 on us in an unbelievable performance in December, including 14 points in the 4th quarter and a game winning 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer. It's a little known secret that Williams may actually be a better PG than the much-hyped TJ Ford, and I'm sure that the Utah Jazz wish they had held onto him last year instead of rolling the dice with Carlos Arroyo, Raul Lopez, and Keith McLeod.

Milwaukee has enough skilled offensive guys to score with us, and to outscore us if we don't have Butler, so I think our defense is going to be the key to this game. We can't give guys like Redd, Simmons, and Williams open looks from 3, and we have to keep their active big men off the boards and prevent 2nd chance points. Our best chance to win is to keep them under 100 and get solid offensive peformances from Arenas, Jamison, and AD (assuming Butler doesn't play).

Notes:

> Caron and Etan couldn't return to practice and Gilbert's back still hurts, so EJ opted for a film session over practice yesterday: Washington Post.

> The Cleveland media thinks Cavs-Wizards will be the best first-round matchup. Thanks for the jinx guys. Like the playoff t-shirts weren't enough already.

> Caron Butler thinks he would have been an All-Star if he had started during the first quarter of the season: Racine Journal-Times.

> I think this may be the secret to Miami's success against the Wizards.

Caron for MVP?

2006-04-11T10:06:00.001-04:00

Once again Caron Butler was in street clothes last night, and once again we lost. We're now 0-3 since Caron injured his thumb, and by my personal calculations we're 9-17 this season in games when Caron isn't in the starting line-up (7-14 when he comes off the bench, 2-3 when he doesn't play at all). In all seriousness, I don't actually think this indicates that Caron Butler is an unsung MVP candidate. This really reflects upon the offensive abilities of the rest of the team, beyond the Big 3.

Our role players (everyone not named Gilbert, Antawn, or Caron) are not the kind of guys who choose to focus on the dirty work and then will pick their spots offensively. Rather, they are guys whose primary NBA skill IS the dirty work. For instance, our 4th leading scorer, Antonio Daniels, has never averaged more than 11 points per game or 8 field goal attempts per game in his entire career.

Last night's game was the perfect example of why we can't win without the entire Big 3 putting the ball in the basket (by the way, there's really gotta be a better nickname than "Big 3"). Jamison got back on track with 37 points on 12-for-24 shooting, and Arenas got his points at the free throw line (16 free throws made) despite an off-night from the field, but the rest of the team could only combine for 28 points. And with AD sliding into the starting line-up to replace Caron, our bench only managed to produce 5 POINTS!

With just a 2 game lead over Milwaukee (our opponent on Wednesday), it would be tempting to rush Butler back into the line-up. However, it's far more important at this point to get him 100% healthy for the playoffs. Although clinching the 5th seed would be nice, we wouldn't stand a chance in the first round, against either Cleveland or New Jersey, without our 3 primary scorers all at full strength.

Notes:

> Butler still can't palm a basketball.

> Kornheiser rips on the Zards for their pathetic performance against the Heat the past 3 seasons.

> Apparently the Wizards are traveling with t-shirts that anticipate clinching a playoff spot. Talk about a guaranteed jinx... YIKES! Let's hope we don't see these shirts for sale at a 90% discount on e-bay next week.

> Did anybody see Lebron smile at the crowd and then bury the game winner last night in Oklahoma City? Get off the kid's back. He's gonna win his fair share of games in the clutch over the next 15 years, whether it's on a pull-up jumper or a sweet assist.

> If you enjoy contact sports, keep an eye on the Nationals-Mets series that starts this afternoon (1:05pm eastern). There's a 50/50 chance that Jose Guillen might kill someone. Watching THIS is a phenomenal way to get fired up for this series.

Today We Honor Chris Webber

2006-04-10T12:50:00.000-04:00

The Zards travel to Philly tonight to take on the Philadelphia 76ers and one of my least favorite Wizards/Bullets of all-time, Chris Webber. I didn't always hate Webber. At one point during his stint as a Zard, I worshipped the ground that he walked on. 5000 18-foot jumpshots from the biggest man on the court and several brushes with the law later, I couldn't wait to see him tossed out the door (at least until I saw what we got in return... thanks again, Wes Unseld.)

So, in honor of today's match-up against the Sixers and C-Webb, I am going to countdown my five favorite and least favorite Wizards and Bullets.

Favorites:

5. Peter John Ramos: What's not to love about Party John?!?!

4. Tim Legler: Sure, Tim Legler deserves the #4 spot because he is the greatest 3-point shooter in Bullets/Wizards (Bullards?) history, as evidenced by his 52% marksmanship and All-Star 3-Point Championship in 1996. But the real reason he's up here is because I love the looks on peoples' faces when I wear my #23 Wizards jersey and they see the name "Legler" on the back. The highlight was the guy who pulled up next to me while honking repeatedly, rolled down the window, screamed "HEEEEY MI-CHAEL LEEEE-GLER!", and then peeled out. That was awesome.

3. Muggsy Bogues: The smaller half of the greatest draft class in Bullards history (ah screw it, IN NBA HISTORY), was one of the most entertaining players I've ever watched. I cried the day he left the Bullets. There was never a greater player in NBA history for a 7-year-old fan to relate to.

2. Gilbert Arenas: There are three major reasons to love Gilbert Arenas: 1) He's the greatest player in the game under 25 that's not named Lebron (Screw you Dwyane "Hypefest" Wade. This deserves it's own column.), 2) He once covered a jelly donut in baby powder, said it was powdered sugar, and convinced Troy Murphy to eat it, 3) He bought 2 extra treadmills so his pitbulls can jog next to him when he's on his treadmill. FYI, I am willing to pay for video of this, if anyone can obtain it.

1. Gheorghe Muresan: Screw Manute Bol, Muresan could actually play. People always forget that in 1996, Gheorghe's 3rd NBA season, he was developing into an All-Star caliber center. He averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, 2.5 blocks, and shot 58% from the floor, in just 29 minutes per game. Unfortunately, his freak-show body couldn't hold itself together, and he faded out of the league soon thereafter. Then again, that same body garnered him a starring role in My Giant, which destroys Mitchell Butler's cameo in Blue Chips for the best appearance in a movie by a Washington Bullard. On a side note, has anyone else noticed Gheorghe sitting behind the Wizards bench during most home games this season? Is he officially linked to the team in any way? Or does he just have a passion for the franchise? If you have an answer for me, post it in the comments.

Honorable Mention: Ledell Eackles (I never knew who he was or where he came from, but you gotta love fat 2-guards named Ledell with finesse games.), Mitchell Butler (2 reasons: 1) Blue Chips, 2) His random reappearance in 2004 after an 8-year hiatus) , Manute Bol (That picture with Muggsy is simply amazing.), Rex Chapman (Damn that white boy could jump. Especially compared to some of the other white guys Wes Unseld and Jim Lynam threw out there with him in 1994 and 1995. Scott Skiles, Brent Price, Don MacLean, Tom Gugliotta, Jim McIlvaine, and Gheorge Muresan weren't competing in any dunk contests, that's for sure.)

Least Favorite:

5. Pervis Ellison: "Never Nervous" Pervis was supposed to compete with Patrick Ewing. Unfortunately, the best battle Pervis ever had with another NBA center was late in his career when he tried to grow out better dreadlocks than fellow ancient stiff Sam Perkins.

4. Ike Austin: We traded Ben Wallace for Ike Austin. He was going to be our new centerpiece for years to come. Instead, he ate alot of donuts.

3. Mitch Richmond / Otis Thorpe: I was excited when I saw that we got All-Stars in return for Chris Webber. I got nervous when I checked their profiles and noticed how old they were. I cried when the season started and I realized that we had actually traded for Richmond and Thorpe's corpses.

2. Chris Webber: I've never seen a guy that big, that strong, and that unstoppable in the post, avoid the low-block like he was allergic to it. If you watched 10 plays of a typical game for Chris Webber as a Wizard, it generally looked like this...

1: Webber gets the ball on the block. Drop step, baby hook, money.
2: Webber gets an offensive rebound, viciously stuffs it over 3 opposing big men.
3: Webber gets defensive rebound, ignores our PG, dribbles the length of the court, goes behind the back 3 times, flings a no-look pass off the back of Gheorge Muresan's head.
4: Webber floats around the top of the key until he finally gets the ball. Pump fakes 4 times. Shoots (and usually misses) 18-foot jumper.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9: Ditto.
10. Offensive rebound and dunk again, just to remind you that he can do it.

C-Webb was a very good NBA player for a very long time, but I will always hate him because he could have been one of the most dominant post players of all-time, and it should have been in a Wizards uniform.

1. Wes Unseld (and guilty by association, Abe Pollin): Wes brought the team it's last championship (in 19-freaking-78), and for that Abe Pollin constantly forgave Wes as he repeatedly smashed the Bullards franchise with a sledgehammer over a span of 20 years as Head Coach, General Manager, and/or Chief Demolition Officer. I don't even know where to begin when describing what this man did to my team. Webber for Richmond & Thorpe? Rasheed Wallace for Rod Strickland? Ben Wallace for Ike Austin? I mean, at one my point we had Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ben Wallace, and Rasheed Wallace. Sweet mercy! And Wes turned that into Rod Strickland, Ike Austin, Mitch Richmond, Otis Thorpe, and a 7 year / $105 mil contract for Juwan. I'm gonna start freaking out if I keep writing about this, so I'm ending this one here. I'm sorry I can't expound further.

Honorable Mention: Kevin Duckworth (Fat. Bad.), John "Hot Plate" Williams (Fatter. Badder.), Juwan Howard ($105 for 7), Michael Adams (what a gunner, good god), Tom Hammonds (so hyped, such a stiff), Rod Strickland (for Rasheed??? WHY???)

Wow, what a depressing list. Focus on Gilbert... focus on Gilbert...

-- UPDATE --

Several people have asked me if I forgot about Kwame. The somewhat surprising answer is that I don't actually hate Kwame. This may be a unique opinion of him among Wizards fans, but I just feel sorry for the guy. The best kept secret among all the people out there who booed Kwame, belittled him for lack of effort, etc... is that the guy just can't play. He has terrible hands, bad instincts, no feel on his jumper or his short game (hooks, tip-ins, and such). Yea, he has a sculpted 7-foot body and cat-like quickness, but his body hides the fact that he stinks at basketball. The blame in all this shouldn't fall on Kwame, he is who he is. The blame belongs to Michael Jordan's horrible judgment of Kwame's talent, and the subsequent pressure of going #1 was too much for an emotionally immature teenager who just couldn't play at that level and never will. (And for the record, I thought about putting MJ up there on the "Least Favorite" list, but in the end, I prefer to just pretend like the MJ Era never really happened. The ill-fated MJ experiment was a "no harm, no foul" situation as far as I'm concerned, since Abe realized it had turned into a circus and righted the ship by bringing in Ernie Grunfeld.)

No Rest for the Weary

2006-04-09T23:52:00.000-04:00

After a beating at the hands of the Miami Heat on Saturday night (Box Score), a banged up Wizards squad could use a few days of rest. Unfortunately, the schedule isn't going to cooperate, as we have a 4-game week ahead. We're on the road all week: Monday at Philly, Wednesday at Milwaukee, and Friday at Chicago. And on Sunday, we return home for the Cavs.

Antonio Daniels returned on Saturday from his wrist injury, but Caron Butler was still inactive, and Etan Thomas took AD's place on the bench with a back injury. Etan could be out up to a week, and Butler hopes to play on Monday night. Gilbert reported before the game that he was only at "35%", and he couldn't bend over or jump off his right foot, but he still came out and put up a typical Gilbert performance. Just like in the Atlanta game though, the problem was Antawn Jamison. Antawn was 2 for 11 in the first half, and finished with just 8 points. We're not going to win a lot of games with Butler on the bench and Antawn scoring 8 points, even when AD drops 25.

Two things really bothered me about this game:

It was our 16th consecutive loss to the Heat! That's 3 regular season sweeps and a playoff sweep. We've taken down the Pistons and the Spurs this year, so why can't we beat the Heat? Is it just a mental thing at this point? Are they in our heads? Or do we just have no answer for Shaq? Watching Yao Ming have his way with us in Houston a few weeks ago makes me think that we just can't compete against a team with a dominant Center. Luckily only Houston and Miami have one.
Dwyane Wade was a non-factor. If we can't play with the Heat when Wade is sick and in foul trouble, how we will we ever be able to hang with them come playoff time? Wade reportedly had a touch of the flu on Saturday, and he even skipped the shootaround and warmups to rest. When he did play, he was in foul trouble the whole game and only logged 21 minutes. Unfortunately, we let back-up SG Derek Anderson come off the bench and nail 5 wide-open threes. Anderson hadn't scored 20 points in a game since November 23 when he was a Houston Rocket. That's just unacceptable.

Luckily for the Wizards, Milwaukee and Indiana continued to struggle this weekend. Both teams lost on Sunday, and the Zards maintain a 2.5 game lead on the Bucks with 6 games to play. A strong week could clinch us the 5th playoff spot and allow us to rest some of our banged up guys for the last 2 games to get ready for the playoffs.

Rough Night in Atlanta

2006-04-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

Well... that certainly sucked (Atlanta 114 - Washington 101). Caron Butler (thumb) and Antonio Daniels (wrist) both missed the game due to injury, so we started off the game with a handicap. It also became pretty clear early on in the game that Antawn Jamison didn't have his shot going, so it was all up to Gilbert to carry the load. He was up to the challenge in the 1st quarter as he scored 15 points and led the Zards to an early lead. In the 2nd quarter however, Arenas came up limping and was in obvious pain. He had to leave the game and head to the locker room, and I was so panicked that I thought my heart was going to explode. With Gil in the locker room, chaos ensued. Our offense was a complete and utter disaster without Gilbert, Caron, or AD on the floor, and the Hawks easily took the lead. Thankfully, Gilbert emerged from the locker room (albeit with his back heavily wrapped), but he clearly wasn't the same player. His explosiveness was gone, and he continued to grimace for most of the game. Gilbert still managed to pour in 41 points, but he also shot just 40% and had 8 turnovers, and it never felt like the Wizards really had much of a chance in the 2nd half. Hopefully he'll be ready to go against Miami tonight and this back injury won't linger.

Josh Smith had a terrific game for the Hawks and continued to show why he has as much potential as any young player in the league. He hit 3 of 5 from three point land, blocked 4 shots and changed several others, and had a huge impact on the game on both ends of the floor. It's easy to forget that this is only Smith's 2nd season out of high school, and he's just 20 years old. In 25 games since the All-Star break, he's averaging 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. In a few years, he should be a perennial All-Star.

On the bright side, Brendan Haywood had a nice game inside. He posted a double-double and was especially active in the 2nd half. However, I'm not expecting that to continue tonight against the Heat, as Shaq should toss him around like a rag doll as usual.

Caron Butler and Antonio Daniels are both listed as day-to-day, and both said they would try to go tonight at home against the Heat. Gilbert complained of a pinched nerve in his back, and he said his status tonight will be a game-time decision. I have a bad feeling we might get pummeled, so it's a good thing Milwaukee and Indiana both lost last night.

Enjoy tonight's game and the rest of the weekend. I'll be back on Monday.

-Coach

Gil on TNT, Hawks Preview, Notes

2006-04-07T09:44:00.000-04:00

I'm not gonna lie, Gilbert's appearance on TNT was a little bit disappointing. He looked like a deer in the headlights, and he didn't really bring much to the table. Then again, my friend Maxico put it in perspective for me when he said: "The analysts sweated him for a few minutes while they showed Wizards highlights. That's nothing to complain about." Gotta give it up to my man Maxico on this one. Complaining about national media attention for the Wizards would be a lot like complaining about Eddie Jordan's coaching this season after he led us to our first playoff series victory in 23 years. Speaking of which, if you ARE one of those EJ complainers: A) I hate you. B) Stop reading this immediately and check out the "Recent Resurgence" section of the Wizards' page on Wikipedia to refresh your memory.

Now, on to business. Tonight we face the Hawks at 7:00pm in Atlanta. The Hawks are a sad, sad franchise. Mostly because of General Manager Billy Knight. They're stocked with athletic young swingmen who can all play. Unfortunately, they don't have anyone to get them the ball (maybe Billy Knight didn't realize Chris Paul had declared for the draft?), and on the interior they have exactly one player in their rotation that is taller than 6'9" (Zaza!). That said, this game makes me nervous for two reasons:

1) The Letdown Factor: We've been playing well the last few weeks, we've beaten the Hawks 3 times this year, and we have Miami on Saturday. It would be really easy to look past this game.

2) The Hawks Can Shoot: The upside to a team full of wing players is that you have alot of guys who can stroke it. Josh Childress, Tyronn Lue, Joe Johnson, and Al Harrington all shoot over 35% from three, and red-hot Josh Smith has been at 34% since the All-Star break. Granted, they don't have a Point Guard who can consistently get their shooters the ball in optimal position in the half-court offense (case in point: the Hawks are 7th in the league in 3pt %, but they are just 21st in the league in 3-pointers made), but that's not always a problem against the Wizards' vaunted "Awkward Switching on the Perimeter" Defense. Unless Hawks Coach Mike Woodson is a moron, which he very well might be since he was hired by the inimitable Billy Knight, I think you'll see alot of on-the-ball screens at the top of the key by Hawks big guys. When the Zards switch (and they always do. dammit.), guys like Joe Johnson and Tyronn Lue will have the ball in their hands on the perimeter with one of our big men trying to cover them. Our big men will back off, giving them a look from 3. If they pass that up and blow by, Al Harrington and Josh Childress will be spotting up in the corners for kick-out 3s when their men rotate to stop penetration. To make a long story short... if the Hawks have 2 guys hitting their 3s (top of the key off the dribble, corner on kick-outs), this game will get interesting.

Notes:

> Ivan Carter has two Zards articles in the Post today: Wizards Guard Against Letdown, Practice Intensity Ratcheted Up

> The Washington Times says that the Wizards Have Found Chemistry. According to Caron Butler, the Wizards "were a mess" chemistry-wise during the first half of the season. The article doesn't dig in much beyond vague comments like that, but I'd be interested in knowing what exactly the players are referring to? If I had to guess, the issues were probably:

A) Chucky Atkins complaining about lack of playing time.
B) Caron taking a while to understand the Princeton O.
C) Jamison and Daniels stinking up the joint offensively in December, making it harder for Daniels to integrate into the offense, and making it harder for the new Big 3 to learn how to play together.

> Over his last 5 games, Gilbert is averaging 10 assists per game, while still dropping 27 pts/gm. I love love love to see that from Gil. In the past 2 seasons, it seems like he either focuses on passing the ball, or he focuses on scoring. His big thing last year was playing pass-first in the 1st half, and then letting it rip in the 2nd half. The problem was, you could ALWAYS tell which mode he was in. You knew exactly what to expect from him when he had the ball (not that that helped people stop him). The more he can learn to integrate the two all the time, the deadlier he'll be. If opposing defenses can't stop him when they KNOW he's shooting, imagine how lost they'll be if he's a true double-threat on every play.

> You gotta love the "playoff beard" that Jared Jeffries is working on. I wonder if he was inspired by Bears QB Kyle Orton?

Wizards @ Celtics, and more

2006-04-06T14:04:00.000-04:00

The Boy Wonder (Gilbert's self-given nickname) was absolutely phenomenal last night in Boston. It was one of those games where even when the opponent keeps the game close, you don't worry because Gilbert clearly has things undercontrol. He finished with 38 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. He did whatever he wanted, and in the final quarter he was simply unstoppable as the Zards put the Celtics away, 108-91 (Boxscore: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=260405002).

Last night’s win was big for the Zards. We need to play well on the road to finish out the season and hang on to the 5th seed for the playoffs (6 out of our last 9 are on the road). If we fall to the 6th seed and play the Nets, we're in trouble. They've been red hot, and our defense can't stop one guy of Carter and Jefferson's caliber, let alone both of them. We've had success against the 4 seed Cavaliers this season as well. If we beat the Cavs, we'd face the Pistons in the 2nd round, who we've also beaten twice. On the contrary, a first round win as the 6th seed would get us a date with the Heat, and we wouldn't stand a chance with our shoddy perimeter defense (Wade) and black hole in the middle (Shaq vs. Haywoodustopsucking?).

Here are the updated standings after last night's games:
5. Washington (39-35)
6. Milwaukee (37-38, 2.5 games behind)
7. Indiana (36-38, 3)
8. Chicago (35-40, 4.5)
9. Philly (34-40, 5)

We play Milwaukee twice more this season (April 12th and 18th), but we're done with Indiana.

In other news, Brendan Haywood was re-activated last night. For those who missed it, Wood was inactive for the past 3 games. He missed the first game with what was reported as "lower back soreness", and then Eddie Jordan kept him on the inactive list because EJ said he wanted to make sure Wood was 100% ready to return. Meanwhile, Wood was telling reporters that he was ready to go. It seems pretty obvious that EJ was trying to send him a message (for about the 5th time this season) that his soft play inside was unacceptable. Quotes such as this from EJ only encourage that theory: "I want him to give 100 percent effort," Jordan said. "Take a physical approach to the game and compete at the rim. The other guys are doing it and we want him to do it, too."(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401678.html).

To be honest, I prefer the way this team plays when Etan Thomas and Michael Ruffin handle the inside duties, so Haywood's soft play doesn't upset me that much. I just don't think he's mentally wired to be an aggressive force, so why keep hoping he'll turn into one? Put Etan and Ruffin out there, tell them to play tough D and crash the boards, and let the Big Three run up and down and gun it. It's a formula that worked for the Sonics last year (Reggie Evans, Danny Fortson), and I think it's our best bet to make a run in the playoffs until we can make a move for a legitimate interior presence in the off-season. I know there a ton of teams who would gladly overpay for Haywood, just ask Jim McIlvaine, Travis Knight, and Jerome James. And I have faith in Ernie Grunfeld to make the right move.

NOTES:

> Gilbert is the guest host on TNT tonight with Sir Charles and Kenny the Jet. I can't even explain to you how excited I am to see Gilbert interact with Barkley.

> Playoff tickets go on sale on Saturday at 10am: http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20060406-120137-5975r.htm

> According to the Washington Post, Gilbert has been collecting autographed jerseys from his opponents on the past few roadtrips. His goal is to eventually build a glass-floored basketball court with the jerseys underneath the floor. GOD I LOVE GILBERT ARENAS (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/05/AR2006040502641.html)

> Courtesy of http://scamboogah.blogspot.com and an Australian genius named Thumbboy, here are two photoshop masterpieces that feature ex-Zards.

The least handsome man in the history of the NBA, Popeye Jones: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/wayne24/joneses.jpg

The family photo of current Detroit Wizton Rip Hamilton is also quite lovely: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/wayne24/meetthehamiltons2.jpg

When I look at these, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

NEXT GAME: Friday night at Atlanta

Welcome to Gilbert's Arena

2006-04-06T12:10:00.000-04:00

I've been frustrated for WAY too long about the lack of quality Wizards blogs on the web, so I decided to start one on my own. At a minimum, I'll update it daily with links to Zards news on the web, so check in to keep up with the team. I'll chip in with my own thoughts/commentary as often as I can (stupid full-time job). I'll also touch on other NBA news and DC sports news whenever possible (especially if it's related to Clinton Portis) .

I hope all 27 Bullets/Wizards fans out there enjoy this!

- Coach