Andray Blatche looked more comfortable than he ever has in a Wizards uniform en route to a new career high 30 points and a Wizards 123-104 win against New Jersey. Sure, he had Yi Jianlian and Eduardo Najera guarding him. But Wiz fans are used to Blatche being his own worst enemy, and not necessarily a Halloween nightmare to whomever is guarding him.

After the game, Flip Saunders praised Blatche for his methodical offensive movement, his ability to read the defense, and overall, his consistency to this point of the season. But no one is going to get too excited over the Blatche they’ve seen so far.

“As a player you have to understand that every game is a building block. I hope he continues to give us that consistency offensively but more importantly defensively,” said Saunders. When asked about the visions of Blatche that people haven’t seen before, Saunders responded, “He hadn’t seen it either.”

On media day, Blatche spoke first and foremost (and second-most) about a summertime concentration on his jump shot. One couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is that really what he should be talking about?’

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Ok, Halloween Night, at the Verizon, ready for the Wiz to make up for last night’s loss in Atlanta. Unfortunately, the Wizards didn’t just lose the game, but they lost Caron Butler too.

Butler had an MRI and X-Ray today that revealed no structural damage; the diagnosis was a bruised kneecap. Before the game, Flip Saunders said he expected Butler to be back in the lineup against the Cavs in Cleveland on Tuesday. The official injury report is that he’s day-to-day.

In Caron’s place, Randy Foye will start; Mike Miller will move to the three-spot. Arenas obviously still starts at the point and Fabricio Oberto and Brendan Haywood will hold down the front court.

I spoke to Foye before the game. He said it will be a little bit different on out the court with the starters, but he will have the same mindset to play his game … be aggressive on offense, execute plays, and play hard on defense.

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flickr/The CJM

On draft night, there were many frustrated rumblings on Bullets Forever over Ernie Grunfeld failing to land (or go after) Vince Carter. Not only that, but Carter was allowed to go to the reigning Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic.

With Hedo Turkoglu opting out, unlikely to return to Orlando, who knows if the Magic will be better off with Carter … many assume yes. I’ll be curious to see if Stan Van Gundy uses Carter similarly within the offense as he did Turkoglu, creating for others off the high pick and roll.

And if Rasheed Wallace goes to Orlando (which probably means that baby ‘Sheed is backing off demands of $8 million a year), they could be very scary. Tumultuous with Wallace the home-wrecker, buy scary nonetheless.

But in terms of the Wizards, should Grunfeld have gone after Carter?
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[photo source: flickr/dskciado]

This is Eduardo Alonso Nájera Pérez, a Mexican victim. Probably not of the swine flu, but definitely a victim of capitalist America’s NBA luxury tax, which is designed in a rather socialist manner to penalize those who spend more money.

Many have wondered where Denver would be if they still had Marcus Camby, who was sold to the Clippers for a 2nd round pick. But watching the energy, hustle, and scrapiness of the Nuggets, led by the Birdman Anderson, it’s easy to see how a big like Nájera might fit better than the frail Camby.

Nuggets coach George Karl hated to see the Big Mexican sign a 4-year $12 million contract with the Nets this past summer, but Kiki had an edict from cost-cutting owner Stan Kroenke (even though anyone might question giving that much to a 32-year old). Still, Kroenke and his wife, a Wal-Mart heir, are both on the Forbes billionaires list (Kroenke is ranked 205 and worth a meager $3 billion).

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The Wizards are hemorrhaging and the sharks are in the water. When a team is in the crapper, opposing trade ideas get delusional.

The Wiz are in a unique situation of futility. They are dealing with crucial injuries that would be a critical blow to any other team. (Do I appreciate the job that Eddie Jordan & Co. did last year even more? Yes I do.)

That being said, it’s evident that even if 100% healthy, the Wizards are pieces short of being a championship contender.

Does all this mean that Ernie Grunfeld, on whom the heat has been increasing lately, should push the panic button and just start making trades? Maybe and maybe not.

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Ball movement and DeShawn Stevenson….that’s what everyone has been buzzing about today. Well, where the hell have those two been? It’s baffling to try to explain, so I’ll give all the credit to Dee Brown.

Brown pushed the rock in transition, whipped the ball to spots in a timely manner in the half court, and even hit a couple treys. I should also mention that Brown had zero turnovers to his seven assists. He was even unafraid to stick his nose in the paint for an offensive rebound here and there.

Should Dee Brown start until Gilbert Arenas is healthy….allowing for Antonio Daniels to keep coming off the bench? I’m on board with that…..so far.

Dee Brown FYI

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Devin Harris is the talk of the town……so who will he be killing tonight? Ok, how about a more optimistic question, how will the Wizards stop him? Well, I recall Dee Brown being able to somewhat contain Tony Parker in the preseason, so….he’s our best bet, the third string point guard out of the Republic of Turkey.

The Free Darko Prediction: The transition out of Milwaukee proves surprisingly difficult for Yi, who has yet to make any friends outside of Brook Lopez. The incessant hazing from relentlessly cruel Julius Hodge does not help the situation. Wizards by 20.

Damn….ok, I’ve been absent the past two games, so I’m not exactly sure how Darius Songaila got that shiner on his right eye…..please tell me it was a practice scuffle.

Q1

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This Wizards team has me changing directions more times than Jack Nicholson in that maze scene at the end of The Shining. Turn one corner and things look familiarly optimistic…..turn another and I wonder if I’ve just gone in a full circle….returning to the mid-90s. I look down and I’m wearing a red Bullets Starter jacket and some Tims. I grab my DiscMan, pop in Return To The 36 Chambers, and it’s time to go to school.

Uhhh…..no. It’s Thursday morning and I have the privilege of working at a desk in a building all day. Hey, at least my pockets are straight…..well, more like wrinkled with the standard wadded dollar bills/receipts/credit card combo, complimentary to waking up hung-over……except I didn’t go out drinking last night.

Back to the Wizards…..shots don’t fall every once in a while, oh well. Andray Blatche looked kinda good while looking mostly bad, to be expected. Some of the Wiz Kids, Nick Young and JaVale McGee, showed increasing promise. But the opener against the Nets just didn’t feel right. This team has overcome bad shooting nights before, but for some reason, lacked the energy/desire/wherewithal needed to take grasp of the game.

In either case…..it’s a long season. For the full story, check the Wizards-Nets Game 1 Blog on Bullets Forever.

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In anticipation of tonight’s Washington Wizards opener against the New Jersey Nets, Mike at JoeNetsfan.com was kind enough to answer a couple questions about their team. Enjoy.

1) Vince Carter is much maligned around the league….how confident are you in his ability to lead the team? Is he more interested in being an All-Star, or getting wins?

Here’s the deal on Vince – he means well. He’s not necessarily interested in being an All Star per se, and I think he recognizes the fact that he can’t do what he once did. Having said that, Vince is a great team player, but he really doesn’t want to be “the man” and because of that, the Nets will suffer from having all the pressure on Vince. As far as leading the team, well, he always deferred to perhaps the greatest leader in the NBA today – Jason Kidd. So we really don’t know what sort of leader he’ll be. He appears to be happy to work with the youngsters, he appears to relish the role of team leader, but I don’t think it will translate into anything more than his being a great cheerleader for the rookies. When the pressure’s on, Vince’s track record is only so-so. Let me clear up one thing for the record, though – he does play hurt, and he does try much harder than his rep would lead you to believe. I’ve watched him enough to feel confident saying that.

2) Will Devin Harris make the Mavs really kick themselves? Where does (or will) he rank among the Eastern Conference point guards?

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Jeff from CelticsBlog.com is doing the grunt work to put together a comprehensive NBA preview from bloggers ’round the ‘sphere. The complete Atlantic Division Preview is out. Here are the highlights from the participating bloggers for each team:

Boston Celtics

[Celtics Blog]
The East is getting better, so I feel like the bad teams will lose less and the good teams will win less, but the Celtics should still be good for the best record in the East. Prediction: 59-23

[Green Bandwagon]
Last year I laughably predicted the Celtics would win 49 games. Translation: I’m not too good at this. Meanwhile, Chicago, Cleveland, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, and the Eastern Conference in general should be better. Factor in James Posey’s departure, the question marks on Boston’s bench, and concerns about whether or not the Celtics will have the same fire and drive, and it is reasonable to expect fewer wins. Prediction: 58 – 24

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