Posts for category ‘2007-08 Wizards’

Watch out for this guy….
just ask Tang Hamilton (not pictured guarding Joe Johnson).
picture from flickr/vedia

>> After the 0-5 start, the Wizards got their first win of this 2007-2008 season against the Atlanta Hawks back on November 11th…..thanks to some guts and 15 rebounds from Antawn Jamison. Unfortunately, that game coincided with a 33-25 Redskins loss to the hated Philadelphia Eagles.

>> In game 25, a 97-92 Wizards loss to the Hawks, Washington survived a slow start to make the match really close down the stretch. Nick Young and DeShawn Stevenson both gave solid efforts, however the Wiz were unable to overcome a 32 point night from Joe Johnson and a +16 rebound margin for Atlanta.

>> Game 34: Wizards vs. Hawks in Atlanta. This one was even more exciting as the game went into overtime; Washington prevailed 102-98 thanks to Antonio Daniels with his game sealing bucket and 7 assists with 0 turnovers.

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Headed down to the Verizon Center in Chinatown last Saturday night to see my Washington Wizards look uninterested in a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

Attending the game in person, I had my ears listening for react quotes (Wire reference alert):

“The only bad thing about St. Patrick’s Day is that one year I took river-dance lessons…..” The quote by a mid-twenties girl, who surprisingly spent more time paying attention to the game than talking, then blurred into something about being drunk and dancing in bars. My head was buried into my hands upon hearing ‘river’ and ‘dance’ in the same sentence. I should’ve tried to set her up with my friend Chris.

“Awww he shook him…ohhh he shook him.” Middle-aged white man in his middle-aged white man voice in reference to Raymond Felton toying with Antonio Daniels.

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Yes, it was not pretty the last time DC took a visit to Toronto. Game 44 against the Raptors was the worst loss of the season for the Wizards….to date. 122-83 was the final. The Raps were up 10-0 in the game before I knew it; from there, they didn’t look back, aided by a 21-5 2nd quarter run.

In the previous Wizards game (#43) against the Raptors, which happened to be at home in DC the night before the above game, we were treated to this quote by Steve Buckhantz, except much louder: “Noooo!!!! It’s not possible!!!!!”

Why? Well, just watch below:

Hey, at least the Wiz won that one, thus, preventing horrible, horrible nightmares about the Raptors for the rest of my life. This clip expands on the reasoning.

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…and how.

• First of all, a win tonight would allow the Washington Wizards to climb back to 5-hunny. The loss to the San Antonio Spurs back on February 6th put the Wiz at the even mark, and they haven’t been at the water line since.
• This fact is pointed out on Wizards Insider, along with the fact that the Magic played a tough game against the Toronto Raptors last night. But does catching a team on the second night of a back-to-back really matter at this point of the season? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t…..but…..
• What matters more to me is that the Wizards have had the chance to rest on Monday and Tuesday.

Brendan Todd versus Dwight David

In their first matchup of the season, game 3 (the DC home opener) when the Wiz were still funkin’ around, Haywood pulled down 16 rebounds along with 10 points, 5 blocks, and 5 personal fouls. Young Dwight had 15 boards, 17 points, 3 blocks and 4 fouls. But Turkey-Gloo could not be stopped as he dropped 25 on the Wiz, leading the Magic to a 94-82 victory, as the Wizards played a “disconnected” 4th quarter.

BTH held his own…and actually negated….the efforts of Dwight D. Howard on that night; he needs to do the same tonight.

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Being in Argentina since early Sunday morning, Wednesday was my first chance to catch up with the internet world. I’m not going to even think about checking my blog roll on Google Reader. The unread count could be in the thousands by now. Nope, I’m sticking to the basics: ESPN.com, the Washington Post and Bullets Forever.

Upon seeing the score of the Wizards-Knicks game via ESPN Deportes on Tuesday night, my palm may have smacked against my forehead, but my head did not shake in disbelief….. especially after not seeing Caron Butler’s name among the leading scorers in the bottom line. He sat out again? He should have had plenty of rest by now. Crap. That hip must be worse than we thought. Setback…whatev.

Before getting into the game, thanks to my boy Chris for his coverage, albeit a bit tardy. I’ve been wanting to negotiate a boxing post with him for a while. And since the initial intention of this blog was coverage of DC in general, some exposure to the Caps is more than welcome. Sad to say, I have yet to attend a game this year. I’m long overdue. I can’t see my self watching too many hockey games on TV….although, at times when not much else is on, I’ll give the men in skates a little time on my 3rd, smaller TV. It’s always been my belief that hockey is the sport with the most discrepancy between watching it on TV and watching it live…..meaning, that live is exciting, fun, and intense while on TV is boarderline intolerable. Sorry Chris, but I’m willing to be convinced otherwise.

OK, enough of that…..on to the Wiz.

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Wizards Insider reported that Caron Butler will probably sit out the NBA All-Star game. And Comcast SportsNite did, indeed, just report that Caron won’t play in the NOLA. Good. For selfish reasons, I’d rather him not play because I’ll be on a plane during the NBA All-Star game and I want to be able to see Tuff Juice play when he really shows out on the big stage…..after all, he was 1-7 with 2 points last year. But really, the rest will be good for him. He will be revitalized and motivated for the post-break. Plus, snub amends can be made with a replacement. It should be Hedo Turkoglu.

Onto tonight’s game, I’m excited about it. This team, despite 6, 7 game losing streaks, did come out to play in the last two games against two very good Western Conference teams. Yea, it didn’t turn out how we would like. The Wiz made some bonehead mistakes, but I recognize the effort. I’d say about 20 other NBA teams, if faced with a similar situation, would have folded.

Should the Wizards get mad and pick a fight? [SVP Style]

ME: Of course I would like someone to bust Stephen Jackson straight in the jaw, especially for something like this. But I like this Wizards team not trying to act like the Warriors; their bitching and moaning during that game was a little too much.

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Pre-Wizards-Suns Game, UNC vs. Clemson
The end of the 1st overtime in the Clemson-North Carolina game: With about 1.2 seconds left, game tied, the TarHeels tried to float a pass from a side-out on the opponent’s side of the half-court line. Clemson got a steal under the UNC basket and the Tiger player threw the ball to the other end, a shot attempt. Now, I’m not sure if he got the shot off on time…..they didn’t show a replay. But the referee, upon seeing that the ball was falling short of the basket, snatched it off the first bounce.

I know this about the game of basketball: If a shot, or rebound, goes off someone from the defending team and into the basket, it counts. I’ll go on to assume that if the ball bounces off the floor hard enough and by chance goes into a basket, that counts for points as well. So, what’s to keep me from thinking that a shot taken from the opposite basket, which leaves a player’s hand before the buzzer, and is not touched by any other player on the court, should count if it bounces off the floor and through the net?

Basically, should the referee have caught that ball?
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On to the Wizards game….if you want a preview, head to Bullets Forever, or check out my Wizards Rundown.

1st Quarter
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The breaking news is that Caron Butler is out tonight with a hip, and perhaps tomorrow night as well.

No one cares and neither should you.

Wizards fans did not care the last time Washington played Toronto in the 17th game of the season, when Chris Bosh was out with a groin.

And I did not give a damn that Michael Redd was out on Sunday.

But how to feel if you’re a Wizards fan? If myths such as the “Curse O’ Les Boulez” are not said out loud or typed on message boards, then they are most likely thought.

But it is an easy out to get all fatalistic up in this piece. Some on Bullets Forever, myself included, were unsure about this game even before the news about Tuff Juice dropped.

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The national media is starting, more and more, to recognize the Washington Wizards. In his latest NBA Power Rankings, CBS Sportsline’s Tony Meija has DC’s team all the way up to #8 — the highest I’ve seen among the many “power” rankings out there. Tony touches on the big question that’s been on my mind:

“Washington has a new identity. Arenas will have to buy in when he returns and he’s smart and hungry enough to know that.”

Gilbert has made me a believer in him so far…but my inner skeptic can’t help but wonder, can he play defense himself? That’s always been the knock on Gil and we’ve yet to see any type of commitment from him on the defensive end. Can’t see why it shouldn’t happen, especially considering how this team should not have to lean on Arenas as much for scoring when he returns to action.

>>>

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So… Chad Ford thinks he can fix the New York Knicks?

Step 1: Buy out Stephon Marbury.

Ford makes a good point. Sure, the Knicks could try to trade Marbury this summer to a team looking for cap room, but Ford doesn’t think that New York will get anything worth their while. Then again, have you heard of the Phoenix Suns? They gave the Seattle Sonics Kurt Thomas and two first round picks, in ’08 and ’10, in exchange for a conditional future 2nd round pick and a gain in cap space.

With frugality on the minds of many most all GMs these days [take that mainstream media....bloggers can cross out words and look cool, you can't]….anyway, you’d think the Knicks would be able to get someone to bite on Starbury. Of course, Marbury’s recipient would surely cut him loose before he could set foot on a plane. No need to pack baggage Steph, all of yours is carry-on. Exactly, Kurt Thomas has been a great locker room presence in Seattle, not to mention averaging almost 10 rebounds in 25 minutes per game. And I’ve really got nothing against Marbury. The whole cheap shoe thing is kind of cool. But he’s never been a winner. Why would any franchise want him? More importantly, for Stephon, how can he resurrect his career at this juncture? And why did Phoenix give up Thomas in the first place? They could sure use him now.

Step 2: Trade Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry.

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