Gilbert Arenas is currently struggling to find a set role in the Wizards back-court, and John Wall is struggling with consistency and turnovers. The general feeling is that the current plight of both players is a temporary one, and eventually they will find their individual games, and then learn how to play off each other as well. This is not a slight to Kirk Hinrich at all, but as Hubie Brown would say, “Now we know Wall and Arenas have tremendous upside, and at their peak they give you the best chance to win.” And Hubie is always right.
Until Wall and Arenas find that comfort zone, they will have to continue to work hard in practice, trust each other when they do get in the game, and perhaps watch film to correct their mistakes. The first piece of film they should watch? The play of Mo Williams and Daniel “Boobie” Gibson during the Wizards 107-102 loss to the Cavaliers.
Williams scored 28 points in just 31 minutes of play, and Gibson added an efficient 19-point game during his 27 minutes of the floor. Williams did his damage from beyond the three-point arc, on drives and on mid-range jumpers, while Gibson primarily hurt the Wizards from the outside. During a key 10-0 run by the Cavs, one which saw the Wizards lose the lead for good, Williams had seven points and Gibson had three–including back-to-back three pointers that pretty much sealed the Wizards’ fate.
When I listened to the post-game comments of some of the Cavaliers players and coaches, I couldn’t help but to think about what Wall and Arenas could be. First there was Byron Scott; Read more »
Slow steps and seconds guesses were the main themes from Saturday’s night home loss to an Antwan Jamison-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wizards let a very winnable game slip away as Anthony Parker, Daniel Gibson and Mo Williams all burried late key three pointers and Washington fell to 1-4 on the young season.
Coach Saunders regretted sitting a hot Al Thornton (23 points on 10-16 field-goals) for the final nine minutes of the game.
“I said to Al that I made a mistake….I question myself the last three minutes about not having Al in there.”
Flip went to the long anticipated three-guard lineup of John Wall, Kirk Hinrich and Gilbert Arenas for the fourth quarter. The trio led the Wizards to a 90-85 lead with five minutes to go in the game after Arenas fueled a 3-on-1 fast break that ended with a flush by Andray Blatche.
We were the first to make a move, so everybody’s following us (chuckles).
True, the Wizards were the first to strike when they landed Mike Miller and Randy Foye. But it’s hard to laugh, or continue to pridefully boast about the move, when the cream of the Eastern Conference crop keeps passing the Wizards by.
Let’s quickly go through what the top three teams in the East (Orlando, Cleveland and Boston), have done this off-season. Read more »
Just over three minutes left in a close game, Wizards up by one point against an almost equally bad team, the thought crossed my mind….do I hope they lose?
I knew the Clippers and Kings, two of the other top three worst teams in the league, were playing each other last night. It would be “nice” to have better chances in the draft.
But just as quickly as the thought entered my mind, it left. All along, I’ve been against “tanking” or even hoping for more losses just for the possibility of maybe having a better shot at the top pick/Blake Griffin. It just doesn’t seem like good basketball karma, not like it matters with the Curse O’ Les Boulez anyway. But still, we’re talking principles…..principalities.
So eff the lottery it was, I was pulling for my Wizards to win, because that’s what fans do. And a win is what I thought we were getting when Juan Dixon squirmed for a layup with 47 seconds left, putting the Wiz up 96-90.
