Seven third quarter Gilbert Arenas turnovers led to eight Dwyane Wade points on five total shots … evidently Arenas said wasn’t getting calls from the refs, or something like that.

Arenas also said:

“I’m always upset when I have turnovers. I’d rather just shoot the ball and get the attempts than get the turnovers.”

Arenas’ 12 total turnovers for the game broke a franchise record that has stood for over 20 years (regular season or playoffs, on either participating team).

Bob Dandridge committed 11 turnovers against the Golden State Warriors (Arenas’ first team) on February 7, 1978 … which also happens to be Juwan Howard’s birthday.

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{flickr/Coast Guard BM}

The Wizards are in Miami tonight for a rematch with Dwyane Wade and the rest of whomever he plays with.

The sense of urgency is elevated. Yea, yea … it’s early. But considering where things stand, tonight’s game and how the Wizards respond to their self-induced and injury-induced adversity is much more important at a record of 2-5 than if the Wizards were, say, 4-3 and still learning how to play with each other.

Tonight’s Goals:

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Lackluster Wizards, lackluster Verizon Center … I’m not sure which bred which, but the result was an absolutely ugly opening for the Washington basketball squad. Down 31-17 after a first quarter where the Wizards shot 29.2% and committed seven turnovers (five personal and two shot clock violations), three courtesy of Caron Butler, Flip Saunders’ team found themselves trying to claw their way back into the game. And they eventually did.

With the ball, game tied at 89, and under a minute left, the Wizards offensively followed with: Caron Butler getting his show blocked by Wade, a steal with Stevenson getting fouled while out of control on a fast break, but missing both free-throws, and three missed Gilbert Arenas interior shots … once down 91-89, once down 92-89, and finally down 93-89, which was the final score. On the first occasion Arenas probably got fouled, on the second, one of his charted “shots” was really a lob to Haywood that hit rim not hands, and on the final occasion, Arenas simply missed a layup.

Anyway you slice it, the Wizards finished the final minute of the game in a sloppy manner like a team fractured on offense. But Flip Saunders remembers it differently. “I remember the first minute, falling behind by 19, not coming out with the energy that we have played previously in all the games,” said Saunders. “The basketball gods will get you and you can’t cheat the game in a lot of situations.”

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1. What is Gilbert Arenas’ target minutes per game?

One of the biggest (yet most entertaining) mistakes the Wizards made after acquiring Arenas was his back to back 40+ minutes per game seasons of 80 starts each. In Jason Kidd’s 19 14 years, he’s only eclipsed 40 mpg in a season once (John Stockton never did). This is the equivalent of when an NFL team gives their running back 400+ carries (think 1998 Jamal Anderson or 2006 Larry Johnson). Naturally Gil’s future looked bleaker than Jay-Z’s sidekick.

If I am Flip Saunders, I target Gilbert to a conservative 30 mpg. I take him out in blowouts. I don’t let him go for 50. I give him the occasional back-to-back off. I massage his feet during timeouts. I massage his feet at his house. I become a certified acupuncturist. I sacrifice woodland creatures to my altar of Nepthys (the Egyptian god of knee ligaments). Lastly, I call in a bomb threat to Barry Farm.

2. Is this the year Andray Blatche makes the leap?

You don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to know this is “very doubtful.”

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(flickr/coolgates)

There was a mini-spike in Randy Foye news last week. On Monday, after watching a video about Foye on NBA.com, I wondered if he could be ‘the’ difference maker.

On Wednesday, the WaPost’s Michael Lee put together a nice piece on Foye off his notes from a previous meeting. Here, we learned of a potential style conflict between Foye and former T-Wolves head coach, current Wizards assistant, Randy Wittman. Lee also related something Kevin McHale once told Foye before a matchup against Dwyane Wade, “Anything he can do, you can do.” Foye battled and finished with 29 points to Wade’s 31. The game came down to a last second foul call that Foye did not get … Wade probably would have.

Predating Wade-Foye comparisons, looking back into John Hollinger’s vault, we find Foye associated with Vinny Del Negro. Before he was drafted in ’06, ESPN compared Foye to Ben Gordon, while NBADraft.net to Chauncey Billups. But it was DraftExpress FTL … in their ‘best’ case, Randy Foye is Mike James; worst case, Juan Dixon. Yuck.

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When Prince is bored, he plays basketball; when the Wizards are bored, they lose.

Went to the Wizards-Heat game on Saturday night…..it might have been the most boring game I’ve ever attended in life. But I can’t exactly put my finger on why (sans Agent Zero notwithstanding)…..rather, why the team decided to give such a lackluster effort.

The crowd was unsurprisingly quiet….the absence of Gilbert Arenas, even from the bench, did it’s job to suck the wind out of the phone booth. Word from Nick Young, via Wizards Insider, was that Saturday was the two-year anny of Gil’s knee injury, and that Arenas was talking about it all day. So, naturally, he didn’t play. That’s Gil and oh well, can’t blame him.

Brendan Haywood looked good, dunking several times with that wrist. Finger pointing and communication in the lane is up 30%, if I had to guess.

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