Washington 122 - Seattle 121 (Wizards 108 - Sonics 86)

by Jake Whitacre on Jan 6, 2008 10:18 PM EST in Recaps

Box Score
Game Flow
Post Recap
Times Recap
TAI Live Blog
DC Pro Sports Recap
Sonics Central Recap
Happy Birthday Gil! (Unsilent sends his wishes as well)
Should Gilbert take the rest of the season off?
The Washington Wizards = Fred Thompson
Why I used an Alton Lister photo for the Game Thread

Highest Plus/Minus: Caron Butler (+29)
Lowest Plus/Minus: Andray Blatche (-12)

If this were soccer and the two Washington vs. Seattle games this weekend were played by aggregate score, Johan Petro's missed free throw with 8 seconds left would've been the point that would've tied the the score at 122. But alas, it wasn't to be. So at least D.C. fans can take solace in the fact that when you add the scores from both games together that Washington the city > Washington the state.

Way to step it up in the clutch, Johan.
(Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

I mentioned in the game thread that the key for tonight's game was to make sure that the Wizards limited the open three point shots. Well, three quarters out of four ain't bad. Other than a terrible second quarter where Wally Sczerbiak scored 13 straight points (including 3 treys...he's pretty good at those) the Wiz did a better than average job limiting open looks. One thing I didn't see coming was Seattle's dominance on the glass. Chris Wilcox averaged 16 boards against the Wizards last season, but I figured between Haywood's improvement and the fact that Wilcox was sitting this one out would be enough to turn the tide. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that Nick Collison actually averages almost 2 rebounds more per 40 minutes than Wilcox. That still doesn't excuse letting Collison get 17 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive end.

Hey Kevin, how about putting some mustard on that pass?
(Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

Those are my only real quips, it was a quality win today against an overmatched opponent. Daniels was able to do his thing, which allowed Caron to assert himself more in scoring and Antawn Jamison did his thing as always. He should just change his number from 4 to 20-10, it's so automatic at this point that he'll get those numbers that it's probably more commonly associated with him than his jersey number. It was a very confidence inspiring win, and the Wizards will need all the confidence (and points) they can get for their next four games: vs. Houston, @ Atlanta, vs. Boston, and @ Boston.

Yes, that's Roger Mason throwing down a dunk! And you were probably busy watching Eli Manning when this happened. How do you feel now?
(Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

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Caron is LEGIT

Finally! Caron shoots more than 20 shots. The guy can take anyone who guards him. I am very impressed with his first step: it's deadly.

He relies on his outside shot a bit more than my likings, but it fell quite nicely.

AD was great! Although he only had 13 pts, he had some great layups & 10 assists. I'm thrilled with a 13-10 from AD.

Here's the question: think we can get 2 of our next 4 games? Won't be easy.

Also: bad news about GIL - possibly won't see him this whole season?

by se7en on Jan 7, 2008 2:52 AM EST reply actions

It Will Depend on Houston

Here's the question: think we can get 2 of our next 4 games? Won't be easy.

I predict the Wizards will beat Atlanta, but after that it doesn't look good. Houston will certainly be a tough test and I will be very surprised if the Wiz take either of the Boston games. Boston is playing out of their minds right now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the last time a team started 29-3 was the '95-'96 Bulls, and we all know how that season ended. It will take a huge performance from the Wiz to win either of those games.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Jan 7, 2008 9:33 AM EST up reply actions

As Darius

Played all the way back on what appeared to be a fast break leading to Mason's dunk.

svpstyle.com

by ScottVanPeltStyle on Jan 7, 2008 10:26 AM EST reply actions

Observations

I was lucky enough to score great free seats to the game. I love that.

Here are some observations:

Caron is a bad man. As a 20-10 machine, Jamison is definitely an All-Star in my book, but Caron is unquestionably the Wizards' best player. He can score in a whole bunch of different ways against a variety of defenses and defenders, and he is the guy the Wiz look to when they need a hoop. And he delivers. Carlisemo had high praise for him in the Post today, and it's well-deserved.

The starters looked like a solid unit. When the starting 5 was on the court, the Wizards dominated. They played strong, cohesive basketball on both ends of the floor. I give a lot of credit to AD for the offense -- it just works much better with him running the show. And as a 1-2 defensive punch, Stevenson and Haywood are very nice.

The bench needs work. They've looked shaky recently, and yesterday was no exception. Mason was solid, and I really like the way he's taken the opportunity for more playing time and shown he belongs on the court. I still think he's limited and should only be asked to fill a very specific role, but he's filling it nicely. Can't say the same about the rest of the bunch.

Darius was especially weak. Seattle's second-quarter flurry coincided with Songaila's entrance to the game. He's a decent offensive player, and he was decent yesterday, but he was a sieve defensively. As soon as he entered the game, the Sonics started taking the ball to the basket, especially when they were able to go at him on pick-and-rolls. He just wasn't anywhere close to fast enough to slow the ball-handler down, and they abused him repeatedly.

Blatche also struggled mightily. We all have seen games in which Blatche looked terrific. He's 6-11 with good athletic ability and solid basketball skills, but yesterday he seemed slow and tentative and more than a little clueless. I can't put my finger on why he seems to play so well some times and so poorly others, but he should duplicate whatever it is that worked in his good games and change up what he did against Seattle.

AJ vs. the refs. Jamison spent a lot of time jawboning at the refs -- mostly over non-calls he thought he should have gotten. They were marginal situations at best, but even if he had a strong case on most of them, I think you end up hurting yourself and your team with that much complaining. To make matters worse -- the Sonics ran a fastbreak at the Wiz while AJ was complaining after one non-call.

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Jan 7, 2008 11:25 AM EST reply actions

Starting unit, and Bench for when Gilberts back...

Considering how good the starting unit fits together and plays together in every single way....... Do you think the team would be better with Gilbert as a 6th man when he comes back?

Daniels is very important for establishing the pace and getting guys into their rhythyms as well, setting the tone of unselfish play and getting everything initiated, including getting us those easy baskets that set the tone for the entire game (I think the team is too jumpshot oriented when Arenas is at PG. With Daniels it is much more interior-based and we get many more easy inside baskets, especially from Jamison and Haywood)...... and Deshawn is our best perimeter defender that locks down on the Dwyane Wade's and Kobe's of the world.....

You dont think maybe we'd be better off not messing with a good thing? Our starters are a great fit in every single way, as you said.....

What do you think of Arenas as 6th man, in an Andrew Toney role? He'd still be playing 35 minutes + be on the floor to finish games and can play his combo-guard type of game..... he can be the focal point of the first reserves to enter the game and make the bench one of the best benches in the entire NBA. Gilbert could give a huge infusion of explosiveness and energy that not many teams could match off the bench, Arenas would be even more effective than he usually is and would absolutely CARVE UP opposing teams reserves (Or tired starters).

There are obviously a lot more positives and a lot more things involved..... Im just going off the top of my head and throwing the idea out there. What do you guys think?

by billy332 on Jan 7, 2008 7:57 PM EST reply actions

Disagree

This never really works. Gilbert is a lot better than Andrew Toney, and Toney only spent two years as a sixth man anyway (and he was only good one of those years).

There's no reason to ever limit your best player's minutes like that, especially when we're 17-15. If we were 23-9, then we can talk.

Besides, as nice as our starters look, we just aren't as good offensively without Gilbert. We're 10th in the league in offensive efficiency now, compared to 5th with Gilbert healthy last season.

(Also, the numbers don't support your hypothesis that the team isn't as jump-shooting oriented with Daniels at the point. Last year, 68 percent of our shots were jumpers. This year, it's...you guessed it, 68 percent. The only difference is that fewer of those are coming within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, but even considering that, we had a higher eFG% on jumpers last year. Finally, we shot significantly more free throws a game last year (29.6) than we are this year (24.4), so if anything, we're actually more of a jump-shooting team with Daniels in there).

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jan 7, 2008 8:49 PM EST up reply actions

Also, I forgot one thing........

Im talking about this years team, not last years. This years team is alot different, especially the depth, true PG play, Jamison's inside game/rebounding, OUR DEFENSE, our chemistry, our unselfish play and ball movement, and especially the breakout season of Caron Butler (IMHO: Our franchise player).

So I was saying for this years team in terms of what I said about the jumpshooting team with Gilbert thing. Last years numbers/team is pretty much meaningless for what I was saying.

by billy332 on Jan 7, 2008 10:33 PM EST up reply actions

sorry.......

I misread your statement.

BUT. I still stand by what I said for this years team with Gilbert at point compared to this years team with A.D at point...... our offense runs smoother and more unselfishly, and our defense is much much better. Our chemistry and leadership is better as well, and it seems we get more easy baskets especially in the post with Jamison and Haywood.

AND. I also stand by my first post, asking what everybody thinks of that. (Our bench would be stronger with the move, to one of the best in the league, our starting unit would be as we see it now with great chemistry and very good allaround play on both ends of the floor, and Gil would still be playing 35 minutes a night and on the floor in the 4th quarter anyways..... so IMHO it would be the best move and it would make our team much improved.)

by billy332 on Jan 7, 2008 10:39 PM EST up reply actions

Then it's just your word against mine

And that goes nowhere into really answering the question. I've been watching the same game, yet I always felt the one difference with AD in there instead of Gilbert is that we're running more half court sets, which is good because the Princeton is an effective offense, but bad because there's no fast break threat in there, and also bad because we don't shoot as many free throws (Princeton lends itself to open jumpers), and therefore, more jumpers.

The only way to really settle the question is to look at the data we have, however problematic it may be (and I happen to think it's not that problematic...we have mostly the same players). And that data tells us that we're shooting just as many jumpers with AD in there as we do with Gil (and that happens in an average of just under 3 fewer possessions a game).

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jan 7, 2008 10:39 PM EST up reply actions

I know he's better than toney......

I couldnt have been the only one to think of that...

Deshawn and Haywood lock down our perimeter/interior defense, and Antonio is just too important as our pure PG...... if Gilberts in the starting lineup I think he should replace Deshawn, DEFINITELY not replace A.D!!!!

Also, I think Caron is our best allaround player.

by billy332 on Jan 7, 2008 10:30 PM EST reply actions

I'd replace AD

He represents someone who should definitely play more off the bench, but he's a misfit playing next to Gil because he can't shoot and is best controlling the ball.

AD looks better because, when you compare him to Roger Mason and Nick Young, he stands apart, and I do think he's a key player on our team. He's been relatively effective off the bench for three years, and that's when he wasn't used all that well. Now that we have the last two years to see what he can do, I say you have to play him off the bench as a change of pace.

Besides, a Gil/AD backcourt wouldn't be able to guard anybody.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Jan 7, 2008 10:44 PM EST up reply actions