Agent Zero Returns, Wizards Win!

if we don’t upgrade the supporting cast somehow, either through internal improvement or a trade. flip played gil the entire second half. he didn’t trust the bench. and i don’t blame him.

good chance tomorrow night will be a rough game for the wiz.

we had to have the win tonight tho. so good job big 3 and brendan. but you guys need some help. seriously.

Warning! Wins and stats against the Warriors are less impressive than they appear. (ask Brandon Jennings)

I expected a win here because the Warriors are a joke. They barely pretend to play defense, and a lot of their offensive plays are out of control. I have no idea how they’ve won 7 games. The Wizards looked composed and disciplined by comparison.

Still, this team, and especially Arenas, need confidence. I think this will definitely help Arenas. He didn’t look that great (5 turnovers, iffy shot selection), but he was aggressive and the Warriors don’t defend. I don’t think it will matter to him that he didn’t necessarily play his best — he’s probably looking at that line in a win and feeling a lot better about himself. That would be a very good thing, because I think he’ll start playing better when he stops second-guessing himself. He still won’t defend, but if he could be lights out on offense again then his contract won’t be so crippling.

Arenas’ confidence is returning (although he has limited leaping ability after a quick first step).

Butler said Flip gave him a dose of confidence before the game.

AJ is AJ.

Haywood is getting minutes and is playing for a contract so his confidence is intact.

The rest of the team has either lost its confidence or has limited skill. Flip needs to go to work on Blatche, Young and McGee (all of which have skills). I’m not sure if Foye’s problem is confidence or skills. The rest have limited skills. MM’s return will be helpful, but is not enough.

I may be in the minority, but I think that Flip needs to stick with Blatche and Young. They have been inconsistent for sure, but you can’t coach their atheltic ability and talent.

I think it’s up to Flip to get those guys consistent and going. Either through support, scheme or perhaps Areanas and Jamison taking them under their wing.

I think a killer group would be Areanas, Jamison, Haywood, Blatche and Young. That group give them speed. scoring, length and versatality

PS – the Legislator Rocks

This was a great game to get to see live. It was wonderful to see Gilbert playing like his old self and to see Caron actually play within the flow of the offense and take smart, in rhythm shots.

Nick Young really played excellent defense for most of the night but it didn’t show up in the box score because Monta Ellis made ridiculously hard shots. Flip really needs to carve out a role for him in the rotation .

Why was Blatche in for the entire fourth quarter? I like that Flip is giving him more run, but last night was not his best game and the Warriors had no answer for Brendan (and Brendan was playing good D on Randolph generally). Not sure why Brendan didnt get back in.

Finally, it was fairly clear that our offensive problems were fixed becuase it was the Warriors we were playing. The matchups were SO GOOD that everyone could get going. They have no one who can stop Arenas and Caron was always being played by someone much weaker – we had mismatces at almost every position and so it was easy to get off. Makes me wonder more about why Antawn had such trouble. The neck injury aside, he was taking terrible contested shots all night long. He could have had a field day posting up and spinning baseline.