The equation is simple

by Jake Whitacre on Feb 4, 2009 9:08 PM EST in Recaps

No Arenas	+
No Haywood	+
No Stevenson	+
No Dixon	+
No Blatche	+
No Thomas	+
No Butler	=

______________
No Chance.

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My chin is up

Things went south in the second half, and fairly quickly, but with all of those absences, and Jamison having just an awful night offensively, the Wizards’ young guys kept things close and I thought fought pretty hard through two quarters. That’s something to build on.

by Jon L on Feb 4, 2009 9:52 PM EST reply actions

Yeah

Jamison sure picked a dandy night to have one of his worst games….. especially after his comments in the paper yesterday about consistency etc….

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Feb 4, 2009 9:55 PM EST reply actions

Why play Jamison tonight at all?

He should have sat out. Period. Look what Popovich did yesterday night with Tim Duncan. When both Manu and Parker were going to be out, Popovich just let TD take a break. Everyone, including Jamison, is just being silly.

rockin' the crab dribble since 2009

by hibachi on Feb 4, 2009 9:58 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Especially Jamison

I don’t know many 32 year olds playing 38 minutes a game. Especially considering our record.

by Fundefined on Feb 4, 2009 10:26 PM EST up reply actions

Two groups of players tonight

+/-
A Team
Pech -4
McGee -6
Critt -7
Young -9

B Team
McGuire -22
Jamison -24
Songaila -29
James -34

That’s a huge disparity in my book.

Off topic: I enjoy having the post-game thread, separate from the game-thread, and the following day’s recap thread. It brings an extra layer of discussion because people quit the game-thread right after the final buzzer, but as this proves people still want to voice post-game opinions the night of the game.

by morethesamewiz on Feb 4, 2009 11:43 PM EST reply actions

Agreed

With this:

Off topic: I enjoy having the post-game thread, separate from the game-thread, and the following day’s recap thread. It brings an extra layer of discussion because people quit the game-thread right after the final buzzer, but as this proves people still want to voice post-game opinions the night of the game.

"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 Feb 5, 2009 8:05 AM EST up reply actions

This was my goal early in the year

But then I found myself catching too many games on tape delay because of my wacky schedule. Regardless, we’re going to keep doing it.

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

by Mike Prada on Feb 5, 2009 9:05 PM EST up reply actions

We're going to keep doing it

Except from time to time when I’ve got to catch the game on delay (like tomorrow).

Bullets Forever: A blog dedicated to the Washington Wizards with analysis, commentary, and more YouTube videos than your eyes can handle.

by Jake Whitacre on Feb 6, 2009 12:05 AM EST up reply actions

+ Tapscott

Just kidding.

Krem's Sports Blog

by Matt K. on Feb 5, 2009 7:59 AM EST reply actions

It's time to pray hard for #1 draft choice

I am back home in Poland now after three weeks in the USA where I did get to the phone booth for three games, two of which (Knicks and Clips) were Wiz victories. Enjoyable as the wins were, this team is not going anywhere and should focus on developing the talent on hand and getting the all-important first pick for Griffith, who is the real deal from what I saw of him on TV.

From my perspective, the Wizards need to accomplish four things to get back into the hunt for playoff presence and more in the future.

1. McGee and Young are going to be fine players and need as much court time as possible from here on out to develop. Even though Crittenten is going to be a back-up for Gilbert Arenas going forward, he also needs maximum minutes now to develpop his playmaking skills, learn how to finish and to hit free throws consistently .

2. If we can offload Mike James and our second round choice (#27 or 28 overall) to Orlando for JJ Redick at the trade deadline we should. We need a designated three-point threat off the bench (Steve Novak of the Clippers was brilliant in that role against us, by the bye).

3. Gilbert Arenas needs about 20 games to get ready for 2009-10, if at all possible.

4. We need Blake Griffith desperately. Nothing less than the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft will be a difference maker. And if the ping pong balls fail us, we should consider nothing less than trading Butler and the 2 or 3 pick to get back to the #1 slot.

The 2009-10 Wizards should look something like this:

PG Arenas, Crittenten, Dixon
SG Young, Redick, Stevenson, Dixon
SF Butler or Jamison, McGuire, Pecherov
PF Griffith, Jamison, Songaila
C Haywood, McGee, Thomas

That is a nice balance of youth and experience, offense and defense…

We shall see.

by khrabb on Feb 5, 2009 8:22 AM EST reply actions

Re:

1) The problem which Tapscott may be facing in focusing on development is the determination (I don’t think it’s simply for show) of Jamison and Butler to keep playing to win, which they have made clear that they believe calls for playing veterans rather than giving development time to the youngsters (I feel that development and winning are related goals, because I firmly believe that the young players give us the best chance to win). It is probably a challenge for an interim coach (which ,as Ivan Carter pointed out, has all the clout of a substitute teacher) to buck the teams two best players (the valedictorian and student body president in a classroom of dunces and transfers).
2) Even though I’m a lifelong Carolina fan and JJ-hater, he’s got game and watching him in shootaround and game when the Magic came to town to play the Hawks, I’m confident it’s only a matter of time before some team gives him room to be the lethal outside threat he can be. I want that team to be the Wizards.
3) Probably won’t happen. Something’s bad wrong, as Ivan Carter’s noticed there seems to be a gag order on Arenas the past month which doesn’t show optimism from the Wizards camp about his recovery.
4) Trade Butler + 2or3 pick for Griffin? I would say that trade makes sense for a Lebron James or Dwight Howard type pick, but I’ve seen no evidence that Griffin’s that type of dominant number one pick.

by morethesamewiz on Feb 5, 2009 9:38 AM EST up reply actions

I know this is the NBA and player power is high

But if Tapscott has the Grunfeld behind him, he should be able to play Butler and Jamison less, play the young kids to develop. The fact that Butler and Jamison’s pride won’t let them see the big picture shouldn’t be an issue. This season is in the trash can and its time to start thinking about 2009 and no one should be an obstacle to that. I appreciate what both Butler and Jamison have doen but kowtowing to them when this team stinks and they only play on one end of the floor is frankly ridiculous!

"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Feb 5, 2009 3:49 PM EST up reply actions

2 of 3?

two of which (Knicks and Clips) were Wiz victories. Enjoyable as the wins were, this team is not going anywhere and should focus on developing the talent on hand and getting the all-important first pick for Griffith, who is the real deal from what I saw of him on TV.

From my perspective, the Wizards need to accomplish four things to get back into the hunt for playoff presence and more in the future.

2 of 3 were victories?

What the Wizards need to get back into the hunt for the playoffs is for you to come back from Poland and go to all the rest of the games this year. They win 2 of every 3 games…. then they’d be…..um…………..let me see…………..uh………………………..

Ok, never mind about this year.

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Feb 5, 2009 9:51 AM EST up reply actions

Just call me the human rabbit's foot...

Oh, wait, I remember the one legged rabbit ad…

On the draft stuff, I was shooting for some drama because with some people on ESPN saying the 4th best choice this year is Thabeet (!) and the out-of-pocket costs associated with acquiring Ricky Rubio at #2 (if he comes out of Spain at all), I don’t think we can afford to settle for anything less than the #1 pick for Griffith. Maybe saying to trade Caron and the #2 or #3 is a bit steep…

and ya, the Gil thing is getting scary but I did notice that the Wizards TV ads that were running while I was home featured Gil, which suggests that the possibility of his return in three or four weeks might not totally be out of the question … even with the curse and all, would EG really have been nuts enough to sign him for all that loot if his prognosis was even moderately doubtful?

It was also instructive to see the impact of a hobbled and disgruntled Baron Davis on the Clips…

That’s the reason I’m a Bullets Fan…

by khrabb on Feb 5, 2009 3:25 PM EST up reply actions

The Arenas ad

They have been showing that ad ever since December so I dont think that means anything.

by lj15 on Feb 5, 2009 4:06 PM EST up reply actions

I think that ad's funded by Cleveland fans hell-bent on mocking us.

It’s just too depressing…

by pantslessyoda1 on Feb 5, 2009 11:33 PM EST up reply actions

quick thing

I like the line-up a lot, but I’d rather see Crittenton playing the 2 alongside Gilbert at the 1 whenever possible. A second ballhandler and distributer is usually needed when you’ve got a combo guard or shoot-first point, and it’d be nice to give Critt a a chance to score. Also, I prefer to see Nick Young come in when he can be the first or second option on offense, whereas he’d be the fourth if he were starting.

Also, maybe I missed this, but where’s Blatche?

by pantslessyoda1 on Feb 5, 2009 11:32 PM EST up reply actions