Wizards win, improbably and amazingly

It’s nice for Wizards fans to show some optimism again, even if it is unrealistic. I thought I was browsing the comments section of a mortuary a few days ago.

Al is already on the books next season. James could probably be had for about $2 million, unless he keeps playing out of his mind, that is. If we let Foye walk (who I’m not very high on right now), that would put our total team salary at about $38 million, correct me if I’m wrong. That’s still plenty of cap space to fill out our roster and still be below, right?

I was just stating the facts. Who knows? Anything is possible. Two seasons ago, the Philadelphia 76ers ended their night on February 4th with a record of 18-30. They proceeded to go 22-12 down the stretch (.647 winning percentage) to secure the 7th seed in the playoffs that season. Interestingly enough, they actually went 22-8 (.733 winning percentage) before losing their final 4 games of the season. Anything is possible.

How Flip ran over to pat Nick Young on his back after he dove for a loose ball in the 4th quarter. I think that really strengthened Nick’s confidence to have his coach do that.

I saw a fist pump when Howard made the bucket and 1.

It was a big win for them, so they let up like they tend to do.

I don’t think anyone on the board is talking playoffs or even a .500 record. But I had truly forgotten what defense had looked like til the past few games. I like it when my team has guys who seem to like each other. Kinda awesome.

for being correct in your music sir.

I saw nothing but effort from him for us tonight. Why wasn’t he giving any for you guys?

BTW, Caron was shooting terribly even when he was here and knew the playbook. I don’t know what happened to him, but you are going to get sick of seeing him jab-step and take that step-back jumper from about 18 feet 10 times a game. It’s the least efficient shot in basketball and he’s fallen in love with it.

Brendan is a beast, though. He’s the real jewel of that trade for you guys.

where have i heard this before. Maybe Caron is Princeton specific?

Truth is, Caron might be cooked.

pray Dampier stays hurt. Brendan doesn’t take well to competition. He is a GREAT fit for your team though.

when analyzing that first trade I was more upset that we didn’t get more for including Haywood… never once thought that we gave Butler away too cheap.

The Steinberg article mentioned fans calling Jamison MeTwan. I don’t remember this at all. Was that in the Post comments or have I been living under a rock?

He has guys that encourage and build him up, instead of a guy constantly berating him and tearing him down.

We are both on the same page here. Maybe if Foye were $2 million instead of $4.7 million, I might want to keep him as insurance. But with his relatively big salary projection next season, I would rather renounce his rights.

…in fact, it was the exact opposite: He was off the bench cheering his teammates the whole 4th quarter. The dude is becoming a professional N. B. A. player.

Smart thinking.

Why not? Did you expect to see the Wizards hoist it into the rafters after he got traded?

The Wizards, for the foreseeable future, are the minor leagues of pro basketball, right there with the Nets, Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves . . . in other words the bottom feeders of the NBA. The Wizards, for the foreseeable future, will stink. The Wizards are ground zero. They’re irrelevant outside of Washington. It’s quite possible that over the final 30 games of the season the Wizards will be the worst team in the NBA, worse than the five-win Nets. You think I’m exaggerating? I’ll take the Nets when they play the Wizards on Feb. 28 up there and April 4 here.

I might want to lay some money down on this. Anyone got Wilbon’s cell phone number?

i bet gil has been watching he last two games and liking what he is seeing.

But I think he’s staying.

And I hope he is.

The Wizards aren’t dumb enough to try and void his contract, so they’re going to have him on the floor game one next year.* If he plays great and increases his trade value on a bad team, awesome. If he plays great and the team turns out to be competitive, better. I have to admit I miss the dude and would like to have him back. He’d be great as the #1 scoring option on this team.

*if EG doesn’t get a stunner of an offer after the free agency period this summer

I wouldn’t say he’s a cancer. As far as I can tell, barring the gun incident, he’s been a good guy to be around. I know this quote as been thrown around constantly since Grunfeld used it, but it’s a pretty accurate description of the group of guys we trotted out here at the beginning of the season: the group grew stale. Gil out too long, too many guys constantly getting inured, no consistency in player rotations, etc. That killed this team. Add to that the coaching change and other things….. I dunno. I just feel like the whole organization from top to bottom was just worn out, worn thin.

My thoughts on Gil returning are positive. I hope he does. Beyond the fact that I feel as though I relate to him well, as a somewhat eccentric guy who tends to flip the bird to authority, I believe he can still be the star of this team. I think many people don’t understand (and how could they?) all that Gil has gone through over the past couple years, and the expectations coming into this season, all the eyes watching him, judging him. And of course the eyes did watch and judge. The guy plays thirty some odd professional games after rehabbing a busted up knee over two years and everyone expects him to be a surgical point guard right away. Jesus, even Christ himself couldn’t perform that miracle.

Anyway, I’ve gone on somewhat of a digression. My point is this: Gil is, I think, a great locker room guy and teammate. He’s not the consummate professional that Jamison is, but that’s not his fault; that’s not his personality type. It doesn’t mean he still can’t be a leader on the court and off the court. I hope that this gun incident has caused some sort of growth of professionalism in him, however, even if it’s only enough to temper his devil-may-care attitude, prevent him from pooping in shoes, and doing outrageously foolish things such as bringing guns to a locker room (prank or not).

I think energy, enthusiasm and hustle are infectious things. If the team continues to play hard through the rest of the season, and we keep a lot of these guys who perform well I think you’ll see that hustle and energy permeate Gil next season.

Maybe Gil needed a change of scenery himself. But there’s more than one way of changing the scenery. In this case trade the stale crusts of bread for new, but keep the core, that despite being surrounded by those stale, crusty pieces is still fresh.

Referencing our trade this past off-season for Foye and Miller.

Seriously, though, I’d trade Randy Foye back to Minny for Ramon Sessions straight up right now. Feral, where are you? Would you take it?

This is where we see Flip’s coaching chops come in. .500 the rest of this year is possible, and the basketball gods smile on teams who don’t tank. John Wall? Why not? Do the Nets really deserve him?