• What's good party people?  While you're checking out the new and improved search feature here, make sure you check out the latest FanPosts and FanShots from this week:
• Mike Jones (who!) confirmed that Gilbert Arenas is still planning on opting out of his contract, despite his injury setbacks.  Later on in the week, he confirmed that he's not a fan of LeBron James.  At least he didn't write a diss track about it.
  
• After making sure everyone knew that he was still opting out, he made sure everyone knew who he wanted to see stay in Washington, by telling everyone on his blog:

The future is the future. I want to be back in Washington, but weird things happen in free agency. If Antawn is not back, then there’s no point in me coming back because he’s part of my success, too. When you’re doing pick and roll with a player like him, they can’t double you, they can’t trap you because you have a pick and pop guy who can shoot the three at your four position. My success is because of him too. If he doesn’t come back, I’m not coming back.

I know everybody is focusing on whether I’m coming back, but I’m focusing on what he’s doing. If he doesn’t come back, then I’m not coming back.

• You'll notice that Gilbert doesn't make the same request for Jarvis Hayes.  From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like Detroit will be either.  At least Jarvis can pass the time with the NBA nickname generator.
• If yesterday's OT thriller turned you into a Jazz bandwagoner, make sure you check out the new SB Nation site for the team, SLC Dunk.
• The Wizards' website is counting down the top 10 moments of the season.  Here's moments ten through six.
• If Bullets nostalgia is your thing, this video of a double OT thriller versus the Celtics should hit the spot.
• If watching a DJ mispronounce DeShawn Stevenson's name is more up your alley, this video should do the trick.
• Finally, NY1 poses the question of "What do we trade the 18th pick for?"  This will be a point of discussion all the way up to the draft, since it seems extremely likely that Grunfeld will look to move that picks, so check it out.
  

The Wizards might not produce the number of highlights that you'd see with teams like Phoenix and Denver and Golden State, but there were still a lot of great plays from this season from several different players

Which one stands out above the rest?  After the jump, a better look at each of the top play candidates...

No voting for Ramon.

Continue reading this post »

If you've been checking out Bullets Forever lately, you've probably noticed that we've been using the FanShot feature a lot.  The FanShot is basically a quick hit post to a link, picture, video, etc. and it works out great for us because a lot of times there's news that's worth relaying but doesn't really constitute an entire post. The only drawback is that if you only read Bullets Forever through your RSS reader, than you're not getting these FanShots in your reader.  So in order to catch you up on any news that you might have missed, here's a round up of all the FanShots FanPosts from the past few weeks

If you want to subscribe to the FanShots you can do that by clicking here, although we have to throw out the disclaimer that anyone can post a FanShot, so you can't say you weren't warned beforehand.  Also, you can now also subscribe to the FanPosts (formerly the diaries), with the same disclaimer in effect.

Let's start this with some links from the links from the playoff series (which already seems like it was a month ago):

• First, Eddie Jordan's thoughts on the final play of Game 4:  "[Gilbert's] our guy. And look, he made a terrific shot (on the previous possession). Who else do we have that can make that kind of shot? In the end, maybe he could have been used as a decoy. I always say that sometimes a threat is as dangerous as the action. Maybe we could have spotted him up and let Antawn or Caron get in on the last play. I thought about that as the ball was inbouded but it was too late by then."
• An example of a "flagrant, malicious, dirty, thuggish, uncalled for foul" from Jason Kidd.  Somewhere Marvin Williams is saying "Hey!  What about me?"
• Here's the quote from Brendan Haywood that prompted the now infamous Crybaby 23 T-Shirts.  The blowback from the shirt was so bad that now Papa John's is offering 23 cent pizzas on Thursday in the Cleveland area.  Will Jay-Z sell his next album for two cents in the District as an apology for Blow the Whistle?  Don't forget the boycott on Love is still in effect until he does.
• Don't take fashion tips from DeShawn.
• TruthAboutIt and WaitingForNextYear had a great back and forth Q&A. Check it out.
• Jason wonders why the Wizards didn't try to make LeBron go left more.
• Wilbon had a great write-up on Game 5 with an interesting look into Antawn's role as a leader.  (HT: cuppetcj)
  
• After Songaila's suspension for Game 6, And One gathered responses from all sides on the issue.
• Speaking of weird rulings, Vanilla Gorilla wants to know why DeShawn's throat slash was being used in promos for game 5 if it netted him a $25,000 fine.
• Finally, Asian Zero's highlight reel of the series is a must see:

Now let's check out some links as we head into the off-season:

• Some people are calling for coaching changes.  KDP wants to see Mike D'Antoni, mamemimo wants to see Avery Johnson.  For what it's worth, Ivan Carter doesn't think a change will be made.
• Gilbert on who's crazier between DeShawn and himself:  "No, he's crazier than me. I'm already broken. I learned early. He's not filtered. I think about stuff. Mine goes through the filter first."
• The last word belongs to Caron Butler who had this to say about the chances of Gilbert and Antawn coming back this season:

I look forward to both of them coming back. Obviously, I don't have that much input but publicly, I'm saying what I'm saying right now. I would love to have them back. I think that will be the case and I'm almost positive that will be the case.

I just have a hunch, a reliable source.

Like Prada said, it's been a great season.   It might not have the best ending, but I still don't think this team has anything to be ashamed of.  Before we start delving into all the off-season stuff, let's give some thanks for the season that was.

Thanks to Ernie Grunfeld for putting together a team that's been able make the playoffs for 4 straight years, something that hasn't happened in the district in 20 years.

Thanks to Eddie Jordan for never giving up.  There were several points in the season where you could've thrown up the white flag and gone into tank mode when different players went down, but you never gave up on this team.

Thanks to Antawn Jamison for being the epitome of consistency and professionalism all season long.  Your 20-10 season won't soon be forgotten.

Thanks to Caron Butler for the big shots, the posters, and everything in-between.

Thanks to Brendan Haywood for finally putting an end to the instability at center this year with career highs all across the board.

Thanks to Antonio Daniels for holding down the fort at point guard while Gilbert was injured most of the season.  Your on-court leadership was a big part of why the Wizards were as successful as they were this season.

Thanks to DeShawn Stevenson for being the Wizards' Iron Man.

Thanks to Roger Mason Jr. for being such a pleasant surprise this season.  You showed this season that you don't have to be a brick layer to have an appreciation for architecture.

Thanks to Darius Songaila for providing some much needed front court consistency off the bench.  Best of luck competing with Lithuania in Beijing this summer.  Hopefully everyone there appreciates your Borat impressions.

Thanks to Andray Blatche for his continued improvement.  You'll only get better as you get more experience under your belt.

Thanks to Gilbert Arenas for trying his best to get back on the court and help the team.  it didn't work out the way we all would've liked, but the intent was clearly there.  Let's hope this off-season finally gets you back to form we all know and love.

Thanks to Nick Young for the dunks.  Here's to many more highlights and dunk contest invite next season.

Thanks to Oleksiy Pecherov for all the humor this season.  Don't get me wrong, your play was solid this year, but the comparisons to Stewie will never stop being awesome.

Thanks to Etan Thomas for showing what true strength is all about.

Thanks to Ivan Carter and Mike Jones (who!) for all the great reporting on the beat this season.  Great work as always.

Thanks to all the great Wizards and non-Wizards blogs for their .

Thanks to WaitingForNextYear and And One for coming over and sparking some good discussion and providing analysis from the other side during the playoff series.  You're welcome here anytime.

Thanks to everyone that's come here and left comments and FanPosts and everything else this season.  Win or lose, you're what makes this fun.

Finally, thanks to Dominic McGuire.  You're what makes the future (and the present) bright.

(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

I had some pre-game thoughts at the beginning of this game blog, but they were getting a little lengthy, so I posted them on TruthAboutIt.net . Read if you would like.....

Quarter One

Off we go....

Gil starts and is matched up on Delonte West, he was on Wally last game. Butler is still on James and DeShawn is on Wally.

Hubie Brown likes the defensive aggressiveness to start as Arenas is working on deflections.

10:16: Wiz get a steal, DeShawn takes it all the way gets the foul and a goal-tending on LeBron James. The Lock Smith throws up the Rocafella diamond in the direction of the Cavs bench. Not going to talk trash about Jay-Z, huh? 5-2 Wiz.

9:48: Butler gets going early too with a baseline jumper on LeBron....good stuff. The fans seem to be making a nice showing on Sunday afternoon too.

Nice drive by DeShawn past LeBron and a drop off to Haywood for a dunk. 9-4 Wizards.

Gil pulls the chair out from under a posting Wally...loose ball, Cavs get it, lose the ball again but the Wiz can’t take advantage as Gil's lob past was a little too long for Jamison. Turnover.

8:01: Haywood is killing two birds with one possession. Draws a foul on the floor on Big Z and then gets a baby hook. 11-6 Wizards.

7:46: LeBron has hit his first two outside shots....and that's okay, he can score all he wants, just don't let him pile up assists.

7:20: Arenas drives on Wally...easy.....the double must come over and AJ is there for the dump off. 13-8 Wizards.

6:57: Wally hits a fadeaway deuce over Arenas, but Arenas is playing with more intensity on D that I've seen out of him before.

While I like the hot Wiz shooting so far, 7-8, I am not fond of the 4 turnovers, 3 by Gil....but none of them have really been bad turnovers.

3:53: Gil tries to force the ball to Caron who is posting LeBron at the 3 point line....bad idea, LeBron pokes the ball away and ends it with a wicked windmill dunk. 18-15 Cleveland.

1:22: AD hits a jab step back three...huh? 23-22 Wizards.

1:06: The Brazilian Spaz = Mr. Softy miss a lay-up.

0:58: AJ hits another crazy running hook and has his angry game face on. 25-22 Wiz.

0:16: AJ rolls home a trey ball. 11 first quarter points for the man.

LeBron then gets called for an offensive foul as he throws the arm out into Jamison's chest...the tears start streaming. LBJ has 2 fouls and 8 points.

Looks like he may have the case for a measly touch foul. After the last 0:00.7 ticks away, Bron Bron puts on his pacifier in the form of a long sleeve navy blue shirt and whines in Joey Crawford's ear.

Wiz up 28-24 after 1. They were boosted by 11-14 shooting, 2-3 from deep, but we're held back by 6 turnovers, 4 by Gilbert in 8 minutes. The Wiz need to reign it in on their gambles.

Quarter Two

AD, AJ, Andray, D-Song and the Silent Assassin start the 2nd for the Wiz.

10:53: Bad call...the Cavs get a steal, at least Jamison manages to accidentally clock the Brazilian Spaz with an elbow, Devin Brown leads the break, Mason hustles back to attempt a strip, but they call a foul in the act of shooting. The replay reveals that Brown lost the ball going up before he was even touched. Oh well. 29-28 Cavs after FTs.

9:43: Damn...Roger Mason misses an open three, his second. C'mon Rog, you can do this...it was a transition 3 attempt, Hubie Brown would rather him go to the basket.

It's a physical game within legal confines. Mike Tirico points out that there is a lot of bumping, banging and whining happening on each trip.....he fails to point out that Cleveland is doing a majority of the whining.

9:15: MaseOn with a trey ball...that's a way to keep shooting fella. 33-29 Wizards.

9:03: Gilbert checks back in......keep that knee loose and warm - not sure if he was riding the bike during his down time.

Eddie Jordan's small lineup of Daniels, Mason, Arenas, Songaila and Butler is giving up some offensive boards , but Cleveland is not adept at taking advantage. Cleveland has Z, LeBron, Wally, Brown and Gibson on the floor.

7:34: The Silent Assassin's bullets are locked and loaded...very tough shot on the baseline fading out of bounds on the right side of the court (facing the basket) and with the right hand, of course. 37-29 Wiz.

7:17: Haywood comes back in to boost the rebounding game...for AD.

6:50: LeBron James is intent on taking it to the hoop to make Cleveland's 5 point total for the quarter 7, their first points in about 4 minutes. 37-31 Wiz.

6:28: D-Song takes LeBron in the post...a foul is called, but it's not LeBron's 3rd. They somehow call it on Benny Wallace, who was second to foul......the fans give LBJ the overrated treatment.

6:15: "Delonte West out to lunch." Mike Tirico on a Cleveland turnover.

Gil misses a deuce...not in the offense....LeBron gets a power slam on the other end. The Wizards come down, but the offensive flow is clogged. Eddie Jordan timeout. 39-33 Wizards.

Hubie Brown is composing Valentine's Day cards for Darius Songaila.

4:51: The Wiz offense has gone a little cold. Not a FG since Roger Mason at 7:34.

4:20: Haywood is not helping the effort to keep the Cavs off the glass.....they now have 12 second chance points and a 9-1 edge on the offensive boards. 3 on one possession leads to a Delonte West trey. 39-38 Wiz.

3:54: Jamison gets blocked by Wallace and the Wiz can't recover in time to get an attempt before the shot clock goes off.

3:30: West steals the ball from Haywood at the FT line from behind.

3:25: Cavs come back down....LeBron goes hard. Stevenson takes a swipe.....looks to clip ball first but then gets a whole lot of LeBron's face. LeBron gets mad...bodies up....some pride is displayed as DeShawn gets off the floor..the refs do a good job to make peace. Cleveland fans will be pissed at the Lock Smith's swipe, probably calling it cheap head-hunting. He did look to be going to for the ball, but the motion can definitely be taken as an act of aggression as LeBron's headband went flying. A flagrant one is called on Stevenson. Mike Brown sprints out to check on his son, his paycheck, LBJ.

3:08: Wiz play good D....get the ball...but ANOTHER careless turnover. LeBron nails a trey to cap an 11-0 Cleveland run. 42-39 Cavs.

2:43: Caron misses a baseline jumper and then fouls LeBron attempting a long 3 on the other end. The Wizards are losing their composure on both ends. They are making LeBron mad and he is starting to channel than into a display of skills. Thankfully there is a TV timeout.

2:25: The Wizards are even having trouble passing the ball to each other.....nothing is crisp. Finally, AJ earns a trip to the FT line. 44-41 Cavs.

Hubie points out that the Wizards had 14 points in the paint in the first quarter....none so far in the 2nd. What right did they have to become complacent?

1:54: CRAP! Gil takes and misses a trey ball for no good reason.

People on Bullets Forever are calling for an Arenas exit and Mason entrance.

1:33: Jamison shoots a three with 18 seconds on the shot clock. What the hell was discussed during the timeout?

Down the court...Cavs o board....no points...Wizards turnover....huge dunk by LeBron. 51-41 Cleveland.

1:11: Daniels misses an open three...just because you're wide open....eff it. Finally the Wiz get second chance points with an AJ putback.

0:55: Transition D? Seat's taken......Boobie nails a trey. 54-43 Cavs.

0:38: Caron takes another outside jumper...luckily Jamison works on the boards and earns two FTs, but makes only 1. Yup, the extent of the offense in the past 6 minutes amounts to Jamison earning 3 FTs and a putback on offensive board work.

0:05: Daniels drives.....but Stevenson misses an open trey. F-ING OUTSIDE SHOTS!!!!!!!!!!

Wiz were up 8 around the 6 minute mark, but the Cavs made a run....ABC is crediting the hard foul by DeShawn. 54-44 Cleveland at the half.

Run Down

1. Eddie Jordan needs to get real in his halftime speech.
2. 2nd quarter = 5 turnovers, 4-21 shooting.
3. Game: 26-16 boards in favor of Cavs.
4. Double-U, Tee, Eff?
5. Jon Barry thinks that DeShawn should have been thrown out.....dork.
6. Amare Stoudamire looks to be sporting one of the worst blue jean outfits I've ever seen (as if I've seen a "good" blue jean outfit) -- it looks akin to a prison jumpsuit.
7. Gut check time.

Continue reading this post »

Wack Rapper Alert!
(but hey....if it means good luck....)

Copyright 2008 NBAE (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)

[As a result of yesterday's technical difficulties, this game blog also appears on TruthAboutIt.net, along with Jake's Game Thread , a Festivus of Game 3-Related Links , and The Haywood Incident: A Final Thought.]

As I'm sure the guys will do the same, along with SB Nation (as they were having trouble with most of their blogs), we apologize profusely for yesterday's outage. I haven't received word on what officially happened, but let's just say there is a reason for everything and that it led the Wizards to getting their first win in this year's playoffs out of the way. I truly missed the live comments that we've had going for games. Here's to bouncing back on Sunday. And now, I present to you, the game blog (a 63 point swing, how about that?):

David Stern was on Comcast before the game talking with Russ Thaler and Mike Wise of the Washington Post ...who was hitting him with some hard questions, albeit halfway in jest....such as:

Why does LeBron travel worse than Patrick Ewing in the 80s? Laughing non-answer. Or....
Why do superstars get calls? Evidently Stern can prove that this is not true with statistics, but doesn't have the time....yeah riiiight.

Later, Rock Cartwright of the Redskins joins the pregame show. He says that neither Caron Butler parties nor Gilbert Arenas parties have anything on Fred Smoot parties....of course, Mike Wise and Russ Thaler are admittedly put in a rough position.....but they mentioned the Love Boat nonetheless. Unnn-com-for-ta-ble.......

Wow...a lot going on in the pre-game, huh?

Initially, Eddie Jordan said that Gilbert Arenas felt some slight pain and aching in his left knee and that he might not play at all.  Comcast reported this around 7:15.

Then, when the show was thrown to Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier, who were "just" handed the starting card at 7:30, Gilbert Arenas' name was on it.

Who knows with this team? As we all are probably well aware, the Wizards had a loose game-day locker room....at least with hair-dos as Caron carved "Tough Juice" in the back of his head , evidently himself, and Andray Blatche and Nick Young were sporting mohawks. My initial reaction is that this team doesn't need to be clowning around...then again, I'd rather have them loose than uptight.

Ron Thompson makes a nice assessment on how Gil starting will affect Roger Mason (as Antonio Daniels will be coming off the bench)....essentially, Ron speculated that Roger might play better because he is used to playing with AD. We will see. Personally, I'm more curious to see how AD will play. (Even though I have a good feeling about the Silent Assassin.) The Wiz have gotten zilch from AD this series. We need his energy off the bench.

Phil Chenier had a recent sit down with Gil:

On yesterday's practice: an "emotional film session" where they knew Eddie Jordan was going to come down some players throats.  He wasn't the usual laid-back Eddie. The most unusual part though was when Gil was talking about Jordan coming down on those who took selfish shots in game 2.....Gil was glad that he only had one instance.....Whhhat? I gotta go back and look at that. Really? Only 1 bad shot from Gil?

Watch Comcast or TNT? How about both....two+ TVs makes it easy, but who do you listen to? I'm inclined to put the volume on TNT. Barkley says that Gil has to "pass the damn ball".....and that seals the deal. I'm going with TNT. I like my hometown guys, but I'm not ready to hear anything slightly bias this game. Of course, we'll have to see how Dick Stockton and Mike Fratello do.....

Arenas is going to be limited to 28-30 minutes....LeBron is miming homeruns on the court during intros....Yankees fans..."great"....and then LBJ does his powder thing. Very original LeBron.

Quarter One

The White-Out looks decent....Bron gets booed as the Cavs get the tip. Caron is defending James to start. He misses a jumper.

Soldier Boy sighting? Nope, not yet...at least not on TV. LeBron blocks a Butler transition layup....and then goes down and gets a layup. Same ol', huh?

10:38: Wiz ball movement gets AJ a lane for a layup...first Wiz points. 2-2 game.

Wally hits and easy step back on Gil...interesting matchup there as DeShawn is on Delonte West.

10:06: Haywood yells after the baby hook. The Cavs go to Wally again cause Gil is on him. Mike Brown will go to whomever Gil is guarding.

Looks like DeShawn has a mohawk too.

9:28: Patient offense....lob to BTH, scores on Big Z and draws the foul...As Ilgauskas is draped on BTH, Haywood stupidly throws a chicken win into his stomach...Big Z then gives a push back. Initially it looks like a tech is just on Z, it's actually a double T and justifiably so...Eddie is pissed. 6-4 Wiz after FTs.

DeShawn gets a steal, but guns a trey.. Nope. Ilgauskas somehow gets a breakaway dunk and BTH smartly doesn't do anything like foul as he was following behind. 6-6 game.

8:51: Gil misses his first 3....high rebound. Two Cavs and DeShawn go up for it..DS gets there first and gets the foul, he really skied on that one.

8:42: Hook Stevenson..LeBron is guarding him and he tries a dribble then guns the rock..a three miss. No need for that BS...

Then Stevenson misses a layup after LBJ (or Wallace) blocked Haywood...not a good start for the Lock Smith.

7:55: Uh oh...getting the calls against LeBron out of the way early..Bron gets a charge called on him.

Gilbert and BTH run a pick and roll....dunk. 8-8 tie. I'm proud of the Verizon center atmosphere....I'm not there but it sounds pretty intense.

Cavs post Wally on Gil...he misses an easy...Arenas drives back at him and gets a lay-in Cleveland didn’t expect drive from Gil. 10-8 Wiz.

5:57: Wallace gives Jamison a bear hug pelvic thrust thingee from the back and picks up his 2nd foul...first commercial break 10-10 game.

Gil goes to the bench and TNT reports that he had an MRI earlier today, the result is a bone bruise. AD is in the game.

5:27: LBJ misses a 3 in the corner, Wallace gets the board. The Wiz don't even pay attention to LBJ going to the hoop to receive pass from Wallace for a dunk. 12-10 Cavs.

AD gets his first layup and looks like himself. Next time down (after a Wally miss), Butler gets his first FG, a midrange baseliner. 14-12 Wiz.

So far on defense, the Wizards are moving much quicker and keeping up with Cleveland's ball movement. This game, they are sprinting to cover their assignments.

3:44: Wiz get into penalty as Joe Smith fouled Butler on a rebound.....seems like the Wiz are going up harder and higher for boards.

3:15: Varejao completely flops....what a douche....but I can't blame the ref for calling a charge as Caron had his arm out there. Butler should know that Andy V. will try to set people up with his dramatics.

Another charge is called...this time on Andray....looks like another good whistle. LeBron is present in the paint, especially on offensive boards, but the Wiz have packed it in, minimizing drives. Another TV timeout, 16-12 Wizards. 5 turnovers for the Cavs, 3 for LBJ...but only 2 points for the Wiz off that. Washington has 4 turnovers themselves.

1:44: LeBron misses an impatient 3...AD jets the rock all the way to the hoop....And 1 on Andy Varejao who judging by his face, has never committed a foul.....ever.

Blatche gets the timing and throws Devin Brown's shit. The Cavs started 6-11 from the field, 1-8 since.

0:09: With the clock winding down, LeBron James goes up, leading with his knee a la Karl Malone. Makes the hoop and 1. Nice move, dick. 21-17 Wizards.

A hard fought first quarter. Wiz were up 9, but it ends 21-17. 

1. Lotta turnovers: 6 for the Cavs, 5 for the Wiz.
   
2. Curiously, Wiz have 5 steals and Cavs have 0.
3. DC is shooting 40% from the field and 5-5 from the FT line.
4. Cavs at 38%, only 1-1 on FTs.

Quarter Two

Both teams start with turnovers. LeBron James on bench to start 2nd.

10:38: MaseON for three. Thanks buddy, bout time....(he missed a layup at the end of 1st). 24-17 Wiz.

Andray blocks Big Z....got to love Blatche's presence to start.

10:06: Mason pump fake....see ya Boobie...ball transfer...and buckets. 2 pointer. 26-17.

9:29: MaseOn again...this one was easy as the Wiz has a 4-1 fast break...Haywood was out high covering a Big Z screen for West, BTH poked the ball away and got the steal. SWARM! 6-0 Silent Assassin run!

Larry Hughes is in the house. Comcast's Chris Miller is interviewing him on the sideline.....and I could care less.

9:04: AD fouled Devin Brown on a 3 attempt.....ok, should be a call....just didn't think they would do it after the shot missed and the rebound was secured (by Varejao I think). Brown makes 2 of 3.

Blatche, Haywood, Mason, Butler and AD in (interesting lineup...I'm down)....Mason miss...Blatche board, kick out to Mason...drive....ball back to Blatche for the dunk. 30-19 Wizards.

MVP so far: Andray Blatche
LVP: DeShawn, 0-3

7:45: Really? Are you kidding me? They call a travel on Big Z? Noooo!! I just heard an 'oink' outside of my 5th floor window. And after that...just as everyone is wondering where LBJ is, Mike Brown gets him off the bench. Pretty good rest for LeBron. Gilbert also checks back in....

7:01: Mason takes a heat check coming off screen...looks like a play run for him, not a bad miss.

Arenas has his point guard head on a swivel coming down the court....Cavs lose Butler, he gets the pass from Gil and a dunk on Andy's back. Mason gets a steal....but misses the three. I would have liked to see Mason not do that. 32-22 Wiz.

6:31: Cavs commit another turnover...their point guard play is terrible. That's their 13th, Delonte has 3.

6:01: Butler hits a trey and everything is going right so far....so far....so far....

Oh, Butler....really? You go for a Varejao pump fake? Cavs points...then a Wiz turnover...trying to go for a homerun pass.

Jamison Block! Benny Wal-lace...wrong direction brah! Wiz get the ball, Jamison runs the court, Gil flips him a no look pass..no basket but foul and 2 FTs. That's the Bill Russell play of the game. 36-24 Wiz.

Hmmm...why is LeBron not going inside as much...scurred? (that's how people say 'scared' in Mur-lin, I mean Maryland)

4:19: Gil with a sweet bounce pass to AJ...he "lulled the Cavs to sleep" - Phil C's words.  But dammit if AJ doesn't miss both FTs.

Tell you what though....as Big Z counters Haywood's points.....the Wiz are doing a much better job with getting hands and eyes in the passing lane when LeBron cuts through.

3:00: Meanwhile...Gilbert Arenas limps into the locker room.

Stevenson rattles home a trey....his face goes numb again...idiot. C'mon, don't do that crap. 43-29 Wizards.

2:33: Butler steal...Mason all the way to the hoop...the Verizon center is going nuts.

The Wizards points off turnovers has picked up....they now have 18.

1:53: Caron hits a running bank...11-2 Wiz run since the 4 minute mark.

0:55: Wow...no really, wow - Caron Butler spins and splits a white guy double team (Big Z and Wally World) he drives and hits a double-clutch hanging one-hander. Amazing. Mike Fratello compares Butler to Elgin Baylor. Barkley would later compare this move to Dr. J. High compliments.

LeBron is a no-go for a shot as the clock runs down...he's pleading his case to the ref. I think I see a tiny Johnny Cochran devil and angel on his shoulders and that's the half.

49-33 Wizards. A great job from every angle...the crowd, the offense, the defense, the coaching. My inner skeptic reminds me that there's a TON of time left. But still, you couldn't script it better.....aside from the part about Gilbert going to the locker room....Cause I've never seen a movie where the supposed good guy gets taken out and the movie gets better, until tonight perhaps. (And no, I'm not counting that movie where Samuel L. Jackson got eaten by a shark, Deep Blue Sea)

Half Stats:

1. Wizards FG=50% (64% in 2nd quarter)- Cavs=39 %.
2. Points in paint 30-12 Wiz.
3. Turnovers: 15 Cle, 9 Wiz.
4. Steals: 9-1 Wiz.
5. FTs 7-9 Wiz, 5-8 Cavs
6. Boards- Cavs up 19-16, 6-2 offensive
7. 3s - 2-8 Wiz, 0-3 Cavs
8. LBJ was 5-11, the rest of Cleveland was 9-25
9. Points: Caron 12, LeBron 11, Haywood 10

Continue reading this post »

Box Score
Game Flow
Live Blog
Pretty much everything else here.

Highest Plus/Minus: Brendan Haywood (+4)
Lowest Plus/Minus: Antawn Jamison (-30)

Before I get into to my "rantcap" (it's a rant, it's a recap, it's a rantcap) we need to establish one thing: Basketball is a finesse sport.  Yes, it requires toughness and yes, it requires some physicality, but that doesn't invalidate the fact that it's still a finesse sport.  There's nothing wrong with physicality and athleticism, in basketball, but if you don't put it together with skill and knowledge of the game you're dead in the water.

Last night, Washington decided to value physicality over skill, and in the process managed to lose the ability to do either effectively.  If you're looking for the exact point in the game where it happened, let me point you back to this moment in the live blog:

 

Gil is now in...and is covering LeBron when the Cavs next get the ball. LBJ easily comes off the screen towards the basket. One. Two. Three. Yep, three steps. Travel right? Nope.. foul on Wizards. 15-11 Wizards.

You could see it on their faces (well at least I think I could see it, the signal was kind of fuzzy out at my place for most of the first half) after the foul was called that something changed.  Up to that point, they were doing things well; Jamison was hot, the defense was solid, and the Wizards were playing like they were capable of playing, but after LeBron got that first foul they just decided to abandon everything that had built up that early lead.  Now I understand the frustration, but 28 other teams had to face the Cavs this year and Cleveland sure didn't go undefeated against all of them.  It's not like the Wizards are the only team in the NBA that has to deal with unfavorable calls with the King, yet they seem to be the only team that sulks about it and tries to completely change their game rather than elevating it to another level.

After that foul, the Wizards managed to go 2-9 from the field (both makes from Blatche, oddly enough), commit a tech, allow LeBron to get a momentum changing dunk, and let Wally Szczerbiak get open for a three in the 3 minutes right after the foul.  It didn't take long, but over that short stretch the Cavs gained something that the Wizards are still looking for.

Confidence.

Teams that are confident that they can win don't abandon their offense and defense so that they can try and out tough the other team.  Teams that are confident don't resort to setting cheap picks (besides Southern Miss of course).  Teams that are confident don't resort to taunting when they're down by sixteen points.  Teams that are confident don't foul players while they're in mid-air.  For the record, I think Haywood's move was more dumb and clueless than it was malicious.  If he was actually trying to hurt LeBron he would've had that cocky smile on his face or something, but when he got ejected he had that "Oh crap, they're running a pick and roll.  What do I do?' face going which tells me the foul was more of a panic move than anything.  Of course, I'm hopelessly biased.

So far in this series, the Wizards have played the role of the bully: Lots of talk, lots of physicality for the sake of physicality, and ultimately a whole lot of nothing when they're paired up against someone their own size.  The worst part of it all is that they don't even have to resort to this stuff.  Like cuppetcj said, the Wizards don't need to reinvent themselves to beat the Cavs, they just need to rely on the skill that got them here.

Quarter One

Wizards finally win a tip...after not winning one of five in game one. The refs are choking on their whistles already as DeShawn was hammered by LeBron in making the opening bucket.

A little bit of a lid on the basket early for Butler after making a nice aggressive move...and for Jamison too on the rebound.

LeBron's first shot isn't much....Butler tries a mid-range and misses too. I'd like to see him drive drive drive on Wally.

LeBron to the hoop, good foul on Haywood. 1 FT.

Delonte pull up..nope we'll take it.

Stevenson with LBJ on him decided to wisely give the rock to BTH for the baby runner. 6-1 Wizards.

They run AJ at LBJ to help Caron....but Benny Wallace is too close to the basket not to convert. 6-3 Wizards.

Butler drives this time...good hard foul by Wallace. Caron goes down. No expression. Not shaking his head. He just gets up and knocks down FTs. 8-3 Wizards.

LBJ gets a skip pass and drives....Caron has a hard time recovering....and ....Wallace is open for points again. 8-5 Wizards.

By my count, the Wiz have played man on every possession so far.

Jamison gets switched on Z and that's an easy call for LBJ to make the pass to him for the bucket. 10-7 Wizards.

AJ buries his first three....Ben Wallace can't play that far out. 13-7 Wizards.

A foul called on Haywood was questionable...didn't see the below the waist action, but Big Z actually looked like he went over the back.

DeShawn is matched up against Wally World. I guess since you gotta make the other Cavs beat you....then you should put your best defender on them...huh?

Butler had the ball on the baseline..I'd like to see him back down Wally and make someone double, but a cutting AJ made himself available for the nice pass.from Caron.

15-9 Wizards at first timeout. 1-2 on threes. Two wing misses just inside 3 from the right side (Caron and AJ) and everything else has been in the paint. LeBron has only attempted one shot. Trying to do the whole 'teammates involved' thing.

TNT is doing a story about how there's a lot of talk in the DC media...and among the fans....that we all want Gil to start...I haven't heard such a thing.

Gil is now in...and is covering LeBron when the Cavs next get the ball. LBJ easily comes off the screen towards the basket. One. Two. Three. Yep, three steps. Travel right? Nope.. foul on Wizards. 15-11 Wizards.

Arenas misses his first shot...and it did not look good. He had no follow through with his wrist.

Wally World, the Cro-magnon is trying to get physical with Gil. Gil gives a little shove, a good foul call. Unfortunately, Gil gives an extra push after the whistle and they call a tech.

Blatche fouls Z by coming across his arm. Meanwhile...didn't see how it happened, but Philly has a goal with 11:20 left in 1st.

Jamison drive on Andy and scoop is no good, but Blatche knows what to do with cleanup. 17-13 Wizards.

Blatche is running the court, gets the ball from Butler...and a bullshit move by Andy Varejao. He wasn't going for the ball at all and just swiped his arm right across Blatche's face. A little payback...no worries.

But Andray misses both FTs - you just can't afford to do that. A flagrant 1 was called so the Wiz have the ball.

Gil back-cuts LBJ but takes it with weak right wrist on left side...easy block by Joe Smith. LeBron goes down and throws down an amazing dunk.

Blatche can't finish a lob from Daniels....that's about 5 absolute gimmes that the Wizards have missed (not counting Smith's block on Gil).

Wally tries to get rough with Arenas again....this time Gil gets the charge call....but it wasn't a flop. Scissor-Back had arm action that led to the whistle. Timeout. 19-18 Wizards.

Getting to the FT line as much as the Cavs is one thing, but you can't afford misses. Andray missed both earlier and AJ just missed two. Wiz are 2-6, 5-9 Cavs from the FT line.

Very stupid foul on Gil...LBJ had the ball in the open court, Arenas was way behind and tries to reach around to get the ball. What was he thinking? There was no chance that he would have been able to get to the ball. It's like trying to reach around to unplug the refrigerator standing straight up in front of it. LeBron bucket and FT - 22-19 Cavs.

Arenas has evidently taken the wrap off his wrist.....but goes out....with two fouls just like Haywood.

AJ, D- Song, D-Mac, Mason and Stevenson in the game. This lineup scares me.

LeBron is getting ridiculous. Mason is dribbling, LeBron comes to double...takes a wild swat at Mason..and they run into each other....LeBron bounces back like he just ran into a vertical trampoline and comes up checking his mouth, looking at the jumbo-screen. Cavs fans go nuts. The foul is called on LBJ....Mason goes 1-2 from the line.

20-7 run to end the first for the Cavs. LeBron is smart...he does realize that the Wizards are almost over-focused on him. He found teammates to the tune of 4 assists in the first. After FT misses (5 of them in 10 attempts), the Wizards cannot afford to lose other Cavalier players around the basket. 27-22 Cavs after 1.

Quarter Two

Haywood and Z are both back in the game, LBJ goes to the pine.

Caron sighting? 0-3 in the first ...two misses came within the first 100 seconds, the third came with 3 minutes left in the 1st.

Mason Junior hits.....wasn't a net ripper, rather a rattler, but any type of make can get confidence going. 27-24 Cavs.

Is it just me, or are they not calling Ilgauskas for over the back?

Reggie Miller commends BTH's hands who gets the dunk and 1 on Big Z... Brendan better be careful with hanging on the rim.

D-Song hits a midrange off a pick and pop...great ball movement. 29-27 Wizards.

No such thing as an over-the-back call tonight. Joe Smith goes over Songaila for the o-board and D-Song is forced to foul, not allowing Smith to get a shot off.

Roger Mason looks nervous at the line. He got fouled hard by Devin Brown on a transition layup. Yup, he misses first, makes 2nd. 30-27 Wiz. 8-0 run.

LeBron comes back and it's a little more zone D look from Washington...and that's why Big Z easily got an o-board and put-back off the LBJ missed J. 30-29 Wiz.

It seems like the Wizards have been a little rushed on offense. I hope they settle down a little bit coming out of this timeout. Take a breath. Depend on your muscle memory when shooting FTs and jumpers....you'll be alright.

Daniels gets rejected by Bron coming from the other side of the hope. I would have liked to see him drop it to a wide open D-song.

AJ takes a confident shot over the Brazilian Spazz. 32-31 Wiz.

Caron gets a tough lay-up....I'm begging him to do more of that. 34 Tie.

AJ...I like, he had a small opening for a 3 look, but drove it after he got Andy coming at him off balance....layup. 36 Tie.

Boobie fakes DeShawn out of his jock on the 3 point line...who almost jumps over him. DeShawn passes...he side steps and nails a 3. That's DeShawn...going for the glory of the block. TNT plays Soulja Boy heading into the timeout. 41-36 Cavs.

Gilbert has changed his shoes. Black and Wizards blue accents...not sure what he was wearing at first.

Still in the zoneish D. Wally Z hits a fading J over Daniels, he's got 8. 43-36 Cavs.

Daniels 3 miss....Wiz keep it alive...Butler grabs a semi loose ball....the Wizards turnover the ball. They still look nervous in the service.

LeBron mises a J....has he hit an outside shot yet?

Gil hits a 2 in transition....making a fist with that hand/wrist coming down the court. He doesn't look comfortable. 43-38 Cavs.

The Wizards are noting but sporadic....the ball is bobbled all over (after a Caron steal) Gil ends up shooting an airball trey against LBeron. Wiz get the board, but its a shot clock violation. Another timeout....it's time to coach Eddie, please get your team to get their composure. Is this where I pull out the "they haven't played enough together" card?

Crap...Philly is up 2 nil with 18 minutes left in the 2nd...while Jamison is fouling Daniel Gibson 3-point attempts. 3 FTs - 46-38 Cavs.

Looks like the Wiz are trying to run the Princeton, but it's slow and mechanical, the opposite of smooth. Jamison misses a hook shot.

Sequence Time! Down the court...Z blatantly travels. No call of course. Wizards turnover. James inside bucket....Wiz falling apart. Caron outside attempt. Nope. Wally World running baseline layup. Caron tries to dribble in a crowd. The Cavs bail him out with a foul. 52-38 Cleveland.

Arenas tries to go one on one against Delonte West....no good layup.

Things get rough...Caron gets the board. Goes to the rim haphazardly..and gets fouled. The Wizards are trying to be too physical.

Nick Young checks in....and that's an open invitation for LBJ to get to the basket and get fouled. He makes 1, 53-40 Cavs.

The Wiz have the ball with 8 seconds left....Gil dribbles around upon getting doubled...senseless wasting clock time.. the half ends with a bad 3 point look from Caron Butler.

The worst part...LeBron is 3-7 from the field, all his makes came off layups and all the misses came from outside. He's 6-9 from the FT line - 12 points and not exactly a good offensive effort from him.

Cleveland up 13, 53-40.

In not so many words, the TNT halftime crew is saying that Gil's ball dominance is a hindrance to the Wizards offense. And as they show the replays, and Kenny's pictures, I tend to agree. Gil is definitely not playing the part of the distributor (1-7 with 0 assists) and more the part of..."I'm Gilbert Arenas and I'm so awesome I can shoot threes and take LeBron in the post." I'm not even sure if I want him doing that without the bum wrist and ankle.

Stats:

1. Rebounds are tied at 21 with the Wiz pulling down 9 offensive to 5 for the Cavs.
2. We know LeBron's story, Big Z follows with 12, then Wally with 10. Those two are a combined 9-14.
   
3. Jamison is 4-11 with 9 points and 7 boards.
4. Caron is still 1-8 and MIA. My piece about him on BF before game 1 was initially going to be concern about his offensive rhythm with Gil back in the lineup...but then I didn't want to go negative.....but now, it's come back to my mind as a very large concern.
5. Seems like the Wizards are trying to attack the basket, just not in an effective way. They are 15-41 on FGs, 1-6 from deep.
   
6. Aside from the 3s and judging by the shot chart, 13 of the Wizards other attempts have come outside of the paint area, and they've made 5 of those. So, the Wiz are roughly, 9-22 inside the paint.
   

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So here we go, the final regular season game of the 2007-2008 season.

via farm2.static.flickr.com

Quarter One

I'm a little surprised that Dominic McGuire is getting the start instead of Andray Blatche. But when you think about it, the move makes sense. Andray needs to stay used to coming off the bench and providing a 2nd unit spark. Songaila, Stevenson, Daniels and Haywood join The Cleaner on the floor for the opening tip.

11:24: DeShawn looks slightly ginger from the get-go and turns the ball overs on the frist Wizards possession. He should play no more than 10 minutes.

10:07: D-Mac loses a baseline Turkoglu, 4-0 Magic. I guess awareness will only come with experience.

8:47: Haywood doesn't do the best job of blocking Dwight Howard out as Super Buddy Jesus gets an offensive rebound and bucket while four Wizards watch. Nothing doing on offense for the Wiz kids so far, Eddie Jordan elects to call a timeout. 6-2 Magic. O-Pech and The City come in for Stevenson and Songaila.

7:17: The four Wizards points so far have come off two Brendan Haywood mid-range jumpers.....you think Howard is going to guard him out there in the last regular season game? 8-4 Magic.

6:36: Blatche and Mason come in for Haywood and Daniels.

5:52: Andray is too passive going for a board.....you gotta get aggressive kid! Luckily, the ball winds up in Mason's hands for a jumper. 8-8 tie game.

All Blatche wants to do is get "look what I found" offensive rebounds and pass the ball out. It's not like the young Wizards are playing particularly bad, it just seems like they are concentrating on running the offense too much. Nothing is coming natural and there is no aggressive presence on the court...maybe some gunners though (Pech and Young).

2:33: That jump shot Blatche just hit looked pretty confident. 17-12 Magic.

Would one of those "Soul Glo" jerry-curls look better on Nick Young? Seems like the style would fit him well. In fact, I imagine him to be just like Darryl Jenks.

0:08: This time AB gets the o-board and attacks the basket (misses the shot, but gets fouled). Hopefully, Eddie put the idea of mental toughness in his head.

The first ends and the Magic have the 24-19 lead.

No surprise that Rashard Lewis dropped 12 in the 1st, considering who was guarding him. And my 'huh?' moment comes when I see that McGuire is 0-3 from beyond the arc. As I've said before, Dom needs to make Dave Hopla his best friend this summer. Andray leads the Wiz with 7 points, but his 4 offensive boards are deceiving since the ball found him a couple times.

Quarter Two

Givin' up the trey ball on the season....yea, the Wizards set a franchise record with 571 makes, but they gave up about a hundo more than that to opponents.

9:07: D-Song gives up a dunk to Hedo coming off the ball screen. He turns and says something to his defensive comrade, Nick Young (whose man set the screen). Now, I'm betting that, even though Songaila went to high school and college in the U.S., Nick Young nether understands nor cares about what Darius just said to him. 30-25 Magic.

Eddie Jordan: "Good players make good coaches and bad players get you fired."

7:45: Nick Young is starting to find his spot in the offense. He hit a nice jumper from the corner earlier, then makes a strong driving layup, and then, as I'm typing, gets a transition dunk as the Magic lose track of him and open up the lane (D-Song also had a helluva block out to clear space for Nick). He has the last 6 Wizards points. 32-29 Magic.

6:46: Aww...how cute. Turkoglu burns Nick Young with a pump fake and bucket....they both smile coming up the court. Nick proceeds to miss a "get-back" jumper.

5:09: JJ Redick checks in and Steve Buck points out that Amway is just about the only NBA arena in the country where he doesn't get booed. Not sure what they do in Toronto.

About 40 seconds left in the 2nd and the teams have been stuck on 44-37 Magic since the three minute mark.

0:29: Execution gets Blatche an open baseline jumper.

0:03: Antonio Daniels goes behind the back, spins in traffic and gets the rock to a cutting Blatche for a layup. And that rounds out the 1st half. It's a little hard to feel any type of emotion for this game...but I'm glad the Wizards aren't getting blown out. 47-41 Orlando Magic.

Half Stats: After I initially got on him for lack of aggression, Andray looks good with 13 points, 7 boards and 2 assists. The Wiz are shooting better than Orlando, 46.5% to 43.9% and have a +2 in both the assist and rebound categories, but they are 0-7 from three point land and have only gotten to the FT line twice.

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