As Jake mentioned, Ernie Grunfeld is finally going to address the media today about this year's offseason.  I don't know if he's going to say anything remotely insightful, seeing as he's a close-to-the-vest kind of guy, but I'm curious to hear what he says nonetheless.

The press conference is at 2.  I have a final from 1:30 to 4:30, so I won't be around.  If anyone wants to try their hat at transcribing his quotes, I'd really appreciate it.

For everyone else, comment about it here.

One last chance to dance.  Win or go home.  All those cliches apply. 

Some pregame links:

• Gilbert admits the Wizards are better without him right now. [DC Sports Bog]
• Wizards 5 Minus 0 is Still 5. [Washington Post]
• Playoff trash talk.  [Ball Don't Lie]
• Five things to keep an eye on.  [Fanhouse]
• Waiting for Next Year and TAI hook up for a Q&A (and yes, I know this was already a FanShot. [Waiting For Next Year]
• Game Five, long drive. [And One]
• DeShawn's ITunes. [DC Optimist]

Nothing more needs to be said.  Without Songaila, Haywood needs to avoid foul trouble tonight.  We need to get out on Gibson and West like we did last game.  And lastly, keep LeBron out of the lane as usual.  Getting something from our MVP this year would also be nice.

There's nothing more to say.  GO WIZARDS!

UPDATE: Gilbert is done for the season.  (HT: Mr. Ben Q)

No analysis, because it's all here . 

Some pregame links:

Waiting For Next Year: An interview with Dan Steinberg.   Props to those guys, who have commented here civilly and have put forth some great content this year. They get the BF stamp of approval.

Wizards Insider:  LeBron assessed retroactive flagrant foul.

DC Sports Bog : DeShawn dons a Michael Vick jersey.  Fanhouse is outraged, We're Off to See the Wizards is disappointed.  Me?  I don't care.  He can wear whatever he wants.

DC Optimist : Things we have "Witnessed."

True Hoop : Link roundup and thoughts on Gilbert taking the last shot in Game 4.

Brian Windhorst:  Give the Wizards credit.

There's really nothing else to say.

When when we come back, here's our motivation. (HT: The Bog).

The Essentials:
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 4 (Cavs up 2-1)
1 p.m. (That's 8 p.m. if you're in Israel.)
ABC

Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
This rivalry just keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Akron is hatin' on DC now.
Arenas will try to make a go of it today.
A nice profile on Haywood.

Today's Lines
Cavaliers at Wizards: Wizards by 4
Over/Under on Total Points: 187

After all of the hijinks and craziness of the first three games, this is where the series takes a turn for the serious.  With each team trading beatdowns on each other, everyone's gotten their laughs and whatnot out and it's time to focus on the games, and it's a good time to do it, because like every best of seven, Game 4 is key.  If Cleveland wins they're only a game away from clinching, and if Washington evens it up, we've got a whole new series on our hands.  The team that can settle down and play their brand of basketball today will get the W and set the tone for the rest of the series.

I'm predicting a fairly even, defensive battle like Game 1, just with the Wizards pulling it out at the end.  If the Wizards can keep the focus on doing what they do and not getting caught up in trying to be something they're not, they should win today.

This is an open thread, so debate how bourgeois or un-bourgeois the dunk contest is here.

GO WIZARDS!

 

The Essentials:
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 2 (Cavs up 1-0)
7 p.m. (That's 2 a.m. if you're in Israel. Load up on the coffee.)
TNT

Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
Arenas will play through sprained wrist.
Wizards will continue to play physical, Brendan will continue to become Robert Horry.
Tough Juice is ready.
TrueHoop bullets from Game 1.
More evidence that Mike Brown isn't exactly the greatest offensive coach ever.

Tonight's Lines:
Wizards at Cavaliers: Cavs by 2
Over/Under on Total Points: 179

They say it doesn't really become a playoff series until somebody wins on the road.  In order for this series to become legitimate, the Wizards are going to need to look back to what they did in '06 in this same game to make it happen.  They have to set the tone early (by which I mean, do this, but make sure it's clean), hit outside shots, and take LeBron out of his element if possible.  It won't be easy but at least they won't also have to worry about Drew Gooden going for 24 points on 11-12 shooting, and we don't have to live in fear of how Eddie is going to distribute minutes to Billy Thomas (now he's Cleveland's problem!) and Michael Ruffin.

As far as what else needs to change to put a W in the books tonight, just go back to the Game 1 recap.  Here are some cool facts from tonight's game notes (it's a PDF!) in no particular order:

1. Tonight will be the 26th time that the Wizards have played the Cavs in the last 3 years.
2. Eddie Jordan was the 33rd draft pick in 1977, where he was chosen by, you guessed it, the Cavs.
   
3. More coaching connections: Mike Brown was an assistant to Bernie Bickerstaff for two years in Washington and Cavs assistant coach Chris Jent was a player at Ohio State while the Buckeyes were being coached by Wizards assistant coach Randy Ayers.
4. Since the creation of the Southeast Division, the Wizards have finished 2nd every season.
5. Just in case you needed more proof that DeShawn was really bad in '07 playoffs (and in Game 1) his career playoff scoring high is 14 points.  Adding insult to injury, that high came while he was with Utah.
6. The Wizards played more overtime games than any other team this season.
7. Which player had the single best rebounding performance against the Wiz this season?  Dwight Howard? Marcus Camby? Tim Duncan? No, it was Nick Collison (21).
8. Back to backs mean nothing to this team!  They had a 9-11 record on the front end, and a 9-11 record on the back end.
9. Guess which player had the best record as a starter this season.  If you guessed Darius Songaila (9-4) you'd be correct.
10. The player with the best one quarter scoring performance this season was...Roger Mason (17 in the 4th quarter against Seattle).

This is an open thread, so if you think taking LeBron's advice tonight would be a good idea, discuss it here.

 

I have nothing to add to Jake's splendid recap (see below).  It encapsulates practically all my thoughts about the game. 

For now, use this space to discuss today's playoff games.  Here's the schedule. 

Toronto at Orlando: 12:30 p.m., TNT.

Denver at LA Lakers: 3 p.m., ABC.

Philadelphia at Detroit: 6 p.m., TNT

Atlanta at Boston: 8:30 p.m., TNT

The Essentials:
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals Game 1
12:30 p.m. (that's 7:30 p.m. if you're in Israel)
ESPN

The Link Above All Links: Soulja Boy is coming!  Soulja Boy is coming!

Other Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
Open Thread: Round 1
LeBron claims he never said anything personal about DeShawn
Arenas won't be starting Game 1
Playing with a vengeance
Mike Jones (who!) says bring on the Cavs
Tom Knott defends DeShawn's calling out of LeBron
TruthAboutIt: Will Keeping it Real Go Wrong?
Wizznuttz' Battle of the Bands Preview
Waiting For Next Year Open Thread
LeCavs Series Preiew
Welcome to the Now Preview
Top 10 ways to foul LeBron

Today's Lines:
Wizards at Cavaliers: Cavs by 2.5
Over/Under on Total Scoring: 194

I'm going to avoid the lengthy preview for Game 1 because I think by now we've gotten a firm grasp of what we're up against.  In lieu of that, I'm going to take this time to get some site news out of the way.  As you know, Pradamaster is in Israel and while I sure can't make up for his insight, there's a couple of things that we're doing to try and keep things on the up and up here.  First, TruthAboutIt has graciously offered to do all the live blogs as well as some bonus posts while Prada is out, which helps out immensely.  You know from his live blogs how good he is, so that will be a great help this week.  Also, in an unprecedented move, I'm going to try and take notes during the game in the hope that I can step up my recapping ability.

Finally, don't forget about the new commenting interface here, which very may well be the greatest thing ever.  No more hitting refresh!  Make sure to check it out during the game today.

This is an open thread, so jock on them haterz man.

GO WIZARDS!

The Essentials:
#4 Cavaliers (45-37) vs. #5 Wizards (43-39)
Playoff Schedule

This Year:
December 5: Wizards 105, Cavaliers 86
January 23: Cavaliers 121, Wizards 85
February 22: Cavaliers 90, Wizards 89
March 13: Wizards 101, Cavaliers 99

The Last Two Playoff Meetings:
2006: Cavs 4, Wizards 2
2007: Cavs 4, Wizards 0

Notable Cavaliers numbers this season:
15th in expected winning percentage (.484)
23rd in pace factor (88.8 possessions per game)
19th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (107.5)
11th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (108.0)

Key Links (add any others in the comments)
Cavs Blogs:
And One
Cavalier Attitude
Le Cavs
Waiting for Next Year, Cavs section
Brian Windhorst

Cavs-Wiz Previews/Predictions:
ESPN
Scouts Inc.
Deadspin
Wizznutzz
FanHouse
DC Optimist
Ball Don't Lie

SLAM Online
Michael Wilbon
David Dupree
NBA.com Series Blog

Starting Lineups
Cavaliers:
PG: Delonte West
SG: Devin Brown
SF: Jay-Z
PF: Ben Wallace
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas

"The Dumbest Team in the History of Civilization":
PG: Antonio Daniels
SG: Soulja Boy
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

And here we go.  Just to avoid confusion, I want to make it clear that this is the open thread for the series as a whole.  There's still going to be a game thread for each game in the series, although they'll be a little different since you probably don't need to see this info repeated for every game in the series.  You've already heard from Prada and I on how the first round is going to go down, now you have a spot to throw in your predictions as well.  But first, let's get a little more analysis in.

Talk is cheap, but important:  Just in case you haven't been keeping up with the back and forth smack talk that's been going on for about a month now, TruthAboutIt catches you up on everything that's transpired.  I think I'm pretty much in line with Stet Sports Blog's thoughts on the whole thing,  Generally, I'm against smack talk (mainly because of this) but here I'm more OK with it, mainly because DeShawn was only responding to something that LeBron said earlier.  Check out this question from the latest Wizards Insider chat:

Burke, Va.: Hey Ivan,

in your Wiz Insider column, you said that you thought Deshawn was going to say more trash after the Indiana game. Did you ever find out what he was planning on saying? Also, do you know, what did LeBron say about DeShawn to Drew Gooden?

Ivan Carter: DeShawn was gone after the game so we didn't get a chance to talk to him. Not sure what he had in mind but he told us to be ready for something "good" before the game. I hear that [what] was said by LeBron involved a female. That's all I know. Whatever it was, it ticked DeShawn off big time. He wants some LeBron.

Everyone's been talking about how DeShawn shouldn't have messed with LeBron, and how he's going to regret it and all that.   No one seems to be considering that maybe it was bad idea to tick off DeShawn.  If you consider that he was already coming into the playoffs motivated to redeem himself from last year's performance, disprove Charles Barkley, and you add this in, who's to say that Stevenson isn't the one to be messed with here?  I'm not saying, he's going to match LeBron's output or do anything epic like that, but if he can limit LeBron and have a better than average series offensively, maybe America will learn that the Lock Smith isn't to be messed around with either.

Scuff his shoes!  It can't hurt right?

Protect the glass, protect the world: In the last game between these two, the Cavs had a 15 rebound advantage.  We were lucky that it didn't bite us there, but if Washington doesn't win the rebound battle there's going to be big problems in this series.  With a team that struggles on offense like the Cavs, the absolute worst thing you can do is give them extra opportunities to score.

Finally, a YouTube to get you fired up:

This is an open thread, so leave your predictions for the series here.  While I'm not a gambling man, I must say that I'm tempted to put down $259 on a speedy series.

 

 

The Essentials:
Wizards (43-38) at Magic (51-30)
7 p.m.
Amway Arena
CSN

Previously:
November 3: Magic 94, Wizards 82.
March 5: Magic 122, Wizards 92.
March 19: Wizards 87, Magic 86.

Notable Magic numbers this season:
6th in expected winning percentage (.694)
9th in pace factor (91.9 possessions per game)
6th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (113.5)
6th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (107)

Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
Third Quarter Collapse
Believing in Magic
Magic BasketBlog

Starting Lineups:
Magic
PG: Jameer Nelson
SG: Maurice Evans
SF: Hedo Turkoglu
PF: Rashard Lewis
C: Dwight Howard

Wizards
PG: Antonio Daniels
SG: DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Caron Butler/Darius Songaila
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

Tonight's Lines
Wizards at Magic: Magic by 5.5
Over/Under on Total Scoring: 202

Everyone's locked into their playoff positioning, so I doubt this game will be of much real importance.  The only question on our side is whether the wounded soldiers (Caron, DeShawn, etc) will play in tonight's game.  I personally think they shouldn't, for the record.

On another note, if the Wizards win tonight, they will have only had a losing head-to-head record against one Eastern Conference team (Detroit).  Who knows how much that means, but that would definitely be a nice accomplishment.

Get ready for lots of Nick Young posterizing J.J. Redick.  At least I hope so.

This is an open game thread, so salute the first-ever BF 2.0 game thread.  The live commenting feature is pretty sick, so I imagine there will be more conversation than usual.

The Essentials:
Pacers (35-45) at Wizards (42-38)
7 p.m.
Verizon Center
CSN

Notable Pacers numbers this season:
16th in expected winning percentage (.464)
3rd in pace factor (95.9 possessions per game)
18th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating
15th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating

Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
Indy Cornrows
Pacers Insider
Thoughts from G-Wiz on the Wizards' chances in the playoffs
Dominic McGuire is The Cleaner

Starting Lineups:
Pacers
PG: Flip Murray
SG: Danny Granger
SF: Mike Dunleavy
PF: Troy Murphy Jermaine O'Neal
C: Jeff Foster Troy Murphy

Wizards
PG: Antonio Daniels
SG: DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

Tonight's Lines
Pacers at Wizards: Wizards by 4.5
Over/Under on Total Scoring: 212

Tonight's going to be a game that's as important as the Wizards want to make it.  I think everyone would understand if Eddie took the safe route and made sure that everyone is healthy going into the playoffs, but on the other hand, the 4th seed is still well within reach if the Wizards can take these last two games.  I'm going to align my thoughts with sierradave on how the Wizards should approach tonight's game:

If it were a normal year, I'd guess that Eddie would probably rest his starters, but with Gilbert still trying to get back on the same page with everyone else, he'll probably try and keep it closer to normal.  That's just my guess though, which probably means that it's wrong and we'll be enjoying the Dominic McGuire experience tonight.  Only time will tell.

This is an open thread, so if you're planning on storming the court tonight, watch out for Jeff Foster:

GO WIZARDS!