Exhilirating

by Mike Prada on Jan 30, 2008 2:09 AM EST in Recaps

Crazy game. We play our hearts out to get a seemingly insurmountable lead, only to see Anthony Parker hit a ridiculous three-pointer to send the game into OT. If anyone wasn't thinking about last year's debacle that killed our season, stop lying. Yet we pull through in OT, dealing a key competitor a devastating loss. That was just about the polar opposite of Sunday night.

I hope Butler's okay, and I'll have more tomorrow, but before we calm down, here's the temporary postgame thread.

There is lots to discuss, including the breakout performance from Andray Blatche, the sudden transformation of Antawn Jamison, and the continuing decline for our offense, but those are tomorrow's topics. For now, enjoy the win.

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What a game-

I'm a terrible fan. I had little faith in them winning the game even before I knew Caron was out. But I watched the whole game and they proved me wrong. I'm glad Deshawn didn't disappear like he did in the playoffs and McGuire was a revelation to me. Blatche was a big catalyst as well. Very happy.

by ooba on Jan 30, 2008 7:47 AM EST reply actions

New Nickname

I have decided to try out a new nickname for Dominic McGuire. Until further notice, I will be referring to him as McRuffin Jr. I like McRuffin Jr. for the same reason I liked Ruffin Sr., he plays with heart and passion and attacks the glass with an intensity I haven't seen since Ruffin Sr.'s prime. Those offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and overtime were HUGE! Yes, Blatche played well, and so did Jamison, but without those clutch rebounds that McRuffin Jr. snatched away from Toronto defenders, we would all be moaning about a blown 4th quarter lead and a gigantic missed opportunity.

Of course, it's really great that McRuffin Jr. is a lot younger, more athletic, and more offensively talented than Ruffin Sr. It's also great that McRuffin Jr. didn't throw the ball straight up into the air and into the hands of Anthony Parker at the end 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 Jan 30, 2008 9:02 AM EST reply actions

best rebound of the night

Seriously, someone needs to put McGuire's last board on YouTube (the one where it looked like he reached backwards over a Raptors player's head and one-handed the rebound). It was that sick. Sick enough to inspire me to stop lurking and post this.

by wub on Jan 30, 2008 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

Also, Best Pass of the Night

McRuffin Jr. should have gotten an assist when he threaded the needle with a bounce pass between two defenders in the paint to Songaila in the 4th quarter (might have been the 3rd quarter, can't remember exactly). Too bad D-Song blew the dunk, that pass was sweet.

"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 Jan 30, 2008 10:52 AM EST up reply actions

That Great Thing About D-Mac....

.....Is that he knew his role. Eddie sent him out there to get rebounds and hustle plays and damn if he didn't make sure he was the best person on the court doing that.

www.truthaboutit.net

by Kyle Weidie on Jan 30, 2008 9:36 AM EST reply actions

except for when

he tried to cross over Bosh and lost the ball. But I'm nitpicking. The doode became a man last night. I would MUCH rather see him on the court over D-song. (Of course, I want to see EVERYONE on the court more than D-song, and that includes Etan). DSong is just looking more and more out of place on this team. I wish he had some trade value...

I've been known to be right.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jan 30, 2008 11:46 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah

This is another reason why I call him McRuffin Jr. His offensive game is poor at this point, but he has the potential to be at least average on the offensive end. Just give the young man some time.

"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 Jan 30, 2008 12:15 PM EST up reply actions

Only thing is

D-Mac's a lot more athletic than Ruffin.

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

by Mike Prada on Jan 30, 2008 12:52 PM EST up reply actions

Absolutely

"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 Jan 30, 2008 1:19 PM EST up reply actions

Songaila is dead to me...

I can't agree more with the other posters who are down on this guy. I mean, besides being slow and unathletic, what is he adding right now that we can't get from Pech or DM?

Outside shooting? While it's true Pecherov is untested, I think he's demonstrated his jumper enough to say he could fill this void as well as Darius.

Rebounding? Anybody who watched last night's game could not help but notice Mcguire. He grabbed rebounds Darius would not have even competed for.

Gritty position defense? Now this isn't Pech or DM's strong point yet, but this is where Darius has disappointed me the most. From what I remember from his college and his Sacto days, he was a tough, charge-drawing, almost dirty inside defensive player. Now, he looks like a tree planted in a (wake) forest (bad joke but I couldn't help myself).

Pick n roll game w/ AD? This has gotten derailed because AD moved to the starting lineup, but even so, I haven't seen Songaila's effectiveness with this play that had everyone drooling during the preseason.

If I were EJ, I'd start the process of replacing Darius right now by keeping him in the rotation, but distributing his minutes heavily to Pech and DM. With any luck, Songaila will be a spot-duty guy by the end of the year.

by jvflail on Jan 30, 2008 1:59 PM EST reply actions

He has been terribly disappointing

I defended EJ's decision to play Songalia instead of Blatche at crunch time early in the season, but I won't be doing it again. He should be better than he's been playing. I'm afraid if we get rid of him, he'll play much better for another team, much like Jarvis Hays. That's not a reason to keep him though.

by Aldo on Jan 30, 2008 2:17 PM EST up reply actions

I am not a fan either -

I curse to myself every time he enters a game. He's lead footed. I hope we can trade him - maybe he will play better with another team but it doesn't really matter because he's useless to us right now.

by ooba on Jan 30, 2008 2:23 PM EST up reply actions

That's been debatable lately

The Jarvis part, not the Darius part. He did look pretty good last night though.

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by Jake Whitacre on Jan 30, 2008 2:40 PM EST up reply actions

That's somewhat of a relief

Too bad Jarvis didn't work out here. We could use the type of player that he should play like.

by Aldo on Jan 30, 2008 5:03 PM EST up reply actions

I mean,

Either Darius has lost a step (possible) or he's just not playing w/ confidence AND is a poor fit for the system (I think more likely. In fact, I never have liked him on this team. His pick and pop game is better suited for a slowed down, knockdown drag out game, i.e., Chicago.) Perhaps he can be useful, but we don't have to let him "play through it" when we have O-pec and D-mac. Put him on the bench. And for heaven's sake, stop playing him at the 5 Eddie!

I've been known to be right.

by Icantfeelmyface on Jan 30, 2008 4:25 PM EST reply actions

Brenda returns

Crazy game, I mean crazy, crazy game. The Raptors hit like 4 3s in a row at the end of Regulation and OT. The Wiz made some big FTs down the stretch and Twans the windex man.

I agree about Darius as he seems to not add very much when he is out on the floor and other players should be getting his burn.

My problem is with Haywood and it is not with his improved play. I glanced at the end of the bench last night and everyone was cheering except guess who? Haywood.

I know we need his inside presence for rebounding and defensive but man oh man, I get real tired of his selfish act.

Maybe, I am reading too much into it. Great win and I hope the team has something left for Canada.

What? They don't have TV in the D-League? Don't watch me, watch TV.

by Mac G on Jan 30, 2008 5:51 PM EST reply actions

I was wondering about that

Why so few minutes for Brendan last night? He looked good in the first quarter, was producing most of our offense. 25 minutes total, in a 53 minute game?

Part of the explanation is certainly that Blatche was dominating and Taser was having his coming-out party. But tonight's minutes are going to tell us a lot about if something is really going on there. Brendan is well-rested, and both teams are going to have tired legs. If he gets heavy minutes and dominates, fantastic. But if he sulks or gets pulled early, that's definitely a sign that the friction has returned between him and EJ.

by sierradave on Jan 30, 2008 6:00 PM EST up reply actions

I think he had the flu

Or food poisoning or something like that. He wasn't 100%, I know that.

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by Jake Whitacre on Jan 30, 2008 6:13 PM EST up reply actions

According to Ivan Carter

In his chat today:
"He wasn't feeling well but played just under 26 minutes. I heard it might have been bad food. The bigger issue was matchups. The Raps used a samaller lineup with Bosh a the main post guy and Eddie wanted to match up with Blatche and at times, Songaila."

I'm not worried

by Aldo on Jan 30, 2008 6:14 PM EST up reply actions