Awful, awful, awful, awful, awful.
Seriously now, this is the second time the Wizards came out really flat against a good team at home. It happened once against Phoenix, and now, it happened again.
I really can't point to anyone in particular to blame here. Gilbert Arenas was scoring well early, but Tony Parker was doing even better. It sounds cliche, but to become a real superstar, Gil's gotta raise his defense from horrible to average. Too many quick point guards dominate him, and even mediocre players like Smush Parker are scoring well on him.
Caron Butler struggled again, making me wonder whether his struggles have to do with the loss of Antawn Jamison or not. I'm silently worried that teams are bodying up Butler and capitalizing on his lack of strength. He's got a smooth mid-range jupmer, and he's phenomenally quick, but he's not all that strong for a 3 man.
The center combination didn't do anything, and Jarvis Hayes was his usual mediocre self. Andray Blatche was particularly frustrating, because he did so many things well and so many things horribly. There's no reason he should be shooting 11 shots and only making 2 of them. Expecting him to be a solid player right now is asking a lot, but still, it illustrates why Eddie is reluctant to play him.
Honestly, I wish I had more. But this was really about a better team coming out really strong early and a worse team not playing up to their abilities. There's no getting around it; this team misses Jamison. And I was wrong.