Washington Wizards Player Analysis

Keys to the Palace: It's hard to open a lock while distracted

By Jake Whitacre@jakewhitacre Updated Jan 18, 2010, 10:00pm EST

Before we analyze the the players who did and did not get keys to the palace this week, let's quickly review the weeks of those who didn't receive any playing time this week due to injury or practical joke gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Gilbert Arenas: Other than pleading guilty to a felony charge, getting dropped as an endorser by Adidas, more or less being abandoned by his franchise, being denied the chance to play the sport he loves and potentially losing a hefty sum of money, it's been a pretty normal week for Gilbert.

Javaris Crittenton: Can anyone else think of another player in another sport whose entire career will be entirely remembered by one off-the-court event like Javaris Crittenton?

Mike James: Who would have thought in the Mike James and Javaris Crittenton for Antonio Daniels swap that Mike James would be the only player to log time in the NBA this season? I'm not sure anyone won that trade.

Andray Blatche

Being suspended from Tuesday's game against Detroit did little to spark the rebirth of 7 Day Dray. In the other four games this week, he scored a combined 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Earl Boykins

Other than a clunker of a performance against Atlanta, Earl had a solid week. But it's really hard to ignore have a plus/minus of -18 in less than ten minutes of play.

Caron Butler

The 27 points Caron scored against Chicago was the most he has scored since December 18th when he scored 28 against Golden State. Thing is, it took him 55 minutes to get those 27 points.

Randy Foye

This week, Foye averaged 17.4 points and 7.2 assists while handling point guard duties. Those numbers best his averages from any of his seasons in Minnesota. If there's one good thing that we have learned out of Gilbert's suspension, it's that Randy Foye is most effective when he's starting and when he's playing point guard. He still has to learn when and when not to take shots in the closing minutes.

Brendan Haywood

Haywood had his streak of double-digit rebounding performances snapped at six against Portland. Who says the Wizards lack an interior presence?

Antawn Jamison

Here's your odd fact of the week: This season, there have only been three games where Jamison has not hit a three pointer. One of those games came against Philadelphia where he didn't even attempt one, the other two both came against Sacramento, where he was a combined 0-10 from beyond the arc.

JaVale McGee

McGee finally took advantage of a chance to impress the coaching staff on Saturday night when he has 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 blocks in just under 13 minutes of play. Flip has been pretty good this year about rewarding players who take advantage of the opportunities they're given, so there's always the chance this could be McGee's opportunity to play a bigger role. His DNP against Portland wasn't encouraging.

Dominic McGuire

McGuire played over 10 minutes for the first time in over a month against Sacramento and responded with 2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists in just over a dozen minutes. Like McGee, he may also be in line for some more minutes based on his performance, but there are no guarantees.

Mike Miller

He only played one game this week, but he made the most of it, chipping in 13 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes.

Fabricio Oberto

McGee's emergence this week could mean even less minutes for Oberto, who only played 2 minutes and 32 seconds this week.

DeShawn Stevenson

Stevenson hit four shots against the Kings on Saturday, the first time he connected on four shots since the third game of the season against the Nets. Saturday night was his best performance but he's been relatively hot all week, going 7-14 from the field. It's been a long time DeShawn, but you have earned a room in the palace this week.

Nick Young

Young played well against Sacramento, scoring 12 points. That doesn't do much to make up for only going 5-20 the rest of the week.

Flip Saunders

Given the circumstances, the Wizards fared better than expected, but I still can't give the coach a free pass on a 2-3 record for the week.