I'm watching this one on delay. Sean is live at the Verizon Center and will have a pregame report for you in the 6 p.m. hour.
There will be a second thread that'll go up at 8:30.
GO WIZARDS!
Sean's Two Cents:
Hey fellas, before I run off to the court to get Flip's pregame comments I just wanted to give you a few things to chew on:
- How much do you want to see John Wall take over the game tonight against D.J. Augustin and Shaun Livingston?
- How will the Wizards control the Bobcats physical front line of Tyrus Thomas and Gerald Wallace?
- Its JaVale McGee against Nazr Mohammed, do you go to McGee early or play Yi and hope to draw Mohammed out of the paint?
- Which ex-Wizard gets booed the loudest?
Alright, see you all in a bit!
Flip's Pregame Briefing:
On Gilbert's Minutes and whether he will get more:
Probably not. I think the thing with Gil, and I've talked to him, is that he's got to get right. You are talking about a guy who over the last 4 1/2 years has sat out 3 1/2 with injuries. So right now we're a month into our season and he's had a bad ankle, a bad knee, and a bad groin. Outside of that he's been OK. Based on that he needs to get his body right or else if we start playing him too many minutes he's going to get hurt again. Then we got to put him on the shelf...it's going to be where he's taking baby steps. It will be between 24 and 30....I deal with guys who are coming back from injury the same way I deal with young guys, I give them as much responsibility as they can accept and keep on improving, and then you give them more.
On Rebounding:
Some of the things....I know we're rated 20th in the league as far as rebounds...if you take the Orlando game out (pause) against the other five opponents we're actually a +2 in rebounds. So some of the areas where we have struggled early, we've actually gotten better.
On whether Flip is more impressed with Al Thornton offensively or defensively:
I think probably his rebounding. The way he's attacked the rim for the offensive boards....(pause) probably his overall game. I don't you can say one thing..because he's been good at everything. Its nice that he is being rewarded for how hard he has worked.
Update:
No Kwame Brown, Dominic McGuire, or Eduardo Najera for the Bobcats.
No Lester Hudson or Hamady N'Diaye for the Wizards.