Washington VS Detroit

[dobrojim]

No doubt, about as consistent as we've played defensively all year. A bit concerned about our defensive rebounding over the last couple of games.

Haywood needs to step it up.

Haywood had a great game. This 2 games after beasting arguably
the best C in the league.

We played really good D tonight. I wonder how many min
Haywood played. Me thinks a bunch. Coincidence? Me thinks not.

We owned the paint in this game. Big kudos to Haywood for that too

[hands11]

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Good point. He has only made 15 of his last 29 free throws.

Haywood hitting free throws is going to be huge come the playoffs.

Hopefully he can get on a roll again. He now has had success so he
knows he can do it.

Excellent Haywood on the post game interview.

Commented on coming out strong and them letting CB and AJ take over.

He actually almost deferred to them to much at the end but I like that his
head is in it.

Said he likes to go against Sheed. Another Tarheel

Going West on a positive note.

Nice interview by Magic Woodshaq Haywood.

Dame. I remember his nightmare interviews last year. This was a ton better.

[dobrojim]

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Yup. Nobody played out of their mind, but everybody except Mason played well. And even Mason got it together and hit some shots in the second half.

Haywood was big in the first quarter. Jamison carried us in the 2nd and 3rd. And Butler and the defense took us home.

RMjr played a little D too. We pretty much shut down Mr Big Shot.
For one night anyway.

[nate33]

only one real problem I saw was that when Mason was jacking up bricks, it took EJ way too long to sub someone in for him.

EJ's hands were tied. We only have 3 healthy guards on the roster. AD and Stevenson need to get some rest.

Actually, EJ played Butler at SG quite a bit tonight. It's the first time I've seen him do that for extended stretches.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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Haywood had a great game. This 2 games after beasting arguably
the best C in the league.

We played really good D tonight. I wonder how many min
Haywood played. Me thinks a bunch. Coincidence? Me thinks not.

We owned the paint in this game. Big kudos to Haywood for that too

34 mins. EJ is beginning to learn...

Speaking of minutes, Darius had 10 points in 15:46 against a team with shotlblockers like Wallace, Ratliff, McDyess, and Maxiel.

[hands11]

great overall win tonight. Jamison was amazing, Caron payed well, Mason finally hit a couple of shots in the 2nd half, and Daniels really kept the team running smoothly.

only one real problem I saw was that when Mason was jacking up bricks, it took EJ way too long to sub someone in for him.

I'm not sure he had a lot of other options. As well as Mason has played, I didn't have a problem with EJ counting on him hitting eventually which he did.
Mason is solid mentally. I didn't think he would crack and go ice cold the whole game.

Hope we can get NY back soon. I think if we had him, EJ would have put him in.

[hands11]

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EJ's hands were tied. We only have 3 healthy guards on the roster. AD and Stevenson need to get some rest.

Actually, EJ played Butler at SG quite a bit tonight. It's the first time I've seen him do that for extended stretches.

I missed that he did that. Thanks for pointing it out.

As a documented believer in that option, it's nice to see it work.

[lupin]

what's wrong with N1?

[dobrojim]

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So you want to play Orlando?

That's tough. Right now, we're the fifth seed with our sights on the fourth seed. If we try to fall back to the sixth seed and face Orlando, we might end up with the 7th seed and face Detroit.

I think the best thing to do is go for the 4th seed and home court advantage.

Sounds good to me. My credit card bill isn't going to be pretty
if we get home court. I wonder how much over face value
I could sell playoff tickets for? (But I probably wouldn't do that,
some family mem might want them and I wouldn't charge them
over face value).

But CLE may or may not be catchable. We better not look back
though. Philly is rolling right along.

[hands11]

what's wrong with N1?

Thigh bruise.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I thought Mason played well.

He shot poorly at first but you've got to give him credit for stepping up and shooting it. Turned out he hit a couple huge ones. Mason IIRC gave the Wizards their first 10-pt lead.

Roger played good defense but to me he usually does. Roger gives a subtle bump to dislodge guys and he's a surprisingly physical defender. A much better defender than AD, IMO.

Today, however, AD was real good defensively. Best defense he's played in quite a while IMO.

[nate33]

I thought Mason played well.

He shot poorly at first but you've got to give him credit for stepping up and shooting it. Turned out he hit a couple huge ones. Mason IIRC gave the Wizards their first 10-pt lead.

Roger played good defense but to me he usually does. Roger gives a subtle bump to dislodge guys and he's a surprisingly physical defender. A much better defender than AD, IMO.

Today, however, AD was real good defensively. Best defense he's played in quite a while IMO.

AD completely locked down Stuckey when he came into the ballgame. It was a sight to behold.

[dobrojim]

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34 mins. EJ is beginning to learn...

Speaking of minutes, Darius had 10 points in 15:46 against a team with shotlblockers like Wallace, Ratliff, McDyess, and Maxiel.

Songaila had an outstanding game. Again.

Very efficient. 5 for his first 5. Many right at the rim
on good cuts, catches and finishes. And he wasn't a
perpetual loose ball foul the rest of the time either.

I also like that we won without N1 who we've needed to
compliment Song's scoring off the bench.

Very business like; very solid win. On national TV no less.

[nate33]

Very business like; very solid win. On national TV no less.

All of a sudden, we're winning with regularity on national TV.

I can't help but notice that we play better on national TV without Arenas. Sometimes, Gil just tries to do too much.

[hands11]

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Sounds good to me. My credit card bill isn't going to be pretty
if we get home court. I wonder how much over face value
I could sell playoff tickets for? (But I probably wouldn't do that,
some family mem might want them and I wouldn't charge them
over face value).

But CLE may or may not be catchable. We better not look back
though. Philly is rolling right along.

Not at all out of reach.

3 games back but only 2 losses back.

The big hurdle is how well we can add Gil back into the line up without getting out of sync.

We also have to step up the D. GA has to come back adding to what we have without taking anything away.

That means he has to manage his game and trust his teammates. That's what this team is doing. He has to match what we are doing.

15-20 pts, 8-11 assists and solid D should make us conference champs.

[hands11]

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All of a sudden, we're winning with regularity on national TV.

I can't help but notice that we play better on national TV without Arenas. Sometimes, Gil just tries to do too much.

Excellent point. That is very true.

We played smart and balanced tonight.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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All of a sudden, we're winning with regularity on national TV.

I can't help but notice that we play better on national TV without Arenas. Sometimes, Gil just tries to do too much.

Early this year I said they're playing better without Gil and I still stand by that.

Surely, they can use him hitting shots at the end but with Butler in there stepping up and strong post play from Brendan and with assists, ON NIGHTS LIKE THIS when they share the ball and defend well they are indeed better...

I think they can keep playing like this and have a healthy Gil and be their best ever.

However, even without Gil this team's good enough to win a round or two in the playoffs.

[wateryd]

was out of town and wasn't able to catch the last couple games, what a game to come back to, though. hard to pick out any real negatives, just solid team play. once again the wizards play up to the competition. can you really say anything more about jamison? good to see caron pretty much back to being caron. haywood with his patented dominant first quarter. songaila with some really slick and heady plays -- knowing to look for the pass when caron went in the air, slipping toward the basket to beat ratliff, etc. good to not just have him back but feel comfortable with him out there. loved the Most Subdued Dagger Ever at the end, too.

only two behind cleveland in the loss column. they've got NO and @DET for their next two, we've got blazers/sonics. let's go for 4th.

[southnc]

Terrific win for the Wiz, as they head for the playoffs.

The Arenas debate will remain heated, until his return. I still believe the Wiz are better with Gil on the court. However, credit the rest of the group for making things happen without Agent Zero.

Anyway, it's a good thing for the Wiz that Detroit kept their secret weapon (Dixon) on the bench for this game!

[Donkey McDonkerton]

God, I hope Dallas misses the playoffs.

Me TOO. I liked them, but now they have Kidd, and I hate him.....plus the who "Dallas" thing...