Atlanta Hawks vs. Washington Wizards game thread

[MJG]

When is Eddie going to learn that the end of game play with Caron at the top of the key doesn't work?

Wow, I don't get that either. Caron never seems to drive anymore. Just settles for jumper Give AD the ball and run a play. I'd rather have Jamison take the last shot than Butler and I know Butler is a better overall player. He's not Arenas.

Agreed, it's truly awful. Caron has tried to pull an Arenas at the end of a quarter many times this season, and I can't recall it working even once. We absolutely have to stop doing that particular play until Arenas returns.

[bgwizarfan]

I like Butler in the post. It gives him a lot of options because he can still face up once he catches it and shoot the jumper (which would be like a 15-17 footer max and not an off-balance 22 footer), or he can actually spin out of the post to the hole (which he does pretty well) or turn and face and be in prime-triple threat, where he can go to the hole and create. The post gives him more options and also already puts him 15-17 feet away from the bucket, so he should be getting a decent shot at worst.

Huge win...if we lose, we're looking at 17-19 after Boston series...now at WORST we're 18-18

[doclinkin]

Not a day to complain about Haywood guys.

EJ pulled him early in the 1st quarter because he picked up two quick fouls. Blatche came in and played well so EJ rode Blatche for the remainder of the half. Nothing wrong there.

Haywood came in in the third and was still invisible. He did nothing except get that opportunistic offensive board that fell right to him as he was running to get back on D. EJ again went to Blatche early and Blatche again played well. Blatche was a little gassed near the end, but most coaches just stick with the same 5 players during OT games. You just go with the guys who have a feel for the game.

I can't see anything EJ did wrong with the rotations.

Haywood ended up with 2 points, 2 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 10 minutes. It just wasn't his night. No biggie. He'll be fresh tomorrow and hopefully he'll redeem himself.

Yep yep. This was a critical game for the Wiz' standings and divisional record. But Eddie said he was going to try to find ways to rest his starters where possible. Problem is we needed every minute of CB and AJ, where Dray took up plenty slack for Brendan. Dray played like the future.

So whatever. The team gets a rested and fired up Brendan for tomorrows game, where Dray will likely be a bit gassed. If we're getting beaten by double digits I expect we'll see less of AJ and CB next game, and a bit more OPP, DS9. Banking a few minutes rest for this 4 game 5 night schedule beat-down. This looks like one of those acceptable losses, if it turns out that way, but a rested Big Wood against KG gives us a slightly better chance.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

From the post:

"Jordan said he made the decision to go with Blatche after the first quarter.

"He gave us a little extra hop," Jordan said. "Brendan can't be an all-star every night, but [Saturday night] we're expecting him to be one again. I thought he did a good job when we played in Boston." "

[closg00]

From the post:

"Jordan said he made the decision to go with Blatche after the first quarter.

"He gave us a little extra hop," Jordan said. "Brendan can't be an all-star every night, but [Saturday night] we're expecting him to be one again. I thought he did a good job when we played in Boston." "

I agree with EJ's decision last night to ride AB over BTH, but it shouldn't be an either or decision when it comes to minutes for BTH & AB. EJ appears to have it stuck in his head that he cannot use size/length to our advantage in games.

[Ruzious]

Yeah, I see why EJ didn't play Haywood. Number 1 reason being - the game tonight. Numba 2 - ride the Blatche train when he's playing well. Blatche has been oudada groove for quite a while. With him playing well - see if he can build on it and get his confidence going - playing center. When you play Blatche at F, he reverts to being a softer player. Look at the Wiz offense. Their isn't a "power" forward. The forwards are basically interchangable. While Blatche has some range, he makes poor decisions out on the perimeter and is much more effective near the hoop - where his length gives him easy scoring opportunities, and his passing seems to be better there.

Offensively, Blatche is better at center. Defensively, it depends on the opponent - against a team with a giant like Yao, I'd rather have him at PF, but against an athletic team like Atlanta, I want him at C.

[Rafael122]

Plus, Blatche has been struggling the last month or so. Maybe Eddie needed to play him more to get his confidence back up.

BTW, Blatche doing the finger wag was awesome.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

From the post:

"Jordan said he made the decision to go with Blatche after the first quarter.

"He gave us a little extra hop," Jordan said. "Brendan can't be an all-star every night, but [Saturday night] we're expecting him to be one again. I thought he did a good job when we played in Boston." "

That comment coming from EJ, and you guys know I like to overstate a bit, is like an answered prayer.

EJ appreciates what Brendan has done all year, and might have done the best thing possible to get the guy to go out and destroy Perkins/Davis of the Celtics.

Whoa, man, this is ENCOURAGING.

[DCZards]

I'm mentioning a subtle thing: DON"T PISS OFF HAYWOOD WHEN HE CAN CONTRIBUTE.

My guess is that you're more pissed off about BH's minute than BH is. Not only was Blatche playing well, it also made sense to give AB the extended minutes as a confidence builder. In fact, it helps BH more than anyone else in the long run to have Blatche confident and playing well.

As far as AB and BH playing together, Atl. is too small and athletic for that to work for more than a few minutes, imo.

[dobrojim]

CCJ, I couldn't disagree with you more on the Haywood issue. It's times like this that you lose credibility on the Haywood argument. This is a game where it's completely justifiable to leave Haywood on the bench. The crazy thing would be to sit Blatche when he is playing so well.

I thought he could have played Wood a bit more. Not that much,
just a bit. He only played something like 11 min. And I did not
think Haywood played that bad. They just couldn't/wouldn't get
him the ball. No one on ATL was going to D him up in the post
if he could get the ball which isn't his job. Can't pass to yourself.

But I wasn't real worried about it as Blatche had one of his best
games in the last month. And I figured Wood would get his min
tonight against BOS when we REALLY need him.

btw- I had the same rxn about DS going to the line...he couldn't
possibly make both.

This was a pretty remarkable win for us. It really didn't look good
after the first half even though they hung close and never let things
get out of hand as far as the score went.

POTG has to be DS. Too many big plays to remember them all.
BTW- I think JCN had a real stinker last night. I don't recall him
doing much since he dropped 27 on us.

Great to see OPec play a little and more importantly make a positive
contribution right from the git-go. I'll try to remember he's a rookie.
Speaking of rooks, N1 did OK too. We even had a DMac sighting that
wasn't painful to watch. OK it was a brief sighting but hey, it was the
kind of situational sub that EJ never used to make before this year.

[dobrojim]

lsbf, I think the Wizards should trade Haywood.

I'm tired of this.

Make a deal with Seattle, get Kurt Thomas and a PG and send Haywood some place else so I don't keep trying to understand why EJ buries the guy. Just get Pecherov in game shape and trade Haywood already.

I'm happy with the win, but nothing will convince me it wouldn't have been easier if Haywood had gotten his game going at the same time as Blatche in the third.

While Blatche was playing his ass off in the third, so were the Hawks, who outscored the Wizards 35-23. Washington won tonight because DeShawn took over defensively down the stretch, while AD, Caron, and Antawn all played well offensively and Blatche was solid down the stretch.

Brendan playing like ass merits 11 mins of play? BS. That creates tension in the lockerroom when a guy who's 21 and has played like crap the past 15 games gets to play down the stretch. EJ doesn't have the balls to pull Jamison or Butler or Arenas down the stretch but he buries Haywood with the quickness.

People who just don't get it or who don't like Haywood are oh too quick to criticize me for saying Haywood should play 30 minutes, but to be honest I just said what I believe. You just don't get it. Honestly, IF BTH HAD JUST PLAYED 12 MINUTES TONIGHT, (coming in for defense down the stretch) I WOULD HAVE BEEN PLEASED WITH THE FACT EJ DIDN"T RETURN TO FORM.

I'm sick of talking about BTH/EJ.

Trade Haywood.

I think the whole answer to your diatribe is 4 games in 5 nights.
Let's see what happens in the next 3 games wrt to Wood's minutes.

Like I said before, I would have been fine with him playing a bit
more but we got a win maybe we didn't quite deserve (refs were
iffy both ways but some key calls/no-calls went our way on the road).
And Haywood should be well rested for tonight. And Blatche, being
younger, should still be ready for tonight and got some confidence
playing in crunchtime. And did I mention we won.

[DCZards]

POTG has to be DS. Too many big plays to remember them all.
BTW- I think JCN had a real stinker last night. I don't recall him
doing much since he dropped 27 on us.

Got to agree with you on POTG. Those blocked shots were not only huge but they really showed DS's athleticism.

As far as DS vs. Navarro, stats wise they are almost dead even. What sets DS apart from Navarro is his size, strength, toughness and defense. If you've seen JCN play defense,you know what exactly what I mean. My grandmother is a better defender than he is.

Good decision EG for taking DS over JCN.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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I think the whole answer to your diatribe is 4 games in 5 nights.
Let's see what happens in the next 3 games wrt to Wood's minutes.

Like I said before, I would have been fine with him playing a bit
more but we got a win maybe we didn't quite deserve (refs were
iffy both ways but some key calls/no-calls went our way on the road).
And Haywood should be well rested for tonight. And Blatche, being
younger, should still be ready for tonight and got some confidence
playing in crunchtime. And did I mention we won.

Fair enough.

Judging by EJ's comments after the game I'm not worried any more.

[DCZards]

EJ appreciates what Brendan has done all year, and might have done the best thing possible to get the guy to go out and destroy Perkins/Davis of the Celtics.

C'mon CCJ stick to your guns: EJ hates BTH and the best thing would be for the Zards to trade BH, right?

[dobrojim]

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That comment coming from EJ, and you guys know I like to overstate a bit, is like an answered prayer.

EJ appreciates what Brendan has done all year, and might have done the best thing possible to get the guy to go out and destroy Perkins/Davis of the Celtics.

Whoa, man, this is ENCOURAGING.

CCJ, this is why I will NOT be putting you on ignore.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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C'mon CCJ stick to your guns: EJ hates BTH and the best thing would be for the Zards to trade BH, right?

In the long run, I strongly feel that will be for the best because no matter what Brendan will NEVER play enough minutes commensurate with his talents under this coach. For YEARS he hasn't played enough minutes. I certainly do feel EJ's biased against Haywood.

However, last night he said Brendan can't play like an all star every night, but we expect him to be one tomorrow night (now tonight) against Boston. EJ said he thought Brendan played well in Boston before.

DCZards, I stick to my guns until my guns hit the wrong target or they misfire completely or until I need a better weapon, cuz mine's not working. I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things. They tend to be strong opinions. However, anytime you've got a lot to say you're going to be wrong some of the time. More often than folks who don't have the stones to come forward or who really don't feel too strongly one way or another. I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL admitting when I'm wrong.

But I do, at times, have a hard time understanding when I'm wrong.

EJ's comments showed sensitivity and were obviously done to appease Brendan. What more could have said or done? The Wizards won the game and after a win like last night, I can at least hope they're going to give Boston a good run.

[DCZards]

In the long run, that will be for the best because no matter what Brendan will NEVER play enough minutes commensurate with his talents under this coach. For YEARS he hasn't played enough minutes. I certainly do feel EJ's biased against Haywood.

I may be wrong about this, CCJ, but most times you seem to be more concerned about BH's minutes than whether the Zards win or lose.

The Zards are two games above .500 without Boy Wonder and have played pretty well for the most part. I personally don't think their record would be much different if BH was averaging 30 plus minutes instead of the minutes he's averaging now.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

You are wrong there, DCZards.

Most of the time when Brendan doesn't play enough the Wizards give up layups, they sag inside and leave the perimeter wide open, or they foul opponents who attack the rim far more ofted because Haywood's on the bench. Result: Haywood not playing contributes big time to why the Wizards lose.

I am highly perturbed when like the third quarter Haywood doesn't play at all. I think it's bad, bad coaching.

I was happy to see DeShawn and others really step up an get a win.

I'm a little perturbed when people who haven't been around here half as long as I have, who IMO don't know as much as I do, make a living on criticizing what I have to say.

Hate away, but IMO nobody hates you if you're not good. I've been around so long and been so right about a bunch of things, that really, I shouldn't even care that people take strong issue with me about something else I'm right about.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

DCZards, if you go back to the game thread I said 12 minutes would have been enough yesterday.

I don't know why Brendan's on the bench at the very end when ATL kept getting layups in a game the Wizards had won. I said it THEN.

I said 12 minutes would have been enough, but you go and say I care more about his minutes.

I care that the coach does what results in wins. EJ said and did all the right things after the game, and I've moved on.

But I still have to answer to you on this, EJ apologist of the year?

Even got dobrojim saying I'm losing credibility and why he doesn't put me on ignore... geez.

Again, I'm going to say what I want to and really challenge you to prove me wrong.

[DCZards]

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I may be wrong about this, CCJ, but most times you seem to be more concerned about BH's minutes than whether the Zards win or lose.

The Zards are two games above .500 without Boy Wonder and have played pretty well for the most part. I personally don't think their record would be much different if BH was averaging 30 plus minutes instead of the minutes he's averaging now.

BTW, BH is on my fantasy team so I hate it when he doesn't get the minutes or stats, but I love it when the Zards win, regardless of BH's minutes/stats.