Player of the Game - Wizards at Raptors (12/1)

[WizStorm]

Here are the Player of the Game nominees from tonight's game...


Antawn Jamison: 30 points (FG:12/22, 3P:2/6, FT:4/8), 12 rebounds,
2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers


Gilbert Arenas: 22 points (FG:7/17, 3P:3/7, FT:5/5), 9 assists,
4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover


Caron Butler: 19 points (FG:6/12, 3P:1/2, FT:6/6), 7 rebounds, 1 assist,
3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers


Brendan Haywood: 15 points (FG:7/10, FT:1/8), 9 rebounds,
2 steals, 3 blocks, 1 turnover


Earl Boykins: 8 points (FG:3/8, 3P:0/2, FT:2/2), 5 assists,
2 rebounds, 2 turnovers


Nick Young: 6 points (FG:3/9), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal


Andray Blatche: 4 points (FG:1/2, FT:2/2), 4 rebounds, 1 steal


Feel free to post your thoughts and argue the merits for your favorite candidate. Also be sure to post your thoughts on the 2nd and 3rd place guys, including role-players that stepped up and made a difference in the victory.

Player of the game from the Wizards victory over the Miami Heat (11/27) (link)..
Player of the Game - Nick Young

______22 points (FG:10/23, 3P:0/3, FT:2/4), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers
________________________2nd Place - Earl Boykins
______________________3rd Place - Antawn Jamison

[DaRealHibachi]

1. Wood... Great game all around, plus his D on Bosh at the end was off the chain...
2. AJ... What's new... Great game...
3. Gil... Finally having an above average game again... Hope he keeps it up...

HM: Flip flippin Saunders... Coached a great game, that sub he made with AB and Wood at the end, and playing Gil of the ball were great decisions...

[miller31time]

1. Antawn Jamison - what more can you say about this guy? He just does the job. Incredibly consistent and a pillar for us all game. Failed to put up a fight on defense against Bosh but then again, Bosh is a really good player and when it's an iso in the paint, he's going to score against most at the sf/pf position.

2. Brendan Haywood - He would have been #1 if he just hit his damn free throws. Dominant defense on Bosh at the end. CB4 couldn't get off a good shot to save his life.

3. Gilbert Arenas - I still hated that he didn't drive basically all game but you can't deny that he had a good impact tonight. The assists were there and usually came within the flow of the offense. The points were there as he wasn't off with his shot today. Low turnovers and he hit his free throws. Defense could use a lot of work, though. Calderon got past him at will.

[nate33]

1. Wood - completely owned Bosh and killed Toronto on the offensive glass
2. AJ - consistent all game. Made some clutch shots down the stretch
3. Butler - Butler had 19 and 7 with a TS% above 65% while rendering Turkaglu invisible.

[Hoopalotta]

1- Haywood
2- Gil
3- Jamison

[DallasShalDune]

I voted Gil, though nearly everyone played well (At least our starters did). He led the important run in the middle of the 4th that gave us a small lead. We won because of many things, but I credit Gil the most. This game was a good sign that Gil is improving, though he did it against one of the worst defenses in the L.

[jimij]

1. Wood - his D on Bosh was awesome and his offensive rebounding was dominant

2. Jamison - great offensive game but his D was as bad as Wood's FT shooting so Brendan edges him out

3. Arenas - looked like he was little more comfortable out there tonight.

[willbcocks]

Poor Nick Young...his reward for being player of the game is you put up the photo of him blowing a wideopen dunk.

[LyricalRico]

Threw Gil a bone for a solid, low turnover performance. Jamison probably deserves it, though.

[bulletproof_32]

1- Haywood
2- Gil
3- Jamison

Ditto.

[doclinkin]

I'm giving the top nod to defense, solid job vs. a team that can flat-out score:

Wood -- snuff film highlights on Bosh. Embarassing.
Jamison -- best defense is a good offense, because, c'mon: 30/12)
Butler -- under-appreciated D, for all that his offensive numbers suffered. Toronto goes huge out there at SF, not a good match for Caron, but he did a solid job on TGlu and made critical plays late.

Tough not to give Gil an attaboy for his 9/1 ast/to rate, but he had zero defense on the Spaniard. Pretty poor. Gets lost on every pick right now.

[toughjuice03]

1.Jamison
2,Wood
3.Gil

[doclinkin]

Poor Nick Young...his reward for being player of the game is you put up the photo of him blowing a wideopen dunk.

Yeah but I like his low-tops. Nice kicks.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

1. Brendan. 2. Antawn 3. Gil

Have to give the shout out to Flip for using ten players (DeShawn and Fab weren't among them this time) and for coming up with the right combination in the end. Washington won the fourth quarter on the road 34-25, with the coach having right players in at the end.

Flip's now doing what I've always hoped for: Coaching them up and not using a short bench, but instead is rewarding every player for working hard. He's letting the young guys play and not sticking them with DNP CDs-- a very radical change from what happened 5 games and more back.

I like that he manned up after the Charlotte loss and took responsibility. Flip might really turn this team around for the good before all is said and done. They've won three of the last four, and coaching is definitely part of why.

[fishercob]

Brendan Todd Haywood. It's getting to the point where if they don't re-sign him I'm not renewing my partial plan.

[DaRealHibachi]

1. Brendan. 2. Antawn 3. Gil

Have to give the shout out to Flip for using ten players (DeShawn and Fab weren't among them this time) and for coming up with the right combination in the end. Washington won the fourth quarter on the road 34-25, with the coach having right players in at the end.

Flip's now doing what I've always hoped for: Coaching them up and not using a short bench, but instead is rewarding every player for working hard. He's letting the young guys play and not sticking them with DNP CDs-- a very radical change from what happened 5 games and more back.

I like that he manned up after the Charlotte loss and took responsibility. Flip might really turn this team around for the good before all is said and done. They've won three of the last four, and coaching is definitely part of why.

Agreed...

Flip is making things happen with his lineups and subs, not playing the vets all the time and giving playtime to those who deserve it... Even when we're behind he puts in guys like McGee and McGuire instead of Fab and DSteve... Talk about having faith in your youngsters...

This also why I don't understand all the flak he's caught on this board... Most of our losses came b/c our players came up short, not Flip...

[closg00]

1. Brendan. 2. Antawn 3. Gil

Have to give the shout out to Flip for using ten players (DeShawn and Fab weren't among them this time) and for coming up with the right combination in the end. Washington won the fourth quarter on the road 34-25, with the coach having right players in at the end.

Flip's now doing what I've always hoped for: Coaching them up and not using a short bench, but instead is rewarding every player for working hard. He's letting the young guys play and not sticking them with DNP CDs-- a very radical change from what happened 5 games and more back.

I like that he manned up after the Charlotte loss and took responsibility. Flip might really turn this team around for the good before all is said and done. They've won three of the last four, and coaching is definitely part of why.

+1 Had to bump the appreciation thread. Flip is doing the best that he can with this roster.

Edit: Big-ups to Andray for coming in when the hack-a-Wood strategy was used, Andray's Ft's were crucial.

[NbdyBeatsTheWiz]

1. Jamison for coming through and carrying us after our 16-(6?) run gave us the lead. from about 5 minutes left to 3 minutes it was a Jamison clinic.

2. Haywood, especially for his 2 big blocks on Bosh down the stretch right at the rim. We won by 4. Do the math.

3. Arenas. didn't hurt 12 of his points came in the 4th either

[Spence]

I voted for Jamison, who I think was the obvious choice. I thought Haywood played good defense and hit the boards pretty well, but how anyone could vote for him as POTG [apart from the chronic anti-Jamison bias of many on this board] defies comprehension. Haywood had to be taken out of the game at the end because he was a menace to the team on the free throw line.

The best coaching move of the game, by far, was Saunders removing Haywood at the end and replacing him with Blatche, who promptly grabbed an offensive rebound, got fouled on the shot and hit both free throws to seal the win. Based on the first 47 minutes of the game, there is no way Haywood hits those shots. Think about it: The best coaching move of the game was to take Haywood out. How then can Haywood be the game MVP? It's absurd. He played good defense, got some nice points and hit the boards well, but he couldn't be trusted to be on the court in absolute crunch time. Seems like a game MVP would be on the court in crunch time.

Jamison led the team in scoring and rebounding...again. Easy pick.

[closg00]

I voted for Jamison, who I think was the obvious choice. I thought Haywood played good defense and hit the boards pretty well, but how anyone could vote for him as POTG [apart from the chronic anti-Jamison bias of many on this board] defies comprehension. Haywood had to be taken out of the game at the end because he was a menace to the team on the free throw line.

The best coaching move of the game, by far, was Saunders removing Haywood at the end and replacing him with Blatche, who promptly grabbed an offensive rebound, got fouled on the shot and hit both free throws to seal the win. Based on the first 47 minutes of the game, there is no way Haywood hits those shots. Think about it: The best coaching move of the game was to take Haywood out. How then can Haywood be the game MVP? It's absurd. He played good defense, got some nice points and hit the boards well, but he couldn't be trusted to be on the court in absolute crunch time. Seems like a game MVP would be on the court in crunch time.

Jamison led the team in scoring and rebounding...again. Easy pick.

Great points about Haywoods FT problems last night, the Raps even adopted a hack-a-Wood strategy at the end that almost help them close our lead. It was Blatche who came in and iced-it for us.