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WIZARDS HANG ON IN TIGHT CONTEST
The Wizards forced the Hawks into two consecutive possessions that saw the visitors come up empty as Washington held on to a 96-95 win Tuesday night.
Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas each scored 21 points to lead the way for Washington. Despite having a sub-par game from the field, Butler earned his numbers in the points column by going 15-15 from the line. The forwards has hit 32 straight FT’s and has made 42 of 43 FT’s dating back to 11/15. His last miss was in final minute of the team’s loss on 11/15 in NYK.
One unsung hero tonight was Jarvis Hayes, who Coach Jordan stuck with at both ends of the court late in the game. His defense on Joe Johnson on the final two possessions helped seal the win for Washington.
AUDIO: Coach Jordan | Arenas | Butler
Post away…
November 28th, 2006 at 11:46 PM
WE WON!!! We played an ok game overall. We played pretty good defense holding ATL under 100 pts. As much as it hurts me it just looks like Gilbert isnt into it this year. Caron is by far our best player right now. Haywood is looking strong off the bench. We have a strech commin up where we play 3 of our next 5 on the road and we need atleast 2 of those games. We play in Chicago, NY, and Philly.If Gilbert gets a little more focused and Caron continues his great play we can start a run and get right back into things.
November 29th, 2006 at 7:33 AM
Glad they won, but it was still a close call. The Wizards still have alot of work to do. The last 3 or 4 minutes of the game we seen that defense that the Wizards spent the entire camp working on. They gotta play defense throughout the entire game. The turnovers must cease as well. Gotta get those rebounds.
The Assassin, where is he? Gil has been lagging for the last 4 or 5 games. It’s time for him to step up his game.
Caron had an exceptional game last nite. Looks like he will definitely be having a break out season.
The Bench scored 23 points, which is rare for the Wizards in my opinion. Jarvis played very well (can he do it all the time?) and I was really pround of the contribution that Brendan made. He went out there and hustled. Could he return to the starting line up?
November 29th, 2006 at 8:00 AM
Saw the most of the last half of the game last night and my vote for ALLSTAR is Caron Butler! That dude has been balling all season. I love his intensity and his bring it attitude. And I also love the attitude of AD. Gilbert is my main man in the NBA but, I don’t know what is ailing him. He is not himself this season. He and the rest of team are going to have to play with the same intensity night in and night out as Caron if they want to go far. The talent is there but where is the heart and drive? Me, I was not very impressed overall with the win last night. We won true enough but it was only by the luck of the draw.
November 29th, 2006 at 8:35 AM
Hopefully this will turn or season around AND HELP US GET ON A BIG RUN TO GET OVER THE 5OO MARK.The key plays came by Jarvis and his 3’s Caron with his 3 point plays and the overall defense.Brendan had a great game and is starting to show he wants to be here and wants that starting job back.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:23 AM
I agree Arenas isn’t playing well. Wonder what’s up with that. Maybe Hayes is coming around. Center play looks really good, in comparison to recent years.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:57 AM
Wow were we lucky to pull that out! I was sure Johnson or Lue was going to hit the game winner the way things were looking at the end! Guys toughed it out and held on, so gotta give ‘em credit. We’ve definately come out on the wrong end in these types of games enough times, so to have it go our way was great.
Overall, Caron is just playing great. How lucky are we to have this guy on our side? What more can you ask for?
Haywood played really good. Then came on post game and talked! Etan on the other hand did ok, but doesn’t have nearly the fire he did at the start of the season. He seems tired, where is the intensity? That Pachulia guy had a height advantage though that seemed to cause him problems… Haywood matched up better, and did a good job on him.
Arenas did ok… TOs and too much worrying about the refs, although that charge at the end was a rediculous call. Jamison stands at the 3 point line too much. Hayes finally had a good game! His stroke was looking good, nice to see him coming around! AD did a good job. Stevenson did good, but didn’t seem like he played much.
Nice to see Lang get on the floor. Hope he continues to get worked into some playing time.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:09 AM
I’m glad we won. Maybe this is the start of a winning streak.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:18 AM
Very frustrating last night, even with the W. I was almost certain Joe Johnson would hit that pull up at the end. Gilbert has been frustrated. Its almost like the refs are looking to call as many offensive fouls on him as possible. A couple of those were complete BS. He’ll be fine though, I’m not worried about Gil.
Caron is delivering, just like I thought. Even when he shoots 3-10 from the field he still finds a way to get it done. He’s the heart of the team.
Some one mentioned putting Brendan back in the starting lineup. Id stick with Etan there. No reason to change up something that is working. SIX blocks between them last night? Id say thats pretty good. Etan brings the energy early, something I dont think Haywood would do.
We need a convincing win over Charlotte on Friday. Im looking for Gil to have a big game as well as Caron, as usual.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:21 AM
Thomas and Haywood do have a nice two-headed monster going right now…
November 29th, 2006 at 10:44 AM
I agree with some, and disagree with others.
I think the fact that we had to win that game with 2 big defensive stops in the last 20 seconds is huge. Someone said that they could not believe Joe Johnson missed that jumper. I say, I would have been amazed if he had made it. That was nearly an 18 foot fade away shot…WITH A HAND IN HIS FACE!!! That was a great example of challenging the shooters, something that has not been done enough on long range shots this year. You combine that with the excellent defense of the pick-and-roll on the play before. Etan, I believe it was forced Johnson way out here mid court. Johnson then passed to Lue and we smothered him. Once they found Josh Smith in the corner for a three, we had Jamison there to defend it. That was quite possibly the best defensive possession of the year so far. If we only could have gotten that rebound…oh well.
Gil is struggling mightily, no doubt about that. But, come on folks, who actually believes that Gil will stay in this funk? Not me, that is for sure. I see Gil struggling with his shot but, with exception for a couple games, he has been able to get to the whole and draw fouls. He is still finding ways to get 20 points or more on most nights. Once his shot comes around…LOOK OUT!!
After reading some comments on Jamison over the last couple of days, I watched him closely this game. He really does camp at that 3-point line, huh? That is not good. I agree with the masses and I want to see him get down and dirty more on the inside. If his shot is on, like last night, then he looks like a genious. If not, he looks like a chump. That is one heckuva gamble to make.
All in all, I am pleased with last night’s win. It is our first in the division and it gets us off the schnide temporarily. I am looking to see if they can string together a few more of these and get back to .500. Next up…Bobcats at home. The streak should run to 2!!!
November 29th, 2006 at 11:19 AM
Andrew, spot on, and glad you’ve come around to my side on the Jamison discussion. . . I’m glad they won. They needed it badly.
I have nothing to back this statement up with other than with what I’ve seen: No other team in basketball gives up a 7 point lead faster than the Wizards.
November 29th, 2006 at 11:30 AM
Yeah, I am a big enough man to admit when I am wrong…or off a bit;-)
smchawk, you are right. A 7-point lead is gone in a 3-pointer, Wiz turnover and another 3-pointer. Okay, so that is only six points…but close enough.
I wanted to comment on Gil’s turnovers. He had 9 last night. Two of those were on player control fouls. One of which was ABSOULTE CRAP!!!! As a referee, I am ashamed to admit how bad that guy blew that call. Whoever was guarding Gil was not even close to having defensive position, let alone being set. His body was turned sideways and he was moving into Gil’s path. I screamed obsenities at the TV on that one. What makes it worse is that Caron made the exact same drive a couple possessions later and got the call that Gil did not. Is it me or is there something fishy with that? It seems as though Gil has been called for a lot of player control fouls, and I am willing to bet that 40%-50% are complete crap on another 20% are just questionable. What will it take for him to get a call? Regardless, he has to be able to overcome these obvious screwings.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:14 PM
Thx for the post Andrew - I agree 100% with the analysis.
I always wondered why Butler did not average more free throws a game.. I think he should be averaging 6-8 per game. I think he was more aggressive taking the ball to the rim last game… I’d like to see that more.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:46 PM
is it just me or do our key players (w. the exception of caron) disapear to chunks of the time? this is wat i have noticed:
1. Gil gets an early foul and he dissapears for most of the game. he starts off fast like last night and the detroit game (both) and then when he picks up a foul it just takes him out of his mindset till the 4th qtr or he just forces things the rest of the game. He’s a great player and a play maker but he shouldnt ge for 5 assist in da first to 2 assist the rest of the game w. 7+ turnovers. now some of those are crappy officiating (offensive fouls) but there is still no excuse. I think teams are playing him differently and he knows that he has an X on back every game. i think its getting to him and i know he’ll be fine he jus needs to find his rhythm and a way to keep attacking and watching some film to see how to attack these defenses. he should, but rearly attacks the 3-2 zone teams are throwning at us and in the 3rd quarter particullarly he settles for long jumpers. i know he’ll be fine but maybe a team leader like jamison or AD or EJ should sit down with him and see wats up and maybe watch some film together and break it down. a lil 1 on 1 film with a team mate or coach would be helpful and not make it seem like the whole team is angry and just show him sum support instead.
2. Jamison fades for mulitple quarters at a time as well. He had wat 12 in the first or sumthign like that. why? becasue he was attacking the basket. after the 1st he jus dissapeared till his like 2 more pts in the 3rd. wat is up with that? is he tired? or just lazy? i love AJ to death but he cant camp out at the 3 all night otherwise he will be benched for a game or 2 like last year. I do think he is playing better defence and his blocks are there to prove it but his shot selection w. so many perimiter shots is hurting this team.
3. Caron is havin an allstar type year. he’s been consistan in all aspects. from struggling w. his outside shot lol to avg. 8+ boards and gettign to the line. he’s the reason for the teams 5 wins while aj and gil hurt us in some way in our losses.
4. EJ needs to find the rite rotation. We need more bench play. this will fix itsself once D. Song comes bak but we need more production now. I dont know if blatch is ready to play but lets try him out w. an extended look on fri. by letting him guard adam morrison. AD is p[aying 6th man award type year and think jarvix will catch up w. his game soon. his defence is there his shot is almost there. Haywood is doing much better and playing w. a chip on his shoulder. and im looking forward to lang crackin the rotation soon. look for someone to be traded or let go if lang starts to be productive.
5. This teams says that they are not worried bout being in this position bc. they were in it last year and made the playoffs worries me. Did everyone forget how close we were to not making it? w. caron fallin late in da season the playoff spots 5-8 were seperated by wat? like a total of 3-4 games? we need to play with a sense of urgancy now because we cannot fall too far behind. Does this team not realize that we are wat 4th now in our own division? that means Orlando, atlanta, and a SHAQ-less heat are infront of us and charlott is not far behind. we cant do this whole catch up thing again it would kill me as a fan. I know we will turn it around but it hopefully will come sooner before later.
6. Finnally in looking at our schedual for decemeber it will show us wat kind of team we will have 6 back to backs. most of them against good teams. for example phili (A) then houston (H)
Lakers (A) then Denver (a)
Kings (A) then Pheonix (A)
and Orlando (H) then Milwaki (A)
this is one of the hardest chunks of our schedual and we will really need our bench to step it up if we want to compet let alone win most of those games. hopefully the team will come to gether by then and we can pull out a winning record in Dec. by havin a more productive bench along with better defence, less turnovers, and strong performences from our big three. we dont need gil scoring 40 a nite and buring out in dec. but reather we need them to be efficent w. controled minutes on the back to backs w. a couple of big nites from others as well.
well just my thoughts.
-Juan Garcia
November 29th, 2006 at 12:50 PM
I’m glad we won as well. I have definitely voted CB3 to be an allstar, he has proven night in and night out that he deserves it. He and Gil both provided 21 points. However, in the post game interview Gil states he’s frustrated with all the knick-knacks fouls and it takes him out of his game. Last night I admit two of those fouls were frivilous but he has to find a way to get his head back into the game and not allow it to take him out of his rhythm. That is a sign of a true player, to adept and overcome. He hasn’t ben able to do that. Do I think he will continue down this road? NO I don’t, but he needs to get it together.
We got the W but it was messy. They didn’t play defense until the last few minutes of the game. We got a chance to see what EJ has bee preaching in camp. Jarvis played great defense against Joe Johnson. But they stil gave up to many layups and I’m tired of seeing players shooting 3’s uncontested. Jamison hit it on the head last night, when he said they were playing like their wasn’t any urgency to get the win. But it all worked out at the end, luckily..
Friday should be a win aginst the Bobcats. But like the Pistons they have quite a few guys who can shoot the 3. We just have to wait and see…You know how it goes:
‘For ballin in the phone booth dial area code (034)..Arenas, Butler&Jamison’
November 29th, 2006 at 12:57 PM
Hey Wizardsdotcom can you tell me how many ft’s CB3 has made in a row? Steve mentioned it last night. I beleived he said his only/last miss was on 11/14/06. I can’t recall the number he gave but I know Caron has been getting to the charity stripe quite a bit.(except Memphis)
Not trying to jinx him just curious of how many he has made in a row.
November 29th, 2006 at 12:57 PM
I watched the game last night and I keep thinking that the refs do not make calls for the Wiz. Joe Johnson clearly pushed off on Caron right in front of the ref (no call). There were several charges and travels that were missed. But the first charging call on Gil, the guy was clearly moving. What do we have to do to get calls? The guy is and all-star!
November 29th, 2006 at 1:20 PM
Wiz034 - CB’s made 32 straight FT’s.
November 29th, 2006 at 1:30 PM
Thanks Wizardsdotcom..
November 29th, 2006 at 1:49 PM
Just wanted to share this interesting statement that in this am washington Post about the consistency of Caron since the beginning of the season.Out of 46 FT attempts, he’s only missed 1. It’s a team record..
Consistency has been a Butler trait all season. He is the only Wizard who has scored in double figures in each game, he’s pulled down at least 10 rebounds in six games and he’s made 45 of his last 46 free throw attempts.
“I’m just trying to dial in at the line,” Butler said. “I shoot 100 free throws after every practice and keep that rhythm so it’s just a matter of stepping up there and making them.”
November 29th, 2006 at 2:00 PM
I agree with anonymous who mentioned the no-call on joe johnson. Butler was playing tough defense on him and it bothered johnson, who elbowed CB3 in the gut, right in front of the ref!!! I mean, what was he looking at? CLEARLY an offensive foul. Of course, on that possession T.Lue hit a 3. That was huge for them as we were up 7 (I think) and it should have been a turnover.
Mistakes like that from the ref can change the outcome of the game. I too thing for some reason, we dont get calls. Im not blaming the refs on our record but really how many offensive fouls can be called on the same player (Gil)??
Did anyone else notice that no-call?
November 29th, 2006 at 2:13 PM
Thanks for the info Wiz034. The info I have is from our PR department, and I’ll double check to see if it’s 42-of-43, or 45-of-46. However, neither of those numbers are team records. He did TIE a team record by making 15-of-15 FT’s last night.
November 29th, 2006 at 4:19 PM
I think Etan needs to play with the kind of energy he displayed in the first 3 games.
Ok, Pachiulia got tons of offensive rebounds against him was not totally Etan’s fault. (Again, Wizards as a team just don’t box out well.) But he allowed Atlanta players to sneak in and took his rebounds away at least twice last night (which contribute for his 4 turnovers). This is lack of concentration, and Etan is better than that!
This is not picking on Etan. Certainly he is not the reason why Wizards have struggled in recent games.
November 29th, 2006 at 4:37 PM
the no calls by the refs were obvious, but what was more obvious was the lack of defence and heart. What was up with AD last night he was missing freethrows and making bad passes. EJ has got to go to some of the young guys on the bench for some hustle, because there was only one guy playing last night and that was CB. Antwans’ d-fence is killing us and team go at him because they know. Watch the film its all there. Put in mason or blatche for alittle while and let him watch some hustle.
November 29th, 2006 at 6:32 PM
I think our center rotation is right. Haywood plays better coming off the bench and playing fewer minutes. Thomas plays better starting. Booth is by far our best free throw shooting center and might be good for the last few minutes if we’re ahead. Lang is still too green - needs another year in the Devel. League.
Jamison as always been a defensive liability when on the perimeter. Opponents go right around him. Don’t know if that’s remediable. I would like to see him get the ball more in the paint. Isn’t it true that in the “Princeton offense” all five players rotate through the middle? Someone help me on this. He’s excellent in the middle, but hasn’t been getting the ball there as much as previous years, it seems to me. Don’t know whether that’s his doing or not.
Arenas looks dispirited. Makes me wonder whether it’s the foul thing. Personally, I don’t think the refs have a conspiracy to rule against the Wizards. It does look like they are calling more charges when the driving player is obviously just trying to draw contact. Didn’t they say they were going to do that at the beginning of the year? I wonder if Jordan has been on Arenas re. turnovers/fouls/defense and/or shot selection. Arenas is an excellent player but he can be much better I think. Getting better, however, is going to be much tougher for him than practicing shots.
I think the defense is looking noticeably better than last year, but it’s still a work in progress.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:40 PM
Ok, I think Gilbert is one of the best in the NBA but don’t you think that this chip on his shoulder thing has turned from a positive thing (the big motivator) to just a chip on his should that has affected his concentration? I think that this was the year he thought was his — he was going to show all the doubters and get picked outright to start the all-star game, be in the running for MVP, pull the Wizards further into the playoffs….and I think he was focusing so much on that and when he had a few bad games he started to see it “slip away”, tried too hard and has now lost his way…..he needs to get back to just focusing on the game at hand and his awesome talent will make the rest happen.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:40 PM
YEA! the Wizards won. FInally, and i hope that it continues.
Side note: Have any of you noticed that the refs are calling more charges, and most of then were supposed to be blocks? is this happening with only the Wiz, mainly gil, or are the refs just overdoing it with the charges?
November 30th, 2006 at 7:29 AM
I agree with the last comment by the anonymous poster on Gil. That is my man but I too think that he is focusing to much on being recognized like Melo,Lebron and Wade and that it’s bothering his concentration. I also think that he should do him and play his game. Don’t worry about the other stuff. Let his game do his talking and don’t worry about what the media,analysts,etc. think. He needs to play his game with fire in his belly like Caron and watch what happens. It’s obvious he has skills but these last few games he has seemed to be a little out of it.
November 30th, 2006 at 7:37 AM
I agree with anonymous. I think Arenas has let his expectations (i.e. ego) get in the way of his game. I guess this is just a step in his maturation.