WizBlog RSS FeedWIZARDS FALL IN MILWAUKEE
The Wizards’ five game win streak ended with a 119-102 loss Saturday night in Milwaukee. The loss, combined with Orlando’s win over the Heat drops Washington back into a virtual tie with the Magic for first place in the Southeast division.
Washington was up three points going into the final period when Michael Redd and the Bucks caught fire from the outside and while the Wizards went cold from the field.
“I thought we put up a real great effort,” said Head Coach Eddie Jordan. “They got going, got hot and made some shots. The size factor took its toll as the game went along, we just lost to a better team tonight.”
Caron Butler had a stellar night in his home-state with 29 points and 13 rebounds. Antawn Jamison had 17 points and 8 boards while Gilbert Arenas scored 19 points but had a sub-par night from the field (7-21).
The Wizards have the next three days off before facing this same Bucks team, this time at Verizon Center, on Wednesday. I have a feeling the team will have a late Christmas present waiting in Washington for Redd & Co…
“You’ve got to tip your hat off to them,” said Butler. “The good thing about it is we see them in a couple days. They had a little more energy tonight, but that’s no excuse. We’re professionals and we have to play back-to-backs sometimes. I just can’t wait to see them in a couple days.”
NOTES: One reason for the loss? The absence of starting center Brendan Haywood, who missed the game with a sprained right ankle that he injured versus the Magic Friday night. Coach Jordan expects Haywood to be in uniform Wednesday night. Jarvis Hayes made his first start of the season at forward - Antawn Jamison slid over to center in Haywood’s place.
December 31st, 2006 at 12:31 AM
Wizardsdotcom - there is a typo on the Arenas stat. He went 7 for 21 (it said 7-12 on the main blog page).
It was a tough loss but the Bucks are playing equally good basketball in December that most people didn’t notice.
Let’s see if the Wizards can continue to play well with the old ball.
December 31st, 2006 at 12:32 AM
Gracias!
December 31st, 2006 at 12:35 AM
Well.. they have a few days without a game to practice with the new… er… old..leather ball.. Shouldn’t be THAT big of a deal (I hope).
I really think things would have gone differently with Haywood in,
at least Andray played well tonight.
December 31st, 2006 at 6:18 AM
EJ made a mistake of putting Jamison as center. When Gil had a bad shooting night, Jamison didn’t have a chance to camp at 3pt line plus he got tired really fast guarding the big man. Blache played great and Booth had some blocks but when Patterson came in, we got crushed inside the paint. four games in five days is the other reason. the team is tired plus short handed without the centers.
December 31st, 2006 at 7:21 AM
What concerns me about this is that I think the starters were just worn out….too many minutes in too short a timeframe. I don’t see any new depth being added to our bench through trades so I think we are really vulnerable until we get a few more people healthy and back into the rotation.
December 31st, 2006 at 8:09 AM
We played excellent up to the fourth quarter with an beasty perfomance by Caron Tough Juice Butler.Gil played ok but he wasn’t his MPV self “6 Turnovers”maybe a little rest will recharge the battery and get the spririts up for the new year.I would like to say Andray Blatche played his best game in 2006/2007 season with a variety of shots including a 3-pointer and a rack of rebounds in limited minutes.If he could give us 15 to 20 minutes like that of the bench then he definitely will be back into the rotation.Booth and Hayes, not to forget Antonio Daniels provided points, energy and much needed blocked shots in limited minutes.
Overall I am very happy for the month of December and looking forward to see how great we will be when Haywood,Etan,Ruffin and Darius Songali gets back on the basketball court for the finale!
December 31st, 2006 at 8:55 AM
Tough loss! But I glad to see Andray Blatche get some real playing time. I think if they get a little time off they will be able to lick there wounds and come back strong on Wednesday.
December 31st, 2006 at 9:00 AM
the bucks are playing really good ball at home but i think with a bigger lineup we could won this game.
December 31st, 2006 at 11:19 PM
This game gave me reason for concern. We have got to get stronger comming of the bench. Our starters were tired, especially Gil and AJ. I think this was the game where Eddie should have rested these guys more and let the bench play, Donnel Taylor was the man for a while and Eddie has got to give these guys playing time, they need to be ready when they are needed and we needed them in this game. I to think it is time to think trade, we need to beef up for the marathon ahead.
December 31st, 2006 at 11:32 PM
What was EJ doing in this game? You could see that Gil was tired and AJ is not a keeper of the paint, this game was lost by the coach. Some of EJ’s decisions leave me wondering if he is unsure what to do. Note to EJ, if you have a guy 6″11 or taller on the bench use him until he gets 6 fouls and put in the next guy, continue this process until you run out of guys 6″11 and use the next tallest guy until the game is over.
January 1st, 2007 at 11:36 AM
I know Ernie and Abe feel the same way we fans feels about our bench and that is something needs to be done! If nothing is done, then there will be definitely a loss opportunity for the 2006/2007 Wizards.The key is our bench is spinning rubber and just digging a hole in the asphalt but going nowhere!We have the weakiest bench in the NBA and I’m not kidding!So what are you management going to do!Get busy wheeling and dealing or just pretend it will fix itself!
All we need is one player to ignite this bench to respectablity and his name is Don Juan Carlos!
January 1st, 2007 at 12:46 PM
Sorry Aundra - with the cost of JCB’s buyout (which HE would have to pay because of NBA rules), I wouldn’t expect to see him in Washington any time soon…
January 1st, 2007 at 9:15 PM
Juan Carlos is a guard, isn’t he? And he signed an extension with a buyout that he’ll never pay. By the time his extension is over he will be well over the hill.
I can’t see that “small ball” gets us anything, and we certainly give up lots. If smaller guys at all positions were better, why isn’t everyone playing five guards?
Blatche looks surprisingly comfortable/confident. Lang looks lost. He’s a long way off, looks to me like. Don’t understand why he’s not back in the D League.
I can’t see trading anyone who’s a legitimate prospect for our future for a veteran who will just be a reserve for a couple of years. Patience. Haywood is back next game. Booth was a competent backup for several years and can be this year also. It sounds like Thomas will be back next week, then Songaila in another month.
Next year we’ll have Pecherov, maybe Veeremenko, and two draft picks to add to the mix. Seems to me we just have to keep improving and not lose anyone to free agency.
Unless we get another bargain like Stevenson and Butler were.
January 2nd, 2007 at 8:23 AM
I believe the game would have been different if Gil was his usual self and if we had a big man inside. The moment they said, Haywood was out I need what the consequences would be. It’s pretty ironic that if Gil doesn’t have a good night, no one is able to step up and fill the void. While I think the Bucks are a good team, they caught the Wizards on an off night. But it’s all good.
Since Gil always bounces back from a subpar night, the outcome will be different tomorrow night..
Go Wiz!!!!