8:51 AM….Dave Johnson checking in from Indy….eager to move on from a tough loss….can’t fault the effort…the Hawks just did it to us on the boards…..Mike Wilks did help in his time in the game…Glenn and I noticed how he made a difference pressuring the ball handler….in fact there was one stretch where the Wizards outscored the Hawks 18-8 when Wilks was in the game—not trying to over do it but just noting that Wilks made contributions that did not show up in the stat sheet….BLOGCAST starts at 7…radio broadcast and blogging together–hope you can join us

6:15PM…Dave Johnson checking in from Conseco Field House….Caron Butler will not play tonight because of a sprined right ankle suffered in poractice on Thursday..he tweaked it last night after he made his first jump shot….Darius Songaila will start in his place…Roger Mason…who is here tonight after attending his grandfather’s funeral today will start again

6:43PM…starters are in….mason, stevenson, haywood, songaila, jamison…tinsley munleavey, murphy, o’neal and granger…do not believe Butler’s injury is serious…not sure about Charlotte…good news on Antonio..likely closer to the two week time frame…keep fingers crossed…

6:55PM….Not sure why the audio link is not up…..but if you want to listen online you can click on the listen live  icon in the box on the front page

6:40 AM….Dave Johnson checking in…The Atlanta Hawks–new and improved and with a winning record are in town tonight….BLOGCAST starts at 7–hope you can join us..you can watch and blog…listen on the radio  and blog—and you will be able to listen online by clicking the link that will be placed at the top of this page—and if you are new to the drill….BLOGCAST is Glenn and I blogging while we do the radio broadcast….head coach Eddie Jordan notes..“They are unconventional because it seems they are 6’8 or taller across the board.  Defensively, they do a lot switching, so we have to be good reading the defense and making plays out of double-teams.  They are a very athletic team that can block a lot of shots.”…and a fun factoid…Washington’s frontcourt starters Caron Butler (22.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg), Antawn Jamison (21.0 ppg, 10.7 rpg) and Brendan Haywood (10.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg) are each averaging at least 10 points and seven rebounds per game.  The Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James, Drew Gooden and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are the league’s only other trio currently averaging at least 10 points and seven rebounds apiece per contest.  ..check back later…again BLOGCAST at 7 

6:21PM….Dave Johnson checking in..waiting on starters…..update when we have them….

6:46pm…Jumoke just threw up the look live, check out the Wizards getting ready in the locker room and warming up before tonight’s game.

5:53 AM… Dave Johnson checking in…feel like we let one slip….had a good start against the Bulls who had played the night before against the Lakers—There was the 13 point lead in the first quarter–8 assists on the first 10 field goals made–a lot of paint scores….but then started to settle for quick jump shot…and that was part of not a cold spell but an ICE AGE…4 of 34 shooting.—I checked we can’t blame an appearance by Jessica Simpson..missed some opportuntities to get in the post..and the the winning streak over…still I take comfort in Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison’s shear will to win… neither had been feeling well.. but Butler with a triple double and Jamison a double-double…..onto play an improved Atlanta team that beat Miami last night…check back later…dave

6:43 AM…Dave Johnson checking in..Bulls at Verizon Center and we have the BLOGCAST starting at 7PM with the radio broadcast but I will be checking in throughout the day so feel free to post questions or thoughts..The Wizards will be going for their fifth straight win but the Bulls–who lost last night to the Lakers–are better than an 8-14 team. As Eddie Jordan noted: “They are always a tough opponent.  They play great pressure defense and have a terrific offense.  Even though they aren’t scoring as well as they’d like, the potential is there.  They have good offensive players and rebound well.  They have length, athleticism, and are very physical.” Nick Young will start again tonight in the back court and will try to stay out of foul trouble. As we witnessed in Saturday’s win over the Kings, DeShawn and Caron will step up their playmaking roles…they combined for 15 assists. And the Wizards did sign Mike Wilks. He played collegiately at Rice, before spending time in the NBA Development League after college.  Wilks made his NBA debut with the Atlanta Hawks during the 2002-03 season, and has since played for Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver.  He played in a career-high 48 games with the NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs in 2004-05.  This season, Wilks appeared in eight games for the Denver Nuggets, and averaged 3.0 points in 15.3 minutes per game.  ..check back later hope all can join us for the BLOGCAST—-blogging during the radio broadcast….

9:41am….I was searching through some articles today and found this one on Mike Wilks, I know a lot of people have been asking about him on the blog and I thought this article helped detail the type of player and person the Wizards are getting.

6:20PM….Dave Johnson checking in….Blogcast starts at 7..and you can listen online….starters are in….hinrich, gordon wallace, smith, and deng….stevenson, young, haywood, butler, jamison…….look for young to be matched up on Gordon as he tries to stay out of foul trouble….

6:29PM…..Update—-Ben Wallace inactive because of a sore foot.

6:37PM—Update..Andres Nocioni now in starting lineup..so he will play forward and Smith listed as center for Wallace who is out with a sore foot.

6:53pm…. Jumoke shot another look live of the players in the locker room.

Hey everyone, Gilbert wrote another blog discussing the salaries of other players and his opinion compared to his dads. You can check it out by clicking the link below.

Gilbert’s Blog

Also, Bill Simmons from ESPN.com, ranked the 50 most untradeable players in the NBA today.

Feel free to comment on his rankings as well as his opinion on the best nickname in the NBA “Tough Juice”.

Simmons Article