Hey everyone, tough loss for the Wiz last night, but hopefully we should receive some good news tonight at around 8:00, when TNT announces the All-Star reserves. I think without question that Caron and Antawn are extremely deserving to go and I think both of them will make it.

Personally here is my All-Star reserves.
East
F Caron Butler
F Antawn Jamison
G Chauncey Billups
G Jose Calderon
C Chris Bosh
Wild Card Paul Pierce
Wild Card Richard Hamilton

West
G Steve Nash
G Chris Paul
F Dirk Nowitzki
F Carlos Boozer
C Amare Stoudemire
Wild Card Brandon Roy
Wild Card Josh Howard (although I could make just as good an argument for Baron Davis)

9:40AM….Dave Johnson checking in from chilly Toronto. The wind  is just beating up on the hotel here–we have had a charmed life—-Milwaukee and Toronto in the same week at the end of January….still pumped abut last night…on the radio Antawn Jamison calmly noted that the Wizards have been in this situation before (missing a key player) and that they would just have to get it done with no excuses. It’s that kind of attitude that leads to 24 points and 20 rebounds….and rebounding was the key….D-Mac in my mind was like glue–he helped the Wizards keep momentum after Blatche –who not only stepped in but stepped up in place of Caron Butler–went out with four fouls. It will be a big challenge tonight without Caron—Calderon is so tough to deal with and runs the pick and roll so well…..as Glenn Consor noted on the radio he does not like to  go to his left but forcing him to go that way is easier said than done…this is just a good Raptors team–getting the sweep will be hard—but we thought that  about the two games against the Celtics….BLOGCAST —bloggin with the radio—starts at 7….great stuff last night on the blog..hope you can join us tonight…

6:36PM…Dave and Glenn checking in from TO….starters are in…calderon, parker bargnani, bosh, moon—-daniels,stevenson,haywood, blatche, jamison

7:00AM…Dave Johnson checking in on the start of a very long and hopefully productive day…it is back-to-back with Toronto and this is a challenge—not only because the Raptors are a good team but close observers will note that Canada is another country and that means going through customs at about 1 in the morning….oh the folks in customs are nice but it is a difficult back-to-back..no complaints here..this NBA life is still a great one as long as I remember my passport……and the Wizards want to remember their intensity–Caron Butler said it best when he noted the Wizards should have played the entire game on Sunday with the sense of urgency displayed in the final two minutes against the Bucks….that one did sting… The Wizards defeated the Raptors, 101-97, at Verizon Center on December 1st, as Washington improved to 16-7 all-time vs. the Raptors in DC…Caron Butler led Washington with a game-high 29 points but Chris Bosh was sidelined. Keep the Streak Going—-Caron Butler enters play having made a Washington franchise record 70 consecutive free throws. Butler last missed a free throw on Dec. 28 in New Jersey. After going 10-for-10 from the free throw line in Washington’s last game, Butler is within striking distance of Calvin Murphy’s all-time NBA single season record of 78 consecutive free throws made; established during the 1980-81 NBA season. The NBA record for free throws made spanning two seasons was set by Michael Williams, who connected on 97 consecutive free throws spanning the end of the 1992-93 season and the beginning of the 1993-94 campaign..BLOGCAST starts tonight at 7..we blog as we do radio–hope you can join us.

2:08pm…Hey guys, this is SportzWiz checking in. I was just on ESPN.com and John Hollinger listed his All-Sleeper team for the first half, and guess who was on it…. Brendan Haywood! Anyway, here is what Hollinger had to say.

With Washington playing so well minus Gilbert Arenas, it’s kind of surprising that Haywood has managed to avoid getting any credit. He’s having a career year with an 18.65 player efficiency rating (PER) and career bests in points and rebounds per 40 minutes (15.1 and 11.1) and true shooting percentage (59.1), not to mention a shocking improvement to 73.3 percent from the line — he was at 56.2 percent for his career entering the season.

Yet Haywood’s greatest impact may come at the other end. The Wizards as a group are the league’s most improved defensive team, and the 7-footer’s ability to anchor the middle has been a huge reason. So while Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison get the lion’s share of the credit, don’t sleep on Haywood. If the Wizards make noise in the playoffs, I expect him to be one of the reasons.

6:42PM…Dave Johnson checking in from Verizon Center…Caron Butler will not play tonight–left hip felxor..happened in overtime of the Bucks game…caron thought he was going to be able to make it but about half way through this morning’s shoot around he had to shut it down…so starters…daniels, stevenson, haywood, jamison, and blatche for butler…calderon, parker, bargnani,bosh, and moon

Hey everyone, tough loss for the squad last night, but seeing the team leave practice, spirits were high and the team seemed very focused.

Anyway, with coaches sending in their All-Star reserves today, I figured I might as well put up a couple links, of some national writers that have stated their thoughts on who should make the All-Star team.

Dave McMenamin - NBA.com

Peter Vescey - New York Post and foxsports.com

Marc Stein - ESPN.com

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11:23…..Hey everyone I’m sure Dave will be joining us soon, anyway here are some quick notes about tonight’s game.

4:20 PM EST….Dave Johnson checking in from the Bradley Center…trying to fight off the flu…This will be a good challenge this afternoon…Michael Redd–who missed the last meeting with a thigh bruise is back…and Andrew Bogut is having a terrific month…averaging 17.4 ppg and 9.7 rpg….and the Wizards did not feel great after a 20 turnover win against the Grizzlies.

4:25PM EST…Anybody else see the Magic/Celtics game? And to the post asking for an explanation of the Cleveland game–sadly there really isn’t one–we just didn’t compete–and that is not something that happens with this team…it goes against how this team got to be 23-18 while missing its leading scorer.

5:25PM ESY..starters are in…No Michael Redd for the Bucks because of a left knee strain…so it is Williams, Ivey, Bogut, Yi, and Simmons….wizards will have line up of  daniels, stevenson, haywood, butler, and jamison

5:35PM…Hey check this out…..Wizards forward Antawn Jamison enters play today as one of just two players in the NBA’s Eastern Conference averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.  The other — Orlando’s Dwight Howard — will start for the Eastern Conference in next month’s NBA All-Star game.  In the last ten years, only two players have averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds for a team with a winning record at the midpoint of the season and not made the All-Star team; Carlos Boozer (22.2 ppg, 12.0 rpg) for the 27-14 Utah Jazz in 2006-07, and Chris Webber (22.8 ppg, 10.3 rpg) for the 30-11 Sacramento Kings in 2002-03.

5:40PM…Good interview with Ivan Carter coming up at half time. Ivan believes Antawn and Caron can both make it..with Chris Boish as a reserve center.