6:35AM….Dave Johnson checking in….I am eager to see the Wizards get back on the floor tonight. Wednesday was just something that doesn’t make sense. I was at practice Tuesday—team seemed focused–and with the history of the rivalry with Cleveland I do not believe the Wizards were over confident. Bottom line it was a bad night that does not diminish the season long improvement on defense and wins over the Mavericks and Celtics….In tonight’s opponent the Memphis Grizzlies, the Wizards have a chance tp avenge a loss on Memphis that was strange because the Wizards lost on a night when they scored 118 points…..Eddie Jordan on Memphis: They have three-point shooting, athleticism, and size — and they like to push it.  I like to tell our guys that as much as it is a basketball game, it’s an athletic contest also.  We have to be as athletic, and that’s what I felt like we weren’t last night ( Cleveland).”BLOGCAST starts tonight at 7…I hope you can join us

6;35 PM…Dave and Glenn checking in..waiting on starters..it is possible gasol and swift will sit because of injuries

6:42 PM….starters are in…gasol and swift are inactive..sthe grizzlies go wth conley, navarro  miller, gay and milicic..wizards with  daniels stevenson  butler jamison and haywood

6:25 AM…Greetings from Cleveland..Dave Johnson checking in…BLOGCAST starts at 7 tonight...The Wizards are turning heads with their play on defense and another strong effort will be required tonight with the Cavaliers really hitting stride. larry Hughes is playing the point and LeBron is on top of his game…but defense has been the story for the Wizards…After holding the Dallas Mavericks to 84 points in their last game, the Wizards have now held six opponents below 85 points this season.  Not so coincidentally,

Washington won all six games.  Last season, the Wizards held three opponents to a season-low tying 85 points, but never allowed fewer than 85….Eddie Jordan had some great comments on defense after practice…We knew from the beginning it was going to be a process.  It has taken three months to get this point.  It’s not about numbers, as much as what our guys believe in, what we are trying to accomplish and how much we care about it.  Right now we are at the point where we care about it more than any other time since we have been here.“It’s a mindset, and it’s a habit.  I like to say that work ethic is a habit.  You have to work at it every day.  In every drill and every segment of practice, even if we are working on offensive execution, you still have to hear defensive commands.  Defense is always emphasized.It’s like a chain — you can’t have a weak link.  You can’t have a guy who doesn’t care for one possession.  You can’t have guys doing wrong rotations so we work on it and we work on it more.  It’s muscle memory.  It’s visual as far as watching film.  It’s verbal, as far as commands.  It’s all these senses that are involved in trusting each other.”.check back later..again BLOGCAST starts at 7….  10:50am….. Hey everyone this is SportzWiz checking in. I saw a couple of quick links for you to check out and discuss.Tony Meija is the NBA columnist for sportsline.com had a nice little blurb on the Wizards in his power ranking and lists the Wizards as the #8 team in the NBA the highest ranking I have seen this season from the national pundits. Here is the link

Also, Tim Legler of ESPN hands out his grades for each team in the Eastern Conference this season with the Wizards being one of three teams to receive an “A”. Here is the link

6:35PM…..Dave and Glenn checking in from Cleveland…starters are in…hughes at the point, pavlovic, ilgauskas, gooden and  james….daniels, stevenson, haywood, butler, and jamison….

6:38PM…..great buzz in the building…as always caron and antawn were the firts ones shooting on the court at about 5

Hey everyone. Just a quick little note from practice today. After practice Pech and Caron had a shooting competition with Caron knocking off Pech, unfortunately I do not know the score, but I do know that Caron won.

After Caron left, Gilbert showed up and I am not sure who challenged who, but Pech got in a shooting contest with Gil and won.

Not much else to report from practice the team talked a lot about how the defense has played extremely well and how they are gearing up for tomorrow against Cleveland.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Nick Young will not be in this years slam dunk contest. Here is the NBA release. The four contestants will be Gerald Green, Rudy Gay, Jamario Moon and Dwight Howard.

Hey everyone, Etan spoke with the media earlier today. I’m sorry I didn’t post this earlier I didn’t want to take everyone away from the gameday blog. Here are the quotes from the press conference, also there is an article up on washingtonwizards.com.

opening Remarks:

“It’s good to be back. It was a long process, but it feels great to be back with my teammates and to be back on the road to playing the game that I love. I have known that I had a heart murmur since I was young. I found out when I was in middle school. I always knew that eventually I’d need to have something done about it. I thought it was going to be when I was 50 or 60. I’m blessed to have it fixed now.”

On the outcome of the surgery:

“I don’t have a leaky valve anymore. I don’t have a murmur. My first question was can I safely play? Can I safely practice? Can I do all the things I want to do in returning to the game that I love? They told me yes, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

On his recovery:

“After the initial six to eight weeks, they told me I need to take things slow. They put me on a great program. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to rejoin the team. The team doctors and the team physician have to be comfortable. This something that is new to them. They are being extra cautious, which is understandable. I have to let the doctors do all the necessary tests and then I’ll be back with the team.”

More on his recovery:

“Once my sternum heals, it will be like any other break. You have to be careful initially to make sure that it is healed fully before you come back. That is the point that I am at now. My heart is fine. They want to run a few more tests and make sure that my sternum is fully healed.”

On being back with his teammates again:

“It was great. The guys are funny. Everyone knows we have a loose locker room. Everybody welcomed me and were happy to see me back.”

On how he thinks the Wizards have been playing:

“They’ve been playing great. It is really exciting to see. Everybody has been sharing the ball. The young guys have been stepping up. The bench has been productive. Everybody’s been playing great.”

On how he monitored his condition before the surgery:

“It is something that I have known about since when I was in middle school. I have been having echocardiograms and stress tests and following my numbers for a while, and it was time to go in and correct it.”

On having the surgery at the beginning of the season:

“I thought about waiting until the end of the season. I talked to several different specialists and they all said that I could wait, but it was not would they would do. I just had to think about it, pray about it, talk it over with my family, and make my decision.”

WIZARDS HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN

On Etan Thomas:

“It was good to see Etan. It’s good to have a veteran back in the locker room. I’m glad that he’s back to doing what he really loves.”

On Etan’s recovery:

“We understand that he has done everything diligently, he’s gotten himself in shape. He feels good, the doctor’s have given the direction to getting back the right way and he’s going to take those steps to get back. When you listen to him he’s very confident. He said: ‘I feel great and I’m ready to go.”