Quotes From Today’s Practice
Here are a few quotes that we got from after today’s team practice. The Wizards left the Verizon Center around noon and boarded the charter plane on their way to Cleveland. Game One is set for tomorrow at 12:30 pm ET on ESPN and Comcast SportsNet.
Don’t forget to check in here as your favorite Dave Johnson blog live throughout the Playoff Series.
WIZARDS HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN
On getting ready for game one:
“Everything is in place. We’ve got guys in practice. They’re jacked up. They’re really intense. They’re ready to play. They’re having a lot of fun. It’s just exciting. It’s a great opportunity. We are very proud of where we are.â€
On Gilbert Arenas coming off the bench:
“Right now we are looking at game one and he is going to come off the bench. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to game two.â€
On defending LeBron James:
“With a player like LeBron James, your team defense has to be great. I don’t think any one man can stop him. With that in mind, you need to have team defense that can be more effective than individual defense. Our keys are rebounding, team defense, and offensive organization and execution. Those are the three keys for us to win the series.â€
WIZARDS GUARD GILBERT ARENAS
On being healthy going into the playoffs:
“We’re excited. We haven’t been together in the playoffs for two years. We can’t wait to get out there. There’s a lot of hype in this series and we’re ready to get to Cleveland.â€
On his role in the first round:
“I’m an assassin. I get buckets. I haven’t played in a long time, but my shot is still there. When I come off the bench, there’s going to be some trouble.â€
On how his knee is feeling:
“It’s feeling good. I took the last two games off because we already figured out who we were going to play. I wanted to let it rest so I can use it in the tournament. That’s what it is. It’s a tournament.â€
On Charles Barkley’s comments:
“It’s his opinion. Obviously he’s going to be watching. They have LeBron (James). We have Antawn (Jamison), myself and Caron (Butler). We’ll take our chances. We’ll take our chances.â€
On his silence:
“I didn’t want to hear, ‘How is your knee?’ ‘How does it feel to be back?’ ‘Are you still going to opt out?’. Let’s worry about the playoffs; then I’ll be back at it.â€
On the difficulty of staying quiet:
“In a couple of months it’ll be summer and there will be nothing to talk about. We’ll just be sitting there talking about baseball all day. So let’s get excited again.â€
On Cleveland’s home court advantage:
“Home court is important. If we can go in there and steal one game then it’s back to our home court.â€
Posted: April 18th, 2008 under Wizards.
Comments
Comment from neal
Time April 18, 2008 at 2:15 PM
End of the year stats:
FG%
Haywood 52.8
Thomas (career) 51.7
Blatche 47.4
Butler 46.6
Daniels 45.9
Songaila 45.8
Mason 44.3
Young 43.9
Jamison 43.6
Arenas 39.8 (career 42.7)
Stevenson 38.6
McGuire 37.9
Pecherov 35.2
What sticks out to me is Blatche’s shooting. Songaila and Mason recovered pretty well after slow starts. What’s up with Pecherov?
3 point %
Young 40.0
Mason 39.8
Stevenson 38.3
Butler 35.7
Jamison 33.9
Pecherov 28.3
Arenas 28.2 (career 35.8)
Seems to me this is the best year we’ve had in this area. And I’m looking forward to Young, Mason and Stevenson can do even better.
FT%
Songaila 91.8
Butler 90.1
Mason 87.3
Young 81.5
Stevenson 79.7
Daniels 77.6
Arenas 77.1 (career 80.9)
Jamison 76.0
Haywood 73.5
Blatche 69.5
Pecherov 64.5
Thomas (career) 59.8
McGuire 43.8
Pretty good, but we can do better. The shooting coach needs to work his magic with more of these guys.
Rebounds per 48 minutes
Thomas (career) 13.3
Haywood 12.6
Jamison 12.4
Blatche 12.4
McGuire 12.0
Pecherov 10.0
Songaila 9.3
Butler 8.0
Young 5.1
Arenas 5.0
Stevenson 4.5
Daniels 4.4
Mason 3.7
OK, but we can do better. We must have the best rebounding bunch of forwards around (including Blatche). It will be good to get Thomas back. Mason is big enough to do better.
Assists per 48 minutes
Daniels 7.4
Arenas 6.5
Butler 5.9
Stevenson 4.8
Songaila 4.6
Mason 3.9
McGuire 3.6
Young 2.7
Jamison 1.8
Haywood 1.6
Pecherov 1.1
Thomas (career) 1.0
Antonio, you da man! Songaila and McGuire did well.
Steals per 48 minutes:
Butler 2.6
Arenas 2.3
Songaila 1.9
McGuire 1.8
Young 1.7
Jamison 1.6
Daniels 1.5
Blatche 1.4
Stevenson 1.2
Mason 1.2
Pecherov 1.1
Thomas (career) .8
Haywood .7
Butler and Arenas are terrific. Seems to me like Stevenson and Mason could do better.
Turnovers per 48 minutes:
Arenas 4.8
Young 4.2
McGuire 3.4
Blatche 3.3
Butler 3.1
Songaila 2.9
Thomas (career) 2.6
Pecherov 2.6
Haywood 2.4
Daniels 2.0
Stevenson 1.9
Jamison 1.7
Arenas wins, hands down.
Personnel fouls per 48 minutes:
Blatche 7.4
McGuire 6.6
Songaila 6.3
Thomas (career) 6.0
Young 5.7
Haywood 4.7
Pecherov 4.7
Mason 4.2
Butler 3.3
Jamison 3.0
Arenas 2.9
Stevenson 2.0
Daniels 1.7
Blatche wins, hands down. Haywood manages to defend well w/o getting a lot of fouls.
Comment from gee wiz
Time April 18, 2008 at 2:25 PM
he is a little motivation, if needed. well at least steven a smith thinks we can beat the wizards. like charles, steven a does not bite his tongue, the only difference is charles played ball. but that is not the big picture……. remember shaq n kobe just could not beat the jazz, they lost twice to the jazz though they never beat them in the playoffs, they never got their third try but they went on to win 3 championships.
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Steve A. Smith is annoying though…
Peter Vescey is also on our side, as he was stating the other day on nbatv.
Comment from gee wiz
Time April 18, 2008 at 4:27 PM
wow cold pizza… mariotti and woody hates the wiz and stevenson! their like who is he???? well he is only the missing piece to this puzzle we have lacked. now like i said before he has alot of pressure on him……. he brought the attention to himself. he must perform. secondly after his performance last year he has to do better. but this must also be said…. the cavs have lebron, but they also have hustle with verajo and ben, and solidity with big zydrunas. on our side…. the cavs would not have made it last year if it were not for our injuries. secondly sure gil is just coming back….. but u cannot prepare a game plan for a team without knowing their consistencies and abilty. who knows what gil will bring off the bench, woody said gil is gonna hurt them by coming off the bench, well gil missed 68 games….. u dont make the playoffs winning 24 games u idiot! im sorry i love woody! secondly their point gaurds are going to be out of breath gaurding him off tha bench. thirdly antonio did play in san antonio with duncan so we do have experience. oh and like gilbert, daniel gibson is coming off an injury to. we have to come out and take there heart of their chest. because lebron thinks he is superman. and he always has the refs on his team. we must go in their and stun them. we must keep our confidence and our poise
Comment from dopeboyfresh
Time April 18, 2008 at 4:37 PM
hey, does anyone know about the sonics moving to Oklahoma city………..
I already thought of a new name for the team and everything!!!!……………………..
The Oklahoma Knights
Colors: Orange, Silver and Black…………….
and a friend of mine, who’s an artist, drew it up for me…………………….
I just don’t have it….
ANYWAY…………..
GO WIZARDS!!!……………. Wizards can win this game and the series………. they’re going to shock the world………………………………………
Comment from gee wiz
Time April 18, 2008 at 4:44 PM
and another thing, what is wrong with a man standing up to another. this is a david versus goliath issue. who is anyone to say knowone should stand up or challenge lebron. that sounds like a defeated man. yall should applaud deshawn… cause he is simply saying im somebody to. remember deshawn aint gotta score he just gotta defend, the pressure aint on him to win the game, it is on lebron, twan, gil, and caron. ne way knott wrote a very fine article on cleveland’s page.
Comment from TAG FLIP
Time April 18, 2008 at 5:36 PM
i’d say the new oklahoma city team be named “Oklahoma City Cyclones” because oklahoma is always getting slammed with tornadoes.
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 5:53 PM
It’s sooo funny because on gilbertology.net it states that the “Media Hiatus is Over”….yeah, I thought this too until I saw this: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/8049300?MSNHPHMA
It’s titled (on the msn [sports] home page as: “Arenas ready for LeBron: ‘I’m an assassin.’” –Wow–
I guess that if Tawn (or anyone else from the Wizards) said in an interview: “Oh, I gotta take a sh**…” (Tawn or any Wizard DIDN’T say this by the way), I think that the media would completely turn that comment around with the following: “Twan just sh**ted on Lebron and the Cavs.”
It’s very easy to hate the media, seriously…
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 5:59 PM
The Oklahoma City Duranter: It’s where him hogging the ball *works* for HIM and his teammates…
Comment from Wizards4Life
Time April 18, 2008 at 7:50 PM
all this just makes it 2x as fun to watch the game i am so hyped i cant stand still its awsome no matter what anyone says it will all be told when the one man team gets the L and we get the W
Comment from neal
Time April 18, 2008 at 8:00 PM
I think we know what to expect from Arenas – good but not his old self. What I’m worried about is Butler. If he’s his old self we’ll win the series. If not, it’s going to be a struggle.
Comment from wiz-skins07
Time April 18, 2008 at 9:17 PM
alright guys i’ve came up with down diff. ideas
1. QUEEN JAMES or PRINCESS JAMES
2. you guys know the little beware of dog signs well mine will say
“BEWARE OF AGENT ZERO”
Comment from wiz-skins07
Time April 18, 2008 at 9:22 PM
or have you guys seen those little guys pissing on team logos…well might do that with the cavs logo getting pissed on
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 9:25 PM
Ok y’all, I’m goofy as hell. This has nothing to do with anything. Why was I on youtube just now, and this isn’t funny, but a situation happened just recently here in Milwaukee. I’ll post the video, but the funny part isn’t the situation, but the lady in the lime green coat…If y’all see this, look how she reacts…or not…
Comment from ant62789
Time April 18, 2008 at 9:29 PM
wassup yall im no im late but i got this good feeling about tomorrow espcially my boi comin off the bench..o yea we gon put up some points….good luck tomorrow wizards. LETS REWRITE THE RULES…LETS GO WIZ’S..
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Those are cool; I especially like Queen James – put a little tiara too lol…pink
What up ant!…
Comment from Bridge
Time April 18, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Ok, after this that’s it (until tomorrow of course). This is funny:
Comment from Jason C
Time April 18, 2008 at 11:45 PM
I won’t be able to blog today but will be watching the wiz… time to walk the walk.
Comment from Phemy
Time April 19, 2008 at 4:20 AM
I CANT WAIT….damn, let’s goooo WIZ
…and wiz-skins, somethin with “queen james” will do fine i think, and like bridge said, some pink, some glitter whatever…yeah ;>
laters,
Phemy
(game starts here at ~7pm, very pleasant!)
Comment from AUNDRA
Time April 19, 2008 at 6:19 AM
KNOCK KNOCK WHO IS IT!
ITS LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD!
YES CAN I HELP YOU.
I’M LOST AND I JUST NEED TO GET IN OUT THE COLD!
WILL THE CAVALIERS LET THE FOX IN THE HOUSE?
ONE IF THEY EVEN THINK ABOUT LETTING THE WIZARDS IN THE HOUSE IT’S OVER.
TWO IF THEY GET IN THEN IT’S FEEDING TIME! SO CAVS YOU HAVE ONLY ONE CHOICE!
Comment from wiz-skins07
Time April 19, 2008 at 6:46 AM
Phemy well thats a change isnt it…your usually up at 4 5 in the morning…
Comment from wiz-skins07
Time April 19, 2008 at 6:53 AM
Bridge yea…i was think of puting a little tiara…imma buy the poster board its gonna be a FLOURESENT PINK…(so that it stands out in the WHITE-OUT!!!)…and imma put some glitter on it wth little hearts…lol…thats gonna seem a little homo for a dude to be holding that up though…lol
Comment from wiz-skins07
Time April 19, 2008 at 7:07 AM
DJ or SportsWiz…no Wizards Game Day Today???you guys usually have that up and running at about 6 am….
GO WIZARDS
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time April 19, 2008 at 7:07 AM
Aaaargh!! I have to drive to Baltimore at… 12:30. It’s a 2 hour drive from where I am, and I’m going to *miss the game.* I can’t believe it. I’m really unhappy about this.
Comment from Tom Mandel
Time April 19, 2008 at 7:08 AM
You guys better blog this contest into the Win column for me, ok?
Write a comment
You need to login to post comments!
Comment from gee wiz
Time April 18, 2008 at 2:05 PM
it’s funny how reporters say stevenson started this whole or’deal but james said something about deshawn then he responded. so actually lebron started it. but the wiz are out to be the bad guys. well cleveland decided to take practice off, guess they dont think it is necessary to practice for the wizards. i dont care how the wizards win it. but they must win this series for many reasons, this city, the respect 4 this team around the league, deshawns and gils comments, and most of all for themselves. oh yea and for us… the bloggers! well i unfortunately will miss the game 2morrow, my graduation starts at 10am, so its my big day also! some would say good luck….. but winning for us isnt look, as my floridians sayyyyy GET ER DUN!