Some brief thoughts on the NBA Draft over at The Sports Note.
Tag Archive for 'Washington-Wizards'
Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas will be out two to three months with a lateral left meniscus tear in his knee. The injury will require arthroscopic surgery, which will be performed today at Sibley Memorial Hospital by team doctor Marc Connell.
The Wizards (39-35) have eight games remaining in the regular season, are currently seeded sixth in the Eastern Conference and are one full game behind Miami in the Southeast Division. All-Star forward Caron Butler (broken bone in right hand) is already out for six weeks.
Any chance we could rewind things to Friday afternoon and then do everything differently? Cause that was an awful, awful weekend to be a Wizards fan. First Friday night's game against the Raptors, featuring one of the most heartbreaking plays I've ever watched live (I saw it on TV but it was still enough to get me to jump out of my chair and shout in frustration. To wit, Michael Ruffin screws up, as can be seen in this video right here: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw_Y85Mi7Tg[/youtube] (via Deadspin) Now I'm not entirely sure what Mr. Ruffin was trying to do there…but it obviously wasn't a good idea. I think he was trying to throw the ball far up in the air in sort of a half-celebration the games over, half burn the last few seconds off the clock kind of deal but the ball slipped a bit and he ended up giving it right to MoPete who ended up making the shot of his life. And I ended up spilling my drink on myself when the shot went in. And of course the Wizards then went on to lose in OT, which was to be expected after getting a stomach-punch like that. Cut to Sunday when the Wizards, still reeling, played against the Bucks in Milwaukee. The Bucks were without Michael Redd (also no Andrew Bogut) but the Wizards have shown a distressing ability to lose to teams playing without their star players. I was fully prepared for a loss. But then I was pleasantly surprised as my Yahoo Sports scoreboard kept refreshing that the Wizards were actually winning and seemed to have the game in control. I left the house to attend a concert happy in the knowledge that my boys had picked themselves back up and won 121-107. Little did I know that disaster had struck and my man Tuff Juice (Caron Butler) had been injured in the third quarter (broken hand) and more then likely lost for the year. Why God why? It was the type of hustle play that summed up Caron Butler's tenacity and unwillingness to give up. Unfortunately for the Washington Wizards, it also was the play that ended Butler's season.
Milwaukee Bucks guard David Noel rebounded an Antawn Jamison miss in the third quarter of the Wizards' 121-107 victory on Sunday and tossed a long outlet pass to forward Ruben Patterson. Butler could have easily let Patterson finish the routine fast break with an uncontested dunk — and perhaps he should have. Instead, Butler tried to block the shot — and failed. Worse, when Butler's hand slapped the backboard, the pressure of the impact bent back his right index finger, causing a fracture. Butler knew the severity of his injury immediately, looking down at his hand and telling himself, "This thing's broke."
Snip
Butler didn't join the team on its flight to Charlotte afterward and will have an MRI exam today in Washington. He wasn't optimistic after the game. "Second round [of the playoffs], third round, possibly," Butler said when asked about a possible return. "Right now, I probably won't have a jersey on until next season."
How bad is this? Wizards are 2-7 this year without Caron. We were already having a mediocre second half of the year and now we lose one of our Big 3. That doesn't bode well for the playoffs, no matter who we face in the first round (please not the Heat, please). Anyway, like I said, awful weekend to be a Wizards fan.
Only Gilbert Arenas is cool enough to pull off a non-weird mugshot (from last summer's arrest in Miami). I'd give anything to get my high school mugshot.
My WaPo chat domination continues (as my work productivity nosedives): for the second week in a row mines was the first question answered in the weekly Ivan Carter/Michael Lee chat. To wit:
1900 L St.: Has Coach Jordan stated his philosophy when it comes to using the younger guys? His rotation with them seems very random. For a while it was Andray getting the run (and preforming pretty well I thought), now he's been going to Roger Mason first and even sprinkling in Donnell Taylor (who was MIA the first half of the year). Blatche only got 3 minutes last night after a stretch in which I thought he'd established himself in the main rotation a bit. Whats the deal? I'm confused.
Ivan Carter: Here's the deal: Eddie can't consistently count on anyone off of that bench. That's one reason why this team has the lowest scoring bench in the league. To me, that explains why he goes with a: "well, who has it going a little bit toninght?" philosophy. Granted, Roger Mason hasn't played enough to really warrant criticism and he has made shots when he has played. Thing is, Antonio is always going to the bulk of minutes as the first guard off the bench and Eddie is going to stick with Jarvis because he can play the 2 and 3. Donell and Andray and too young/inexperienced to be counted on for night in/night out contributions. That's why Darius Songaila practicing for the first time today is so huge. This team will need him in the final month and in the playoffs.
I actually agree that Songalia coming back will be huge but Ivan's kinda ducking my main point: Coach Jordan has no formula for the rotation beyond using Daniels and Hayes. And why Hayes continues to get so much playing time is a mystery to me, not to mention it drives my old man insane.
I dominate Washington Post chats. Really I do. Got another question answered today:
1900 L St: Do you see the Wizards making any trades before the deadline? I'm not talking about insane "Garnett for Haywood, Jamison and Blatche" deals but more along the lines of something that would shore up our bench. I like Daniels (even if he is in a down year) but Hayes just isn't cutting it. So any potential deals or does Ernie/Eddie view Songaila's return as sort of a mid-season trade? Thanks for your time guys and you do great work.
Ivan Carter: The more I think about where the Wizards are, the more I see Ernie standing pat - unless some deal fell into his lap that would simply be good to good to pass up. Songaila is why. He's getting closer and closer to a return to practice. Yesterday, he ran through plays with Eddie Jordan, Mike O'Koren, Phil Hubbard and Harvey Grant acting as teammates and word is that he could be practicing at full speed within the next two weeks. If that's the case, it's possible to see him getting game action some time in February. That would give him at least two full months to find his legs, blend in with his new teammates and get ready to help in the playoffs. It also shores up Eddie's rotation, giving him a crucial PF/C option of the bench, a guy who can play the pick-and-roll game and stick that 15 to 18 foot jumper that is always there for Wiz big men.
The greatest #1 pick ever, former Wizard and current Laker Kwame Brown, will not in fact be prosecuted for taking a man's birthday cake and throwing it in his face. Stay classy Kwame, stay classy.
Marty Burns has the Wizards up to #3 on his NBA power rankings. Now if I could only sack up and get my Wizards project launched…
Tomorrow my main man Gilbert "Agent Zero" Arenas turns 25 years old. Tonight he's celebrating his birthday by throwing a huge million dollar party…and I'm not going. At one point there was a chance I'd get in but that chance evaporated and so I'm stuck on the outside looking in, banging my head against the wall repeatedly. Who's going to be there instead of me? Busta Rhymes, T.I., The Game, Diddy, Lil Wayne, all the Wizards I bet and of course Arenas. So I'll be missing out on all them and the chance to live up to the dress-code which is "Super Duper Fly" (I did not make that up).
If you get a chance, you really should check out the party's website (yeah, its so big its got its own website) Arenasexpress.com to see what you (and me) are missing out on. I know two people who are going and I've asked that they 1) take lots of pictures so I can look at them tomorrow and hate them for going 2) Take pictures of famous people standing near/with white people so I can photoshop my head onto their bodies and tell people I really was there and 3) if they actually do get to meet Arenas (highly, highly unlikely) they give him my number and tell him I'd like to hangout.
In a last ditch effort to make it into the party I'm going to the game tonight and I'm going to do something to get Gil's attention (shouldn't be that hard, I'll be 10 feet from him) and then ask for an invite. Odds of me paying some astronomical amount of money for one of those black "Arenas Express" cards on eBay? Close to 100%
Update: Here's Gilbert talking about his party:
I mean, everybody’s been talking about it.
It’s the talk of the town. I’ve never heard of a party being the talk of the town.
I’m not really paying attention to it though because it’s after the game. I don’t get all the calls. I’m not paying attention to all the calls. Don’t call me for a party invite.
Don’t call me for a party invite because I’ve been getting them from everybody … “How do I get to the party?” I don’t know. How do you get there?
We’re going to have our calendars out at the party. 0-2 Talent is just trying to start something new here.