"When Life Gives you Lemons you Paint that Sh*t Gold"

Thank you Atmosphere for naming your album with such a pertinent saying, I need it for this blog post! (Side note: got a BWD last Saturday, Blogging While Drunk. It was just a warning this time, but it can get you in some real trouble, like fired).

When I originally watched game 2, everything blurred together and all I remembered was that we played a terrible (insert Charles Barkley impression here) game. I didn't remember playing well at all but I couldn't put my finger on exactly why we were SO bad. I mean, I know they weren't hitting any shots, and that was part of the problem, but what else?

So I re-watched Game 2 last night, and this time, I took notes. Some examples:

• Missed layup
• Wide open Wally
• Gil misses long shot with 24 on the shot clock
• Gil bad shot
• 2-6 FT @ 1:35 in 1st
• Gil loses ball
• Missed layup
• Bad shots
• No passing
• Haywood ejected

There were lots of others in between, even some good ones like good rotations on D, but for pretty much the entire game, the offense was stagnant. Like. Real, real, real bad. I think for about 5 minutes in the 1st quarter we moved the ball, but after that time we simply settled for jump shots or missed easy layups. We stopped moving the ball, we stopped cutting to the basket and we stopped trying to establish any kind of position near the rim. If some of our more open looks had gone in, things would have been a little different, but they weren't, and our guys should have adjusted. Instead, Caron, Jamison and Arenas all decided they were gonna be the one to fix it. They took turns putting their head down, driving the lane and missing layups, sometimes getting a foul (but then missing the free throws). I can't put into words how much I hate seeing players with the Michael Jordan syndrome trying to take over the game by not passing, not spreading the floor, not play TEAM ball. In cases like that, EJ has been able to fix things by slowing down the offense to encourage passing, but this time, nothing worked, and then Haywood was out and the game was over. What I saw in Game 2 was a lack of ball movement, bad shot selection, ok not great D, poor free throw shooting, poor ball control and what I think may have been the worst part, a lack of cohesiveness.

This entire year, our team has played as a TEAM. They shared the ball, helped on D, and had the will to win as a team. What I saw in Game 2 was not the same Wizards team I've seen all year. Now, I know people don't want to point to Gil as the reason, and I'm certainly the last one to NOT want to see him in this series, but at this point, how is he helping? Hear me out.

He has shot poorly this series. So has Deshawn. Now I know, we ALL know, that Stevenson is a streaky shooter, but I think the fact that Stevenson is getting different minutes than he's been getting all year, his game is off. Simple as that. I think if you leave him in for his regular mintues, he starts hitting shots. Gil was unable to close in the end of Game 1 and also has a sprained wrist that affects his shooting (he finished 2-10). His turnovers are up and he's not passing when he needs to. All this considered, and I'd say Gil doesn't necessarily need to play. I'm not saying sit him out, I'm saying don't use him unless you have to. The Wizards without Arenas made it into the Playoffs, I honestly believe that we can beat the Cavs without him if we had to. But since we do have him, let's be smart. Let's beat them like we beat teams during the regular season. I don't know where it may be right to use Gil at this point, but EJ is a smart guy, and I think he could find a role.

Game 1 was a tough loss. Game 2 was an aberration. You know what they say...

When life gives you lemons.....you paint that sh*t gold (and dunk it in their MOTHERF#*%'N faces).

When I watch this game on TV later tonight, I want to feel the energy though the screen. I'm serious. All you people goin to the game better yell as loud as possible. Because you gotta believe...

We got this.

Random Ramblings – Monday 4/14

• I'm sure you've all heard by now, but it's worth mentioning again…Carmelo Anthony was arrested and later released for suspicion of DUI. He is due in court on May 14. (ESPN story for more).
  
• I was a little too tired to do a recap of the game versus the Sixers, but I watched every minute and DAMN!!!! That, my friends, is how you close a game. BREAKING NEWS: THE 4^th QUARTER IS VERY IMPORTANT.
  
• I am very much looking forward to the match-up against the Cavs. Just wanted to let you know that.
• We've got Agent Zero, Tough Juice, and now…? Ladies and Gentleman I present to you The Force, DeShawn Stevenson, who refuses to sit despite multiple injuries. And yes, Jake, I do question his shot selection, and maybe even his beard growing abilities, but I would never question the 80's themed birthday party. (UPDATE: Apparently he already has a nickname, Mr. Accessory Man….though based on his exceptional acting ability, perhaps "The Chameleon" works better. That name also works during the game, as he blends it to become an elite scoring threat behind our Big 3).
  
• Tom Brokaw speaks out against the Dolans, the Garden, and the sorry state of affairs in NY. Oh, and he's not renewing his season tickets. Maybe Jimmy Dolan is hoping he can woo him back with free hot dogs. I doubt it, as it seems Mr. Brokaw has discovered craigslist.
  
• If you haven't already, please help send mosquito preventing bed-nets to Africa via NothingbutNets.
• The Wizards match up against the Pacers tonight, Truth has the preview, quick and easy, exactly how she likes it ;-).
  
• Wizards Insider: Butler and Arenas might not play tonight.
  
• Beasley expected to declare for the NBA draft. Thanks Chad.
  
• Mr. Stern. So you're saying that despite all those emails, you believe Clay Bennett acted in good faith? Really? In that case, I have some swamp-land to sell you. It's only in the 104^th biggest media market, but you don't seem to give a crap about that, as you graciously rip away a storied franchise from the only place they have called home. You, Mr. Stern, are a liar and a thief. I mean seriously folks, we've all known those OKC businessmen wanted the team out of Seattle, we finally have the sorta smoking gun to prove it, and Stern is now basically disregarding it? Unbelievable. If I were a Sonics fan, I would be so pissed at the NBA right now. They are essentially saying they don't care. I don't buy that "we tried" B.S. I understand why Stern is saying what he's saying, but how he sleeps at night is beyond me. I get it, the NBA will never get another sweet arena deal if they buckle to Seattle, but you think what you're doing now is better? You think this improves the image of the NBA. I'd hate to say it, but Mark Cuban is right.
• The Pacers cheerleaders are called Pacemates. Just an FYI.

So Close. SOOOOO Close!!!

We had them on the ropes, and I really thought we could have pulled it off. Still a great game, and although it makes things a little tighter for the 5th spot in the playoffs, I think our guys can come away with a positive attitude as we were able to hang with the Lakers. Hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow's game against Utah, which I think is going to be MUCH tougher than the LaLa Lakers.

BIG game from Nick Young tonight, scoring a season/career high 28 points!!! The kid was just on fire in the 4th quarter and overtime when we really needed him.

Caron Butler. 17 points. 12 rebounds. 12 assists. And a crazy off balance 3 to send the game into overtime. Awesome.



By the way, if you didn't notice, that was from the LA broadcast. See the hand with the finger shoot up after the he hits the shot? How great is that? After that shot I really thought if we could get to overtime that we could win the game. When Fish missed that 3 from the corner, I figured we had the game in the bag (I know, I should have known better). Once in overtime, Young stayed hot and we hung with them almost till the end. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold on in the end. Phil Jackson put Sasha Vujacic on Nick and he missed the last good shot in overtime. Our official last shot was an ugly chuck at the backboard by Butler.

Huge game from Stevenson. 8-12 from behind the arc. Ridiculous. Question, how is that the Wizards drastically improve their shooting after they hire a fantastic shooting coach, yet other teams in the NBA don't seem to be catching on? I mean, why was Hopla even available? If he's as good as his results seem to indicate, I imagine this guy would have been snagged by the Spurs or something. What gives? Not that I want him to go anywhere, I just think that in a highly competitve atmosphere that is professional basketball, some team would have figured this out some time ago.

So next up we're heading to Salt Lake to take on the Jazz. It's going to be tough, but if we can stick 'em on D and keep the turnovers low and get at least 20 assists, I think we can pull out a win.