Guess Who's Back?

Yup.

Second, ouch. Losing a game like that sucks.

Mr. "not playin tonight" played last night. I'm happy he did. But here's the thing. See, I probably should have known better, but I believed him. As such, I proceeded to skip the game live and watch it on DVR later. But then I ended up at a bar watching the Mavs/Warriors game. Well, you know that they couldn't let that bit of news just go unmentioned during that broadcast. Sure, I probably shouldn't have been watching that game if my goal was to remain clueless about the Wizards until later. I was a little disappointed, cause I was really looking forward to watching him re-enter the game live. I was gonna bust out the jersey and everything. Gil man, that was a little un-cool, but it's ok, cause you hit your first three shots out the gate, so we're cool.

I did watch some of the game later, but since I had already seen replays of the finish, it made it a little tough to sit through the whole thing. I watched Gil's entrance, most of the 2nd quarter and the last few minutes of the 4th. Check out the GameFlow from PopcornMachine, my man Gil was a -8 for the night. That was the largest negative value last night. Now, I'm not saying that it's not understandable, but it is something to take notice of. The team was playing well without him, and it's important that he doesn't mess up the flow. Also on the GameFlow you'll see that the Wizards dominated the whole game, except for the very end, which makes this loss all the more frustrating. That brings me to my next point...

The Wizards need the win vs Miami. We simply cannot afford to fall any farther in the standings. Sure, it's a three-way tie and we own the series on Toronto, but Philly owns the series on us and need to be in a better position before we actually play them. At least, I think so.

Hat tip to BulletsForever, who called it on Gil's ploy last night.

One more thing I am not going to talk about (yet) because it would be all speculation are potential injuries to Stevenson and Jamison. As of midnight on the West Coast, this was BF's latest, via Ivan Carter.

Arenas Cleared To Play, But....

He won't be playing the Bucks tonight. Ivan Carter of the Washington Post has the story. What are my thoughts, you say? Thought you'd never ask.

He doesn't want to have to guard a high scoring guard like Michael Redd. Although Redd does not get into the lane as much as some other guards in the league, I do seriously doubt Gil would be able to keep up with him. Coming off a 2-3 road trip tied for 5th in the East, we really need the wins. Keeping Arenas out is probably a smart move. If you buy into this (I do) then perhaps we will see him when the Wiz play the Heat.

Then again, maybe he's just waiting for that nationally televised game vs. Boston, when presumably their starters will be on the bench and Gil can get back at one of the few teams he actually did play this season. Nah. That is SO unlike Agent Zero.

UPDATE: Thoughts from BulletsForever. I had similiar thoughts, and I would not be the least bit surprised if it was true.