Wizards Win 2nd of 4 Quarters Versus Pistons!!

That's Right!!! We WON!!!!.....the SECOND QUARTER!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!!! Man that quarter was awwwwwwe-some!!!!!!!! It was like, we were good!!! and stuff. Check this out, you aren't going to believe it. It totally says the Wizards beat the Pistons! By 11 points in the second quarter! Who CARES about the other 3!!! I mean, ONE GOOD QUARTER!!!!!!!! Check out these splediferous stat lines, they is down right NASTY! (Oh yeah, I said it.)

Player	FG	3pt	Assist	+/-
Nick Young	4-4	0-0	1	+11
Caron Butler	3-4	0-1	2	+13
Antawn Jamison	3-5	1-2	0	+16
Juan Dixon	3-4	1-2	2	+18

stats from popcornmachine.net)

Notice the highest +/- right therr? That therr is Juan Dixonrrrrrrrrrr NO FUCKIN WAY! Juan Dixon? Holy Crap!?! You know, everyone said he could shoot, but damn!!! 3-4 from the field and 1-2 from behind the arc?!?! That's about a 66% shooting percentage! That's good enough to be the 2nd best scorer on the Wizards! In the second quarter....!!! Nick Young was PHE-NOMA-NOMA-INAL!! That's two NOMA's!!! I don't even know what a NOMA is (currently a tie between a disease caused by malnutrition or THIS Danish restaurant (Danish like from Norway, not danish like the breakfast pastry.))

And duuuuuude!!! You shoulda seen the defense. It was awesome. There was aggressiveness, quickness, agility, talking, and even some sick blocks. Your typical Etan Thomas elbows flew around, but this time, he really meant it. And ALLLLL of it, and I mean ALLL the good stuff was in the 2nd quarter!!

Okay, I think that's enough with the exclamation points. But if I may take an aside for a brief moment (rhetorical questions...the manna of bloggers everywhere). What the HELL happened in quarters 1 and 3? And to a lesser but no less serious or inconsequentially bad extent, the fourth quarter?? How many big words can I fit into such a long winded sentence without trying? The first quarter, the Wizards, as a team, shot 33% from the field and was only 1-4 from behind the arc. The 3rd and 4th we were around 50%, which was nice, but it all came from jump-shots and there was very little passing of the ball. In other words, it was a lot of:

Deshawn/Daniels/Young brings up the ball.
Run the Princeton weave above the arc.
Get ball to Caron/Antawn or Young/Stevenson to make something for themselves.

Kinda reminds me of this.

That's it. I've figured out the Wizards offense. Now I must say, during the second quarter, I do not necessarily think we played much better than the 3rd or 4th (the first was truly terrible, really, it wasn't pretty), however, in the 2nd, the shots fell. There was no more driving, cutting, or looks inside than there were later in the game, we simply made more shots. And by the way, isn't shooting coach Randy Ayers still with the team? I mean, why are we missing SO MANY shots? Yeah, Detroit's D was good, but they didn't contest ALL the shots we missed. (I wonder where I can find numbers on that????)

If we could just get more shots to fall, and drive inside a bit more, I think we could win some games. One thing I think could help is a lineup change. I know it's too early now, but I just don't think what we start out with on the court is going to pan out in the long run until Arenas comes back. I say you can keep Daniels at the point, unless Nick strings together a run of "super duper that was so awesome I need to go to the pooper" games, at which point I would say try the switch, especially if Arenas' return is delayed. I know it's not his best position, but I gots to leave Stevenson in at the 2. He's streaky, I know, but he's been pretty good on average, and I can take that. Besides, he can't feel his face. I stick with Caron and Antawn at 3 and 4, but at 5, I really gotta pull Etan Thomas.

Dear Etan,

I like you dude, seriously, your energy is awesome and the fact that you came back so quickly is a testament to how hard you worked, but there is this minor issue of you not being able to put the ball in the basket from within 3 feet. I know you may eventually get there, and with Haywood out you will see plenty of playing time off the bench, but unless you figure it out soon, we gotta replace you. I know it may suck to be replaced by JaVale "Gumby" McGee or Andray "the Tease" Blatche, but if we don't get some interior scoring, it's going to make it tough to even make the playoffs. I mean, have you seen the Sixers? Or the Raptors? Or the Celtics or Hawks? Forget about Rose in Chicago or Wade, Marion and Beasley in Miami??!?! So with that, score some points in the paint for please sit down.

Thanks buddy!

--
Me

Yes, I'd replace Etan Thomas with McGee or Blatche. (BTW, thank the Pistons announcers for "the Teaser"). Probably Blatche first because he's got more experience, but if McGee could realize some of that potential real fast and put on a couple pounds so he doesn't get pushed around like Dust in the Wind, I really think he could help. I'm not even totally sold myself, still lots of time to see if these starting five can pull out something that resembles a win.

So now the Wizards head up to Milwaukee on Wednesday to play the 1-2 Bucks. What to expect? I have no idea. Seriously, I'd love to see a win, but by the looks of the slow start we're havin, I'd be happy with just winning two out of four quarters.

PS - He's mad! He's mad! He's really, really mad! (ok, that's an exaggeration and also a bad rip-off from the King of Pop).

(I must also thank this guy for his tips on tables in blogs)

...And We're Back

That's right, the Swog is back. It's a new season, and I know all of you missed my high school humor and super duper wit. Plus, I couldn't stay away, blogging is an addiction. Not like crack er nothin, that's gross and really bad for you (I hear). It's more like being addicted to the Orange Chicken at Panda Express. I mean, that shit is really good. I tell myself I don't need it, but I'm just foolin myself. Of course I do.

Maybe they sprinkle the crack into the sauce!

And you know what else? I need to blog. I need to talk about the Wizards, the NBA, and every once in a while, really dumb shit that bothers me, and every other once in a while when I'm not blogging about shit that bugs me, I'll talk about hot cheerleaders. Everybody loves hot cheerleaders. But the Wizards played a game last night, first one of the season, and I made sure to watch every second. What follows is an almost true account of what transpired.

I ate a burrito during the second quarter. It was good. It was during this time the Wizards started to play particularly well. Or so it seemed. The first quarter had been filled with some made 3's and a couple 18 footers to go along with our 3-10 shooting under the rim. After such a poor performance, I felt like some guacamole was necessary. Some hot sauce too. So I opened the little hot sauce container, unrolled my burrito and proceeded to pour said hot sauce onto said burrito. Same with the guac. Now comes the re-wrap. During this time, EJ was throwin some spicy chicken at his players, explaining to them that they need to get to the rim. Maybe it wasn't spicy chicken. But
I found some on my shorts so I figured it had to have been him. Whatever he said to (or threw at) them, it worked, because the 2nd quarter was mucho better. Blatche calmed down, ET stopped trying to look for shots and became a facilitator, and Jamison actually HIT a 3-pointer (his first and only of the game). Although the Wizards were only up by two at this point, they were doing a much better job defending in the paint, allowing only 2 baskets on 5 attempts. You do know why, right? It was my burrito. Burrito-power. But anyway, I was about half-way through my burrito when half-time rolled around but I was pretty stuffed, so I decided to take a burrito break.

And you can too. Please take 2 minutes and 31 seconds of your time to learn the history of the word burrito from my favorite schoolteacher and yours, Hot For Words.



...I didn't know either, don't feel bad.

So back to the game. When the second half began, so too did the reconquest of my burrito. But something didn't look right in the 3rd quarter. Maybe it was that our 2nd basket didn't come until 6:09 in? Or maybe it was that the first had been nearly 5 minutes prior? Perhaps it was the guacamole/bean/burrito juice on my shorts? Or maybe it was the Nets' 6-7 shooting inside the paint. Nah, it was probably Jamison's 4 missed 3-pointers. It definitely was not the rumble in my stomach screaming Hibachi! (In fact, it was a slow mumble, something like "doooooop" or "chuuuuute", I couldn't tell). Whatever it was, it was sucking. But my burrito was still good, so I hadn't lost hope. It's the first game of a LONG season, and we were playing the Kifferson-less Nets (ahhh, but you say they themselves were playing the Areewood-less Wizards, and you would be correct, and I would hate you for it). But seriously folks, what happened? We seemed to have a plan in the first half, and in the 2nd, everything seemed to not work. But what was worse, was when plays didn't work, everyone would stand around and wait for whomever had the ball to do something. I think I saw MAYBE 3-4 cuts through the lane when plays stopped working. I will say this. JaVale McGee can friggin rebound. And block too. I swear, you could tie sheets to that dude's arms and legs and para-glide his ass all the back to Barcelona. We missed all 7 shots around the arc on the right side of the court and only made 2 on the left side. Although they went 4-7 inside the paint, the Nets simply dominated the 3rd quarter. But you know what? I'm used to that. The Wizards wouldn't be the Wizards if they didn't slack off in the third quarter after playing a particularly good half. So I continued watching. And eating. (Yeah, it's a large burrito, so what?).


1/1000000 scale

The 4th quarter was not much better. 4-11 from the field, 1-5 behind the arc, 14 total rebounds and -386 assists. We got close, but in the end, that VC 3-pointer sealed the deal. I was upset. My burrito was gone, the Wizards had lost their season opener, at home no less, and soon, I was gonna have to make a trip to the bathroom real soon. I simply HAD to read the newest Maxim. I know it's a very long season, and truthfully, I think the Wizards played well, they are simply rusty. I wish EJ could figure out a way around that, cause it seems like it happens every year. We overcame a rough start last year, but I didn't wear my jersey and I couldn't even attend this year, so it HAS to be different.

Overall, I like McGee. I liked him when I saw him in Vegas at Summer League and in pre-season, and I liked that EJ had enough confidence to put him in tonight. Dee Brown made some nice passes, but I'm still undecided. He was ok at Summer League, but not great. I'll be happy when Gil is back. Juan Dixon wasted 5 possessions by chucking up shots, only going 1-4 from the field and o'fer 2 from behind the arc. I would have liked to see DMac in the game a bit more. I know he's not a scorer, but he always seems to have a positive affect when he's on the floor (I will prove this, one day). Jamison needs to either hit 3's or stop taking them, one or the other. He was ice cold tonight. As a team, we need to pass more. The 18 assist total simply will not cut it. We rarely win when the assist total is under 20. Committing 15 turnovers and going 37% from the field didn't help either. But like I said, I'm not worried (yet). I've got plenty of time to worry before Gil comes back.

It was fun speaking to you all again. I hope you enjoyed my burrito as much as I did. Now I have to go recycle it.

I Need This. WE, Need This.

As I awoke to the buzzing of my alarm this morning, the normally bright sunshine that is omnipresent around southern California was nowhere to be found. Today, according to Accuweather, was to be cloudy and cold (relatively speaking, a high of 55 with mild wind isn't bad on that other coast). But there was something else wrong this morning when I woke up, and it wasn't because I was in some strangers hotel bathroom or felt like I might have been missing a kidney, no, this wrong-ness felt more Wizard related.

I think I'm legitimately worried. It's the first time this post-season that I felt unsure of the Wizards chances (the last time I felt this dismayed was watching Gil miss those 2 free throws). I have always stood by them, believing unflinchingly in their ability to win. I even picked the Wizards to win in all in a bracket with some friends. Over Boston, over Detroit, over LA and over the Spurs. It was worth the $5 for me show by complete belief in their ability to win. Now, with our backs up against the wall heading into the Q, I am unsure if we can do it. As mentioned by Prada over at BulletsForever, lots of things went wrong in Game 4. There was no individual player, no individual moment, and no individual performance factor that stood out (ok, maybe offensive boards). I was so upset after watching Game 4 that I couldn't even talk about it, let alone blog about it. That last second shot by Gil, all the missed 3's, the missed rebounds, it all weighed on me. I decided later in the day that I had to let that game go. Much like a player, a blogger must learn to move on as well, as does a fan. But how does a player, a blogger, or a fan come back from a loss like that? How do you look at a game where despite losing the rebounding battle badly, despite your poor shooting, and despite mistakes of the other team, you still manage to stay close AND lose? I don't know. That's where I'm at.

Usually I'd sit here and say we have to get aggressive on those boards, but we knew that. Or we have to have better shot selection, or more assists, or sit Stevenson when he's cold, but what will that do? Frankly, I think we have played reasonably well enough to win at least 3 of the 5 games, yet we only have 1 victory. Something has got to change, but I don't even know what it is. I know the Wizards want this win. I know they (myself included) want to beat the Cavs VERY badly. The problem couldn't (and shouldn't) be a lack of desire. So whatever it is they need, I hope they find it.

I, and many other fans, have poured their heart and soul into the club and this year was going to be the year we made it past the Cavs. The year when we could tell Lebron and his rag-tag group of rotating role players that we are not a team to be messed with. That the Wizards are the #1 team in the East, a spot we held briefly when all 3 guys were healthy last season. I still believe in this team, and I hope they do to, cause I swear, I really need this.

PS - Please, please, PLEASE do not let Lebron go baseline this time. I'm begging you!

"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.

I'm Drunk and the Wizards Lost

1. Yes. I'm really drunk and yes, I'm really going to write a blog post in my current state. 2. I do not believe my drunkenness has anything to do with the Wizards losing.

Why am I drunk? Well, the game on the West coast started at 9:30am...sweet. However, before I could enjoy the game, I received a call of a very personal matter that pretty much ruined my day/week/month. Without going into details, I"ll just say that the other people/person in this this post isn't/aren't held in the same regard as she was when I wrote the post. So I was already angry/pissed/upset/excited/confused and many other emotions before I began watching the game.

Once the game started I felt a bit better. It was going real well. Agent Zero hit his 3's, the Wizards were winning and dominating in most aspects of the game. At half-time, I decided it was time to start drinking (approx. 11am). The Wiz were ok, but I was still out of it. Once I got to beer 3 (about the 4th quarter) I was feeling a lot better. When we got deep in the 4th quarter, shit started goin bad. I was becoming an angry drunk, yellin at the screen and what-not, and then Arenas decided to chuck up some shots that I gotta say, were terrible. And I let the people sitting next to me know that. He really should have passed the ball in those end of game situations after he realized nothing was dropping. So back to the alcoholism. I decided that to make myself feel better after the loss the only real answer was to keep drinking. So I did.

I speak to you now after a solid # of beers and a 40 (I had to stop so I could drive home), and 10 minutes of spell-check. And instead of working on the 15-page paper I have due on Wednesday, that I haven't even started, I'm gonna keep drinking. That's right, I'm gonna make it so Game 1 (and a couple other things) never happened.

PS - I really could have used a win today, would have made the rest of the day that much easier.

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.

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.

"They Ran Into a Buzzsaw"

Phil Chenier is right, but man, that was embarrassing. 42 point loss, worst of the season, tied for 6th worst all time in franchise history. Not having Butler or Daniels really hurt and Jamison just couldn't carry the load again. It's a tough loss but it's not like it's not expected. The 3rd game in 4 nights is hard, especially on the road. Now factor in a tough overtime loss to the Lakers and it's no surprise the Jazz simply dismantled us. I mean, I have a feeling we would have had trouble with the Bobcats, let alone the Jazz. Simply put, the Jazz are really, really good. I bet their lockers are made of rich mahogany. The first half was an a seminar on how to run the pick and roll, not to mention the constant cutting to the hoop. Who woulda thought cutting to the hoop would result in points? And on defense? If those who watch the Wizards regularly can tell you where the ball is going once the play starts, you know full well that stuff is in the scouting report. I remember a stretch in the 2nd quarter where D-Will correctly anticipated the pass from the top on it's way around the horn at least 4 out of 5 times. It didn't matter if we screened him off or not, he knew exactly where to go. It's not like every other player in the league doesn't have access to this information, it just seems like the better teams, I don't know, actually pay attention. So I think what I'm saying is that I would not want to play the Jazz in the playoffs. Not without all 3 All-Stars healthy. They are just too good.

I like to think about the quality of good teams based on how well they are able to challenge or beat us. When you think about all the other elite teams, which ones have we struggled with this year? Celtics? Nope. Opening night doesn't count. Pistons? Eh, we all know we can beat them. Lakers? Stayed with them last night, that's for sure. Hornets? Beat them on their own floor. Suns, Rockets? Not in my Swog. That leaves the Spurs and Jazz. I mean, we lost games to other top teams, but not in a way that shows what I perceive as dominance. In other words, they didn't kick our ass.

We are now essentially tied with a tumbling Toronto for 5th in the East. Philly is a game behind us and Atalanta another 3 games behind them. So where does that leave us? We have 8 games left. If we don't go at least 4-4, we may be in some serious trouble. Hopefully we can get back on track at home with wins vs. the Bucks and the Miami D-Leaguers. After that, it's a tough stretch: at Chicago, home vs. Boston and at Detroit. I think we are going to need two of those three, which will bring us to our 4 win minimum. After Detroit, we come home to face the Sixers. Now, a lot can change in a week, the Sixers could lose a few. Despite what Henry says, they are a young team and they may just run out of steam. Our final two, home vs. Indiana and away vs. Orlando. By that time, Orlando will hopefully be benching some starters so we could finish that last stretch. That leaves us somewhere between 7-1 and 3-5 to finish the season. I'll be watching.

The playoffs are coming, I can smell it.

What the F$&K?

What the hell was that? I mean, WHAT THE F?!?! I don't event have a smart ass comment. That was simply disgusting.

The Past 10 Days

Ok, this post is a long time coming. I'll start with an apology of sorts. I haven't posted anything in a while. As this is by no means a money making professional blogging operation, when life happens, the blog takes a backseat. Well, life is happening, nothing bad really, but just a lot of stuff. However I have been coming up with great topics for posts so hopefully as stuff slows down I'll be able to really get back to the splediferous quality you have come to expect from The Swog. The first of those topics is the next post. Since I last posted, the Wizards started losing, Jamie Lynn Spears got pregnant, the Bulls fired Scott Skiles, and the Blazers won their 11th game in a row (someone needs to keep an eye on Abbott, he might keel over and die from a heart attack). Wow.

The Wizards losing was inevitable. I have been unable to watch the games very closely so I'm going to reserve opinion for a later date. Based on what I've seen and heard, I'm not worried. Yet.

Jamie Lynn Spears. As Simmons would say "I wish there were a way to bet on stuff like this."

Skiles. Also inevitable. Random find of the day: While going through old baseball and basketball cards there were lots of goodies, including a Scott Skiles card from his Magic days. (I also found Isiah Thomas' and Kevin Pritchards' from his days with the Vancouver Grizzlies...CRAZY! Too bad they don't have GM cards, I'm sure the stats would be pretty reversed these days).

Blazers. I got nothin.

Random Ramblings - 12/12

So, yeah, no posts in a day and a half. I had a thing going there for a while where I posted everyday. Not gonna happen this week. Got lots of stuff to do. But if I may go back to the Nets game for a moment...

When I saw the Stevenson dunk about to happen as he came down the court, his face said he was going to dunk the ball. He knew RJ might catch up with him but dude, when he took that ball strong to the hole....we have this.



Roger Mason Jr actually hit shots in the Nets game, and then goes off for 17 versus Minny. Sweet.

We've got Miami up next, which will not be easy, not without Gil. I think that as long as someone, maybe Stevenson, can stay in front of DWade we'll have a chance.

Look for a big game out of Haywood, he always has big games when people count him out and I'm sure that, being a national game, the talking heads will doubt that he will be able to handle Shaq. But watch out. I'd say he gets a double-double easy.

We broke the Miami losing streak last year, but we had Gil at that time. We need not to underestimate this Miami team. They may be stinkers at 6-15 right now, but anything can happen when Shaq and DWade are on the floor. We should be ok on defense, I think our strategy of switching will work with Miami because I don't think their other scorers will kill us. We should be able to dominate the boards on both ends of the floor as well.

So while I was not blogging, I was missing the Blog Show debut of Domi.Nick (by the way, Dominic seems to be getting into rhythm in the games, which is nice, I was beginning to get frustrated) and more amazing things about the Wizards.

Bullets Forever had a birthday. Happy birthday. Beers are on you :)

AND

They figured out why we are better.

Five reasons why some people, and the Wizards, are awesome

I'll probably have a recap/follow-up/post-op of last nights game up later today (including an Agent Steinz sighting). I was at the game last night, and I have some thoughts concerning why some people, and the Wizards, are awesome. Thus...

1. They surprise you when you least expect it.
2. They win (I win! One to nuthin'!).
3. For 2.5 hours during a game, they help you escape from real life.
4. They make me dinner.
5. They don't ask for anything in return, just some lovin'.

I wax poetic because at this time, when I am usually at work, I am at home. Friday was my last day at work as I am going to be attending Graduate School in sunny San Diego in January (don't worry, this internets lets you blog from anywhere). I celebrated this weekend, and as I mentioned above, it was awesome, and it was capped off with a super Wiz win on Sunday. Anyway, when I woke up I just felt like blogging about the good things. That's all. I hope you can all sit back and just enjoy being a Wizards fan, cause as you can see, it has its rewards.

Spank you very much, there's the door, don't let it hit you on the way out

We handled them. No question. Things that were awesome at last nights game...

Nick Young. Man, if he keeps this up he is going to drastically improve this team in the near future. Eddie Jordan puts him in, and he just scores. That's all. The buckets just keep going in. He finished with 14 points on 5-7 shooting and went 4-4 from the stripe. There was a point in the 4th quarter where he was looking to drive the lane from the top of the key, found it and leapt from about 1 step past the free throw line and attempted a sweet jam. It was blocked, but the move motivated him. You could see it the rest of the quarter, he kept looking for that lane. Eventually, he got it, from the corner he drove and finished with a sweet dunk. All I have to say is, the campaign to get Nick Young into the dunk contest has got to get going. This kid can dunk, even his teammates think so.

Brendon "Beast" Haywood took Ilgauskas to the floor last night. He shined his bald head so shiny he saw his own reflection after he came down from every big dunk or grabbed every rebound out of Big Z's hands. That's a shiny head.

Kurtis Evans

Caron Butler. Not enough can be said about his play. I mean, now that he has range, he is simply unstoppable. He is being guarded all the way out past the arc, and is consistently beating defenders to the hole. But everyone is talking about his offense, what about his D? Superb. Yeah, he makes mistakes, but he has been shutting down defenders left and right. He has consistently buckled down his opponent. He hasn't had an opponent score 20 on him in the past 5 games, while scoring 20+ in all those games except vs. San Antonio (he finished with 16). Damn, he's good.

Jamison is fantastic as well, but his fantastic-ness isn't as exciting as the others, because he always does this. He's proven time and time again that he can score in the most unusual ways, get rebounds, run the offense, and be the player the Wizards need him to be. Last night, his turnaround jumpers went in, his crazy down the lane flip shots went in. He finished the game with 17 pts and 12 rebounds. He's been simply amazing (see, amazing DOES happen here!).

AD. 9 assists last night. 10 points. 5 rebounds and only 2 turnovers. Part of me wants to argue with Gil about him being a PG. Put AD on the floor with Gil and let AD run the floor. Gil can create for himself and might work better off the ball. Anything's possible. Antontio Daniels was kinda surprisingly invisible last night. Which is good at times. That means he did his job and let the offense run. When your PG can disappear in the crowd while the rest of the offense does it's thing, it can be a beautiful thing. He always comes through when we need him.

Roger Mason actually hit some shots. He hit a couple vs. Toronto as well, very timely, awesome, 3-pointers. I think he shoots better from the corners though, like Bruce Bowen (if only he could match his D), but I like that they are going in. That's always a plus. He only hit one 3 last night, but finished 3-6 from the field, which is better than the 0'fers he had been putting up.

Not a single player on the Cavs scored more than 20. Big Z was Big Useless. 12 points in 23 minutes. Drew Gooden was outclassed by Jamison and looks like a caveman. Boobie's nickname is Boobie.

I got a free Gilbert home replica jersey for filling out 300 All Star ballots and voting for all 3 Wizards (with help, thanks buddy!) at the game last night. Not sure if they will keep doing it, the table was behind section 401.

Let's review what I blogged about yesterday, see how I did:

• Assists. If we can break 20, we are golden. This obviously requires a significant contribution from AD.

We finished with 23 assists, 9 of which came from AD. Check.

• Rebounds. If we could, that would be super (Hey Brendon, wake the F up!)

We out-rebounded the Cavs 45-29 and simply dominated the offensive boards with 13 to their 6. Haywood was a big part, pulling down 9 on the defensive end. Butler and Blatche, the Bed and Breakfast cause they are my Bread and Butter pulled down a combined 7 offensive boards.

• Steals. We are currently 16th in the League in steals per game, with 7.5. We used to better at that (Jared Jeffries helped a lot, maybe we can get him back too). I would like to see that number up, especially tonight with so few good ball handlers on this Cleveland team.

Seven steals last night. Pretty average. More than the 5 of the Cavs, but I guess that the tighter D may result in less steals, since players aren't cheating as much (as it should be). Come to think of it, I'm going to back off the above statement and say I'm happy if we have tighter D, the steals aren't THAT important.

• Caron Butler lighting it up behind the 3 point line. It's just awesome to see.

Didn't hit any last night (0-2), but that's ok. He still finished with 27 points on 13-23 shooting. He leads the league in 3 point efficiency, among other things, from the Post:

He's one of only two players in the league averaging more than 12 points and hitting at least 50 percent of his three-point shots (Daniel Gibson is the other), and one of only three players in the league averaging 23 points per game and making 50 percent of his shots (Dwight Howard and Carlos Boozer are the others). Butler ranks among the league's top 20 in scoring, shooting percentage, three-point shooting, foul shooting, steals and minutes.

All in all, the game was a complete success. For a complete recap, check out the live blog over at truthaboutit from last nights game. We ran smoothly on offense and defense, and I personally enjoyed kicking the crap out of the Cavs, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Wizards > Cavs

Tonight, we take on the Cavs. A team so lost it was heard they were even asking TomTom for directions. Directions to the Phone Booth. Direction to the NBA Finals. Direction on what to do when their only proven scorer, LBj, is out with a hurt finger (or in more modern sports speak, LBj is out with a finger). Which way do they go from here? I know. DOWN. Down like a clown.

I hope they lose, and lose, and lose some more. I hate their evil-ness. Their reluctance to give a proven ESSENTIAL piece of the puzzle the money he wanted seems a bit ridiculous. At the point where they weren't getting what they wanted anyway, they should have tried a sign and trade. I don't think he's going to come back energized and ready to play. But who cares? I don't like the guy. I think he's a pathetic flopper and at times, an insult to the game. You wanna get a foul call? Take a friggin charge to the FACE Andy! Take it, right in the face. I'm sure 'Sheed could help on that one. But I digress.

I hate the Cavs. Why? Well why not? Exactly. They are a middle of the road team with a superstar. Their role players would be role players on any other team, except, they would suck more because they wouldn't have LBj stringing them along. I also hate LeBron (not necessarily as a person, I don't know the guy, and I am not an irresponsible blogger). I watched on TV as Gil missed those two fateful free throws. I wanted to punch LeBron in the face for what he did (and why did not ONE WIZARD stop LBj from getting to the line???). I was there in person for Game 4 of that series in 2006, when we smacked Cleveland around like our red-headed step child (oh, wait). I also attended last years playoff stinker Game 4, where LBj mailed it in for 3 quarters then turned up the juice on our injury devastated squad. Oh, how I despise thee, Cavs. I won't even call them Cavaliers. Yuck.


Mark Duncan, AP

Lucky for me I have an awesome girlfriend who knows my hatred of the Cavs and my love of the Wizards, and she awesomely bought me tickets to tonight's game. I won't be sitting behind their bench (or anyones for that matter), but you can expect to hear the following things when you tune in to the game tonight:

"LeBron sucks finger!"

"I drink the Tuff Juice, so should you!"

"Hey Larry, you aren't doing them any good. You have been statistically insignificant for years. Please come back and back up AD!!!"

"Please!!!"

"Hey LeBron, tell Boobie to suck on your non-shooting hand next time!"

"Where's Sideshow, losers?"

and finally...

"[fill in your own witty remark]"

I know, I know. I have the creative juices of a drunk 13 year old. But seriously, I hope the Wizards pound the living S#!T out of the Cavs tonight. Here is what I will be looking for:

• Assists. If we can break 20, we are golden. This obviously requires a significant contribution from AD.
  

• Rebounds. If we could, that would be super (Hey Brendon, wake the F up!)

• Steals. We are currently 16th in the League in steals per game, with 7.5. We used to better at that (Jared Jeffries helped a lot, maybe we can get him back too). I would like to see that number up, especially tonight with so few good ball handlers on this Cleveland team.

• Caron Butler lighting it up behind the 3 point line. It's just awesome to see. By the way, go vote for him for the All Star game.

See y'all tonight. Go Wiz!

Nice Guys Finish First

I had actually been pondering doing a "the Wizards are awesome off the court as well as on the court" piece. I thought it would be a nice addition to the early days of this blog. However, after reading this post over at Wizards Insider (by Ivan Carter), I'd say most of the work is pretty much done. I'm not even gonna quote it, go read the whole thing.

It's been a while...

One of the benefits of having a blog that not many people read (ok, no one reads it) is that when I get lazy and slack off posting after a Wizards game, no one cares. I didn't post after the Spurs game cause I got caught up doing other stuff. I mean, they are who we thought they were...


As expected, the Spurs played terrific defense. They doubled up on Butler and Jamison when they had the ball and shut down the strong side of the court. From the Washington Post:

"They had a good game plan," Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said. "They really loaded up on Antawn and Caron every time they caught the ball. It was tough for them to catch, and we knew we had to screen right, execute and have our angles right and the proper spacing. When they did catch, the defense loaded up on the strong side of the floor and we have to pass out of that."

But I was not disappointed at all. As pointed out by BF, we were in it for 3 quarters. We played very well, about as well as we played against the Mavs, and we won that one. So no, I'm not upset. I'm glad to get out of Texas 1-1.

Tonight, we get the 76'ers again. You will recall we beat them to get out of the 0-5 slump we started the season with. I do not expect that to happen again. I think we are going to have to play harder than we did last time we beat them. As long as we keep of the D, and Jamison and Caron continue to take on more of the scoring burden, we will be fine. Just to point out how well everyone has picked up the slack, I jacked this little quote from the official Wizards blog:

"Antawn’s average is up 8.8 ppg and so is Antonio’s….Nick Young’s scoring up 8.1 ppg and Blatche 6.8 ppg..those figures are over the last 7 games"

For all those people out in blog o land looking forward to seeing an update tomorrow morning, I'm going to have to disappoint you and say, not happening. Maybe tomorrow afternoon. I gotta get my drink on tonight.

Happy Friday. Go Wiz! (I love the implications of shortening the Wizards to simply "Wiz", after all, Nobody Beats the Wiz!)

I'm Excited

Ok, so after a morning at work "wasted" reading all the articles and blogs concerning the Wizards, I have rested on a final emotion. Excited.

I'm excited because Caron Butler is on fire. The last 3 games he has gone for 26, 27 and 35, and as pointed about by Bullets Forever, his TS% is at 61.4. Frankly, that's awesome unbelievable-ness considering most people view Caron as a 3rd fiddle on a team that already includes Arenas and Jamison as primary scoring options. But with Gil the Thrill out for 3 months, he has stepped up in a big way. His importance to the game isn't showing up in the typical boxscore, but his 16 dimes and 9 steals over the past 3 games have been essential. I agree with Jake over at BF, I'm not ready to name him the best player on the team, but I'll go along with Dave and Glenn over at the Wizards blog who observed that the team is taking on Caron's, "identity on defense–diving for loose balls, digging to try and force steals." I like it. No. I love it. That type of basketball helps win games, check out the Bulls circa the previous 2 years.






I'm excited because Brendan Haywood isn't Brenda anymore. He's the Beast. Although his numbers the last few games don't necessarily indicate, his 6 double-doubles, his above average FG%, his intensity and most remarkable of all, his defense have all been a huge part of the Wizards success this year. Don't forget, the Wiz lost a whopping 5 games to start the season. Getting out of that hole would have been impossible without the Beast on the Boards.

(George Widman - AP)
I'm excited because AD is being AD. He's diving at the floor and making funny faces. He's passing and hitting his shots. He has up'd his game tremendously in the absence of the Agent, running this team from the point like a true point guard. Only 2 turnovers the past 3 games. 2. Douce. Duex. Both of those came against Dallas, which means in 74 minutes of combined play in two games vs GS and Memphis, he had a whopping ZERO turnovers. I'm most excited to see him starting to get to the line. The game just isn't the same without AD going down hard, laying there a while, and getting up making his "Ahhh man...I mean....damn, why do I always hit the floor so friggin hard, F##K!" face. I love it.








I'm excited about Nick Young. I was happy to see the Wizards pick him last year because above all else, the kid puts points on the board. He's only getting limited minutes, but he is scoring at will. I also like to hear things like this, from Ivan Carter over at the Post:

"They were trying to make a run so I just wanted to be aggressive," Young said. "I got a rebound and started pushing it, and the lane just opened up. One thing Caron is always telling me is: Don't play scared. I've played in a couple of games now, and I'm getting more confident. I'm seeing that I can go to the hole. I don't want to do it every time, but I feel that I can get there when I need to."

Think about it. We have the lead in the 3rd quarter, but instead of losing the lead going into the 4th, as is typical Wizards fashion, we throw in Nick Young to throw down and drive the lane, which he does perfectly. Once his defense picks up, I expect to see him in more games.

Andray Blatche. I'm not gonna say I'm excited. I'm not. I'm ecstatic. When Blatche is on, the dude is ON!! Rebounds, jumpers, blocked shots, he can even put the ball on the floor and drive the lane. Phenomenal. Although he is still streaky at this point, throwing up at average of almost 8 points a game with 5 rebounds in only 20 minutes of play is great. The energy he brings to the floor can't be quantified in statistics.

I'm excited about Jamison. It's a contract year, I'm sure he's excited too :-) No, but seriously. Can't say enough about a veteran who comes out every night and simply drops bombs on the opposition. Although I'm used to the crazy tear drops, the impossible lay-in's, and the remarkably impossible post up, I still get scared. But he always quells my fear by dropping 40 when he needs to. Nuff said.

I'm excited about Eddie Jordan. He is managing minutes perfectly, making the most of the players we have and in the process, is proving that we have one of the deepest benches in the L.

Songalia, he's good at stuff. Like setting picks and pissing off the other team. I like that. He works the Pick/Roll with AD to perfection.

So, like I said, I'm excited.

Mavericks Postgame, Initial Reaction

Wow, big win tonight. Caron hits 5 3's (new career high), the last of which was in the last few seconds of the game, during garbage time. He finished with 35 points. That's 3 in a row where Caron has absolutely picked up the slack. He missed 4 shots all night. Stupendous.

Jamison took over as the closer in the game, at one point dashing though the middle to get his own rebound on a missed free throw (I'm sure Avery was happy about that, thought they didn't show him on the sideline).

Defense was pretty good. I saw a lot of great rotations, and lots of hands in faces. Everyone pretty much stuck to their assignment and we held the Mavs to under 40% shooting. The Mavs have now lost their 3rd in a row.

What I missed

Well, for starters, I missed the overtime game against Charlotte on Wednesday night, due to travel. I checked the score throughout, and I could have guessed that the team was suffering a bit of mental anguish after finding out Gil is out for 3 months. Reading the follow-up pretty much confirms this (and that Butler had a huge night). But we won, and that's what counts.

Since the NBA TV was not destined to be for me right now, I also missed the Warriors and Grizzlies games, both of which we lost. I didn't get a chance to follow those games, so my observations come purely from the boxscore and other blogs.

Against the Warriors I can see that both sides were shooting the lights out, with Caron earning his first career-triple double (that's two big games in a row, for those keeping score at home). BD got one as well, first time that's happened since like, the Ice Ages. Anyway, very happy to see Caron stepping up his game to another level, but we couldn't pull it out. From Bullets Forever, it seems that we just broke down at the end. There's a shocker. The Wizards D couldn't contain a hot shooting Warriors, and when Gil time comes along and there is no Gil, someone (in this case Caron) has to take bad shots. I'm not too worried, you win some, you lose some, but it is a little disconcerting that we could have won with a few defensive stops. Haywood wasn't much help on the inside, coming off a bad ankle and all. He went 3-8 and pulled down 4 rebounds. Not exactly the Beast.

Against the Gizz, and the Juan and the Pau, the Wiz couldn't pull out a win. The Man with a Plan, Antawn Jamison went off for 41 points (boxscore), but that wasn't enough to overcome the Grizz. We did a little better on the boards and the assist numbers were up from the previous game, but some poor free throw shooting and once again, a lack of D, the Wizards left Memphis feelin the blues. Apparently, the Wizards hit a bit of a dry spell from the left side of the floor. Interesting.

It doesn't get any easier from here with games against the Mavs tonight and Spurs on Wednesday to wrap up the West road trip. I am not sure we can beat these elite teams without the Agent, but if we can play some defense and pass the ball around, we can at least stay competitive so that when we visit Philly on Friday, we'll have the momentum to take a W on the way to a week and a half long home stand. Big games from Haywood or AD (or both) could push us to upset one of these behemoths, but don't count on it. Les Bullez says it best, "this season will be a roller coaster."

Gil Out 3 Months

I realize the news broke yesterday, but like most Americans, I was traveling and my mobile blogging stuff wasn't setup correctly (aka, I was sleeping on the train). Anyway, as soon as I read it (and here, and here) I sighed a big, long, sigh. Granted, we won 3 games without Gil, but this hurts. Just when we thought we might get him back, BAM! I am sure he is just as frustrated as we all are, especially since he's also dealing with a breakup.

But I have confidence in Gil and in this team. The Agent will work to get back in shape, and he will do it right this time. The knee injury at the end of last year was his first real injury (disregarding his rookie season), so he probably didn't know how hard, or not hard, he should go. Since Gil is Gil, he went hard. I just hope that it is really fixed this time and when he comes back, he comes back for good.

All us Wizards fans need to stick by him and this team to make sure we can stay afloat and keep winning games. We have a very strong bench, one that will surely be able to help us win some games. The upcoming road trip with games against Dallas and San Antonio is going to be tough, but hey, it was gonna be tough anyway.

I hope everyone had a fantastic turkey day. Gil will be back. The Wizards will make the playoffs. It will happen. Are you ready?