Preview: Wizards at Cavs, January 6th
2010-01-06
Relevant Statistics:
Pace: Washington 96.8 (6th) vs. Cleveland 93.1 (28th)
Offensive Efficiency: Washington 101.6 (23rd) vs. Cleveland 107.3 (6th)
Defensive Efficiency: Washington 105.3 (20th) vs. Cleveland 99.4 (4th)
Notes:
Well, we all know what the real story going into this game is. Gilbert Arenas has been suspended indefinitely for his gun-related escapades, and will not be playing in tonight’s game. Everyone and their cousins are going to chime in on this one, so I’ll leave it to those who know better to deliver opinions on the situation with Gilbert.
All I’ll say is that this is a sad development considering how promising Gilbert started off his career from a PR standpoint, becoming the prototype for superstar 2.o. We saw the old model of how superstars market themselves by revealing as little as possible about themselves and letting their fans fill in the blanks fall apart spectacularly in the case of Tiger Woods. Now the first “blog superstar” has fallen from grace.
On Delonte West playing and Gilbert not, the issue seems to be that Gilbert broke league rules by bringing a gun to practice and being flippant towards the league in his subsequent interviews and actions. Delonte’s crimes were probably more serious, but they’re not league infractions, as Mike Prada noted earlier today.
Not to be too callous, but don’t be surprised if the Wizards roll off a pretty nice stretch of basketball over the next week or so. The team could unify over this and get motivated, and what’s more, Gil wasn’t his old self this season. He never got his quickness back, especially on defense, and the team’s actually played better with him off the floor up to this point. With a bad team and a fairly small sample size, that’s far from infallible, but it’s safe to say that Gilbert was not playing like his old self.
Add that to how motivated the Wizards always get to play the Cavaliers and the adrenaline dump teams get in the first game after losing a star, and I think the Wizards are dangerous in this one. Okay, I think every team is dangerous in every game. But seriously.
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Alright guys, open thread. See you after the game.
That over the basket rainbow shot unfortunately looks like something Lebron has practiced. That is positively unblockable. Unfortunately, it’s probably also mostly unsinkable.
How deep is this Cavs team? Jawad Williams comes in and plays the whole second quarter getting 5 points (including a ballsy three pointer after the Wiz cut it to 9), 3 assists, and a steal. The team was a +12 with him on the floor. Remarkable, and Leon Powe isn’t even back yet!
Man, that 4-1 fast break where the Wiz failed to score has to be one of the worst run breaks I have ever seen. Everyone just crowded around the basket and they ended up having to bring it back out again. That should have been an easy 2 points or at worst an open corner 3. And I’m with you on Varejao, John. The announcers(I have the local Wiz crew here) just called him an energy role player. He’s such a good defender, rebounds, and really fights for every ball. He’s the Cavs second most important player after LeBron and… Read more »