Wizards forward Antawn Jamison hasn't been able to help his team on the court after suffering an exhibition schedule shoulder separation. But he's trying to inspire his mates in the locker room. Friday night, that meant the post-game gastronomy in Indianapolis had to suffer.
Washington fell to a rather miserable Indiana team by 16 points. According to the Washington Post's Michael Lee, Jamison gave the business to his teammates in the locker room after the final buzzer. Lee reports that a tray of snacks had been "tossed into a corner, shattered to pieces, with fruit and candy scattered everywhere." Quelle horreur!
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Many people consider the NCAA Tournament to be the biggest sporting event of the year, and that includes NBA players. In this hilarious video we catch up with Wizards star Caron Butler (UConn) as he has a very funny exchange with teammate Nick Young (USC) over their alma maters' chances. But just because you are a basketball player does not mean you are into the tournament, as Andray Blatche admits he is not into "Match Mardness." Also in this video we find out which Wizards player looks like President Obama and which one does not.
Considering it's almost February and the Wizards still haven't cracked double-digit wins, it's tough to call today's news about Andray Blatche a disappointment.
With this team, good news sticks out like a sore thumb; learning that a key contributor (and occasional starter) will miss the next two to four weeks with a strained knee? That's simply the status quo.
Blatche suffered the injury in Monday's loss to the Suns when he collided with Shaquille O'Neal. Don't feel bad, Andray; you're not the first man to take on Mt. Shaq and fail, and you won't be the last.
NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.
* Andray Blatche (sort of): "Thankfully, I found out that the top I was wearing was too long, which deemphasized the contours of my waist." -- The Onion, via Bullets Forever.
* "While he is no doubt to be commended for bringing the energy, the corniness gets to me from time to time: "Did you SEEEEE VC?", "Yi-normous!", "VC off another Yi-Z feed" and some purely incomprehensible screaming for every Brook Lopez dunk all made appearances throughout the evening." -- CelticsBlog.
* Greg Oden (sort of): "Here we go again, another day of practice. At least there hasn't been a Tsunami lately." -- Lowposts.
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.
Joe Johnson's shooting numbers Saturday against Chicago won't draw blood -- 16-for-31, 41 points. But the fact that Joe Johnson took 31 FGAs, added eight assists, earned six FTAs ... and had only one turnover in 44 minutes -- that's the impressive part.
One of the more ignored facets of Mike Bibby's addition to the Hawks has been that it has allowed J.J. to relax a bit. With Bibby, Johnson's turnover rate has shrunk considerably. But because Bibby isn't the sort of lead guard who demands to run the offense every time, J.J. has kept extremely high usage and assist rates. The Saturday line isn't an every-night thing, but is telling of the overall success the Bibby move has allowed for.
Window Washer: Andray Blatche had one of his jaw-dropping games (now appearing once per month): 19 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three steals, one block and zero turnovers. That's magic, man. Now do it twice in a week, please.
Unloaded Golden Gun:Jason Kapono has taken Anthony Parker's starting job for Toronto. Jason Kapono's only discernable basketball skill is shooting threes. Jason Kapono shoots threes at a career 46% clip, and shoots twos at a 44% clip. Yet Kapono has taken twice as many twos than threes this season ... even though he's in the game to spread the floor for Jermaine O'Neal and Chris Bosh. ARGH! Saturday in Portland, Kapono The Shooter took two threes, three twos, missed them all, grabbed four rebounds and had two turnovers in 32 minutes. We need an intervention.
If Gilbert Arenas' continued medical issues with his knee weren't worrisome enough, losing Brendan Haywood for four to six months because of that pesky wrist injury he suffered in practice this week. The Washington Post's Ivan Carter reports that Haywood needs surgery to repair a torn wrist ligament; the recovery period will keep him out until at least February, and possibly the entire season. Meanwhile, Antawn Jamison has an injury that keeps most players out two months; Jamison, however, says he will be ready for opening night.
Haywood was a huge, undersung cause for Washington's improvement last season. Perhaps being unshackled from constant battle with Etan Thomas allowed the ease of mind to finally perform well. Maybe Haywood finally got it. Some would argue Haywood had a fluke year, and would have come crashing back down to Earth in '08-09. Whatever the case, we aren't going to find out.
It appears Thomas will get the starting nod, though Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee figure as options, according to the Post's Carter. Is it an opportunity for the Wizards to see what they have in the youth corps? Sure, but it's also enough to suggest Washington won't be making the playoffs this season unless someone unexpected comes through in a major, major way.
*Don't actually. If you still have them. Which you probably don't. Unless you're DeShawn. In which case, you should probably be guarding West.
1. The West Is Strong, Allright:Delonte West, that is. West is averaging 11.3 points per game in this series, including 16 points in Game 4, propelled by some huge shots down the stretch. The big problem with the Cavs during a pretty mediocre (at best) regular season was the lack of an auxiliary scorer. If you reduce this team to just LeBron, you have a much better chance at beating them, though even that's shady depending on how the King feels. The Wizards have to lock down on the perimeter shooting in this game. They allowed 13 three-pointers on 46% shooting, including five from West, in Game 4.
2. It's The Boards, Stupid!: The Wizards are getting murdered on the glass. Not surprising, given Cleveland's army of bulky power forwards and the Wizards gaggle of slender gunners. But to be outrebounded by an average of 10 in the series. Their shooting percentages are the same, the Wizards are actually turning the ball over less, and their defense has been solid. But Cleveland is getting 5 more offensive rebounds per game. That is huge for this series. Andray Blatche needs to step it up, and Brendan Haywood needs to focus less on LeBron being weak and more on getting double digit rebounds and shoring off the Cavs on the offensive glass.
Carmelo Anthony was absolutely on fire Friday night, starting off 11-12 from the field and then torching the Wizards for a career-best 49 points in an easy win for the Nuggets. Even though the Wizards got killed in this game from the start, they did show some pride at the end. Check out the crazy double-team from Andray Blatche and Antawn Jamison in the closing seconds (about 1:07 into the clip), preventing 'Melo from getting his 50.
I'm sure 'Melo couldn't have been too upset by this, considering his team was up big and he shouldn't have even been in the game. Plus, he probably mentioned that had they bothered to double-team him like that earlier in the contest, the Wizards might have actually had a shot.
According to the Washington Post, Blatche is doing his best to force the issue:
During a training camp scrimmage yesterday morning, he was the most impressive player on the court, blocking shots, making passes and even making a 15-foot jumper off the glass like his idol, Kevin Garnett.
"I have an opportunity ahead of me and I'm not going to give it up," said Blatche ... "I'm going to go ahead, work hard and try to take advantage."
No one really knows what kind of player Blatche is going to be, or should try to be. At the time of the 2005 draft, he was billed as Garnett-ish freak. So it's unlikely he'll ever turn into a workmanlike big, a la Thomas or Brendan Haywood. Then again, the Wizards would do well to put a more versatile, rangy dude in the middle, and use him as an excuse to make the offense faster and more fluid. I doubt we're looking at a budding star, but Blatche might end up being much more than just a stopgap solution. He might even end up justifying that stealth lotto-signee theory.
Sadly, there's now a new reason: Thomas is sidelined indefinitely with a heart condition. According to the Washington Times, two league sources with knowledge of the situations admit that it could be a career-threatening ailment:
"It was a tough thing," said Haywood, with whom Thomas has scuffled at least three times in the last two seasons. "You hate to see someone at that age with a heart problem. It seems unreal. But at the same time, we wish him the best. Right now, he should just forget about basketball. Right now, it's about his health and trying to live a regular and healthy life."
By default, Haywood moves into the starting lineup, though it's certainly not the way he wanted it to happen. The team has precious little depth behind him, namely the green (and undersized) Andray Blatche and 40-year-old Tony Massenburg. Here's to hoping Thomas, one of the NBA's most thoughtful and interesting players, makes a complete recovery.
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison hasn't been able to help his team on the court after suffering an exhibition schedule shoulder separation. But he's trying to inspire his mates in the locker room. Friday night, that meant the post-game gastronomy in Indianapolis had to suffer.
Many people consider the NCAA Tournament to be the biggest sporting event of the year, and that includes NBA players. In this hilarious video we catch up with Wizards star 
Considering it's almost February and the Wizards still haven't cracked double-digit wins, it's tough to call today's news about 
NBA Essentials
Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. 
If 
In another of 
The Wizards' 
Earlier this week, 
