Tapscott = Obama

So you know the Bullets defended the Phone Booth and routed the Golden State Warriors 124-100 last night in the pro coaching debut of Ed Tapscott. They were led by Antawn Jamison‘s 25 points and 11 rebounds, Caron Butler‘s 35 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals, and game MVP Andray Blatche‘s 25 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks. Javale McGee added 14 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes and Dee Brown chipped in with 10 points on 4-4 shooting. Not since Jermaine O’Neal in February 2007 has a player scored at least 25 points, grabbed at least 12 rebounds and had at least 5 assists and blocks as Blatche did last night. Jamison was asked where this Blatche has been all year:

“I don’t know but I like that it’s here and hopefully he’s here for awhile. The biggest thing is he played with confidence tonight. He didn’t worry that if he missed a shot he was gong to get sat down or yelled at. Maybe for him, the biggest key is new voice or fresh voice in the locker room. That’s the guy we’ve been waiting to show up all year.”

It’s only fair to point out that Eddie Jordan would still be the coach of the Bullets if this Blatche had shown up more often.
But the best line of the night belonged to high-scorer Caron Butler, who said compared new coach Tapscott to President-elect Barack Obama.

“Yeah, he’s light-skinned. He has a law degree. He stands for change, he uses big words, he’s new in the district and he’s in control now, so shout-out to Obama. We won tonight so we have hope.”

I must confess, that’s an angle I hadn’t considered. I wouldn’t want Eddie Jordan compared to George W. Bush, though. That’s not fair at all to Jordan, who is a decent man who delivered some good seasons to Washington.
Of particular interest to me was the big lineup Tapscott used in the second quarter, with McGee at center, Blatche and Jamison at forward, and Deshawn Stevenson and Butler in the backcourt. The Bullets really dominated the boards with that lineup, en route to a 54-40 advantage off the glass for the entire game. I’d like to see more of that lineup, though perhaps with Nick Young instead of Stevenson. Deshawn had yet another tough shooting night, missing all 7 shots he took. He’s now shooting 32% on the season. Awful.
In general, Tapscott tightened the playing rotation, as he promised to do.

Pecherov and Etan Thomas were dressed and healthy but did not get in.

“It’s what I call the eight-plus-two plan,” Tapscott said. “We’re going to have a core of eight guys who are going to play every night. The two out of the remaining four are based on matchups and scouting reports. That way, I can say to guys: nobody gets put in the closet. Everybody is going to have a chance to make their contribution to the team but we can’t always play 12 every night.”

Washington finished with almost twice as many assists [27] as turnovers [14], as well as 12 steals. The 124 points scored by the Bullets was their season high. The Bullets shot over 50% from the field, while holding the Warriors to  under 46 percent.