How do you hit 10-14 3-pointers, shoot almost 60% from the field and 87% from the line and still lose by 6 points? Well, if you watched last night’s 128-122 Wizards loss in the Garden to the NY Knicks, you know how it is done. You don’t hit the boards, you allow the other team to completely dominate the offensive glass, you allow the other team to dish almost 3 assists for each turnover committed, and you see to it that your opponent shoots almost 54% from the field, including 14 3-pointers. That’s how it is done.
Caron Butler broke out of his shooting slump to score 25 points, but he had only 3 rebounds and only 1 assist, which is odd for a stat-filler like Butler. And something is clearly bothering Antawn Jamison, who scored only 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Jamison has been battling a knee injury that almost kept him out of the Milwaukee game earlier this week. He’s a fighter, though, so only something terrible would keep him off the court altogether. Nevertheless, he’s clearly ailing now.
With the Knicks knocking down one 3-pointer after another earlier in the game, Wizards Head Coach Ed Tapscott went to a smaller lineup, playing Jamison at center and Dominic McGuire at power forward. That stopped the constant barrage of 3-pointers, but it led to New York’s complete domination of the glass. The Knicks finished with 25 second-chance points and had more offensive rebounds [19] than the Wizards had defensive rebounds [17].
I guess it is pretty easy to bash Tapscott for going with the smaller lineup, but it seemed he was damned no matter what he did last night. Also, it could be that Tap was bothered by Andray Blatche‘s lack of intensity. Apart from the two stupid fouls he committed to start the game, Blatche caused several turnovers by not coming hard to the bal when it was passed to him. He seemed passive and inert for most of his 16 minutes on the floor. That might explain why 16 minutes was all he got.
THE KIDS
This season is over, as far as record and playoffs goes, so let’s focus from here on out, on the kids. How are the young’uns playing for our Wizards?
Nick Young is feelin’ it proper. For the 3rd time in 4 games he set a career-high, this time hitting 13 of 17 shots for 33 points. Over the last 4 games, Young is hitting better than 71% of his shots. Last night he hit all 3 of his 3-point shots and knocking ‘em down the way he is, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that he didn’t get an assist. He’s shooting too well to pass the ball. Has Nick finally turned the corner? Has the light bulb come on for him? Pick your sports cliche — is this the Nick Young we’ve been waiting for? It is, but will it last? I don’t know, but this is a lot of fun to watch. If Nick Young becomes the player he has the potential to be, the Bullets will be loaded with scorers when/if Gilbert Arenas ever returns.
Javaris Crittenton played well in almost 24 minutes of play. I particularly liked the back court of Young and Crittenton, something I hope we’ll be seeing more of in the future. Crittenton seems to have moved beyond the mindless speed-dribble and is now doing some smart things on the court.
Dominic McGuire is clearly not a power forward, at least not for any period of time. Not right now. He looks comfortable [defensively and on the glass] as a 3, but at the bigger position he was dominated by David Lee of the NY Knicks. McGuire played okay last night. He didn’t distinguish himself with his defense all the time, but he did better than most.
That’s 6 losses in a row for the 7-31 Wizards. My Lord, this is a painful season. All we can do right now, is watch for the development of the kids and admire the professionalism of a guy like Antawn Jamison…
Antawn Jamison is the sunshine. Don’t believe me? Ask him head coach, Ed Tapscott.
Washington Wizards interim coach Ed Tapscott offered the quote of the week when he was asked about the prospect of Antawn Jamison being unable to play against Milwaukee because of a strained right knee: “A day without Jamison would be a day without sunshine for me,” Tapscott said.
It’s a particularly tough season for Jamison. He signed a big new contract with the Wizards and never really looked for another job. He felt healthy and believed that with a healthy Gilbert coming back, the Wizards would be able to make some noise in the East. So much for that plan. Instead, Jamison is leading the team with 20.5 ppg and 9.2 rpg, very nice numbers. Unfortunately, the numbers he cares about most are in the won and lost columns and those are terrible.
Post beat reporter Ivan Carter talked with Jamison about this brutal season and what his role is now.
Jamison has played in all 38 games — and 31 losses — this unbelievably horrific season. I didn’t ask him specifically about all the adversity the team has faced since he re-signed, but he offered an overall assessment of leading an incredibly young team.
“It’s difficult,” said Jamison. “The only thing I can do is go out there is play hard and let these young guys know that no matter what the record is, you’ve got to out there and play hard and have fun doing it.”
I asked Jamison if he felt like the team daddy, constantly slapping the kids on the wrist, telling them what not to do. Jamison chuckled, then added that he has to put his teammates in line from time to time. “That’s what they expect from me,” Jamison said. “A lot of these guys, as far as handling themselves a certain way, they don’t know how to do [it]. I feel I have to set an example and you have to let them know when it’s time to tighten up and when it’s time to have fun. It’s always difficult when you have the record we have and we haven’t been winning. Their attention span is not always there.”
There are some Wizards fans — ignoramuses mostly — who don’t appreciate Jamison. They think he’s a liability and blame him for the fact that the team hasn’t advanced further in the playoffs. There is probably no array of facts and figures that can be deployed to convince such people of the error of their ways. For the rest of us, though, Jamison is what is right about pro sports and the best example of what we want to see in a veteran on our favorite team. If all pro ballers were like Jamison, the NBA would be a better league and pro sports would enjoy a better reputation.
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