I'm glad Haywood wasn't suspended, but I don't see how he could argue that Varejao's foul was worse than his. There is no way that anyone can say Haywood was going after the ball when he shoved LeBron in mid-air. Andy may have whacked Blatche in the head, but at least his hands were SOMEWHERE in the vicinity of the ball (I'm saying nothing about intent here.. that would be speculation and I'm trying to rely on fact here).

The rest of the wizards players need to shut their mouths and play. Jamison should be the only one allowed to speak.

I'm a Cleveland fan and the one where Haywood got the Flagrant 2 was a cheap shot. You have to really analyze that from the baseline angle to see it and the problem is if you hit the bottom or top of a person's center of gravity while there in the air you can put them right on there head! That' the problem with that one. Otherwise the rest of the games were rough but probably OK.

I apprecaie the ability to comment without a ten page essay about myself!

You may be surprised to learn that the Columbus Dispatch is not actually part of the Cleveland media. Shocking, I know.

And that's why I made the photo in this post:
http://www.truthaboutit.net/2008/04/wizards-react-quotesgame-2-preview-its.html

I'm glad Haywood wasn't suspended. Watching that and other "hard fouls" during the playoffs has been a bit annoying. It seems like the officials have let more physical play go, but they still do whatever they can to protect the superstars. I know stars have always gotten the calls, but I want to see players get roughed up more like what we used to see back in the day when teams had a guy on their bench just to foul the opposing team's star.

Also, technically the penalty is simulation and not diving or flopping. The same applies for soccer. I wish it applied to basketball and football.

And the issue seems like on Andy Varejao's flagrant that he was going for Andray's head.

I think Haywood just wanted to get to Bron's shoulder....and not allow him to get a shot off. (Should have been a flagrant 1 and not a 2)

But you gotta love him keeping his arms raised for 45 seconds after it happened. He's done that on tough fouls he's committed earlier in this season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m827UUOsN7Y

Everytime I think the Wizards are done talking, they do more.

You guys are unreal. Likening Haywood's push on LeBron to Stevenson's opening layup is unbelievable. The fact that you post that in this blog just shows that you don't think it's utterly ridiculous.

I can't even BEGIN to imagine how much talking you guys would do if you actually won a GAME, much less a series.

The internet might not be able to contain all that trash talk.

That is a great--not just good--photo. Accentuation, perhaps?

Rockabye sweet BABY James.....greg paulus would be proud.

Losers always whine about what goes on - Winners go home and bang the prom queen SCOREBOARD!

GKC:

That photo was from when LeBron was called for a foul, not the other way around...idiot.

Nobody wants to bang the prom queen in OHIO.

"anonymous".....I think the point made by GKC was to simply display how much a flopper LeBron has become, even when he is fouling.

Not sure how this happened as the Brazilian Spaz missed most of this season and was thus not around to instruct LeBron on the fine art of acting.

In any case, no need to call people 'idiot'....jerk.

Funny how you guys call LeBron a cry baby, after reading this d bags blog and reading this comments sounds like the pot calling the kettle black!

Steinberg: the title of yourblog shouldn't be 'Mike Brown Stay on the Bench," it should be 'Wizards, you should be embarrassed.' The Wizards are a bunch of whining, excuse-making, trash-talking, non-hoopers who can't withstand the playoff pressure. Gilbert, remember when you missed those free throws a couple years back? Maybe you can explain to me in your blog why your squad can't ever seem to get it done. Thanks for coming out Washington. We'd love to stick around and wax you guys forever, but we have the second round to attend to. And Haywood, come on dude, you're the sorriest big man in the East. Big Z is making you look silly.

Listen Hayhead! you cannot shove anyone that hard when they are airbourne as high as LBJ was!you can end someones carreer!you or your team cannot justify your foul with the others so stop trying! that man could have landed on his neck! then when you came back to cleveland you would need to wear biody armour while you played!

Listen Hayhead! you cannot shove anyone that hard when they are airbourne as high as LBJ was!you can end someones carreer!you or your team cannot justify your foul with the others so stop trying! that man could have landed on his neck! then when you came back to cleveland you would need to wear body armour while you played!

Listen Hayhead! you cannot shove anyone that hard when they are airbourne as high as LBJ was!you can end someones carreer!you or your team cannot justify your foul with the others so stop trying! that man could have landed on his neck! then when you came back to cleveland you would need to wear body armour while you played!

The Flyers are accusing the Caps of diving? That would be like the sun accusing me of being too bright.

haywood is a no brainer....unprofessional player who should not be in the league.....he's an idiot on the mans body..

who in there right mind would want someone to push them while floating helplessly? think people, think..

shouldnt this be like a "collective review of how we got creamed" instead of trying to shift the focus ???

Its o.k. wizzards fans. All of Ohio knows your team is dirty. Thats fine though, because the cavs will do some cleaning in your arena. 4-0 Sweep baby. BOSTON BEWARE OF THE "BRON."

to be real,most of you bloggers don't sound like any ball players. That was a cheap shot that hayward deserved his ass beat.

basketball is a rough game, but it ain't football either.Hayward lucky to be in the league,years ago he just would have been just a 7 foot practice dummy

I find it amusing that Cav fans have to post on DC's basketball blogs. You all must really be bored in Cleveland. Whether you all beat us or not, you will not make the Eastern Conference finals this year. How about that? Now go on back to your old,cold and gray city and do whatever it is that you bama's do. That is why Hughes never gave you all any game. It's not that he couldn't, he just wanted to be traded out of that god forsaken city of yours. Cleveland = YUCK!

lol so many pathetic cavs fans with nothingelse to do...

haywood's foul was a cheap shot, and most people aren't arguing that. drawing attention to a HUGE discrepancy in the way the game is called isn't whining, either. if they were insisting that that was the reason why the Wiz lost the 2 games, than maybe the cavs fans would have a point, but most every DC fan already acknowledged that the Wiz beat themselvves...they just didn't show up to play. and if the wizards fans WERE whining, then they would mention that Jamison has been tossed around this whole series, but he gets no respect from the refs, but if James just gets touched than it's a whistle...and the blocking call James had on Daniels? hell yea that was a good call. i'm not even a Wiz fan and i could see that. i don't know what the TnT announcers were thinking when they said it was "close", but James didn't have 2 feet set, and Antonio is what...50 pounds? 60? less than James. they should have a flopping rule in the NBA just for that sort of thing. that is why I've lost the respect for Lebron I once had. He's talented, but he's turning into a flopper and a crybaby.

oh, and Big Z having a good series so far isn't really Haywood's fault...he's been largely ineffective because of foul trouble. when he's in the game, Big Z can't stop Haywood. And no, there's no mystery about that. The rest of the DC squad need to play better defense so there's less defensive pressure on Haywood.

This writer supports the coach who is the reason the Wizards are losing. NOW HEAR THIS WIZARDS!!! The Cavs are bigger and stronger than you are, you cannot beat them in a physical game! They have bug guys (LBJ,
Ben and AV) and they have tough guys (Delonte,Devon and Dwayne)! You have to finesse this team. If you are going to play physical, then play physical, do not broadcast it to the world. Here is a novel approach, play defense and kep the guy in front of you!

Series is over. Haywood's foul was redonkulous! If that was a high school or pick-up game, someone wouldn't have been going home intact. The Wiz are showing no heart and Cleveland's offense is clicking.

If Wally, Boobie and Z keep hitting open jumpers and Delonte continues to improve, as well as Wallace being a force downlow, the Cav's might actualy go a lot further this year than I thought. And this is coming from a die-hard Cav's fan.

I was nervous about this series before it started. Now after Game 2, I kind of feel bad for Gilbert and the Wiz. If the Cav's take Game 3 then the series is over and it's time to start getting the gameplan ready for the Celt's.

the comment at 9:02 am nails it. the wizards' "physical play" strategy has completely backfired on them because it's stupid to try physically intimidating a team that is bigger, stronger, and tougher than yours. LOVE the fact that agent zero somehow managed to hurt himself while trying to foul lebron! also, probably not a genius move to talk incessantly in the press about your fouling strategy, because when you shove the opposing team's best player to the ground in a cheap shot and you've been running your mouth since the series started about making him pay for coming inside, you're not going to get the benefit of the doubt. if you brag about how you're going to make lebron earn it at the line, you don't get to whine about the officials sending him there. this ain't rocket science, folks.

I am a Cavs fan but I enjoy coming on to the opposing team's site to get a different perspective of the series. Cleveland's sports print media is terrible (outside of Brian Windhorst) and their articles are predictable and usually boring. I wanted to see if Wizards fans were blaming their team or blaming Lebron.

I will be the first to admit that Lebron "sells" his fouls (although Haywood's flagrant was dangerous, there was no sell there, he was knocked off balance in mid air, which is scary when it happens). He exagerates every hit on him, which can be annoying to watch because it makes him look soft. The problem is, he has to sell the fouls made on him. The guy is super strong and the fact is that a foul on Lebron doesn't really phase him. He can drive the lane, get hit on the arm, brush it off and just continue on. The problem is that the refs would never call a foul on plays like that since Lebron still made the layup and the foul didn't really knock him off course. This is how he used to play and he didn't get foul calls. He now "sells" the foul with a scream or an exagerated dive to make sure he gets the whistle. If the refs would just call a normal foul when it happened all of this "selling" would go away. I think Lebron saw how D Wade would flop all over the place and get fouls call so he decided it was something he needed to do.

I hate the way the NBA is going with all of this diving, it happens on both sides of the ball. I wish the players could just play the game.

Finally, the foul calls were actually pretty even in game 2. Sorry for the long post. I am looking forward to what should be a really competitive game tomorrow night

God should be given a flagrant two for Mike Brown's face.

I'm a total Wizards fan, as I think everyone here knows, but I have to agree with the Cav fans on this -- Haywood's fouls were much too hard.

'.he's an idiot on the mans body..'

Does anyone speak Ohioan?

What does that mean?

Teams that claim "we beat ourselves" are pathetic. Give credit where it's due: the Wiz lost to Cavs for the 8th straight time. Face the facts: they don't belong on the same floor as Cleveland. Don't worry about the calls or pre game talk, just try and get a W to save whatever pride is left.

Deshaun Stevenson: sweet move waving your hand in front of your face while you're down 16. That's about as smart as stepping up to The King. Didn't he get caught boozing with 15 year old girls a while back? What a class act...

Oh, and btw. If we're on the topic of knocking coaches (reference "Mike Brown's face" statement) lets get serious. Jordan looks like the dude who sells fake watches out of his leather coat.

u guys whine so much last time i checked yall loosers shot more free throws then we did by the way we just made the trade and yall still cant beat us your coach is sorry and overrated like that guy u guys call the lbj stopper wiz suck ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

There are SO many Cavs fans posting on here. My favorite is the guy who came on trash talking about how Wizards fans trash talk too much.

I think the issue here is that in the media this series has been painted and called as if the Wizards are just beating up on the Cavs. From what I've seen its been a two way street as far as the hard fouls go. I don't think anyone's arguing that the Wizards win Game 2 if the calls were different. Lebron played a fantastic game even if parts of it were Oscar worthy. The Haywood call is legit enough but only if the refs are willing to make those calls both ways. I thought it was really funny when Haywood was talking about how he's usually getting crap for not fouling. So true.

In game 1 the Wiz did beat themselves. I don't think there's any other way to describe missing 10 straight shots in the fourth. Not to mention the countless open 3's they missed.

Its always great to get the perspective of the other side but to Cavs fans that want to just talk about how Lebron's the greatest or the how the Cavs are going to sweep: No One Cares. Discuss how Gilbert talks too much or how Haywood's "the sorriest big man in the East,"(<=ridiculous) without any sensible logic or evidence on your own boards and blogs.

HMG: sensible logic/evidence.

The Wizards always have an excuse for losing in the playoffs: complaining about fouls ('06 and '08), injuries ('07), "beating ourselves" (I'm sure some of the 10 straight misses had to do with strong defense... perhaps?). The bottom line is the Wizards can't seem to get it done, they spend too much time on extra curricular activities, and they lose without class - conjuring up excuses and whining to the media.

The media isn't painting an unrealistic picture of the Wizards, the Wizards are doing it to themselves (BS fouls, blogs, trash talking, excuse making, etc.)

The Wizards are dirt bags: Deshaun Stevenson - pre-game talking ("overrated"), hand waiving while getting embarrassed, and drinking with 15 year old girls. Haywood: unnecessary fouls without attempting to go for the ball. Arenas: his blog (need I say more?) Butler: having the nickname "Tough Juice." If you're going to have a nickname like that, win a playoff series first.

Here's the deal: the Cavs are a superior basketball team - they hustle, play defense, rebound, and are led by The King. They're fun to root for - they exude class, James never gets pulled into the trash talking games (even when it's necessary to quite the Deshaun Stevensons of the world), and they WIN PLAYOFF GAMES.

This is still a series if the Wiz can learn how to focus on basketball, but they don't seem like the type of team who has the heart or the ability to last in the playoffs

The point is that no one cares if you think "the wizards are dirtbags" or "the cavs are the superior team." Its a complete simplification of the game of basketball. Both teams have strengths and weaknesses. You're acting like this is the Lakers vs the Heat not two teams that finished two games apart. Obviously you think the Cavs are better and we think the Wiz are better. It's the nature of being a fan. You root for your team.

"James never gets pulled into the trash talking games" Then what was the Soulja boy comment? Also, you're simultaneously praising James for not trash talking and trashing on every Washington player harder than any of these pros have.

The question is why do you feel the need to come here and post your judgements on the issue to people who will always feel differently from you? Its a waste of your time just like this is a waste of mine. So lets just hope this turns out to be a great series if the Wiz can bounce back at home. Who wants to watch a blowout/sweep anyway? If both of these teams play to their potential we can all enjoy some good basketball instead of just enjoying a Cav/Wiz win.

Do you think anyone really cares about the comments on a random DC blog? Of course not. Thank you for explaining the nature of fans rooting for their teams... The Soulja Boy comment was intended to poke fun at a ridiculous situation, which is what James does with the media. Having fun with the media and directly criticizing one's game are completely different.
There's no reason to get philosophical over why we're commenting on a sports blog. Don't look too deep into a playful and entertaining way of being a fan.

The series has officially begun.

i just wonder do the wiz fans still think he is overrated,when really he running a close second to only kobe as the best in the world!

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