I was wondering, how is Hayes confidence level so far? He missed a pretty open basket down the stretch of the Cleveland off of an offensive rebound which he could have kicked out instead to reset the offense, and then he had a poor shooting night against the Celtics. Is he feeling good and in the flow?

No better way to get right on offense than to play the Wiz. I wonder what that cabbie will think after they go for 105 tonight and Howard goes 26-20 with Jamison trying to box him out.

Ivan:
I'm disappointed. You should have got that cab driver to come with you to the game tonight and recorded his running commentary on the game. First half, he focuses on his Magic. Second half, he puts our Wizards on blast. I would be interested in his insights on Jordan's substitution patterns.

I am sick of hearing Eddie Jordan complain about defense and giving up rebounds and layups, and he turns around and insists on that idiotic small lineup.

I have only seen the team doing that when Etan has been on the bench. Jordan is coming off as a hypocrite. IMO Ruffin should only play if Jamison fouls out, or if Haywood and Thomas both foul out or are injured. Next time I see Jamison playing center I am turning my tv off.

Just a suggestion to Ivan and Michael: why not start your blog entries off identifying which of your wrote it? I have to scroll down to the end of your entry to figure who was talking. Maybe just start you entries with your initials so we can put into context which one of you two outstanding writers is talking to us.

Good job on the blog, I'm a frequent visitor and enjoy it very much!

Nick

Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds!

43 to 28

The Wiz are wondering why the Celtics were still in the game? There's clearly MORE talent on the Wiz, but they got out rebounded again.

That game was that .01% that teams usually don't win and they got lucky Saturday.

They better do better tonight, this isn't looking good for the Wiz.

- Ray

And "Darnell" is right.

- Ray

Ray wrote: "Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds!

43 to 28

The Wiz are wondering why the Celtics were still in the game? There's clearly MORE talent on the Wiz, but they got out rebounded again.

That game was that .01% that teams usually don't win and they got lucky Saturday."

-----------

Actually, the Wiz were in the "80%usually win" category. The team that shoots better from the floor (measured by effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the 3pt shot) wins about 80% of the time in the NBA. Outrebounding your opponent is nice to do, but it's not nearly as important as shooting better. While the Wiz did get their tails kicked on the boards vs. Boston, they outshot the Celtics (using efg) .607 to .567.

Let's review:
1. In training camp and pre-season, Jordan stressed defense and "protecting the rim."
2. Jordan's two big strategic decisions thus far this season are starting Thomas over Haywood and going with a smaller lineup at times than at least I can recall in the past.

It's very early, but looking at the stats thus far at 82games.com:
- Haywood's +/- number is by far the highest on the team.
- Effective FG% allowed measures the opposing team's FG%, accounting for 3 point shooting, when a particular play is on the floor. Only 3 Wizards have an effective FG% allowed of less than 53%: Daniels, Haywood and Roger Mason (who has only played 11 minutes, most of them with Haywood) at between 44% and 46%. Not much defense and rim protecting in those numbers.

What I as a fan would like from Jordan is some honesty. He should just say, "I need to coach to our strengths, and our strength is smaller, offensive-oriented players. In crunchtime, I want my 5 best on the floor, even though that leaves us with a small lineup. Sometimes that will hurt us, but over the long haul, I think that going small will be more effective. We'll give up a lot of points, but we'll score more. But even our offensive guys need to improve their defense and rebounding -- that is key if we are to reach our goals. As for my decision to start Etan, even though Brendan's the better defender, Etan's a better offensive player, shot blocker and offensive rebounder, and I think that is needed more on this team." At least that would be honest and we could debate whether that is the right strategy.

TSW you need to get your facts straight. I don't care if you shoot a higher percentage, if you give up rebounds you allow 2nd and 3rd opportunities. You can shoot a higher percentage, but who cares if the opponent is taking twice as many shots!? If you take twice as many attempts you can shoot a lower percentage and still make more buckets! It all comes down to possesions, which comes down to rebounds. But you did not take that into account with all your fancy percentages stat boy!

Henry said:
What I as a fan would like from Jordan is some honesty. He should just say, "I need to coach to our strengths, and our strength is smaller, offensive-oriented players. In crunchtime, I want my 5 best on the floor, even though that leaves us with a small lineup. Sometimes that will hurt us, but over the long haul, I think that going small will be more effective. We'll give up a lot of points, but we'll score more. But even our offensive guys need to improve their defense and rebounding -- that is key if we are to reach our goals. As for my decision to start Etan, even though Brendan's the better defender, Etan's a better offensive player, shot blocker and offensive rebounder, and I think that is needed more on this team." At least that would be honest and we could debate whether that is the right strategy.

I completely agree, this is one of best posts I ever read!

""...but who cares if the opponent is taking twice as many shots!?""

Exactly.

- Ray

That only thing tragic in Orlando tonight was the Wizards. What a horrible effort from this team, especially from Arenas, who has been a liability offensively and defensively in two of this season's three games already. They've proven again that their late game possessions result in bad shots (Jamison's rushed 3-pointer and Caron's jumper from the top of the key) and an inability to play any form of defense. No killer instinct. No stops. No wins. Either Jordan learns how to coach defense, or he hires someone immediately, even if that means dumping one of this guys. These defensive performances thus far have looked far worse than last year.

They CANNOT continue to play this way or they will NOT make the playoffs!

Terrible shot selection like the above poster said. I was screaming "Nooooo! as it left Caron's hands. Why are they shooting 3's when they are down by two???

Play some freaking defense Wiz! It was like this last year also, some "out of the blue" dude looks like an all-star every freakin game against the Wiz.

38 to 37 in rebounds for the Wiz and it came down to the last minute.

Again, props to Etan. We'll see if he can keep this up the entire year. Then I'll have to take back my "Etan sucks!" comment. It only took how many years?

- Ray

Looks like the Wizards still don't or won't play defense. Another season of close games against weaker teams where the wizards will invariably lose by taking a stupid last second shot.

It's maddening the dribble pentration esp. when they have quick enough guards. & then the offside defense can't rotate quick enough to cover the back side.

Geeesh...it's simple playground defense.

I like the way Etan is playing but we have to hammer ppl ,foul or not, down the lane.

we need a blog about the Haywood vs Etan fight. How will this affect the team? Do we need to trade Haywood?

For all of you out there saying that Haywood needs to start over Etan, I'm wondering if you can find a game in the past where Haywood performed like Thomas did last night. I'd love to see it. Actually, feel free to find stats like that from any big man on the Wiz, go back as far as you'd like.

If Etan keeps playing like this, Baby Hay can go find a job somewhere else.

Darnell wrote: "TSW you need to get your facts straight. I don't care if you shoot a higher percentage, if you give up rebounds you allow 2nd and 3rd opportunities. You can shoot a higher percentage, but who cares if the opponent is taking twice as many shots!? If you take twice as many attempts you can shoot a lower percentage and still make more buckets! It all comes down to possesions, which comes down to rebounds. But you did not take that into account with all your fancy percentages stat boy!"

---------------

Darnell: My facts are straight. It's a fact that teams that shoot a higher percentage win nearly 80% of the time in the NBA. Second and third chance points can make up for the difference, but the FACTS are that it doesn't happen very often. Obviously, if a team is taking twice as many shots because of offensive rebounding, it would obliterate difference in shooting percentage. Can you show me ANY TIME in NBA history where a team has attempted twice as many shots as its opponent?

I am glad Etan got some good minutes, and he showed what he can do when he's healthy and gets the opportunity. He was flat out dominating the paint.

The perimeter D did not look good. Hayes has looked lost, and his shot is off. He takes too many difficult looking shots when there is no need to (really quick turnaround fadeaway with no defender on him). He needs to calm down, and just square up and shoot. Maybe he watched too much Mitch Richmond "highlights"??

Loved the hustle though. We are definately a tougher team this year with Etan, DeShawn and Caron in the starting lineup. Mason has looked good in his brief opps too, wouldn't mind seeing some more of him.

I thought Etan was a pacifist. Make love, not war, Etan.
I was one of those people who thought Haywood should be the starter going into the season. What's interesting is that even though Haywood played quite well in the first two games of the season, there is no center controversy at all (on the court at least). Thomas has played that well.

Time to trade Haywood. He and his agent obviously see more there than the proletariat of fans, coaches, and current teammates, so deal him while you can. Brad Miller is going to be out for awhile, perhaps Sacto would agree to something.

This is exactly the wrong time to trade Haywood. The Wizards/Bullets have a history of trading their players when their value is lowest (the best example being Chris Webber) and getting 50 cents on the dollar. Haywood is a good center with a great contract who would be attractive to many teams. Haywood's value right now is at a low (just demoted, just involved in a fight). You hold onto him until you find a good deal, and if you can't find a good deal, I don't get the impression that he is that disruptive in the locker room (Etan DID start the fight).
Plus, what would the Wizards do once Etan gets injured again? You think the Wizards are going to charge into the playoffs with Ruffin and Booth playing 40 minutes a game?

Etan is a MONSTER

btw...why is it that some games Arenas gets calls and then others (like last night) he gets thrown around and the refs swallow thier whistles...you'd think being a two time all-star, fourth leading scorer in the league and budding star, that he'd get the same treatment that players like Wade Lebron and Pierce get....

The problem with Haywood is he is very valuable but not with EJ as his coach (or to be nice, not with this group of players -- Wood's skills just don't fit in as well as Etan's do). Until EJ starts playing him and calling plays that showcase his skills he won't generate much interest. Plus he has a very cheap contract so we would have to take a less talented player in return to get it to work salary-cap wise.

Bad situation.

Zonker that is everything they said about Kwame... won't be good with EJ as his coach. Doesn't fit in style, if he goes somewhere else he will be good. He was disgruntled and quit during the playoffs so his value is low. Well let me ask you something, what has he done since he left? Nothing. And we won't get anything in return, well excuse me but Caron Butler is a pretty good player! But you didn't think about that did you Mr General Manager?