Wiz Should Focus More on Basketball, Less on Hitting LeBron
Having watched both games 1 and 2 of the Cavs/Wizards series in their entirety, I feel confident in saying that Eddie Jordan and his staff are so consumed with stopping LeBron - or at least, trying to stop the beast - that they haven’t come up with much else of a game plan. As far as I can tell, their only goal in the series is to knock him to the ground as much as humanly possible.
On offense, there’s no chemistry whatsoever, as guys simply take turns going one-on-one. Gilbert Arenas, despite not being healthy, continues to jack up conscious-free 30 footers as four other players stand around the perimeter watching.
Unfortunately for Eddie Jordan and co., no one on the Wizards seems to really believe in this physical plan. Guys have sheepish looks on their faces after knocking LeBron down; when Brendan Haywood got kicked out of the game last night following his hard foul on James, Antonio Daniels slid over to LBJ and asked him if he was OK.
Can you imagine any of the Riley-Era Knicks or Isiah’s Bad Boys checking on MJ’s well-being during their postseason wars? Me neither. So, there you have it Wizards. No one believes you’re hardbody (not even yourselves); focus on the actual game instead. It’s your only hope.
48 Responses to “Wiz Should Focus More on Basketball, Less on Hitting LeBron”
Apr.22 at 9:05 am
TADOne says:
Haywood should be suspended for the next game.
Apr.22 at 9:11 am
Eboy says:
The Wiz went from being a possible playoff nightmare matchup to a complete embarassment. Sir Charles was 100000000000000% correct by calling them the dumbest team of all time.
Apr.22 at 9:24 am
Lz - Cphfinest3 says:
Agree Eboy, Charles was so right it’s scary. Repeating myself; where is all the people who said that the Wiz would beat James, MIA or just gone mute fellas?
Apr.22 at 9:25 am
Lz - Cphfinest3 says:
Scary because it was Charles who was right.
Apr.22 at 9:35 am
riggs says:
another passage from the book of barkley comes true.
Apr.22 at 9:44 am
WhaHuh says:
BAD tactics all night yesterday, they hit ANY cav that was in the lane, no blocks or stops attempted. NO offensive cohesivness. Butler/Daniels/Arenas/Jamison all forcing bad shots, Haywood stinking up the joint. At 1 point they had all 3 rookies on the court at the same time for 10mins in the 4th who combined for 1PF 1 rebound and 1 point. If Stevenson/Songalia dont step up when starters have bad nights they’re finished. The Wizards and their coach should be ashamed.
Apr.22 at 9:47 am
B. Long says:
I know they are winning the series anyway but if another one of those b@tches goes at Lebron like that Ben Wallace should def go beast mode on that ass. I know he would get suspended but they need to send a message that u can’t get away with that b.s. Its not like they’d miss him that much and honestly that’s what he’s really there for.
Apr.22 at 10:04 am
TADOne says:
LZ: I’ll admit it, I was one of those “people” who thought the Wiz, now back at full strength, would take down the Cavs in 7 games. But in my defense, I thought the Wizards would be playing basketball and not trying to be the next ‘Contender’.
Apr.22 at 10:04 am
maio says:
They should have stuck with “Bullets”. Wizards is just too fruity to identify with.
Apr.22 at 10:17 am
k.o. says:
i love that haywood throws his arms in the air like ‘i didn’t do it’
Apr.22 at 10:26 am
BxBaller says:
Daniels is soft, and LeBron needs to be put on his ass.
Apr.22 at 10:36 am
G Diesel says:
The Wizards are completely overrated. They never had a chance. It doesn’t matter how bad the Cavs are offensively, Lebron James cannot be stopped by the freakin Wizards. Even the Celtics will have a hard time stopping him in the next round. Although I’m a big Laker fan, I believe he’s better than Kobe now.
Apr.22 at 10:48 am
BETCATS says:
“i need some of them logo socks for my feetises”
Apr.22 at 10:51 am
Ben Osborne says:
TADOne, I knew the Wiz were a joke. You (and I) need to be a little more concerned with the Pistons.
Apr.22 at 10:59 am
MK Petrik says:
Is it just me or does Ben Wallace look alot smaller as a Cavalier than he did as a Piston.
Apr.22 at 11:05 am
drew says:
all the cavs and lebron haters arent as vocal now huh?
Apr.22 at 11:12 am
Joel O's says:
If the Wizards play basketball they can beat this Cavs team anyday. Unfortunately, they aren’t. Their hard fouls on Bron, sans any real intimidation, are just an excuse for crappy defence.
Apr.22 at 11:15 am
Joel O's says:
Also, Lebron is showing up to play. The Chuckster was right on all accounts - maybe if the Wiz had just shut up they would’ve been facing “Passive Lebron”… as it is, look at Lebron’s eyes, he’s on a mission and he’s out for blood.
Apr.22 at 11:17 am
Michael Tillery says:
So LeBron shouldn’t expect this? He should shut up and play ball and Mike Brown as well. Dude is playing ball on another planet. He put his game on another level last night. You are up 2-0 so this isn’t the time for lobbying. The no layup rule is now in effect. LeBron is imposing his physical will on the Wiz so why can’t they? Hard foul so what. Like I said over at TSF…Where’s Rick Mahorn?
Apr.22 at 11:42 am
ciolkstar says:
Rick mahorn was smart enough to at least make it look somewhat like a basketball p-lay when he cleans someone’s clock. Haywood could/ve went up and bodied Lebron and then bring the arms down across his arms/shoulders. But going up and streaight shoving a dude out of the air is weak isht. Lebron looks like the best player in the universe right now. he doesnt get caught up in one on one nonsense, is passing brilliantly and going to the cup like nobody else can.
Apr.22 at 11:45 am
ciolkstar says:
That dunk on the semi break where he split two Wiz defenders after picking up his dribble was ridiculous. I didnt agree withn this sentiment before but Gil mightactually be making the Wizards worse. Its like their having an identity crisis or something, thier offense has looked like garbage and the “defense” is only serving to motivate Lebron even more. Cavs in 5.
Apr.22 at 11:47 am
G Diesel says:
Cavs in 5???? The Wizards will be very lucky if they win a single a game.
Apr.22 at 12:06 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
haywood’s foul was obvious. An ejection? borderline in my opinion. The play where they fouled antonio daniels was not that different. i’m not saying the refs favor lebron, i’m just saying that the refs favor lebron…….we all knew what stevenson meant when he said the overrated thing. Obviously bron’s talent level is intergalatic but rememeber the initial context. this was in march, after he stopped bron on a game winner and all he was asked was about him. its annoying. i made this point to i think eboy. he said what he said out of frustration but now the media is running with it. we need to let it go….the wiz lost because guys aren’t making shots. simple and plain. the cavs will win in 6 against the wizards, but the celtics will beat them in 6. maybe 5.
Apr.22 at 12:16 pm
Prodigy says:
I feel that the wizards still has something left in the tank and they should be able to make a comeback if the bench arenas and let Caron and Antawn do the damage.
Apr.22 at 12:17 pm
Prodigy says:
I feel that the wizards still has something left in the tank and they should be able to make a comeback if they let James destroy himslef by playing team defense on the other cavs just like what the Spurs did and let Caron and Antawn do the damage in the offense.
Apr.22 at 12:24 pm
Nguni says:
lebron is overrated. the wizards are better than them, they just need to play ball…no, seriously. Lebron is one of the two best players in the nba, but the wizards stopped playing ball. if they gon’ win, like i wanted them to, then they will start doing that. daniels got fouled the same way as lebron, but he is not a king so he aint getting the same treatment from the refs. back to d.c. all the cavs did was protect home court. time for the wiz to do the same.
Apr.22 at 12:30 pm
Truth About It Dot Net says:
As a Wizards fan/blogger…you hit the nail on the head Mutoni. But let’s not call the Cavaliers completely innocent either. LeBron’s elbow to Blatche in game one….Varejao’s crazy arm swing in game two. The Wiz gotta lot of looking in the mirror to do. As classy as Antawn Jamison was in his post game press conference, he now needs to become the vocal leader and set these boys straight: Caron - time to step it up, and Gilbert - stop effing with the offensive flow.
Apr.22 at 12:42 pm
Shooter#9 - Brasil says:
well, i said i would go with the wizards, but i didn’t know they would not play basketball…
lets see now. they had fun for 2 games simulating wwf, lets see if they stick to the nba game from now on
Apr.22 at 1:06 pm
Lz - Cphfinest3 says:
They could start to play basketball, Gil could start to hit shots, they could cut out the wannabe-roughstuff, none of this wont mean a thing because LeBron is balling this year. Cavs in 5. Will be interesting to see him against the Celts, I personally think he will do something to emmulate Mike’s 63 back in the days (like that time probably with Celts still winning the series). James is on another level this year.
Apr.22 at 1:28 pm
Khalid Salaam says:
So are the Celtics…
Apr.22 at 1:33 pm
Myles Brown says:
If LeBron James scores 63 points on the Celtics (assuming their current series are in the bag…) then I’ll [insert hyperbole here] and put it on youtube.
Apr.22 at 2:38 pm
John E. Sanford says:
The Wizards need to STFU and just play ball. They showed no composure at all last night and they better get it together soon. For all their false bravado and brashness, they really only have one true tough guy and that’s Caron Butler. Granted Gil is a soldier, but their bigs are soft. Haywood is a punk and he needs to cut this pseudo tough guy sh*t out.
Apr.22 at 3:08 pm
Winslowalrob says:
This is absolute crap, Lebron gets away with MURDER every night, he purposely elbowed Blatche in the face in game 1, tried to trip up Brendan in the same game, travels on every drive to the basket, acts like a bitch, and on top of that Varejo pulls the SAME foul on Blatche in game 2 and HE does not get suspended. The league coddles Lebron to an insane degree, and everyone follows suit. Of course, somehow its the Wizards fault that the league refuses to police itself. From losing the Sonics in Seattle to giving Lebron a free ride, Stern has seriously screwed the league. Of course, nobody cares because of the supposedly great matchups during the playoffs, until of course YOUR team falls afoul of the league. The Wiz will win in 6, they are good enough that they can beat LeBitch, the Traveliers, AND the refs.
Apr.22 at 5:05 pm
The Biz says:
Winslowalrob you need to calm down it’s not like the wizards are completely innocent being an LBJ fan i agree i certain parts but the Cavs will win you stick to your name calling just like your wizards do
Apr.22 at 5:51 pm
The Promise says:
Im with Winslowalrob,how bout that LeBron fans? Yo Biz,why does he need to calm down? hes one of the few people on this site that really WATCHES basketball and sees what crap that goes on,instead of all you incompetent bandwagon punks that just sit there and jump out of your seat every time LeStern does something…those few people that im talkin bout,every time you say something about this guy,they are waitin in line to eat you up…its like he has a bunch of secret homies on here that have to support him no matter what…yes,he is probably the second best player in the league next to Kobe,but you people know as well as I do that he gets some preferential treatment…I knew this whole series would be a soap opera with James as the guest star…how pathetic how Stern gets away with this bullstuff just because he is who he is…its just like Rasheed said in this months slam,”David Stern dont care about basketball,all he care about is ratings”…he also said this:”thats why he let all that European crap over here…that stuff aint basketball”…thank God for people like Sheed…people that knows whats goin on instead of ridin Lebrons 15 minutes of fame…7 or 8 years from now, he will be in the same shape that Vince Carter is in…if all hes gonna do is rely on drivin by people instead of gettin a better jumpshot(oh and dont start that crap up about how hes improvin cause he aint…he hit some,but he missed a lot more so you cant say nuthin bout that)or thats all he will be…a guy that is good but used to be really good…wait and see…GO PISTONS
Apr.22 at 7:13 pm
E-Wade says:
Okay first off, your welcome Promise for that line about LBJ turning into VC….but anyway..
Listen, okay,….yeah all you little LeBron zombies can look away now………
LeBron James is the most overated player skill-wise in the NBA(not talent), he gets call David J. Stern can afford to give him without gettin another Tim Donaughey saga going. He can dunk like no other right now, except for Dwight Howard, or probably Josh Smith. He can shoot better than anybody except every 1 & 2 guard besides Tony parker.He can post up better than Darko Milicic….Are you all gettin my point here. Maybe,no, Probably DeShawn was right, LeBron is overated. The Next VC, if you dont believe me watch for the next 6 or 7 years you’ll see I’m right.——as far asphysical play.”So” its a contact sport doofus.
GO LAKERS MVP u know who
Apr.22 at 7:16 pm
The Promise says:
well at least i have support
Apr.22 at 7:17 pm
The Promise says:
o well…
Apr.22 at 7:29 pm
Ethan says:
Hey Promise, your welcom for the LbJ-VC comparison I said a while back.
Anyway DeShawn was right….Okay here’s the part where all you little LeBron zombies turn away for a while..
LeBron is the most overated player in the NBA skill-wise(not talent)..He can jump and dunk better than everybody in the league except for D-Howard or Josh Smith on a good day.He out shoot everyone besides every guard besides Tony Parker and all the Big men except for Dirk and Sheed(there goes the argument for being big and still shooting great huh?)He can post-up better than most guards and some of the big men, he’s got that goin for him-see im not hatin’ just stating facts…But he will be the New Vince Carter-just more shoes, wait and see.
GO LAKERS
Apr.22 at 9:05 pm
The Biz says:
Promise i am a lebron fan but not because i’m bandwagon jumper my first game i ever saw was lebron’s debut at sacramento against my beloved kings and he did amazing he got 25 points 6 rebound and 4 assists it was simply amazing to me. i haven’t watched basketball for a long time but as i said before their is star treatment. he’s built like a linebacker he shouldn’t be taking jumpers and his jumpshot has improved not by a great amount but it’s getting better. I don’t know about the VC comparison but i do see similarity’s and i wasn’t disagreeing with Winslowalrob about star treatment but the Wizards beat themselves with bad play everybody saw last year how to play the cavs when watching the finals. LeBron’s not unstoppable and it didn’t help they put Deshawn Stevenson on LJ instead of Antawn or Caron
Apr.22 at 9:33 pm
Ethan says:
Hey Biz one more note, if it amazed you that somebody tore up the Kings it has been a long time since you’ve watched basketball.(no offense)
GO LAKERS
Apr.22 at 10:04 pm
The Biz says:
Your stupid ethan it was 2003 the Kings were still good not as good as their 2000 season but still contenders in the western conference
Apr.22 at 10:10 pm
The Biz says:
Oh he had 9 assist, 6 steals his first team
Apr.22 at 10:10 pm
The Biz says:
game not team
Apr.23 at 12:00 pm
J-Arch30 says:
u r all fags…lebron sucks..big steroided monkey…
Apr.23 at 12:48 pm
NYCBaller says:
Barkley called it right….does that mean his prediction of UTAH winning the finals is right? Don’t wanna see that, but wouldn’t mind seeing D-Will get his. Personally, I like all the drama surrounding this series. Deshawn - keep talking!
Apr.23 at 1:25 pm
drew says:
so people are allowed to beat the hell out of lebron but the second he tries to stand up for himself and foul someone hard hes wrong and gets away with stuff? thats ridiculous. brendan haywood had the dirtiest play this side of bruce bowen. he didnt even make a play on the ball. if he would have made a play on the ball then all of this wouldnt be going on. also there is no way he turns into vince”half man-half what he used to be” carter.
Apr.23 at 9:13 pm
Ethan says:
Hey Biz im not stupid your self decieved GO LAKERS