Wizards Free Agents

It may be too early to discuss this topic, but I noticed that a lot of the Wizards will be a free agent in 2007. Here are the breakdowns:

Restricted

Andray Blatche
Jarvis Hayes
Donell Taylor

Unrestricted

Calvin Booth
James Lang
Roger Mason
Michael Ruffin
DeShawn Stevenson

I believe the Wizards will retain all the restricted free agents in this list. Blatche has upside that the team should continue to help develop. Taylor's quickness is desirable in the league. Also, I feel that it'll take years for a young player like Taylor to understand the "Princeton Offense" and dumping him now would be a waste of effort. Jarvis Hayes is an important component and although he'll come off the bench (as long as Caron Butler starts), he'll get decent minutes along with AD.

Ruffin and Stevenson may be the only 2 players the Wizards will try convincing to stay in Washington. With Pecherov and hopefully a healthy Songaila, there really isn't a need for Booth and Lang.

Around the NBA (12)

1. Cavs dodged a bullet in NY earlier tonight. The Knicks didn't quit and almost pulled the upset. Damon Jones had a career night shooting and was 7 for 8 from downtown. LeBron, once again, didn't let his team lose.
2. Sonics took down the Nets in New Jersey. Nets were coming off a back-2-back against the Wizards. Sonics have played surprisingly well during the start of this season and most of their wins are on the road. Defense is getting better also.
3. It appears that this could be the worst season in Celtics history. Boston failed to win at home against the visiting Orlando Magic. I have voiced that Doc Rivers be fired sooner than later.

Around the NBA (11)

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Enjoy.

My Fantasy Team (2)

Stephen Jackson has been waived from my fantasy team.

I saw the Pacers in person when they visited Washington several games ago. I also watched them take on the Chicago Bulls. Stephen Jackson is no longer playing at the level I thought he could. He's no longer the second option on the team after Jermaine O'Neal (Al Harrington has taken that spot). Also, Stephen's got a lot of baggage with him (from the Pistons Brawl to firing a gun into the air outside a club) that he's unable to shake.

There is no way you can concentrate and play professional basketball when your mind isn't into it. I just don't see the passion from SJax right now. And his stats have gone way down. Although he's still a starter for the Pacers, he has become less valuable in Coach Carlisle's rotation. Thus, I have no choice but to waive him. He could bounce back later and make me regret my decision, but I have to get the best players at this moment.

So you ask, who did I get to replace SJax? Well, I watched NBA Fantasy Hoops with Rick Kamla on NBATV to get some information. One team that is supposed to stink this year is Portland. However, they have played extremely well with Zach Randolph, Brandon Roy, and Jarrett Jack. Randolph and Roy are taken in my league, so I picked up Jack off waivers. I hope this kid from Georgia Tech can exceed Stephen Jackson's fantasy output.

Nets-Wizards (postgame)

The Wiz ended their three game homestand against New Jersey Nets, a favorite to represent the East for the NBA Finals. The Nets were without Richard Jefferson (ankle injury). On paper, it would appear that the Wizards have momentum for the win (because they're at home) but that didn't happen.

From the start, Washington missed a lot of shots - all of them jumpers. On the other hand, the Nets shot the ball very well. In a glimpse, the score was 11-2 NJ. This type of start is what I fear for the Wizards this season. When shots aren't falling for anyone, the team struggles as it loses confidence. Once confidence is shot, the team loses energy and the motivation to play defense.

The crowd was out of it early and that gave the advantage to New Jersey. In addition to Vince Carter, Nenad Krstic scored anywhere on the court: inside layups and perimeter jumps. The guy that the Wizards didn't expect to hit shots was Bostjan Nachbar. Nachbar hit 3s at crucial times for the Nets and that really deflated the Wizards. I was shocked to hear some boos from the fans at halftime.

Washington tried several runs in the third quarter (with various lineups) to catch up, but New Jersey did a good job keeping the lead. Coach Jordan even inserted Donell Taylor and Roger Mason Jr. to spark the offense. Donell played under control and scored 4 points.

The crowd was getting restless but with about 8 minutes to go, the complexion of the team changed. The lineup of Ruffin, Butler, Daniels, Arenas, and Hayes got the team going. The defense stepped up and caused a lot of Nets turnovers. Fast break opportunities brought renewed energy back to the arena. The Wiz used this energy to take the lead! NJ was in trouble but they didn't lose composure. NJ didn't panic and was able to get the ball back down 1 with seconds to go.

Everyone knew that it was Vince Carter time and VC didn't disappoint. He drove the baseline, took hard contact, and fell to the floor with 3.2 seconds. Everyone thought that Vince got fouled, but then several Wizard players started clapping. Ruffin took the offensive charge from Carter! Oh my! The crowd was confused and Hayes made 2 free throws at the other end. Wiz up 3, 87-84. Nets called their final timeout (a 20 second timeout). Again, everyone knew this is Vince Carter time. Vince came off 2 screens, caught the ball and fired the shot at about 25-26 feet. The shot looked long but WAIT! The ball took a funky bounce off the back of the rim, got stuck, and rolled in for the 3! Tie game. Unbelievable! Vince did it again! The crowd and the home team were too stunned to continue. 87-87 at the end of regulation.

NJ continued to pound in OT with several highlight plays - Kidd alley-oop to Vince and Kidd's 25 foot 3-pointer at the end. The Wiz lost their will to continue to battle. The crowd exited Verizon Center when the Wiz couldn't buy a bucket in OT. What a tough loss. What a tough loss.

In retrospect, the Wiz could have packed it in early. But, when you have bench guys like Daniels, Hayes, and Ruffin, you don't give up. Those guys, as long as they're healthy, will keep the Wiz in games when the starters are struggling. Also, Stevenson played extremely well during the early part of the comeback. He brought a lot of energy with his speed and scoring. He also shadowed Vince Carter for much of the game like he did on Michael Redd last game.

Washington is back at .500 and will be going on a road trip. The next time they're home, LeBron is in town. Oh, and the Wiz will showcase their new gold alternates on national tv. Should be fun.

New Jersey: 3-2
Washington: 3-3

Around the NBA (10)

I watched most of the Pacers-Bulls game on NBATV last night. But first, I would like to say that the Celtics need a new coach. You can't have a team leading by 25 on the road to the Cleveland Cavaliers and lose the game at the end. An absolute breakdown by the coaching staff to not keep the players playing for the entire game. No one on the Cavs believed what happened. LeBron showed the world again that he didn't quit.

Pacers played very good interior defense early and dared the Bulls to shoot outside jumpers to beat them. The Bulls had problems with their perimeter game and Ben Gordon looked inconsistent again. Miraculously, the Bulls came back at the end and won at home. Hinrich hit the dagger 3 to put the game away for the Bulls.