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I doubt anyone is at the "Gilbert Who?" stage yet, but anyone who's been watching the Washington Wizards play since Agent Zero went down would be hard pressed to deny that the team has been just plain fun to watch these last few weeks - perhaps because with the big gun out, they are playing like a team. Last night three players had double-doubles and a total of six players scored in double figures as the Wiz took down a scrappy Minnesota squad 102-88.
Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison got theirs - a combined 42 points and 23 rebounds - but found enough shots for everyone else as all five starters scored in double figures. Brendan Haywood continued to erase memories of his dismal '06-'07 campaign with 14 rebounds and DeShawn Stevenson contributed 4 three pointers.
But the bench also came up big in this win. Can someone tell me what's gotten into Roger Mason? He dropped 17 points off the bench in just 25 minutes. He's averaging just under 13 points per game in his last five and is turning into the scoring option off the bench that Jarvis Hayes never could be. Andray Blatche didn't fill out the stat sheet, but provided energy and toughness down low before tweaking his ankle late in the first half. Same with rookie Dominic McGuire, who is looking more comfortable on the floor as he gets more burn.
Photos by Kyle Gustafson
The Timberwolves, still reeling from the Kevin Garnett to Boston deal that occurred over the summer, have a few nice players but not many of them are complimentary pieces. Craig Smith (who scored a career-high 36 points last night) and Al Jefferson give them an imposing tandem down low, but the team lacks the outside shooting to free up space for them on the blocks - they shot 4-15 from downtown last night. Former Gator Corey Brewer, who has to be one of the skinniest ball players I have ever seen, also looked good. He's not a scoring machine, but is incredibly versatile and hits the boards with abandon.
The Wizards finished their five game home stand 4-1. At 11-10, they currently sit in 5th place in the Eastern Conference going into a Thursday trip to Miami to visit the reeling Heat, who currently sit in last place in the conference.
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Great photos. Have you photographed on the baseline before or is this a newly obtained press privilege?
Thanks. That was the first time I've ever taken photos from the baseline. It's a lot different than doing an MLS game. There's more action and the ball moves around much faster. And the refs continually stand right in front of you. Hopefully they'll let me do it again soon.
Minny plays hard, they're just getting out-gunned every night. Big Al didn't play very well, which didn't help their cause.
I think by "scrappy" I think he means one of their three wins is against the Phoenix Suns. So the Wiz better not have taken them lightly (and they didn't!)