Results tagged “eddiejordan>”

Looks like that loss to a seven-man New York Knicks squad over the weekend was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, as news is breaking that the Washington Wizards fired head coach Eddie Jordan this morning. Jordan, one of the longest tenured coaches in the league, had been in charge of the team since 2003 and enjoyed four straight playoff appearances, but got off to a very rough 1-10 start this year.

Who says the Washington Wizards didn't improve over the offseason? Last night DCist made our first trip down to the Verizon Center this season and noticed plenty of changes; fancy new press credentials (now with marketing slogans!), shiny, new flat screen monitors in press row in section 104, that snazzy $50 million scoreboard that puts a whole new spin on the Kiss-Cam and a new red carpet themed video set to Kanye West's "Bigger,...

.354 from the field .203 from three point land 91.7 points per game No matter how you look at the numbers, it's clear the Washington Wizards struggled in the opening week of the NBA season, a fact reflected in their 0-3 record. The team looks disjointed on offense, taking bad shots and turning the ball over with impunity. And by giving up 105+ points per game - good for 26th in the league -...

The recent Kobe for Gilbert trade rumors (shot down yesterday by Ernie Grunfeld — not that that means anything) should give you an indication that the Washington Wizards are at a crossroads season in regards to the franchise's future. Gilbert Arenas has gone on record saying he will opt out of his contract at the end of the season and Antawn Jamison is in the final year of his deal. Something's got to give...

Browsing around the site a few days ago, we were struck by how much the photo of local informercial crazy guy Matthew Lesko resembled Ward 1 Council member and club shutter-downer Jim Graham — there's the poofy silver hair, the 1950s glasses, the bowtie. It would only be better if Graham rode around in a question mark-covered Scion. But it got us thinking: who else in D.C. looks like somebody else? So after the jump...

What was once an entertaining season for the Washington Wizards has quickly gone down the proverbial drain so fast most people are afraid to ask "What's next?" In the last 12 days, the team has lost Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas for the season, lost the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, lost the Southeast Division crown to the Miami Heat and also lost six in a row, with four of those...

A tumultuous weekend for the Washington Wizards took an unexpected turn for the worse on Sunday when All-Star Caron Butler fractured his right hand in a 121-107 win against the Milwaukee Bucks. Bulter was trying to contest a dunk by Ruben Patterson and hit his hand on the backboard. His availability for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs is very much in doubt at this point. "Caron is going to be...

Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler returned from their injuries over the weekend and the nearly full strength Wizards won a pair of games, defeating Atlanta 93-92 on Friday and winning a wild one yesterday over Golden State 107-106. We'll start with the Golden State game, as it had one of the strangest endings I've ever seen in a basketball game. Down two with just over two seconds remaining, Gilbert Arenas drove to the hole...

In retrospect, it was inevitable that Saturday's Wizards / Lakers matchup would be a bit of a letdown when it was all said and done. The game had a media build up more reminiscent of the weekend's other big game with the Post going as far to call it "Star Wars II" and the most "highly anticipated regular season game since Michael Jordan made his home debut for the Wizards in November 2001." Chuck...

The Wizards 104-99 win over the Detroit Pistons last night at the Verizon Center evened the season series to 2-2, solidified D.C.'s grip on the top spot in the Eastern Conference, and has rendered it extremely probable that Eddie Jordan will coach the East's All-Star Team in Vegas. Good news all around then, except for the small matter of Antawn Jamison re-injuring the left knee he tweaked playing Boston on January 20th. Jamison suffered...

127-105. Yeah, it was that bad. Worse even. So much for all the talk about "swag" and "tough juice." Only time will tell if last night's shellacking at the hand of the Phoenix Suns will start the backlash on the hype and attention the Wizards have earned this year, but boy was it ugly. The crowd of 20,173, not to mention the huge media contingent, came to the Verizon Center last night be entertained...

After last Friday's win in Orlando and upcoming games this week against the Phoenix Suns and Detroit Pistons, Saturday night's game at the Verizon Center against the banged up Boston Celtics had all the characteristics of a trap game. The Celtics were without Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak and Tony Allen, among others, and losers of seven of their last eight games. Should be easy pickings, right? Well, almost. The Wiz built up a big...

Gilbert Arenas left the court at the Verizon Center yesterday as fans serenaded him with chants of "MVP! MVP!" after hitting yet another game winner at the buzzer. The Utah Jazz were Agent Zero's latest victim, falling 114-111 in an incredible Martin Luther King Day matinée. Arenas, who tied a Verizon Center record with 51 points, traded three pointers with Utah's Memet Okur down the stretch, but got the ball last and made Utah...

With all the attention Gilbert Arenas has garnered over the last month of the NBA season, it's easy to forget about his very capable teammates. Luckily for the Wiz, they were ready to pick up the slack last night when Gilbert had an "off" game. A look at the stat sheet might tell you the Bulls defense held Agent Zero to just 16 shots, but it wouldn't show Gilbert's determination to get his teammates...

The Wizards absolutely crushed the Memphis Grizzlies last night at the Verizon Center in the most one-sided NBA game we've witnessed in a while. D.C. exploded to a 45-18 lead in the first quarter, and set a new Verizon Center record by scoring 77 in the first half. Gilbert Arenas took his new Kobe-inspired mantra of "quality shots" seriously, scoring his 31 points on just 13 field goal attempts in 33 minutes. Thanks to injuries...

Of all the rivalries in recent sports history, few have been as one-sided as the Wizards' struggles against their Southeast Division antagonists, the Miami Heat. Indeed, it's not clear you can even call it a rivalry, since in actual rivalries both sides sometimes win. D.C.'s hoopsters, by contrast, have been losing for a long time now. Sixteen straight games, including a four-game sweep in the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals, and sweeps of the regular season...

After a three game losing streak, who would have thought a match up with the Cleveland Cavaliers, owners of the second best record in the NBA going into Saturday night, would be just what the doctor ordered for the Washington Wizards? Both teams were coming off games on Friday; the Wiz lost at Detroit and the Cavs pounded the hapless Timberwolves at home. In this topsy turvy start to the NBA season, the Cavs...

Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias Wizards fans in the Verizon Center for last Sunday's overtime loss to the Nets could smell victory as the Nets were forced to try and in-bound the ball facing a three-point deficit with only 2.7 seconds remaining on the regulation clock. Odor turned to palpable taste as guard Vince Carter launched a long shot on a short-arced trajectory that couldn't possibly fall in. And, indeed, the shot slammed into...

Pop quiz, hotshot. Your team is up three in the waning seconds and your opponent is inbounding the ball. Do you just play defense and hope for a stop? Or do you foul before the other team can shoot a three, putting them on the line so they can't tie the game in one possession? Last night at the MCI Center, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan chose the former and his team paid for it. The...

Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias The good news for the Wizards after the NBA's first week of action is that they're scoring the most points in the Eastern Conference. They're even outscoring their opponents, albeit narrowly, by an average of 0.3 points per game. Unfortunately, they're also giving up the second-most points in the East, and losing two out of their three first games. Somewhat remarkably, both Washington and their opponents are scoring in...

Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias. The scheduling gods decreed that for tonight's season-opening game, the Wizards face off against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the very team that sent the Wiz packing from the playoffs last year in a heart-breaking six game defeat. Despite the superficial difference in records (50-32 for Cleveland, 42-40 for Washington), the two squads were extremely closely matched last season in terms of point differential and expected wins. The...

Don't look now, but the NBA season is just two weeks away. When last we saw the Washington Wizards, LeBron James was carving up their defense and talking Gilbert Arenas out of winning games from the line. The Wiz may not have made as much noise this offseason as last, but sure-handed (and recently re-signed) General Manager Ernie Grunfeld did make some moves. They include: 1) Re-upping coach Eddie Jordan for three more years....

Saturday night's season ending game for the Wizards played out true to form. Build up a big lead (check - up double digits in the first half), lose it in the second (check - down three late), get some game saving heroics from Agent Zero (Check - an incredible three pointer from over 30 feet out) and then ultimately lose it due to their defense (a wide open Damon Jones three pointer with three...

It looks like the coronation of King James will have to wait a few days. After posting a triple double in his first ever playoff game, LeBron James followed that up with a 10 turnover stinker that included a missed breakaway dunk. Instead, the Cavs were lead by Drew Gooden (11-12 from the field, 11 rebounds) and aided and abetted by some stretch run calls by the officials that had Wiz fans screaming "home...

Without a doubt, the highlight of the Maryland Terrapins' up and down (Clemson says "Hi") season last year were the two wins the Terps enjoyed over their hated rivals, the Duke Blue Devils. Their rivalry resumed last night in Durham and the Devils enjoyed the cozy confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium to the tune of a 76-52 walkover. This one was over early (letting everyone tune over to ABC for the new episode of...

The Wizards lost at home last night to the Houston Rockets 123-111 in a game that was out of reach from the early going. The Rockets shot 55.1% from field (just their second time shooting over 50% all season), 52.9% from three point land and 84.8% from the line. While we realize that with stats like that, it's the players that lost the game, it's worth noting that Wiz Coach Eddie Jordan got served...

With three blogs, Matthew Yglesias is one of the more prolific progressive political bloggers out there. The 24-year-old writer for The American Prospect, who hails from New York City, has also, since he moved to D.C. a few years ago, been dubbed by just about everybody as either a "rising star" or "up-and-coming pundit." Yglesias took time to chat with DCist over email about everything from the D.C. blog scene to Gilbert Arenas....

When we last checked in on them, the Washington Wizards were 8-11 and facing a tough five game road trip that would go a long way in deciding the outcome of their season. After losing their first three in L.A. (to the Lakers), Portland and Seattle, the team pulled out the last two games in Denver and Phoenix, giving them some much needed momentum when they returned home to face the Lakers last night....

The Washington Wizards started last week one game below .500 and facing four games in a span of six days that threatened to send their season into a tailspin if things went badly. After an overtime win at home on Tuesday against the woeful Raptors, the team failed to gain any momentum, losing three games to Eastern Conference rivals Indiana, Chicago and Miami. Getting destroyed on national TV to the Pacers was bad, but...

DCist was lucky enough to get Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood on our NBA fantasy team this year and so far all three are making us look like a regular Ernie Grunfeld. On Saturday night Arenas and Jamison combined for 53 points and 16 rebounds while Haywood pulled down 10 rebounds and added four blocked shots and the Wizards won their home opener 87-79 over the Orlando Magic. But the team's offense...