Despite his threats, Gilbert Arenas didn’t score 50 points. Not even close. The Wizards as a team didn’t break 50 until the fourth quarter. The team played lackadaisically all afternoon, shooting 38% from the floor with just two players, DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler, in double figures. With the possible exception of Stevenson, no one played very well, but the biggest culprit was Arenas himself. Nine points, 3-15 from the field, 0-8 from three point land and 4 turnovers. The captain led the way and the rest of the team followed suit. The boos started early in the fourth quarter and fans started filing out of the arena en masse with over six minutes left. But I don’t blame them at all, Washington was down 26 at that point. “I was embarrassed about our effort,” Butler said after the game.

When questioned about his bad game, Arenas laid the blame on the game plan. “The first period of the game, we had what, 11 players go in? I’ve never seen that before. We got taken out for any mistake we made on defense. At the end of the day, it’s hard to play like that,” he said. Arenas did make a point of saying he wasn’t trying to throw the coaching staff under the bus, but he was as frustrated yesterday as I’ve seen him all season. “It’s on us because we actually have to go out there and do it. They shot 50% [from the field] and that’s on us. We have to go out there and play defense, that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

The first half of the season has been a honeymoon of sorts for the Wiz. And between Arenas’ comments and the latest fight between Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood, the cracks may be starting to show. It appears the All-Star break can’t come soon enough. Washington has one game left before the break, Wednesday on the road in Philadelphia.

Photo by Kyle Gustafson