Game Preview: Wizards @ Hawks & more
The Washington Wizards face off against the Hawks in Atlanta tonight, a much tougher out than it used to be. The Hawks easily made the playoffs last year and swept the Wizards 4-0 on their way. The Hawks were 31-10 at home last year and they crushed the Indiana Pacers 120-109 on Wednesday night. Star shooting guard Joe Johnson scored 25 points, center Al Horford scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds, while forward Josh Smith chipped in with 18 points and 8 assists. Horford's quickness and coordination will pose a challenge for center Brendan Haywood, while Mike Miller could have a problem sticking with Joe Johnson. We might see more of Deshawn Stevenson tonight, since Johnson is precisely the sort of high-scoring marquee matchup Stevenson excels against. The Hawks also feature forward Joe Smith, guard Jamal Crawford and rookie guard Jeff Teague. This is the most talented Hawks team in many years.
The Wizards are trying to hold the fort until captain and 2-time All Star forward Antawn Jamison returns from a shoulder injury. Starter Fabricio Oberto and backup Andray Blatche [20 points, 7 boards] filled in nicely for Jamison against Dallas on Tuesday night, and the Wiz are counting on more of the same for the new few weeks, at the very least.
Blatche is trying to show a real dedication to his career this season, even showing up at the Phone Booth after 11 PM recently with assistant coach Sam Cassell to work on his game.
"Blatche has improved his practice habits and is focusing more on his preparation for games. His comfort level has grown now that he is just playing power forward instead of switching between that position and center. And having guard Gilbert Arenas back in the lineup also has helped. "Being on the court with Gil is very easy for me," Blatche said. "I just get to open spots, he always finds me and I knock down the open shots that I get." ... "Fab is more of the dirty-work type," Blatche said. "I'm going to come over the top with the energy, whether it's a block or a dunk or a big-time shot. We have two different styles.""
Here's the video of Blatche, courtesy of Truthaboutit.
Not all is going well for the Wiz. Backup guard Javaris Crittenton had exploratory surgery on his left foot last Friday and will miss at least another month of the regular season. Fortunately, with Gil back and Randy Foye playing well in the opener against Dallas [19 points], Crittenton might not be needed for a while.
Mike Jones writes in The Washington Times that the rotation head coach Flip Saunders plans to use was laid out for us against Dallas and we're likely to see more of the same for a while, though Javale McGee is likely to get more than 40 seconds per game.
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