Do the Wizards stink?

Mark ButerbaughDec 11, 2009

Garnett slams on the Wizards

The Wizards are now 7-13 after last night’s 104-102 loss in the Phone Booth to the Boston Celtics. For the second straight game, Gilbert Arenas choked in crunch time, missing two free throws that would have tied the game with 26.7 seconds remaining. The Wiz made a valiant second half run after a hideous second quarter in which they allowed the Celtics to shoot 75% from the field and didn’t grab a single rebound. Let me repeat that: The Wizards did not grab a single rebound during the entire second quarter.

Caron Butler has become a ghost on offense. He still rebounds and sometimes gets assists [5 last night], but he doesn’t score anymore. Butler had 10 points and missed 7 of 10 shots against Boston and his collapse as a scorer is pretty tough to understand. The Flip Saunders offense isn’t that difficult to understand — he should not be slumping like this.

After starting out gangbusters, Antawn Jamison has it a slump and hasn’t scored 20 points in a game in the last 4 games. Against Boston he scored 16 points on 7-14 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds so he hardly embarrassed himself, but Washington need Jamison to score at least 20 points per game to make up for the offense is isn’t getting from Butler.

Who knows what is going on with Gilbert Arenas? He took 6 free throws last night and missed 5 of them and is now shooting about 71% from the line this season. The truth is, though, that I’m now surprised when he hits any shots from the line and I don’t expect him to hit them at all in the 4th quarter. Gil’s 25 points on 23 shots and 8 assists with 4 turnovers is a pretty standard night of production for Gil, but those free throws missed — particularly the two with 26.7 seconds left — were the difference in the game. Even after the team sleepwalked through the entire 2nd quarter, they still could have and should have won the game if Gilbert could hit a pair of simple free throws. He couldn’t.

Yes, the Wizards have injuries [Mike Miller still isn't back], but they’re healthier than they’ve been in a long while. Their 3 All Stars are healthy and Brendan Haywood — the only legitimate All Star candidate on the team right now — is healthy and playing well. [He scored 17 points on 8 for 8 shooting last night and his +6 court ratio was easily the best among Wiz starters.] And yet, the Wizards stink. They’re 7-13 and they stink. They lose at home, they lose on the road, they lose close games, they lose blowouts, they lose to good teams, bad teams and mediocre teams. They lose lose lose.