Your home for all sports in the DC, Maryland and Virginia area. We don't start stories, we give you our reaction as they are, uncensored. FIGHT ON DMV!
I'll be the first to admit that after seeing Dale Hunter & GMGM bring up a young 22-year old defenseman from Hershey who has no NHL experience to play against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins...I was pissed. Mainly because the new guy, Tomas Kundratek, will be starting..over a healthy John Erskine.
For a team that's already lacking the toughness of a playoff team, and who has no real rugged defensmen outside of Erskine..it baffles me that "now" is the time to throw this kid into the fire. He's also starting over Jeff "Pillows" Schultz, but let's be real, does anybody care? Good news out of the locker room today is that Pillows is growing tired of sitting every game, and he may be looking to bolt. Problem is, Georgie Boy signed him to a contract that's paying him $2.75/mil over the next couple seasons. Any takers?? I didn't think so.
Erskine may not be an elite defenseman in the league, but he brings the toughness that every goalie loves having in front of them. He'll clear the crease in a heartbeat, and stick up for his teammates no matter who the opponent is. He called out Aaron Asham for his shot against Beags earlier in the season, and threw some insane haymakers against him in their last meeting.
Even with a couple of the Penguins best players out, they are still capable of putting a whooping on a Caps team that doesn't seem to have the "kill" factor at this junction of the season. How about sitting John Carlson down for a game or two?? He hasn't looked the same all year, and frankly he's playing like he's been hitting the bong before games. Wake up man! Too much talent is being wasted there.
I'm hoping for a gutsy win tonight for the Caps, but my hopes for this game are cautious at best.
I'm not going to sit here and take all the credit for the Wizards win last night...actually, yes I am. I wrote "Starting Insanity" almost a week ago basically begging for Flip Saunders to input Chris Singleton & Trevor Booker into the starting five.
After losing 2 more games Flip finally came to his senses. My guess is that he & Ernie Grunfeld sat down and read my article together. No need to thank me boys, just don't F*ck it up by putting Rashard Lewis or Andray Blatche back into the lineup tonight vs. Chicago...or EVER! Those 2 bring a scoring punch off the bench, albeit, it was only one game. But Hell, if it's not broke..don't fix it.
Book & Singleton bring that much needed energy right off the bat, and they can basically guard every single player on the court. Loving these young bucks so far! And how about Jan Vesely bringing down the house last night?! Not to mention he led the team with 5 steals. Jimmy Wall facilitated the sh!t out of the offense last night, and our team defense was straight up vicious. I'm still expecting some bumps along the road, but I'd rather it be with this group than with the 22 million $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Rashard Lewis, & Andray Blatche in the starting lineup...yes, that's a dollar sign for each million Lewis is making this year.
Playing the Bulls & playing for the 2nd straight night isn't going to help this (1-8) squad. But look for this starting group to set the tone again, and hopefully we can make a few shots to keep this thing close.
I was headed down to the Wizards game last night after work, taking the Red Line for my first Zards game of the year knowing I'll be about 30 minutes late for the game. Little did I know that I was missing the best quarter and a half that Washington had played all year. After we made it to our seats, the boys, if not right on cue started to go down hill...forgetting how to play defense, throwing up bricks, & missing breakaway dunks.
With a "Pro-Knicks" crowd, halftime couldn't come soon enough. I needed to chug a couple beers before watching anymore. After Halftime we got back to our seats having a pretty solid buzz going when Wall & company started to pick things up. The Wiz showed a lot of heart down the line diving for loose balls, and not backing down to the likes of Melo, Amare, or Tyson.
My biggest issue with the game last night was the play of Andray Blatche, & Rashard Lewis. I've been on these guys' backs for over a week now and their play last night did nothing to change my mind. Dray talks about how he's not a pick & pop type of player, yet he settles for lazy jump shots? Makes no sense. And where do I even start with Lewis? The whole crowd was on this dude last night everytime he made a mistake...which was about every 2 minutes, literally. I realized that Rashard was making more in 5 minutes of playing time than I'll be making all year. The guy may be a veteran, but a player like this can easily be a cancer on your team. Is he a bad guy? No. Is he an Arenas type? Hell no. But for a guy making more than $21 million this year alone and putting up no more than 7 points and 5 boards a night can easily set teammates off. Would you be pissed if one of your co-workers was taking it easy while you're busting your ass on a daily basis? Oh, and they're making 20 times what you are?! Absolutely. He's here to collect a pay check, and that's fine..but he's not starting on my team.
Chris Singleton & Trevor Booker were studs again last night. They're young and raw, but they're hungry! These dudes play with a lot of passion and they both should get a chance at starting over Blatche & Lewis, like I've said before!
Booker was playing some tight D on Carmelo throughout the 4th quarter, and if it weren't for Anthony throwing a smack/punch in Booker's face...he would've never gotten an easy shot off to win the game. Let's be real though, it's not the first cheapshot Melo has thrown in his career. At least he didn't back-peddle all the way to locker room this time.
Overall, here were the best parts of the game in order:
5. Catching a shirt from the cannon in the "t-shirt toss' ...wrestled it away from a hysterical 9yr old
4. The continued improvement from Singleton & Booker
3. Jimmy Wall willing to take the winning shot toward the end...even though he missed
2. Sitting behind Wolf Blitzer, and seeing him just as mad as I was
1. Ordering "Carmelo Shots" at Rocket Bar after the game...it's just 1 shot and then you run away
We all know what the definition of insanity is right? It doesn't seem like Flip Saunders understands the concept. The biggest issue for the Wizards this year isn't how they play down the stretch, it isn't that they're getting completely outrebounded...anybody who watches the game can tell you that they don't come ready to play at tip-off. This team has been consistently getting themselves into holes in every game (outside of being hyped for the home opener vs. NJ & jumping on a Boston team who's average age is about 52yrs old. Of the other 4 losses so far this year the Wizards have been outscored in the 1st quarter 121-72..that's an average of 30-18 per game. Let's face it, this team doesn't have the fire power to overcome that type of deficit..especially on the road! In those same 4 games they've only been outscored by an average of 23-22 over the next 3 quarters. HELLOOOOO?!?!?! Am I the crazy one? Or does it seem like we need to change up the starting rotation? Our starting 5 is a straight up joke, and pretty much a punch line in every locker room throughout the NBA. A starting 5 that includes underachievers such as Rashard Lewis & Andray Blatche is just embarrassing. I don't care how much money they're making..they don't deserve that starting spot until they start playing like they want it!
I have to remind myself that John Wall is only 21, and would be equivalent to a Junior in College. Derrick Rose is 2yrs older (surrounded by much better players), Rajon Rondo is 4yrs older (surrounded by Hall of Famers), & Chris Paul is 5yrs older with way more experience. If we continue to compare Wall to these players at this point, then we will continue to be disappointed. He's young, growing, maturing, & we need to stay patient (or get him Dwight Howard). I read Jason Reid's article this morning about John Wall being somewhat depressed with the situation he is in here..which is a losing one. I know this is a lot to ask of a 21yr old kid, but he needs to realize that this is his team (no matter what Dray says into a mic). We're all looking to him to band this thing together. It's hard to want leadership out of a player where you also realize that he needs time to grow. But hell, this is DC baby..and if anything came easy we'd call this town Boston or LA.
If Flip can't see past the end of his nose that things are quickly unraveling, then maybe he should be the first to go. But the first change should be the starting line-up tomorrow night vs. NYK at Verizon Center. Here's my hopeful starting 5:
Thanks to Albert Haynesworth...Jaromir Jagr isn't the most pathetic free agent signing in DC sports history anymore. Now he's #2. Congrats Jagr! The other day I was reminiscing over the glory years with Jagr in a Caps uniform, actually...it seems more like he merely used Verizon Center as his glory hole. I was trying to think of a few great games he had here, but.................................................I'm thinking.........................still thinking...................nope, I can't seem to remember any.
Jaromir has come out and said he can't stand playing in DC, he says it's not the easiest arena to get going in.... GOOD! Because tonight I'm looking for Ovechkin to put Jagr to sleep like he did in the Olympics last year. In case you forgot, here is a little reminder:
Keep your head up Jaromir...there's going to be a freight train coming at you tonight!
If anybody has to come in to fill the void at coach...I'm happy it's a hometown hero! He was hard-nosed, tough, and borderline dirty, but he knew what it took to win, and that's why his jersey is hanging at the phone booth! Hopefully he can inject that same style of play into these Caps. Here are my Top 5 favorite clips of Hunter back when he was playing with the Caps.
