Cavs lose to the Wizards - Postgame Quick Hits
Posted April 3rd, 2009 by Michael Curry
Wrapping up last night’s, well let’s just call it pathetic, performance:
The Good:
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
- Nobody. Sure, there were guys who had solid performances offensively, but the team gave up 109 points on 51% shooting to a terrible Wizards team. So no one deserves any credit for any “successes” they might have had last night.
- Check that: the Wizards belong up here for their gameplan last night. They went with a huge starting lineup with Caron Butler at the shooting guard spot, Antawn Jamison at the small forward, and Dominic McGuire at the power forward. Size has been the Achilles heel of the Cavaliers, and the Wizards knew that and took advantage of it. Playoff opponents will be watching this game very closely to see how an inferior team was able to exploit the few Cavalier weaknesses to perfection.
- Oh, one more: At least there’s another game tonight so I don’t have to think about this one too long.
The Bad:
- LeBron James, having a fantastic night otherwise, turning the ball over SIX times against the less-than-formidable Wizards defense. It was clear that LeBron was not taking this game seriously (he has been fantastic at not turning the ball over lately), and that trickled down throughout the team.
- Mo Williams admiring his shot so much that he was burned by Wizards streaking down the floor behind him no less than four times.
- Delonte West playing matador defense when Nick Young (Nick Young?!?) drove to the lane for the game-sealing layup.
- Mike Brown deciding to play Joe Smith just 8 minutes.
- Wally Szcerbiak getting positively worked by Darius Songaila.
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas resorting to slapping wrists every time a Wizard took the ball to the hoop, earning him five of the weakest fouls I’ve ever seen.
The Questions:
- Really, what just happened?
- I know that ESPN can’t help themselves, but does Gilbert Arenas really deserve credit for a big win in a game where he went 3-for-11 (27%) from the field and didn’t hit a single big shot?
Go Cavs. Gonna be a rough one tonight in Orlando.
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 am
sure, the game sucked. but they weren’t playing a “terrible wizards team”. they were playing a pretty good wizards team with arenas, haywood, butler and jamison all playing. i’ll take that team over the a couple of the current playoff teams any day of the week. that’s not to excuse the cavs play. it was horrible. the last cavs loss to the wiz was much worse. that was a loss to a bottom feeder.
April 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Good point about Smith. Why did he play him for only 8 minutes? I guess Brown might be just trying to get guys like Jackson some real minutes before the playoffs in case they are needed. Wally looks even slower than his injury which I didn’t think was possible. I think Brown also wants everybody fresh for tonight’s game because it is a much bigger game in terms of the standings.