afireinside

Actually, it is listed that Hayes started at center and Jamison stayed at the four. Either way it was a stupid decision by EJ (one of his numerous stupid moves while head coach of the team).

Didn't watch the game because I was at a christmas party (which was probably the most boring and pointless party ever because nobody really talked), but after looking at the recap and box score it is pretty evident that Arenas had a bad game. He shot 7-22 from the floor and was 2-9 from 3P range. That's not the Arenas we've seen lately. When Arenas has a sub-par game, we lose the game the majority of the time. That's not something we should be relying on if we want to compete come playoff time. When Arenas is cold, someone needs to step up and lead the team.

Butler had a good game with 28 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 13-25 from the floor (and he was 2-2 from 3P range which is a good sign). Caron has either been solid or great in all of the Wizards' games this season. To have a player you know will come out and give production like that is instrumental to a season's success. Sort of like Pippen was for the Bulls during the MJ era.

Booth's minutes drastically went up as expected and he contibuted decently as I look at the box score. He only scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting, but he had 7 rebounds and 4 blocks. I would start Booth instead of Hayes, since Jarvis had another bad shooting night with only 3 shots made in 8 attemts. I'm starting to give up on Hayes. If he starts to play good I say we look to trade him quickly for a defensive oriented player (preferably a small forward to guard wing players).

Blatche finally got some minutes although it was probably garbage minutes towards the end. He shot good and ended with 9 points and 8 rebounds in only 12 minutes of play. That's not something people usually jump for joy at, but as long as he is getting playing time he will improve and eventually help the team in the later part of the season and hopefully next season.

Other than those player I didn't see anything worth noting. It's just a loss, it happens. Especially on the road against a good team. The Wiz are going to have to suck it up and come out next game like they are still on fire.

17-13 at the end of the year? I think this isn't surprising, but hopefully the team will only improve and prove a lot of people wrong who said they were only a mediocre team.

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