A (half-hearted) Wizards guarantee, and maybe LeBron didn't get fouled
Posted May 1st, 2008 by Pat McManamon
Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said this after Game 5: "I think we are going to play great on Friday. I'm not predicting a win but I think we are going to play great on Friday and then bring it back here. … I guess I am predicting a win if I say we are coming back here for a seventh game. I'm not boldly predicting a win, but I think we will play very well on Friday." Hardly Joe Namath guaranteeing victory. Which is probably why the Cavs shrugged it off. "That's an easy guarantee, in my opinion," Brown said. "Or an easy thing to say." Brown, though, said he would not make a statement like that. "I don't know if I'd make a statement like that at a news conference," Brown said, "but it doesn't make it bad."
Put it another way: Jordan's statements are clearly no more inflammatory than James saying "No" when asked if the Wizards could get back in the series after Cleveland had won Game 4.
On the replay it sure looked like LeBron James was fouled on his attempted game-winner in Game 5. But on second review it appears Darius Songaila was pushed into James by Zydrunas Ilguaskas. This is done in the NBA; it's what happened late in the season in Philadelphia when the referees put time back on the clock. Z pushed Samuel Dalembert into Devin Brown, and that's a loose ball foul. Wednesday night, the officials rightly ruled no call.
Washington's two leaders, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, stood up for proper play and lack of trash talk after Game 5. Said Butler: "Don't judge this team by comments. LeBron made a statement: 'these guys are talkers' but unless you hear something from the captains, which would be myself and Antawn, don't label that as the team. I'm the voice of this team and Antawn is the spiritual and emotional leader so unless you hear it from one of us, keep it moving." Said Jamison:"All the talk, all the silliness had gotten so much attention, it was time to just play ball. We were down 3-1, on the brink of elimination, I just told them that all this talking was not making them look bad, it was making us look bad. We're a veteran team and it was time for us to start acting like it." Jamison admitted he was annoyed with DeShawn Stevenson and Gilbert Arenas. "We've got a lot of personalities on our team. Sometimes you can tame them, sometimes you can't. But this was out of hand. I told them: 'You can't get your point across through the media. You have to get your point across on the court.' That's what they were doing. They've been just staying quiet and playing. For Caron and myself, it was just difficult. Don't get me wrong, I love D-Steve and I love Gil, and I'll strap it up with them anytime. You have to have your teammates' backs, but what was going on was just nonsense. It had nothing to do with getting respect, because you can only do that by playing well and demonstrating professionalism. You make your noise that way."
Butler and Jamison are pros, and extremely good players. What they said does not a surprise. And the fact that they've returned the series to basketball is a good thing.
Songaila said when his arm hit James in the first half of Game 5 that it was "an accident." He said: "We got tangled up, my arm got caught inside of his and when he tried to free himself it was just an accident. He lifted my arm and it hit him right in the face. It was caused by him. It wasn't intentional or anything like that. If anything, it was just an accident." Eddie Jordan added: "And LeBron's a terrific actor; we've seen some of his commercials."
Wally Szczerbiak is shooting 36 percent (14-for-39). Ugh. This might mean the Cavs go to Sasha Pavlovic, who may be healthy. Said Mike Brown: "It's hard for me to say if Sasha is going to be ready for a playoff ready atmosphere like this, with the way the speed of the game is. Having said that, yeah, I might throw him in there. But right now it’s not at the top of my list."
As for shooting, Anderson Varejao is 7-for-24 (29 percent). This is brutal, especially given most of Varejoa's shots come from close range and that Varejao has started to act like he's Julius Erving. Someone needs to put a choke collar on him and yank it every time he starts one of these ridiculous drives or spinning moves.
Some more quotes from practice:
Z on the Cavs late offense: "We should have driven to the basket, made them foul us. … We made it easy on them. Especially with Haywood being out of the game."
Brown on the late offense: "We got to get LeBron moving, and we have to get him on the backside of some action. We didn’t do that. Having said that, going back and watching the tape, we got to the rim, we got in the paint. Joe had a wide open two footer, Gib had a wide open shot off the drive and kick. In the last few possessions we had some good shots. But in the same breath I agree, we do have to get him off the back side and that starts with me."
Daniel Gibson on the not going to Z late: "We definitely could have gone to Z in a couple different situations. But at the same time, when you have No. 23 out there on the floor … "
Mike Brown: "A playoff series is a season in itself." Amen to that one, especially after this series.
