DC Sports Blog

DC Sportsblog is now DC Pro Sports Report!

2007-05-14T12:40:00.000-04:00

That's right, DC Sportsblog has gotten a bit of a makeover and we hope you'll like it. We wanted to expand our coverage of DC pro sports and add features that just are not available at Blogspot so we have moved to...

DC Pro Sports Report! That's www.dcprosportsreport.com. We have new features and a new look, but the same intense focus on pro sports in the Washington, D.C. area. As our focus will now be on DC Pro Sports Report, we will not continue to update this site. All the updates you need will be at DC Pro Sports Report

Check us out!

Weekend Surprise

2007-05-14T09:30:00.000-04:00

What got into those Nationals? Coming off a dismal 8 game slide, the worst record in baseball, and nothing but criticism and pity ahead, the national ended the weekend with a three game sweep of the Florida Marlins. Just like that, the Nats sweep a series and put together a 3 game winning streak. More impressive, they did it with both bats and arms.

The Nats kicked off the series sweep with a 6-0 shutout of Florida on Friday night. Another impressive performance on the mound by P Shawn Hill who tossed 5 shutout innings before before leaving with a sore elblow. Hill struk out 5 and only gave up 2 hits, lowering his ERA to 2.70 and evening out his record at 3-3. In fact, the Nats bullpen combined with Hill to scatter a mere 4 Marlin hits. Unfortunately for the Nats, Hill’s inflamed elbow will for him to the DL.

The Nationals in place of Hill activated RP Chad Cordero, who was on bereavement leave from the death of his grandmother. DC Pro Sports Report send outr condolences and symapthies to Chad and his family.

Offensively, Friday night, the Nats got three hits a piece from Crhistian Guzman, who had a super hot weekend, and C Brian Schneider. Austin Keanrs and Ryan Church each knocked in two runs.

Saturday the Nats took down the Marlins 7-3 behind solid pitching from Matt Chico and the bullpen. Chico pitched 4 innings giving up a run while Jon Rauch closed out the win for his second win of the season, he is now 2-0. Offensively, Ryan Langerhans had two hits , but the big blast came in the ninth inning, a grand slam HR from Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman knocked in 5 of the Nats 7 runs.

The Nats completed the series sweep with a 6-4 win last night. Jason Simontucci gained his first win as a National. He pitched 5 innings gave up 3 runs and struck out 4. For the third straight game, the Nationals bullpen responded, puitching 3 scoreless innings and ending with Rauch gaining his first save of the season. Offensively, the Nats were led again by Christian Guzman who was 2 for 4 with a triple and 2 RBIs. C Jesus Flores was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs as well.

ROSTER MOVEMENT UPDATE:

SP Shawn Hill was placed on the DL with an inflamed elbow. Chad Cordero will be activated fro Hill’s spot ont he roster. Dimitri Young will be sidelined for a few games. Either Rafael Belliard or Robert Fick will replace him at 1B.

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, .274
Runs Batted In: Ryan Church, 15
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 16
Home Runs: Austin Kearns, 4
Stolen Bases: Felipe Lopez, 5
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, 18

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 50.0
ERA: Saul Riviera, 2.07
Strike Outs: Shawn Hill, 33
Wins: Shawn Hill, 3

NEXT UP: Monday, May 14 Atlanta Braves — (WAS) Jason Bergmann (CHI) John Smoltz

Bears go to the Eastern Conference Finals

2007-05-12T10:31:00.001-04:00

Washington Capital affiliate, Hershey Bears had a nail biting slugfest 7-6 win last night over Wilkes-Barre - Scranton to win the semi-final series. The Bears now move on to the Eastern Conference Finals!

What a game it was. Being there live was treat, simply doesn’t do justice. The first hockey game my son ever attended and he got to see a whopping 13 goals and an overtime. You could feel the adreniline right from Chocolate Avenue driving into Giant Center. The fanbase was fired up right form the start. And they got what they deserved and more.

Pouliot started off the scoring just 4 minutes into the first period, giving WB a 1-0 lead, but the scoring came easily afterwards. The Bears quickly tied it one of Scott Barney’s hat trick goals. Josh Wilson followed it up, coming out of the penalty box, free and clear to give the Bears a 2-1 lead. After WB tied it up at 2-2, Barney connected on his second of three goals to put the Bears up 3-2. Dave Steckel also scored in the first, ending the period 4-3. The slugfest was well under way and so was the aggressiveness that led to a great fight with the Bears Derek Englandd taking out a WB player, I for the life of me cannot remember his name, I was too busy yelling. My son kept asking after that, “hey, when is the next fight”. The Bears honored injurd Bear Joey Tenute during the intermission.

Second period was much calmer. Barney completed his hat trick in the second period that was infiltrated by penalties. I really did not think the Bears were really aggressive in the second period, offensively or defensively. But, one thing that did remain consistent were the hard hits. Both teams played pretty hard hitting defense. I was disappointed in some of the calls and missed calls. i thought the refereeing was pretty poor last night, but the famous B U L L S H I T song and chant was loud and clear directed right where it needed to be. The second period was infested with penalties and by the end of the game, 25 different penalties were called, and to be truthful, a number more were completely missed. Sloppy game for both teams defensively.
Tomas Fleischmann had a great game last night. He scored a goal in the second period to tie the game up 6-6, but also had 4 assists on the night. Excellent game for Tomas. I also liked the return of the intensity of both teams in the third and OT period.

Tyler Sloan was sent to the penalty box just 40 seconds in OT, but the Bears did a pretty decent job of killing it. Then it was WB’s turn. The Bears had a few great opportunities in OT to socre. Seemed like WB killed themsleves, giving the Bears on two separate occasions a two man power play advantage.

The Bears racked up 6 goals in regulation, none from point and goal leader Alexandre Giroux. That ended in OT. Chris Borque fired a fine slapshot right at Pens goalie Nolan Schaffer, and Giroux knocked in the rebound to send the defending Calder Cup Champs back to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Give it up for Hershey Goalie Frederick Cassivi. Cassivi was fired on heavily, but int he third period and OT, Cassivi held his ground, making some pretty damn impressive saves. Great job by Freddie!

Player of the Game: TIE: Scott Barney, 3 goal hat trick and Tomas Fleischmann, 1 goal and 4 assists

Goal of the Game: Alot of people would say Giroux’s game winner of course, but Kyle Wilson coming out of the penalty box, wide open on a drive to the next was a picture of beauty. Goes to Wilson.

Kudos to: Waste Management for inviting me to the Suite to watch this great game!

And my fellow Caps fan, you gotta make the trip to Hershey when the Bears return. The fervor is at an extremely high pitch and the atmosphere and feel of a Bears playoff game is thrilling. Come on up and support the baby Caps!

Bears Win Slugfest

2007-05-12T00:05:00.000-04:00

I will give a detailed report tomorrow since I was at the game, but man, what a game it was. A great fight, tremendous hits, 13 goals, overtime, and a 7-6 win that propels the Hersey Bears to the Eastern Conference finals!

Congratulations Bears!

Bears Look to Wrap Up Series Tonight

2007-05-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

Give it up for the Hershey Bears. Bears face off tonight at 7PM at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA. Yours truly will be rink side and give a full report either tonight or tomorrow!

The Bears have a 3-1 series lead and a win tonight will propel the Bears to the Eastern Conference Finals in the quest to repeat as Calder Cup Champions.

Agent Zero gets promoted

2007-05-10T21:25:00.000-04:00

After being named to the All NBA 3rd team the last two seasons, Gilbert Arenas was named to the All NBA 2nd team today.

Arenas joined Elvin Hayes as the only players in franchise history to receive an All-NBA honor three consecutive seasons.

"It's a real accomplishment,'' Arenas said in a statement issued by the Wizards, "and a lot of the credit has to go to my teammates.''
...
Arenas finished third in the league in scoring this season, averaging 28.4 points, and helped the Wizards reach the playoffs for the third straight year. But he missed the postseason after having knee surgery April 5.

He scored 30 or more points in 35 games and 50 or more points in three, including a franchise-record 60 against the Los Angeles Lakers in December.

Gilbert also spoke about the need for the team -- and himself -- to improve defensively.

During the season, Arenas and Wizards coach Eddie Jordan clashed publicly about Jordan's desire for better defense.
...
"We have been playoff contenders for three years in a row, but that is not good enough anymore. We want to get to the Eastern Conference finals,'' Arenas said Thursday. "We can score with anybody in this league and we proved that this season, but we know now that the way to get better is to get better on defense. I'm going to get stronger so that we can do that.''

And a final bit of good news for Bullets fans:

Arenas also said he's ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation.

"I can walk without crutches, I can walk up the stairs, and I'll probably be able to get on the treadmill next week,'' he said.

I hope Gilbert means what he says about improving defensively. We've heard pretty talk about defense from the Bullets before, but there has been no improvement. Gilbert, in fact, has, at times, made it clear he resents the focus on defense and would prefer to win simply by outscoring the opponent. Perhaps it has dawned on him that for the Bullets to become an elite team, they have to learn to get stops.

So How Long, How Far Does This Nats Losing Streak Go

2007-05-10T08:26:00.000-04:00

You know, when looking back into training camp and looking at the roster that was put together, one thing became pretty clear to us, as Nats fans, and to them, the baseball pundits, the Nats pitching would doom this club. With a respective look to how the Nats have compiled a 9-25 record, that assumption is true in some respects, but not as strong in others.

The Nationals do not have the strongest pitching staff around, in fact, I think they have one of the worst. BUT, and this is an important distinction, pitching has not led to as dismal 9-25 record. Many times this season, Nationals starters have put this club in positions to win ball games. The Nationals actually have gotten strong starting pitching from two unexpected strengths, P Shawn Hill and P Jason Bergmann. Meanwhile, the one pitcher we thought would compile our fews wins we get a month, and put the Nationals in a strong position to win a few games, and be the nmost consistent pitcher on staff, John Patterson, is hurt, pitching poorly, is less than immpressive, and has been a weakness.

Combine that with the performance, or shall I say, lack of performance, from closer Chad Cordero this season, well it is a recipe for a losing record. Cordero, the Chief, the save monster, has converted just 4 of 8 save opportunities. Closing out a game is way less than a sure thing for the Nats, the rare times were in that opportunity in the ninth, Cordero has made us lose the confidence that we can win out close one. So basically, we have been able to rely on two pitchers many of us never even heard of or believed would have any kind of impact, and the one we thoughts would lead, Patterson and Cordero have simply bombed.

Bergmann did it again last night, pitching 6 strong innings, giving up a single run and scattering 2 hits. Good enough to win. BUT, hey, the Nats just simply know how to lose. That brings me to my main point. Put aside strong performances of Hill and Bergmann, and even the collapse of Patterson and Cordero, the reason the Nationals are stuck in a 8 game slump and a pitiful 9-25 record goes way beyond the pitching, it turns to the lack of offense. This offense just plain STINKS! Isn't any other way to put it. The rare offensive power that is displayed, is indeed rare and far in between. There is no real bat on this team and counting on young Ryan Zimmerman to carry an inept offense is just not fair.

Take a look ...

Batting Average: Nats are 31st in MLB hitting a whopping .227

Slugging: Nats are dead last with a .327 slugging percentage

Runs Batted In: Nast are dead last with just 94 RBI's, pretty pathetic

Home Runs: So the Nats are 34 games into the season and are dead last with 15 total home runs. Need I say more? --- No, but I will.

Runs Scored: Again, last place with just 99 runs in 34 games.

Total Bases: Wow, Nats aren't last, they are third to last in total offensive bases with 382

Proof is in the eye of the beholder. Before blasting off on the pitching, look at these numbers and look at the pathetic offense assembled in DC. I put this problem over pitching. It is bad, real bad. Remember we talked about now wanting to beat out the all time loss record.....ummmm....

Looking at Blog Chatter ...

from our friends at Distinguished Senator

The game was apparently the Citizen Kane of terrible managing, and I urge you to stay tuned to Channel Needham (as if you weren't already) for some grade A excoriation. I can feel it coming in the air tonight. Somebody -- somebody whose name rhymes with Anny Macta -- is about to get his ass kicked.

and over at Federal Baseball ...

Lest I leave the impression all has gone wrong, allow me to express some admiration to the pitching staff -- especially the starters, who have on the whole proven surprisingly resilient. Generally speaking, the starters have been more efficient even as the team's fortunes have turned for the (even) worse.

Read above. We agree. Pitching has actually bumped up a bit, some sterling performances from unknown starters, but the bats, well, they don't even make it tot he park.

and finally, how about Boswell's article, alluding to what we have been saying all along, the Lerner/Kasten risk of growing a fan base with a horrifically bad team is suspect at best.

If we're candid, we'll probably conclude that the Nats were doomed to a period as the NL's worst team before they could rebuild. Such a conclusion, however, only partially soothes the aggravation of waiting 33 years to endure a 9-25 team.

Endure is a optimistic word to say the least.

"I know you don't understand the concept that 'Money once spent is gone forever,' " Kasten said, "but it is true, nonetheless. If you waste millions now then you don't have it later when it can help win a pennant."

Interesting comment Stan. BUT, you're missing the point. This franchise is NEW to DC. You still have to build a fan base. You still have to develop fan craze. These are precious times for an infant club. You can spend millions later, but what is your guarantee you will fill the Park? How can you fill the Park if you never put a product on the field to gain a fan base? What if fans are disinterested, revert to former teams they used to like, etc...so your banking on spending later and that a new Ballpark will generate the revenues. Temporarily, possibly, but what about permanence? It's an awful big risk to take put up, not a mediorce team, but a horrible team.

But what if Kasten is wrong? What if he, Bowden and their scouts blow the draft selections that are crucial to The Plan? What if the first few crucial free agent signings blow out their arms or get old in a hurry? Can you say "Carl Pavano"? What if, in five years, Washington still has a losing team, a ballpark that's no longer brand-spanking new and Kasten is simply a smart guy who couldn't make magic happen twice?

In that scenario, he still has his Braves memories. But what happens to baseball in Washington? The Nats' local support may have shallower roots than the stunning attendance of '05 would indicate. Generations grew up here without the sport and the local media, through nobody's fault, still knows far more about icing, goaltending and pass interference than the infield fly rule.

A summary of THE RISK. Very well put.

In one sense, this season is a lark for the Nats, a 162-game tryout camp. Yet watching such a precarious team, which may battle its way to being merely bad, but could collapse completely, is a gnawing worry. Kasten, Bowden and principal owner Mark Lerner work lunatic hours and seek nothing less than a jewel franchise. The sport, including Bud Selig, now assumes Washington is like any other top-dozen rich mega-market. Build a flashy new ballpark, promise to field a contender soon and 3 million fans a season will stampede the turnstiles to watch.

But none of these people, regardless of good intentions, knows this town. Or how alien, remote and forgotten baseball became for millions here during the third-of-a-century the game was gone. "They'll love us when we win," is the mantra. We'll see. If The Plan, so ideal in theory, fizzles in practice, will baseball regret squandering the glorious goodwill in the summer of '05 when the box seats bounced at RFK? Whatever the cost in wasted cash, I'd never have taken such a chance.

Was it something we said?

2007-05-09T14:48:00.000-04:00

Did the Bullets do something to offend Europe? If so, I'd like to extend an unconditional apology to Europe on behalf of Abraham Pollin, Ernest Grunfeld, Edward Jordan, Wesley Unseld, Susan O'Malley and the entire Washington organization. First came the news that Juan Carlos Navarro, a Spanish guard who could really help the Bullets, probably cannot come to D.C. as he and Washington would like because of a gigantic buyout that Navarro could never afford to pay. Now comes this news:

The Washington Wizards would like last year's second-round draft pick, forward Vladimir Veremeenko, to play in the Las Vegas summer league in July, but Veremeenko could be blocked from doing so by his team in Russia.

Veremeenko's contract with Khimky of the Russian Superleague has "several" years remaining according to his agent, Marc Cornstein, and the team may not clear him to play for the Wizards in summer league. Khimky currently is in the midst of the Russian Superleague playoffs.

"Vladimir wants to play in the NBA but he has a good contract, so right now we're exploring all of our options," said Cornstein, who represents several international players in the NBA. "Once his season ends in Russia, we'll go from there."

Unlike Navarro, who is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, guard in Europe, Veremeenko doesn't have a huge buyout in his contract. He's just got a contract and he might not be able to get out of it. Now, it's not a problem as far as playing in Washington next season, since I don't think Veremeenko is far enough along as a player to be considered for a roster spot on the Bullets. The issue is playing him in the summer leagues so he gets experience going against American players and learning the American game. Alas, it may not be possible.

Darn Russians. Do they want another Cold War?

Nats Lose Again, Cordero as Well

2007-05-09T09:09:00.000-04:00

The Nationals are continuing their losing ways, but are now adding personnel to the matter. The Nationals fell to Milwaukee 6-4, their 7th straight loss, falling 11 games out of first and a horrific 9-24 record.

Jason Simontucci return to the Nationals starting rotation after being placed on the disabled list during training camp. His debut was not very successful, falling into line with the rest of the Nationals. Simontucci pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 hits and 4 runs. The National offense did manage 8 hits and 4 runs, something that has alluded them most of the 7 game losing streak. 2B Felipe Lopez started the game out with his first homer of the season, giving the Nats a 1-0 lead. Milwaukee the scored one in the 2nd inning and 2 in the 6th inning to go up 3-1. Nats then tied it up in the 7th inning with a sacrifice fly by Kory Casto and a double by Lopez. One inning later, the Brewers put the game out of reach, knocking in 3 runs against the Nats bullpen.

Nationals bullpen closer Chad Cordeor took a leave of absence of bereavement to be with his grandmother who is gravely ill with brain cancer. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Chad and his family. Cordero must miss at least three games, but no more than seven. The break comes at a time when Cordero probably needs it. Cordero has blown 4 of 8 save opportunities this season, perplexing Manaager Manny Acta. 3

In the Post story today, the run down updates on two of the Nats injured ptichers...

RHP Jerome Williams (sprained ankle) will make a rehabilitation start tomorrow for Class AAA Columbus at Buffalo. Williams (0-4, 6.11 ERA) will then be ready to take the spot vacated by John Patterson (elbow and biceps soreness) next Tuesday at home against Atlanta. . . . 1B Dmitri Young sat out last night to rest his ailing left foot, which has bothered him for a week. Manager Manny Acta said Young would also have today off, and he'll be reevaluated before Friday's home game against Florida.

TAKING A LOOK AROUND THE BLOGS...Let's see what others are saying...

From the Curly W ...

I really don't understand this. On past Bowden teams in Cincy and here in DC, it seemed like we had nothing BUT bench players. Bowden excelled at signing mediocre washups, the kind of guys who might DH for a bad AL team, to come off the bench and deliver a hit now and then. You remember them fondly: the Marlons, Damian Jackson, Daryle Ward, the Hamburglar Carlos Baerga, etc. None of these guys were standout players, but you knew that if they came to the plate there was at least a 25% chance that they could deliver a hit.

We agree. I alluded to this way back in mid-April. You can rebuild, you can take time to evaluate, blah blah blah, because the Nationals have new ownership, but wow, you have to at least put something that resembles a competitive team on the field. AGAIN, Again, Again, I REPEAT, HOW DO YOU REALLY GENERATE EXCITEMENT, BUILD A STRONG FAN BASE, if you don't field a major league compentent team or at least have a player that fans wants to see. The Lerners and Stan Kasten took a huge risk but not providing an incentive for people to come out to RFK. Let's see how it works out.

From the Distinguished Senator ...

I've been tracking the on-field indignities suffered by Nationals fans. There's a line between rooting for a bad team and rooting for a humiliatingly bad team

It is getting painful, very painful.

From Federal Baseball ...

As for Natty relevance, take a look at Wednesday's starter for the Brewers. Then take a look who won the game yesterday for the Yankees. These guys are examples why people express skepticism Jim Bowden has anything resembling the discipline to develop talent.

Relevance and the Nats? Hmmmmm

and from the Nats Report

Iknow it doesn't look like it, but here at the Report we really are Nationals fans. We're just not fans who give a team a free pass to suck because the payroll is so low. There have been, and there are teams who have smaller payrolls than ours and are nowhere near this bad.

Baseball is a long, long season. How much worse can it get. Ummmm, no responses needed on that.

So when does Redskins training camp start?

Grunfeld speaks

2007-05-08T21:39:00.000-04:00

This is a bit overdue, but I wanted to add this to the thin pile of Ernie Grunfeld utterances since the end of the Bullets' season. He said this about Brendan Haywood:

Haywood didn't play a minute in Game 4 of that series, and the nameplate was gone from above his locker after the game. Without getting into specifics, Grunfeld said he spoke to Haywood.

“There's a certain decorum and certain way that you should act during a game and after a game,” Grunfeld said. “And that message has been relayed.”

And this about Washington's defense -- or lack thereof:

Grunfeld did return Thursday to a theme heard often around these parts in recent years, saying the Wizards need to get better defensively if they're going to “make some noise in the playoffs.”

“That's going to be our goal for next year – to move up, not just to make the playoffs, but to do something in the playoffs,” Grunfeld said. “And I don't think that can be accomplished unless we improve on the defensive end.”

Washington allowed an average of 104.9 points, surpassed in the 30-team NBA only by Memphis and Golden State. On the other hand, led by Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards ranked fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 104.3.

Asked whether the responsibility for defense comes from a coach and his system or the players, Grunfeld said: “Everybody has to have a defensive mind-set. ... We have to want to do it.”

Nothing earthshaking, of course, but Grunfeld is so close-mouthed and careful that almost anything he says is worth noting.

Haywood wants out

2007-05-08T09:56:00.000-04:00

According to The Washington Times:

Washington Wizards center Brendan Haywood has told president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld he wants to be traded this summer, according to two team sources and a league source with knowledge of the situation.
Haywood, 27 , told Grunfeld during exit interviews last week following the team's elimination from the playoffs that his relationship with coach Eddie Jordan had deteriorated beyond repair, the three sources said.
"He pretty much said that the relationship between himself and Eddie had gotten to the point where he didn't want to be in Washington anymore because he doesn't feel that he'll be treated fairly," the league source said.
...
Grunfeld told Haywood he would try to accommodate him, one of the team sources said. However, it is believed Grunfeld will not trade Haywood unless he feels he can get another big man of value. Haywood made $4.5 million last season and still has three years and $16.5 million left on his contract.

I've made my views about this plain. I have no problem with trading Haywood, but I want something good in return. I don't think it must be a big man, though, unless Grunfeld has no confidence in Andray Blatche or Oleksiy Pecherov. [And I think he should at least have confidence in Blatche, from what I've seen of the kid.] A real NBA center who is 7 feet tall has value in the NBA, though, even if he is a tempermental whiner with a questionable motor. I want the Bullets to get back a good player and maybe a late first round draft choice for Haywood. I have previously suggested moving Haywood for Phoenix Suns shooting guard Raja Bell. The salaries work under the CBA and Bell would be an improvement over Deshawn Stevenson, who could be allowed to leave.

Ovechkin Suspended 1 Game

2007-05-07T11:15:00.000-04:00

An illegal hits led to a one game suspension of Alexander Ovechkin in the Worlds. Here is the story ...

The Washington Capitals' Ovechkin was ejected in the first period of Russia's 6-3 win. Wirz, who had a slight concussion, needed to be helped off the ice. Ovechkin will miss today's game against Sweden. Russia already has qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament with a 5-0 record, and the game against Sweden will help determine pairings for the quarterfinals

Present still dismal, Nats eye future

2007-05-06T11:56:00.000-04:00

When you've lost four straight games and hold the worst record in Major League Baseball, it makes sense to pay attention to the draft. For most sports fans -- even most baseball fans -- the baseball draft is a complete afterthought. There is no televised lottery, as in the NBA. There are not two networks covering the draft itself, as in the NFL. And the feverish media coverage and fan speculation common to the NFL and NBA drafts is almost completely absent for Major League Baseball. But if your team has lost 21 of its first 30 games and appears poised to finish with one of the worst records in the history of the Majors, the draft is not only a key to a better future, but also a welcome distraction from the bleakness of here and now.

The Nationals will pick 6th overall and

have five of the top 71 picks in the draft, including the sixth choice. They received the 31st and 68th picks as compensation for losing left fielder Alfonso Soriano to the Cubs via free agency
...
The Nationals expect they will be choosing between a college pitcher and a high school position player with the sixth choice.

The Nats need to come away from those five picks with at least two players who can compete in the big leagues. Because the team is so short of talent at virtually every position, they have the luxury of pursuing the best available talent with every single pick.

Bears up 2-0

2007-05-05T08:46:00.000-04:00

Congrats to the Hershey Bears for a double overtime win last night at the Giants Center in Hershey. Here is a link to the official story at the Bears website.

More impressive, the Bears were down 3-0 before Matt Hendricks scored to close the second period with the Bears trailing 3-1 The Bears crashed the net in the third period with goals from Bear's leaders, Dave Steckel and Alexandre Giroux, to tie it up and send the game to overtime. In overtime, Kyle Wilson slammed a shot at Wilkes-Barre goalie Nolan Schaefer, who bobbled it and was followed up by a Giroux attack that won the game for the Bears.

The Bear's now head to Wilkes-Barre with a 2 games to 0 lead over the Wilkes-Barre Pens in the AHL Eastern Finals. Game three is today at the Wachovia Center in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Just head straight up Interstate 81 North and cheer on the Bears!

The ultimate performance though was from Giroux. His game was on last night all the way around, playing aggressve and with purpose. The Patriot News blog reported on Giroux success last night...

But his impact was quite indelible in a double-overtime thriller last night at Giant Center. Giroux scored the game-tying and game-winning goals to lift Hershey to a 4-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game 2 of the East Division finals. "I know people expect me to score every game," Giroux said. "When I don't sometimes, like I did last game [Wednesday], Coach was really happy with the way I was going even if I don't score.

Giroux has been nothing but phenomenal for the Bears this season. He led the 2006/07 Bears with 70 total points, 42 goals and a +/- of +29.

"I scored and people think I played better. Obviously, I'm happy to score. If I don't score and we win the games, it's the same thing for the team."

Spoken like a true gentleman.

"I thought both goalies made tremendous saves," Boudreau said. "And they had to because it was no-holds-barred. It was like a wrestling thing. You could get away with murder out there and the ref wasn't calling it." "If they think we're done, they've got another thing coming," Schaefer said

Bears may be up 2-0, but the Pens are no where close to falling away. The battle is heating up and it comes to head tonight in Wilkes-Barre. Link below for AHL playoff video highlights

GO BEARS!

And now, a few words from Agent Zero

2007-05-04T12:21:00.000-04:00

Bullets beat reporter Ivan Carter spoke to Gilbert Arenas last night and Gilbert had this to say about future Bullet Oleksiy Pecherov after watching the Ukrainian play in the summer league:

"He wants to work and you can never go wrong with a guy who wants to work. He can shoot but he also likes to rebound. He's active, hands all over the place. I think he'll help us. We need that athletic, rebounding type coming off that bench."

As for knee injury, Gil said he's coming along fine and can't wait for next season: "Watching all of this and seeing what happened to us is just going to make it that much more special next year."

I like what Gil, a notorioius gym rat, has to say about Pecherov's work habits. As talented as the big east European seems may be, it'll tkae a lot of hard work to turn him into a good NBA player. And the Bullets need a good big man in the worst possible way. [Note, I'm not counting Antawn Jamison as a big man, even though he does have a big heart.]

Dallas goes down

2007-05-04T07:48:00.000-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that Mark Cuban is probably a jerk, so you can count me as one of those pleased to see the Golden State Warrior embarrass and eliminate the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State's 25-point victory, 111-86, is a bit of sweet revenge for Warriors coach Don Nelson, who resurrected the Mavericks franchise before being run out of town and possibly cheated of millions of dollars by an ungrateful and meddlesome Mark Cuban. It's the first time an 8 seed has toppled a 1 seed in a 7-game series.

Dirk Nowitizki scored only 8 points on 2-13 shooting, a performance likely to raise more questions about his ability to produce as a clutch performer. It should also put an end to any MVP talk. But if you think I'm pleased, just imagine the big smiles on the Phoenix Suns right now.

Photo: AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez

Nats Deal Snelling

2007-05-03T23:19:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals got a bit of an early start in shifting players around. The Nats dealt OF Chris Snelling to the Oakland A's for OF Ryan Langerhans. Snelling has been starting in the outfield on may nights since the start of the season. Nook Logan's injury made room for Snelling, who had an impressive Spring.

Snelling departs the Nats hitting .204 with 7 RBIs in 49 at bats this season.

As for Langerhans

Nationals General Manager Jim Bowden said the reasoning behind the move was simple -- offense for defense. Snelling has more potential as a hitter. Langerhans could be a key defensive replacement, likely in left field. Langerhans, 27, is a .242 career hitter in 297 major league games, including full seasons with the Atlanta Braves in 2005 and '06. After a horrendous start with Atlanta this year, he was traded over this past weekend to the Athletics, where he played in two games. He is just 3 for 48 (.063) this season. Like Snelling, Langerhans is a left-handed hitter, meaning the Nationals will remain without an accomplished right-handed bat on their bench.

As for the Nationals starters, what more do Shawn Hill and Jason Bergmann have to do to get a little bit of offense. Hill is 2-3 on the year with an ERA of 3.00 with 25 strikeouts. Hill has been pitching extremely well and is looking like he is in a two man race for the title of 'staff ace'. Hill's 2-3 record no where near reflects the pitching performances he has done so far this season. In every game he has pitched, 6 total, Hill has give up more than 2 earned runs just once. In 6 starts, the Nationals offense has produced less than 7 hits in 5 of 6. Further, in 4 of the 6 starts, the Nats scored 2 or less runs.

As for the other 'staff ace' competitor, and no, it is nor John Patterson, but Bergmann has even been more impressive. After getting shelled in his first start and talking to by Mr., Bowden, Bergmann has been nothing short of stellar. Since that rough opening start, Bergmann has gone 0-2 with a 2.79 ERA. Your seeing that correctly ZERO wins, TWO losses with just a 2.79 ERA. In 4 games since the miserable start, Bergmann has give up a combined 11 hits in 4 games, pitched to the 6th inning or over in all four and has given up just 6 earned runs in those 4 games. Pretty damn impressive.

Hill and Bergmann are clearly battering for the number one starting slot, while guys like Patterson and Jerome Williams continue getting battered.

Injury Update: CF Nook Logan and SS Christian Guzman are both expected off the disabled list this week. Guzman's return will shift 2B Felipe Lopez, now playing SS, back to 2B and Rafael Belliard to the bench. Logan will rejoin the team Monday, according to the Nationals website. Jason Simontucchi will return to the rotation and replace SP Jerome Williams, who was sidelined to the DL.

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, .290
Runs Batted In: Ryan Church, 13
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 13
Home Runs: Ryan Church, Dimitri Young, 3
Stolen Bases: Felipe Lopez, 4
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, 14

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 39.0
ERA: Micah Bowie, 2.63
Strike Outs: Jason Bergmann, 26
Wins: Jesus Colome, Shawn Hill, Matt Chico, 2

NEXT UP: Friday, May 4 at Chicago Cubs --- (WAS) Jason Bergmann (CHI) Carlos Zambrano

Ernie v. Eddie re Brendan?

2007-05-03T16:03:00.000-04:00

I was discussing whether Brendan Haywood will return next season and only later came upon this nugget from Post beat reporter Ivan Carter:

A divide clearly exists between Ernie and Eddie's perceptions of Brendan Haywood. Ernie sees a 27-year old 7-footer with a very, very, very reasonable contract who works hard, takes care of his body, has good shot-blocking skills and has helped his team reach the playoffs three straight years.

Eddie sees a 7-footer who too often coasts through games neither effectively scoring or rebounding, a guy who gets shoved under the basket too easily by big centers, a guy who fights with a teammate, pouts when he comes out and basically quit on his team late last season, saying he had a back injury as he missed several key games on a west coast trip as the team was fighting for its playoff life.

So there you have it. GM Ernie Grunfeld likes Haywood, correctly regards him as inexpensive, and rather less correctly thinks Haywood is a hard worker. Coach Eddie Jordan thinks Haywood is lazy, a poor rebounder, and a poor sport.

I think Grunfeld's points about Haywood being cheap and a legitimate, if not terribly good, NBA center are well-taken. However, EJ is clearly [at least in my mind] correct that Brendan is lazy, a lousy rebounder for a 7-footer, and a whiner. EJ would be happy to put up with Haywood's problems if he was a star center. But he isn't a star center. He isn't even close.

I'm open to Haywood returning or not returning. If he's going to be traded, though, as I've written, I want the Bullets to get a good player in return. Legitimate 7-foot NBA centers don't grow on trees, you know.

Bullets seek help from the old countries

2007-05-03T09:43:00.000-04:00

With their once-promising season now finished amid a heap of injuries, the Bullets [and their obsessive fans] now turn to considering ways to make sure the 2007-2008 version of the team is superior to the current one. While the June NBA draft and free agency are obvious avenues, there is also the not-so-small matter of tapping the European players the Bullets have already drafted and left on the other side of the Atlantic. Players such as Ukrainian center Okeksiy Pecherov and Spanish point guard Juan Carlos Navarro.

In five games with Washington's summer league team, the 7-foot Pecherov averaged 12.6 points and 7.6 rebounds while shooting 46.2 percent. He impressed Coach Eddie Jordan with his ballhandling, shooting and rebounding skills. Pecherov, who said he patterns his game after Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, recently helped BC Kiev win a semifinal game in the Ukrainian Superleague playoffs by scoring 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3 of 3 from three-point range.
...
The Wizards also own the NBA rights to one of the top players in Europe, 6-4 point guard Juan Carlos Navarro, who was selected by Washington in the second round of the 2002 draft.

Navarro, who will turn 27 this summer, has starred for Barcelona of the Spanish Pro League for several seasons and was a part of Spain's World Championship team last summer.

Navarro repeatedly has said he wants to take his game to the NBA, but his contract with Barcelona contains a buyout clause of several million dollars that could block him from coming over for next season. Because of NBA rules, the Wizards could pay only up to $500,000 of Navarro's buyout.

Adding Navarro would give the Bullets three solid ball-handlers in the backcourt, with Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels. It would also add a scorer to the team, as Navarro is a point guard who looks to get his own shot and score. A 3-guard rotation of Arenas, Daniels, and Navarro, while not tall, would allow the Bullets to run a potent mixture of Eddie Jordan's Princeton offense and Agent Zero's extemporaneous heroics.

Pecherov is even more intriguing. The one thing a coach can't give a player is height -- you've either got it or you don't. Pecherov has got it and while he isn't a traditional low post banger in the mold of Shaq or Tim Duncan, most of the league is moving away from that template anyway. A big man who can defend the post, rebound, and step outside for jump shots would be a very welcome addition to the Bullets. It would also cushion the blow of trading Brendan Haywood and allow the team to feel more comfortable trading Haywood for the best available player, rather than trying to simply get a big man in return. I, for one, can't wait to see Pecherov and Andray Blatche on the court together.

Pecherov is almost certain to come over and play for the Bullets next season. Navarro is much less of a sure thing because of the intimidating buyout clause in his contract. Will Navarro be willing to pay most of that buyout so he can get to the NBA? I'd love it if he would, but I have my doubts.

The Bullets will probably bring last year's 2nd round pick, 6'10" Belarusan forward Vladimir Veremeenko [hereafter VV] over for the summer league games. It's a good idea to get a look at the kid, but I don't expect him to play for the Bullets in a real NBA game for some time to come.

Playing through the offseason

2007-05-02T21:55:00.000-04:00

Should Bullets players participate in offseason international games for their respective national teams? There are differing opinions on the roster and coaching staff.

Jamison said he will not train or play with the U.S. men's national team this summer as it attempts to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

"I'm tired," Jamison said. "For myself it's about resting and being focused on this organization for next year and spending some time with my family this summer."

Songaila, who injured his back while playing with the Lithuanian national team last August and did not make his Wizards debut until Feb. 3, wants to play with Lithuania in the European Championships this August. Jordan doesn't share his enthusiasm.

"In my mind it's a major concern, especially after what he experienced last summer," Jordan said. "But, I'm not going to stop a guy from playing for his country, I'm certainly not going to do that."

I sympathize with Songaila's patriotic desire to help his country win international basketball games, but I think Eddie Jordan is correct here. Songaila probably doesn't feel as tired as the other Bullets since he missed so much of the season, but the injury he suffered last summer did real damage to the Bullets. I'd prefer that Songaila take it easy this summer, but, as Jordan conceded, there isn't much the Bullets can do about it. Ordering a player not to participate in his nation's international games will accomplish little aside from alienating that player and bringing disrepute upon the coach and franchise.

We just have to hope that Songaila is luckier this summer.

Should he stay or should he go?

2007-05-02T21:22:00.000-04:00

The subject of that bit of Joe Strummer paraphrasing is Brendan Haywood, on-again, off-again starting center for the Washington Bullets. He seems to want to play elsewhere next season.

After taking down the nameplate that hangs above his stall and tossing it into the locker, Haywood was one of the first players out of the building.

Haywood's actions suggest that he wants out of Washington, and according to two sources close to Haywood, he has said he would consider demanding a trade if Eddie Jordan returns to coach next season.

On the other hand, Haywood does not yet feel comfortable making his desires public and explicit.

"You know, that's for [President of Basketball Operations] Ernie Grunfeld, management and my agent to sit down and decide," Haywood said when asked yesterday about his future. "I'm a player. I can't force a trade. I'm not going to say in the paper whether I want out of here or not. All I know is I'm going to be a professional, I'm going to work hard and I'm going to let the chips fall where they may."

That's the smart thing to say. It's in Haywood's interests to be the decent fellow in public while his agent plays hardball -- to the extent he can -- privately. Haywood has three years and $16.5 million left in his cap-friendly contract so trading him would not be a problem. The issue is what sort of bargain the Bullets make in a Haywood deal. Grunfeld is not Wes Unseld and is unlikely to unload a 7-foot-tall legitimate NBA center.

I confess, I thought Haywood should be given a lot of minutes in the Cleveland series and figured he would respond well. Apparently, I wasn't alone in that.

According to team sources, Grunfeld went to Jordan after the Wizards lost Game 1 of the playoff series and encouraged him to use the 7-foot Haywood more against Cleveland's 7-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

After playing five minutes in Game 1, Haywood was effective during a 19-minute stint in Game 2, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds. However, after Haywood did not register a point or rebound in 10 minutes during Game 3, Jordan did not play him at all on Monday.

I can't blame EJ for leaving Haywood on the bench after a game 3 performance I consider absolutely disgraceful in its lack of production or effort. The team captain has had enough of the EJ/Brendan drama:

"It's a distraction we can't afford to have next year," forward Antawn Jamison said. "And it was a distraction. With Brendan on this team, we have a great chance to win, so hopefully things can work out. I believe we can have a working environment."

Eddie Jordan doesn't seem excited at the prospect of having Haywood around for another year.

"That's something we'll talk about," Jordan said when asked about Haywood's future. "I'm not making any decisions. He's a contract player and if he's in our locker room October 2, then we'll coach him."

I don't have a problem with trading Haywood, but I want the Bullets to get something worthwhile for him and I assume Grunfeld will do that. I don't insist that the trade must bring a center back to Washington; it's more important just to get a good player.

It's optimistic, I know, but my hope is that the playoffs will expose a size weakness in Phoenix and force the Suns to make a run at Haywood in the offseason. A trade of Haywood for Raja Bell works under the collective bargaining agreement and would give Phoenix the size they need. Of course, it would bring back a pretty good shooting guard for the Bullets, a better option than re-signing Deshawn Stevenson, in my opinion.

We'll see.

Bullets' season is over. Bring on the season!

2007-05-01T22:40:00.000-04:00

Can't wait to see Gil do this again.
Photo: Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty Images

Is Mark Cuban a jerk?

2007-05-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

This article in the Wall Street Journal [sub. req.] sure makes it seem that way:

For the 66-year-old Mr. Nelson, it would also mean victory over Mr. Cuban, 48, in one of the nastiest personal feuds in professional sports. Mr. Nelson says Mr. Cuban still owes him $6.6 million in deferred compensation from his eight years as Mavericks coach. Mr. Cuban refuses to pay, because, he says, the NBA's second-winningest coach of all time walked out on him.
...
With the Mavericks facing elimination by the San Antonio Spurs, the coach and owner exploded at each other over Mr. Nelson's refusal to fulfill his boss's wish to play an injured Mr. Nowitzki, according to Mavericks officials close to the team's owner.

Mr. Nowitzki had suffered sprained ligaments in his left knee in the third game of the best-of-seven series, but, with the Mavericks trailing three games to one, was cleared by team doctors to play again. Mr. Cuban confronted Mr. Nelson in the coach's office and demanded the star forward return to the court, Mavericks officials say.

Mr. Nelson refused, insisting that playing the young German with the ligament injury would jeopardize his career. The coach also confided in friends that he had promised Mr. Nowitzki's parents, when the Mavericks signed the young man at age 19, that he would look after the seven-footer in Texas like a son.

"You're just looking for excuses to lose," fumed Mr. Cuban, according to two people who heard the blowup. Mr. Nelson threw the Mavs' owner out of his office, these people say.

As if I needed another reason to root for the Don Nelson's Golden State Warriors to defeat Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks.

Bullets playoffs review

2007-05-01T16:19:00.000-04:00

The point of this post is to go over how the team and its players performed in four playoff games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Let's get to it...

Antawn Jamison: He averaged 32 ppg and 9.8 rpg in over 43 minutes per game. Despite double-teams and the absence of his two star running mates, Jamison managed to shoot almost 48% from the field and commit only 1.75 turnovers per game. Jamison did not play great defense, but he never does that. What he did do, however, was consistently outplay his opponent. Not only was Jamison the best player on his team, he sometimes was the best player on the floor. Yeah, that includes Lebron James. Unfortunately, Jamison scored more than one-third of his team's points in this series and that tells you what you need to know about the quality of his teammates.

Antonio Daniels: AD showed the old jalopy still has plenty left in the tank. He averaged 13.3 ppg and 11.8 apg against only 1.75 turnovers per game. That is an almost 7-to-1 assists-to-turnover ratio. Truly incredible. Daniels averaged 44 minutes per game in the series and his 176 total minutes played was the most of any Bullet and 3 more than Jamison played. Daniels shot 86% from the line and pulled down 4.5 rebounds per game. Daniels also kept his own man off the line, committing only 4 fouls in the entire series. A fantastic performance from a player some fans thought was done. He proved them wrong.

Jarvis Hayes: And this is where the good stuff ends. Hayes was terrible -- to the surprise of absolutely nobody, I suspect. Hayes averaged 10.8 ppg and hit less than 33% of his shot. He pulled down only 3.5 rebounds per game despite averaging almost 35 minutes in each contest. And his 1 assist per game is embarrassing. The only thing Jarvis did well was hold on to the ball. He committed no turnovers in 139 minutes of play. That's impressive, but simply not nearly enough from a player who shoots poorly and brings absolutely nothing else to the table. The fact that Hayes played more than anyone except Jamison and Daniels shows you how thin the Bullets were in the series. Ideally, Hayes plays very little or not at all. Hopefully, his 5 points on 1-5 shooting Monday night was the last bad game he will ever have in a Bullets uniform.

Darius Songaila: The big European averaged 10.8 ppg in only 22.5 minutes, so he was doing his part offensively. That fact is reinforced by his 49% shooting percentage, best on the team of anyone with 8 or more shots taken in the series. However, Songaila committed a team-high 17 fouls and averaged only 3.5 rpg. The fact that Darius had more fouls than rebounds is cause for concern. I know Songaila is still feeling the effects of a lingering injury, but he's got to rebound better than this next season. Songaila's defense was sub-par, as he proved to be not quick enough to stay with Cleveland's smaller big men and not big enough to defend Zydrunas Ilguaskas.

Deshawn Stenvenson: It was a nightmarish 10 days for DS, who shot 19.6% from the field and hit only 3 of his 7 free throws in the series. The fact that he took only 7 free throws in 122 minutes indicates that Stevenson refused to consistently attack the basket, despite the fact that his jump shot was a continuous embarrassment. Stevenson committed more fouls than he hit foul shots. Not good. I can't remember if I've ever seen a player cost himself so much money in a 4-game playoff series. It's not that Stevenson has no value in the league, he does. He proved that over the course of an 82-game season. What happened this past week was Stevenson exposed as a player who can contribute when surrounded by much better teammates so he is not in any way a focus of the defense. When the defense actually can pay attention to him, he's an awful offensive player.

Roger Mason: I said after two games that Coach Eddie Jordan should bench Stevenson and play Mason instead. Well, that didn't happen. It's not that Mason was setting the world afire. He averaged 6 ppg and shot 44% from the field [50% on 3-pointers]. But he was contributing more than Stevenson. Mason has real shooting ability and can help the team when his shot is falling. He doesn't do much else, though, so if the shot is not there, he's of no use.

Etan Thomas: He started every game in the series, whether he deserved to or not. Thomas did his best, as he always does, but he simply doesn't have the size to play someone like Big Z. He couldn't stop the big Cleveland center from scoring over him or rebounding at will. His 41% shooting percentage shows how much problem Thomas -- who hit over 57% of his shots during the season -- has playing against the 7'3" Ilgauskas. It's just a bad match for him. His 5.5 rpg in 21 minutes per game was respectable, though he didn't block as many shots as he usually does. Etan did nothing in this series to show he deserves to be a starting center in the NBA.

Brendan Haywood: I thought he should play a lot in this series, maybe more than Thomas, because he's got much more size and plays better against Ilguaskas. It didn't work out, though. Haywood embarrassed himself with his non-performance in game 3 and was consequently benched in game four. Brendan only pulled down 5 rebounds in 34 minutes, while committing 7 fouls in the same amount of time. He hit 5 of 7 shots, but that doesn't make up for not rebounding or playing defense [0 blocks in the series]. There is only one center on the team who could make Etan almost look good and that's Haywood. A dreadful performance from this former Bullet.

Michael Ruffin: He grabbed 9 rebounds and 3 steals in 28 total minutes, so he was trying as hard as he usually does. Two points in all that time, though, amply demonstrate his lack of NBA talent.

Donnell Taylor: Dishing 4 assists in 17 minutes ain't bad, but the 1-6 shooting is terrible. The fact that Eddie Jordan played Daniels 44 minutes per game tells you how much trust he places in Taylor.

Calvin Booth: The genial big fellow only played in one game and considering how poorly Haywood and Thomas performed, that's a mystery. Surely Jordan made a mistake by not getting Booth into every game. It wouldn't have changed the outcome, but he would have done more than the two guys ahead of him on the depth chart. He scored a total of 4 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in 18 minutes.

Andray Blatche: I begged, I pleaded, I implored Eddie Jordan to play the kid. Nope. Wasn't. Going. To. Happen. Bulletproof got a total of 25 minutes in 2 games. In those 25 minutes he scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting and pulled down 7 rebounds. The Bullets got destroyed on the boards in this series and Blatche is, minute for minute, as good a rebounder as any player on the team. But he hardly played. Why? Go figure. Or go ask Eddie Jordan. Blatche has real skills and he plays with considerable passion and effort. His work on the offensive boards is consistently impressive. Who was worth playing ahead of Blatche, aside from Jamison? I don't understand it. Never will.

Series Most Valuable Player: Antawn Jamison
Runner up: Antonio Daniels

Series Least Valuable Player: Deshawn Stevenson
Runner up: Jarvis Hayes

Nats win! Patterson earns first victory in over a year

2007-05-01T09:11:00.000-04:00

When he stepped on to the mound against the San Diego Padres last night, Nationals "ace" hurler John Patterson hadn't won a game since April 15, 2006. And considering San Diego had won 13 of its last 16 games against Washington before last night, the augurs were poor for the Nats. BUT THAT'S WHY THEY PLAY THE GAMES! The Nats defeated the Padres 3-2 last night.

Patterson outpitched Padres ace Jack Peavy, giving up only 1 run in 6 innings before turning the game over to the bullpen. Said Manager Manny Acta of Patterson:

"He had a little bit more giddyup. His body language was better tonight."

Austin Kearns and Kory Casto each drove in a run and CF Ryan Church scored twice.

Peavy struck out 10 against the Nats, but it was he who allowed Washington to sneak out with a victory.

Peavy committed a mental error in the fourth that proved costly. After hitting Ryan Church in the shin with two outs, Peavy went to a full windup instead of pitching out of the stretch and Church stole second base standing up. Kearns' RBI single gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead.

"I thought he was upset," Peavy said of Church, who flung the bat to the ground when he was hit. "It didn't get me flustered. I just didn't think.

"I had a brain fart. It cost us the game and I take full responsibility."

Church, who scored the Nationals' first run in the second on Dmitri Young's groundout, was surprised when Peavy pitched out of his full windup.

"It was kind of weird," he said. "I kind of wanted to call timeout and tell him, 'Hey, dude, you're pitching out of the windup.' But you just keep your mouth shut and wait until he starts and go."

Casto put Washington ahead 3-1 with an RBI double off Peavy in the seventh.

After blowing 3 saves in his previous 5 opportunities, Cordero nailed down the win last night by pitching a perfect 9th inning for his 4th save. Cordero lowered his ERA to 4.72.

Washington improved its record to 9-17, last place in the NL East and 7.5 games behind first place Atlanta.

Player of the Game: John Patterson [6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 2BB, 3K]
Player of the Lame: Felipe Lopez [0-4 from the plate]

Photo: John Mcdonnell/The Washington Post

It's over

2007-04-30T21:37:00.000-04:00

Bite me, jerkwad.
The Washington Bullets' season came to an end moments ago, as they fell in game four of their first round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The 97-90 score at the Phone Booth brings the 4-0 sweep to its conclusion.

The Bullets led for much of the game, up by 3 at halftime and by 1 after 3 quarters. The team fell apart down the stretch, however, and allowed Larry Hughes to get key buckets and free throws and Big Z to come up with rebound after rebound. The Bullets shot only 42.5% from the field, but held Cleveland to about the same. The differences were Cleveland's +11 rebounding advantage and the fact that the Cavaliers shot 13 more free throws than Washington. Lebron James had almost as many free throw attempts [17] as the entire Bullets team [18].

Let's run through the cast...

Antonio Daniels: Another strong game for AD, as he finishes the season in fine form. Daniels scored 13 points on 8 shots, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished 12 assists against only 2 turnovers. AD was clearly the second-best player on the team in this series and generally outplayed Larry Hughes and Eric Snow.

Deshawn Stevenson: Another dreadful performance from Stevenson, who has cost himself millions of dollars in this series. Tonight, DS couldn't even score a single point. He missed all 8 shots he took and never got to the line. He had twice as many turnovers [2] as rebounds [1]. There can be little doubt that Stevenson cost his team a win or two in this series. If he had been merely average, instead of god-awful, the Bullets would have taken this series to five, maybe six, games. I don't know why he played 28 minutes. As I urged earlier, EJ should have gone with Mason.

Jarvis Hayes: Jarvis' favorite player on the team right now must be Stevenson because it ensures that he can't be the worst player in this series. Hayes scored a measly 5 points on 1-5 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds in 26 minutes. The only good thing you could say about Jarvis in this series is that he didn't turn the ball over. But that'd be it.

Antawn Jamison: He poured in 31 points on 12-25 shooting, but once again, didn't get enough help. Facing a lot of double-teams, Jamison still managed to keep his team in the game right to the end. Only downside is that he had only 4 rebounds, far under the 11.6 per game he was averaging in the series prior to game 4. Jamison hit 3 of 6 on 3-pointers and outscored his man, Drew Gooden, by 17 points. Not AJ's best game of the series, but still a terrific performance. If this series will be remembered as Deshawn Stevenson's worst moment, it will also be remembered as perhaps Jamison's finest.

Etan Thomas: Boy, the Bullets really got killed at the pivot in this series. Thomas scored 6 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and committed 2 turnovers in 18 minutes. Haywood didn't play at all. Thomas simply doesn't have the size to compete with the 7'3" Ilgauskas. If you could put Etan's heart inside Brendan's body, you'd have something. But you can't, so you have what you have -- two guys who don't add up to one decent center. It's hard to see the Bullets becoming a title contender until they do something to improve in the pivot. Thomas and Haywood are not getting it done.

Calvin Booth: He scored 4 points and pulled down 4 rebounds in 18 minutes. His defense was adequate, but he's also undersized against Big Z. The fact that the Bullets got pretty much the same production out of Booth that they got out of Thomas tells you a lot about Etan. Considering the fact that he makes almost no money, I like having Booth around. He doesn't get into fights with his teammates, doesn't complain about the minutes and works hard. He's a very limited player, but at least his cap space is very limited, too.

Darius Songaila: Scored 12 of his 16 points in the 4th quarter, really keeping Washington in the game until the final minute. You've got to like 16 points in 19 minutes on 8-13 shooting, but 2 rebounds isn't enough. Darius is limited as a defender by his lack of foot speed, but he's a nice passer and shooter. We saw all his strengths and limitations tonight.

Roger Mason: Didn't do anything special, but his 5 points on 5 shots in 19 minutes is more than the team got out of Stevenson. EJ should have given Mason more time because DS was just awful.

Donnell Taylor: Had a beautiful behind-the-back penetration dribble assist and an amazing layup and foul on another penetration dribble. Taylor's got good size and speed, but his shooting is poor and decisionmaking is questionable. He's cheap so it's not a problem having him on the roster, but you don't want him playing much. Scored 3 points on 4 shots in 15 minutes off the bench, but his 4 assists were impressive.

Andray Blatche: All series long I've been calling for the kid and tonight I finally got him -- though not enough of him. Bulletproof played 21 minutes and scored 7 points on 4 shots and grabbed 5 rebounds. He also played strong defense against Lebron James and Cavs' big men. Blatche's length and speed causes problems for offenses and his hard work on the offensive boards was impressive again. A very productive night for the kid, but far too short. Any Bulletproof is better than no Bulletproof, though, which is what we'd been getting.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Deshawn Stevenson

Photos: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images, AP/Haraz N. Ghanbari

Game 4: Cavaliers @ Bullets

2007-04-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

This is it. The season comes down to tonight at 7 PM in The Phone Booth. Bullets lose and they go on vacation. Win and they go back to Cleveland for at least another game. It's hard to imagine the Bullets haven't just given up. Antawn Jamison says they have not.

“Our confidence level is still up. We are still holding our heads up. We are out there competing and having fun. We are playing hard. It has been like this for the last couple of weeks. We have been so close, but we have not been able to get over the hump. We always feel we can win.”

It can't just be a great game from Jamison and Antonio Daniels, though. Someone else has to do something. It would help if Deshawn Stevenson didn't miss 75% of his shots. Maybe just not shooting at all would be the solution for him.

Somebody else has got to come through for the team. It won't be this guy because he's not allowed on the court. It better be somebody.

Cavaliers 98 Bullets 92

2007-04-30T11:44:00.000-04:00

You know the script by now. The Bullets played hard and rallied late, but fell short, ultimately doomed by one particularly horrid quarter of basketball and a general inability to get stops at the end of the game. In this case, it was the second quarter of the game that was horrific for Washington and, I must admit, I got something wrong. I have been calling for Haywood to play more in this series and it still makes sense to me. However, I have to admit that Haywood was terrible, beyond terrible, in that second quarter. The Bullets played absolutely no defense -- even by their own standards -- and the Cavaliers capitalized on a seemingly endless series of unopposed dunks and layups. Nobody on that second unit played well, but Haywood was the worst. In ten minutes he didn't score a point or grab a rebound or play any decent defense. He was terrible. Darius Songaila wasn't any good either. If Darius isn't scoring -- and he wasn't -- then having him on the court doesn't help the Bullets, it hurts the Bullets.

Let's run through the cast...

Antonio Daniels: He was great once again. Daniels scored 20 points [7-13 shooting] and dished 13 assists against only one turnover. The fact that Coach Eddie Jordan left Daniels in for all 48 minutes demonstrates how valuable Daniels has become to the team in the absence of Gilbert Arenas. The leadership and production AD has provided in the last month should silence all the doubters about whether or not he should be back next season.

Deshawn Stevenson: After spending the season making a strong case for a good raise in the offseason, DS is undoing all of that in these playoffs. He went 3-14 in game three, bringing his shooting total for the series to 9-40. If he took 40 shots with his eyes closed he should hit at least 6 or seven. It's hard to see the Bullets laying out big cash for Stevenson now. He's done terrible damage to the team in these playoff games and that, in turn, will do terrible damage to his offseason value.

Jarvis Hayes: He shot okay [6-13 for 15 points], but in 40 minutes Hayes didn't record a single rebound or assist and never got to the free throw line. Hayes is strictly a mediocre jump shooter. He does nothing else. I can't wait to see the last of this guy in a Bullets uniform.

Antawn Jamison: What can we say about The Captain? Another fantastic performance from Jamison, who scored 38 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He's averaging 32.3 ppg and 11.6 rpg and shooting 47% from the field in this series. He's doing in this series what Gilbert Arenas did in last year's playoff series against Cleveland -- carrying the team on his back. Gil had more help last year, though.

Etan Thomas: Decent defense from Etan and 9 rebounds gave Etan a +13 ratio for this game, highest of anyone on the Bullets. Thomas didn't turn the ball over in almost 29 minutes, but his utter lack of scoring [3 points] was a major problem when Big Z was shooting 10-13 and pouring in 24 points in 41 minutes.

Brendan Haywood: A disgraceful performance. As much as I've urged Eddie Jordan to play Haywood in this series, I have to admit that I wouldn't blame EJ if he sat Haywood for the rest of the series -- likely just one game anyway. He didn't score, he didn't rebound, he didn't play a lick of defense. It was some of the worst basketball I've ever seen anyone play for ten minutes. He should be ashamed of himself.

Darius Songaila: Probably the toughest game Darius has had in a Bullets uniform. He couldn't guard Big Z, but that's not surprising or particularly damning. We know Songaila isn't a great defender, but 3-10 shooting and only 2 rebounds in almost 24 minutes isn't good enough. His -21 onn/off ratio for the game was horrendous. It looked worse than it really was because he had to play with Haywood in the second quarter, but it was still a poor outing for Songaila.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Brendan Haywood

Spence's 2007 Mock Draft

2007-04-27T18:11:00.000-04:00

Any resemblance between the forthcoming and reality is purely coincidental. Nevertheless, read on...

01. Oakland Raiders: QB JaMarcus Russell [LSU]
Comment: I think Al Davis wants to take Calvin Johnson, but he passed on a quarterback last year and paid for it. He’ll grit his teeth and grab the big passer this year.

02. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: WR Calvin Johnson [USC]
Comment: I think Jon Gruden trades up here to get the receiver he thinks will make his offense virtually unstoppable.

03. Cleveland Browns: QB Brady Quinn [PSU]
Comment: They could go for Adrian Peterson and maybe they should, but nothing Romeo Crennel has tried at quarterback has worked. Quinn is about as ready as a rookie quarterback could be. If they give him some weapons to work with, he could be special.

04. Detroit Lions: DE Gaines Adams [Clemson]
Comment: What do you get for the team that needs everything? A good pass-rushing defensive end is a nice place to start and Gaines gets after the passer as well as anyone in this draft. The Lions haven’t had a player like that since Robert Porcher.

05. Arizona Cardinals: OT Joe Thomas [Wisconsin]
Comment: Having spent high draft picks on wideouts and quarterbacks, and free agent money on a tailback, it’s about time the Cardinals found someone to block so all those fancy ‘skill’ players can actually help their team win a few games. Thomas will start immediately for a team that desperately needs him. An ideal situation for Arizona.

Read it all at War Cry!, official blog of HailRedskins.com.

Arenas defeats Lebron!

2007-04-27T11:03:00.000-04:00

Injury has kept Gilbert from crushing the Cavaliers in this playoff series, but that doesn't mean he can't still get the better of King James.

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Arenas will appear on the cover of EA Sports' "NBA Live."

Tremendously popular on multiple video game consoles, "NBA Live" has featured Tracy McGrady, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan on the cover.

Arenas, who suffered a torn meniscus earlier this month and is out for the season, is an avid video game player who often goes online and challenges other gamers.

According to the source, Arenas was chosen over Cleveland's LeBron James.

Congrats, Gilbert. It's cold comfort compared to a playoff victory, but at least there is some post-season acknowledgment of the great season Agent Zero has had.

Nats End Losing Streak

2007-04-26T18:02:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals snapped a 4 game losing streak, defeating the Phillies today 4-2. Shawn Hill pitched a dazzler, scattering 4 hits over 8 innings and striking out 3. Hill had command and control all day and stepped up to snap the Nats out of a funk. With the poor pitching the Nats have been getting from suppossed ace John Patterson, Hill has no doubt stepped into that role. Hill has yet to give up more than two earned runs in any game he has pitched yet this season. He moves to 2-2 with an impressive 2.76 ERA. Hill is clearly the Ace of the Nats rotation with Jason Bergmann a close second. Both Hill and Bergmann have put multi-quality starts up for the Nats.

Offensively, the Nats started with a blast to deep center by Dimitri Young, his third homer of the season. Ryan Church singled in two of the three Nats runs in the sixth inning. Also good pitching news for Nats fans, RP Chad Cordero gave up one hit in the ninth, countered by a strike out to hold the Nats win and gain a save. Cordero blew two straight saves before todays game.

I know it isn't the right time for this, but...

2007-04-26T11:44:00.000-04:00

Pssst -- want a job?

Okay, I know some will think I've picked a terrible time to bring this up, but I can't resist. Yes, the Bullets are in the middle of a playoff series. Yes, this is the time to think about playoffs and not next season. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but notice that the Indiana Pacers fired Head Coach Rick Carlisle yesterday.

Let me get right to it. I like Rick Carlisle. I've never met the man, but I think he's a quality coach. He went 100-64 [.610] in two seasons with the Detroit Pistons and won NBA Coach of the Year honors after the 2002 season. He then moved on to the Indiana Pacers in 2003 and led the team to a 61-21 record before losing to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, however, the Pacers have been devastated by injuries to Jermaine O'Neal, the retirement of Reggie Miller and the lunatic behavior of Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson. In midseason of this year, Pacers GM Larry Bird traded for two overpaid and underachieving Warriors from Golden State, Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy. The trade didn't work out, Murphy and Dunleavy did not play well, and the team missed the playoffs. Despite all these problems and misfortunes, Carlisle still leaves Indiana with a 181-147 record, a winning percentage of better than 55 percent.

Okay, you've probably figured out where I'm going with this. I've long counted myself as a defender of Eddie Jordan and I suppose I still am. I'm bothered by his stubborn refusal to play Blatche in the playoffs and his refusal to give Haywood big minutes against Zydruna Ilgauskas. Nevertheless, I consider Jordan to be a better-than-average coach who has done more good than harm with Washington.

Despite that, I'd fire him and replace him with Rick Carlisle. I don't expect this to happen since it's not Abe Pollin's style and he just gave EJ a new contract during the offseason. But, hey, what can I tell you: I think Carlisle is a good, solid coach -- better than Jordan -- and he'll get the guys to put forth more effort on defense. As much as I like and have defended EJ over the years, Rick Carlisle is, to me, a clearly superior coach. I'd hire him in a second.

Starting lineup dooms Bullets

2007-04-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

It was a helluva battle between these two guys.

Antawn Jamison and the Bullets bench couldn't overcome the problems created by the other starters and that's why the Bullets fell into a 2-game deficit against the Cleveland Cavaliers last night. The Bullets had a chance to win this game, a good chance, but it was foiled by absolutely atrocious play from Jarvis Hayes and Deshawn Stevenson, who combined to hit 5 of 25 shots. The Wizards stayed in the game because of a great performance from their bench, another valiant scoring night from Antawn Jamison, and a slow-it-to-a-crawl pace that led Washington to commit only 5 turnovers. But it wasn't enough.

By now, you know basically what happened, so let's run thru the cast...

Antonio Daniels: He didn't play badly. 11 points, 11 assists, and only 2 turnovers in 44 minutes isn't bad at all. It just wasn't great and he probably needs to be great for the Bullets to win.

Deshawn Stevenson: He's killing the Bullets. Absolutely killing them. After shooting 3-12 for 9 points in the series opener, DS responded by shooting 3-12 for 8 points in game two. He's awful. He's brutal to watch. He couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. He's shooting 25% from the field and averaging 8.5 ppg. Had an incredible -21 on/off ratio last night. He couldn't play much worse than this.

Etan Thomas: He stunk and was badly outplayed by Big Z in game one, leading me to repeat my calls for Lazy Brendan Haywood to get more minutes. Things didn't improve. His -14 on/off ratio was second only to Stevenson in its sheer awfulness. I know it burns Eddie Jordan to have to do this, but it is past time to bench Etan and put Brendan back in the starting lineup. Has Brendan earned it? Probably not, but Etan has earned a benching. He can't play against Big Z. He tries. He just can't do it.

Jarvis Hayes: After playing pretty well in game one, Hayes reverted to form in game two. He shot 2-13 for 5 points in 33 hideous minutes and finished with a -10 on/off ratio. This is the Jarvis we've all come to know and wish was wearing another team's uniform. What can we say here? Jarvis stinks. I know it. You know it. He knows it.

Jamison's been doing a lot of this lately

Antawn Jamison: Didn't do anything to defend Drew Gooden, who had 24 points [10-13 shooting] and 14 rebounds, but at least he scored and rebounded himself. Jamison poured in 31 points, blocked 3 shots, and pulled down 10 rebounds in 39 minutes. Of particular note, he still hasn't committed a turnover in this series. Jamison's -4 on/off ratio was pretty good considering the way his fellow starters played.

Eddie, play this guy more whether you like it or not!
Brendan Haywood: Foul trouble limited Haywood to only 19 minutes, but he hit 5 of 6 shots, scoring 13 points and grabbing 4 rebounds. His flat even on/off ratio is particularly impressive compared to Etan and the starters. Haywood should be starting from now on and if he can stay out of foul trouble, Eddie Jordan should give his hated 7-footer at least 30 minutes per game.

Darius Songaila: Darius is having foul issues, having fouled out in game one and giving up another five in game two. He scored 13 points on 13 shots, so that's about average [but great for the Bullets right now]. It was his 8 rebounds in 30 minutes and his +4 on/off ratio that I particularly liked. Songaila has been a very mediocre rebounder this year, possibly having something to do with a lack of lift from his healing injury. Whatever the case, the Bullets need more rebounds from Songaila and he got it done last night.

Roger Mason: Why not just start this guy instead of Stevenson, who has started every game for the Bullets this season? His 10 points on 6 shots in 21 minutes was pretty good, but his +10 on/of ratio was even better. Mason really isn't a starter in this league, but Stevenson isn't performing like an NBA player at all.

NOTE: Why has Andray Blatche disappeared in this series? After hardly playing in game one, he was a DNP in game two. What's going on here? What am I missing? The Bullets are getting killed on the boards [56-38 last night] and Blatche is as good a rebounder as anyone on the team. Why isn't he playing? Why isn't Eddie Jordan trying to even the battle on the boards by giving The Kid some minutes? I don't understand this at all and I like it even less -- if that's possible.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Deshawn Stevenson

Photos: AP/Mark Duncan, AP/Tony Dejak

The 5th Annual HailRedskins Tailgate Party

2007-04-25T09:54:00.000-04:00

Every year since 2003 a substantial portion of the membership of HailRedskins.com gathers for a tailgate party at FedEx Field. 2007 will be no different. We will be holding our 5th Annual HailRedskins Tailgate Party in September this year. Read all about it!

Nats Fall Again, Bullpen Implodes

2007-04-25T08:54:00.000-04:00

Well, one thing is for sure for the Nationals --- SP Jason Bergmann is pitching well, real well. For the third stright start, Bergmann put the Nationals in position to notch a win, pitching 6 innings and allowing just 1 earned run, and scattering a measley 3 hits. But that wasn't enough. The bullpen, once thought to be the strongest part of the 2007 Nationals, again blew a lead as the Nationals fell to Philadelphia 6-3, their third staright loss.

I continue to be impressed with Bergmann's poise and command on the mound. He notched another 5 strikeouts yesterday bringing his season total to 20. What is disappointing is Bergmann has yet to gain a win, despite three back to back to back impressive starts. Bergmann has given up just 5 runs in the last 18 innings. Again, last night the bullpen failed to protect a quality start. Bergmann lowered his season ERA to 3.27, but remains 0-1.

Reliever Micah Bowie took the loss, hitting Chase utley then walking Pat Burrell to setup a game winning single by Wes helms off Jon Rauch. That was all after Saul Riviera relieved Bergmann and gave up a game tying homer to Aaron Rowand.

But, beyond the bullpen, the Nationals offense did manage to score three runs, but remained less than impressive, scattering 8 hits and leaving 8 runners on. Ryan Church and Rafael Belliard both contributed RBI doubles. Church, Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez each had two hits for the Nats.

One of the question I have is why did Acta take Bergmann out in the 6th inning? Yes, Bergmann was reportedly battling a cold, but he was pitching well, was not showing signs of fatigue, and was more than willing to ptich the seventh inning. The Post reports....

"We were kind of shocked when they took him out of the game," said Helms, the Phillies third baseman. "The guy was dominating. He's not overpowering, but he had great movement on all his pitches and he had great command. We were actually over there cheering when they took him out. We were like, 'Okay, here's our chance.' "

Acta responded regarding his decision ...

"We thought in that inning, he was starting to lose it," Acta said. "He got into that big mess after two outs, nobody on, 0-2 count. So we tried to take him out on a positive note. He had three good outings in a row, and we're trying to build him up. We stand by it."

Bergmann, too, didn't question it. He said that even though he had caught a bug that has dogged the Nationals for the better part of two weeks, he was willing to pitch the seventh. More than that, though, he was willing to follow his manager's decision.

"You got to pitch through stuff like that," Bergmann said of the bug. "It's an obstacle. I pitched as hard as I could. I was more than willing to go back out there. The manager made a decision, and that's why he's the manager."

Well, anyway, now traking a sneak peak at the near future, the Nationals have some guys who are injured and getting healthy and as the Nats website reports, Manny Acta will have some tough decision to make there as well, as guys like Nick Johnson, Alex Escobar, and Luis Ayala are set to return soon.

Left-handed reliever Ray King, who has been recovering from tendinitis in his left shoulder, could come off the disabled list on Friday. King threw 20 pitches in a simulated game on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

Right-hander Luis Ayala -- placed on the DL on March 28 -- threw one scoreless inning with one strikeout in an extended Spring Training game on Monday against the Dodgers.

Ayala is needed and his addition back to the bullpen will be welcome relief for Acta. Although gusy like Saul Riviera overall are pitching pretty well, Ayala is a solid reliver and will bolster stability and allow Acta another reliable, 'known' choice to turn to.

Center fielder Nook Logan (strained left foot) and shortstop Cristian Guzman (strained left hamstring) are expected to re-join the Nationals very soon.

"Nook, I hope, is ready to play soon, hopefully Sunday or Monday," Bowden said. "I expect [Guzman] to play soon. I think he'll be ready in four to five days."

Guzman is set to return soon, but you have to wander what the Nats are thinking. Rafael Belliard is actually hitting the ball well, struggling a bit lately until his RBI douible last night. Guzman will continue to be dogged by the injury question.

ZIMMY WATCH: Ryan Zimmerman was 0-3. Zimmerman is hitting .233 with 1 HR and 8 RBI's, 4 coming on a grand slam.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: P Jason Bergmann 6 Innings, 3 hits, 1 earned run, and 5 K's.

STATS

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Ryan Church, .306
Runs Batted In: Brian Schneider, 10
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 12
Home Runs: Ryan Church, 3
Stolen Bases: Felipe Lopez, 3
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, 10

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 24.2
ERA: Jesus Colome, 1.80
Strike Outs: Jason Bergmann, 20
Wins: Jesus Colome, 2

NEXT UP: Tonight at Philadelphia --- (WAS) John Patterson (PHL) Jon Lieber

Hershey Takes 3-1 Lead

2007-04-24T08:24:00.000-04:00

The Hershey Bears, minor affiliate of the Washington Capitals, took a 3-1 series lead over Albany last night in the first round of the AHL playoffs.

The Bears defeated Albany 3-1 last night. Alexandre Giroux, the Bears 2006-07 leading score, got the Bears on the board in the first period, after a hard fought first. Mike Green and Dave Steckel added goals. The Bears are only one game from advancing.

"I thought it was tremendously fast-paced," Bears head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "To me, that was really the first playoff game. It looked like the intensity from both teams was finally there. There was a dislike for each other."

Both teams hit and sacrificed bodies to block shots. Both teams finally got goals from top scorers Alex Giroux and Keith Aucoin.

Giroux got untracked at 16:40 of the first, giving Hershey a 1-0 lead off a power-play tally. The forward said he mainly was trying to set up a rebound opportunity with his far-side shot, but the puck hit the handle of goalie Tyler Weiman's stick and dipped under his right arm.

"Alex finally stepped up his game, and that's what you like to see," Boudreau said.

Even though the Bears and Rats skated to a scoreless first period, the Albany Rats actually dominated Hershey in the second period, outshooting the Bears 12-4. But the Bears managed to escape the second period with a 1-0 lead in tack. Green and Steckel goals came in the third period, Steckel adding his at 18:44, essentially ending the game. Goalie Frederick Cassivi played a sparkling game, stopping 20 of 21 shots.

"We can't take a night off next game," Cassivi said. "We have to close it. We can't take a chance on getting to six and to seven. We have to come here Wednesday and win the game. Obviously, they're not going to give it to us."

Game 5 is Wednesday night at the Glen Falls Civic Center in Albany, NY.

Put this one to rest

2007-04-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Let's consider this definitive:

“‘(Caron Butler) is not in our plans, right now — not as a player,’ Eddie Jordan said after practice Monday. ‘If we get deeper in the playoffs, possibly, but not in the first round.’”

The team you saw on the floor is the team we're playing with, people. Get used to it. Improvement will have to come from the active players themselves.

Eddie Jordan needs to make adjustments

2007-04-23T14:33:00.000-04:00

In my preview of the Bullets-Cavs series last Friday, I wrote this:

Eddie Jordan should not be shy about going to Brendan Haywood, who has usually played Big Z well -- and sometimes flat-out outplayed him. Haywood has the size to rumble with Big Z and also seems to get up for the challenge.

After watching Etan Thomas score 2 points, commit 3 turnovers, and get dominated defensively in the 4th quarter by Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Coach Eddie Jordan seems to be thinking about giving Brendan Haywood more time on the court.

Coach Eddie Jordan did say he wanted more out of center Etan Thomas (1 of 4 shooting, two points, five rebounds and three turnovers in 21 minutes yesterday) and said he would consider giving more action to Brendan Haywood, who only played five first half minutes yesterday.

Clearly, 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas had his way with the shorter Thomas, Darius Songaila and Michael Ruffin during that key stretch of the fourth and we all remember that Haywood at gave Ilgauskas problems in last year's series.

"There could be a change, I don't know yet. I'm hoping Etan can start out of really well and that we can go with a normal rotation. Brendan has been big off the bench. Now, what he does with that is up to him."

Look, I understand Jordan's problem with Haywood. Brendan thinks he's better than the team. He whines every time he comes out of the game, takes every minute given to another center as a personal insult, and is, fundamentally, a lazy player who must be constantly watched for effort. Nevertheless, Haywood is a much better player against Big Z than Thomas is. Haywood does get up to play Z for some reason and he plays him well. He's got the size and length that Etan simply does not. Ilgauskas was Cleveland's best player in the 4th quarter, scoring 11 of his 16 points then. I have to think Haywood would have done better than Thomas, Songaila, and Ruffin.

NFL Draft Approaching

2007-04-23T13:19:00.000-04:00

and for you Redskins fans out there, the hR Mock Draft Database, largest on the Internet, is updated and there is a new leading consensus choice. Check it out at the hailRedskins.com Blog or link directly to the Mock Database.

Wizards play for the championship

2007-04-23T11:30:00.000-04:00

The Hershey Bears are not the only Washington farm team playing for a minor league title. It just so happens that the Dakota Wizards, farm team of the Washington Bullets and the Chicago Bulls, defeated the Sioux Falls Skyforce in Bismarck, North Dakota and claimed the championship of the Eastern Division of the NBA Developmental League [NBDL]. The Wizards will play the Colorado 14ers [yes, that's the name of the team] for the NBDL championship on Sunday.

Out of gas in game 1

2007-04-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

This is why the Bullets have no chance in this series.
A familiar script was played out Sunday afternoon by the Bullets and Cavaliers in Blahblah Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. At least, the script would be familiar to Bullets fans. The team played hard, stayed competitive, and kept the score close for most of the game. In the 4th quarter, however, Washington's opponents wore down the Bullets and the good guys just couldn't score points. Yes, it happened again.

It will likely keep happening until this brutal season comes to a merciful conclusion. Without their go-to guys, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, the Bullets lost to a lousy team like the Charlotte Bobcats -- twice. Defeating a pretty good team that plays real defense, like the Cavaliers, will be extremely difficult. It becomes even more difficult in those rare occasions when Cleveland guard Larry Hughes has a good shooting night, as he did yeterday [9-17 from the field and a team-high 27 points].

Let's run through the cast...

Jarvis Hayes: Not a bad performance from Hayes. He did a decent job on Lebron James and scored 18 points on 15 shots. That's pretty good for Hayes. He didn't do any rebounding, but at least he never turned the ball over in 40 minutes of play. Hayes played well enough for the Bullets to win if the other players had done their part.

Antawn Jamison: Led the team with 28 points and 14 rebounds, but he shot only 10-27 from the field and 1-6 on 3-pointers. It's not really Jamison's fault. He was terrific in the first half against single coverage, but the Cavs went to double coverage in the second half, forcing Jamison to pass to teammates who were not getting it done or take tougher and tougher shots. Jamison cannot do this alone. Someone else has to have a big game. Not a good game, such as the one Hayes had, but a big game.

Etan Thomas: He stunk. Didn't defend especially well and had only 2 points and 5 boards in 21 subpar minutes. Etan must play much better for the Bullets to have a chance.

Deshawn Stevenson: He also stunk. Again. Shot 3-12 from the field and scored 9 points. Only 1 assist in 36 minutes. DS really let the team down yesterday.

Antonio Daniels: Another solid game from AD. Dished a game-high 11 assists and grabbed 7 rebounds. His nine points on 7 shots was good enough to get the team through to a win if players like Stevenson and Thomas had shown up to play.

Darius Songaila: Scored 8 points on 5 shots in 17 minutes. Unfortunately, grabbed only 1 rebound and fouled in those same 17 minutes. Defense, apparently, is going to be a real problem for Songaila in this series.

Michael Ruffin: Nice performance from Ruffin, who grabbed 4 rebounds [3 offensive] and 2 steals in just 15 minutes of play. The team was +5 when he was on the court.

Major Complaint: Where were Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche? Haywood played 5 minutes and Blatche played 4 minutes. Look, this series is a lost cause so there is no excuse for not playing Blatche? I know EJ, like most coaches, doesn't like to play rookies in the playoffs, but there is no case for such an argument in this instance. The Bullets are not winning this series. Most of their fans would take a single victory -- just not being swept. Blatche could get some playoff experience here and EJ didn't bother to give him any. Play the kid, EJ. Play him. You've got nothing to lose and Blatche could actually gain something.

PLAY THE KID!

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Deshawn Stevenson

Photos: AP /Tony Dejak, AP/Mark Duncan)

Bears up 2 games to 1

2007-04-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

The Hershey Bears have taken a 2 games to 1 lead over Albany, beating Albany in Albany today 6-5. A whopping 11 shootout was propelled by 6 goals in the first 20 minutes. After Albany took a 1-0 lead in the first, Mats Henderick socred 20 second slater to even it up. Scott Barney tied the game up 2-2 a few minutes later with his first of two goals on the day, after Albany took the lead again. Mike Green, Joey Tenute and Chris Borque also scored for the Bears.

Game 4 will be Monday night at 7PM.

Go Bears!

Bullets-Cavaliers Playoff Series Preview

2007-04-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

Who: Washington Bullets @ Cleveland Cavaliers
What: Game 1 of best of 7 series
When: Sun April 22 at 12:30PM
Where: Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio

The Bullets have no chance in this series. They'll be lucky to win a single game. Without their two All Stars, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, the Bullets are more suited to the lottery than the playoffs. That's the general consensus around the league about the Bullets and their chances in this round one playoff series against Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

And, seriously, it's hard to argue with the consensus. Taking Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler out of the Bullets lineup is a subtraction of 45-50 points per night. It's a loss of over 10 rebounds per game and almost 10 assists per game. It's a loss of leadership and clutch shooting. It's a loss of two of the top ten players in steals in the NBA. Has any other team ever entered the playoffs after such devastating losses to injury? I don't know, but if it has happened, it hasn't happened often.

In truth, it is difficult to see the Bullets overcoming these crippling injuries and defeating the hated Cavaliers and their Travelling Superstar, Lebron James. And yet, the Bullets have played the Cavaliers once this year without Arenas and Butler. The game was earlier this month, April 6, and the Cavs won 99-94. The Bullets fought hard to the end in that game, but Lebron James scored 14 of his 25 points in the 4th quarter to seal the win for Cleveland. The Bullets shot over 51% in the game, but hurt themselves by shooting only 54% on free throws and turning the ball over 23 times. What it shows is that even when the team is shooting well, they cannot fail in other areas and beat Cleveland -- not without Agent Zero or Tough Juice to bail them out. For the Bullets to win a game -- any game -- in this series, they will have to play well in every phase of the game.

So it is possible for the Bullets to win games in this series, but it will be very, very difficult. It would likely be the most amazing upset in NBA playoffs history if the Bullets were to take 4 from the Cavs in this series. Possible. Exceedingly unlikely. But here's what the Bullets need to do to pull off a miracle.

When the Bullets have the ball
Without Gilbert's improvisation to bail them out, the Bullets must faithfully execute Eddie Jordan's Princeton offense. That means they have to cut, rotate offensively, and pass pass pass. The Bullets will likely need 40+ minutes out of PG Antonio Daniels in every game, as he seems to run the offense better than anyone on the team. Daniels has averaged 12.1 points and 9.4 assists per game since replacing Arenas in the starting lineup. Daniels cannot penetrate as well as Arenas, but he will be just as aggressive and will normally hit his foul shots when he gets to the line. His outside shooting is mediocre and his 3-point shooting cannot be relied upon, but Daniels will scan the floor carefully to find opportunities for other players.

Deshawn Stevenson has averaged 13.7 ppg since Arenas went out with injury. That's not good enough. DS has been up and down in that time, having great shooting nights [25 points against Atlanta] and awful shooting nights [2-14 against Orlando]. That has to stop. Stevenson must hit close to 50% from the field pretty consistently in this series and give them team at least 15 points per game. A few 3-pointers to stretch the Cleveland defense early in games would be nice. He must also limit his turnovers and not try to take every big shot when the game is on the line. That's Jamison's job.

Speaking of Antawn Jamison, the burden of keeping this team in games falls largely on his shoulders. He has averaged 21.1 ppg since Arenas got injured, but that's not good enough. Although he's had scoring nights of 25, 26, 27, 37, and 48 points since the team lost Arenas, he's also had games where he let the team down, scoring 4 points against Charlotte, 11 against Miami, 4 against Atlanta, and 8 against Chicago. That has to stop. Jamison will have to average at least 25 ppg in this series, despite facing likely double teams. He will also need to average 9-12 rebounds per game against Cleveland. In other words, the Bullets need a 25/10 performance from Jamison at least four times in this series in order to have a chance to move on.

Jarvis Hayes has raised his game lately. He's shooting 50% in April and scored in double figures in 8 of 11 games. Also not good enough. The 50% is fine, but Jarvis has got to score 12-15 ppg in this series. It won't be easy as he'll be facing Lebron James and is likely to be preoccupied by defending the Cleveland superstar. Nevertheless, the team needs consistent scoring from Jarvis. His shooting has not been the problem lately, it's been his free throws. That is, his lack of them. Hayes has not shot a free throw in 6 of 11 games this month. That's incredible. In no game has he shot more than 4 free throws. Considering he is good for at least 80% on his free throws, this is throwing points away. Hayes is settling for his jump shot because it is falling more frequently than any time this season, but he's got to attack the basket occasionally, too. He needs to shoot free throws in every game. Aside from getting to the line, being more aggressive with the ball will force James to play defense, something he's probably hoping to avoid. Hayes fouling Lebron James out of a game is not going to happen before the sun of our solar system goes supernova, but forcing the spoiled Nike pitchman to pay attention on both sides of the court would help the Bullets a lot.

Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has never won any defensive awards that I'm aware of and as he ages, he's not getting better at stopping opponents from scoring. [The next time Z jumps will be his first. Probably his last, too.] Etan Thomas is quick enough and strong enough to compensate for his height disadvantage and score. While Z can hit the boards, Etan should also be able to match or exceed Big Z when it comes to rebounding and blocking shots if he can stay out of foul trouble. The Bullets should look to Thomas early to see if they can get Z in foul trouble because I think Etan is likely to quick and aggressive for the big Cleveland plodder. One thing for sure: If the Bullets feed Etan, he'll take shots. The man is a bigger black hole than Kevin McHale used to be.

When the Cavaliers have the ball

I don't know if Etan Thomas can handle the job against gigantic Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Thomas gives up almost half a foot in height to Big Z and that's a problem. Z has never been known for giving extra effort on the boards, but he does like to shoot and score and Cavs coach Mike Jones likes to feed him early. If Etan can't handle the load on defense, Eddie Jordan should not be shy about going to Brendan Haywood, who has usually played Big Z well -- and sometimes flat-out outplayed him. Haywood has the size to rumble with Big Z and also seems to get up for the challenge. With Lebron probably spending a lot of time in the paint, Jordan will need both Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood to swat shots away and take fouls. If the refs are calling the game as favorably for Lebron as they normally do, the Bullets might need all 12 fouls from Haywood and Thomas.

Jamison doesn't like to stay with his man. We know this. He prefers to rest on defense and trust his man to miss shots. Bad idea. Both Drew Gooden and Donyell Marshall can score if they are not covered and both have lit up the inattentive Jamison in the past. AJ MUST stay with his man, right out to the 3-point line, where Marshall lives these days.

Jarvis Hayes has the biggest job of all, obviously. Though he's likely to share Lebron-chasing duty with Deshawn Stevenson, Hayes will probably be spending more time on King James than anyone else -- assuming he can stay out of foul trouble. Hayes is a decent defender when he's making the effort and he'll need to be making the effort whenever he's on the court. He held James to 25 points on 23 shots earlier this month, but that was mostly because Lebron's shots were not falling. In all likelihood, Hayes will let James have his outside shots unless they are falling and concentrate on keeping him away from the basket. Easier said than done.

Deshawn Stevenson has the task of moving back and forth between Cleveland's two most dangerous scorers: Lebron James and Larry Hughes. When he's shadowing Hughes, Stevenson's job will be to keep Larry from getting into the paint and drawing fouls. Hughes has had a poor season and really can't shoot anymore. He's not very reliable from the foul line at this point, but he's much more likely to hit two free throws than one jumper. If Stevenson can keep Hughes at 15 points per game or less, the Bullets should be able to steal a game or two when James is having a bad shooting night. Hughes finished the season well with 5 strong games down the stretch, but he's been inconsistent the entire season and should not be mistaken for the player he once was -- and never will be again -- before he signed that big contract. Believe it or not, very little separates Deshawn Stevenson's production from Larry Hughes' production. If Stevenson can match Hughes' production in this series, it'll be a big bonus for the Bullets.

Bench

Darius Songaila can shoot. We know that because he has hit more than 52% of his shots from the field and over 85% of his shots from the line this year. He scored a season-high 19 points against the Nets earlier this month, but then followed it up with three straight games in single digits, before scoring 12 in the season finale against Indiana. Part of the inconsistency for Songaila has been up-and-down minutes, something Eddie Jordan should correct. The Bullets will need Songaila's scoring and passing in this game, even if he'll never be on the floor for his rebounding or defense.

Uh, after this the bench gets kind of thin. There is Haywood, of course, and he might get a lot of minutes if Thomas struggles to defend Z. If he has any interest in returning to Washington next season, this is Haywood's chance to make his case. When motivated, Haywood is one of the better centers in the conference, though that is admittedly not saying a lot. He can match Ilgauskas if he fights hard. But will he? Who knows?

Daniels and Hayes were supposed to be helping out off the bench but injuries have transformed them into starters. Hopefully, Eddie Jordan will get over his bias against kids [to be fair, a bias shared by most coaches in all sports] and play Andray Blatche. Bulletproof has the quickness and length to help out on defense, particularly when King James comes barrelling down the lane. He can also help out on the boards, where Drew Gooden might get the better of Antawn Jamison.

The Cavaliers have Anderson Varejao [aka Sideshow Bob] and Donyell Marshall off the bench in the front court. It's a combination of size and quickness [Varejao] with outside shooting [Marshall] that has often proven effective in the past, including against the Bullets. Blatche should be able to handle anything Marshall has got. Varejao presents more of a challenge because of his muscular aggressiveness, but Blatche should get a crack at him, too.

When you get down to it, the Bullets are very overmatched in this series. Take two All Stars away from any team in the league and would you really expect them to win a playoff series? I think Dallas or Phoenix would struggle to do it. For Washington, it must seem like the Mount Everest of challenges. It could be done. Seriously, it is actually possible because the Cavs really are not a very good team. They're good, no better and they are prone to lapses in attention and judgement. They're also not very well-coached, in my opinion. The Bullets could shock the world here. I just wouldn't bet on it.

Prediction: Cavaliers in 5

Photo: Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty Images

Hershey Bears Playoff Update

2007-04-20T12:33:00.000-04:00

Hershey Bears had to come back late to defeat Albany in game one of the playoff series, 3-2. Bears scored 2 power play goals, one each by Tomas Fleischmann and Kyle Wilson. Bears fired 20 shots in the final period, barraging Albany in a strom from behind victory.

Game two the Bears were not so lucky, falling to Albany 3-2 in overtime. The series is tied at 1-1. With Albany's win, the series shifts out of Hershey to Albany. Here are some snippets from the Harrisburg Patriot on Game Two ...

"There's nothing really anybody can do about it because it's a bounce that goes in their favor," Cassivi said. "No one really made a mistake on the play. It's unfortunate for us. That's what happens when you throw pucks at the net." "They're resilient," Bears head coach Bruce Boudreau said of the Rats. "I just told the guys it's going to be a long series...They believe they can win it, and that's the way it is. We're going to have to play at our best. This is a huge challenge for us."

Nats Rally Falls Short

2007-04-20T08:55:00.000-04:00

The offense disappeared again for the Nationals yesterday, at least until the 9th inning. Phillies P Jamie Moyer two hit the Nats with a shutout going into the 9th inning, then the Nationals showed a sign of life, but it was too little, too late, as the Nats fell to the Phillies 4-2.

Perhaps more worrisome to the Nationals is the continued lagging performance of supposedly top starter, John Patterson. Patterson pitched just 4 innings yesterday giving up 4 runs on a high 7 hits. Makes you wander if Patterson has completely healed from injury he sustained last year. In any regard, Patterson is clearly not the top pitcher on this staff right now. That call would either go to Shawn Hill OR SURPISINGLY Jason Bergmann.

The bullpen was again solid. Rookie Lavale Speighner pitched 3 solid innings giving up 3 hits and 1 run. All a day after he earned his first win of the year in relief in the 13th inning 5-4 win over the Phillies on Wednesday. Saul Riviera has continued to impress the Nats in the bullpen as well, pitching 2 innings and giving up just one hit and 0 runs. Riviera has yet to give a run this year. Matter of fact, I really like the way the bullpen is pitching so far, minus closer Chad Cordero. I won't get back into that rant again, but minus Cordero, this bullpen has been pretty sparkling. Did I make the call for Jon Rauch as closer yet? Oh wait ---I did that yesterday.

Offensively, the Nationals were dead yesterday, managing just two hits until the 9th inning. Ryan Zimmerman started off the 9th with a double to deep center. Dimitri Young followed up with a doubt that scored the Nats first run, cutting the lead to 4-1. Austin Kearns was then hit by a pitch and was followed up with a single by Ryan Church, moving Young to third base. Rookie Robert Fick hit a sacrifice fly to score Young, but the Nationals rally ended there.

Tom Boswell writes in the Washington Post today some thoughts on these 2007 Nats. Most I agree with.

The verdict on the Nationals has almost certainly been delivered after only a tenth of the season. The '62 Mets, who lost 120 games, are safe. For that matter, so are the '88 Orioles, who began 0-21. The Nats, in defiance of doomsayers, aren't half bad. Or, to be precise, they're only bad half the time. That's not nearly enough for a serious run at historic futility.

Well, the '88 O's are certainly safe, no doubt about it. But I agree on the '62 Mets as well, of course, were all assuming the KC Royals won't challenge that record. But yes, the Nationals doomsday scenarios are a bit off. This team is not going to be very good, they are not going to challenge for a wild card spot, nor will they challenge for a .500 record, but they are also not as bad aas many have said. But --- Nationals fans can look at this season in a positive manner. If you --- like me --- honestly believe that Stan Kasten and the Lerners WILL BUILD A CONSISTENT WINNER in DC, this is the first, rather LARGE step in that process. It is absolutely cirtical for the front office, a brand new front office, to see what the Nationals have as far as youth who will be able to consistently play for this franchise. What better year than the first year they have the Club. It is evaluation time and these kids are playing for their DC futures.

By winning four of seven games and playing competitively against the Braves, Mets and Phillies, the Nationals have shaken off the potential knockout blow of a 1-8 start that might have made them a nightly TV laughingstock.

And a few things are attributable to this. First and foremost, our young starting pitchers have shaken off rough starts and provided the Nationals some tough, gutsy, and good quality starts. Remember Shawn Hill's battling out of trouble with New York Mets by wiffing Carlos Beltran and forcing Carlos Delgado and David Wright into tiny comeback rollers? A defining moment for young Mr. Hill. Mark it down!

How about the past two performances of Jason Bergmann? Bergmann leads the team in strikeouts and all starters in ERA, under 3.00. Right now there is not a better starter on staff than Bergmann. Matt Chico has not done a bad job himself, earning his first win on a tremendously good start. Second, the Nationals are getting some good relief work from Saul Riviera, Jon Rauch, Jesus Colome and Micah Bowie (I didn't add Cordero on purpose!). Finally, despite the lag yesterday, the Nationals offense has awaken somewhat, being led mostly by 1B Dimitri Young and C Brian Schneider. The Nats will be even better when Zimmerman begins to produce as expected.

"I love the way we are playing right now. They do not give up. They are giving all the effort they are supposed to give," rookie manager Manny Acta said after his team cut a 4-0 ninth-inning lead to 4-2 and had men at second and third base before falling short to Philadelphia at home yesterday

I have nothing to add. Acta's words speaks volumes. Attitude is more than half of what is needed to win.

So, with a winless ace, a homerless No. 3 hitter, rookies everywhere and holes in his lineup, how can Acta be so cheerful? To such questions, the correct answer is always "pitching." Washington has allowed only 20 runs in its last seven games, a streak of competence that some doubted would arrive at any point this season. "They've been terrific. It can't be like this all the time. That's impossible," said Acta, who added with a shrug, "but if they do, it's going to be interesting."

My very point I have made over the last 8 days. The pitching has turned around and the Nationals will continue to exceed expectations until the pitching drops off. You've heard it before, this team goes as far as it's pitching takes it. This is more true for the Nats than any other team, because pitching was considered the weak spot in DC.

With luck, we'll never know how ugly this season might have been. Troops are on the way. Soon, Zimmerman will start to hit again. Logan and Guzman will return and a thin bench will start to look decently deep. By early May, reliever Luis Ayala and starter Jason Simontacchi will be back. With each outing, Patterson will probably prod the radar gun a bit higher. Some fine day in midseason when his leg is well, Nick Johnson, the team's best hitter, will be back at cleanup, too.

And perhaps the best part of Boswell's article. The Nats actually do have something to look forward to. They have been decimated by injuries, which has led to some valuable time for some young players, but the return of Nick Johnson, Christian Guzman, Nook Logan, and Alex Escobar will be significant gains for the Nationals.

5 for fighting the Cavs

2007-04-19T15:07:00.000-04:00

Coach Eddie Jordan says the Bullets are staying with the current five starters for the playoffs.

Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan said before Wednesday night's regular season finale against the Indiana Pacers that the starting lineup he uses to open the playoffs in Cleveland will be the same as the one he used down the stretch of the season: Antonio Daniels and DeShawn Stevenson at guard, Jarvis Hayes and Antawn Jamison at forward and Etan Thomas at center.

That unit, with Wednesday night's victory, has a record of 2-6. Jordan said the team would gather on Thursday to go over its strengths and weaknesses and use Friday's practice to concentrate on the Cavaliers.

"We're still finding out what we need to do for this team, and [Wednesday night] is the last time for us to see what works and what does not," Jordan said. "At the same time, we're trying to win. Let's maximize our strengths the next couple of days and see what we have to do."

This makes sense, I suppose. The team has experienced a lot of unwelcome change with the injuries to Arenas and Butler and a bit of stability makes sense. Nevertheless, I'll be watching the Etan Tomas v. Big Z matchup closely. Brendan Haywood has played well against Z over the course of his career and did a good job on him in last year's playoffs. If Etan has trouble handling the much, much taller Ilgauskas, I hope Jordan will not hesitate to turn to Haywood.

Bullets playoff schedule released

2007-04-19T12:27:00.000-04:00

As you know, the Bullets will play the #2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. It's a best of 7 series, of course. This is what we're lookin' at, with Bullets home games in bold.

Game 1 - Sun April 22 Washington at Cleveland 12:30PM 12:30PM TNT

Game 2 - Wed April 25 Washington at Cleveland 8:00PM 8:00PM NBATV

Game 3 - Sat April 28 Cleveland at Washington 5:30PM 5:30PM TNT

Game 4 - Mon April 30 Cleveland at Washington TBD

Game 5 * Wed May 2 Washington at Cleveland TBD

Game 6 * Fri May 4 Cleveland at Washington TBD

Game 7 * Sun May 6 Washington at Cleveland TBD

Of course, three of those games might never be played. Looks like at least two games, #1 and #3, will be televised on national cable television, courtesy of TNT.

Bullets ride triumphantly into 7th spot!

2007-04-19T09:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, the Bullets made the playoffs. We knew that already. The only suspense left was the seed the team would earn, anywhere from the 6th to the 8th. In the end, the team decided to split the difference [appropriate considering the 41-41 record] and take the 7th seed. So now we know -- it's a 7th seed and, for the second straight year, a first round playoff match against LeTravel James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Bullets actually played pretty good defense against Indiana, who went without Jermaine O'Neal last night. Washington held the Pacers to 43% shooting, while shooting almost 48% themselves. In addition, the Bullets held the Pacers to only 11 assists, an indication of good pressure on the ball and defensive alertness. The Bullets themselves committed only 11 turnovers.

Let's run through the cast...

Jarvis Hayes: Uh, nothing much to talk about here. Finished with 9 points and 2 steals, one of them at the end to seal the game. Shot poorly, though, and didn't rebound.

Antawn Jamison: AJ could be forgiven for coming out flat one night after scoring 48 points in 48 grueling minutes in a heartbreaking loss to Orlando. Jamison didn't shoot very well [5-14], but he nailed 9 of his 12 free throws and finished with a game-high 19 points. His 11 rebounds was also tops on either team. His +7 on/off ratio was second on the team last night. AJ finishes the regular season with a bit of flash, a bit of flair, 28 double-doubles [tops on the team again], and a whole lot of respect from Bullets fans.

Etan Thomas: Hit 4 of 6 shots, grabbed 8 rebounds, blocked 4 shots, and scored 10 points in 21 minutes. Thomas finished the regular season with a strong claim to the starting job next season.

Deshawn Stevenson: Coming off a dreadful 2-12 shootin night against Orlando, DS bounced back a bit to score 15 points on 5-11 shooting. He still takes too many shots in crunch time, as if he thinks that he, not Jamison, is the team's go-to guy with Gil and Caron on the shelf. Nevertheless, Deshawn's outside shooting is respectable now. His decisionmaking in the paint, off a drive to the basket, needs improvement.

Antonio Daniels: After a nightmarish 0-10 shooting performance against Orlando, AD hit 4-6 shots, grabbed 5 boards and dished 9 assists against only 1 turnover. His 13 points were critical and his +9 on/off ratio was tops on the team last night. I wonder, though, if logging all these minutes [and the recent hard falls he's taken] have affected Daniels' free throw shooting. He used to be money from the line, but not lately. Last night he missed 3 of 8 free throws, including two clutch ones down the stretch. A bit of pre-playoffs rest might cure that problem.

Darius Songaila: Scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting [4-4 from the line] in 23 minutes. Two rebounds isn't all that impressive, but he did block a shot and his stroke from 20 feet out is sweet. I'd love to see this guy play a full season with the Bullets. Let's hope his stint with the Lithuanian national team this offseason goes better than it did last year.

Brendan Haywood: He stunk against Orlando [notice a theme here?], but he bounced back nicely last night. Haywood scored 11 points and blocked 3 shots in 20 minutes against the Pacers. His 5-6 shooting is a bit deceptive since most of those were dunks off nice penetration-feeds from the guards. Nevertheless, Brendan was in the right place at the right time and that counts for a lot. His 4 rebounds doesn't turn heads, but that's not his area of expertise anyway. Haywood played good defense last night and was a real presence on both sides of the ball. He traditionally plays very well against Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, so hopefully this game was a sign of things to come for Brendan.

Player of the Game: Antonio Daniels
Player of the Lame: Jarvis Hayes

Nats Beat Philly in 13

2007-04-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

SP Jason Bergmann strung together his second straight good performance following a disasterous initial start, tossing 6 innings, scattering 5 hits, giving up 3 runs and wiffing 6 batters. Pretty impressive for a kid the Nats were ready to send down after week one. BUT, Closer Chad Cordero, AGAIN, was shaky and blew the save. Cordero has struggled this year, much like many times last season, getting into the final inning and finding himself in trouble.

Cordero again allowed five batters in the 9th with a 4-3 Nationals lead that would have deservingly provided Bergmann his first win of the season, but Cordero was unable to close the door. Cordero's ERA boosted upward to 5.14.

The Nationals did end up pulling out the win, now winning 4 of their last 6, 5-1 in 13 innings. Nat improve to 5-10 while the Phillies fall to 3-10, two teams on two different paths.

SS Felipe Lopez hit a sacrifice fly in the 13th inning to score Chris Snelling and seal the win. Both Lopez and Austin Kearns each added two hits. The big bat came again from surging C Brian Schneider, who contributed three of the five runs with a second inning three run homer to give the Nats a 3-1 lead. Schneider ended the game 2-6 with a HR. He has lifted his batting average over the last 4 games from .111 to .204.

Now, back to Cordero. Unlike many National fans and even fellow bloggers, I am not that high on Cordero, nor have I been. Cordero, even in games he saves, tends to struggle and put runners on. It is actually rare to see Cordero come in and sit down the order 1-2-3. Say what you want about how many svaes Cordero has produced for the Nats over the past 2 to 3 season ... blah blah blah, the fact is, rarely do we get an effective, dominating appearance without holding the breath.

Cordero takes me back to the days of Washington Redskins kickers, such as Scott Blanton, Jose Cortez, Nick Novak, James Tuthill, you know what I am talking about, where simple field goals became difficult tasks, and as fans, it was better to hide the eyes and listen to the crowd than actually watch the kick. Kind of like Cordero in the ninth inning.

Cordero has pitched in 5 games in this young season, 6 games, 8 innings. Here are the following situations in which Cordero has ptiched this season;

Against ATL: 2 INN, 2 Hits, 2 Walks
Against NYM: 1 INN, 1 Hit, 1 Walk
Against PHL: 1 INN, 2 Hits
Against FLA: 1 INN, 2 Hits, 1 Walk
Against ARI: 2 INN, 3 Hits, 2 Walks
Against PHL: 1 INN, 2 Hits

Clearly Cordero is struggling in 2007. Last season, Cordero ptiched 68 games, and just 22 of them did he sit batters down 1-2-3. He pitched a total of 73.9 innings and gave up 59 hits and 22 walks. That is averaging a little more than one base runner per inning.

So what do I advocate? Well, with the salary were paying, Cordero is here, Cordero is the closer. BUT in my opinion, the best guy in the bullpen who I think would be a GREAT closer is Jon Rauch. He can be very dominating and effective. 3 of the 5 games Rauch has pitched in this year so far have been 1-2-3 innings. One of those games that was not a 1-2-3 consideration is distinguished because Rauch pitched 4 innings. I would love to see what Rauch could do in a few Save time opportunities.

ZIMMY WATCH: Ryan Zimmerman was 1-6 and left two runners on base. Zimmerman is hitting .204 with 0 HRs.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Two Awards: C Brian Schneider was 2-6, with a three run homer. P Jason Bergmann 6 Innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, and 6 K's.

STATS

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, .302
Runs Batted In: Brian Schneider, Dimitri Young, 8
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 9
Home Runs: Ryan Church, 3
Stolen Bases: Felipe Lopez, 2
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, Young, 7

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 18.2
ERA: Jesus Colome, 2.25
Strike Outs: Jason Bergmann, 15
Wins: 5 Tied, 1

NEXT UP: Tonight at RFK against Philadelphia --- (WAS) John Patterson (PHL) Jamie Moyer

Get Gil on the ballot!

2007-04-18T14:03:00.000-04:00

Gilbert Arenas wants to be President of the United States. No kidding. Actually, he calls himself the Black President on his myspace page. And he's not kidding. As he wrote on his NBA blog:

I want politicians coming to me and asking me for advice … I know nothing about politics, but, hey. So if I can control the people in D.C., then they have to come talk to me.

Wizznutzz has started a campaign to get Arenas on the ticket with Senator Barack Obama. As a fan of Obama -- and an even bigger fan of Agent Zero -- I'm already on board.An early look at the Obama/Arenas campaign platform is promising:

-Legislate the No Snub Left Behind Act.

-Promote universal health care

-Pardon Chico DeBarge

-Pursue alternative energies incentives: offer bacon grease subsidies

-Offer comprehensive immigration reform: illegal immigrants can fast-track their citizenship by defeating Homeland Security Czar DeShawn Stevenson in a 3-point shooting competition, an initiative that will be dubbed: "I Want To Feel The Face of Freedom."

-Redecorate the Oval Office as an exact replica of the Lt. Castillo office set from Miami Vice.

-Annex Wheaton Plaza. Crush the resistance movement by cutting off edible underpants supply to Spencer Gifts.

And let me add my own: A chicken on every hibachi! I see real promise here. Count me on board.

Alexander Semin Update

2007-04-18T11:12:00.000-04:00

Caps Alexander Semin may have been eager to play for the Russia National team, but according to many sources, there is very little possibility of that, after Semin was dismissed fromt he team after missing the first practice. In the linked article above, the Caps other Alex, the more fanmous one, Mr. Ovheckin comments ...

“I wish he could play with us at the world championships,” said Ovechkin to Sport-Express Daily. However, my wish can’t change anything. The decision has been made and there is no use discussing it. He was late to join the team and that’s the root of it. I know that there were some problems with his flight and the ticket. Semin was very distressed when I told him about the decision, he was shocked even.”

The final word comes from Russian Nation Coach Vyacheslav Bykov ...

“I have no doubts Semin is eager to play for the national side. However, discipline is the same for everyone. Semin’s chances to play at the world championships are zero now.”

The official Washington Capitals blog, DumpnChase, gives a detail on what ervolved that led to Semin's ouster from the squad.

Nemchinov said he called Semin on Sunday to remind him that he had to report to camp by 4 p.m. on Monday. Semin replied that he wouldn’t be able to make it on time because his plane wouldn’t arrive in Moscow until 7:30 pm on Monday.

Nemchinov said that Semin knew beforehand when he needed to report; the information was given to him last month while Semin was still in Washington with the Capitals. Nemchinov told Semin to get a ticket for an earlier flight so he could make it to camp before the mandated 4 p.m. reporting time. Semin called Nemchinov at 8:20 p.m. on Monday to tell him he was on his way. But by that time the decision to had already been made to cut Semin from the roster.

Semin put together an outstanding season for the Caps in 06/07 and his development along the same line With ovechkin will continue improvement. It would have been nice to have Semin working alongside Ovie over the summer in the Worlds, but what is done is done.

By the way, congratulations to Caps Chris Clark and Brian Portier for thier being named to Team USA. Here is the announcement of those on Team USA.

$oriano Watch

2007-04-17T11:10:00.000-04:00

It hasn't been a good start to the season for former Nats slugger Alfonoso $oriano, who left for the Cubs and their $136 million during the offseason. $oriano has been struggling, prompting his manager Lou Piniella to opine:

''I would say he probably is pressing a little bit, trying to do too much. He'll hit, and he'll do fine. But right now, he's probably trying to do too much.''

Actually, he might not be doing much at all for a few days:

Chicago Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano will undergo an MRI on Tuesday on his left hamstring, which he strained on Monday night trying to catch a ball in center.

His status was officially listed as day-to-day, but he may be sidelined for a few days.
...
But Soriano was limping as he left the Cubs clubhouse.

"If it's not bad, I think I'll take five, six days or maybe a week," Soriano said. "I believe it's not that bad, it's not a big deal."

Soriano dove for the ball in shallow center that was hit by Padres pitcher Clay Hensley. He thought he caught the ball, but he appeared to have trapped it.
...
Soriano said he hurt his leg going after the ball.

In 12 games this season, $oriano is batting .245 with no HR and 1 RBI. He's struck out 11 times and walked twice. He's been picked off base twice.

Nats Awakening

2007-04-17T10:06:00.000-04:00

How about those Nats!

After a horrendous 1-8 start to the 2007 baseball season, the Nationals have now won 3 of the last 4 it improve to 4-9. There doing so with active bats, once silenced, and loaded arms, once blasted.

On Sunday, it was the end of the lienup that provided the firepower, last night it was the heart of the lineup.

1B Dimitri Young is the hottest batter in the lineup. Young exploded again last night smashing 2 doubles, going 3 for 4 and driving in 2 runs. Young boosted his average to .302. Even more good news for the Nats, 3B Ryan Zimmerman appeared to break out of his season beginning slump that saw him go 3 for 37. Zimmy went 2 for 4, scored 2 rund and knocked in one. SS Felipe Lopez went 3 for 4 as well, driving his average for the season to .278.

This game was a positive for the Nationals, not just from a win standpoint, but for the 4th straight game, the Nationals bats continue to awaken throughout the lineup and the Nationals had their 4th consecutive quality start. The embattled starting pitching rotation has strung together an ERA of 2.72 over the last 4 games, putting a smile on the face of P Coach Randy St. Claire. The last 4 games, Nationals starters went into the 5th inning.

SP Matt Chico pitched 5 solid innings, scattering 4 hits. Chico still was unable to shake the base on ball monster, issuing 5 walks. After a difficult first inning, Chico came out of a five walk performance unscathed, giving up just 1 run. Kudos to reliver Saul Riviera. Riviera relived Chico in the sixth inning, pitching two solid inning, wiffing Woodward and Chipper Jones. Jon Rauch added a scorless 8th inning before the game was closed out by Chad Cordero.

Tom Boswell had a good article in today's Post about the pretty ugly conditions and the confidence building with the Nats.

"Tough weather out there and the kid battled through it," Manager Manny Acta said. "I didn't think he'd make it through five [innings] after that long first inning. But he did. We have to give it up for these guys, playing like this in these conditions.

" 'I live for this,' just like the [MLB] motto says,' " Acta said, "but I don't think I'd make it to the ballpark today if I were a fan."

Don't underestimate the battled performance by Chico yesterday. The young rookie not only needed to battle out of a situation created by free walks, but he had to do it under pretty ugly conditions. Chalk up to a great learning experience for a young Nat!

Ever since an Acta team meeting last week, in which the manager showed confidence in his young team rather than criticizing it, the Nats have returned to the presentable play they showed the last three weeks in Florida. Accepting game after game of miserable weather, and playing through it, has been part of this partial turnaround. "It's the same for both teams," said Church, hitting .340. "You just have to remember to heat the pine tar before you go in the on-deck circle."

Confidence and frank discussions, it all works out in the end. From Bowden's discussion with Jason Bergmann to Manny Acta's team meeting, whatever was said and done appears to have reinvigorated a demoralized team and shot confidence through the lineup and rotation.

ZIMMY WATCH: 2 for 4, 1 RBI, 2 runs scored
--- OVERALL: Avg: .204 RBI: 3 Runs: 5 HR: 0

NEXT UP: Atlanta tonight at RFK. SP: (Wash) Jerome Williams (Atl) John Smoltz

Semin Problems

2007-04-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

Tarik from the Washington post has confirmed that Alexander Semin was botted from the Russian team. Semin failed to report to training camp in time and was ousted.

Not a good start to the off-season considering the Caps were excited at the fact that Semin and Ovechkin would play together over the summer. What next?

Stunned

2007-04-16T13:14:00.000-04:00

DC Sports Blog (Tom and I) are stunned in disbelief at the tragedy that unfolded today at Virginia Tech University. Over 20 students have been killed and mor ethan 20 others wounded. What a tragedy it is, what an invasion of society. Makes you wander what kind of sick world we live in.

Tom and I extend on behalf of us and our readers our sincerest sympathies and condolences to the families of the students who have been killed and to the students and families of those who have been wounded. We mourn and suffer besides you.

Mark (PennSkinsFan)
Tom (Spence)

All I have to say about the home loss to the Bulls

2007-04-16T09:49:00.000-04:00

Okay, I got the idea from Bullets Forever and I was looking for something even more grotesque -- without showing an actual human spilling the contents of his stomach on to the floor. I make no apologies for anything.

Arms and Guns Arrive

2007-04-14T21:59:00.000-04:00

Well, finally the pitching is armed and the guns are blazing in DC! For the third straight game another National starter rebounded from sub-par starts to the season. P Shawn Hill (1-2) pitched a beauty, scattering 8 hits over 7 innings and allowing just 2 runs on the way to his first win of the year.

More impressive to me was the way Hill pitched in the 3rd inning, Hill I believe grew up. The third inning starter pretty poorly with Endy Chavez leading off with a triple into the corner of right field. Worse yet, Hill had to face the heart of the Met offense, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and David Wright. But Hill showed poise and smart pitching like I have not seen from him before, wiffing Beltran and forcing both Wright and Delgado to hit short grounders back to Hill before ending the inning. Pictureque pitching.

Hill went through seven before yielding to the bullpen. Micah Bowie came on in relief and lasted two batters, two hits, before being bailed out by setup man Jon Rauch. Chad Cordero pitched the ninth, a customary rocky finish.

Offensively, the Nats finally woke up putting up 6 runs on three homers. Dimitri Young started it off with his second home run of the season in the second inning. The rest of the Nats exploded in the sixth inning, with homers from Ryan Church, a solo shot, and a 2 run dinger by Chris Snelling.

The Nationals offense seem to be finally awakening after a horrific start of the season, but right now, the guys in the middle to end of the lineup, Young, Church, Snelling and Brian Schneider are your hot bats. These guys are solely driving this offense rght now. Schneider entered the ganme hitting just .111 but boosted his average to .194going 3 for 4 and scoring 2 runs. But the hot bat on the Nats right now belongs to Church. Church blasted his third hoem run over the center field wall, another extra bse hit, giving him 9 on the season and boosting his average to .357. Snelling also had a big game, knocking his first homer, but driving in three runs.

3B Ryan Zimmerman continued to wallow in a pretty bad slump, going 0-5. Zimmerman is now hitting .180. He had opportunities to drive in some runs today, but failed to so. Hopefully Mithcell Page can get him squared away like he apparently has done with Schneider. To me it seems as if Zimmerman is pulling his shoulder down in a more pronounced way than last year.

The Nationals have now won 2 of their last 3. They should face the Mets again tomorrow, but I look for rain outs all over the East Coast tomorrow and even possibly Monday.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Giving two today. P Shawn Hill and OF Chris Snelling

STATS

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Ryan Church, .357
Runs Batted In: Ryan Church, 6
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 9
Home Runs: Ryan Church, 3
Stolen Bases: Felipe Lopez, 1
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, Church 6

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 18.2
ERA: Shawn Hill, 2.89
Strike Outs: Shawn Hill, 11
Wins: Jon Rauch, Hill, Jesus Colome, 1

Congratulation Hershey Bears!!!

2007-04-14T00:36:00.000-04:00

from DC Sports Blog to the Hershey Bears, congratulations on clinching the Eastern Division and the BEST point total for the AHL! Here is the Bears story from their website...

HERSHEY – The 2006 Calder Cup Champion HERSHEY BEARS claimed the 2006-07 East Division championship Friday night with a victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The title is HERSHEY’S first divisional championship since winning the 1993-94 Southern Division championship by eight points over the now defunct Hamilton Canucks.

With Friday’s win in Wilkes-Barre, the BEARS also have won the American Hockey League’s MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy, given to the AHL’s regular season points champion. The award, instituted by the AHL in 1997, is named for the longtime member of the AHL Board of Governors who also served as the AHL’s Senior Vice President and General Counsel. The 2006-07 season marks the first time since the 1987-88 campaign that the BEARS have won the regular season points championship and just the seventh time in the 69-year history of the franchise. (1942-43, 1946-47 (tied), 1957-58, 1980-81, 1985-86, 1987-88)

The BEARS also with the win claim the Frank S. Mathers trophy, given by the AHL to the Eastern Conference Regular Season Champion. The award, named for HERSHEY’S former player, coach and executive, was first presented in 1996 by the league, and has been given to the Eastern Conference Regular Season Champion since 2003-04. HERSHEY is also the winner of the F.G. (Teddy) Oke Trophy, presented by the AHL to the East Division champion.

As the top overall team in the league entering the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs, the BEARS have assured themselves home ice throughout the postseason.

The BEARS will play the club’s final two games of the 2006-07 regular season this Saturday and Sunday against the Binghamton Senators and Philadelphia Phantoms. Face-off Friday at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena is at 7:05 p.m., while Sunday’s face-off is set for 5:05 p.m. All of the action of the final two regular season games can be heard via the BEARS Radio Network (100.1 FM, 1490-AM and 960-AM) beginning 20 minutes prior to puckdrop. John Walton has the call of the action.

Although we had a disappinting Caps season, we are still soooooo looking forward to a Calder Cup repeat from the Capitlas minor league club, the Hershey Bears!!!

Hershey Stats:

Leader in Goals Scored: Alexandre Giroux, 41

Leader in Assists: Joey Tenute, 38

Lead in +/-: Alexandre Giroux, +30

Pt/g: Tomas Fleichamnn, 1.13

Top Goalie: Frederick Cassivi, 22 Wins, 9 Losses

Ding! Dong! The streak is dead!

2007-04-13T21:51:00.000-04:00

Which old streak?
The 6-game streak!
Ding! Dong! The wicked streak is dead!

That's right, the Bullets snapped their 6-game losing streak tonight in Atlanta against the hapless Hawks. The Bullets jumped out to an early led and held that lead for virtually the entire game. The Hawks managed to tie the game at 35 late in the second quarter, but the Bullets ran off the last 14 points of the first half to take a commanding lead at the break. Washington outplayed the Hawks badly in the late third and early fourth quarters, before clearing the bench [what's left of it] for garbage time.

It wasn't exactly a star-studded game, with Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Joe Johnson and a potty-mouthed Josh Smith all sitting this one out. The Bullets have broken two 4-game losing streaks this season by defeating the Hawks and this victory ended a 6-game losing streak. The Bullets outrebounded the Hawks and shot 49% from the field, holding Atlanta under 48% shooting. The 85 points scored by Atlanta ties a season-low for a Bullets opponent.

Eddie Jordan was happy.

“This win was very important for us. We had a number of guys step up for us. Michael Ruffin was terrific. Jarvis Hayes continues to play well for us and DeShawn Stevenson caught fire tonight. For a few possessions I called him Gilbert (as in Arenas).

It was a good team effort. We did make some mistakes, but we kept the lead pretty much after halftime. This was probably the most meaningless game in the world to everyone else, but the final 24 minutes were crucial for us.”

Let's run through the cast...

Antawn Jamison: The Bullets won this game without their Big Three, as Jamison apparently decided to take this game off. He missed 6 of 7 shots and grabbed only 3 rebounds in 28 minutes, as Coach Eddie Jordan seemed to sense AJ's malaise and look elsewhere for points. Possibly Jamison's worst game of the season.

Jarvis Hayes: Nice game for the hometown boy. Jarvis scored 20 points in 40 minutes, shooting 8-14 [4-7 on threes] and dishing 6 assists. Another nice stat: Jarvis didn't turn the ball over once in 40 minutes.

Etan Thomas: Scored 8 points on 5 shots and grabbed 5 boards in 20 minutes. Etan didn't see much time in the second half and should be well-rested for the home game against Chicago on Sunday.

Deshawn Stevenson: Scored a game-high 25 points on 16 shots, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers. Despite his obvious athleticism, Deshawn seems to be better at shooting jumpers than attacking the basket. Go figure.

Antonio Daniels: 16 points, 12 assists, and 5 rebounds is a pretty nice statline, especially since he took only 8 shots. Daniels logged 41 minutes, as Jordan appeared to understand that this was a must-win game. AD took a nasty spill on a flagrant foul that caused him to bounce his head off the hardwood, but he came back out of the locker room ready to take the game back into his hands. The Bullets looked like a real time with AD out there.

Michael Ruffin: Figure this out! 11 minutes. 8 points. 9 rebounds. 3-4 shooting. 2-2 from the line. Michael Freaking Ruffin. The Secret Weapon strikes!

Darius Songaila: Another shaky game for Songaila, who scored 8 points in 8 shots in 22 minutes. Of greater concern: the same number of turnovers [4] as rebounds.

Andray Blatche: We saw the good and bad of Bulletproof tonight. Scored 6 points and grabbed 5 boards in 17 minutes, making 3 of 5 shots from the field. Unfortunately, he also turned the ball over twice, both on plays he had no business trying to make. When Blatche learns how to take care of the ball and play a bit smarter, the only reason to take him off the court will be fatigue. Not there yet, but he'll get there if EJ keeps playing him.

Player of the Game: Antonio Daniels
Player of the Lame: Antawn Jamison

Photo: [AP/Gregory Smith]

Boswell Chats about the Nats

2007-04-13T15:49:00.000-04:00

You can access the full thing right here.

Thought I would highlight some things I found interesting.

The Nats could easily be 0-10 right now. In the eight games when they got crushed (by a total of 42 runs or 5.4 per game), there was no way they could have won any of them.

And perhaps, as discussed in earlier entries, this is the scary part. It is not like the Nats losses have been give or take games where a single pitch or a single error, etc...could have made a difference, until last night, the Nats were simply getting blown out, and that is not comforting then or now.

Starting last August I've made the case to Kasten and Bowden (and in the column) that there is too much risk in trying to calibrate the deliberate creation a team which is "bad," but not "too bad." They want a high draft pick. But they don't want to be a joke and alienate their fans. They want to test the character of their young players while also, in effect, giving RFK 'tryouts' to every player in the organization who looks like he might be a big leaguer. They don't want to 'block' anybody, like a Chico or Bergmann. They want to evalkuate them now and, if possible, evaluate them at length. They want Acta to remain successful in the eyes of his players, but yet they are willing to risk humiliating him if they lose 115 games and he reacts badly.

Ding! Ding! Ding! That is what I have been saying. Building a team is fine. Rebuilding bottom to top is great. BUT, gosh, you have to give fans a reason to come to the Park and the players a reason to continue.

It is not a certainty that Church couldn't hit .290 with 27 homers and 90 RBI in the new (smaller) park. Maybe not. But he's hitting well now, despite being sick, and this is the year to find out __once and for all. (He knows it.)

There you go. I through in a snippet on Church and I agree with Boz. I think this has to be the year that Ryan Church shows he is an integral part of this Club. The pressure is on. Why? because of the potential, because of what can be. We need power hitting, many believe Church can provide some, but he needs to do it consistently. Good start? Absolutely. But keep showing the bat Ryan!

I think he'll be fine. In fact, I'll be very interested to see Patterson, Hill and Chico against that tough Mets lineup in Shea. If they can do decently __just decently__ that may have a stabalizing effect by the time they come home. Can they? After Bergmann's 6-1-0-0-4-8 work, Patterson needs to step up and pitch like a mini-ace against a Mets youngster Pelfrey

Yes. John Patterson is the leader of this staff and his two performances thus far have been horrendous. I think we all knew it was going to be a real tough year for the Nationals, and anyone that had a positive thought of the Nats competing was simply dreaming or lying. But, the Nationals can win some games. It starts with Patterson. Where is the Patterson of 2005? Was that an abberation or the real thing? Will the real Patterson please stand up tonight!

If Washington had never lost its MLB teams, if the tradition had been continuous and the Lerners/Kasten had simply bought a beaten-down underfunded team and were rebuilding it, I'd say their plan was probably just right.

I think they underestimate The Baseball Vacuum that they enter. They think that the '05 attendance was the true reading on support. Maybe. Probably. I hope so. BUT I don't KNOW so. And, to say the least, I certainly think I have far more "feel" for it than they do.

I think the Nationals, with this group leading it, will be a very successful franchise in a relatively short time in a ballpark that will probably surpass most expectations.

But I don't KNOW it. And I don't think you should make aggressive assumptions. As fans, you have to see everything against this background: Kasten wants to surpass his record in Atlanta. It sticks in his craw that his Braves only won one World Series. It may be hard for Nats fans to underesdtand but this guy is playing 100% shoot-for-the-moon offense and almost NO defense. If you made him this offer: "You'll lose 105-110 games this year, attendence will be poor, fans will grouse some, but you'll get the No. 1 draft pick, you'll use it well, the minor leagues will show good progress and the new park will open on time with (barely) sufficient parking." I think he would take it.

He's THAT confident. He believes he has more financial resources, a stronger market, a much better ballpark and a better starting point (in terms of talent) than he did in '88 in Atlanta. And he thinks he's one of the great franchise builders on all time __just because, well, because he already built one of the great MLB franchises of all times (14 straight first-place finishes).

This guy is swinging for the fences. And risking a VERY bad team this year __while NOT his preference__ is one of the risks he's perfectly willing to take.

And this is precisely what you want to hear. Stan Kasten did build a very good franchise in Atlanta, and they are still reaping the benefits today. It is not like the Redskins where HC Joe Gibbs had nearly 15 years in between. Kasten has done this recently. But to think of the other side though, this was more like an expansion franchise than one that has been around for soemtime, thanks to inept ownership by MLB. If there is any person in baseball I would want to hinge this on, folks it would be Stan Kasten. I;m Nats through and through baby, and i know it will be a painful season, but hey, bear with us and we spew out frustration while keeping an eye on the long term.

The long term is the critical thing here. The Nationals are now our teanm, in DC to stay. Stan Kasten has a plan, Kasten's plan has been successful in the past, and that qualifies me as --- along for the ride! My only concern is the franchise growing a dedicated fanbase if the team remains this bad. That is MY ONLY concern.

TONIGHT: Nats opne a three game series against the NY Mets. WASH: John Patterson, 0-2 against NYM Mike Pelfrey 0-0

Kicking Gilbert when he's down

2007-04-13T13:07:00.000-04:00

The heartless corporate automatons at NBA.com have decided to replace Gilbert Areans with Chris Bosh as a featured blogger. Apparently, there is something called "the playoffs" and because Bosh and his team will be participating in this "the playoffs," while Gilbert himself will not even be making only the most brief appearances in "the playoffs," it is thought Bosh is a more suitable NBA blogger.

It’s a cold bottom line world, and NBA.com is no exception. Gilbert Arenas was their star blogger all season long. The thoughts that floated in and out of his head were as much of a must read for an NBA fan as anything out there.

Well, now he won’t be on the court, and while he’s rehabbing and playing video games - maybe continuing to blog about his team and rehab, a new superstar is stepping up. Introducing Chris Bosh.

Well, it's their website so I suppose they can do what they like with it, but I'm sure I can say without hyperbole that this is the worst decision ever made by anyone about anything. The NBA has decided to decided to replace the wit and wisdom of Gilbert Arenas with a guy who looks like a velociraptor.

And if that isn't enough to make you vomit with disgust, this should seal the deal:

That's the Eye of Sauron, people. You are looking into the eye of pure evil. And THAT is what the NBA tossed Gilbert over the side for!

This stupid world!

And now, for no particular reason...

2007-04-13T11:10:00.000-04:00

the top ten plays of Gilbert Arenas this season.

Gilbert is bored and healing

2007-04-13T10:47:00.000-04:00

Time heals wounds, as we know. It can also bore the hell out of you, as Gilbert is discovering.

I’m BORED. Oh man, I’m soooo bored. I’ve never been so bored in my life.

It’s worse when you really can’t walk to do anything. I can’t walk to play with my daughter, I got to sit there and that’s so boring. She’ll jump up and down for 10 and a half seconds and then she wants to go play somewhere else.

The only thing I get to do is play with my son because he’s in the same predicament I am – he’s an infant, he can’t use his legs either.
...
Meanwhile, I have my video games. It’s like my XBOX: I’ve been playing it so much that it broke I think.

And then you know you have to be bored when you watch all three X-Men on consecutive days back-to-back-to-back.

Oh man, what a life.

But it's not all darkness in Gilworld:

I’m actually already starting rehab. The swelling went down, the pain is out, so I’m ready.

It’s mostly massaging and trying to fire up my thigh muscle. I get chauffeured all the way to the facility, which is good because it’s the only time I really get out of the house, and I can smell the fresh air.

It takes 45 minutes to an hour. He massages it for about 30 minutes then he’ll put steam and ice it. When he steams it I’m supposed to fire up my muscle.

It would have been a quicker recovery but I have a sprained ligament that needs to heal, that’s the only thing they’re worried about because if that doesn’t heal then it will be a lingering ordeal down the road. They’re trying to be very careful, that’s why they said eight to 12 weeks because this injury is usually three to four.

And if you think Gil isn't bothered by what has happend to the Bullets, think again. It gets to him just as it gets to us.

Unfortunately, I’ve been catching glimpses of my team.

I try to watch the good parts … so I won’t watch the last four or five minutes. I’ll watch the good part of the game.

Rehab is a pain -- literally and figuratively. As a character said in Barcelona, one of my favorite flicks: "What's the upside? Learning to do things you already knew how to do better?" Gil says people are constantly telling him to get well so I won't end this post on such an uninspired and insipid note. Instead, Gil: Keep blogging.

Hey Jim Bowden ...

2007-04-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

Perhaps Nats GM Jim Bowden should take the rest of the Nats starting pitching aside and have a frank discussion with each one, just like he did with youngster Jason Bergmann. The discussion appeared to work with Bergmann.

Bergmann pitched 6 strong innings Thursday night, giving up just one hit and no runs, but still walked three batters. The bullpen responded in kind, closing out the Nats second win of the season and preserving their first shutout. Bergmann tossed an impressive 8 strikeouts in six innings of work, and easily walked out with of the game with the Nationals best starting pitching performance of the young season. The Nats snapped a 6 game losing streak and move to 2-8 on the season.

Kudos to 2B Rafael Belliard as well as he kept up his hitting, a rarity on the Nats thus far. Belliard was 1 for 5 but drove in the first Nationals run to give the Nats a 1-0 lead, only the second inning in 10 games the Nationals actually had a lead. Belliard is hitting .406. 3b Ryan Zimmerman blooped a single and knocked in his second run of the year.

RP Jesus Colome pitched one scoreless inning and picked up the win. Closer Chad Cordero gained his first save in typical Cordero fashion, laboring and struggling through a bases loaded jam before striking out the final batter.

Bergmann was impressive, fighting out of several jams and limiting the Braves to a single hit. But, the Nationals still struggled at the plate, managing just 4 hits. Postively, the Nats walked out without a defensive error.

Mr. Bowden...again, you devoted fans and friends at DC Sports Blog urges you to have that same frank discussion with the rest of the starting rotation.

OVERALL: 2-8 NL EAST: 2-4 HOME: 1-4 GAMES BACK: 5.5

Leonsis Speaks on the Caps

2007-04-12T18:42:00.000-04:00

Here you go. I comment more tomorrow.

Leonsis Speaks

Getting an early check on NHL Mocks ...

2007-04-12T10:15:00.000-04:00

Here are some updated NHL Mock Drafts now that we know the Caps are fifth. As many of you know, hailRedskins.com, our main website, has the Largest NFL Mock Draft Database on the Internet for the fifth consecutive year. Man,that thing has become an engine referred to by Major media sources and from what we understand, even some NFL team personnel enjoy it, success way beyond our imaginzations fo five years ago.

Regardess, we can't hardly do that for the NBA and NHL, we simply don't have the time, but, we will keep you updated on several Mocks up until both the NBA and NHL drafts (well, I am assuming the time is limited, shouldn't speak for partner Spence here, but I bet I am right). But, if you are an NFL fan and want to check our more Mocks than you ever have a need for, click the banner below and it will take you there!

LINK HERE

Ok, back to the topic at point, sorry I degressed....

Here is one NHL Drafts to start you off with

1. Sports City has the Caps taking Alexei Cherepanov

We'll keep you updated on NHL and NBA Mock Drafts as we get them. As always, if you a website and you have your own NBA or NHL mock draft, simply let us know at dcsportsblog@gmail.com

Why he's the captain

2007-04-12T09:49:00.000-04:00

You know why Antawn Jamison is the captain of this Bullets team? It's all laid out for you in this anecdote, courtesy of Post beat reporter Ivan Carter.

I witnessed a funny but telling exchange between Jamison and Blatche before the game. Blatche was sitting at his locker with about 45 minutes left before tip when Jamison walked over to his spot two stalls way and started playfully eyeballing Blatche. Finally, Blatche looked up.

Jamison to me: "What time is it?

Me to Jamison: "It's like 6:15"

Jamison, turning his attention to Blatche: "You were an all star this year or something?"

Blatche says nothing. Smiles, knowing where this is going.

Jamison: "You making 15 or 16 million or something like that?

Blatche: "No." More smiling.

Jamison: "Then why did you come over on the second bus? I ain't coming over on the second bus. Why you coming over on the second bus."

(Aside: The team can take two buses to the arena from the hotel. The first comes over early so guys can get in some early shooting, a lift, treatment, whatever. The second comes later.)

Jamison, continuing: "I've been in the league nine (darn) years and I've never come over on the second bus. OK, maybe in Dallas a couple of times because I wanted out of there. I'm never on the second bus. Why you on the second bus."
Blatche: nodding. smiling. saying nothing.

Translation: If you want it young fella, you better come get it. At least that's how I read the situation.

Pay attention to your elders, kid. If you want to be a big shot like AJ, listen and learn.

Good morning, nothing different today

2007-04-12T08:53:00.000-04:00

The Nats lost again. Did you expect to wake up to different news?

Here's some comments from the Post story on yet another loss...

...produced his first closed-door, postgame team meeting.

"I'm not a big meeting type of guy," he said. "I don't have that many meetings and stuff. But I wanted to let them know. Today, I thought it was an appropriate time."

Yeah. Now might be a good time, considering thier 1-8, and again managed to give our four free passes to the bases. This team is really, really struggling.

The Times story today hit a few points I made either yesterday or the day before...

It could get so ugly that to bring the fans back next year the Lerner/Kasten ownership might have to offer something more than simply opening the doors to a new ballpark. They might have to make a major offseason statement, an expensive show of good faith to fans who deserve better than what they are getting now.

I alluded to this. Problem with the Nats is this ... they are a relatively new franchise (in DC) in a City that has not had baseball in decades, therefore, no established core fans. Is it growing? Yes. BUT, the dismal season that Nats are having and the total ineptness in pitching and hitting could possibly strangle that growth. It is absolutely criticial that the Nationals ownership gives reasons for fans and casual fans to walk into RFK. By getting people in the park, you have to provide reasons to return, that is how fan bases grow. That is how fanatics are created. That is how the home field becomes an advantage. Yet this year, there is no big player name draw and the baseball club is just simply playing horrific baseball. In other words, what the heck is the draw for those out there, unlike many of you reading this, but to casual baseball fan that has not really seen the Nats play yet? What is the incentive to get them to RFK this year?

Nationals Update:

OVERALL: 1-8 NL East: 1-4 @ RFK: 1-6 Games Back: 6.5

ZIMMY WATCH:

Ryan Zimmerman Stats Today: 0 for 4
Zimmy Overall: AVG: .222 HR: 0 RBI: 1 RUNS: 3

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, .444
Runs Batted In: Ryan Church, 5
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 7
Home Runs: Ryan Church, 2
Stolen Bases: None
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, 5

PITCHING LEADERS:

Innings: Shawn Hill, 11.2
ERA: Shawn Hill, 3.09
Strike Outs: Jerome Williams, 8
Wins: Jon Rauch, 1

NEXT GAME: Tonight, 7:35PM versus Atlanta: Pitching: WASH Jason Bergmann ATL: John Smoltz

You've seen this game before

2007-04-11T21:48:00.000-04:00

Same old, same old. Same script as last night. Same script as in the last 5 games. The Bullets played hard, kept the game close, had leads, lost leads, regained leads, lost leads again and then never got it back en route to a narrow loss. The Bullets seem to have settled into a nice, predictable rhythm down the stretch here. They will play hard. They will keep it close. But they will not win. The Heat beat the Bullets for the 8th straight time in Miami, 85-82. It is Washington's 6th straight loss. The team's record fell to 39-39.
It is remarkable the game was so close, considering the Bullets allowed Miami to shoot almost 51% from the field, while shooting under 40% themselves. Eddie Jordan apparently wanted to give most of his players some decent playing time, no one played more than 28 minutes. Antonio Daniels played only 23 minutes, his backup Donnell Taylor played 25 minutes.

Let's run through the cast...

Antawn Jamison: Missed 7 of 11 shots and grabbed 5 rebounds in 28 minutes. A quiet game, as Eddie Jordan decided to rest Jamison during key parts of the second half.

Jarvis Hayes: Scored 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting and grabbed 2 steals in 28 minutes. Not much else.

Etan Thomas: Scored 4 points on 5 shots in 17 minutes. 6 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

Deshawn Stevenson: Stunk again. Scored 7 points and had 3 dimes, but missed 7 of 9 shots and again made crucial mistakes late in the game. Thinks he's a clutch player. Thinks wrong.

Antonio Daniels: Scored only 7 points on 6 shots, with only 3 dimes. Did a decent job on Dwyane Wade. Played only 23 minutes.

Brendan Haywood: Led all Bullets with 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting and led all Bullets with 10 rebounds in 22 minutes. Where has this been? Reinforces my view of Haywood: Want to get his attention? Bench him.

Darius Songaila: Had a rare off shooting night, missing 6 of 7 shots and turning the ball over 3 times. Did grab 8 rebounds in 25 minutes, which is a big improvement.

Roger Mason: Didn't shoot well [2-8 for 7 points], but did grab 4 rebounds and dish 4 assists in 19 minutes. Key charging foul late in the game hurt the Bullets, though. Not really a guy you want on the floor at the end of games unless you're up or down by 15 points.

Donnell Taylor: His 4 assists and 3 steals in 25 minutes look good. Not so good is the 4 of 11 shooting for 8 points, especially considering 2 of those 4 made shots were breakaway layups. Really chucks a lot of bricks.

Andray Blatche: Played 23 minutes, which looks good tonight, but wasn't enough. Scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting and grabbed 5 boards. Moved well without the ball and showed he's almost back.

Player of the Game: Brendan Haywood
Player of the Lame: Deshawn Stevenson

FYI on the 2007 Redskins

2007-04-11T14:37:00.000-04:00

Schedule was released today for the 2007 season. Check it out at hailRedskins.com

2007 Schedule at hailRedskins.com

The Nats Just Plain STINK!

2007-04-11T08:57:00.000-04:00

Let's face it, it doesn't get much worse than this, and if you really think were going to see much of a difference, then tell me from where. This team can not hit, this team can not play defense, and this team can not pitch. Period!

Last night was no different. ZERO runs, on just 4 hits. Pretty pathetic offense. How about pitching? 8 runs! 8! Even worse, the Nats have continued to show they have difficulty reaching the strike zone, walking a total of 9 batters. Are you kidding me? 9 Walks!

Folks, it doesn't look like it will get any prettier either. The team has no true leadoff hitter. No true cleanup hitter. No true fifth place hitter. Just simply awful. The rare times the Nats actually get a runner in scoring position, that is exactly where the runner stays.

To take a deeper look at how bad the Nats have been playing, look at some overall team stats, besides the most important one, 1 wins and 7 losses.

BATTING STATS:

Batting Average: .231 (6th worst in MLB)
Home Runs: 4 (3rd to last in MLB)
Runs Batted In/Runs Scored: 18 (Next to last in MLB)
On Base Percentage: .300 (Horrific!)
Batting average with runners in scoring position: .138 (Dead last in MLB)
Runners Left on Base: 67 (3rd worst in MLB, and that is only because they can't get runners on base)

PITCHING STATS:
Team ERA: 5.83 (3rd to last in MLB)
Quality Starts: 1 (Dead last in MLB)
Walks: 42 (Dead Last in MLB, and a stunningly high number)

DEFENSE:
Errors: 10 (Leading MLB)

Now look at the last 4 games:

ATL: Nats get 4 hits and 0 runs ---- ATL has 8 runs and 9 walks

ARI: Nats get 6 hits and just 1 run ---- ARI had 3 runs and 4 walks

ARI: Nats get 9 hits and just 1 run, ---- ARI had 7 runs with 5 walks

ARI: Nats get 4 hits and 1 run ---- ARI had 7 runs and 5 walks

Getting a clearer picture. The lack of offensive punch, a dismal .138 batting average with runners in scoring position, combined with the stunning amount of walks being issued by Nats pitchers, are strangling this team. Bottom line is, until the Nationals offense comes alive, and we are making a big assumption that they have the quality to do that, they will continue to wallow in games scoring 1 and 2 runs per game.

The other troubling part of the start of this season is in the bulk of games, the Nats are simply getting blown out. Don't believe me ... take a look for yourself. Check out the scores in 5 of the Nats 8 games. 9-2, 9-3, 7-1, 7-1, and 8-0. Those are blow aways and this team is not even being competive. Averaging over 5 walks per game and average over 1 error per game marks for a pretty horrendous situation.

Fact of the matter is this. So far, 8 games into the season, the Nats are 1-7, but the losses are actually pretty bad. This team is not even close to being competitive. The Lerners and Stan Kasten wanted the first year of ownership to evaluate the program as a whole and begin building from the bottom up, but the team they put on the field is simply not even competitive.

The only thing I don't want to see this year is complaining from the Lerners or anyone in the front office about the lack of fan support at home. Fact of the matter is, DC fans love their sports. We love our teams. We fill up FEDEX Field every game, even though we have not had hardly any success in the last decade, but, a major difference is, even the 5-11 Redskins are competitive. This team is not. The Lerners gave fans no draw. They can't expect fans to be energetic about losing games by 6 to 8 runs on a daily basis. The only other thing that puzzles me about the new Lerner ownwership is --- you put a franchise in a new city and it is absolutely critical to begin establishing the "Home" fan base, the core fans, the die hards, but how is that possible when putting a team like this on the field? I trust Kasten's plan. I think I do. But, I have to admit, this season is not looking bright for a continuation of developing a fan base in DC, because this team has not even provided one glimpse of why a potential fan should come out to RFK.

I for one hope the Nats rally and put together a semi-decent season. I hope the Nats give us a reason to come watch. I hope the Nats youth begins to blossom, BUT, the start of the season has very ominous warnings and threats for a very loooooooong summer ahead. When does NFL training camp start?

AP Photo: Photographer Lawrence Jackson

Bullets back into the playoffs

2007-04-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

And the people rejoice!
Despite losing again, the Bullets made the playoffs for the third straight year tonight because the Indiana Pacers lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. Hip hip hoor...Oh, never mind.

Nets 96 Bullets 92

2007-04-10T21:44:00.000-04:00

You know what happened. The Bullets fought hard, had a lead, let it go, got it back, let it go, got it back, and then lost it for the final time in the 4th quarter. The final score was nothing to be ashamed of, but the team lost again. You've been watching that game pretty much since Gilbert went down. Nothing changed tonight. The Bullets let a guy [Richard Jefferson this time, with 35 points] have a huge night and couldn't make plays down the stretch.

Let's run through the cast...

Jarvis Hayes: He stunk. Shot 1-7 from the field and was destroyed by Richard Jefferson. Coming off the best game of his season, possibly of his career, Hayes reminded everyone why he shouldn't be in a Bullets uniform next season.

Antawn Jamison: Scored only 3 points in the first half, but came alive in the final two quarter to finish with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Also impressive -- only 1 turnover in 46 minutes. Another fine game for Jamison. One of the impressive things about this run he's been on since Gil and Caron went out is his shooting percentage. It's no shock that his scoring has gone up -- it should with him now the focus of the offense. However, he's shooting a nice percentage from the field, which is impressive since he's usually on the court with 4 other guys who scare nobody. He's a heck of a player, but just not enough with this team around him.

Etan Thomas: Had foul trouble, but scored 11 points on 5 shots in 25 minutes. Only 3 rebounds, though, and no blocks. Not a bad game, but not his best.

Deshawn Stevenson: He stunk. Made some bad plays down the stretch to hurt the Bullets. I understand that he think he has to step up and be a clutch guy with Butler and Arenas out, but he really shouldn't be taking those tough shots. Give it to Jamison, DS. He can hit those shots and you can't. Missed 10 of 13 shots and scored only 7 points with 5 fouls. Ugh.

Antonio Daniels: Had a solid game with 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 16 points on 5-10 shooting. As usual, he took care of the ball, committing only 1 turnover in 41 minutes.

Darius Songaila: Scored a season-high 19 points on 7-14 shooting in 30 minutes. Love his offense. Not so crazy about the rest of it, though. Only 2 rebounds in 30 minutes? How is that even possible?

Donnell Taylor: Showed a little something tonight, scoring 8 points on 5 shots in 13 minutes. Five rebounds also impresses. Hey, Darius: How did this little guy grab more than twice as many rebounds as you in less than half as many minutes?

Andray Blatch: Played only 6 minutes for some reason. Maybe he was in pain. If not, this makes no sense. Didn't score, grabbed a rebound and a steal.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Jarvis Hayes

Photo: AP/Haraz N. Ghanbari

I have seen the future and it is Blatche

2007-04-10T16:55:00.000-04:00

Any more than casual reader of DC Sportsblog knows what I think about Andray "Bulletproof" Blatche. I like him. I think he's got potential comin' out the wazoo. [The wazoo is where human potential is born, of course.] I want him playing as much as possible. He returns to action tonight against New Jersey, after playing -- literally -- only one second in the Bullets' overtime loss to the Nets Saturday night.

I'm not the only one who likes Bulletproof. Pradamaster over at Bullets Forever also regards Blatche as a key part of the Bullets future -- and present.

I am pleading Eddie Jordan to find a place for Blatche. Normally, I'd install him as the starting small forward, but Jarvis Hayes has been playing better lately and has been more successful as a starter than off the bench. Yesterday, without Hayes' offense, the Wizards really struggled. They could play him at power forward, but that position is already crowded.

Still, he needs 25-30 minutes every game...

I'd say 25-30 minutes for Blatche is the minimum the kid should get. Where I differ with PM is that I don't like Blatche at quick forward. The kid just doesn't have the handles to play that position. When Andray puts the ball on the floor and tries to dribble around or through traffic, it's a turnover waiting to happen. He also doesn't pass well enough for the position. When people say Blatche is quick or has good handles, they mean he's quick and has good handles for a guy who is about 7 feet tall. He's too long for the 3 position. Andray's future in the NBA is at the 4 and the pivot. While he's too skinny to play center against some NBA big men, many teams don't have a proper center in the Shaq mold. If the Pacers play Jermaine O'Neal at center, Blatche can handle that.

I'd play Blatche at the 4 and the 5 pretty much exclusively and I think they can find the minutes for that. Haywood has pretty much been benched and Booth has been injured. I'd use Blatche to back up Thomas and Jamison and only use him at the quick forward against teams that go with a taller and slower lineup, like Indiana or Toronto.

Blatche got hurt and missed 7 games just as he seemed to be working his way into Eddie Jordan's playing rotation. His numbers have gone up and down all year, depending mostly on injuries to other players, but I think Blatche deserves to play in his own right, regardless of who is or is not injured. To test my theory, I decided to have a look at his stats in games where he has received decent playing time this season. That is, when Blatche was played in the flow of the game and not merely in garbage time.

I set as my criteria, 12 minutes of playing time in a game. Why 12? Well, you gotta pick some period of time and since 12 minutes is -- literally -- a period of time in basketball, I figured I'd go with that. The results, I think, are interesting.

Blatche has played 23 games this season in which he received 12 or more minutes of playing time. Of those 23 games, Blatche played at least 20 minutes 11 times and less than 20 minutes 12 times. The average playing time was 20.6 minutes per game. During those 23 games of at least 12 minutes per game, Blatche has averaged 7.1 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, 1.5 turnovers per game, and 1.2 assists and blocks per game. He shot over 47% from the field and over 66% from the line. Now, that might not seem too impressive, but if you double the kid's playing time to get him to starter's minutes of, say, 32-35 minutes per game, Blatche would be averaging a double-double. Do you know how many players on the Bullets average a double-double in points, assists, or rebounds? Answer: None. And this is from a kid in his second year straight out of high school. [Much of his first year destroyed by gunshot wounds.]

On a per48-minute basis, Blatche pulls down 13.8 rebounds, tied for first on the team with Etan Thomas. His 2.6 blocks per 48 minutes are behind only Etan Thomas [3.7] and Calvin Booth [3.0]. In other words, the kid is already a better rebounder and shotblocker than Brendan Haywood, who has started 49 games this season.

Blatche's weak spots? Well, the fact that he commits 7 fouls every 48 minutes isn't very good, though some of that is due to the fact that he knows he can give fouls because he won't play anywhere near 48 minutes. When forced into more play, Blatche is more careful with his fouls, though not yet careful enough. And obviously, he needs to work on his foul shooting and develop some moves in the post.

Nevertheless, Blatche is already as good as anyone on the Bullets as a rebounder. His length and athleticism make him unique on the team, as no one else can handle similarly long and athletic power forwards. Jamison and Songaila are too slow and short, while Haywood, Thomas, and Booth are just too slow. If the Bullets do play the Toronto Raptors in the playoffs, it is hard to see them winning the series without Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. However, it would be worth it just to see Blatche play against Chris Bosh, who has destroyed Washington this season. Blatche has the length and quickness to play Bosh that no one else on the team has. Obviously, the differences in experience would give Bosh andadvantage, but I'd bet the Bullets would see more success with Blatche -- especially as the series progressed -- than they have with other players trying unsuccessfully to stop Chris Bosh. The same would go for similar players, like Jermaine O'Neal.

In addition, Blatche has shown an ability to be a good help defender. His quickness, height, and long arms allow him to cover up for some of the many, many mistakes made by the Bullets' perimeter defenders.

Bulletproof has a way to go as far as realizing his potential is concerned. However, he'll never become what he could be by continuing to sit on the bench. Not only would the experience help Blatche, but he can help the Bullets right now and well into the future. Play Andray Blatche.

Caps pick ...

2007-04-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

Fifth.

Capitals will have the fifth overall selection in the NHL draft after today's lottery. The Chicago Blackhawks won the first over all selection. Here are the top 14 picks...

The Hawks moved from fifth to first in Tuesday's draft lottery to determine the order of selection for the first 14 selection. The lottery was held behind closed doors at the league offices. The Philadelphia Flyers will go second, the Phoenix Coyotes third, Los Angeles Kings fourth, Washington Capitals fifth and Edmonton Oilers sixth.

Columbus, Boston, St. Louis, Florida, Carolina, Montreal, Toronto and Colorado round out the top 14 in drafting order.

Caps have two first round picks and two second round picks in the 2007 NHL Draft. The Draft will be June 22-23.

More on the Caps

2007-04-09T14:10:00.000-04:00

In a move that will no doubt help the Hershey Bears in the playoff, the Caps assigned four players to Hershey.

The Washington Capitals have assigned defenseman Mike Green, center Tomas Fleischmann, right wing Eric Fehr and left wing David Steckel to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), vice president and general manager George McPhee announced today.

The Times has another article in today's newspaper regarding further outlook on what the Caps are planning for the off-season.

That the Caps are in this predicament is a matter of economics. Washington ranked last in payroll this season at about $31 million, even less after the blood-letting at the trading deadline. Under the collective bargaining agreement, teams were allowed to spend $44 million -- a figure the Caps avoided better than any other club.

Pretty impressive figures for the Caps ownership and investment partners, but a pretty crappy deal for the fans. Yup, Ted needs to make his money, we understand that and we don't expect anyone to buy something just to drain money, but the last place salary base team performed exactly like that, last place.

Washington will have continued problems filling any arena when a team performs like the Caps did after Christmas. Put a winner on the ice, put a playoff hunting team on the ice, and we'll come! But no one wants to lay down a few hours of their time and few bucks out of the wallet to watch a team wallow in last place, pure and simple!

You look at our team, and we were [5-14] in overtime and shootouts. We need to have better specialty teams, and that really does come from having a bit more veteran leadership and experienced and maybe some better centers," he said. "We're probably going to be in the market via trade or free agency for a center. We need some help on penalty killing and defense, so those are the main places we would focus on. I think a veteran wing is another player we could look at."

Good start Ted! Stick to your guns and give us fans a competitive team. Get a solid passing Center to feed the puck to the Alexes. Get a solid veteran defensiveman to help defend Mr. Kolzig. Don't get me wrong, the youth movement we have embarked on is a positive thing, but you can't live and die on youth movement ALONE, you just can't. The Alexes are great! Backstrom is on the way. I like Eric Fehr. Jeff Shultz and Shaone Morrisonn all are learning the fine aspects of the game. We have definite keepers.

But even these guys need some veteran help and veteran leadership. Bottom line here is this, Alex Ovechkin is only going to get better and that is just down right scary. Ovechkin has put together a 106 and 92 point back to back seasons. Imagine the impact an Ovie could have with a strong passing Center? I fully expect to see bigger strides from an already impressive Alexander Semin, perhaps Semin can bulk up a bit. But the quality of play the Caps got from Semin's first year in DC is refreshing. The two Alexs are what needs built upon. Chris Clark and Boyd Gordon were positives in 2006, Clark putting together his best season. The building blocks are here, but further construction is required.

What killed the Caps post-Christmas was the lack of solid depth. Guys like Ovie, Semin and Clark still did their jobs, but depth really hurt the Caps. One major positive coming out of 2006 is the fact that some of these youngs guys got some more experience to build on for next year, guys like Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Steve Eminger, Shaone Morisonn, Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, and Eric Fehr. It will be interesting as well to see how Jiri Novotny continues to progress. Novotny came to the Caps via the Zubrus trade One trade I really think was a pure steal was the Bruin trade that landed Milan Jurcina in DC. Jurcina is a gamer and heavy hitter, something the Caps defense needed and something to look forward to next year.

You read alot of things about Ted Leonsis and his commitment to the franchise. I just don't buy any of it. I think Leonsis is not only committed to his investment in the Caps, but is dedicated to producing a team that can win consistently and become a playoff consistent team. Read what you want. He said it, I have no reason not to believe it. Yes, I've read the stories of Washington being a dead hockey town. I don't buy it, I don't agree with it, and I think Washington DC can be a thriving hockey city, but a one year playoff run won't do. This team needs to build something consistent and it all starts this off-season. The youth is here, but now is time to fill in the gaps with some strong free agency moves to bolster what is being developed. From a fans standpoint and I hope from Leonsis standpoint, this is an absolutely critical year for George McPhee's tenure in the front office. It started strong with the robbery fo the Bruins for Jurcina. Now that hard part --- filling the gaping holes with the right guys.

The Caps playing season is over, but they now enter the critical phase. All eyes shift to George McPhee.

Moral victories are for losers

2007-04-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

That's the first line in Ivan Carter's story in the Post today.

Without all-stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, the Wizards have put themselves in position to win but haven't been able to finish.
...
"We want to prove as a team that we can win without two all-stars," Jamison said. "Everybody on this team has pride, everybody on this team has confidence that we can win."

An understandable sentiment, of course. The remaining players on the active roster are proud professional athletes and are naturally offended at the notion that they can't win any games without Arenas and Butler. However, although it is true that they can win games without Arenas and Butler, it is also true that they probably can't win very many. Fact is, take Gil and Caron off this Bullets team for most of the season and the franchise would be looking good for that Greg Oden lottery jackpot.

Without Gil and Caron, the Bullets are a losing team. Sorry, but that's the plain and obvious truth. That unpleasant fact might be dawning on the players, dragging them down. Ivan Carter, writing in Wizards Insider, gives us a peek into the team:

This team flat out needs a win. That was the thought running through my head as I walked out of the lockeroom after Saturday night's loss to Jersey.
...
[T]he overall mood is reaching a crucial breaking point.

DeShawn Stevenson talked about a "black cloud' hanging over the team's head, Jarvis Hayes was asked about his career-high scoring night but did so with his head down while stressing the fact that it didn't matter because they lost and Antawn Jamison winced when asked about Vince Carter's triple-double. Antonio Daniels simply sat at his locker - no doubt exhausted after playing 40 minutes on consecutive nights - and stared straight ahead. I don't know a lot about Darius Songaila yet but my early impression is that the cat really hates losing. He is polite and willing to talk after games but it's obvious that the guy takes this very seriously.

There was a looseness that existed with Gilbert around but that is gone now and the losing is only making the atmosphere tighter. "I think guys are really pressing to get this win," Stevenson said after Saturday's game. "I think we need to relax a little bit." Easier said than done.

I guess what Carter is hinting at here is that while the team has played hard, if not always well, since losing Gilbert, that might not continue to be true if they don't get a win soon. If confronted with a hopeless cause, even highly-paid pro athletes will lose heart and, while not consciously, begin to give less than a full effort. Add a seemingly hopless situation to exhaustion -- especially in the case of Jamison and Daniels -- and you get a recipe for a long losing streak to end this season. Although I hold out no real hope for the postseason, I do hope the guys get a win soon. This promising season has been destroyed by injuries, but the team deserves to exit with grace. A few wins is all it would take before the inevitable early end to the season.

Well, It's Off-season Now

2007-04-08T11:23:00.000-04:00

The Washington Capitals will be watching the NHL playoffs from home. The Caps ended a bitterly disappointing season on Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Buffalo. The Caps season ended with the 4th worst record in the NHL. A season than began with promise ended with a whimper as the Caps only managed to win 4 of their final 22 games.

So the off-season is here and many Cap fans are now asking ... what next?

Hopefully comments by the Caps are a peak at what lies ahead starting July 1, the beginning of the NHL free agency period.

The club's immediate and long-term future, indeed, could be determined by what transpires in the coming months, beginning with the entry draft in June and continuing through the free agent signing period. Four or more new faces might be added to the league's youngest lineup, which is anchored by cornerstone forwards Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin and veteran goaltender Olie Kolzig, but lacks depth and experience at other key positions.

Indeed the words of Caps Owner Ted Leonsis are encouraging, if not exciting.

"We want to go into the season next year more on an upswing, not with a lot of questions," majority owner Ted Leonsis said in the locker room afterward. "The ownership right now wants to invest. But we want to make sure we spend our money the right way. There is no magic wand, but we are going to be active because there are holes in the lineup."

Leonsis also gave some indication of how active the Caps may be ...

Although Leonsis wouldn't divulge exactly how much money he plans to spend this summer, a significant amount would be required to address all of the Capitals' needs. On the shopping list is a veteran center, a right wing and two quality defensemen. That's in addition to signing 2006 draft pick Nicklas Backstrom, who has indicated his desire to play here next season.

"It's going to be a very, very busy summer for the front office," Leonsis added.

Ovechkin seems to be convinced of Leonsis promise to be active in fixing the gaping holes of the Caps.

"I think it will be a good summer for us," Ovechkin said this week. "But you don't know who signs, who will come. But I hope. [The fans] hope. Coach hopes. Team guys hope."

Kolzig as well ...

Kolzig added: "I'm definitely looking forward to next year, with everything that's being said and with what we have here right now. We have the makings of being very good. We were right there up until Christmas time, which is when our lack of depth really showed. Hopefully next year when guys get hurt they won't be missed as much."

The Washington Times chimes in with another perspective on the Caps off-season.

The faithful are worried and this is not good news because there aren't a lot of them and the number threatens to shrink. The Washington Capitals keep posting, "Changes Coming 2007" on the badly dated message board dangling above the rink at Verizon Center. But what does it mean? "Here's what I think it means," the man's wife, wearing a Peter Bondra jersey, said. "I think they're putting the word out that we're going to have to pay more for tickets next season. What else could it mean? We've known about the uniforms for months."

Fact is, many Caps fans are suspect on whether real, postive changes will be made to the Caps in the off-season to the point where the caps will compete. Let's face it, optimism is becoming a thing of the past in Washington DC sports. DC Sports fans, year in and year out, have been subject to high optimism followed by extreme disappointment by it's beloved Washington Redskins franchise, a franchise that spends big, but has made the playoffs only once in the last ten years. Then look at the Washington Natioanls and the rebuild and losing seasons incurred at RFK. Now, add in those Cappies, and it just does not add up to much optimism at all.

The Caps find themselves in a horrible situation. The Yugo was still a popular car the last time they made the playoffs, when they had performers who could be recognized on the street. The slide was tilted in the right direction then and the younger players continued to get better.
There were actual races in those days coming down to the final night's games. Washington knew it had to beat so-in-so in order to advance and quite often it came right down to the final day. There was tension in the air, minor scraps on the ice during practice, nasty verbal exchanges. Coaches loved it.
There isn't much of that nowadays, at least not involving the Caps. The atmosphere yesterday was similar to the semifinals in a fraternity touch football league. The elimination came days ago for Washington, the wake was well-attended and those who bothered to come insisted they had a good time.

So, on to the off-season we go, and what lies ahead, we simply don't know.

BUT...you can follow the off-season, the draft in June and free agency in July, right here at DC Sports Blog

Bullets fall in OT to Nets 120-114

2007-04-08T08:25:00.000-04:00

Another night, another tough loss for short-handed Bullets. This time the Bullets went on the road to New Jersey and took a decent Nets team to overtime, but, in the end, they succumbed. The Bullets bench just isn't deep enough and the team is fading at the end of games, as I've mentioned repeatedly. This time, an amazing 3-pointer with one second left in regulation by Antawn Jamison kept the Bullets in the game into overtime, but the team absolutely collapsed in the extra period, going almost the first three minutes before scoring a point.

Let's run through the cast...

F Jarvis Hayes: This was Hayes' best game of the season. He scored a career-high 29 points on 22 shots and 5 of 8 3-pointers. He grabbed 3 rebounds, dished 3 assists, and didn't turn the ball over in 36 minutes. His man, Richard Jefferson, scored 27 points, but he's a quality player and Hayes matched him stat for stat. Only complaint here is that Hayes never took a foul shot. His outside shot was falling so he never took it to the paint.

F Antawn Jamison: Scored a season-high 37 points, including that critical 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime. He pulled down 11 rebounds, dished 4 assists, got 4 steals. Only downside is he turned the ball over 6 times for the second straight night. So much is demanded of Jamison's offense now that Caron and Gil are out for the season that it is easy to understand why his turnover rate is soaring.

Etan Thomas: Played 27 minutes and somehow managed to never take a shot. His 3 points came from the free throw line. Thomas played good defense and pulled down 6 rebounds and blocked 2 shots, but he gave the team nothing on offense. That's unusual.

Antonio Daniels: Tough game for AD. He did dish 10 assists against only 1 turnover, but he missed 7 of 9 shots and scored only 7 points. He also was completely dominated by Jason Kidd, who had a triple double with 10 points, 16 rebounds and 18 assists. AD wasn't terrible, but it was his weakest game since becoming the starter.

Deshawn Stevenson: Gave up 43 points to Vince Carter and also allowed VC to dish 10 assists and grab 16 boards. Stevenson shot poorly for the second straight night, missing 9 of 13 shots and scoring only 13 points. He did contribute 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals. All in all, though, Vince Carter destroyed him. Carter destroys a lot of players, but Stevenson needs to score more when Gil and Caron are out.

Darius Songaila: Chipped in with 12 points [5-10 shooting], 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 37 minutes. Once again Songaila was on the court late in the 4th quarter, indicating how quickly he has made himself invaluable to Coach Eddie Jordan. It wasn't his best game, but he continues to shoot for a good percentage and rebound fairly well.

The rest of the bench didn't contribute much. Roger Mason scored 5 points in 12 minutes and Donnell Taylor scored 6 points in 11 minutes. Brendan Haywood and Michael Ruffin made brief appearances.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Deshawn Stevenson
Photos: AP/Phil Kostroun

A Speechless Nats Fan ....

2007-04-07T22:16:00.000-04:00

Wow. I just don't what to even say anymore. This team is pretty bad. They can't hit. They can't score. And, they certainly can't pitch. Prove me wrong...

Let's take a closer look at how bad the Nationals have been. In 6 games, they are now 1-5. They have been outscored 42-17. Only one game has their opponent scored less than 6 runs. Four of the six games, National pitchers have been battered for 7 or more runs. Five of the six ganmes, national gave up at least 9 hits. Five of the six games, Nationals starter have given up at leats 4 runs in the first three innings. The Nats are next to last in MLB with a 6.20 ERA, next to last in hits given up with 50, and dead last in walks allowed with 24. Combine that with an offense that has gone dead cold, well, this team is petty darn bad. I knew it was going to be a dismal season, but this start has been nothing less than horrifying.

Once again, tonight, the Nationals give up 3 runs in the first inning and never recovered, falling to Arizona 7-1. Washington has dropped three in a row to Arizona and have the opportunity tomorrow to avoid an embarassing four game sweep at home. SP John patterson again was rather unimpressive, and to think he is the leader of the rortation --- that tells you how bad things are in the rotation. Patterson pitched 5 innings, giving up 3 runs and an astounding 4 walks. He tossed 31 pitches in the first inning alone.

Offensively, things were not much better. OF Austin Kearns did hit his first homer of the year, a solo one at that. Felipe Lopez had two hits and Ryan Church added a double. Other than that, what else is there to talk about? Oh by the way, in the last three games, the Nationals offense is 0-24 with runners in scoring positions. Just dismal! Just disappointing!

Next Up: Arizona, Tomorrow at 1:35PM, SP: Shawn Hill

Nats Get Bombed Again

2007-04-07T09:12:00.000-04:00

Well, it really has not gotten any better at RFK Stadium. The Nationals continue to find ways to lose and then let games get away from them. Such was the case in yesterday's 7-1 shellacking by Arizona.

Jerome Williams actually pitched well through 3 innings, not giving up a hit or run, but mistakes ensued and run production for the Diamonbacks began. It began with a line out to left field and ensuing throw to second, but Rafael Belliard I guess forgot he was playing baseball, because he never turned around to tag out the runner from first. The Nats clearly had the runner, but a Belliard mental lapse led to the frst two Arizona runs, instead of getting the Nationals back to the bench.

Most depressing for Nationals management must be the way the Nationals are playing. I don't think even the front office expected the pitching to be dominating, but the 7 errors accumulated and the mental lapses made by this team, after Manny Acta spent most of Spring Training on basic fundamentals, has to be horrifying. But it is not just errors, it is mental lapses on a team that spent so much time working to prevent these type of situations.

Last nights game was further compounded by the lack of offense. The Nats managed a measley 4 hits and, but had a few scoring opportunities, but failed to covert, including a base loaded strikeout by Ryan Zimmerman. Perhaps the biggest telling story of these 1-4 Nats is, even in their win, the Nationals have yet to put a solid, all around game together from all facets of play.

But give credit whereit is due, as Ryan Zimmerman put it ...

"He kept us in the game," third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "He threw strikes, got on the mound. He wasn't walking around. That's what we need."

Again, just like I said, the Nats simply can not put all facets of the team on the field in a positive way, all at once. Jerome Williams by far produced the best start of the five Nats starters yet. Kudos to Jerome. Williams pitched 6 innings, gave 4 earned runs and struck out 4. Don't let the numbers fool you though, Williams pitched much better than those numbers portray. Give a few of those runs to errors and the defense for lack of fundamentals.

Player of the Game last night: Jerome Williams

Interesting article in the Post on Jim Bowden's patience. Seems Bowden is as frustrated with the Nats pitching as most of us are.

Bowden had a lengthy -- and, at times, animated -- conversation with Bergmann during batting practice before last night's 7-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Bowden wouldn't comment on the specifics of the conversation afterward, but Bergmann said a clear message was delivered. "He basically expressed his disapproval in six walks," Bergmann said, noting his total in his 3 2/3 -inning outing. "I think that's the biggest thing. Obviously, it's not something I'm proud of. I agreed with everything he said."

Ummm, good for Bowdenm, because 6 walks is ridiculous. Young, inexperienced pitching is one thing. Getting beat around because of young pitching mistakes in placement and pitch selection is one thing. BUT, at the Major League level, six walks is ludicrous, especially because they were given up in only 4 innings.

The only criticism I offer to Boweden in regards to a conversation like this is NOT that this is Acta's place to do this, BUT that Bowden should have that conversation with the entire starting pitching staff, including John Patterson, excluding Jermom Williams. They all neeed beat around by the Jimmy!

RECORD UPDATE:

Overall: 1-4 --- Home: 1-4 --- NL East: 1-2 --- Games back: 3.5

STATS UPDATE:

ZIMMY WATCH:

Ryan Zimmerman Stats Today: 0 for 4
Zimmy Overall: AVG: .286 HR: 0 RBI: 1 RUNS: 2

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, 13 ABs, .386
Runs Batted In: Brian Schneider, Dimitri Young, Ryan Church, 4
Extra Base Hits: Ryan Church, 5
Home Runs: Ryan Church, 2
Stolen Bases: None
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, Ryan Church, 3

Innings: Jerome Williams, 6.0
ERA: Jesus Colome, 0.00
Strike Outs: Shawn Hill, Jerome Williams, 4
Wins: Jon Rauch, 1

NEXT GAME: Tonight, 7:05PM versus Arizona: Pitching: WASH John Patterson ARI: Brandon Webb

Bullets can't hang on against the Cavs

2007-04-06T23:13:00.000-04:00

The Bullets had a decent chance to pull an upset at home tonight, with 6 players scoring in double figures and the Cleveland Cavaliers clearly tired after losing last night at home to the Miami Heat. However, like the last loss to the Bobcats, which saw the Bullets lead most of the game before being outscored by 12 points in the 4th quarter, Washington just couldn't hang on in the end. The Cavs outscored the Bullets by 8 points in the final period and won 99-94 at the Phone Booth.

In many ways, the Bullets should have won this game. They shot better than 51% from the field and held the Cavs to under 45 percent. They outrebounded the Cavs, had more assists, and held Lebron James to 7-23 shooting and 25 points. The Bullets lost because they committed 23 turnovers to only 11 for the Cavs and hit only 12 of 22 free throws while the Cavs hit 29 of 37 from the line. Creating turnovers and getting to the line are what Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler do for the Bullets. Both are in the top ten in the league in steals and Arenas has taken and hit more free throws than any player in the NBA this season.

Antawn Jamison led the Bullets with 27 points, but also committed 6 turnovers. Antonio Daniels kicked in with 18 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds and, unfortunately and uncharacteristically, 7 turnovers. Deshawn Stevenson scored 17 points and dished 5 assists, but also committed 4 turnovers. Jarvis Hayes scored 10 points and Darius Songaila added another 10 off the bench. Etan Thomas played 36 minutes and fouled out after scoring 10 points and grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking 2 shots. Zydrunas Ilgauskus scored 18 points and grabbed 8 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

The Bullets missed key free throws down the stretch and allowed the Cavs to grab several offensive rebounds late in the game and run valuable time off the clock. With three valuable players [Gil, Caron, Bulletproof] missing, the Bullets have a short bench and must rely on just a few players to produce wins. Those players are getting tired in the 4th quarter, enabling opponents to outrun and outhustle the Bullets for loose balls and offensive rebounds. Washington is just running out of gas at the end.

Eddie Jordan:

“Tonight we competed at a high level. We held LeBron (James) to a low field goal percentage and we scored 99 points. Those are positives but we want to win. We don’t want to just have good numbers…we want to win. We can’t turn the ball over 23 times and we have to make our free throws. We competed but we turned the ball over and didn’t make free throws.”

Antawn Jamison:

“I don’t care who’s out there on the court, you can’t turn the ball over 23 times. I had six, and that’s not something I am traditionally used to doing. I just have to do a better job as far as taking care of the ball. I don’t care if Gilbert (Arenas) or Caron (Butler) is out there, once you have the ball you have to show a lot of value and not turning the ball over.”

The Bullets fell to 39-36, 6th place in the Eastern Conference. The team has lost 3 in a row and 4 out of their last five.

Player of the Game: Antawn Jamison
Player of the Lame: Brendan Haywood

Photos: AP/Lawrence Jackson

Nats Awfulness Update

2007-04-06T11:13:00.000-04:00

The Nats are currently last in the NL in:

runs allowed
earned runs allowed
earned run average
home runs allowed (tied)
walks allowed

This has been a Nats Awfulness Update.

Good times, good times

2007-04-06T09:19:00.001-04:00

As part of our ongoing mission to lift the injury gloom hovering over the Bullets and their fans, I present these 14 seconds of happier times.

Bullets fans: Something to take your minds off the gloom

2007-04-06T09:07:00.000-04:00

The Bullets Dance Team needs your vote. [And that's all they need from you, pervert.] Visit NBA.com and select the Wizards Dance Team to beat the Miami Heat Dance Team! It's probably the only way we'll beat Miami again this season.

Nats Rally, But Fall Short

2007-04-05T23:49:00.000-04:00

In a scenario that is all becoming too regular, the Nationals started off down by multiple runs for the fourth straight game, as Jason Bergmann gave up 4 runs on 3 innings in his first nationals start. Through four games, Nats starting pitchers have now given up 21 runs in 16 1/2 innings. Highly unimpressive.
Manny Acta and the Nats will have yet another pitching debut tomorrow, as Jerome Williams faces Arizona at 6:05PM. Let's hope Williams breaks this streak of starting getting the Nats behind right form the onset.

Arizona jumped out to a 3-0 lead right in the first, jumping all over Bergmann and added another in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead. Again for the Nationals, the bullpen was solid, as it has been since opening day. Micah Bowie was impressive tonight, executing his game plan and digging Bergmann out of further trouble. Bowie was impressive in the way he controls and manages how he pitches and the placement at the plate. Bowie pitched 2.1 innings giving up zero runs and striking out two. Bowie was followed by Jesus Colome who added 2 scoreless innings, and has now pitched 5 scoreless innings in the first four games of the season. Jon Rauch added a scoreless inning.

Offensively, Bowie hit a high chopping ground ball to second that scored Ryan Church for the Nationals first run. It was Bowie's 4th career RBI. Dimitri Young (1) contributed again tonight, smashing his first home run, a solo shot, cutting the Arizona lead to 4-2. Two innings later, Austin Kearns scored on a Brian Schneider fielders choice to cut the lead to one, which is where it ended. Nats out hit the Diamondbacks 11-7, but the runs being given up by Nationals starters early in the game are costing the Nats dearly. Kearns, Felipe Lopez, Young, and Schneider each had two hits.

RECORD STATS:

Overall: 1-3 --- Home: 1-3 --- Division: 1-2 --- Games Back: 2.5

ZIMMY WATCH:

Ryan Zimmerman Stats Today: 1 for 4 with a Walk
Zimmy Overall: AVG: .353 HR: 0 RBI: 1 RUNS: 2

NATIONALS LEADERS:

Batting Average: Rafael Belliard, 9 ABs, .444
Runs Batted In: Brian Schneider, Dimitri Young, 4
Extra Base Hits: Dimitri Young, Ryan Church, 4
Home Runs: Dimitri Young, 1
Stolen Bases: None
Runs Scored: Austin Kearns, 3

Innings: Jesus Colome, Shawn Hill, 5.0
ERA: Jesus Colome, 0.00
Strike Outs: Shawn Hill, 4
Wins: Jon Rauch, 1

Cancel the rest of the season

2007-04-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

I mean it -- cancel the season. Gilbert Arenas suffered a lateral left meniscus tear in his knee that will require arthroscopic surgery to be performed today in Sibley Hospital. He's out for 2-3 months.

Not much to add here. The Bullets' season is over. The inevitable tough-sounding words will come out of the mouths of Eddie Jordan and his players, but no one will believe any of it -- including the coach and players themselves. It's over. Injuries have absolutely destroyed the most promsing Bullets season in almost 30 years.

The Curse of Les Boulez is alive and well. The Bullets themselves are not.

Arenas update

2007-04-05T07:37:00.000-04:00

Washington Post Bullets beat reporter Ivan Carter keeps us up to date on the injury Gilbert Arenas suffered last night against Charlotte:

He was not putting a ton of weight on that leg when he limped off and the medical types I know say that is not a good sign though it's way too early to guess how bad Gilbert's is.

Antawn Jamison missed 12 games with a grade two left knee sprain and Andray Blatche has already missed six games and is expected to miss at least five more with his own left knee sprain. Of the three, I would say that Blatche's looked the worst, Jamison's was next and Gilbert's was third but as I said up above, there's no idea to guess how bad it is yet.

Antawn: "The most important thing is getting the swelling down and going to work. I'm hoping it isn't as bad as mine; it didn't look that way."

The Bullets simply can't compete with any team in the NBA without their two best players, Gilbert and Caron Butler. If Gilbert can return soon the Bullets will make the playoffs easily. Even if he does not return the Bullets have a decent chance to make the playoffs, but they wouldn't last more than four games. And there is a chance they could miss the playoffs altogether, as a once-promising season evaporates in a hot blast of critical injuries.

Caps Win Two in a Row

2007-04-04T22:54:00.000-04:00

The Washington Capitals have put together a winning streak of two games since losing six straight. Caps superstar Alex Ovechkin fueled the Caps with two goals, numbers 45 and 46 on the season. Ovechkin's two goals moved him to third overall in the NHL in goals scored. Ovechkin continued his lovefest with Atlanta, amassing a season 8 goals in 4 games against Atlanta. Goalie Brent Johnson won only his 6th game of the year, improving to 6-16 on the season. Too bad the Caps are down to just one remaining game left, Saturday against Buffalo.

The night did not start off well for the Caps, managing only three shots and zero scoring opportunities in the first period. But the Caps came out fired up in the second period, playing efficiently and forcefully. I was impressed tonight with the way Ovechkin and Boyd Gordon played together. Gordon had a super game, scoring one goal, the Caps first goal, and an assist. He fed Ovechkin several times and as aggressive in enforcement. He was also 6 of 9 on faceoffs. Good game Boyd. Brent Johnson 30 of 32 shots. Bryan Muir, Steve Eminger, Matt Pettinger and Brian Pothier also added assists. Figures, the Cappies decide to turn up a little heat with the season ending.

Little news tidbit I missed a few days ago. Caps assigned Jeff Schultz to Hershey and recalled Dave Steckel.

PEAK IN AT HERSHEY

The Hershey Bears stumbled tonight in Binghamton, falling 4-1. Hershey maintains a 1 point lead over Norfolk and have already clinched a playoff spot.

Thanks to DC Sportsbog

2007-04-04T21:55:00.000-04:00

We're famous! Well, uh, sorta. The DC Sportsblog is only a couple of months old, but we got our first [and hopefully not last] shout-out from our almost-namesake, the invaluable and entertaining DC Sportsbog by Dan Steinberg. Unfortunately for the Nationals, it was part of a Who Can Be Most Pessimistic, Day 2 post by Steinberg.

Bobcats sweep home-and-home from Bullets

2007-04-04T20:58:00.000-04:00

The Curse of Les Boulez has returned.

One night after humiliating the Bullets by 20 points in Charlotte, the Bobcats came to DC and got their first win in the Phone Booth, topping Washington 108-100. Gilbert Arenas, benched for arriving late to the arena, entered the game with four minutes left in the first quarter, but played less than two minutes before suffering a knee injury after colliding with Charlotte's Gerald Wallace. The initial diagnosis was a sprained knee and he did not return to the game.

The game was close, with no team ever gaining a double-digit advantage and the lead went back and forth in the second half. The Bullets actually led by 4 points going into the final period, but the Bobcats destroyed Washington when it counted, outscoring the home team 33-21.

Once again, the Bobcats controlled the ball, dishing 30 assists and committing only 8 turnovers. They were led by Bullet-killer Gerald Wallace, who scored 27 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and notched 8 assists and 4 steals. Rookie Walter Hermann scored 20 points and pulled down 9 rebounds, Emeka Okafor scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while point guard Raymond Felton poured in 17 points and had 7 dimes. The Bobcats shot 50% from the field and stole the ball 10 times.

For the Bullets, Antonio Daniels -- starting in place of Arenas and playing 45 minutes -- scored 18 points and dished 17 assists, against only 1 turnover. Antawn Jamison broke out of last night's shooting slump to score 25 points. He also grabbed 11 rebounds. Center Etan Thomas scored 19 points [17 in the first half] and pulled down 10 boards and blocked 3 shots. Deshawn Stevenson scored 14 points and Jarvis Hayes scored 13. It was the first time all season the Bullets lots when all five starters scored in double figures. However, Darius Songaila had a rough game off the bench, scoring only 6 points on 7 shots in 25 minutes and committing 3 turnovers.

The Bullets are now missing Caron Butler, Andray Blatche and Gilbert Arenas, as their season appears to be falling apart. There is no word on when or if Gilbert Arenas can return to action.

Player of the Game: Antonio Daniels [18 points, 17 assists, 1 turnover]
Player of the Lame: Darius Songaila [6 points, 2-7 shooting, 3 turnovers]

Nats win! Nats win! Nats win!

2007-04-04T20:07:00.000-04:00

The Washington Nationals got their first win of the 2007 season in dramatic fashion, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to top the visiting Florida Marlins 7-6.

After managing just 7 hits in the first two games of the season, the Nats banged out 16 hits today, including a 3-run, 2-out homer by Ryan Church in the 6th inning. First Baseman Dmitri Young knocked in the winning run with a 1-out 9th inning single that scored recently-recalled Left Fielder Kory Casto. Leadoff man and shortstop Felipe Lopez got two hits in four at-bats and RF Austin Kearns and 3B Ryan Zimmerman also hit safely twice.

The game started poorly for the Nats when Matt Chico, making his first start above AA, got chased after giving up five runs and 3 home runs in the first three innings. However, the Nats bullpen pitched five scoreless, almost flawless innings, shutting down the Florida batters and giving the Nats offense a chance to awaken and save the game. Jon Rauch got the win after striking out the only two batters he faced in the 9th inning.

Although Church had the big hit and Young had the game-winner, the star of the game was a bullpen that is virtually anonymous outside of Chad Cordero. Speigner, Bowie, Colome, Wagner, King, and Rauch combined in a 5-inning effort that got Manager Manny Acta his first win and must have left him with a bit of confidence in his bullpen.

Ryan Church's 3-run homer narrowed the Marlin lead from 6-1 to 6-4 in the 6th inning, but the Nats could do no more and went to the bottom of the 9th trailing by two runs. Rafael Belliard led off with a double and came in to score when Robert Fisk singled him across. A sacrifice moved Fick to second base and Casto smacked a liner off the chest of SS Hanley Ramirez and into the outfield. Fisk scampered home to tie the game. Casto was credited with a single and RBI, his first of each in the big leagues.

Third Baseman Ryan Zimmerman knocked a single, moving Casto to third and Kearns drew a walk to load the bases. That's when Dmitri Young hit a ball into left field and fell barely on the good side of the foul line, scoring Casto and beginning a joyous celebration. Fick embraced Young, who embraced Manager Manny Acta and then most of the team met on the field to hop, hug, and high-give each other.

Nats record: 1-2
Nats RFK record: 1-2
Nats NL East record: 1-2
Zimmy Watch: 2-5, .385 on the season.

Of defense and Darius

2007-04-04T14:50:00.000-04:00

Bullets beat reporter Ivan Carter sat next to an NBA scout during last night's fiasco in Charlotte and the results of their conversation are interesting.

After watching Raymond Felton and Gerald Wallace execute a basic pick-and-roll play to perfection for, oh, the 100th time, I said something to the affect of: "Why do they keep switching on that? It leaves Gilbert on a big and Antawn on a small. It doesn't make sense." The scout sitting next to me started laughing. "C'mon man, you've been watching this team play defense for two years and you're surprised? Eddie can tell these guys what to do a million times and it isn't going to change."
...
The only two players who brought it last night were Darius Songaila and Etan Thomas. The more I see of Songaila, the more convinced I become that Ernie Grunfeld made a wise move by signing him to a five-year deal last season. The guy simply knows how to play. There were two defensive plays that illustrated this last night. First, Emeka Okafor came in from the baseline and wanted to hammer down a two-handed dunk. Songaila shuffled over to his left, allowed Okafor to get slightly past him and the reached up and swatted the ball off the backboard without fouling.

Later, Okafor wanted to throw down a one-handed dunk so Songaila, who can't get three inches off the court, took a step forward and blocked the shot early before Okafor could get elevated. That play sparked a break that ended with DeShawn Stevenson's three-pointer which drew the Wiz within 12 in the third. The guy simply knows how to play. The same scout I mention above told me that had Songaila been healthy all season, the Wiz would be 5 to 7 games better right now. I have to agree with him.

A couple of thoughts emerge. Firstly, why isn't the team listening to EJ about defense? Eddie bangs on about defense more than anything else in the media so it is a fair bet it's Topic 1 in many of his discussions with the team. Besides, anyone who follows the team knows that defense is the problem. A guy like Jamison is never going to be a good defender, but he doesn't have to be embarrassingly awful. If he gave more effort, Jamison could be a mediocre defender, which would be a huge upgrade. Arenas and Butler are not good defenders either. If they don't steal the ball they don't play much defense. Etan is a decent man defender, but he's not much good in help defense. Haywood is a good defender when he's trying to be, but he's not trying much these days. Stevenson is a good, but not elite defender who tries hard. It's not enough. Somehow, some way, somebody has got to convince Gil and Caron to play defense. They only care about getting steals and they only care about that because it leads to easy buckets. They have to start caring about defense for its own sake.

Secondly, it's hard to argue with the view Ivan Carter and this anonymous scout have of Songaila. He's not a great athlete to begin with and he's still recovering from his injury. Nevertheless, he makes and effort on defense, is decent on the boards, and has developed a very nice shot out to 21 feet. That's in addition to his array of impressive post moves. The guy is a player. It'll be nice to have him around for a full season next year. In the meantime, he's often the only front court player who doesn't embarrass himself now that Caron and Bulletproof are injured.

I would have benched Jamison in the second half of that debacle in Charlotte and started Songaila instead. Talking to the players isn't working. Yelling at them isn't working. Maybe benching them for a bit will work. They've got to be convinced to make an effort on defense or this team will be out of the playoffs in four games no matter who the opponent is.

Who is going to be the tough guy?

2007-04-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

With Caron Butler on the shelf, the Bullets need someone with his grit, determination and occasional nastiness to step forward. Deshawn Stevenson has some thoughts about that

"Some of the guys on this team are going to have to step up and take that challenge to be the nasty guy that Caron is," said DeShawn Stevenson, who finished with 17 points. "It's got to be me, maybe Jarvis. It's got to be somebody who will go out there and make hard fouls and not take anything from anybody on the court. Hopefully we can get a guy who can step up and be a pit bull and not let anybody disrespect us."

Color me unconvinced. I'll believe it when I see it.

DC Council votes $50 mil for Phone Booth upgrades

2007-04-04T11:40:00.000-04:00

Bullets owner Abe Pollin, the longest-tenured owner in the NBA, has been seeking about $50 million to "upgrade" the Verizon Center. Looks like he's going to get it.

The D.C. Council gave initial approval yesterday to a request from Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin for $50 million to upgrade the Verizon Center.

In a 9 to 2 vote, the council favored borrowing the funds so that Pollin and his company can purchase a $5 million scoreboard and make other improvements to the nearly 10-year-old arena. The city plans to raise the tax on tickets and merchandise at the downtown arena to repay bonds issued for the project. The council must take a second, final vote on the request.

Under legislation that Pollin sought in January, the tax rate on tickets at the 20,674-seat arena would increase from 5.75 percent to 10 percent -- the same percentage for tickets and merchandise at Washington Nationals baseball games.

Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who co-sponsored the legislation, said the levy would be a "user tax" that would mostly burden nonresidents of the District.

About 60 percent of patrons at the Verizon Center are from Maryland and Virginia.

Council members expressed consternation about their affirmative votes but said they were willing to invest in the Verizon Center, which will belong to the city by 2047.

Although I work and often play in DC I don't live there so I suppose the DC Council can do as it likes. I must say, however, that spending $50 million to upgrade an arena that is privately-owned and less than 10 years old strikes me as odd. The District has crippling education, crime, and poverty problems -- isn't it possible there could be a better use for $50 million than spending it on a super-rich developer like Abe Pollin?

And what about the precedent this sets? Now that Pollin has demanded and received $50 million from the DC Council, what is to stop other private business owners from demanding deals of their own? Does the DC government really want to be handing out taxpayer money to private businesses, even -- or especially -- if there is no evidence those businesses are struggling and need the cash?

Since the Council vote was 9-2, I suppose it is fair to say my priorities vary significantly from those of the councilmembers.

Bulletproof hoping to return soon

2007-04-04T10:18:00.000-04:00

Caron Butler isn't the only Bullets forward missing to injury.

Injured forward Andray Blatche missed his fifth consecutive game with a sprained left knee. He said he expects to be available as soon as this weekend, when the Wizards host Cleveland (Friday night) and play at New Jersey (Saturday night).

Had he been healthy, Blatche would have been a strong candidate to replace injured forward Caron Butler in the starting lineup Tuesday night.

Blatche has started 13 games this season and was Coach Eddie Jordan's choice when Antawn Jamison missed 12 games with a knee injury in February. Blatche averaged 6.9 points on 50 percent shooting with 5.8 rebounds per game as a starter.

The Bullets need Blatche back as soon as possible and this weekend would be great. Nobody else on the roster has Andray's combination of length and quickness. Jamison isn't tall enough for the 4 and isn't quick enough for anything. Songaila isn't very tall either and no quicker than Jamison. Haywood, Booth and Etan have size, but are not athletic enough to play the 4.

When Blatche returns, I'd like to see him in the starting lineup ahead of Hayes or, if necessary, Jamison, who humiliated himself last night in Charlotte with his utter lack of effort on defense. I'd also like to see Blatche playing some center against smaller opponents. If guys like Haywood and Jamison are content to call it a season, it's time to get Bulletproof into the game and keep him there. As for Hayes -- he scored 2 points in 34 minutes last night. There is NO WAY he should be starting once Blatche is healthy enough to play.

Nats in Trouble Already

2007-04-04T09:38:00.000-04:00

NATS RECORD: 0-2 --- NL EAST RECORD: 0-2 --- RFK STADIUM RECORD: 0-2

Well, many of us knew it was going to be a looooooooooong season. So far, we were right. The Nats stand at 0-2, being outscored 16-5 in the first two games. Things are bad so far, real bad ...

The Nats have given up a total of 25 hits in two games, 12 and 13 respectively. But look at how the Nats start games off. In the season opener, Nats give up 3 runs in the first two innings. Yesterday the Nats got hammered for 5 runs in the first two innings. And the worst part, the starters were the Nats number 1 and 2 starters. Not a good sign.

John Patterson pitcher 3 innings and gave up 6 runs.

Shawn Hill ptiched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs.

The Nationals starting pitching was considered the worst in MLB but most analysts and experts. Are we proving them right already in just two games? But even worse off, the Nats are making simple mental errors that are leading to bad defense, the last thing this franchise needs.

Today the Nats face the Marlins in the series ender, hoping to avoid a season opening three game sweep. Matt Chico takes the mound for the Nats, hoping not to follow Patertrson and Hill's lead, and on the mound for the Marlins will be Anibal Sanchez.

Zimmy watch...

Ryan Zimmerman was 1-4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. On the season, Zimmy is 3-8 with a triple and 1 RBI.

Injury front already? Yup. And you could have guessed. I was wrong. I really though Christian Guzman was ready to play a real role for the Nats, and he is, right where he has been, on the DL. Guzman pulled his hammy and will be on the DL for 2 to 3 weeks. So much for Guzman. Nats called up SS D'Angelo Jiminez. CF Nook Logan was already placed on the DL, leading to the call up of OF Kory Casto.

Caps Snap Streak, Shoutout Florida

2007-04-03T23:22:00.000-04:00

The Washington Capitals ended a six game win drought tonight at the Verizon Center, shutting out the Florida Panthers 1-0 behind a second period goal by Alex Ovechkin. It was Ovechkin's 44th goal of the season and 90th point.

Goalie Olie Kolzig stopped all 27 shots to gain his first shutout since February of 2004. He was perfect. And it was much needed after a tumultuous week that led to a frustrated outburst by Ovechkin. The Washington Post coverage of the game had some interesting comments by Coach Greg Hanlon on the remaining few games.

Quite the opposite, Coach Glen Hanlon said. The final games are an opportunity for the club's multitude of youngsters to solidify a spot on next year's roster. And for those who don't factor into the Capitals' future plans, they are being evaluated by other teams.
"Our rallying cry has been to play like you are going to play next year," Hanlon said before the game. "I want them to show me something."

The Capitals will have a much watched off-season. After several years of a rebuild, the fan base is growing tired of losing ways with the Capitals and the prevailing thought out there is clear, this is a critical off-season for GM George McPhee.

Quick Blurb: Capitals 2004 seventh round draft selection Andrew Gordon has signed a three year entry contract today.

Peak at Hershey:

The Bears fell Sunday night to Wilkes-Barre Scranton 3-2. The Bears have clinched a playoff spot, but lead in the Eastern Division by just 1 point, 104-103, over Norfolk. The Wilkes Barre Scranton win pulled WBS to 4 points being Hershey with 100 points.

Next up for Hershey will be tomorrow night at 7:05PM in Binghamton. Go Bears!

Bobcats crush Bullets 122-102

2007-04-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Yeah, it was that sort of a night for the Bullets. If the question on the minds of Bullets fans tonight was, "Who will step up in place of Caron Butler?," the early answer is nobody. Some players did bring their offense, of course. Arenas scored 33 points on 26 shots and 7 dimes, while Etan Thomas scored 17 points on 11 shots and grabbed 14 rebounds. Deshawn Stevenson scored 17 points on 11 shots, but somehow managed to not grab a single rebound in 35 minutes. Darius Songaila scored 16 points on 8-9 shooting off the bench.

Antawn Jamison was awful. I mean, truly, truly dreadful. Not only did he score only 6 points on 3-16 shooting, but he didn't play a lick of defense all night, allowing rookie Walter Hermann to score 21 points on 8-11 shooting. Jarvis Hayes, starting in place of Caron Butler, hit 1 of 6 shots for 2 points in 34 brutal minutes.

Bullets defense was horrific, even by their own standards. The Bobcats dished 36 assists and committed only 9 turnovers -- and incredible 4 to 1 ratio. The Bullets permitted Charlotte to shoot 57% from the field.

Dreadful. Can the Bullets defense get any worse? I'm sure it can, but that's not much comfort right now.

UPDATE: The game flow numbers are brutal. Only Haywood at 9.5 minutes and Mike Hall at 7 minutes were on the right side of the +/- ratio, both at +1. Etan Thomas was -23, Antonio Daniels was -22, Deshawn Stevenson -21, Arenas at -12, Jamison at -10, Hayes at -6, and Booth at -4. Darius Songaila was -4, which demonstrates that a guy can play well, at least offensively, and still have a bad ratio if his teammates are sleepwalking through the game.

Deshawn Stevenson summed it up nicely:

"We didn't take the challenge defensively today. We let Gerald Wallace do whatever he wanted to do and we let their point guards pass where they wanted to pass. This was just a horrible day for us defensively. If we want to be a playoff team we have to be better than that."

The question is whether the Bullets have the fortitude to put a better effort forward. It could be that, with Butler on the shelf, they believe they have the excuse they need to phone in the rest of the season and get their vacations started early. A bit harsh, perhaps, but that's how it looked last night.

Nats, Patterson Bomb in Opener

2007-04-02T16:07:00.000-04:00

Florida Marlins went right after the Nationals number one starter John Patterson, bashing 6 runs over 3 2/3 innings to lead to a 9-2 pounding of the Nats. Patterson gave up 1 in the first, 2 in the second and 3 in the fourth. Meanwhile, Dontrelle Willis pitched 6 sparkling innings, giving up just one run, scattering 7 hits and striking out 3. INJURY NOTE: CF Nook Logan was injured when his foot got caught int he padding along the fence. He walke dunder his own power, limping, and the extenet of the injury is still unknown.

Simply put ... It was a ugly opening day for the Nats.

Nationals stars of the game:

OFFENSE: Ryan Zimmerman, 2-4, Triple
PITCHING: Jesus Colome, 2 innings, 0 runs

Other than that, not much to talk about.

Record: 0-1
Division: 0-1

Next Up: Tuesday, April 3rd, Florida Marlins 7:05PM
(P) Shawn Hill