Cleveland Cavaliers vs Washington Wizards - Game 1 Post Sat, 4/19 12:30pm ESPN

It's a white out baby! Wizards in 5 or 6. Let's get this round over so we can get some rest before we take on Boston.
 
how in the world is lebron overrated?

anyways, im so hyped to watch this series. Best series i've watched last year besides the warriors/mavs.
 
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i just found out that i will MISS Game 1 because i have to be at my sisters #!%%$*% ++!% $@@... ughhh what a #!%%$*% joke
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now im gonna be texting like no OTHER... just call me MVP of Peabodys Piano Masterclass recital
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CNN SI's David Dupree gives the Wiz kids some love
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/david_dupree/04/17/wizards/index.html


If you're looking for a dark horse in the NBA playoffs, I mean a real long shot, a team absolutely no one figures has a chance to win it, you might wantto consider the Wizards.

Of course, a lot of things have to fall just right for the Wizards (who open their first-round series at Cleveland on Saturday afternoon) to have even theslightest chance of pulling a Trevor Immelman and taking it to the big boys, but heck, there are hundreds of reasons to pick the Celtics,Lakers, Suns, Pistons or Spurs. Or you can go out on a little limb with the Rockets, Hornets or Jazz. But what fun is that?

Here are a few things to think about before you split your gut laughing at the thought of the Wizards winning it all after their 43-39 regular season.

The Gilbert Arenas factor. A knee injury sidelined him for 68 games, but he is back as the sixth man, as confident as ever in his newrole. Arenas is one of the best in the game at getting his own shot and delivering with the game on the line. His big mouth sometimes leaves teammates andmanagement wishing he had kept it shut, but that's just Arenas being Agent Zero.

Last week on his blog, for instance, when the first-round matchup between Washington and Cleveland became evident, he wrote: "I think everybody wantsCleveland in that first round. They've been a .500 team ever since they made that trade [for Ben Wallace, Delonte West,Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak] and everybody wants a chance at that matchup. We want Cleveland for our own reasons, wedon't think they can beat us in the [first round of the] playoffs three years straight."

Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Jamison is a difficult matchup because of his three-point shot combined with his effective inside game.He is one of only four players to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds during the regular season (Orlando's Dwight Howard,Minnesota's Al Jefferson and Utah's Carlos Boozer are the other three, while Houston's Yao Mingdidn't play enough to qualify). Butler has battled hip wrist and knee ailments much of the season, but he is the heart of the team, a fearless competitorat both ends who can hurt opponents in so many areas. He set career highs in scoring (20.3), shooting percentage (46.6) and assists (4.9).

Improved defense. The Wizards can at least stay in games at both ends of the floor now, reducing their field-goal-percentage defense to46.1 from 47.3 last season and their points allowed to 99.2 from 104.9.

Depth, experience and interchangeable parts. With Arenas, Jamison, Butler, DeShawn Stevenson, AntonioDaniels and Roger Mason Jr., the Wizards are among the league's most versatile teams.

The modified Princeton offense. The ball moves quickly and there are plenty of open shots as a result. Back cuts and screens away fromthe ball make it one of the most difficult systems to defend.

The Brendan Haywood factor. The 7-foot center averaged 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks and shot 52.8 percentfrom the field in his career year. He's quick, active, covers a lot of ground defensively and is no longer an offensive liability.

The coach. Eddie Jordan won't get much Coach of the Year consideration, but he did a masterful job, considering the prolongedabsences of Arenas and Butler, as well as a host of other injuries. He got his team to believe in itself defensively and to trust one another on offense. Hisstyle of coaching breeds confidence. Players like playing for him because he is brutally honest and would never hang any of them out to dry.

Boston beaters. They were the only team to knock off the Celtics three times this season (their likely second-round opponent if they getpast Cleveland). The Wizards' biggest confidence builder this season came when they beat the Celtics in Washington on Jan. 12 and two nights later beatthem again, this time in Boston. They also defeated the Celtics again last week at Washington, with their only loss in the series coming in the second game ofthe season.

History. For what it's worth, the 1995 Rockets had the 10th-best record (47-35 in a 27-team league), were the sixth seed in the Westand didn't have the home-court advantage in any series, yet still won it all. (The 43-39 Wizards finished with the 14th-best record among 30 teams and arethe fifth seed in the East).

Before the season began, who would have thought that the Lakers would have the best record in the West and Kobe Bryant would be the leadingMVP candidate; Houston would win 22 games in a row; Shaquille O'Neal would get traded to Phoenix; Boston would be the league's only60-game winner; Greg Oden would miss the entire season and the Trail Blazers would still be a .500 team; and the Hornets would have thesecond-best record in the West with Chris Paul emerging as Steve Nash's heir apparent?

In a season like that, who is to say the Wizards can't win it all?
 
outacontrol music , do you have a bigger picture of your avatar? i'm gonna bring a printout of that one and hand it to arenas on game 4, "can you sign this for me?"


this is as big as I got


sorry


maybe you can blow it up in some program

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Originally Posted by DOWNTOWN43

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i just found out that i will MISS Game 1 because i have to be at my sisters #!%%$*% ++!% $@@... ughhh what a #!%%$*% joke
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now im gonna be texting like no OTHER... just call me MVP of Peabodys Piano Masterclass recital
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you cant be talkin trash at all if this quote above me is true. how old are you kid, 12? you have to miss your teams playoff game to go to your sisterspiano recital, give me a break. even the wiz fans are soft
 
you cant be talkin trash at all if this quote above me is true. how old are you kid, 12? you have to miss your teams playoff game to go to your sisters piano recital, give me a break. even the wiz fans are soft
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but seriously though. i don't know if your avoiding my posts or what, i already upped your simple $20 bet to $50 in this post and the other one. if yourbacking out now, you ain't got no say in calling anyone soft..you gonna show some confidence in your team, or what? PM if you want to get this done.
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What I want to know is how Cleveland fans keep on bringing back up the past 2 years when they're an entirely different team personnel wise, while we'rea different team also as far as experience and improved chemistry of the bench and starters go. Are we not allowed to be confident in our team, too? The momentwe say we're gonna win, they scoff at it like there's no chance in hell. Anyway, game on tomorrow. I just can't stay away from this thread haha.

Ohhh, and this was from an article at yahoo!

"The funny part is I don't talk trash on the court, just around the court, before I step into those lines," Arenas said. "That was the sameteam that was talking trash when I shot the free throw (in Game 6 of the 2006 playoffs). Now it's revenge time. I don't know what the hoopla is about.When they were talking trash, it was no biggie, but now when we talk trash it's a big old problem. We get crucified for it."
 
even Bill Livingston (Cleveland Plain Dealer sports writer for yall not in the area) picked the Wiz to win in 6. whats that about? as far as i know, we'restill the defending EC champs. being underrated and picked to lose is fine w me, makes the wins that much sweeter when they arent expected.
 
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Bill is a joke.



This reminds me of last year when NOBODY picked the Cavs. Heck The PISTONS are a better freakin team than WASHINGTON.

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CNN SI's David Dupree gives the Wiz kids some love


Don't give David Dupree too much credit....he's the dude that said if he were a GM, he'd take Kevin Love with the #1 overall pick
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that being said, I hope the Wizards don't get TOO confident with a lot of the media predicting them to beat Cleveland...it's gonna be a battle
 
Skip Bayless said Cavs will sweep, I'm not sure if this was posted yet but it's
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Skip Bayless said Cavs will sweep, I'm not sure if this was posted yet but it's


Not far-fetched in my opinion.

But I still feel the series can go either way.
 
I really hope the Wizards win...i just despise the holy hell out of the Cavaliers.
 
He's confident. The Cavaliers may not be a sexy postseason pick, but their leader feels good about their chances.

"As long as I'm on the court, we'll be all right," James said. "I mean that."

And with that, he walked away.
 
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