Last Friday, another Washington Wizards season ended with a playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Meg Zamula took a few days to recover and compose some thoughts about her beloved Les Bulletz — or at least all the stuff that happens around the Wiz during a game at the Verizon Center.

DESPITE THE INJURIES, frustrating refereeing and occasional lack of offensive rebounding, it can't be denied that this season was entertaining. Even when the shots weren't falling, the Verizon Center tried hard to keep fans upbeat and engaged with non-basketball entertainment.

Here are the good, the bad and the startlingly unattractive aspects of the live Wizards experience.

THE GOOD

It was a banner year for the Kiss Cam. After years of Sixpence None the Richer's insipid "Kiss Me" serving as its soundtrack, someone apparently realized that the majority of Wizards fans do not spend the remainder of their leisure time watching "Dawson's Creek" reruns. Replacing Sixpence's tripe with Digital Underground's "Kiss Me and I'll Kiss You Back" was a significant improvement. And if you didn't have anyone to kiss you could still shimmy shimmy cocoa pop in your seat.

This season also provided fans with at least one classic Kiss Cam moment, when Wizards announcer Steve Buckhantz leaned over and lovingly smooched unsuspecting co-host Phil Chenier's ample forehead.

The adults featured on this year's Dance Cam tended to rely heavily on the lawn-sprinkler move, but D.C.'s children demonstrated enough rhythm and creativity to compensate. Hopefully the not-so-kid-friendly prize — a gift certificate to a seafood restaurant — won't discourage them in future efforts.

Continue Reading "Between the Bounces at the Verizon Center" »

AS IF BEING eliminated from the playoffs for a third straight year — at home, no less — isn't depressing enough, the news isn't getting any better for Wizards fans.

If you were to look at the situation objectively, one could very easily make the case that the lowly Miami Heat, the owner of the NBA's worst record this past season, is in a better situation to win a championship than our Wizards.

Based on the playoffs, it seems that your everyday, run-of-the-mill superstars just don’t cut it in the postseason.

Of the eight NBA teams left, six — Detroit and Utah are the exceptions — have a historically good player.

Sadly the Wizards, have no such star. Moreover, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison are free agents.

Jamison is a no-brainer to keep, as he is the team's true leader. If Arenas opts out of his contract, Washington would be crazy to give him a maximum contract given his knee trouble and erratic behavior. A sign-and-trade option would make he most sense then.

Now back to the Heat, which already has Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion, and could very well end up with either Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose in the draft. If either rookie is as good as advertised, look out.

The Wizards, as currently constructed, can't beat LeBron James and finished behind Dwight Howard's Magic.

Add Miami to the mix and Washington is likely to fall, unless it finds one of those rare franchise players.

Photo by Preston Keres/TWP

AFTER BOWING OUT to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the third year in a row in the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, the Washington Wizards have some serious offseason issues to address. Will Gilbert Arenas opt out of his contract? Will owner Abe Pollin keep head coach Eddie Jordan? Can they even keep free agent Antawn Jamison?

Join Express' Matt Swenson and Ian Herbert to discuss the road ahead for the Wizards.

NOTHING ABOUT THIS SERIES is pretty.

So, when the Wizards pulled out an ugly 88-87 victory in Cleveland on Wednesday, they breathed their biggest sigh of relief to date.

Two more grinding performances like that one — in which Caron Butler scored a career playoff-best 32 points and made a game-winning layup — will get them into the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2005.

Of course, the Cavs have eliminated Washington in D.C. each of the last two seasons. They play at Verizon Center on Friday night.

Butler's shot — almost identical to the attempt LeBron James missed on the other end of the floor at the buzzer — was the team's final attempt in a game in which the Wizards made just 41 percent of their field-goal tries and turned the ball over 13 times in the first half. They were playing without Gilbert Arenas, who announced before the game that he was done for the year.

Continue Reading "Ugly Contest: Wizards, Cavaliers Leave Pretty at the Door" »

EARLIER THIS YEAR, we asked whether the Washington Wizards were better off without Gilbert Arenas, and we eventually decided the team's best player was needed to win in the playoffs.

Mea Culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa.

I was wrong, at least this year and in this most unusual situation.

Surely, it's no coincidence that the Wizards' two wins over Cleveland — including Wednesday night's thriller to stave off elimination — came when Arenas wasn't even a factor.

Agent Zero's presence has been a distraction all season. When he's healthy, he's one of the NBA's great players.

Anyone who's watched Washington the past month knows Arenas was anything but great, and the Wizards were worse trying to fit him in after he missed most of the season.

Continue Reading "Swengali: No Arenas? No Problem This Year" »

WITH LITTLE LEFT TO TALK ABOUT, maybe the Wizards will focus on hitting some shots.

Washington started the playoffs with Gilbert Arenas' draining 3-pointers while his teammates traded hard fouls with Cleveland. That lasted all of one half.

Though the Wizards have kept up the hard-fouling part, it seems the Cavs have been the only team scoring. They come to town for Thursday night's Game 3 holding a 2-0 series lead.

"For us to come out undisciplined and unfocused is a big disappointment," Wizards forward Antawn Jamison said. "We need to find a way to get into a rhythm when the game is going their way. We need to attack the rim better."

While Washington's complementary players have talked (DeShawn Stevenson) and fouled (Brendan Haywood) their way into the headlines, the Wizards' stars haven't made much of an impact.

Continue Reading "Three-Folding: Wizards' Stars Have Not Shined" »

GILBERT ARENAS FEELS THE TIME isn't right to talk to the media. We all know that because he told the world on his blog.

Arenas' teammates have taken away some of the spotlight this week talking up their quest for revenge against Cleveland in their first round Eastern Conference showdown.

And though the low-lying (ahem) Arenas insists there's nothing to talk about until "I hit a couple of game winners," he'll attempt to do that as the highest-profile substitute in this year's NBA playoffs.

"Right now, we like it the way it is," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said of Arenas coming off the bench. "I don't think there are any concerns even on Gil's part to be a starter.

"We still have to consider his minutes. They're still under doctor's orders. We hope that those 24-25 minutes can go to 30, 35, maybe, during the playoffs."

Arenas returned to the lineup on April 2 after a 66-game layoff to deal with a second surgery on his left knee. The Wizards are 3-2 in games Arenas has played in since his return, including his crucial 20-point, seven-rebound, five-assist performance in a win over Philadelphia that helped secure the fifth seed.

Continue Reading "Bench Mark: Arenas Is D.C.'s Super Sub" »

THEY SHOULD SEE WHETHER SOULJA BOY can box out.

The war of words between the Cavaliers and the Wizards is already going strong, with DeShawn Stevenson vowing to bring the teenage rapper — who LeBron James used in an analogy to take a swipe at Stevenson last week — to Verizon Center during the teams' first-round playoff series.

But it may not matter who's sitting courtside if the Wizards' big men have a tough time under the boards. The Cavaliers have pounded Washington the last two years in the playoffs, out-rebounding the Wizards 462-381 in 10 games.

An advantage like that — roughly eight rebounds per game — leads to second-chance points and additional possessions that can easily make the difference between a win and a loss.

Continue Reading "Boarded Up: Wizards Big Men Step Up Ahead of Playoffs" »

ADMITTEDLY, WEDNESDAY NIGHT'S GAME at Verizon Center meant a whole lot more to the Wizards, who are hoping to somehow secure the No. 4 seed in the East, than to the NBA-best Boston Celtics, who are just trying to not get injured.

Yet there is no discounting the Wizards' decisive victory as an encouraging sign for a team that limped into the postseason a year ago.

It seems Washington is getting healthy at the right time this season. Curse? What curse?
Gilbert Arenas has adjusted to his part-time role as the league's best sixth man, and Antawn Jamison left little doubt about his bad shoulder, scoring 27 points against Boston.

The Wizards now stand as the only team to beat the Celtics three times this season, a year when Agent Zero had zero impact due to injury until recently.

Continue Reading "Swengali: Wiz Hit Stride Before Playoffs" »

GILBERT ARENAS WALKS DIAGONALLY through the room sporting gigantic headphones. Antawn Jamison makes a quick cameo at his locker. Caron Butler is nowhere to be found.

Translation: For the first time since November, the Wizards' Big Three are all back to doing their pregame routines on the same night. What that will mean for a Wizards team that's survived the season on duct tape and grit is still unclear.

"We still have to get the chemistry part down pat. I don't believe the psychological part [of having everyone healthy] takes you to another level," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "If it does, it's only for a little while."

Continue Reading "Sports Talk: Gang's All Here in Washington" »