<div align="center">@ <font color="green">Boston Celtics (0-2)</font> vs. <font color="blue">Washington Wizards (0-1)</font> Date: November 4th, 2006 Time: 7:00 P.M. Eastern TV: ESPN, CSN, FSNE Place: Verizon Center</div> [div=50%] <font color="blue"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font> </font><div align="center"> <font size="1">(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, E.Thomas)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006-2007 Wizards Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Caron Butler - 23.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Caron Butler - 6.0 RPG Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 11.0 APG Points Per Game: 94.0 Field Goal Percentage: 46.8% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 15.4% Rebounds Per Game: 33.0 Assists Per Game: 22.0 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gilbert_arenas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Gilbert Arenas</font> PPG: 7.0, RPG: 5.0, APG: 11.0 Ok ok, so he didn't have the greatest night in the world. So what? We could all tell he wasn't as pumped as LeBron or any of the Cavs were, so it wasn't easy for him to get in his groove early. The important part is that he was able to find the open man at the last second for a garunteed bucket as opposed to taking his own shot. Tonight should be a lot different though, look for Gilbert to take over this game and score at least 30. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 4.0, RPG: 4.0 APG: 2.0 So whose to blame here, Hughes for draining any shot he wanted, or Stevenson for not putting enough pressure on him? I'd have to go with Hughes and his shooting ability, he was just stroking it out there. But going up against Paul Pierce, DeShawn should have the same defensive pressure on Pierce and expect others to come help him out and force him to take low percentage shots. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/caron_butler.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Caron Butler</font> PPG: 23.0, RPG: 6.0, APG: 2.0 Butler was definitely my player of the game against the Cavaliers. He came into the game and led the team, and getting his chances of scoring wether it was a pull up jumper or driving in for a dunk. Tonight, look for Caron to lead the Wizards behind Arenas in scoring, take Szczerbiak off his game and to keep forcing turnovers on defense. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 20.0, RPG: 4.0, APG: 2.0 Well, Jamison didn't have his best game, but he did do a good job nailing his shots down. He didn't play a whole lot getting himself in foul trouble, so he wasn't a big factor in the game. What he needs to improve going into the game on Saturday is his paint presence, and making sure they don't get any second chance opportunities. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/etan_thomas.jpg[/imgl] <font color="blue">Etan Thomas</font> PPG: 14.0, RPG: 5.0, APG: 1.0 Etan showed out there while he deserved the starting job. He had a great performance putting shots back up, stopping Ilgauskas, block shots, and looking active out there. Look for him to do the same with somebody less than his size and exploit the paint.[/div] <font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="green">Celtics Starting Lineup</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(S. Telfair, P. Pierce, W. Szczerbiak, R. Gomes, K.Perkins)</font></div> <font color="green">2006-2007 Celtics Season Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Paul Pierce - 25.5 PPG Leading Rebounder: Paul Pierce - 13.5 RPG Leading Assist Man: Paul Pierce - 4.0 APG Points Per Game: 94.0 Field Goal Percentage: 42.6% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 28.5% Rebounds Per Game: 48 Assists Per Game: 20.5 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/sebastian_telfair.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Sebastian Telfair</font> PPG: 7.0, RPG: 1.5, APG: 1.0 Boston's newest player Telfair is coming into this game without being noticed. Well, the Celtics top off-season pickup has not made an impact for the Celtics yet, so far letting guys like Chris Paul and Chauncey Billups have great performances. He won't have an easier task going against Arenas, so he needs to get him off-guard in the early going causing him to lose his confidence and get rid of the ball. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/paul_pierce.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Paul Pierce</font> PPG: 25.5, RPG: 13.5, APG: 4.0 Ah, who can forget Pierce sinking that 22-foot fadeway last season at Verizon Center in overtime to beat the Wizards? And who can forget Pierce coming off two great games so far. Well, he looks repeat the same performance and try to lead his team to their first win of the season, so expect him to recieve the ball. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/wally_szczerbiak.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Wally Szczerbiak</font> PPG: 19.5, RPG: 4.5, APG: 2.5 Wally's been scoring well so far and done well on transition, but other than that, he hasn't been a threat for the Celtics. Wally will need to take care of the ball and make wise passes because Caron Butler will feast on him, if he doesn't. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/ryan_gomes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Ryan Gomes</font> PPG: 6.0, RPG: 3.0, APG: 2.5 I don't know if you can expect something big from Ryan offensively, but he should give life on the boards for Boston and bother Antawn Jamison enough to get him off his game. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kendrick_perkins.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Kendrick Perkins</font> PPG: 3.0, RPG: 7.0, APG: 1.0 Kendrick Perkins showed some good hustle out there against the Pistons considering he only played 17 minutes. He did his job rebounding and staying out of foul trouble and the Celtics will need him to keep doing that. Going against Etan Thomas, he needs to make sure Etan stays out of the boards, because he will pay the price like Ilgauskas did. <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="blue">Force Low Percentage Shots</font> – Larry Hughes made this a key for the Wizards in the season opener against the Cavs. Larry Hughes shot 10-14, couldn't be stopped, just getting any shot he wanted. It was the same for a lot of players on the Cavs, so the Wizards need to force the Celtics to shoot bad shots, if they want to win this game. [*]<font color="blue">Rebound!</font> – The Wizards weren't able to control the boards in the second half, as they were outrebounded by the Cavs 50-33, and allowing 16 offensive rebounds. They can't afford to give up key rebounds, espicially if it's a close game, so they will need to improve on that going into Saturday against the Celtics.[*]<font color="blue">Make Sure Arenas Is In Rhythm</font> – We all saw how Arenas struggled against the Cavaliers on Wednesday night. He ended the game up with 2-12, and was didn't make an impact near the end of the game, so it's important to get him in rhythm, if we want Arenas to have a great game and take over.[*] <font color="green">Take Care Of The Ball</font> – This is going to be an important task for the Celtics, if they want to stay late in this game. The Wizards defensively were able to create a lot of turnovers from passes and convert them into fastbreak points. The Celtics average 17 turnovers in their two games, while the Wizards have forced 17 and scored 19 fastbreak points. [*]<font color="green">Knock Your Shots Down</font> – The Wizards were able to stop the Cavaliers from entering the lane and forced them to take jumpers, but that didn't work out to well. With the firepower the Celtics had, they should look to rotate the ball around and shoot mid to long range shots.[*]<font color="green">Establish Momentum</font> One of the ways the Cavaliers were able to build the 11 point lead in the 3rd against the Wizards was to catch the defenders sleeping and find easy shots. It's a good way to take the Wizards' momentum away and take the crowd out of it, since it's the home opener.[/list] <div align="center">Ones To Watch and </div> <font size="3">Prediction:</font> It's the Wizards home opener, so everybody should be pumped and the Celtics are coming off two straight loss, so I'll go with the Wizards, 101-90. Will's Prediction Record: 0-1 (Last: Wizards over Cavs 102-88)
I bet outside of Paul and Wally, we'll see a different starting lineup than we're expecting. I think the Wizards will use this game to get going for the season. Arenas should bounce back in a good way, and if he can continue the excellent passing along with bringing his scoring, it will be great for the team. I have a meeting at the time of the game, but I'll try and catch part of it at least. I say the Wizards win this one by 5, they'll pull out late in the 4th quarter, and it should be a close one.
It's been a good scoring quarter for the Wizards, with Arenas already scoring 9 points. It's great to see that his confidence level is up. Our frontcourt has done a great job hustling on the boards and getting second chance opportunity points. Like the emphatic jam by Etan, after Jamison made a last second effort to save it and just seconds ago when Brendan Haywood got the offensive rebound and shot a fadeaway the buzzer. Also, they've been doing a great job transitioning off turnovers and rebounds and getting 10 fastbreaking points off of it. They need to do a lot better job controlling the paint and make them work for their shots. There has been 10 layups already by the Celtics and Pierce already scored 13 points.
Arenas with 33 points and 6 assists ending the 3rd quarter, he's unstoppable behind the 3-point line right now. He also did a great job finding his teammates, and hustling out there. At this pace, he may break his career high. The Wizards are just doing a great job forcing turnovers with 19 and getting those fastbreak points with 27.
lol, Arenas really bounced back big in this game. So far, I've been liking his passing, but it's only two games, so let's hope he can keep it 6+ most games.
