So again Arenas did his no shooting thing last night, and had 13 assists, and the team won. A reporter asked him the previous night why he only got 3 assists in a game, and he was a little angry. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Two nights after scoring a career-high 44 points and declaring "I'm not Steve Nash," Arenas did his best impersonation of the Phoenix Suns guard last night, dishing out a season-high 13 assists while passing up shots in the Washington Wizards' 119-112 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. </div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The game was defined by Arenas' strange behavior. For the third time in his career, he opted not to shoot for long stretches of a game. He took just two shots in the first three quarters and finished with just eight points ? all in the fourth quarter. After Arenas scored 44 in Saturday's loss to Philadelphia, he was asked about the fact that he had only three assists. Arenas' response was defensive and his voice rose as he said: "I'm not Steve Nash, and I never will be. I'm not going to get you 22 assists." Jordan said he did not know why Arenas wasn't shooting last night. While the coach praised Arenas for managing the game well, Jordan said he had not asked Arenas to take fewer shots ? and Arenas had not given the coach any indication of what was in store. Arenas did not speak after the game, and teammates didn't seem to have a clue, either. "He's talented enough to lead a team in different ways than shooting and scoring: rebounding the ball, assisting, playing solid defense," Larry Hughes said. "And that's what he decided to do tonight." </div> NBA notes: Wizards' Arenas does it his way again I think he's 3-0 in those "I'm not going to shoot games." Now, while I love Arenas' ability to score, and his explosive offensive ability, would anyone else prefer it if he averaged more like 18-20 points and 7-8 assists, as opposed to 25 points and 5-6 assists? I know I sure would. For some reason Arenas takes being a true PG as not shooting at all, but these non-shooting games seem to be working out well. He's not a true PG, but he doesn't need to attempt very few shots to score. His drive and dish game was great though, and Kwame really benefited. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Arenas pulled a similar stunt last season against Toronto after Kwame Brown accused an unspecified teammate of being selfish with the ball ? a vaguely disguised attack on Arenas. Arenas responded by not attempting a shot until 5:30 remained in the game in a 76-74 victory over Toronto ? which also ended a five-game losing streak. Arenas also staged a shooting boycott during one game when he was with Golden State. Arenas' actions made for an unusual Wizards box score. Brown, booed for ineffective play at the last two home games, drew cheers as he took advantage of Arenas' feeds and scored a season-high 17 points. Larry Hughes had 23 points, Etan Thomas 17, and Juan Dixon, who has struggled recently coming back from an injury, added 12. Arenas didn't score in double figures for the first time since Jan. 17.</div> Wizards 119, Bucks 112
Gilbert Arenas is a more effective player if he's scoring less and dishing out more, there's no doubt about it. I'm curious to see how he does in the post-season. He needs to realize that getting his big men involved early, will just make it easier for him.
Arenas should play the way he wants too. Kwame has played like what, 15 games this season? He hasn't had anything to do with their success this year, he should just stay quiet. Let Arenas and Hughes be the main scoring options. The Wiz have depth, and can win with role players too. But I'd much rather have the ball in their hands.
Arenas is a good scorer but also a good playmaker. I don't think it's nessecary fo him to stop shooting like he does though. As long as he gets the job done Arenas has no reason to change his game, and the last time I checked the Wizards are in the playoffs so he must be doing his job. I'm not saying that he shouldn't dish the ball more, I'm just saying that only taking 5 shots is going to extreme. Gilbert just needs to be him.
I don't mind Arenas getting 25-26ppg, he can take games over at ease, especially in the second half. I wouldn't mind him passing more though in the first half, get everyone involved. 3-0 in boycott games, but I don't want them to continue.
belief I believe that he should start doing this more often. If you look at his record when he does it, 3-0, as opposed to when he scores 40+, 1-4 I believe, it shows that they do better when he is the catalyst.
^ Yes that's the thing, the team isn't winning when he has the 40 point games, it could be due to the circumstances in that when he has those games everyone else is sucking, and the team is shorthanded, but I'd rather him score in the lowe 20's and increase his assists. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Arenas should play the way he wants too. Kwame has played like what, 15 games this season? He hasn't had anything to do with their success this year, he should just stay quiet. Let Arenas and Hughes be the main scoring options. The Wiz have depth, and can win with role players too. But I'd much rather have the ball in their hands.</div> This really has nothing to do with Kwame, it just has to do with Arenas passing more, he definately doesn't need to go extreme and take single digits in shots, but he should try and get the team involved early, and then take over when needed. He can score whenever he wants, and he knows that, but getting the team involved helps a lot especially as the game progresses.
