Bullets win! [No, really! They did.]

http://dcprosportsreport.com/?p=2034

| December 3, 2008

The Bullets won a game last night! Wait, there’s more. They won a game on the road! Wait, there’s more. They beat a team with a better-than-.500 record! Wait, there’s more. Deshawn Stevensonactually hit a shot! More than one shot, actually! Wait, there’s more. Oh, wait. No, there isn’t more. That’s basically it.

But that’s enough! Rejoice, Bullets fans — our beloved team of ragged losers won a game and “improved” their record to 3-12 overall. Forwards Caron Butler [22 points, 10 assists] and Antawn Jamison [22 points, 8 rebounds] did their usual routine, but it was Deshawn Stevenson who really propelled the team to victory with his 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers. Stevenson also added 5 assists and zero turnovers. The team got an All Star performance from the shooting guard who had been shooting 30% from the field coming in to the game. Stevenson said afterward:  ”Seeing the frustration on Caron’s face and Antawn’s face, they need another guy to come out there and help them. We need that third guy every night.”

I’ve been pretty forceful calling for Stevenson to be benched and I don’t back off that one bit. I won’t back off it until/unless Stevenson starts putting together more games like this on a more frequent basis. Shooting 30% for 14 games and then ripping it up every 15th game isn’t good enough. If this is the start of something good for Deshawn, fine — he should keep his starting job. But if it is just a one-game blip on a radar screen of ineptitude, then get Nick Young – with all his mistakes and promise — in the game and leave him there for 35 minutes a night. [Young added 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting in 20 minutes off the bench last night.] 

The Bullets shot almost 52 percent from the field last night, while allowing New Jersey to hit only about 40% of its shots on its home floor. That’s pretty much a reversal of what it has been for Washington this year. The key was a 35-12 3rd quarter, with Washington’s starters absolutely destroying the Nets in every way possible. The Bullets used a lot of zone defense in the second half and the result was to limit the Nets’ high-scoring back court of Vince Carter [16 points on 6-17 shooting] and Devin Harris [18 points, only 2 assists]. Carter and Harris are to the Nets what Butler and Jamison are to the Bullets. With Carter and Harris contributing only 34 points on 31 shots, the Nets were ripe for destruction. 

Young Bullets Watch

PG Dee Brown had a nice game, hitting 3 of 5 shots and scoring 8 points. He added 7 dimes and zero turnovers. Nothing spectacular, but very solid numbers. Probably Brown’s best game as a Bullet.

SG Nick Young had some ball-handling difficulties, but he shot 5 of 8 and scored 12 points off the bench. I’d like to see the kid get more than 1 rebound in 20 minutes, but his 2 assists aren’t bad.

C Javale McGee battled fellow rookie center Brook Lopez much of the night, pretty much to a draw. McGee hit only 4 of 9 shots for 8 points, but he played some good defense, grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked 3 shots. Not McGee’s best game, but he showed real presence on defense. 

QF Dominic McGuire got into the game and threw down a spectacular alley-oop dunk [from Dee Brown] that impressed even a jaded Nets crowd. It was a typical DMac performance, scoring only those 2 points in 13 minutes and committing 4 fouls. However, he did pull down 6 rebounds, got a steal and blocked a shot. I really like this kid. He’ll never be a big scorer, but he does a lot of the things the Bullets need to get done.

PF/C Andray Blatche has been quiet since his breakout performance against the Golden State Warriors. He stunk again last night, scoring only 2 points in 14 minutes. He turned the ball over twice, missed 4 of 5 shots, and grabbed only 2 rebounds. [Remember, McGuire had 6 boards in 13 minutes.] We may have to face the fact that Blatche is what he is: An immature kid with too much money and not enough common sense.