According to the age-old NBA cliché, teams take on the personality of their best player.
Cliché or not, it certainly seems true of the Wizards’ difficult start to the postseason. In losing two games to the Cleveland Cavaliers, both the Wizards and their best player, Caron Butler, have looked out of sorts.
The 6-foot-8 forward has hardly been terrible in hitting 9 of 23 shots, scoring 26 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing 9 assists. But he has borne little resemblance to the assertive All-Star who willed the Wizards to back-to-back wins over Boston three months ago.
Tonight when Washington faces Cleveland at Verizon Center, the Wizards need Butler to resume the role he played earlier this year when he challenged others to follow his lead.
Coach Eddie Jordan was hesitant to address the question of Butler’s play, when asked Tuesday.
“I want to get the Wizards going,” said Jordan. “I’m not going to hang my hat on getting one person going. Our team needs to play better. He’s part of the team.”
Butler, who did not speak to the media Tuesday or Wednesday, should relish a matchup with the Cavaliers, who are guarding him with slow-footed Wally Szczerbiak. But in Monday’s 116-86 loss in Cleveland, Szczerbiak out-scored Butler 15-12.
Butler has been plagued by injuries since he landed on his hip in a loss at Milwaukee, Jan. 27, in which he scored a career-high 40 points. After missing 19 games with a torn labrum, Butler returned March 13, only to suffer a sprained wrist in a win over the Cavaliers. In the final three weeks of the regular season, Butler missed three games with hamstring and knee issues.
With guard Gilbert Arenas struggling to regain his form on his surgically repaired knee, Washington needs Butler’s dynamism.
“Caron seems to be fairly healthy. Gil’s far from Gil. We know that,” said Jordan. “[Cleveland] doesn’t have Sasha Pavlovic. They’ve got some injury situations. LeBron’s got a bad back. We can’t use that as an excuse. Gil is flat out not the Gil we’re gonna see in October.”
Even if Arenas is not back to full speed, has Butler deferred to him? And, if so, have the Wizards lost their identity?
Guard Antonio Daniels doesn’t buy that theory.
“You can’t search for an identity in April. If you’re doing that, you’re having problems,” said Daniels. “I think a lot of things get said around this time of the year. A lot of conclusions are being jumped to and a lot of things are being made out of one basketball game. … I think it’s great to be back home with a chance to redeem ourselves.”
