It’s noticeable on film. So says Caron Butler, who sees defenses, anxious to double team Gilbert Arenas, playing off Antawn Jamison
It’s also noticeable on film what Jamison is doing. He’s drilling long jumpers, scoring lots of points and making defenses re-think their strategy.
In the past two games, with the Wizards opposition focused more on sending a second defender at Arenas, Jamison has scored a combined 69 points. Jamison scored 35 points in Friday’s win over Detroit, whom the Wizards play tonight with first place in the Eastern Conference again at stake.
Jamison has scored 30 or more points five times this season; three have come in the past five games.
“He’s unbelievable,” Butler said. “I don’t understand why people play so far off him. You look on film and they’re sagging off, but he’ll makethat shot every time. It works for us and it helps us a lot.
“He’s taking the shots and he’s making them. That’s what he does.”
Jamison has attempted 20 or more field goals three times in the past five games. In the first 38 games, he had four such efforts.
And in those five games, he’s made 17 of 37 three-pointers.
“When ’Twan plays like that, he takes us to another level,” Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson said.
The increased opportunities stem from the extra attention paid to Arenas.
“We knew it was a matter of time before they started putting a lot of attention on him,” Jamison said. “This is a team you can’t do that with. You have Gil, myself and Caron. So you’ve got two other guys who can take advantage of that situation.
“We’ve been doing a great job of sensing the double teams and moving the ball freely and getting the open guy the open shots — and we’ve been knocking them down as of late.”
This comes about two weeks after Jamison said he was mentally fatigued, drained from a summer of traveling with the U.S. National Team. He also banged his knee a week ago, but a couple days of rest has helped him recover.
“He’s living off draw-and-kicks and he’s knocking down shots,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said.
And, Jordan said, Arenas has helped by making smart decisions against the double teams. Of course, he also has two teammates who average at least 19.7 points per game.
“That’s a luxury not many teams can have,” Jamison said. “When you have an MVP candidate like Gil, you know it’s a matter of time before teams try to keep the ball out of his hands.”
Wiz notes
» Gilbert Arenas has shot less than 40 percent from the field in four of the past six games, yet the Wizards are 5-1 during this stretch. Arenas missed practice Monday to visit the dentist.He had one of his teeth chipped in Sunday’s win over Boston.
» The Wizards will find out Thursday whether or not Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison will make the NBA All Star team as reserves. Also, if the Wizards have the best record in the Eastern Conference by Feb. 4, then Eddie Jordan will be the coach. Or if the Pistons have the best record and Washington is second, Jordan would still be the coach because Detroit coach Flip Saunders did it last season.
» Jamison has not only been shooting more three-pointers lately, he’s been more active getting to the free-throw line. In the past five games he’s attempted 24 free throws. In his previous nine games, he had attempted just 12.
