After beating James’ gang, Washington faces Orlando
Nothing puts Washington in a better mood than beating nemesis Cleveland. A day after Sunday’s 80-77 win over the Cavaliers, the Wizards still were enjoying LeBron James’ curious explanation of his crucial traveling violation.
The question of the day: What exactly is a “crab dribble?”
“I don’t know,” said Antawn Jamison. “But I know what a travel is.”
“Being from the Maryland Eastern Shore area, we should know that,” joked interim coach Ed Tapscott. “I’ll have to check in my book.”
Caron Butler had the best explanation.
“Crab dribble is when you travel. Yeah, that’s the hottest thing on the market now,” said the All-Star forward. “He switched his pivot again. Obviously that’s a travel. I couldn’t do it in AAU. I couldn’t do it in college. Obviously, I can’t do it now.”
For once against James, the call went the Wizards’ way. But there were other reasons for the success of Washington (7-25) — defense and rebounding. With the exception of Friday’s 108-83 loss at Boston, these have been constants since a promising 93-89 defeat at Cleveland on Christmas Night. The Wizards look to continue the trend tonight at Orlando (26-8).
“Whenever you out-rebound a team and get some stops, you have a chance to be in the game,” said Tapscott. “Effort and defending and rebounding should be constants.”
New starters Andray Blatche (center), Dominic McGuire (small forward), and Mike James (point guard), if not spectacular, have been consistent. The result — lower-scoring games and more control in the fourth quarter.
“Our success formula isn’t the old formula this team has had in the past where 105 points was a goal and basically see if someone could catch us,” said Tapscott. “We don’t have that firepower right now given our injury situation. It leads to fewer possessions and I think that gives us the best chance to win, right now. As we get people back, and get to full strength, we can sort of shift our emphasis as we become more proficient in other areas.”
