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News, Notes & Wizards Quotes |
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Written by Media Relations
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Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
The Washington Wizards will play the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night (Friday, November 16th) in Minnesota at 8:00 pm EST on CSN+ and WTEM 980 AM. The following notes will appear in tomorrow night’s Wizards Game Notes.
* This game marks the first of two meetings between Washington and Minnesota this season. The Wizards and Wolves will meet again on Dec. 11 in Washington.
* Washington visits Minnesota with its mini two-game winning streak on the line. A win against the Timberwolves will give Washington its first three-game winning streak since March 2-6 of last season.
* Washington last won in Minnesota on March 7, 2000; a streak which now stands at seven consecutive losses. None of the current Wizards or Timberwolves played in that game, and only Minnesota’s Greg Buckner, Michael Doleac, Theo Ratliff and Antoine Walker, along with Washington’s Antawn Jamison and Antonio Daniels were even in the NBA when Washington last won in Minnesota.
* Wizards averaging career-highs include…
Caron Butler...21.6 points...2.3 steals...39.4 minutes...483 field goal percentage
Brendan Haywood...9.6 points...10.3 rebounds...2.3 blocks...30.0 minutes
Antawn Jamison...10.3 rebounds….844 free throw percentage
Darius Songaila...1.000 free throw percentage
Andray Blatche...3.9 points...1.0 assist...1.4 blocks...15.3 minutes
* At the 10:04 mark of the third quarter in Washington’s home opening game against Orlando (11/3), Caron Butler missed the second of two free throw attempts. He hasn’t missed since. Entering play tonight, Butler has connected on 27 consecutive free throw attempts.
* After recording three consecutive double-doubles to start the season, Brendan Haywood has since recorded two more double-doubles in Washington’s last two games. With a double-double tonight, Haywood will notch his second string of three straight double-doubles this season, after not recording three consecutive games with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first six professional seasons.
* Last season vs. Minnesota...Washington and Minnesota split a pair of meetings, as each team won on its home court...Antawn Jamison missed both games...Gilbert Arenas’ 29.0 ppg led Washington vs. Minnesota last season…DeShawn Stevenson averaged 22.0 ppg in two games against the Wolves; his highest scoring average vs. any opponent last season.
* In Washington’s last game (11/14 vs. Indiana)…Gilbert Arenas had a game-high 30 points and a season-high 11 assists...Arenas’ effort marked his first double-double and second 30+ point game of the season...Caron Butler had a season-high 25 points and scored 20+ points for the fifth consecutive game...Brendan Haywood scored a season-high 16 points, and with his 11 rebounds, recorded his fifth double-double of the season.
* Through games played on Wednesday, November 14th, Washington’s first seven opponents of the season carried a cumulative record of 33-23 (.589). Washington’s next seven opponents own a combined mark of 18-32 (.360).
WIZARDS HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN
On the Minnesota Timberwolves:
“We know their strengths. We know that Al Jefferson is a great low-post force, we know that (Rashad) McCants is back in the lineup, and Antoine Walker is back. They have some juice now that they won their first game. Randy (Wittman) is a good coach, and if you have any weaknesses, he’s going to pick them out. They’re young and fiery and anything can happen.”
On playing with a big lineup:
“It allows us to protect the rim and the paint better, and we still have skilled guys with Darius (Songaila) and Andray (Blatche) on the floor at the same time. When Brendan (Haywood) is out we can still have good size on the floor with Andray (Blatche), Darius (Songaila), Antawn (Jamison) and Caron (Butler) at guard.
On the rookies:
“The young guys still need to catch up some. I like both of them. I want to use both of them. We need to cut down on their mistakes and get them to play with more precision. This is when the emotional rollercoaster comes in. They were playing at first and now they’re not. Emotionally they have to handle that, and it’s tough.”
On playing another back-to-back:
“I don’t want to look that far ahead. We have to take care of business in Minnesota first. Hopefully we can ride a victory back here on Saturday.”
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