Caron Butler News

One year ago Tuesday, Eddie Jordan had just finished handing out Thanksgiving turkeys when he was informed that he had been relieved of his duties as head coach after a 1-10 start. And in a twisted coincidence of scheduling, Jordan returns to his home town on the anniversary of that firing as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Jordan's former team has two of the pieces that he lacked for his final, futile season -- Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood -- but the Wizards (3-9) have improved only slightly from this point last year, despite the addition of several new pieces and Coach Flip Saunders.

The Washington Wizards may be only 12 games into the season, but at 3-9 - only one game better than last season at this point - the squad that was supposed to be a contender is again headed in the wrong direction.

Tony Parker scored 17 points and the San Antonio Spurs stopped a three-game losing streak with a 106-84 victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.

Always looking for ways to get more out of his players, Wizards coach Flip Saunders canceled the morning shootaround for the second straight game to allow his team to get extra rest.

Kevin Durant scored 35 points, Russell Westbrook added 26 and the Oklahoma City Thunder had their highest-scoring output of the season in a 127-108 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

View full size photo>> So what's the operative word of the day, one day after the Wizards routed the Cavaliers ? Excitement? Sure, anytime you beat Cleveland, you're excited.

Andrew Rosen November 5, 2009 Bookmark or Share If the sell-out crowd on opening night was scrambling for their game programs to find the Wizards roster page it is hard to blame them.

There are so many reasons why last night's game was so frustrating. The inability to stay in front of Will Bynum , a guy that once toiled for the Wizards ' old D-League affiliate, Roanoke.

He tried serious. Surly even. He declared Agent Zero dead and retired the Hibachi.

Shirtless, slouching and sulking, Gilbert Arenas was fidgeting with his cellphone Tuesday night when personal trainer Tim Grover, in Miami to check on him, leaned over his locker room stall. Grover spoke to Arenas for a few minutes, with Arenas repeatedly nodding his head. Arenas's rehabilitation from a left knee injury that cost him most of the last two seasons had not ended when he left Grover's training facility in Chicago last summer, and Arenas was already learning an early-season lesson.

A strained left calf nearly sidelined him before he decided about 15 minutes before the game to play against the Miami Heat. Then, after his backup Randy Foye sprained his right ankle in the first half, Arenas was forced to play a season-high 42 minutes. And for the second game in a row, Arenas succumbed to fatigue -- both mental and physical -- as he committed 10 of his career-high 12 turnovers in the second half of the Wizards' 90-76 defeat.

Ben Gordon scored 29 points, including the eight with less than two minutes to play, as the Detroit Pistons beat the Wizards, 106-103, tonight in Washington.

And that's if they play. Jamison, who has been sidelined since Oct. 13 with a partially dislocated right shoulder, was cleared for practice Thursday.

After the Washington Wizards returned from Miami -- where they suffered their fifth consecutive loss, continued to sputter on offense and were reduced to just one healthy point guard -- Caron Butler said he walked around his house with a smile on his face. His wife, Andrea, looked at him, perplexed.

'How are you smiling?' Butler recalls her asking.

'I've got to smile to keep from crying,' he told her.

The Wizards' sorrows weren't resolved when they signed point guard Earl Boykins on Wednesday, but the 11-year veteran does address one problem for a team already ravaged by injuries only three weeks into the season. He provides scoring, playmaking and stability, all in a pocket-sized package.

The 2009-2010 NBA season is barely two weeks old, but the 2010 free agency class is a hot topic for fans and experts alike.

The Washington Wizards were supposed to be the surprise team of the NBA this season, but after double-digit losses against the Cavaliers, Hawks, and Pacers, there is no surprise left.

Two teams headed in different directions meet at the American Airlines Arena in Miami tonight.

The Washington Wizards couldn't find the basket this afternoon and fell 102-90 to the visiting Phoenix Suns.

Gilbert Arenas knocked down a 20-foot jumper in Steve Nash's face late in the first quarter and brought back his old Hibachi move.

A red-hot Phoenix club resumes a grueling five-game road trip against Washington in the nation's capital Sunday.

So this is what it was like, huh? Gilbert Arenas found himself thinking that Friday night after a 102-86 loss to the Indiana Pacers.