Antawn Jamison’s 33 points couldn’t garner the Wizards a win over the Toronto Raptors last evening at the Verizon Center, as the Wizards fell 99-93.
“We didn’t do the things necessary to win”, said interim head coach, Ed Tapscott. “We need to play, and play competitively, and we just didn’t get it done tonight.”
Tapscott didn’t single out any one player for the lack luster efforts and said the team as a unit came up short.
“I said to these guys if we just make jump shots it’s gonna make it a long night. We gotta have drives to the basket, [and] take some fouls from guys who score in the paint”, advised Tapscott.
The Wizards lagged behind for most of the game, at one point by twenty-one, and despite repeated efforts to catch up, the Raptors' scoring team was just too dominate for the Wizards.
Raptor’s Andrea Bargnani scored 25 points on the evening, while Chris Bosh added another 15.
Bargnani credits his scoring success on the night to this one thing: ``I never shot with a defender on me,'' Bargnani said.
Translation: The Wizards' defense came up short. Way short.
Toronto shot 54.4% percent from the field versus the Wizards’ 46.4%, and also out did the home team in free throws, 88% to the Wizards’ meager 55%.
“It’s hard to beat a team that’s shooting that well”, said Wizards’ guard, Mike James. “They out rebounded us and we couldn't hit a free-throw tonight. With those kind of stats they jumped on us early and we couldn’t get it going and wasn’t able to get our lead.”
The Raptors shot well, even without three of their regular players, Jermaine O'Neal (right knee), Jose Calderon (right hamstring), and Jamario Moon (new baby).
With the Wizards’s dismal 7-27 record staring them in the face, James said he’s still optimistic and hasn’t given up on the season.
“If we give up on the season now it just makes it that much more worse as we go on. We got to continue to keep fighting. Every game, every time we step on the court we gotta give one-hundred percent.”
The Wizards have repeatedly tried to breathe life back into games in which they were down in the third and fourth quarters, at times coming within five points or less; but with each effort, their past opponents seemed to have had more juice and pulled away from the Wizards to get a win.
That was again the case against the Raptors.
“It’s a tough lost [tonight], because we had a chance to gain a little momentum, you know, get on a little streak, but now we have to start back at it again and get read to face Chicago and get a victory out there”, said James.
Both James and Caron Butler did well in the assist department on the night. James had four while Caron Butler (15 points on the night) gave up six.
Antawn Jamison’s three offensive rebounds, and four defensive rebounds on the evening helped him reached a career-high 6,000 rebounds. Jamison is in good company, along with only an elite eight players who hold the same honor. Among them, Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler.
The Wizards face the Chicago Bulls on the road Friday. Game time, 8:30 p.
“We didn’t do the things necessary to win”, said interim head coach, Ed Tapscott. “We need to play, and play competitively, and we just didn’t get it done tonight.”
Tapscott didn’t single out any one player for the lack luster efforts and said the team as a unit came up short.
“I said to these guys if we just make jump shots it’s gonna make it a long night. We gotta have drives to the basket, [and] take some fouls from guys who score in the paint”, advised Tapscott.
The Wizards lagged behind for most of the game, at one point by twenty-one, and despite repeated efforts to catch up, the Raptors' scoring team was just too dominate for the Wizards.
Raptor’s Andrea Bargnani scored 25 points on the evening, while Chris Bosh added another 15.
Bargnani credits his scoring success on the night to this one thing: ``I never shot with a defender on me,'' Bargnani said.
Translation: The Wizards' defense came up short. Way short.
Toronto shot 54.4% percent from the field versus the Wizards’ 46.4%, and also out did the home team in free throws, 88% to the Wizards’ meager 55%.
“It’s hard to beat a team that’s shooting that well”, said Wizards’ guard, Mike James. “They out rebounded us and we couldn't hit a free-throw tonight. With those kind of stats they jumped on us early and we couldn’t get it going and wasn’t able to get our lead.”
The Raptors shot well, even without three of their regular players, Jermaine O'Neal (right knee), Jose Calderon (right hamstring), and Jamario Moon (new baby).
With the Wizards’s dismal 7-27 record staring them in the face, James said he’s still optimistic and hasn’t given up on the season.
“If we give up on the season now it just makes it that much more worse as we go on. We got to continue to keep fighting. Every game, every time we step on the court we gotta give one-hundred percent.”
The Wizards have repeatedly tried to breathe life back into games in which they were down in the third and fourth quarters, at times coming within five points or less; but with each effort, their past opponents seemed to have had more juice and pulled away from the Wizards to get a win.
That was again the case against the Raptors.
“It’s a tough lost [tonight], because we had a chance to gain a little momentum, you know, get on a little streak, but now we have to start back at it again and get read to face Chicago and get a victory out there”, said James.
Both James and Caron Butler did well in the assist department on the night. James had four while Caron Butler (15 points on the night) gave up six.
Antawn Jamison’s three offensive rebounds, and four defensive rebounds on the evening helped him reached a career-high 6,000 rebounds. Jamison is in good company, along with only an elite eight players who hold the same honor. Among them, Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler.
The Wizards face the Chicago Bulls on the road Friday. Game time, 8:30 p.
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