Going solo

So the Wizards have shown themselves to be the more complete team after four games with the Cavaliers.

The Wizards don’t have control of the series to back up the claim, only a sense that the series should be theirs, whether in six or seven games.

The Wizards have three significant weapons in Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. The Cavaliers have LeBron James and the hope that another party will emerge in each game.

The latter seems almost a designed failing.

The Cavaliers don’t have an offense as much as they have a reflex response to give the ball to James and let him do all the dribbling, passing, decision-making and scoring. This is an Allen Iverson Lite approach to the game, although James sees the floor far better than Iverson at a comparable age.

The Big Three of the Wizards have a considerable advantage over James and the other two, if you are inclined to count the Amish-looking center and Larry Hughes as the other two.

Hughes is waiting to make a genuine appearance in the series.

The person wearing No. 32 with the Cavaliers bears an uncanny resemblance to the player who averaged 22.0 points and led the NBA in steals with the Wizards last season.

The resemblance ends with the facial features.

The intent of No. 32 going into the series was to show the Wizards made an accounting error last summer. That intent was a lost cause from the start, for he already missed 45 games this season.

Hughes lives with the reality that he is a part-time player who draws a full-time salary.

Even as a full-time player in the series, he has part-time numbers: 10.3 points a game and a .319 shooting percentage.

The absence of a hierarchy left the Cavaliers dependent on Donyell Marshall in Game 1, Drew Gooden in Game 2, no one other than James in Game 3 and Flip Murray in Game 4.

The Cavaliers seemingly function on the basis of James and whim.

Both Eddie Jordan and Mike Brown have wondered about the quality and consistency of the officiating, which is fair enough.

Story Continues →