Although JaVale McGee is the final healthy center on the Wizards‘ roster, coach Ed Tapscott will keep him on the bench for tonight’s game here in Miami and instead will start the undersized Darius Songaila at center.
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Songaila has filled in at center at times this season but is a natural forward. But he gives Tapscott someone he can trust to properly execute the game plan and battle consistently.
“Veteran guy, gives a chance to get off to a solid start, I know what I can expect from him, and we want to be solid at the start of games, obiously,” Tapscott said of the 6-foot-9 Songaila. “They are a team that doesn’t have huge size, but they are a team that plays very, very hard, obviously on the defensive end. And what I’ve seen this year is they have a really good fast break effort, so really when they turn you over, they’ve been capitalizing in that fast break situation, so that’s another reason why we want to be very solid.”
McGee will likely be the first option off the bench for the Wizards, and Tapscott said that Oleksiy Pecherov also will be used tonight.
Otherwise, it’s the same starters for the Wizards.
