When handing out his pre-game notes to his players for tonight’s game against Dwight Howard and the Magic, Ed Tapscott came into the locker room with green sheets of paper and waited to see if his players picked up on it.
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Some of the Wizards first wondered if it was for Saint Patricks Day. Then it hit Dominic McGuire: Kryptonite.
“When you have as long a season as ours, you’ve got to change it up, try to keep it light. So, I thought I’d do that theme. It’s not an original idea, obviously I stole it from Nate Robinson, who came out in the All-Star [dunk contest], wearing a green uniform. So, I figured I’d put the game plan on green paper.”
Now, to for the key for actually developing a kryptonite on the court? Tapscott said, “another color: Red-ding Superman,” red being the Wizards’ term for double-teaming. The Wizards will try to keept he ball out of Howards’ hands, but also prepared to be attacked from the perimeter by all of Howards’ sharpshooting teammates. The Wizards have steadily gotten better each time they have played Orlando, losing by 25 the first time, 15 the second time and eight the third. They pulled within three in the final game with less than two minutes to play, but ran out of gas.
They’ll see if this fourth time can be the charm.
The Wizards will start their usual lineup of guards Mike James and Caron Butler, Dominic McGuire and Antawn Jamison at forward and Darius Songaila at center. The Magic will start Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee in the back court, Mickael Pietrus and Rashard Lewis at forward with Hedo Turkoglu out with an injured left foot, and of course Dwight Howard at center.
