Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  30 responses

Cavs/Wizards, Still a Rivalry to Some

by Marcel Mutoni

And by “some”, I mean members of the Washington Wizards organization, and the people who cover them in the media.

The war may long be over, but like those Japanese soldiers who didn’t get the word for a long time that WWII had wrapped up, the Wizards continue their endless battle against Cleveland. Last night, they notched yet another improbable win against the League’s best team.

The Washington Post attempts to make sense of things:

Gilbert Arenas had the funniest explanation to explain the Wizards two wins against Cleveland this season, even though he was only on the floor for one of the wins. “A broke clock’s right twice,” he said with a laugh.

But seriously, no matter how good the Cavaliers have been this season, there is one bottom-feeding team that is not afraid to go against them. The standings might tell a different story, but the rivalry isn’t dead, at least from the Wizards’ perspective. Cleveland was likely looking ahead to its game against Orlando on Friday, while this game represented the season, pretty much, for Washington.

“No matter when we play, if we have three players, 12 players, when we have to play Cleveland, we get up for it,” Arenas said. “It’s been a rivalry since Larry Hughes decided to go there. It’s always going to be a good game.”

Gil is right, of course. Who could ever forget Larry Hughes and his innumerable contributions to this ever simmering “rivalry”?

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  • Kiyan Foroughi Posted: Apr.3 at 9:04 am
    First! Agent Zero, whilst talented, is a moron…

  • Kozmic Posted: Apr.3 at 9:16 am
    Washington Who? Does Stevenson still thinks he’s better than Bron?

  • Ken Posted: Apr.3 at 9:18 am
    It was funny in the post-game interview, because Arenas started to say something to the effect of: “its a rivalry even though we’re bad this season…and never beat them in the playoffs…” and then when he realized how bad that was sounding, he kinda jumped ship.

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.3 at 9:24 am
    I remember when a CAVS/WIZ game in April was must see TV. Last nights game I watched because I love TNT thurdays but thought to myself the rivalry is dead. The Cavs have gone far and beyond and the Wiz have fallin far behind. But with agent Zero back and getting the victory, I feel the war still continues.

  • Gerard Himself Posted: Apr.3 at 10:14 am
    I enjoyed the game, but everytime the Wizards grabbed a board, they threw it out to Antawn Jamison who was standing under to basket ready to score without any kind of defense on him. I think I saw this happening 4 or 5 times last night. Where was the Cavs’ D?

  • Z Posted: Apr.3 at 10:18 am
    The Wiz are like the the scrub that’s thinking he’s locking you up when you crossed him twice but missed the wide open J.

  • Joe Posted: Apr.3 at 10:34 am
    HAHA @^Z: Thats the best description of this situation

  • Lewis Posted: Apr.3 at 10:35 am
    If you crossed him twice and still took a J aren’t you the scrub?

  • Darksaber Posted: Apr.3 at 10:40 am
    If by rivalry they mean playing “bash-a-bron” all game long, then yeah, why not. Delusions of grandeur, indeed.

  • Zee! Posted: Apr.3 at 11:29 am
    Both teams played hard.

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.3 at 11:33 am
    CAN SOME ONE EXPLAIN LAST NIGHT WIZ JERSEYS TO ME? THANK YOU

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.3 at 11:33 am
    Latin Night?

  • Mendel Posted: Apr.3 at 11:34 am
    I mean spansih night?

  • Gift2basketball Posted: Apr.3 at 12:17 pm
    1 of the best rivalries in the L

  • Anton Posted: Apr.3 at 12:41 pm
    Even poorer man’s Bobcats.

  • Clark Kent Posted: Apr.3 at 1:22 pm
    This is not a rivalry. This is a one-sided feud.

  • Russ Bengtson Posted: Apr.3 at 1:38 pm
    The Cavs/Wiz rivalry is a lot like the longstanding cat/mouse rivalry.

  • Z Posted: Apr.3 at 1:47 pm
    Lewis has never heard of the lane being clogged and teams making rotations after you get by your man, apparently. Honest question, do you play ball?

  • j-arch30 Posted: Apr.3 at 1:54 pm
    the wiz would have been good if they had a healthy gilbert and brendan haywood. its all good their gonna get a good draft pick..

  • jdubbs29 Posted: Apr.3 at 2:26 pm
    You can’t really judge the Wiz by this season when their 28 point-a-night guard is out. When Gil was healthy he was lighting up the league and the Wiz were close to the top of the East by record. Not at the Cavs level, but with a little ping pong ball magic (think Blake Griffin) and a healthy Gil and Haywood, plus Butler and Jamison, don’t see why the Wiz can’t be at least as good as say, the Magic. This year doesn’t really tell the story with their star our all season. How would the Cavs be without Lebron? Not equating Gil with Bron, mind you, but still…

  • Chris Posted: Apr.3 at 2:44 pm
    I thought this was gonna be another DeShawn article….

  • Tyrone Shoelaces Posted: Apr.3 at 3:34 pm
    I am sorry to say, but this was a statement game for the wizards. You can talk as much trash as you want that this was a “meaningless game” but this solidifies the fact the wizards ARE still a top team in the east and have just been overcome by injuries. This is the wizards saying that with a healthy line-up they can contend with any team in the league. wait til next year haters…

  • donlaker Posted: Apr.3 at 3:50 pm
    it seems to me that zero picked apart the cavs interior d he had haywood on the block and twan and caron on the wings, he did a good job directing. it was a statement game for the wiz
    and habachi , knew he could catch the cavs with tired legs… and one question is wally world that inconsistent all the time lol

  • Zoran Posted: Apr.3 at 4:08 pm
    Love the intensity of last night’s game, you can tell Wizards took pride in every basket scored down the stretch. The rivalry is still on without a doubt, you dudes are ignorant for trashing Wizards when they didn’t have their core players all year-round. If they stay healthy next season, I predict good top 5 seed in the East.

  • Blinguo Posted: Apr.3 at 6:51 pm
    That’s a Barkley joke in many a TNT broadcast. Plagiarism, Arenas. Cite them sources! But Chuck adds a bit to the end, which = what Washington is this season, “A broken clock is right twice a day, but that doesn’t mean you want one”

  • Hursty Posted: Apr.3 at 7:18 pm
    @Mendel- it was their old school jersey. The Zephyr’s were the original name of the organisation (I think it was only during their very first season though) and then became the Bullets.
    Gerard is correct, many open lay ups for Jamison. His jam in the 2nd quarter down the baseline was pretty cool too.

  • Jukai Posted: Apr.3 at 8:27 pm
    Hey guys, I’m mad g@y.

  • Dacre Posted: Apr.6 at 12:02 am
    Hey gays, I’m mad guy.

  • niQ Posted: Apr.6 at 2:38 am
    when the wiz meet the cavs back in the playoffs then i’ll consider it a rivalry. until then this is nothing.

  • jdubbs29 Posted: Apr.6 at 11:38 am
    niQ. This is a rivalry. I consider it something. My opinion >> your opinion.

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