Category: Washington Wizards Blog

Washington Wizards swingman Nick Young shot 9-of-15 for 22 points in a win over the Wizards yesterday. Here’s what he said today:

Nick Young on how he felt after scoring a career high 22 points: “I slept pretty well. I talked to my mom. She said I played a good game yesterday. I was kind of excited.”

Young on how his friends and family reacted to last night’s game: “They were surprised. They knew I always had a little bit of talent and they were just happy to see me play hard.”

Young on playing Cleveland: “We’re playing at home. We’re in a playoff race. We need a win. We need all the wins that we can get. We’re just going to out there and play hard.”

Antawn Jamison on the current home stand: “This is one of the last home stands of the season.  This is an opportunity for us to get some home cooking.  We play a game and get a day off after every game.  At this point in the season, you don’t get many opportunities like that.  Hopefully we can get some healthy bodies out on the court as well.  We can really start to see what type of team we’re going to be heading into the next month and hopefully the playoffs.”

Antawn Jamison on Caron Butler’s play in practice: “He looks quick.  He looks lively.  The key is how he feels later on tonight.  I think he’ll give it another practice before he plays in a game.  He looked pretty good.  We’re going to see what happens once he gets some ice on him and gets an opportunity to rest.”

Antawn Jamison on Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas: “It’s good to see those guys moving around and getting closer and closer to playing.  We’d like to see them out there but we’ve got to be patient.  It’s almost like Christmas…you’re counting down the days until you can finally open the presents.  It would be nice to see number zero and number three out there on the basketball court.”

Caron Butler on his status: “I am trying to get back out there.  I am going to wait until next week to start participating in practices, and I am going to play it by ear.  My body is going to determine whether I am able to play or not.”

Butler on the team’s performance without him: “Overall, I am really proud of the team and how they have stepped up in the last couple of weeks.  Somehow, someway, no matter what we have been hit with, guys have been stepping up and coming up with wins.”

Butler on his injury: “It’s amazing how an injury can put a halt to what you are doing.  I have been unfortunate the last couple of years.  I have been hit with the injury bug in the second half of the season.  This is one of those things that I am pretty sure I can bounce back from.  The medical staff feels the same way, and I feel great about that.”

Butler on his return: “The best way to do it is to come back 100%, so that is what I am waiting on and we will see how it works.  I am walking and I am feeling better.  Jogging around…I can do that with no discomfort.  Leg lifts with weight…I can do that with no discomfort.  And rest does a body good.  I am very confident that I will be back on the court, sooner rather than later.”

Butler on avoiding surgery: “That (surgery) will be the very last option for us.  I would have to play and get pulled out again, and play through more pain…and all sorts of things before it would even be an option.”

Butler on if he has a timetable for his return: “No, that is the beautiful thing about the medical staff here, Ernie (Grunfeld) and the coaching staff.  We talked and we are not going to make a timetable.  I am just going to go with my body and how it feels.”

Washington Wizards star Gilbert Arenas has returned to practice. Here’s what he said today:

Gilbert Arenas on practice: “It felt good. I was surprised about my wind…I wasn’t as tired as I thought I was going to be. I was just excited to get out there and play basketball.”

Gilbert Arenas on his knee: “My knee is fine so far. We’ll see how it acts tomorrow after a day of rest.”

Gilbert Arenas on regaining his confidence: “Little by little it comes back, the more you play, the more you interact on the floor, the more you watch. Just to go out there and do things you are used to doing…you just have to get your confidence back little by little.”

Gilbert Arenas on the team’s potential with a healthy roster: “We know how good we are. We showed it last year when we were blowing teams out and playing great basketball. They are still playing great basketball without me and Caron (Butler), and that shows a lot.”

And here’s Wizards coach Eddie Jordan:

Eddie Jordan on today’s practice: “It was great…the guys were active and were into it. Gilbert (Arenas) had a good first practice, and Etan (Thomas) practiced today and had some physical contact.”

Eddie Jordan on Gilbert Arenas: “We are trying to allow him to come into practice and do a lot of non-contact drills, and when we do get into contact, we want to allow him to see where the contact is coming from. So we limited back screens and pick-and-roll screens when he can’t see it. We want him to react to seeing a screen coming, and as we move along we will get him in more normal situations. I thought he handled it well.”

More from Eddie Jordan on Arenas: “What was great was that Gil brings energy. His passing was phenomenal. The way he found people with his passing was phenomenal. His team got a lot of easy baskets in practice, not just Antawn (Jamison) and Brendan (Haywood), but also (Oleksiy) Pecherov and Dominic (McGuire).”

Eddie Jordan on the Orlando Magic: “They are a good team and I hope that we have some kryptonite somewhere in our lineup, because Superman (Dwight Howard) is pretty good, and they have a good supporting cast around him. They are good all the way around and they have a good coaching staff, so it is going to be a great challenge for us.”

The AP reports: Gilbert Arenas will return to practice Tuesday for the Washington Wizards, the latest step in his long recovery from knee surgery.

“They cleared me to go out there and go full speed,” the three-time All-Star guard said Monday. “But I am just going to take it slow.”

Here’s what Caron Butler said to local media today:

Caron Butler on his state of mind after missing his sixth straight game with a left hip flexor strain: “I’ve just been thinking about yesterday’s game, and thinking about the games coming up on Friday and Saturday, and I’m just trying to remain optimistic about getting out there. I just have to see how I feel. It’s a day-to-day thing, and hopefully I’ll feel physically up to it.”

Caron Butler on what it will take for him to return from this injury: “I need to feel good in practice. Pain free. I’m not going to go through a situation in which I step back on the court and the same thing occurs like it did in Philadelphia (on February 5th). Then I will be of no use to the team. I want to come back at 100% so that we can make a push.”

Caron Butler on watching his teammates in his absence: “I just want to get back out there on the court. Yesterday was a game that I felt we could have got, but we fell a little short. The guys really worked their tails off, but something was missing. I felt that if I was out there, we probably would have gotten over the hump. But that’s all speculation, and I still tip my hat off to the guys for working so hard. I’m just frustrated. I want to be out there more than anybody.”

Caron Butler on what he can offer from the sideline: “I’m trying to stay in everyone’s ear as much as possible, but it is different coming from the sideline. That’s why the coaches always emphasize the point that they need a voice on the court. They can be the voice off the court on the sidelines, but you need a voice on the court. Right now, I can’t do that. I can give encouraging words, but it hurts not to be out there.”