All Bark, No Bite

I wonder ... do the Washington Wizards realize what a joke they are becoming?

They have tried to reinvent themselves on the fly as some sort of perverse cross between the Detroit Bad Boys and Riley's Knicks, but they just come off as a bunch of wannabe school yard bullies.

Today, in response to, well nothing (LeBron James stating the Washington's attempts to injure him weren't working), Brendan Haywood decided to mock the most dominant player in the NBA and instruct James to "Play basketball and leave it alone."

This was helpful for me, because I thought LeBron was playing basketball. You know, the 34 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists (including the game-winner) kind. But I guess real basketball is screaming every time you make one of your five field goals.

The Wizards actually have some likable guys and I was looking forward to watching them compete with Arenas, Butler, and Jamison. Unfortunately, all this team does is talk. They talk between games about how tough they are going to be. They complain to officials about everything from moving picks to the temperature of the team bus. They woof about every three-pointer like they just redefined basketball. It's pathetic.

Nothing bothers me more than guys who try to bring great players down to their own squalor. "Lowest common denominator" players are bad for the game and entirely worthless, as far as I'm concerned.

As Michael Wilbon would say, "Get 'em out!"

Luckily, I don't have to worry too much about it. Thanks to yapping instead of playing, the Wizards are taking care of it for me.