| Wizards Redemption Authored by Jason Rosenthal - May 10, 2005 - 12:03 pm
May 10, 2005
By Jason Rosenthal
After clinching the best of seven playoff series vs. Chicago, the Wizards and their fans deserve the party they threw for themselves last Friday. Curmudgeon ESPN analysts scoffed at round two t-shirts, confetti, and streamers adorning MCI Center. But you can’t blame the Wizards and its fans, for cherishing the moment.
This franchise doesn’t have the well-chronicled misery of the Red Sox, and this wasn’t a World Series victory. But excuse me while I join Eddie Jordan in puffing on a victory cigar.
Not since Jeff Ruland have the Wizards won a playoff series. That’s 23 years ago — the same year Cal Ripken started The Streak; when Conan the Barbarian and Blade Runner hit the big screen, when Cheers debuted, when John Belushi died.
Winning a seven game series? 1979: 26 years ago. Fans and team alike are more than justified in savoring this one.
“We’re not fighting history here – it’s already there,” said Jordan, downplaying the franchise’s ineptitude over the years. “We’re not trying to prove we can fight history.”
And how about that history? From Gheorge, Manute, and Mugsy, to the Malone Brothers, to Hot Plate, Dinner Bell, to Instant Offense and The Secret Weapon. From Jim Brovelli and Gar “He Blew Me Away” Heard. Kenny Green. Juwan, Chris, and Rod “Alarm Clock” Strickland.
Eddie Jordan may have said they weren’t fighting history, but this Wizards team not only had a monkey on its back, it needed to vanquish that 800-pound gorilla from its midst. There’s been too much bad luck, bad timing, and bad personnel moves to ignore what a monumental achievement winning a playoff series is for this franchise.
And of course, beating the Bulls, MJ’s team, made it that much sweeter. It was just two summers ago the GOAT was humiliated by Abe Pollin and sent packing. Would anyone have predicted the Wizards would win a playoff series just two seasons later?
Washington, DC – a basketball town – finally has a professional basketball team back on the map. MCI Center, dormant since its inception, has finally awoken, and brought out the best in a latent but passionate fan base. Cabbies honking horns. Strangers hugging strangers. The Metro abuzz with something special.
It doesn’t hurt that the team’s makeup is likeable and it starts at the apex with the steady hand of Eddie Jordan. Never too high or too low, he’s the antithesis of Doug Collins. For this youthful team with scarcely an inkling of what winning professionally felt like, he’s precisely what the doctor ordered.
Jordan’s best work has been with the team’s best player, the eccentric but unequivocally magnetizing Gilbert Arenas. He had a good, not great series vs. Chicago where he struggled with his shot throughout the series. But after Gil dropped the game-winning jumper over Tyson Chandler and Kirk Hinrich in the series turning game five, deflating the hearts of some 20,000 Bulls fans, a legend began. Gil followed up game five, with another clutch fourth quarter in game six, hitting his shots when it mattered and making a Jordanesque block on Hinrich . So in the end, he had not only the most important basket of the series, but also its most important defensive play.
"Gilbert didn't shoot well, said Jordan. “However, the best players that have a will and a determination to win will do anything to help their team win.”
There’ll be plenty of time to talk about other three members of the Big Four, Hughes, Jamison, and Haywood, who each undoubtedly had their moments and deserve their kudos. After Gil’s game winner in game five, Jared Jeffries’ series clinching steal will be the basket most remembered in the series.
"Get the ball and get out of here as fast as I can," Jeffries said of the play. "You could've timed me and Carl Lewis and we would've been right there with each other."
And sure, The Amazingly Sucky Juan Dixon and Etan Thomas both had a big game each.
But it’s Michael Ruffin who deserves the pub. Ruffin, the NBA vagabond, was signed to a minimum contract at about the same time as Samaki “Cut From the Team” Walker last summer. It was Ruffin, not Dixon or Thomas — or Kwame Brown — who was the team’s most dependable bench player throughout the Bulls series.
“Honestly, no,” Ruffin chuckled when asked if ever thought he’d be getting playoff minutes after signing with the Wizards last summer. “When I signed my contract, I didn’t have any expectations, really. All I knew is that all I could do is come here and work hard every day and try and improve as the season went on. And try not to sell myself short.”
Not coincidentally, Ruffin played just three minutes in the series first two games, both losses, in Chicago, while still recovering from a late season foot injury. The next four games, all wins, he logged nearly 20 minutes a game, including crunch time play in the series deciding game six win.
His numbers aren’t sexy, but Ruffin punches the clock and gets the job done. A key rebound or charge taken. Screen setter galore, and the facial on Antonio Davis. Scott Skiles, the ex Boulez, even tried to employ the Hack-A-Ruffin strategy on the 43 percent free throw shooter. But Ruffin had been working on that too, and ended up shooting 75 percent from the line in the series. It was probably a watershed series for Ruffin, who’s looking for stability after playing for five teams in six years since college, including a stint in Turkey.
“I just can’t believe it,” said Ruffin. “I’m just amazed. Last summer, I’m trying to find a team to play with. Now, this year, getting an opportunity to play minutes in the playoffs. It’s been a great season, a lot of fun, but it’s not over.”
No, it isn’t. The Wizards aren’t expected to win more than a game or two against the Heat, but it’s the experience that will prove invaluable at this point. After a 20-win improvement from last season and a playoff series win, the team is playing with house money.
Even a few days later, the euphoria of beating the Bulls hasn’t worn off for most fans.
“For the past two weeks, the entire NBA was talking about how we played and how much tougher our opponent was, and how much guts they have, and how they were under talented,” Jordan said about the Bulls.
“I think our guys absolutely deserve the same credit and the same respect. We got talent, but talent comes in different forms. Talent comes in skill level. Talent comes in the way you go about your job. How your sacrifice yourself for your teammates. Talent is growing and getting the best out of your skill level. We’ve had just as much guts and heart as any team in the NBA. I’m glad we proved it tonight. Half of our wins have come on character, toughness, will, and determination. And that’s what happened tonight…it was a microcosm of the entire season.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself, Eddie.
Jason Rosenthal is the content supervisor at WizFans.com and columnist for RealGM.com. He can be reached at jmrosenth@yahoo.com.
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