A Brief Mea Culpa, Despite a Loss

In fairness, I thought I should point out that the Wizards didn't lay down like dogs in Dallas against the Mavericks on Wednesday night. They still lost, 103-97, but they played solid, if not smart -- and believe me, they were made to look like fools many times -- basketball. I won't go into the specifics that led to their loss -- first among them, though, is Gilbert's 4-for-22 shooting night -- but they had a great opportunity to beat Dallas. I also should send props Caron Butler's way for carrying this team down the stretch against the Mavs. I took a shot at him in my last Wizards post, when he scored only 10 points against the Hornets. But against Dallas, he scored 27 points and grabbed double digit rebounds. His personal 8-0 run late in the Dallas game pulled the Wizards back into contention. Still, the Wizards are only one game above .500. Let's see how they come out of the break.