lefty
01-23-2007, 05:36 PM
In fact, Arenas, who has scored 50-plus three times this season, wrote on his nba.com blog that the Portland game will be 50-point game No. 4.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2739309
WASHINGTON -- For the record, Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas doesn't count Tuesday's game against the Phoenix Suns as the Part II of the Vendetta Tour.
"No, I already did what I said I was going to do to them," Arenas said. "The next team is Portland. One down, one to go."
Arenas dropped 54 points on the Suns in an overtime victory at Phoenix last month, his way of unleashing his frustrations against anyone who might have had anything to do with his not making the U.S. team for last summer's world championships. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland coach Nate McMillan were assistants on that team, which was led by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
In fact, Arenas, who has scored 50-plus three times this season, wrote on his nba.com blog that the Portland game will be 50-point game No. 4.
"The most important game is on Feb. 11," Arenas wrote. "Well, it's not the most important, but that's the game I'm going to say is my next 50-pointer. ... Tune in. I think ESPN or TNT needs to pick that game up."
After hearing all this, D'Antoni did the only thing he could -- he cracked an Arenas-worthy joke.
"I can't wait to see what he does against Duke," D'Antoni said. "He's gonna KILL Duke."
So, with the revenge angle out of the way, all that's left for Tuesday is a matchup between two MVP candidates -- Phoenix's Steve Nash and Arenas -- in a game between featuring the two highest scoring teams in the league, both in contention for a No. 1 conference seed.
And there's one more thing. The Suns have won 13 straight. They also had a 15-game streak earlier this season. Guess who ended it?
That's right. The Wizards.
"I'm not even going to address that," Wizards forward Caron Butler said. "Because I don't want to jinx us."
The Wizards are on a run of their own, a 10-game home winning streak, the longest since the Verizon Center opened in 1997. The home fans have recently been serenading Arenas with chants of "M-V-P," but Arenas has consistently said that Nash is the deserving front-runner.
"He's leading, and that's it. If it ended today, he's MVP. Period," Arenas said. "When you're playing that well as a team, you going to always be a candidate. He has a great supporting cast. They're on a streak again. When you go on streaks like that, it's hard to knock him from being MVP."
The Suns don't seem upset by memories of the 54-point game, or by any of Arenas' antics. Like everyone else, they realize it's just Arenas being Arenas.
"He doesn't do anything that's necessarily disrespectful," Nash said. "I think he plays the game with a great spirit and he certainly is his own person. I think everyone commends the great season he's having."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Pres
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2739309
WASHINGTON -- For the record, Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas doesn't count Tuesday's game against the Phoenix Suns as the Part II of the Vendetta Tour.
"No, I already did what I said I was going to do to them," Arenas said. "The next team is Portland. One down, one to go."
Arenas dropped 54 points on the Suns in an overtime victory at Phoenix last month, his way of unleashing his frustrations against anyone who might have had anything to do with his not making the U.S. team for last summer's world championships. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni and Portland coach Nate McMillan were assistants on that team, which was led by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
In fact, Arenas, who has scored 50-plus three times this season, wrote on his nba.com blog that the Portland game will be 50-point game No. 4.
"The most important game is on Feb. 11," Arenas wrote. "Well, it's not the most important, but that's the game I'm going to say is my next 50-pointer. ... Tune in. I think ESPN or TNT needs to pick that game up."
After hearing all this, D'Antoni did the only thing he could -- he cracked an Arenas-worthy joke.
"I can't wait to see what he does against Duke," D'Antoni said. "He's gonna KILL Duke."
So, with the revenge angle out of the way, all that's left for Tuesday is a matchup between two MVP candidates -- Phoenix's Steve Nash and Arenas -- in a game between featuring the two highest scoring teams in the league, both in contention for a No. 1 conference seed.
And there's one more thing. The Suns have won 13 straight. They also had a 15-game streak earlier this season. Guess who ended it?
That's right. The Wizards.
"I'm not even going to address that," Wizards forward Caron Butler said. "Because I don't want to jinx us."
The Wizards are on a run of their own, a 10-game home winning streak, the longest since the Verizon Center opened in 1997. The home fans have recently been serenading Arenas with chants of "M-V-P," but Arenas has consistently said that Nash is the deserving front-runner.
"He's leading, and that's it. If it ended today, he's MVP. Period," Arenas said. "When you're playing that well as a team, you going to always be a candidate. He has a great supporting cast. They're on a streak again. When you go on streaks like that, it's hard to knock him from being MVP."
The Suns don't seem upset by memories of the 54-point game, or by any of Arenas' antics. Like everyone else, they realize it's just Arenas being Arenas.
"He doesn't do anything that's necessarily disrespectful," Nash said. "I think he plays the game with a great spirit and he certainly is his own person. I think everyone commends the great season he's having."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Pres