When Facing Elimination, Butler is Clutch

Butler Hits a Game Winner in the 2008 Postseason in Game 5
against the Cleveland Cavaliers

Caron Butler performance in game 5 is surprising to some a few nights ago especially since he struggled so much before the series. He entered the game shooting below 40% from the field. He ended up finishing with 35 points and 11 rebounds in a 103-81 win against the San Antonio Spurs to help the Dallas Mavericks avoid elimination. While Butler's performance is impressive, it isn't the first time that he's performed well in the clutch in the postseason.

The last time Butler performed this well in the playoffs was also a game 5 victory for the Wizards against none other than LeBron James- the Wizards won 88-87. Entering the game, the Wizards were also facing elimination, trailing the Cavs 3 to 1. Butler put in 32 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists and served up the game winner against King James with 3.9 seconds left in the game. The Washington Wizards ended up losing game 6 and the series against the Cavaliers against the Cleavland Cavaliers.


Caron Butler Serves Up 32 Points & The Game Winner Back in 2008

The Washington Wizards' Players Predictions Before the Season

Arenas, Butler, and Jamison have different approaches

as the 2009-10 season begins

Here is what Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, and Antawn Jamison have to say about the upcoming 2009-10 Washington Wizards season before it opens and each have different levels of optimism before the season starts.

Gilbert Arenas has been known to make bold predictions in the past; he predicted big things for the Wizards in the 2007-08 season before re-injuring his knee. Now Gilbert Arenas understands that his team needs to prove it on the court before they get any accolades.

Arenas in a Washington Times article says this:
"Where did we finish in the East last year?" [Arenas] asked. "Last. Then until we prove ourselves, that's what we are. You can't predict. Anyone can guess where we're gonna be at. But until the ball goes up in the air, we're last in the East. We took some steps in the right direction this summer, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what I saw. If you wanna say stuff, it's just for conversation, just for the chat rooms. And it's all great and wonderful, but it doesn't mean anything."


Caron Butler is a little bit more bold in a Washington Wizards Interview citing that this team: he believes the Wizards are ready to compete this season.

Now that [Arenas] has the confidence, I think the sky is the limit. You can expect big things out of Agent Zero. We definitely need him because we are ready to win this season.

Surprisingly, the most bold teammate is none other than the veteran leader and captain Antawn Jamison. Here's what he has to say in Wizards Insider.

"I've been around here for six years and championship talk wasn't a norm around our locker room. That's all we're talking about now," Jamsion said, with less than two weeks remaining before training camp. "If we stay healthy, I think we can compete with the upper echelon of the NBA."

And don't try to tell him that he is raising the bar too high.

"I don't care," Jamison said. "What you mean raising the bar too high? We won 19 games last year and I'll be honest with you, we didn't have a lot of our horses. But I don't have anything else to play for. I'm not going to sit here and sugar coat things because it's not the right thing to say. I believe it.

"I believe playing the game the right way and staying healthy, we can compete with Boston, we can compete with Cleveland and Orlando and if you can compete with those teams, you can put yourself in that category as far as teams that can contend for a championship," he said.

While it's technically true that all team's are championship contenders from the first game of the season, they are realistically 5-6 teams that are truly considered contenders given the lack of parity in basketball. At this point, the Wizards are not among them: the short list among most experts includes:

1. The LA Lakers
2. Boston Celtics
3. Denver Nugggets
4. Orlando Magic
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. San Antonio Spurs

Still, nothing is to say the Wizards cannot move up in that list, especially if Gilbert Arenas is back close to 100% as noted by LeBron James, Andre Iguodala via twitter, and Wizards' coach Flip Saunders. Upsets can happen; for instance, few predicted that Orlando would make it to the NBA finals at the beginning of the 2008-09 season.

It may be surprising that Jamison is the one who makes the more assertive predictions. However, he is already 34 years old and even if his game relies on his craftiness as opposed to his athleticism, he relizes that he only has a few years left in his prime to compete for a championship.