Caron Butler’s birthday celebration Thursday night, a lavish soiree at The Park at Fourteenth that reportedly cost the All-Star more than $250,000, showed that the Wizards know how to play — off the court.
But this week, with the Wizards on their way to two of the NBA’s favorite destinations, Orlando and Miami, coach Eddie Jordan has installed a curfew. He volunteered the information after Monday’s 105-96 loss at Verizon Center to Atlanta.
“We’re going to take some measures on this trip to try to make sure our guys are professional,” said Jordan. “We’re gonna set some curfews. We’ve never had curfews before. But we want to put our team in position to stay professional, stay focused, and get ready for a business trip, not a Florida pleasure trip.”
The measure was in response to a flat defensive effort against the Hawks in which the Wizards yielded 55 percent shooting from the floor and 53 percent from 3-point range. If Washington (33-33) plays as poorly as it did two weeks ago in a 122-92 loss at home against Orlando (45-24), it won’t be because they didn’t get enough sleep.
“It’s just so they know … that they should mean business,” said Jordan. “They have an opportunity to get a great win at Orlando and finish the trip at Miami. We’ve been around the league long enough to know how much of a trap that sort of trip can be.”
On a team in which veterans such as Antawn Jamison and Antonio Daniels lead by example, Jordan has had few discipline issues. Earlier this year, when the Wizards grew tired of the antics of some of their younger teammates, Jamison and Daniels rearranged the locker room to break up the offenders.
It’s little secret that 21-year-old Andray Blatche and rookies Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, and Oleksiy Pecherov have tested Jordan’s patience. But all are talented and, after some trial and error this season, each has established his niche.
In Monday’s loss, however, the foursome played a combined 23 minutes.
Blatche (5 minutes, 15 seconds) had his fewest minutes in a game this season. Young (13:25) played his fewest this month and was the first player out of the locker room after the game. Pecherov (:31) was a garbage-time afterthought.
Between diminished playing time and the Wizards’ road curfew, the youngsters will be rested.
“If coach feels like that is what we need to be successful, I’m all for it,” said Daniels. “This is the time of year when you need to rest your body, rest your mind. Like I said, sacrifice yourself and do what’s best for the team. If a curfew calls for that, so be it.”
So on Daniels’ 33rd birthday today, don’t expect the Wizards to sample Orlando’s nightlife, at least not to the tune of $250,000.
