Empty the Bench

Fresh off his prolific poor 3-15 from the field outing against the mighty Portland Trail Blazers—the game he famously predicted to score 50 points in—Dan Steinberg reports in his D.C. Sports Bog via quotes provided by CSTV that Gilbert’s mouth is at it again.

First, Gilbert claims that not scoring 50 points was his plan all along:

“I knew after I said that that they’d double (team) me,” he says “so I came out not too aggressive and got my teammates involved. It was part of my plan. But when we go up to their place, they won’t be expecting it, and they won’t double me. That’s when I’m really planning on dropping 50.”

Yeah. Uh huh. But he didn’t stop there. No, ol’ Gilbert had to take a potshot at Lebron James before he was done, too.

“The guy LeBron needs is Sam Cassell,” says Arenas, “He needs someone who wants to take the big shots at the end of the game. LeBron would much rather have Cassell take the final shot,” says Arenas. “People don’t realize that LeBron doesn’t want it.”

Funny, that assertion. As A. Sherrod Blakely points out in the Pistons Bulletin, this is coming from the guy who single-handedly choked away a playoff game against the Cleveland Cavaliers after Lebron talked smack to him at the free-throw line!

Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert… I know you’ve become the NBA’s Unofficial Quote Darling this season, but perhaps, from time to time, you should just stick to 3-point contests.