Wednesday, January 16, 2008
And then.....
..................and then they get blown away by the woeful New York Knicks. So much for not jinxing that streak.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Wizards
As previously stated I am a fan of the hometown teams.
And this appeared to be a great season for the Washington Wizards with their core of players returning and with their superstars, guard Gilbert Arenas and forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, returning from late injuries from the previous season.
But the Wizards lost their first five games and looked terrible doing it. Arenas, one of the flashiest and most dazzling players in the NBA last season, was slow to return from a knee injury and then quickly went back on the injured list and had another knee surgery on Nov. 21. This is the same Arenas who for almost a year now has threatened to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Wizards and possibly leave "his town".
But without their star, the Wizards are 16-11 and are now in the best record in the Eastern Conference at four games over .500 (20-16) and rolling. Recently the Wizards took on the NBA best Boston Celtics with their fabulous three-starred attack. On Saturday the Wizards won a thrilling come-from-behind win at home 85-78.
A team that has always been criticized for its porous defense, held the juggernaut-like Celtic offense to a season low in both points and field goal percentage. Defense has been the key for the Wizards' success as they have now held their opponents under 100 points in 6 straight games.
The team has rallied around its defensive leaders, Butler, Jamison and guard DeShawn Stevenson, and shown that if Arenas wants to leave at the end of the season, he is more than welcome to get out.
Butler and Jamison are giving league-leading/All-Star performances on a nightly basis and Stevenson has turned his success on defense into renewed energy towards being a legitimate offensive threat as well. Jamison is one of only two Eastern Conference players to average a double-double.
Their role players are doing wonderfully as well. Center Brendan Haywood has stepped up his game since getting the permanent starting role. When center Etan Thomas had heart surgery to repair a valve and was lost for the season, Haywood reinherited the full-time gig at center and has flourished. Guards Antonio Daniels and Roger Mason Jr. have come off the bench and done incredibly filling in for Arenas with great passing and outside shooting, respectively.
Although team leaders continue to advocate that the team misses Arenas' impact on the game, I am a little doubtful as to his influence over the way the team plays upon his return.
For leadership, you have veterans like Jamison and Daniels to lead this team. For point guard play, Daniels is averaging over 5 assists per game and just over 1 turnover. For clutch shooting, Stevenson hit a huge game-tying three-pointer in the fourth quarter of Monday's game to tie it late. Then Butler hit two consecutive shots and two free throws to give the Wizards the lead and extend it to three points.
Arenas is known for his colorful personality and impressive scoring prowess, but that seems to be a small cost for the Wizards who are playing great "team" basketball, which only exists amongst the best teams in the league. They actually learned to play defense after years of unfulfilled promises and they can now score when they need to.
Boston forward Kevin Garnett said after Saturday's win that the Wizards are playing better basketball without Arenas. And Garnett knows something about being a star player on a bad team after his fiascos in Minnesota with the Timberwolves.
So if "Agent Zero" wants to choose not to play this season and opt out of his contract for money instead of being part of a great basketball team, he can go play H-O-R-S-E out in his million-dollar driveway and yell "hibachi" for decidely smaller crowds.
And this appeared to be a great season for the Washington Wizards with their core of players returning and with their superstars, guard Gilbert Arenas and forwards Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, returning from late injuries from the previous season.
But the Wizards lost their first five games and looked terrible doing it. Arenas, one of the flashiest and most dazzling players in the NBA last season, was slow to return from a knee injury and then quickly went back on the injured list and had another knee surgery on Nov. 21. This is the same Arenas who for almost a year now has threatened to opt out of the final year of his contract with the Wizards and possibly leave "his town".
But without their star, the Wizards are 16-11 and are now in the best record in the Eastern Conference at four games over .500 (20-16) and rolling. Recently the Wizards took on the NBA best Boston Celtics with their fabulous three-starred attack. On Saturday the Wizards won a thrilling come-from-behind win at home 85-78.
A team that has always been criticized for its porous defense, held the juggernaut-like Celtic offense to a season low in both points and field goal percentage. Defense has been the key for the Wizards' success as they have now held their opponents under 100 points in 6 straight games.
The team has rallied around its defensive leaders, Butler, Jamison and guard DeShawn Stevenson, and shown that if Arenas wants to leave at the end of the season, he is more than welcome to get out.
Butler and Jamison are giving league-leading/All-Star performances on a nightly basis and Stevenson has turned his success on defense into renewed energy towards being a legitimate offensive threat as well. Jamison is one of only two Eastern Conference players to average a double-double.
Their role players are doing wonderfully as well. Center Brendan Haywood has stepped up his game since getting the permanent starting role. When center Etan Thomas had heart surgery to repair a valve and was lost for the season, Haywood reinherited the full-time gig at center and has flourished. Guards Antonio Daniels and Roger Mason Jr. have come off the bench and done incredibly filling in for Arenas with great passing and outside shooting, respectively.
Although team leaders continue to advocate that the team misses Arenas' impact on the game, I am a little doubtful as to his influence over the way the team plays upon his return.
For leadership, you have veterans like Jamison and Daniels to lead this team. For point guard play, Daniels is averaging over 5 assists per game and just over 1 turnover. For clutch shooting, Stevenson hit a huge game-tying three-pointer in the fourth quarter of Monday's game to tie it late. Then Butler hit two consecutive shots and two free throws to give the Wizards the lead and extend it to three points.
Arenas is known for his colorful personality and impressive scoring prowess, but that seems to be a small cost for the Wizards who are playing great "team" basketball, which only exists amongst the best teams in the league. They actually learned to play defense after years of unfulfilled promises and they can now score when they need to.
Boston forward Kevin Garnett said after Saturday's win that the Wizards are playing better basketball without Arenas. And Garnett knows something about being a star player on a bad team after his fiascos in Minnesota with the Timberwolves.
So if "Agent Zero" wants to choose not to play this season and opt out of his contract for money instead of being part of a great basketball team, he can go play H-O-R-S-E out in his million-dollar driveway and yell "hibachi" for decidely smaller crowds.
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