Normally when a team has aspirations to win the title, they need to
have a trio of players, who are capable of playing well on a consistent
way during the whole season. That's why Boston won with Garnett, Pierce
and Allen, or for example the Spurs have been the most consistent team
of the last decade, with consistent performances of Duncan, Parker and
Ginobili. The Wizards have their own Big Three, with Arenas, Jamison
and Butler, but their big problem has been injuries. In the last 3
seasons, these three players have missed a combined of 144 games! A
concerning number and which turned Washington into a team which fights
for a playoff spot and nothing more. The news for this season continue
to not be good, as Arenas is once again injured and he will be out at
least until early December, with the additional problem of nobody being
sure that his knee will ever be healed.
With all these problems, we need to give credit to coach Eddie
Jordan. The franchise has recognized that and renewed his contract for
3 more seasons. I remember Jordan is the coach in the Eastern
conference with more time in coaching their current team and he has
taken the Wizards to the playoffs in the last four seasons, even with
all the injury problems, he was always able to find solutions for the
team's problems.
Without Arenas, the starting PG will be the veteran Antonio Daniels,
who has been doing a consistent work with the Wizards. He had 8.4 ppg
and 4.8 apg last season, but not even him was capable of escaping the
injuries, missing 11 games on the regular season. Having in account the
problems that the team may have with this position, the Wizards hired
in this offseason veteran guard Juan Dixon, who will add depth to a
position, where Arenas will be the starter, when he gets back from his
injury layoff.
DeShawn Stevenson gained some spotlight in the Playoffs last season
not for what he has played, but for the trash talking about Lebron. As
we've seen later, he better had keep his mouth closed, as Lebron and
his team mates eliminated the Wizards in the postseason for the third
season in a row. Still Stevenson had a positive season with 11.2 ppg
and 3.1 apg, being especially important on the defense, where the
Wizards improved a lot their performance. I remember they were the 3rd
worst defense in the 2006/2007 season with 104.9 ppg allowed, but last
season they have "only" allowed 99.2 points per game to their opponents.
The frontcourt of the Wizards will be their strongest part until
Arenas comes back. Butler and Jamison are All Star players and they
will be the players who will command the team in the early season.
Jamison is one of the most underrated players on the league, as he has
averaged more than 20 ppg on the four seasons he has already played for
the Wizards. He had also 10.2 rpg, being the 4th player on the Eastern
conference with most rebounds in the regular season. There aren't many
20-10 players on the league and Jamison is one of the few who can do it
on a regular basis. Caron Butler has been playing less games per season
as the seasons go by, due to injuries. He is a powerful Small Forward,
who has been improving season after season and last season he averaged
for the first time 20 ppg in a season (20.3). However he is much more
than a scorer, as the numbers prove it: 6.7 rpg, 4.9 apg and 2.2 stl.
We have also seen Butler stepping it up in clutch moments, showing that
without Arenas, someone needed to take responsibilities and Butler was
perfect in that role.
Andray Blatche was the 6th man of the team last season and he had an
excellent season with 7.5 ppg and 5.3 rpg in just 20 minutes per game.
He doubled his numbers in every category and it is expected that he
will continue improving this season, as I remember he had just averaged
6 minutes per game on his rookie season!
The key position of the team will be the center position, as it
seems to be the weakest part of the team. What Etan Thomas will be
capable to do this season is unpredictable as nobody knows how his
heart problems are solved or not. With Thomas struggling with his
health, Brendon Haywood is now the starter and he had a good season. He
had his best season ever last season (5th season), improving in every
stat: 10.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg and 1.7 bpg, while shooting 53% FG, impressive
numbers when he has just averaged 27.9 minutes per game. This season
will be his confirmation year and he seems to have his starting
position secured, as Darius Songaila even though he had a good season
isn't a true center and he will help the team by coming from the bench.
The Wizards will once again fight for a spot in the Playoffs and
even though the Eastern conference will be stronger this season, the
team will surely enter April on a position that will allow them to
fight for the playoffs. Gilbert Arenas may make the Wizards have better
expectations than "just" reach the playoffs, but the Wizards have been
so plagued with injuries that nothing is never guaranteed for them.
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