<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">CLEVELAND, Oct. 14 -- Gilbert Arenas has talked about becoming a better defensive player this season and he has even asked Washington Wizards Coach Eddie Jordan to assign him to defend some of the game's best scorers. Arenas showed he is serious about those aspirations by opening Saturday night's preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers with one of the toughest assignments in the NBA: LeBron James. Though giving up at least four inches and 35 pounds to the 6-foot-8, 250-pound James, Arenas held his own. James made a pair of contested jump shots over Arenas in the first quarter but didn't explode past him for any easy layups or dunks and James also committed a pair of turnovers. James finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 22 minutes.</div> Link It's great to hear how Arenas is improving his defense for the upcoming season. LeBron James is one of the most explosive players in the NBA and he can score anyway on the floor, but it was good to hear how Gilbert was able to stop him and not allowing him to have a big game.
This is what I love about Arenas, his commitment to the game. He always gives you a 110% every game whether it is preseason or postseason. He always tries to improve and he is really becoming one of my favorite players.
There have been multiple articles on his commitment to defense, and I'm very happy to hear this. If Arenas can establish himself as a Top defender at the guard position, he's really putting himself in Top Tier territory in the NBA. He's already as good as about any other perimeter player on the offensive end, though he doesn't get props for it, but if he can become a guy that impacts the defensive end just as much, it makes not just him a better player, but the whole team better.
