<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Washington Wizards have made it clear that they want to play better defense, and so far this preseason much of the team's attention has been focused on concepts like rotating to the open man and protecting the rim. However, a team that ranked third in the NBA in scoring (101.7 points per game) last season also believes that it can become even better offensively. Gilbert Arenas, who averaged a team-high 29.4 points per game last season, thinks the addition of DeShawn Stevenson, the return of Jarvis Hayes and a deeper bench will make the Wizards even more dangerous. "I think we'll be a lot better," said Arenas. "Number one, DeShawn can score better than Jared [Jeffries] did, so that puts another scorer in the lineup. And then you have Jarvis coming off the bench and he can score. You have Roger Mason coming off the bench and he can shoot the ball. When Darius [Songaila] gets back, that will give us a big guy who can step out and shoot. We can be a flat-out scoring team, starters and guys off the bench."</div> Source
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Washington Wizards have made it clear that they want to play better defense, and so far this preseason much of the team's attention has been focused on concepts like rotating to the open man and protecting the rim. However, a team that ranked third in the NBA in scoring (101.7 points per game) last season also believes that it can become even better offensively. "I think we'll be a lot better," said Arenas. "Number one, DeShawn can score better than Jared [Jeffries] did, so that puts another scorer in the lineup. And then you have Jarvis coming off the bench and he can score. You have Roger Mason coming off the bench and he can shoot the ball. When Darius [Songaila] gets back, that will give us a big guy who can step out and shoot. We can be a flat-out scoring team, starters and guys off the bench."</div> Link If the team can make a lot more stops consistently on defense, there's no question that they'll contend for one of the top teams in the East. They've had a lot of trouble defending LeBron James, and losing 3 close games because of it, but defense has been their number 1 priority in training camp and it has shown in preseason. Also, you have to admit the offense is just going to get better with the addition of Darius Songalia, DeShawn Stevenson, and the return of Jarvis Hayes which makes our bench deep. These guys will help build around the trio and will help win games for the team, which is why they think they'll be a lot better.
