<span class="main"><span class="spacing"> <div align="center"><font color="blue"><font size="4">Washington Wizards 2007-2008: Ready To Rule by Will “Asian Zero” Mui</font></font></div> <font size="3"><font color="blue">The 06-07 Recap</font></font> Coming into this season, the fans and the players were optimistic on the Wizards’ going far into the playoffs. Gilbert Arenas grew into a superstar in the NBA, Caron Butler posted career high stats and would eventually make the all-star team and Antawn Jamison kept his performance at a high level especially when he was counted on during the playoffs. The team still had a few issues to solve such as improving on defense, finding high and consistent production from the bench, a definite starting center and making sure Deshawn Stevenson was capable enough to start at the 2 spot. They would go on to start the season on a rocky note as the Wizards started with the record of 5-9 as Gilbert Arenas struggled with his jumper looking, being more concerned with the performances of the referees instead. Gilbert would eventually began focusing on his game once again and it led to one of the best month of his career in December as the Wizards soared as a threat to the Eastern Conference. They’d go on to beat the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and the Orlando Magic as the team finished with a 12-4 record that month. Gilbert’s success became noticed on the national level as he scored a franchise and career high 60 points against the Lakers and a 54 point performance the following week against the Suns. The team would continue on with their success the following month eventually taking over the lead in the Eastern Conference with a 27-17 record, while Eddie Jordan would earn recognition as he chosen as the head coach of the Eastern Conference all-star team. Things would not looking better as the team suffered a setback as Antawn Jamison went down with a knee injury that would take him out for the the entire February. Gilbert Arenas would have an exceptional month with defenses putting more emphasis on the Hibachi, things would get better as Antawn returned. Eddie Jordan was content with their Southeast Division lead in entering the month of March, but that would soon change when the Team would collapse in late-game situations and the minor injury to Caron Butler that would leave the Wizards struggling in the West Coast trip. The Division lead would shrink smaller and smaller as the Miami Heat would surge with the return of Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’neal. Things would eventually hit rock bottom when Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler suffered season-ending injuries that broke the heart of many in the DC area. They lost 8 of their last 11 in the month of March as they limped into the playoffs at the 7th seed facing a familiar a team they wanted revenge on, the Cleveland Cavaliers. Unfortunately, after losing 50% of their offense, the Wizards had virtually no chance in the playoffs as they were swept and ended on a bad note to the season. The front office and fans were alerted once Gilbert Arenas made the decision to opt out in the 2008 off-season and that would set the stage for Ernie Grunfeld in the off-season to prepare on bringing Gilbert back, while improving the team this off-season. Oleksiy Pecherov who decided to play overseas after the 2006 draft, announced he would return for his rookie season in the NBA, which would have Wizards fans excited. The first task in the off-season would be the draft, receiving the 16th and 47th picks. The War Room were excited once they saw Nick Young dropping to the 16th pick and eventually ended up drafting him. The second round would eventually be golden for the Wizards as they found a gem in Dominic McGuire. The Front Office was happy with their decisions, the fans had high hopes in the youth movement and that was just the beginning. Ernie Grunfeld cleaned up the team getting rid of the under-achiever Jarvis Hayes, Michael Ruffin and Calvin Booth in the off-season. Next on the list were Deshawn Stevenson, Andray Blatche and Juan Carlos Navarro. Obviously the team did not need the services of both Stevenson and Navarro, so they ended up keeping Deshawn Stevenson having experience in the Princeton Offense and a year playing with the starters, while Juan Carlos has never played in the NBA and smaller than Deshawn. They resigned Deshawn to a four year, 15 million dollar contract and traded Juan Carlos to the Memphis Grizzlies for a future draft pick. Negotations with Andray Blatche were being discussed, until he ended up getting arrested of solicitation. Discussions were stalled as they looked to get the legal issues out of the way and later they reached on a five year, 15 million dollar deal. Finally, the Wizards came into the training camp with 17 players after signing Tony Massenburg, Willie Deane and Jamon Gordon to training camp contracts. They would eventually be cut and released as the pre-season rolled around. Roger Mason later would turn a contract by the San Antonio Spurs to sign an extension to the Washington Wizards hoping he improve his career in D.C. The Wizards would soon suffer a blow to the bench when it was announced that Etan Thomas was diagnosed with a bad heart condition that would require him to have surgery. Lastly, the last cuts were made to second year players Donell Taylor and Mike Hall to set the team at 13 players as the regular season comes. <font size="3">Players Lost</font> >>Jarvis Hayes (Free Agency): 7.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1 apg >>Michael Ruffin (Free Agency): 0.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.3 bpg >>Calvin Booth (Free Agency): 1.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.7 bpg >>Donell Taylor (Released): 2.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.0 apg >>Mike Hall (Released): 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.5 apg Total Loss: 13.1 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.5 apg <font size="3">Players Gained</font> >>Dominic McGuire (NBA Draft) >>Nick Young (NBA Draft) >>Oleksit Pecherov (2006 NBA Draft) <div align="center"><font size="3">Breakdown: Starting Lineup</font></div> G Gilbert Arenas 6’4”, 215 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 28.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 6.0 apg, 39.8 mpg The Hibachi, Agent Zero, Quirky or whatever you want to call him, he’s ready to come back stronger than ever than last season. After his season-ending injury that ruined the hopes of many in the playoffs that year, Gilbert Arenas made a devotion to improve vastly in the off-season doing as much as he can to prepare for the upcoming season. He shot over 50,000 jumpers, ran with a parachute on his back, run stairs, ride bicycles, hitting the weight room and continuous rehab work on his knee, you can only suspect a hungrier than ever superstar looking to reach the sky this season. He vowed to improve on defense and looked active on defense, looking to jump the passing lanes, but there’s no telling if he can play on a high level during the regular season yet. It’s quite obvious he is the go to man on offense and he will strike a dagger in your hearts if he isn’t contained. Gilbert took a big leap into one of the NBA’s elites, making a name for him on a national level. Now that he’s got America’s attention, it’s time for him to prove the critiques wrong once again in his life. G Deshawn Stevenson 6’5”, 210 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 11.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 29.5 mpg Mr. 50% as he would like to call himself spent his first year as a Washington Wizard starting at the shooting guard along with the big three, expected to replace the talent Larry Hughes brought. Deshawn had a sub-par season, posting the same stats the Wizards bargained for, but he showed somewhat that he was an important part of the starting lineup. He frequently led the team in defense and performing well on the perimeter and occasionally, the defense would be too focused on the Big Three, that Deshawn will get the ball behind the 3 point line and drain it every so often. He had a few big games this season and it’s something to look for again this year, but whether he can be counted on in a big role is still undecided. He struggled throughout the post-season against the Cavaliers as he could not get his jumper to fall. Coach Eddie Jordan will start Deshawn Stevenson again, but with the addition of Nick Young, Deshawn will need to play at a high level to set the bar for Nick in the future and for himself especially. F Caron Butler 6’7”, 228 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 19.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 3.7 apg, 39.3 mpg First year all-star Caron Butler also ended his season on a bad note, injuring his hand on a fastbreak play but now that it is healed, the road looks sunny for Caron Butler. He was counted on to do a lot of things on the court last season, which he managed to do such as score, rebound and play actively on defense, even earning the nickname “Tough Juice” from Coach Eddie Jordan. He managed to do all three things well and looks to improve even more with the new addition of assistant head coach Randy Ayers and he looked to have a big effect on Caron, watching him play in the pre-season. He’s able to disrupt plays on defense a lot better from last year but more importantly, he’s been working on his jumper heavily even expanding his range to the 3 point line. Caron’s going to overlooked again this year, but all he can do is play his part and eventually, he’ll earn the recognition he deserves. F Antawn Jamison 6’9”, 235 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 19.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 38.0 mpg As another season goes by in his days of being a 30 year old, nothing will seem to stop the offensive production he continues to add every game in and game out. The Wizards proved last season they cannot lose Antawn Jamison, since his effect on the floor includes spreading the defense out for his teammates to create plays. When both Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler went out with injuries in the last part of the season, almost 50 percent of the offense had to be carried by Antawn. Nobody probably noticed the explosion in the 4 games of the playoffs last year as he posted 32 ppg, 10 rpg and 47% field goal, but eventually the Wizards were swept. One of Antawn’s main weaknesses was defending some of the bigger guys in the league in the post with his lack of strength. He’s going to be focused on to play more defense as well as the rest of the team, but we can all hope that he keeps the scoring at a high level in his contract year for the Wizards. C Brendan Haywood 7’0”, 263 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 6.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.6 apg, 23.8 mpg After game 4’s loss to the Cavaliers in the playoffs last year, Brendan Haywood was first to leave the locker room having to remove his nameplate off of his locker. How he is still on the roster is far out of my mind but the fact is, he is still a Wizard. One of the Wizards’ hot questions coming into the season is whether their starters can perform well in the middle. With Etan Thomas out for the entire season recovering from a heart surgery, Brendan Haywood will get the nod for all 82 games, but can he finally improve on his intangibles on the offensive end of the court? He’s also improved on his free-throw shooting working with assistant head coach Dave Hopla and you can only expect he’s improved somewhat on his baby jumpers that he loves to take. <div align="center"><font size="3">Bench</font></div> F Darius Songalia 6’8”, 248 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 7.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 apg, 18.9 mpg Darius Songalia missed 52 games last season after a herniated back injury, but he returned on a good note sinking his jumpers frequently on the high post. His workload increased in the playoffs and alongside Antonio Daniels did they consistently succeed on the pick n’ pop plays. Darius does have problems playing defense with the lack of size and athleticism on his end, but he does have enough strength to hold his end. On the second year of his four year, 16 million dollar deal, Coach Eddie Jordan will expect him to once again come off the bench and use his size effectively on the offensive end. G Antonio Daniels 6’4”, 205 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 7.1 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 3.6 apg, 28.8 mpg Antonio Daniels knows his role on the team and he is one of the best that doing what he does. He comes off the bench, having the pass-first, shoot later mentality that Eddie Jordan loves so much and there’s no question AD is able to make a play every time he gets the ball. He leads the NBA in assist to turnover ratio for the second year in the row as a Wizard and there are things on offense that some players on the Wizards aren’t capable of, driving to the basket almost on command and hitting the floor literally every time and hitting his jumpers when the opportunities are there. Antonio coming from a championship team in San Antonio, knows the Princeton offense and knows how to play this game well, expect for him to perform and act as a leader for the bench. F Dominic McGuire 6’8”, 210 lbs 2006-2007 Stats(Fresno State): 13.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.3 apg, 3.6 bpg There is no question or doubt in my mind that this second round draft pick is a sleeper this year. After watching him closely and thoroughly throughout the Summer League and Pre-Season, you could see why he was disappointed he was not taking in the first round. He did pretty much everything you could ask for in the Summer League, scoring long range jumpers and taking the ball to the hoop hard, rebound aggressively, block shots with his vertical leap and athleticism and makes great decisions on the floor. People may be overreacting, saying he has not had real competition yet, but I have no concern about his willingness to go up against anyone. If he adds more weight to his frame, he could be a scary player in the future. Fans in D.C. are already optimistic about seeing him perform for them off the bench and they already have hopes he can become a long time contributer. G-F Nick Young 6’6”, 200 lbs 2006-2007 Stats(USC): 17.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.4 apg, 52.5% After watching this rookie play in the Summer League and Pre-Season, you can tell he has struggled with his skills and talents in the next level, but there’s no question that he could become a very good player if he gets the proper help and advising in his career. He showed flashes of his athleticism with his dunking, but signs of frustration after an unsuccessful play. He will come off the bench for Deshawn Stevenson this season, but will he perform good enough to become starter in the near future? F Andray Blatche 6’11”, 248 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 3.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.6 bpg Over the summer, Andray Blatche locked up a five year, 15 million dollar deal with the Wizards looking to become a very talented player in the future. Andray continues to improve every season with the athleticism he was born having to go along with his size and skill. You can have him play anywhere from the 3-5 spots, with the possibilities he has on the court. He will come off the bench for Brendan Haywood, so he may have some problems defending guys like Shaquille O’neal or Dwight Howard, but he does have the advantage of luring his defenders out with the improved jumper he has. If he can get his head focused and improve in every game of the season, people better look out. C-FOleksiy Pecherov 7’0”, 234 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: Played in Ukraine Oleksiy Pecherov opted to play overseas in the 2006-2007 season after being drafted by the Washington Wizards, but there could not have been a better time to come and start your career. The 7’0” forward plays almost exactly like Darius Songalia, but Oleksiy has the ability to shoot the 3 pointer. He’s a lot quicker and has a bigger body than Songalia does, but things you have to worry about Oleksiy are his strength. In the Summer League, he was able to crash the boards, but had a difficult time of boxing out his men. During the Pre-season, Oleksiy kept his offensive game on the high post, looking as if he was allergic to the paint. As long as his jumper is falling, it will open up the defense and allow backdoor screens to occur. Oleksiy caps off the youth movement the Wizards have right now. G Roger Mason 6’5”, 200 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 2.7 ppg, 0.6 apg, 0.2 spg Last season, Roger Mason did not have huge effect on the team, but he did show some flashes of a good shooter. Occasionally at times, he makes 3 pointers that would change the tone of the game. Recently, he declined an offer from the San Antonio Spurs to stay in his hometown, looking to increase his value as a Washington Wizard. He’s seen action as a point guard in the pre-season and handled it exceptionally well but generally, look for him to play more minutes this season. C Etan Thomas 6’10”, 260 lbs 2006-2007 Stats: 6.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 15.8 mpg Etan Thomas’s basketball career was in major jeopardy as he went through an open heart surgery. Fortunately, it was a successful surgery and doctors are saying he could come back late this season and play basketball once again. It’s only best to rule him out for the season to rest him for the season after, while Andray Blatche comes off the bench behind Brendan Haywood. <div align="center"><font size="3">Southeast Division Outlook</font></div> <font color="red">Miami Heat</font> Wizards over Heat, 106-95 Heat over Wizards, 92-83 Heat over Wizards, 106-104 Heat over Wizards, 85-82 After missing action from Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’neal for a good portion of the season last year, this team somehow still managed to win the Southeast Division(Thanks to the injuries of Arenas and Butler) after coming down from a large deficit. They’ll defend their title this year, but will it be a hard journey this year. Every team in the divison has improved and that will have the Miami Heat ballclub having to look in from the race. They’ll be without Dwayne Wade for the first month, so you have to expect them to get off to a slow start, but you can never rule them out. <font color="blue">Orlando Magic</font>: Magic over Wizards, 106-103 Wizards over Magic, 112-111 Wizards over Magic, 114-93 Magic over Wizards, 95-89 Most critiques and experts have this team winning the Southeast Division after the major off-season moves from adding Rashard Lewis to a long term deal and a proven winning head coach Stan Van Gundy. Year in and year out, Dwight Howard is becoming one of the NBA’s most dominant force and there’s not doubt he will be the key to Orlando’s success for the year. Having those two in the paint will be very hard to defend for the Wizards and that’s only their frontcourt. Orlando’s Hedo Turkoglu will look to nail more 3 pointers against the Wizards and they expect Trevor Ariza to progress this season. <font color="red">Atlanta Hawks</font>: Wizards over Hawks, 96-95 Wizards over Hawks, 93-92 Hawks over Wizards, 100-97 Wizards over Hawks, 98-85 Can this finally be the year the Atlanta Hawks makes some noise in this decade? There’s no question they have the talent to compete in every game of the season with Joe Johnson doing all of the scoring. Their forward depth is very deep after drafting NBA-ready Al Horford. With him most likely coming off the bench, the Hawks have a lot decent options in Marvin Williams and Josh Smith who have experience under their belt to help lead the Hawks to a promising season. <font color="orange">Charlotte Bobcats</font>: Wizards over Bobcats, 121-109 Wizards over Bobcats, 114-107 Bobcats over Wizards, 122-102 Bobcats over Wizards, 108-100 There is a lot of hope in this young and new team who are looking to finally make noise in the NBA. They’ve brought on what they’ve been missing since its expansion team and that is a scorer like Jason Richardson. He’s more than capable of being the go-to man on offense and taking over in late game situations. Health is the key to the team’s season, but before they could step out on the floor, Sean May and Adam Morrison are out for the entire season. There’s still no reason why you should count them out though, as players such as Raymond Felton, Walter Hermann and Ryan Hollins look to improve drastically this season to fight for the 8th seed. <div align="center"><font color="blue"><font size="3">We Gotta Know</font></font></div> <font color="blue">Will This Team Improve On Defense?</font> This was the same thing I asked myself last season when the season rolled around. They turned their emphasis to defense in Training Camp once again, but they are led by Randy Ayers on the defensive end. Randy, who helped lead the Philadelphia 76ers to their NBA Finals season in 2001, has all the capabilities to teaching defense to any team. Gilbert Arenas made a vow to improve on defense himself and you know if he sets his mind to anything, he can achieve it and so far in the pre-season, he has played well there. Presence in the middle will also be a key for the Wizards as Brendan Haywood will get the nod to start at center. They were last in allowing points last season with 105, but have only allowed 89 points per game in the Pre-Season. Defense will be the key to a long run in the playoffs. <font color="blue">Can The Youth Keep Up?</font> It’s not likely around the NBA, where teams will have young guys having a key role in their road to the playoffs, but the Wizards have that with 4 guys in Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, Oleksiy Pecherov and Andray Blatche. The Wizards had trouble finding consistent scoring off the bench last season, but should not become a problem this year. Those four guys may have their own problems and struggles in different points of the seasons, but they should be able to live up to their potential for the season. <font color="blue">Can This Team Stay Healthy?</font> The Wizards suffered heavily in injuries last season. They lost their starter Etan Thomas in the month of December, but it did not become serious until Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison suffered major injuries that would affect many games that hurt their record. Of course everybody knows about the Arenas and Butler being out for the playoffs, but can this team stay healthy? If not, do the Wizards have enough guys on the bench to take over and play consistently? <div align="center"><font size="3">Final Words</font></div> This season is dubbed “The Takeover: Reloaded” and you can bet your *** these players will be looking at this season this way. They were swept and eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs once again and now this year they are being overlooked by many experts thinking this team won’t even make the playoffs. With the cleanup Ernie Grunfeld made to this bench, the additions to the coaching staff from Randy Ayers on defense and Dave Hopla as the shooting coach, you can expect that Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards will do all they can to make it as far as they can and they are Ready To Rule. <font color="blue">Prediction: 47-35, 1st in Southeast division, 3rd in Playoffs Eliminated in Second Round</font></span></span></p>
Nice job Ming, very nicely written as I said int he mod board. Only thing is you forgot to write in the summury of 06-07 that Massenburg was also cut.</p>
