Wiz need a win here to start off the season, and really need it if O'neal and Troy Murphy are going to be out.

Indy is gonna be a surprise team this year, watch out for them. O'Brien is a very good coach.

I dont know what it is, but I am getting a bad vibe about the Wizards this season. Just dont have a good feeling about it, and I think it may take a while for Gil to get it going again.

I'll be surprised if the Pacers win 35 games this year. Who on that roster scares you?

I heard o'brien wants them to be an up tempo running team this year. That should be good news to the wiz cause indy can't run with us.

Everything on their roster is kind of scary, but only if you're an actual Pacers fan.

Their "franchise" player is soft and prone to both injury and whining. Their starting PG is wildly inconsistent, injury-prone, and a bit of a head-case, they have a mish-mash of a roster with a bunch of pieces that don't fit well together and they got the walking draft mistake that is Mike Dunleavy Jr. sitting on their salary cap like millstone.

Okay. I see it's off to this kind of start.

The Pacer game is the type that the Wizards need to put forth their best effort. We saw, how many times last season (Ten? Twelve?) that a team had a starter out, the Wiz came out flat, and some unknown lit them up like their name was Champ Bailey.

If the team stays healthy and puts forth a solid effort on D, I think things will pan out. Last season they were done in by the 4-9 start and the absence of Songaila until after the All-Star break, which led to too many minutes for an already depleted Big Three.

I'm a little concerned about Pech being out a couple of weeks, but I have a good feeling about this season.

How? you may ask. Here's my list of reasons:

- EG made (in my opinion) good personnel moves in the offseason (offloading Booth, Jarvis, Ruffin; signing DS and picking up a draft pick for JCN).

- Folks are rested (Jamison), spent the summer working out and bulking up (Caron), got the rust out (Songaila -- can't wait to see him lay some more nasty screens!), worked on the weak parts of their game (Haywood) or changed their attitude toward the game (Haywood, Blatche after the "no nooky" bust by the sex po-po this summer).

- Dominic McGuire. 'Nuff said.

- A revamped bench that will take some of the pressure off the starters by holding leads or chipping into deficits.

- Some of these guys will have a definite chip on their shoulder from being overlooked in the East (and swept by the back-from-the-dead Cleveland LeBrons).

- The burial of the Poet/Haywood beef -- at least for now. Haywood MUST put up or shut up this season, since he won't have to share time with Etan.

- The realization that they have to play better D, like we saw in spurts during the preseason and with the efforts by Randy Ayers.

I don't know and can't tell where Arenas falls in all of this. He may not be the same as last season; maybe he doesn't need to be the same as last season. I only hope he doesn't get into the habit of trying to take over games when a balanced attack will do.

And all this isn't to say it will come easy. Boston's better, Orlando's better, Chicago's stronger, Toronto is good, Detroit is strong again, Atlanta's loaded and New York may be starting to jell. And Miami is still out there.

But I think with the right attitude, a good start, healthy players, a better commitment to D and to closing out teams, this season will be fun to watch.

Fortunately we don't have long to see how it turns out, and I'm looking forward to the discussion here.

It's a mistake to take Indiana lightly, even if JO and Murphy are out. Ike Diogu, Foster and Donleavy all got into double figures the last time they played the Wiz (even though we won, despite not having Gilbert and Caron). You never know when a marginal NBA player is going to have a career night, or when a bunch of scrubs with nothing to lose are going to play like the Spurs.

That fruit-loop, Jamaal Tinsley, maybe be just what Gil needs to get his mojo going right off the bat...

The bad feeling you get may be coming from your knowledge of our point guard who is a bit unpredictable himself. And that's when he is healthy.

I have a bad feeling because the basic constructs of the starting team has not changed, thus; if they are going to shooting a bunch of jumpers, that will be perfect for the defense that Indy will run. I expect Gil to be hoisting shots, so if he is on, we will win. If not, NOT.

Sharing the ball on offense, sticking with your man and helping on defense.

6 years in the league and Tinsley's just now realizing he needs to work on his j?

Are U serious? The Indiana Pacers? How bout... NOOOOOO!!! The stink. The only thing that would surprise me is if they don't have O.J. Mayo starting next year. I watched them on the free nba preseason package and they're terrible. Danny Granger is out of position. Dunleavy is on the court. Jamaal Tinsley just threatened to shoot the ball. Jermaine don't even wanna be there. Outside of L.A. this is the most dysfunctional franchise right now. Oh, by the way, whenever you hear "they like to get out and run", that means can't nobody on the team can shoot! The Wizards don't run. The Suns don't run. They execute in the open floor.

We should win tonight's game by 25. No one playing for them tonight could crack our top 10.

Finally, some support for my position. Apparently I'm not the only one thinking this. Here's a quote from another local paper

"Is this the season the Wizards at least attempt to play defense?

This is the question that gets asked every year, and every year the answer has been the same: No.

This year won't be any different because most of the players who haven't stopped anyone over the last few years are still on the roster. But let's be real here. The players who haven't played much defense are the team's best offensive players, and the Wizards, just like the Suns, aren't going to beat people by shutting them down. Jordan has preached defense incessantly, but without players with a natural inclination to stop people, it just won't happen."

Anon, I don't expect Gilbert to come out "hoisting shots," although he's obviously quite capable of doing so:) I expect him to be in the "let the game come to me, get everyone involved" mode at least for the first half of so.

This translates into big scoring games tonight for AJ and C-But.

And hopefully the Woodman can get 10 and 12. They need to get his confidence and motivation up in these early games.

Mark, I'd tend to agree with you about the defense. Guys love to talk the talk in preseason. But there are a couple of reasons it could be different this year.

1) Haywood will get more minutes. It's a fact that the more he plays, the more effective he is. He's our best natural defender, although he's a black hole offensively. With Etan out, you've gotta think he'll get 30 minutes a game.

2) Blatche is a much better defender than Thomas, and he'll be playing real minutes. He's a lot more mobile than Thomas, is much longer, so he can block and alter more shots. He's also a better rebounder.

3) McGuire is a very serious defender, and could be our Dennis Rodman, only without the insanity. He can also score a little, unlike Mike Ruffin, so we won't be playing 4-on-5 when he's in the game.

I'm hoping Ayers is granted some authority by Jordan to be really involved in the games, and getting in players' faces when they mess up defensively. I'd love to see Eddie bench some guys when they're indifferent out there on D. That includes Gilberto.

To address another question: the Wiz should never take any team lightly. But that doesn't mean you can't look honestly at the Pacer's roster and see that it could be one of the four worst teams in the league this year.

nice graphic on the season preview guys.

keithinator...all valid points. I just hope that EJ's rotation changes this year. We all know he hates to play young(ish) guys. Will Ab REALLY get 20 moniutes a game like he should? As much as I love Songaila's effort, he really is a average defender and rebounder whose best asset is hitting an open shot and setting screens/picks. He's undersized to have a real big man effect on the game. The key to good D is man pressure but the key to great D is having a big man who can help cover mistakes. Hopefully Haywood's extended minutes do this for us. As for McGuire, I have no confidence that EJ will give him more than 3-4 minutes a game on average. I like McGuire a lot but can't see EJ deviating from his pattern of sitting rooks.

"Ernie Grunfeld shot down any possibility of a Kobe/Gilbert swap when I talked to him earlier this evening.
"I don't normally comment on rumors but there is no truth to this rumor," Grunfeld said. "We've never had any conversations with the Lakers or with anyone else about Gilbert.""

EG is a smart man not to comment on this until it's a done deal. Because Gilby is a primma donna diva, he's going to throw a hissy fit if EG said otherwise. Why would EG reveal it even if it was for real?

If EG reveals it, and it does not go through, Gilby will opt out and not come back. That's why it's in EG's best interests not really to comment until it's a done deal, or throw out misinformation.

Posted by: DC Man88 | October 31, 2007 09:10 AM

"Kobe = Scotty Pippen

You can't convince me that Kobe is better for this team then Gilbert Arenas and his attitude is LIGHT YEARS better.

What the hell has Kobe won with out Shaq? Nothing, it's a fact people like it or not. Get over it.

Gilbert HAS taken this team on his back and given the DC area what they have not had in over 20 years....hope.

- Ray

Posted by: Ray | October 30, 2007 06:41 PM""

This is one of the biggest jokes I read today. How many times has Scottie Pippen scored 80 pts, or Scottie scored consecutive 40+ points? Kobe is a dude out of HS, not college like Scottie.

Gilby is not even on the same plane as Kobe. Kobe has accomplished so much, what has Gilby accomplished? Jokers like to say Kobe didn't do anything without Shaq...when did Shaq ever carry a team? Anybody ever heard of DWade? Last I checked, basketball was a team game, not a one man show.

What the heck has Gilby done withOUT Larry, or done withOUT Caron, or done withOUT AJ? When did he carry the team last year? During all star weekend? Gilby couldn't win a game without at least 1 of the other big three being healthy.

The only hope this team had last season was hope to not be eliminated from the playoffs. Somebody anonymous chided me about getting the number of games in a season wrong (84 vice the correct 82). If the season had indeed 84 games, Les BouleS would have been eliminated last season, and this coming from a team that led the EAST!!!!!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Really liked the Mike Wise story. I am glad to see EJ was willing to change a little and "reach out" to getting the Haywood thing resolved. That will go a long way for the organization as a whole.

I now also hope this new way of doing things for him translates over to his rotational calls. All of EJ's toys (Jarvis, Ruffin, Booth, and Thomas) that drove us crazy are not there for him to play with anymore.

This team is very solid all the way down to the 12th man now. There will be no excuses anymore. As I have said before, I want EJ to stay here as coach. His system works, he just needed a bench and a good defensive coach. He now has both. Again, no excuses now.

I also like the twin tower look EJ was deploying in the preseason games. I hope he keeps that up, and scrapes that dang awful "small-ball" lineup he loved to play last year. What made it so bad was he played that stupid lineup in closing minutes of games. Ever wondered why we lost most of those close games????????? Don't say it, "small-ball".........

I am looking forward to good things this year, and I am in Eddie's corner to succeed. As Mark was saying above, I hope he finds minutes for DMac and "the youngsta (N. Young)" during the games.

BF#1, How about occasionally playing a lineup of Gil, Nick Young, Caron, Blatche with Antawn at C ? talk about potent ! We wouldn't be able to defend for long periods but who could stop us on the break with that squad ? I actually like small ball lineups IF every man is a threat to score and at least four of the five are 3 point threats. The one thing about using small ball is that you have to dbl team the post since you're undersized. Subsequently, teams take long range shots when the ball is kicked back out. Long range shots tend to be longer rebounds if they miss. The rebounding advantage for the bigger team is then nullified if you have smaller but more active rebounders like Blatche, McGuire. I think it could work. We'll see.

I need to issue a formal apology to NY, too. I thought he was crap when we first got him. he looked completely lost during summer league. I also got caught up believing Hollinger (who declared Young and Gabe Pruitt to be inevitable busts). Last few games, I became a believer in NY. He has one thing that a lot of young shooters lack. Confidence. Long arms don't hurt, either. It appears he can get his shot off over anyone because of the arms length and leaping ability. He fades on his shot, too. Impossible to block. very good pickup, Ernie. Looking back on other guys that were projected to come here, I'm da*n glad we didn't get any of them.

This could easily be the best team to represent DC since the glory days of the mid to late 70s... IF they live up to their promise, it will be a fun year. IF they let down, watch out below...

And yes, love the graphic!

I've changed my mind. I've written in these comments that I think we should trade Gilbert for Kobe. Now, I think differently.

I still think Gil is not the insane competitor that Kobe is (prove me wrong, Gil!). I still think that Kobe would give the Wiz instant credibility and put us among the favorites to win the East, even in the eyes of the haters. I still think Gil's goofiness will hurt the Wiz's chances of winning it all. I still think there's a lot about that deal that would make sense for both sides.

But I just love that dude. How can you trade a guy who gives his time, jerseys, and money to kids like Gil does? How can you trade a guy who takes himself so unseriously that he pulls practical jokes in the locker room and tells things like they are, in public, for all to read on his blog? He's a star. They didn't make another like Gilbert.

Let's keep him. Win or lose. (Is this what a man-crush feels like?)

I'd agree with most of Iceberg's points, this will be a good test tonight for this team to go on the road and beat a team that we should be favored to beat.

I'm not as willing as some others to predict a 50+ win season until I see that the Wizards learn to be better road warriors. The Wiz have gotten much better in recent years at protecting their home court. To really be one of the top teams in the league they need to learn to go on the road and be feared.

That's were the continuty of bringing back the starting 5 and having the same head coach for 4 years should begin to help. On the road everyone knowing what to expect and having your vets and the coaching staff establish how things are done is really important.

We have a really young, but much more talented bench. I think Ernie's really right to go with a shorter bench for noe and see how the Young guys fit in. Songalia, Daniels and even Blatche in his third year give us a core of Vets off the bench that should know what's going on from day one.

I'm hoping that Jordan should be able to find a rotation and work Young, TMac and Pecherov into the mix and get those guys ready for the playoff run.

I like this team's improved potential, there's a bigger upside to the bench then we've seen in years. And I think we've got a better coaching staff then in the past.

The big test, can Randy Ayers maintain defensive intensity? Will he be able to keep Eddie from putting some of his lineups out there that have no chance to rebound or defend?

It'll be an interesting year to be a Wizards fan. Looks like we're going to listen to the Kobe drum beat all year long, or at least til he lands somewhere else.

"The big test, can Randy Ayers maintain defensive intensity? Will he be able to keep Eddie from putting some of his lineups out there that have no chance to rebound or defend?

Yup. Huge questions.

"It's a mistake to take Indiana lightly, even if JO and Murphy are out."

Absolutely true. The Wizards have demonstrated time and again what can go wrong when they don't bring their A-game and half-step it against a presumably weaker opponent. They should most definitely come in focused from the start.

However, none of that changes the fact that the Pacers are a wounded, 3-legged donkey of a team.

"Jordan has preached defense incessantly, but without players with a natural inclination to stop people, it just won't happen."

Posted by: mark
-----------------------------------------

Well, Jordan may have "preached" defense incessantly every year, but he has not proven he can "coach" defense. Not here, not in his past coaching tenure elsewhere either. And we all now there is more to coaching than just "talk" about it. At least, this year we have a "defense coach" (hope EJ can let him do his job), and we have some quick and long guys. I am willing to wait and see.

Mark, knowing the way Eddie likes to play small ball I think we'll see that lineup more than a few times. But I also want to see more of that triple tower lineup Eddie flashed at a couple points this preseason: Brendan, AB, and Pech in front, but with Caron at 2 and Gil or maybe Roger at point.

And I agree with what you said about Nick Young, he has all the skills to become a terrific scorer in this league. But what people don't focus enough on is his potential as a lock-down defender at the 2. The guy is so quick, moves so well laterally, and has such a long wingspan. He has the build and skills of a Scottie Pippen-like defender. He clearly wants to excel at the offensive end, but maybe this is where a Randy Ayers can come in and really instill a defensive work-ethic in the kid.

I hope Eddie gives Nick and DMac and Pech lots of playing time. Hopeful, but not optimistic.

SOOO psyched to see the regular season start tonight. Enjoyed seeing the TNT guys last night and look forward to seeing Phil and, yes, even Buck, tonight. Let's hope he gets rid of that silly DAGGERRRR signature call...

I loved the player circle graphic on washingtonpost.com today. But I noticed that Etan wasn't included in the players. How do you think that made Etan's family feel?

We will outrun them for 3 quarters, then we will once again found ourselves in a tight game late in 4th.

"But I just love that dude. How can you trade a guy who gives his time, jerseys, and money to kids like Gil does? How can you trade a guy who takes himself so unseriously that he pulls practical jokes in the locker room and tells things like they are, in public, for all to read on his blog? He's a star. They didn't make another like Gilbert.

Let's keep him. Win or lose. (Is this what a man-crush feels like?)

Posted by: GKC | October 31, 2007 10:56 AM "

NBA is a business. Franchises are in the business of winning championships first and last. None of the other stuff really matters except for good will tot he community.

I don't you think you have to worry about D-Mac getting time. Eddie Jordan has been effusive in his praise of him and MacGuire's defensive abilities guarantee his presence on the floor at the end of quarters and games. MacGuire will play, Jordan can't afford to lose as many close games as last year because of poor defense at the end.

Ok, we should do predictions. A little optimistic from me, but why not.

Washington Wizards win 47 games and the Southeast Division. They make the Eastern Conference finals if they don't have to play Chicago in round two.
Other division winners: Toronto (Atlantic), Chicago (Central), San Antonio (Southwest), Utah (Northwest), Phoenix (Pacific)
East champ: Chicago, West champ: Phoenix
NBA champ: Phoenix, MVP: Tim Duncan (Arenas finishes in the top 5).

DMac will get PT, especially as the season rolls on. Hopefully he doesn't hit the rookie wall in the spring. I'm not as optimistic about Pech. The injury is a setback, for sure. I can't blame EJ, either - how can you give a guy PT if he's prone to turnovers and taking wild shots? Except for clean-up scrub time. Learn some discipline first.

I loved the player circle graphic on washingtonpost.com today. But I noticed that Etan wasn't included in the players. How do you think that made Etan's family feel?

Posted by: | October 31, 2007 11:24 AM
WHO CARES! Etan is a joke I'm glad he is OK. But get this bum outta DC. Evryone was wishing Etan well and he write to complain about Ivan. I say(like in a post I read before) lets all chip in buyout his contract and send him packing! Blatche is already 10x better! Etan wasn't good when he was good. Bottom line, we don't need him!

George,

I can get behind the 47 games and even winning the division, but the conference Finals will only happen if the team makes s serious and sustained commitment to defense, and I haven't seen anything to convince me that that's likely.

While I am optimistic about the season, what we've seen in the past is that this team goes as Gilbert goes. If his knee is fine, the team should be fine. If he struggles, the team might struggle.

Having said that, according to +/- stats, last season the Wizards were absolutely awful when Gilbert was on the bench, and to a lesser extent, when Jamison, Butler and Haywood were on the bench (although Gilbert may have been a big driver for their stats). In other words, Gilbert and the other starters would build up a lead and the bench would give it back, very quickly. The Wizards were +2.4 points/game in the 35.6 minutes/game that Gilbert was on the floor, but -2.8 points/game in the 12.4 minutes/game that Gilbert was on the bench. Ouch.

Also, the Wizards were 41-41, but they were outscored by 31 for the season. How can a team that is usually outscored end up at .500? Last second heroics by Gilbert, primarily.

Will that change this year? Will the bench be so inept? If so, then perhaps the team can weather Gilbert at less than 100% for a while, and Gilbert won't have to play so many minutes.

You guys obviously don't know much about the pacers or the wizards road woes. The spread for the game started at 1 and has moved o 2 or 3 depending on what site you use. Maybe if JO and Murphy are out it will be a blowout but JO is playing this is going to be a dogfight. The wiz always start slow, and always struggle on the road. Im hoping for a win but all this blowout talk and their whole roster sucks is nonsense.

The truth, I don't always agree with you but respect the way so make your points with conviction! So where exactly do you stand on Etan? j/k

C. Bell is retarded....Mark as well and DCMANN88 needs to get a job or a life or a new hobby or something.

"We should win tonight's game by 25. No one playing for them tonight could crack our top 10."

Even if you were being sarcastic thats the dumbest thing I have ever read.

"Also, the Wizards were 41-41, but they were outscored by 31 for the season. How can a team that is usually outscored end up at .500?"

Having their top 3 scorers miss a combined 47 games due to injury probably had a lot to do with it.

Oops. Make that 39 games.

Sagaliba is right, Coaching D is a whole lot different then talking about it. Coaching D reguires your defensive coach to be upfront and part the decision making process.

In the preseason it looked like that was the way the Wiz were going to run things. Eddie's having used Ayers as a bridge in the Haywood breech is another sign of a coach learning and adapting.

Hopefully we'll see some of the trends that have started here in the offseason continue.

The NBA is a business and winning puts paying customers in the seats. But Championships sometimes are more about ego and pride then profit.

Not every franchise is always motivated to try and win a championship from a business point of view.

Having star players that the public likes and admires are also good from the business side of things if a team is winning as well. It's hard to fill the stands with people that want to see a bunch of lovable losers.

Kobe has created an interesting situation for himself. Teams don't trade guys like Kobe unless they make it pretty unbearable for them to keep him.

And Kobe did a good job of that earlier this summer. But combined with the Shaq/Kobe split and Kobe's off the court problems in Colorado he's increasingly making himself into a guy that's hard for many fans to like.

When a guy makes the money he makes and would end up being the face of a franchise, it's really hard for an organization to commit to giving up valuable players and picks when he could pack up and go in a couple of years.

What an organization needs from Kobe is a commitment that he's going to be in for the long haul. He's already saying he's not commited to LA and wants out.

If Kobe goes to Chicago, comes here, or anywhere else in the league, how is that team or it's fans going to know that he's commited to them if things go wrong?

Guys get hurt, the best laid plans can blow up in a team's face. Look at last year's Wizards, if that would happen and Kobe was around would he be ready to bail?

What would make the situation any different then what he has now with the Lakers? Can't the Lakers say that if Kwame was healthy, if Odom hadn't have been hurt, we'd have gone further in the playoffs?

I don't know how Kobe repairs his image and gets himself traded from LA at the same time. And how the team he goes to doesn't give up so much that they doom themselves to being stuck with Kobe on another team that doesn't have a chance to advance in the playoffs.

For him to end up on a winner, LA has to give him up for pennies on the dollar. For that to happen he's got to continue to be a real pain in the ass. And the more he does that, the less anybody wants him.

I was exaggerating a little bit but who on the Pacers team that's playing tonight would you take over our starting 5 (minus Deshawn), AB, Nick Young, D. McGuire? Diener, Dunleavy, Granger, Tinsley? Are you SURE I'm the retarded one ? With Murphy and JO out, we may get a heavy dose of their backups. Even our second string should beat this team without their 2 best players. What's so far fetched about a 20 point win?
1.Gil is out to prove something.
2.we are a running team playing a team that is TRYING to learn how to run in a new system.
I'd be willing to bet my house we win by at least 12.

BF#1, How about occasionally playing a lineup of Gil, Nick Young, Caron, Blatche with Antawn at C ? talk about potent ! We wouldn't be able to defend for long periods but who could stop us on the break with that squad ?

Posted by: mark | October 31, 2007 10:43 AM

Yea Mark I could work with that lineup. However only for 3 to 4 mins max in the middle of the 2 quarter before the 5 minute mark. We would get killed defensively and would be unable to get "any boards" at all. Good thought though for certain situations.....

"It's hard to fill the stands with people that want to see a bunch of lovable losers."

Hey, GM, as a Cubs fan I really resent that! :-)

Well Mark I would love to take that bet b/c you would lose ur house. The spread on the game is 2 points. The odds makers in vegas know more than both of us. If we were going to win by 12 the spread would be 9 or 10.

Hey truth, when was there ever an argument over Etan vs Blatche ... I thought the problem was Brenda vs Etan, who obviously is not 10x better than Etan. Let's see how long before Blatche is taking minutes away from Brendan.

"The NBA is a business and winning puts paying customers in the seats. But Championships sometimes are more about ego and pride then profit.

Not every franchise is always motivated to try and win a championship from a business point of view.

Having star players that the public likes and admires are also good from the business side of things if a team is winning as well. It's hard to fill the stands with people that want to see a bunch of lovable losers."

I guess in GM's book, winning championships does not matter as much. In my book, winning championships builds the fan base, name recognition (ie. fan $upport), a sense or pride, and proves to the fans that the franchise is a winner and does what it can do to win.

Having a quirky guy around is good for people to laugh at and poke fun at, like a clown, a monkey riding a miniature bicycle, or a seal balancing a ball, but fans want to be associated with winners, and Les BouleS fans have a team that's been on a downward playoff spiral since the time Larry left. I can't think of a team with more missteps as of late besides New York, Indiana, and Minnesota.

"Having said that, according to +/- stats, last season the Wizards were absolutely awful when Gilbert was on the bench, and to a lesser extent, when Jamison, Butler and Haywood were on the bench (although Gilbert may have been a big driver for their stats). In other words, Gilbert and the other starters would build up a lead and the bench would give it back, very quickly. The Wizards were +2.4 points/game in the 35.6 minutes/game that Gilbert was on the floor, but -2.8 points/game in the 12.4 minutes/game that Gilbert was on the bench. Ouch.

Will that change this year? Will the bench be so inept? If so, then perhaps the team can weather Gilbert at less than 100% for a while, and Gilbert won't have to play so many minutes.

Posted by: Henry | October 31, 2007 12:49 PM "

You might not have recalled last season that with Gilbert in the game, and minus one of the other big three, this team could not win and looked bad.

Players will not get more healthy as the season progresses. Gilby's situation could either stay status quo, or get worse. If Gilby is not 100% come all star weekend, and if he gets voted in or gets in this season again, it would be a travesty of commitment to Les BouleS if he played in the game rather than rest for the other 1/2 of the season.

Hey truth, when was there ever an argument over Etan vs Blatche ... I thought the problem was Brenda vs Etan, who obviously is not 10x better than Etan. Let's see how long before Blatche is taking minutes away from Brendan.

Posted by: 2cents4wiz | October 31, 2007 02:31 PM

Not long my man not long. Blatche is more athletic and just all around better.

"Having a quirky guy around is good for people to laugh at and poke fun at, like a clown, a monkey riding a miniature bicycle, or a seal balancing a ball"

Hey - you described yourself PERFECTLY, DCIdiot!!!!

"Having a quirky guy around is good for people to laugh at and poke fun at,like a clown, a monkey riding a minature bicycle, or a seal balancing a ball"

Well, you said it best! Guess that's reason enough to keep reading your posts 88'er.

If Arenas gets voted to the Allstar game he should sit it out. Do you think Kobe'd ever dream of skipping an Allstar game?
Sorry... having trouble typing...can't stop laughing!!!!

DC Man88, should really try and read some of these posts BEFORE hitting the send button!!!!

"

If Arenas gets voted to the Allstar game he should sit it out. Do you think Kobe'd ever dream of skipping an Allstar game?
Sorry... having trouble typing...can't stop laughing!!!!

Posted by: | October 31, 2007 03:55 PM "

Why the reference to Kobe? I think Kobe has been able to play beyond whatever injury he has.

Now, if you look at a guy like Steve Nash, he bowed out of last year's all star game because he explicitly said he wanted to heal up and get ready for his team's second half run, and by gosh, if the ref didn't screw his team over, the Suns would have won it all.

DC MonkeyBoy88... BWAHAHAHA OOHOOHOOHOOH

"Guess that's reason enough to keep reading your posts 88'er."

Really, it's not.

" Well, you said it best! Guess that's reason enough to keep reading your posts 88'er.

Posted by: GM | October 31, 2007 03:41 PM "

And that's probably the only reason EG would keep Gilby around, because he is that clown, monkey on a bike, and seal with a ball. Otherwise, EG would be stuck with a diva with no leadership skills, no defensive skills, no team skills, no passing/setup ability, media hog/recluse (both at the same time), and someone who can't carry the team if any of the other two big 3 are out.

Nobody's existence on this blog, especially not yours GM, makes any difference at all to Les BouleS' success. What does make a difference is Gilby's shortcomings as outlined above, and what this max contract wannabe and probably soon to be player has yet to offer to Les BouleS.

Gilby's best bet is to keep on gunning and hope Les BouleS get into the playoffs. He only has the ability to justify that max contract by gunning because that's his strength. If he works out of his comfort zone and attempts any of the weaknesses above, he will be mediocre.

As Mike Wise's article pointed out:

* Gilby blew out of proportion that he was not "good enough" to make his HS team. In fact, the coach of the team did not want Gilby b/c Gilby was undisciplined and couldn't play within the system. Only when he has the permanent green light to shoot, can he thrive, team be d@mned.

* Gilby blew out of proportion the fact that he was told he would get no playing time if he went to Arizona. Mike Wise revealed that Gilby was told this by competing coaches, who wanted him on their college team in their attempt to dissuade him from going to Arizona. When recruiting season is going on, coaches badmouth each other all the time, but Gilby twisted it by making it seem like the coaches said he wasn't good enough. The fact is that Arizona is a powerhouse, and attracts many good players, and Lute does not really play freshman as much.

* Lute Olson had problems with Gilby, until he changed the offense and just let Gilby do what he does. Do we see a pattern here?

Gilby cannot thrive in a structured system. He can only thrive in a helter skelter system where he can use his skills to do whatever he does, and that does not include team ball, leadership, or defense. He needs people to pick up where he is weak at. In doing so, it hurts their own game. We have seen this here in DC with the Princeton Offense or lack there of.

DCIdiot, your obsession with Gil is just plain deranged. Last week you posted asking if anyone had read Wise's article about Gil - saying it was stupid - now you are quoting from it. Wise's article was PRO-GIL.

Point blank....if you were not obsessed with him, you would not have read the article and would just ignore anything Gil-related. Instead, you DIG UP STUFF.

You need serious HELP!

and by gosh!!! I still can't stop laughing!

Looking at where we were rated last year on offense I wouldn't regard that as the Wizard's problem. So critizing Gilbert Arenas or Eddie Jordan and the way the Wiz run the Princeton is looking at this team with your eyes wide shut!

This isn't a Championship team yet, Grunfeld has been building pc. by pc. toward where he wants this team to be.
I don't beleive the Wiz are as ready to go to the finals as some in the local press.

I also beleive some of the pressure/hype that the Post is trying to push is typical Washington stuff. This is not a sports town that is noted for it's patience.

But Grunfeld has made moves to create a more talented deeper team. To get there he's had to give up some veterans for talent. But looking at this team 1-12 it's got more talent than any team since Grunfeld signed on here.

With or without Arenas Grunfeld is a solid GM and will make moves that are best for this team. Try looking at the whole picture, try and forget thoose three free throws. They're eating you alive young man...

DCMan88's posts seem pretty accurate to me despite the bashing. I can assure you we are not one and the same despite the truth's ridiculous accusation yesterday that we were (we don't even write in remotely similar styles, get a clue). Arenas has had a chip on his shoulder from day one and always likes to pretend everyone is out to get him. This was especially true in 2006 when he was left off an all-star team he didn't deserve to be on (he was barely shooting 40% at the time) and he wasn't given playing time on the US National team because he was selfish and wouldn't pass. He of course had to pretend, like a petulant child, that he was targeted and gave crap like "I'm gonna score 50 against every coach on the national team" which cost them 2 games due to his selfishness against those teams last year.

Although I don't like the truth's method of debating on this board (accusing anyone who disagrees with him of being DCMan88 or of not being a Wizards fan) but I agree with him on Etan. Send the man packing. I can't believe someone actually wrote, "how do you think Etan's family feels." Gimme a break, this isn't preschool. Etan kept picking fights with B-Hay last year, it was pathetic and thuggish. The difference in the Wizards records with B-Hay in the starting lineup vs. Etan in the starting lineup were nothing short of laughable. The Wiz would've won the division if not for EJ's childish treatment of B-Hay which resulted in numerous losses due to the ridiculous playing time he gave Etan, Michael Ruffin, and Calvin Booth. Thankfully EJ has been saved from himself with none of those 3 players back this year. Expect a breakout season from B-Hay as a result.

I like Jim O'Brien, but this Indy team is a bad fit for what he wants to do.

DCMonkeyBoy88...OOHOOHOOHOOHOOH...Love/Hate Gilby...OOHOOHOOHOOH... post about Gilby day and night ... OOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOH