Washington Wizards team preview

the wiz are home to the third most LB player and two ultratalented forwards gifted both at scoring and rebounding the basketball. however, they have around three people on the entire roster able to play good defense. off the top of my head: deshawn stephenson, caron butler, and maybe maybe etan thomas or brendan haywood depending on whether or not they ate their wheaties.

that lack of defense is the number one thing holding them back from postseason glory, even though their effortless approach to that half of the game could be construed as part of their larger design. less energy spent on defense by gil & co. means more time for them to run the "princeton offense." for the record, i don't care if eddie jordan is supposedly the grand wizard of the princeton offense, but what the wiz do in game has almost no relation to the cavalcade of backdoor passes that is the *true* princeton offense.

despite their poor defense, the wizards can count on a solid 70 ppg from their core of zero, caron, and 'twan. that dependence on three main scorers cost them pretty dearly last season when both gil and caron butler went out with injuries that forced twan into becoming a one man team. despite the fact that he was literally their only threat on offense, he still managed to get buckets against a supposedly excellent defensive cavs team. just goes to show you. something, but i'm not entirely sure what. even with hibachi and caron butler sidelined for much of the second half of the season, the wiz still only finished three games behind miami. if the big three can stay healthy for the entire season, there's no doubt that they will seal the southeast division crown and end miami's streak for a good few years or so.

awesome player: besides gil is definitely andray blatche. he has had legal and personal troubles in the past but he could have a breakout campaign if he focuses on basketball. 6'11" small forwards don't come along every day, especially young ones with dripping potential. some say he's the SF version of andrew bynum. some being me. i say that. and it's true. he'll be good some day, perhaps in the mold of gerald wallace, when he gets a consistent dose of playing time from a team committed to seeing how he fares if he's tossed out into the big wide world.

key: working voodoo magic to keep caron, gilbert, and antwan healthy for the entire season.

realistically they are not title contenders, but with enough craziness out east who knows? they could represent their conference in the finals come june.

prediction: 45-37, first in southeast division

Gillyweed

First, peep Gilberts' oxygen tent and then take a gander at a blog I can only assume is dedicated to him. There is so much to say about the man who has established himself and reigns as among the lig's most enigmatic, so Ima try to lay some of it down.Gilbert has long been a hero to those fine folks over at FreeDarko, and for good reason. He is among the most interesting and complex ever to play the game.

For example: he was arrested this summer for standing beside his teammate as he was being charged with disorderly conduct. The twist: it was in the midst of a crowded Miami street.



Gilbert seems unregulated by the laws that normally permeate the game of basketball. When others zig he zags. Case in point: in the first round last year the Wizrds were inbounding with a chance to send the game to overtime. He took the ball midway between the three point line and half court and shot it.

Normally that is a moment reserved for the NBA player one might classify as slightly retarded. But with Gilly, it was a simple fact that he would take that shot. Whether or not it went in was semi-irrelevant. By even attempting such a ridiculous J, Gilbert proved that he is once again on a plane not higher than any, but seperated from all.

The shot did go in. Of course it did; what else can one expect out of Gilly?



His choice of literature (Harry Potter) reflects the fantastical world he lives in. The world where he can cover his shoes with Scotch tape. The world where it's perfectly acceptable for a man who depends on his ankles for life can wear low-top shoes and have no adverse consequences. It is a world all his own.