Arenas dubs this season "The Takeover: Reloaded."
Ned Dishman/NBAE/Getty Images
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The Wizards have a pretty good trio themselves.
While Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have been stealing headlines all summer long, Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison haven’t gone anywhere. Sure, Washington hasn’t been high on anybody’s radar thanks to a first round playoff sweep by the Cavaliers last spring but let’s not forget that the threesome led the Wizards to a 12-4 record in the month of December last season and have five All-Star selections between them over the last three seasons.
Brian McKnight sings that it “starts back at one,” but everything starts back at zero for Washington. Gilbert Arenas, a.k.a. Agent Zero, has developed into one of the most lethal scorers and clutch players in the NBA today.
Arenas has averaged better than 25 points per game in each of the last three seasons, but defense is the area where No. 0 and his teammates need to step up as the Wizards were 28th in the league last season, allowing 104.9 points per game.
The Wizards have made the playoffs each of the last three seasons, but haven’t made much noise once there. In today’s NBA a team usually only has about a five year lifespan to try to win a championship before fans call for a new formula. This is year three for the “Big Three” and a contract year for Arenas to boot, so it’s make-or-break time for the current regime.
-- Dave McMenamin
 Arenas |
Arenas was on pace for an MVP type of season last year before he hurt his knee in April and spent the off-season rehabbing from a MCL tear. Now in his seventh season, it is the time for him to put it all together -- the scoring, the defense, the clutch shots and the leadership.
Remember, Jordan won his first ring in his seventh season and KG won the MVP in year seven of his career too.
Arenas will be faced with the task of coming off the toughest injury he has sustained as a pro and proving he can achieve as much success with the Wizards as he does on the World Wide Web.
-- Dave McMenamin
| 5-4 | The Wizards were 5-4 in games decided by last-second shots last season. Gilbert Arenas had four game winners and Caron Butler had one for Washington while New York's Steve Francis, Miami's Udonis Haslem, New Jersey's Vince Carter and Toronto's Morris Peterson hit late shots that led to Wizards losses in either the end of regulation or in overtime. |
 Jordan |
Career Record: 186-239 (.438)
Playoffs: Three times, 6-14 (.300)
Eddie Jordan has made his mark on the league for his offensive schemes, but he knows that if he is going to take the Wizards to the next level, it will be from defense and rebounding. "We watched a lot of tape this summer and our defense was active, we were in good position and I didn't think we were horrible in terms of what we tried to do," Jordan told the Washington Times. "We just didn't get the rebounds we should have ... we need to rebound better."
-- Dave McMenamin
Gilbert is one of the top five matchup problems in this whole league. He's so fast, no one outworks him, and he can win games. Jamison is a tough matchup as well because he can score from anywhere on the floor. They've got three guys who average 70 points between them and those guys get to the free throw line too. The only solace is that they're all perimeter guys, which hurts them a bit. They're also not that deep. They've let a lot of guys leave (Dixon, Blake, Jefferies) and they haven't added much. They might be the worst defensive teams in the East, and it's not because of the coaching, it's the personnel. If you don't have guys that want to guard, they're not going to do it. Gilbert doesn't want to guard anybody. They're just gonna try to outscore you. Songaila is solid, but he's not a guy that scares you. Haywood is inconsistent and Etan can have three fouls in the first four trips down. They had injury problems, but they were kind of freakish injuries with Butler's hand and then Gilbert is such an elite athlete, I don't foresee him getting hurt that much. I see them third in the division behind Miami and Orlando.-- Eastern Conference Scout
PG - Gilbert Arenas: Coming off a career year. This season marks a contract year. You do the math! | |
SG - DeShawn Stevenson: His secondary role in the offense makes him a marginal fantasy option. | |
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SF - Caron Butler: Expect more of the same great numbers from last season's breakout year. | |
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PF - Antawn Jamison: He drains the trey with ease, a nice bonus from the PF position. | |
C - Brendan Haywood: Position scarcity at center is the only reason you’ll ever need him. | |
Playoffs: Lost in First Round to Miami, 4-3
Scoring Leader: G. Arenas, 29.5 PPG
Rebounding Leader: A. Jamison, 9.7 RPG
Assist Leader: A. Daniels, 8.8 APG
Simulated Season Details
Playoff Appearances: 24
NBA Finals Appearances: 4
Championships: 1 | Last Title: 1977-78
Best Season: 1974-75, 60-22
Oct. 31 @ Indiana (7:00 p.m. ET)
Home Opener:
Nov. 3 vs. Orlando (7:00 p.m. ET)
Longest Road Trip(s):
5 games in 7 days: March 25-31
@ POR, @ SEA, @ SAC, @ LAL, @ UTA
Longest home stand(s):
5 games in 11 days: Dec. 1-11
TOR, CLE, PHX, NJN, MIN
5 games in 7 days: March 11-17
CHA, MIL, CLE, LAC, ATL
Buy tickets | Full Wizards schedule
Radio: WTEM 980 AM
Web: Official site
Local Coverage: Washington Post | Washington Times
