3 weeks ago the Washington Wizards started preseason play and after finishing the preseason at 4-4 it is time to take a look at how my Four Things to Watch for panned out.

1. Andray Blatche- I was excited about Blatche before the preseason and after the preseason I really can’t say enough. The big man came into camp ready to play and averaged 10.5 ppg to go along with a team high 6.4 rebounds. Blatche also shot 50% from the field and showed the rest of his team that he is ready to contribute serious minutes this season.

2. The Bench Rotation- With every starter except Brendan Haywood sitting out at least one game, coach Eddie Jordan let his second unit get a lot of playing time. Blatche, Nick Young, and Dominic McGuire led the team in minutes played with Antonio Daniels, Roger Mason Jr., and Oleksiy Pecherov, also contributing 18-20 minutes per game off the bench. Coach Jordan has talked about a nine man rotation and it looks like his four veterans Darius Songaila, Blatche, Mason and Daniels, will see most of the playing time early in the season.

3. The Rookies- While Andray Blatche was arguably the most impressive player this preseason (receiving 56% of the voting in the washingtonwizards.com fan poll), the three rookies, Pecherov, Young and McGuire were right there with him. Young started off camp slowly, but by the end of the preseason the rookie from USC was attacking the basket and scoring from all areas of the court. McGuire on the other hand opened eyes from his first days in camp, flashing an athletic ability rarely seen in the NBA today. Known for his shot blocking ability in college, McGuire came in and instantly showed he had the knack for it at the next level, averaging a team high 1.9 blocks per game. The third rookie, Oleksiy Pecherov, came into camp known mostly as a shooter and there is simply no arguing the big man's touch. While Pecherov can shoot with the best of them, he also showed he had a lot more to offer than just scoring, as the Ukrainian averaged 5.5 rebounds per game.

4. The Defense- With Coach Jordan placing a stronger emphasis on defense this preseason, the Wizards showed major improvements in opponents FG% and points per game. In the preseason the Wizards gave up just over 90 points per game an improvement of almost 14 points over last years average, while also dropping opponents FG% from 47% to 42%. Overall, it looks as though the increased emphasis in practice is paying off in big ways for the Wizards.