Arenas out 3 months...

[Pedro Cerrano]

Wow what a dagger for the Wizards. They've managed to play well enough without him the last two games but obviously this severely hinders their shot at making waves in the East.

Dagger.

[beaner]

Wow what a dagger for the Wizards. They've managed to play well enough without him the last two games but obviously this severely hinders their shot at making waves in the East.

Dagger.

BACKBREAKER!!!!!!

[AgentOrange]

They have been playing better when he hasn't been in the lineup. We will continue to do well without him.

I bet we are 5 games over .500 the day he comes back, maybe better.

[beaner]

They have been playing better when he hasn't been in the lineup. We will continue to do well without him.

I bet we are 5 games over .500 the day he comes back, maybe better.

I hope you're right, man. Most teams don't have 2 other offensive weapons as good as the Wizards have. So as long as a few guys up their play a little (as Blatche showed last night), maybe they'll surprise some folks.

[AgentOrange]

I hope you're right, man. Most teams don't have 2 other offensive weapons as good as the Wizards have. So as long as a few guys up their play a little (as Blatche showed last night), maybe they'll surprise some folks.


I think Daniels runs the ofense better than Gil, and it seems hte defense is picking up this season.

[clapdiddy]

I think Daniels runs the ofense better than Gil, and it seems hte defense is picking up this season.
I tend to agree with AO that this team seems to play better without Arenas. Daniels does run the team better...seems like the team doesn't stand around as much...lot more movement.

To me, the two guys they can't live without are Jamison and Butler. If they lose either one of those guys, they won't be able to recover. They showed it last year when they were out. They do the dirty work...fight for loose balls, rebound, and play good defense.

I think Blatche and maybe even Nick Young will be able to pick up some of the offense that will be missing with Gibert. Also...and I know its early...but Haywood has looked pretty darn good. Let's hope he keeps it up!

[BaltimoreTerp]

Have faith...

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?id=1193711

[Pushmonkey]

[QUOTE=BaltimoreTerp;1104029]Have faith...
QUOTE]

he'll stll make commercials

[Dr. FLK]

It obviously hurts. But, in the NBA they can still make it. The regular season really doesn't matter. This will hurt their seed in the playoffs, but if Daniels is decent they should still make it. Right?

(That's the analysis of someone who hasn't watched an NBA game all year...is AD even decent? I mean, he was a stud at Bowling Green ;) ...)

[YardBirds13]

This obvously hurts alot, but we are really lucky to have AD. He does a great job running the offense.

Butler is the one guy we can't lost, because he is the only guy out of the big 3 who is a great defender. Whoever said Jamison plays great defense is just plain wrong, he is a stiff on the defensive end.

Young and Blatche both need to get more playing time because of this. I know Stevenson is a good defender, but I'd love to see Young starting in the not too distant future.

I'd really like our line-up while Gil is out to be:

Daniels, Young, Butler, Jamison, Haywood

With Blatche, Songaila, McGuire, Stevenson, Mason and (when he gets healthy) Pecherov off the bench.

I think we can at least stay in the hunt without Gil if Young and Blatche continue to improve and get solid minutes.


Unfortunately, no more NACCCHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[WhoRU]

I think they will be around 500 when and if he returns. I saw Harvey Grant getting interviewed and he said he thought the wizards wern't ging to make the playoffs and that he thought Arenas was out for the season. I have to disagree on both of his opinions but it will really hurt them in close games at the end. They do not have a one on one guy to finish games out.

[clapdiddy]

Whoever said Jamison plays great defense is just plain wrong, he is a stiff on the defensive end.


I said he plays good defense...not great! :D

He seems to be pretty good at stripping people under the basket, and he's a pretty good rebounder despite not being huge.

I agree with your post, though. It'll be nice to see Young and Blatche getting some minutes. Songalia provides some toughness, and a nice medium range jumper.

When is Pecherov due back? Also, what's his game like? I really don't know a whole lot about him.

[CrimsonTribe]

Not very happy about this since I bought tickets to see them play the Knicks at MSG in January and now my two Agent Zero shirts will not be nearly as cool. On the bright side though, this could allow some of the younger guys to develop so that we have more of a team when Gil comes back. That could take off some of the inordinate amount of pressure he seems to put on himself.

[MikeAD]

Nows the time for Brenden Haywood to start acting like a legitimate NBA Center.

As if thats not the 100th time thats been said.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Nows the time for Brenden Haywood to start acting like a legitimate NBA Center.

As if thats not the 100th time thats been said.

Andrey.....Blatche.

[bryanman8]

Nows the time for Brenden Haywood to start acting like a legitimate NBA Center.

As if thats not the 100th time thats been said.
Brendan.

And he's been having a great season if you've been watching.

They'll stay afloat and still make the playoffs and be fine to make a real strong push if he's able to come back strong early March. Daniels is a great true PG for this team--Daniels is a better defender and passer, Gil is a better scorer. Obviously I'd rather have Gil but I'm starting to agree with the people who believe Caron Butler is this team's MVP--he's just gotten incredible and I think the team would be nothing without him.

Without Gil, I think this is still a strong team that just needs a guy like Nick Young, Stevenson, or Blatche to step up every night. Stevenson has been a complete bum this year except for one game and needs to snap out of it. Young's quite a scorer for a rookie but can't defend at all yet. Like TTF, I love me some Blatche--kid's got KG written all over him if he continues to work hard.

What I'm upset about is that Abe apparently won't open his pockets at all to get us some more bodies which we really need. Earl Boykins is still out there and would be a nice backup PG. Even getting Donnell Taylor back, who we cut and I don't believe has signed anywhere, would be nice. Mike Hall and Tony Massenburg, also cut at the end of the preseason, would also be nice to have now with Pecherov, Thomas, Arenas all out and Haywood and Caron a bit nicked up.

Again, I think the team will stay afloat and still make the playoffs behind the strength of Tough Juice and the emergence of the youngsters, but how far they'll go really depends on if Gil is able to be full strength by that time. Obviously his knee wasn't fully repaired right the first time and that ended up messing us up completely but if they get it right this time and he's okay for the long term I think we'll be fine and it may even be a blessing in disguise in that he may not opt out yet because few teams want to give a big payday to a guy coming off two major knee surgeries in less than a year which would also make it easier for us to re-sign Jamison cheap for a couple years until Blatche is ready full-time.

Speaking of Blatche, our lineup should really look like this now:
Daniels
Butler
Jamison
Blatche
Haywood

Bench:
Stevenson
Songaila
Young
(Boykins?)
Mason
(Pecherov)
McGuire

Tough road trip starting now. Even though they have to be exhausted after getting to meet Golden State's real amazing offense last night, they've gotta grind out a win against Memphis tonight. Time for Stevenson to step up against Navarro and prove Grunfeld right for choosing him.

[YardBirds13]

I was at the game last night and although we got carved up by Baron Davis, I think we really might have two big time future stars on this team in Blatche and Young.

Young had a career high 18 points, including a huuuge 3 to pull the Wiz within one late in the game. Blatche looked great defensively and offensively.

Those two need more minutes.

[MikeAD]

Brendan.

And he's been having a great season if you've been watching.




Yes, I know, I love the Wizards, but the question is can he sustain it. Hes been a very big disapointment his whole career, hell everyone we have put at that postion in the last 7 years has been a disapointment.

[Ruzious]

Wiz really need to get a backup PG. Even just 10 decent minutes a game would be a big improvement over Roger Mason, Jr. He's just not quick enough to play the point - offensively or defensively - and doesn't really handle the ball well enough... or pass... or anything. If they don't get somebody soon, it's going to cost them games. It might have already cost them games. I hope the luxury tax is not the reason for them not signing someone. That's penny wise and pound foolish. The don't even need a pure PG - just someone who can handle the presure, defend penetration, and hit an open shot. If they don't want to pay a guy like Boykins, get one of the VaTech grads - Gordon or Dowdell. Gordon is more of a PG, but Dowdell is the better all-around player. They're both excellent defenders - especially Gordon. If Gordon could just shoot a little bit...

[WhoRU]

I was at the game last night and although we got carved up by Baron Davis, I think we really might have two big time future stars on this team in Blatche and Young.

Young had a career high 18 points, including a huuuge 3 to pull the Wiz within one late in the game. Blatche looked great defensively and offensively.

Those two need more minutes.

From what Jordan has said Blatche needs to be better conditioned to get more minutes and Young has seen a increase in his minutes since Arenas went down. I really wish this team didn't resign Stevenson!

[Ruzious]

From what Jordan has said Blatche needs to be better conditioned to get more minutes and Young has seen a increase in his minutes since Arenas went down. I really wish this team didn't resign Stevenson!
Stevenson definitely has offensive deficiencies, but he's their only guard who plays good defense. It makes a big difference, because the other guards are really bad defensively.