1 Down 81 To Go: Wizards Off To A Hot Start

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

By Brian Jackson
CSNwashington.com

The Washington Wizards couldn’t have scripted a better start to the 2009-10 campaign.  Flip Saunders got exactly what he wanted out of Gilbert Arenas, the Wizards defense looked vastly improved, and the team still has the ability to put points on the board.  

Throughout the preseason we saw two different versions of Arenas.  There was the pass first point guard who passed up open shots to get his teammates going and there was the assassin that could score at will.  All along Saunders has said that he needs his point guard to be aggressive in order for his team to be successful.  Granted its only one game, but Arenas’ performance against Dallas has to make him an early favorite for comeback player of the year.  As for those questions as to whether he would be a facilitator or a scorer, well how bout both.  His team high 29 points were the most he’s scored since November 14, 2007.  Not to mention he also dished out 9 assists to only 3 turnovers.  

With the 5th pick in the 2009 NBA draft the Washington Wizards select; Mike Miller and Randy Foye.  Well that’s not exactly how it turned out but right now Ernie Grunfeld looks like a pure genius.  Minnesota chose Ricky Rubio with the 5th pick and last time I checked he’s still playing in Spain.  Saunders named Mike Miller his starter at shooting guard and Randy Foye is a viable threat off the bench.  Miller took only four shots but knocked down two three pointers and grabbed eight rebounds.  Foye on the other hand got things going offensively.  He finished with 19 points but more importantly the Wizards were a +16 points when he was on the floor.  That’s not the only move that Grunfeld made this offseason.  Fabricio Oberto made Dirk Nowitzki work for everything he got.  Nowitzki scored 34 points but 12 of those points came from the line.  Oberto forced the 7-footer into shooting only 10-25 from the field.  

With Antawn Jamison out for the next 4-6 weeks somebody has to fill the void and Andray Blatche made his bid in Dallas.  Blatche came off the bench to score 20 points, grab 7 rebounds, and block 2 shots.  The one issue with Blatche has always been consistency but at least for one night he showed glimpses of the talent he’s always possessed.  

As a team the Wizards also got after the Mavericks on the defensive end.  Dallas was held under 40 percent shooting and knocked down only 4 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc.  Its only one game out of 82 but so far Wizards fans have something to look forward to.  In comparison the Wizards had only one road win by Christmas last season.