RonArtest15
May-9th-2007, 10:51 AM
Just came across this on CNNSI.com...nothing that hasn't been discussed before, but I figured you guys would like to see it none the less...
Washington Wizards
Projected room under the salary cap: None
Notable free agents: DeShawn Stevenson (player option), Andray Blatche, Jarvis Hayes
Assets: No. 16 pick in draft; an offense every player loves; Gilbert Arenas; forward-thinking front office willing to adjust to changing personnel landscape
Drawbacks: Impending free agency of team's two best scorers; lack of roster depth
Enough about the injuries short-circuiting the Wizards' postseason plans. Sure, they may have won a few games -- and maybe even a series -- but this team won't go anywhere meaningful in the playoffs until it starts playing defense.
Washington runs more defensive sets than perhaps any team in the league -- because coach Eddie Jordan is desperately trying to find some formation that at least slows the opposition. None of the tinkering did much this season, one in which Washington gave up 104.9 points a game, 28th in the league.
With no room under the cap, team president Ernie Grunfeld likely will have to keep his shopping to the mid-level exception aisle. But that may be just where the Wizards should be looking, for the type of defensive specialists who don't cost a lot but can help block a few shots or deflect a few passes. Combined with the No. 16 pick, the Wizards could import some defense help in a hurry, which may be the only way they will improve on the hard-hat end of the floor, considering how little D Arenas and Antawn Jamison play.
But the Wizards have to walk a delicate path, as both Arenas and Jamison can opt to become free agents next summer, and Arenas and Jordan already had a dust-up this season over the team's direction. It might be best to take the defensive duties out of Jordan's hands and give them to a respected defensive guru, a Dick Harter, a recently out-of-work Rick Carlisle -- someone who lives and breathes switches, box-outs and double teams.
Jamison demonstrated against Cleveland in Round 1 that Washington will always find a way to score, no matter the personnel, but it will never grow as a club if it doesn't find a way to stop someone, too.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/paul_forrester/05/08/blueprints/index.html
Washington Wizards
Projected room under the salary cap: None
Notable free agents: DeShawn Stevenson (player option), Andray Blatche, Jarvis Hayes
Assets: No. 16 pick in draft; an offense every player loves; Gilbert Arenas; forward-thinking front office willing to adjust to changing personnel landscape
Drawbacks: Impending free agency of team's two best scorers; lack of roster depth
Enough about the injuries short-circuiting the Wizards' postseason plans. Sure, they may have won a few games -- and maybe even a series -- but this team won't go anywhere meaningful in the playoffs until it starts playing defense.
Washington runs more defensive sets than perhaps any team in the league -- because coach Eddie Jordan is desperately trying to find some formation that at least slows the opposition. None of the tinkering did much this season, one in which Washington gave up 104.9 points a game, 28th in the league.
With no room under the cap, team president Ernie Grunfeld likely will have to keep his shopping to the mid-level exception aisle. But that may be just where the Wizards should be looking, for the type of defensive specialists who don't cost a lot but can help block a few shots or deflect a few passes. Combined with the No. 16 pick, the Wizards could import some defense help in a hurry, which may be the only way they will improve on the hard-hat end of the floor, considering how little D Arenas and Antawn Jamison play.
But the Wizards have to walk a delicate path, as both Arenas and Jamison can opt to become free agents next summer, and Arenas and Jordan already had a dust-up this season over the team's direction. It might be best to take the defensive duties out of Jordan's hands and give them to a respected defensive guru, a Dick Harter, a recently out-of-work Rick Carlisle -- someone who lives and breathes switches, box-outs and double teams.
Jamison demonstrated against Cleveland in Round 1 that Washington will always find a way to score, no matter the personnel, but it will never grow as a club if it doesn't find a way to stop someone, too.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/paul_forrester/05/08/blueprints/index.html