Hey, the Wizards have the best record in the Eastern Conference

[skinsarethebest]

... as of now

if you don't believe, look it up -- but as we speak, the Wizards have the best record (percentage-wise) in the East

[Renegade7]

I just saw a pig fly...

[jbooma]

i saw a pig dance :laugh:

breakdance at that :D


GO WIZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now we do have 3 interesting games this week

[RedskinsNation]

Denver is good, but they are inconsistent. We do have them here at the phone booth so I do like our chances.\

This isnt the same Wizards from the last few years.

Playing in the Leastern Conference in the NBA is like playing in the NFL's NFC...

We should be a top 6 seed...rather easily if we can just go .500 for the rest of the season.

Lets say we go 44-38 (which isnt unrealistic) we will be a top 6 seed.

[a_good_brotha]

If I hadn't read this article, I wouldn't have believed it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-winningwizards&prov=ap&type=lgns


Usually woeful Wizards off to best start since 1974

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer
December 7, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The culture of losing has taken a leave of absence from the Washington Wizards, who are off to their best start in three decades.

``I still feel that a lot of people think this is a fluke,'' forward Antawn Jamison said.

Well, of course they would. After all, these are the Wizards, who have been among the losingest franchises in American pro sports for 16 years. Big-name coaches and players -- Michael Jordan chief among them -- have arrived to find an intangible psychological barrier that kept the team from winning.

``We're trying to change a losing culture here,'' coach Eddie Jordan said a few dozen games into last season, after discovering to his dismay what everyone in town already knew. ``And it's not easy.''

But the locker room has a different feel this season. Players fed up with losing have changed the atmosphere. The Wizards are finding ways to win games, instead of excuses to blow another one. The result is a 10-5 record, the franchise's best 15-game mark since the 1974-75 team started 11-4.

``We definitely have a better chemistry,'' center Brendan Haywood said. ``It's more of a confidence thing. When you lose games, when things start going bad you can get down on yourself quicker. When you win games, you believe in yourself more.''

With the Redskins struggling and the Capitals locked out, the Wizards are unexpectedly the most exciting pro team in town, already surviving bits of adversity that might have sent them spiraling in the past.

Kwame Brown and Steve Blake have barely played because of injuries, and Etan Thomas has not suited up at all. Jordan missed two games while hospitalized with a blood clot in his leg, but the team played well under assistant Mike O'Koren. No one tanked when the team trailed the Chicago Bulls for nearly the entire game on Saturday, and instead the team rallied down the stretch for a seven-point win.

Jamison, acquired in a draft day trade from Dallas, is putting up All-Star numbers and has quickly become the locker room leader. Point guard Gilbert Arenas has found his rhythm in his second season in Jordan's share-the-ball, movement offense. Larry Hughes leads the league in steals, evidence that the Wizards have finally figured out how to play defense.

Jamison, Hughes and Arenas played together for those years at Golden State, and they felt they never got a change to fulfill the promise they should there.

``People say we couldn't get it down when we were at Golden State,'' said Jamison, who is averaging 21.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and a team-high 40.5 minutes. ``It thought it would be real nice to prove to the world, `What if they had stuck with these three guys?' I love proving people wrong.''

The Wizards have benefited from a tepid Eastern Conference schedule with no major road trips, but they also have five road wins, a significant accomplishment for a team that won only eight road games and finished 25-57 last season.

``We've tried to change the environment and make it a hardworking, team-orientated environment,'' general manager Ernie Grunfeld said. ``The players have taken on that and have embraced that and have tried to come together as a collective group.''

No one took the last few years of losing harder than Hughes, who tasted success early in his career with Philadelphia. Hughes had seen too many teammates get used to losing, a condition he was determined to change.

``I seen players go into 'countdown' mode, counting down the days until the end of the season,'' Hughes said. ``I don't want to be a countdown team. I want to be counting down the days until we make the playoffs.''

The playoffs? The Wizards haven't won a playoff game since 1988. Since then, they've mostly been fodder for the league.

At least until this year.

``On the outside looking in, when you played the Wizards, it was a W. That's just being honest,'' Jamison said. ``You heard stories of things in the past, but once the opportunity presented itself, I knew we had the talent. I talked to Gilbert and Larry, they were really fed up with the situation. They wanted to make a difference and find a way to get it done.

``It was a lot of commitment coming into the season, a lot of guys who really wanted to go out there and prove to the fans and everybody that this can be a respectable organization.''

[Skins26]

GO WIZ!!!!

As I thought before the seasont they finally resemble a real team. Even with some very talented players on the bench.

Grunfeld has done an amazing job. Lets hope they can keep this up!

[hands11]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2005&week=5

We are climbing the power polls
Up from 18th to 14th

For who we have played, this is an accurate ranking.
Now we have to take the next step and be better then
teams like the Lakers and Heat.

Getting better then these teams and above will be a huge step and will be tough.

They have us ranks better then most the middle of the pack teams already. Better the Indi, Celtics, Knicks, and Celtics.
We will have to continue to prove that correct.

It hard for me to even start thinking about us being better then this next level of teams. It just seems like so much so soon.
After LA and Miami, your talking, Clippers. Clevland, Denver, and the Magic. This is the next level and teams we have to prove we are better then.

Then there are just the big boys like Dallas & Spurs, etc.

It going to take Kwame, Etan and Blake showing us what they can do in order for us to get there.

[fdarugar]

HELLLLL YEAAAAAA!!!

[Funkyalligator]

Well....there on tonight and then again friday and sunday.....should be a blast to watch them....I've seen every game so far this season and they have looked good....It'll be important to incorporate Brown and Etan into the flow of the team......especially Brown....he is a lot bigger this year and his jumper looks better...he should have a good year...once he gets back fully in game shape....

[Alvin_Walton40]

Now all we have to do is change the name back to the Bullets.

[fixer26er]

Originally posted by hands11
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2005&week=5

It hard for me to even start thinking about us being better then this next level of teams. It just seems like so much so soon.
After LA and Miami, your talking, Clippers. Clevland, Denver, and the Magic. This is the next level and teams we have to prove we are better then.



Didn't we already beat Orlando? I think that puts us at least at their level.

[herrmag]

I'm stuck in Linthicum, MD. tonight on a business trip. Does anyone know if the Wiz will be televized up here and, if so, what channel? My hotel room doesn't seem to get Comcast, so I think I'm probably f'd :mad:

[mookie0720]

This will last until they go on that west coast swing.