Wizards Are Back!

The Wizards - and the NBA - are back! 

But that's the problem for a local - and loyal - basketball fan in DC.  The under talented 'Zards from last year, a team that won 23 games, are back with basically the same team.  The changes are all on the margins.  Shelvin Mack is now our back up point guard and Washington's first-round pick, Czech import Jan Vesely, is now our back up power forward.  

Unfortunately, the starting five is practically unchanged from last year's mediocre-to-bad team.  Three of Washington's five starters - Nick Young, Andray Blatche and Javale McGee - are career underachievers who make a fan less than optimistic about the 2012 season that debuts today versus New Jersey.

On one level Young, Blatche and McGee are the NBA at it's worst, three guys who don't understand that the most important thing in basketball, or sports, is effort.  Effort on every play.  Basketball is NOT about getting on Sportscenter,  or thumping your chest or staring down an opponent, etc.  

Players like Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, etc.  have always understood that effort begets winning.  But those 3 think style is more important that substance and hard work on every play. 

The NBA is partly at fault here.  They market the players as superhuman athletes, which undoubtedly some of them are.   But the main reason that NBA players are superior athletes is effort - and hard work - rather than some physiological trait they were born with. 

Until Young and especially McGee and Blatche understand the roll of effort in success, this version of the Wizards will stink.  And we know that because it's the same team that stunk last year.   Sheesh.

There is some hope Young, who got better last year, and maybe McGee, who says he wants to get more consistent.  

But as it was last year the main reason to watch this team is John Wall.  He had a good rookie season at 16 points and 8 assists. Hopefully he'll develop a consistent jump shot this year and mature. Too often he pouts and get visibly frustrated on the court when he misses a shot or turns it over.  More professionalism would help him with both his jumper and on-court presence.  Again, the good news is that Wall seems to be a compete gym rat who cares about nothing but basketball (he lives in a condo near the Verizon Center and sometimes walks to work but rarely does anything else apparently) and the maturity should come with time. 

The only other returning player who is worth keeping long term is back up shooting guard Jordan Crawford.  He showed flashes of offensive ability last year and plays hard.  He's behind incumbent 2 guard Young, for now, but long term Crawford and Wall could form a plus backcourt.

If I was Flip Sanders, I would ditch Blatche and play effort guys like Trevor Booker, Chris Singleton and Maurice Evans more. As that list shows, this team has a roster full of guys who play forward: Blatche, Vesely, Singleton, Booker, Evans, Rashard Lewis, Ronny Turiaf, Kevin Seraphin; we also have interestingly enough 3 French nationals: Seraphin, Turiaf, and Hamady Ndiaye (all from former French colonies at least).

So here is my proposed Wizards rotation; this may be the only such list on the internet; such is the super low level of interest in our hometown team.

C - McGee, with I guess Blatche as his back up.  Obviously very weak here.  If this were my team, I would only play Blatche as a back up center.

F/4 - Despite  all our forwards it's a crap shoot here.  I guess I'd go Lewis, who is 6'10" and used to be able to score but plays like a 3/small forward.  Vesely would be my first option off the bench here, with some minutes for Evans - but none for Blatche.

F/3 - Booker or Singleton; I would start one of these two guys despite their youth and inexperience simply to always have an effort guy on the floor for 48 minutes. Turiaf, another effort guy, could also use up some minutes here, too.

G/2 - Young and Crawford; Crawford is probably in better shape since he was signed and therefore in camp on time so could start tonight over Young.  By the end of the season expect him to formally have supplanted Young at the 2.

G/1 - Wall, spelled by Mack.  So effort would be there at the 1, too.

With a shortened season getting to 23 wins with this team would be a huge accomplishment.  I'm feeling semi-optimistic for one reason - the Wizards are young.  That youth should help them in a condensed season that will see teams play many back-to-back and some back-to-back-to-back games.   Those fresh legs could help the Wizards get to 25 wins this year, or 25 and 41 for the year.

That should lead to another decent draft pick - Jon Henson perhaps to play the four, for instance - and hopefully a newer and better team in 2013.

Thus end the longest blog post devoted to the Wizards on the internet. You're welcome. 

Two more Wizards wisps:

• I hope my fellow Hellene Ted Leonsis DOES NOT change the name of the team back to the Bullets.  Guns and bullets stink, whether we're talking the damage Washington bullets do in SE Washington or in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Do not bring this name back, please.
• The new unis are growing me, mainly the red not the homage to the old Bullets.  It's ironic that in super blue - politically - DC all our teams are going red.