Quote:
Originally Posted by Jizzy
said it before, say it again: You CANNOT win big with an chucker who plays no defense and is selfish. They don't need his missed, forced shots and his non-existent defense.
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So Arenas takes a team that was one of the worst teams in the league and leads them to 3 playoff appearances. In each of those years, many experts and fans had the Wizards missing the playoffs altogether. I think Arenas has done enough to turn the team around.
I disagree with you and other posters that suggest that Arenas is selfish. He's a good player who you want the ball in the hand in the closing minutes of the game like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwayne Wade. He simply was not 100% this year to make a similar impact like he did in years past.
Sure the Wizards' defense has been below average partly because of Arenas but that was because of the coaching staff and other players as the well. Antawn Jamison is the worst defender on the team and is probably the worst defender in the league. Caron Butler, while athletic, struggles to stay in front of players with lack of lateral quickness. They also lose their best perimeter defenders like Hughes and Jeffries because teams overpay for their services (see Cleavland and the Knicks).
But with the addition of Randy Ayers, the Wizards were actually playing solid defense. Even Arenas picked up his defensive play. I expect that to continue throughout the season.
Field goal percentage is not a good indicator on how good a player is anymore. What should be taken into account now is true shooting percentage which calculates 3 point percentages and free throw percentages. His TS percentage last season was at 56%. The only other person who had more free throw attempts per game was Kobe Bryant.
Plus anyone who watched the Wizards this year can honestly say that he was not 100%. Why people are throwing him under the bus is petty IMO especially when he's injured.
If people want to point at the team's 3-5 start, the Wizards usually start off the season slow. They were 4-9 to start off the 06-07 season and were leading the Eastern Conference when the all star break rolled around. The team's play dipped because of injuries to Jamison and Butler and the Wizards lack of bench clearly showed (see Jarvis Hayes and Michael Ruffin)
As I said before the season, the Wizards have improved their bench. As a rookie, Nick Young is already better than Jarvis Hayes was as a rookie. Andray Blatche has taken his game to another level. And their bench will likely become better when Pecherov, the a 7 foot rookie out of Ukraine with a perimeter shot, and Etan Thomas, heart surgery, are fully healthy.
Caron Butler's play has improved in the past 3 seasons. He improved in the 06-07 season to make the all star team. To make his game even more unstoppable, he added a 3 point shot. But he is unselfish to a fault, he does not have the killer instinct to take key shots especially down the stretch which cost them the game against the 76ers.
Is 'No Gilbert' better for the Wizards?
