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**MJG** · 10-04-2005, 11:53 PM

Washington Post Blog

Very nice little journal being done in the Post by Ivan Carter. I assume it'll keep being updated throughout the week. Here's some of the interesting bits from his two day one updates:

* Three starters have already been named in Arenas, Jamison, and Haywood. The two swing spots are up for grabs among four guys: Daniels, Caron, Jeffries, and Hayes. In what may or (most likely) may not be a wee bit of insight, the first team EJ ran used Daniels and Jeffries. However, Hayes and Caron were used in the lineups later in the day.

* Hayes looks relatively healthy, not showing any noticable signs of his injury. Jamison is also not showing a thing related to his knee from last year.

* Arenas has been talking about an increased effort on defense. Can't be anything more than talk at this point, but it's a start.

* Not important basketball-wise, but on the official NBA Register for the upcoming season, Arenas was one of the four players on the cover (with Nash, Wade, and James).

Shanghai Kid · 10-05-2005, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Arenas crouched into a defensive stance that would have made Gene Hackman's character in "Hoosiers" proud. As Atkins started to dribble, Arenas reached in, swatted the ball away and forced Atkins to chase the ball down near midcourt.

The effort drew applause from Coach Eddie Jordan and Arenas's teammates, who are clearly buying into Jordan's belief that the Wizards must become a better defensive team after allowing opponents to shoot 45.9 percent and average 100.8 points per game last season.

Of course, it would help if such a movement were led by the franchise player.

"They're going to make me play D this year," joked Arenas, who finished seventh in the league in scoring with a 25.5 points per game average last season but didn't exactly earn a reputation as a lockdown defender.

"It's about growing up and that's one of the areas where I have to grow up in," Arenas said. "I worked hard this summer on all of my abilities and that's one of them. I'm going to take defense very serious this year and if I start slacking off, I have teammates who will keep me into it."

Arenas becoming a good defender would go a long way in improving our team defense. Definetly good news.

Gripni · 10-05-2005, 04:08 PM

Yeah. That would be pretty sweet if we could stop penetration a few times a game. Good thinking Gilbert. Hopefully Jarvis Hayes will think the same way. I know that Antonio Daniels is a pretty solid perimeter defender. I wonder if Caron Butler is the same. He seemed decent when he was with Miami.

**MJG** · 10-05-2005, 04:27 PM

The more I read about Hayes, the more I'm convinced that Atkins isn't going to be much of a factor for us, at least to start the year. I thought maybe he would steal some of Hayes' time and that'd be how he found the court, but it seems like there are (relative) high hopes for Hayes this season.

I think what a lot of people aren't counting on is the maturation of some of our younger guys. Many people look at guys like Hayes and Jeffries and think they're already what they're going to be, that they aren't in line for much improvement. I'm not saying they all will vastly improve from where they are now, but even just one making a leap would be a big boost that I think a lot of people wouldn't be expecting. Imagine if this is the year that Jeffries decides to mimic Tayshaun Prince, or Hayes figures he may as well become another Rip Hamilton. Yea, not necessarily something we should count on, but not something we should count out either.

Shanghai Kid · 10-05-2005, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJG

The more I read about Hayes, the more I'm convinced that Atkins isn't going to be much of a factor for us, at least to start the year. I thought maybe he would steal some of Hayes' time and that'd be how he found the court, but it seems like there are (relative) high hopes for Hayes this season.

I think what a lot of people aren't counting on is the maturation of some of our younger guys. Many people look at guys like Hayes and Jeffries and think they're already what they're going to be, that they aren't in line for much improvement. I'm not saying they all will vastly improve from where they are now, but even just one making a leap would be a big boost that I think a lot of people wouldn't be expecting. Imagine if this is the year that Jeffries decides to mimic Tayshaun Prince, or Hayes figures he may as well become another Rip Hamilton. Yea, not necessarily something we should count on, but not something we should count out either.

I'll take a wait and see approach on Hayes. Remember last year he looked great in preseason and than just dropped like a rock when the season started. I heard that Hayes needs to work himself back into shape.

I'd like to see Atkins get backup minutes, just cause he's a good 3-point shooter. I think if they weren't going to use him they would of tried to trade him cause he is a valuable backup PG. I actually think he'll contribute more this year than Hayes.

**CP26** · 10-05-2005, 06:08 PM

Gilbert playing defense for us will be huge because it will give more opportunities for fast breaks.

**MJG** · 10-05-2005, 06:16 PM

Not as many notes from the second day, but ...

* EJ ran a team today that used Jeffries SG and Caron at SF, and apparently it worked pretty well. The other side had to double when JJ took Daniels into the post, as there was no other way to really deal with him.

* While nobody is discounting the role Hughes played last year, the team doesn't seem especially out of sync or lost without him so far. As Jamison says, the team didn't make the playoffs because of any one person, so they're doing just fine without him.

* Everyone seems to have swiftly moved past Kwame. The only time he has been brought up in any form is when some reporters were asking Arenas about him in regards to the newspaper story.

Like I said, not a ton of new info on day two, but keep checking the blog for updates.

**MJG** · 10-06-2005, 03:34 PM

Carter has nicely already bulleted out the key points in his day three update, so that saves me the trouble. A quick summary of each:

* Caron is putting in 110% effort in the scrimmages.

* The backcourt combo of Atkins and Arenas has shown some nice chemistry in its limited time.

* Haywood is in great shape and Etan is playing as though he had never been injured.

* Jamison is healthy and shooting at a high clip from downtown.

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