[Will637]

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Date: 10/9/07

Time: 7:00 pm

TV: CSN

Projected Starters

Wizards Starting Lineup






(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, B. Haywood)

2006-07 Wizards Stats
Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 28.4 PPG
Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 8.0 RPG
Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 6.0 APG

Points Per Game: 104.3
Field Goal Percentage: 45.0%
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 34.8%
Rebounds Per Game: 41.2
Assists Per Game: 20.2

PG - Gilbert Arenas - PPG: 28.4, APG: 6.0, RPG: 4.6

What To Look For: After suffering his season ending injury last season against the Bobcats, Gilbert Arenas has been preparing all summer for his bigger and better return for the Wizards. Gilbert was his usual gym-rat self over the off-season making over 50,000 shots, running with a parachute and reshaped his body to the point where he lost 15 pounds. This past week in training camp has gone smooth, learning to play with his new teammates and committing himself on defense with new assistant coach Randy Ayers. He missed Saturday's scrimmage, but he is expected to go against the Cavaliers.



SG - Deshawn Stevenson - PPG: 11.2, APG: 2.7, RPG: 2.6

What To Look For: Coming fresh off his new 4 year extension, Deshawn Stevenson will be counted on to lead the defense, being the team's top perimeter defender. He has been quiet throughout training camp, but no question that he is working on expanding his shooting range to the 3 point line. For now, expect him to get back into shape and show off his athleticism on the offensive end.



SF - Caron Butler - PPG: 19.1, RPG: 7.4, APG: 3.7

What To Look For: As Caron plays a game after another in a Wizards uniform, he becomes more of a leader for this team. He's set the bar high for himself to reach and he's done a lot in the off-season to improve his game. Caron's body is looking ripped than ever and he's been looking to improve his consistency with his jumper behind the perimeter. Going into the pre-season opener, he'll want to stay conservative and return to his normal offensive flow.



PF - Antawn Jamison - PPG: 19.8, RPG: 8.0, APG: 1.9

What To Look For: Wizards fans' worried quickly when they got the word that Antawn Jamison bruised his shin colliding with Roger Mason and that is nothing anybody wants thas o hear early on. He missed the training camp's last two practices, including Saturday's scrimmage, but he should be ready to return in the pre-season opener working with the starters.



C - Brendan Haywood - PPG: 6.6, RPG: 6.2, APG: 0.6

What To Look For: Expect a lot of more production from the new version of Brendan Haywood. With Etan Thomas out, Brendan will have to step it up in the paint and do it consistently for 30+ minutes a game. From what we've heard since the start of training camp was anything but bad, as Brendan called truce with Eddie Jordan and the two men working each other the entire week. Another thing to look for is his free-throw shooting. Dave Hopla spotted Haywood's problems with his free-throw shot and it's now fixed, so look for more production from the line.


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Cavaliers Starting Lineup





(L. Hughes, S. Brown, L. James, D. Gooden, Z. Ilgauskas)

2006-07 Cavaliers Stats
Leading Scorer: LeBron James - 27.3 PPG
Leading Rebounder: Drew Gooden - 8.5 RPG
Leading Assist Man: LeBron James - 6.0 APG

Points Per Game: 96.8
Field Goal Percentage: 44.7
3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 35.2%
Rebounds Per Game: 43.5
Assists Per Game: 20.8

PG - Larry Hughes - PPG: 14.9, APG: 3.7, RPG: 3.8

What To Look For: Larry Hughes will handle point guard duties this season, but it's very important that he stays healthy this season. The Cavaliers are bound to reach the Finals once again this season and its Larry's job that he's able to produce and contribute better at the 1 spot than Snow and Gibson had last season.



SG - Shannon Brown - PPG: 3.2, RPG: 0.9, APG: 0.4

What To Look For: Assuming that Sasha Pavlovic has not resigned yet, you can expect Shannon Brown's whose got loads of athletic talent to take over. Even though he only played 23 games last season, he showed lots of promise scoring double figures in three games and taking advantage of the competition in the Summer League. Watch for this kid to make highlight plays.



SF - LeBron James - PPG: 27.6 PPG, RPG: 6.7, APG: 6.0

What To Look For: By this time, the average joe should know what LeBron James is all about since his rookie season. Crushing the Wizards score after score in the last 2 playoff series, there is no wondering where LeBron's talent stops. LeBron James will be aiming for the NBA Finals again this season, but the road this year will be a lot harder having teams such as the Celtics, Bulls and Pistons stand in the way.




PF - Drew Gooden - PPG: 11.1, RPG: 8.5, APG: 1.1

What To Look For: Assuming that Anderson Varejao will not play for the Cavaliers this season, Mike Brown will have to rely on Donyell Marshall to share minutes with Drew Gooden. Drew in the 2006-2007 season did not look like he improved from the season before comparing the statistics, but he has gained another year of experience playing alongside of LeBron James. Drew will need to make sure he helps out around the boards and keep his shooting percentage high.



C - Zydrunas Ilgauskas - PPG: 11.9, RPG: 7.9, APG: 1.6

What To Look For: It is no question that Zydrunas has suffered a scoring setback last season. going from 15.6 PPG, to 11.9 PPG. As another year goes by, Zydrunas will slow down and start declining, but for now you can still expect the same player as you saw last season including blocking shots, rebounding and scoring in the low post.

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Keys to the Game



Rookie Production - There's not many rookie tandems in the league that have a trio with Oleksiy Pecherov, Nick Young and Dominic McGuire. This will be an important season for the Wizards to aim far in the post-season, but they cannot do so if these guys struggle in their first seasons in the NBA. These guys seemed to have stepped up in training camp taking no for an answer, so it's great that they are mentally tough, but how fast can they fit in?

Stay Healthy - This is pretty much a no-brainer for every player in the NBA that's involved in a non-decisive game. Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler were sidelined for the rest of the season, for the most unnessecary accidents such as Gilbert boxing out Walter Hermann and Caron hustling for a block shot. We already saw Antawn Jamison go down in training camp, so the mind focus going into these preseason games need to be safe and convserative.

Work on Defense - The focus of this training camp has been improving on defense being led by assistant coach Randy Ayers. The Cavaliers are a team the Wizards will be seeing a lot of this season, so they will have to find solutions for LeBron James, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Larry Hughes if they want to go farther than the first round of the playoffs.

Managing Minutes Between Starters and Benchwarmers - If the Cavaliers will be playing without Anderson Varejao or Sasha Pavlovic, they better make sure they have enough guys on the bench that can replace their productivity. Look for Shannon Brown and Daniel Gibson get used to making the plays while they're on the floor. Mike Brown already knows what he has with Ilgauskas, Gooden and James, but he still needs to figure out where Larry Hughes fits in.

No Different Than the Wizards, Stay Healthy - This may be targetted at some of the veterans Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Donyell Marshall and David Wesley. All three guys should be playing an important role for the team if this is the roster and they have to stay fresh and healthy the entire season if they want to stay productive. Larry Hughes has also been injury proned player in his entire career, and getting the start at the point guard, he knows he needs to move on forward and put the Cavs to the next step.

Chemistry - The Cavaliers have added some new guys and looks as if they will be losing a couple of key players in Varejao and Pavlovic. Guys like Shannon Brown and David Wesley will need to mesh in quickly with the roster they have the entire pre-season to do so.

[Big Mike]

Nice thread. Looking foward to seeing what the rookies can do.

[jazzy1]

1st half breakdown.

Starters look like crap for both teams not making many shots.

Blatche, McGuire, Pech, and Young all played well.

Blatche doing solid work on defense with a monster block, and some good rebounding 2 big dunks, Pech hit his 1st jumper good awareness on offense, Nick Young makes his 1st shot crosses over Lebron on another move but misses shot, and McGuire, has a block, and hit a 3.

Wizards are gonna be much better this season. Much deeper an actual 2nd unit that functions.

I'd expect that they are one of the east top teams.

[byrondarnell66]

Its preseason but im surprised Mason is getting minutes over N-young in the first half. D-Mac and Opec looks pretty decent so far. I think Wizards got a steal in the 2nd round Draft.

[washingtonwizards00]

i was really impressed with dominic mcguire. he's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. i'm hoping he gets some good minutes this year.

[f22egl]

Thoughts from the game:

- The Wizards actually played solid defense. Let's see if it continues in the regular season.
- Gilbert Arenas looked a bit rusty
- McGuire and Blatche played well
- Nick Young looked a bit inconsistent from what I saw although he did get a couple of steals

Overall, the Wizards look like they are working hard. Let's see if it carries over to the regular season.

[jazzy1]

Nick Young needs more playing time. NcGuire is more decisive in how he plays very agressive But Young has an off the dribble game that could be huge as the season goes off the bench.

Pech started well but lost stamina and started taking bad shots.

Blatche is gonna have a good year. I look for him to have some real nice breakout games.