Three thoughts about tonight’s Wizards season opener that tips off in a few hours:
1. This was going to be a really tough game for the Wizards even before Gilbert Arenas went down with an injury. There’s no telling what to make of the right ankle tendon strain that Arenas – including its accuracy, given that Arenas has already cried wolf this season. But not only is Arenas not playing, he’s not even in Orlando anymore, having returned to Washington to see a foot specialist, according to reports out of Florida this morning.
But this wasn’t meant as a rant on Arenas (if you want that, just look here and here). His value to the Wizards is hugely significant. No matter what his behavior, he’s a star player in the NBA, and the few glimpses that we’ve had in the preseason of him have been promising in the off-guard role next to John Wall. Practically speaking, the Wizards lose a legitimate scoring option with him gone, which will put more pressure on the backcourt. Wall’s role in his NBA debut just got a lot bigger, and regardless of his readiness, it’s a lot to ask of a 20-year-old. Plus, after Blake Griffin’s debut last night, the rookie of the year gauntlet has been thrown down for Wall – who should really avoid thinking about it.
Wizards head coach Flip Saunders also said this morning that he’s wary of the “early haymaker.” For a campaign that is built on patience and promise but still has lots of questions looming, it would be hugely demoralizing to get blown out right away.
2. What about the “debut” of Andray Blatche? You can say what you want about the numbers Blatche put up last year (22.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists) after Antawn Jamison was sent to Cleveland, but in the same way it’s called garbage time when a team is down by 20 in the fourth quarter, the Wizards essentially played garbage games from the all-star break onward.
Starting tonight, the stakes are higher for Washington and for Blatche, who will assume his power forward role despite having played only the last month after missing the previous four with a broken foot. Not only does he need to prove he’s more coachable than ever, capable of staying focused and cognizant of getting himself into the spots on the floor where he’s most effective – i.e. closer to the basket, not drifting out to the perimeter – he’s got to do that while getting himself back into playing shape.
“He’s working,” said Saunders last week. “.His weight’s probably not where he wants it to be, but it’s not for a lack of effort. I think his endurance is coming so I think that sometimes, what happens is when you haven’t played as much and then you’re in a situation where you start playing a lot, you’re burning calories but you’re also putting in calories to fuel the body because you have that hunger to replenish. It’s going to be a situation that, he knows he’s got to get in better shape. He knows that. But he’s running extra, he’s doing the extra things he needs to in order to do that, and it’s not just going to happen. He’s not going to drop five pounds in a week. We know it’s got to be a process. He’s just got to keep on working. From our standpoint, we might have to play shorter stints, still playing aggressively. When you talking about a guy getting in shape, the concern is that if you play longer minutes, that’s when you get a chance for somebody getting hurt.”
Blatche said he worked in the pool as much as he could and has been on the bike often, including rides around his neighborhood. But he’s also admitted that it isn’t easy to watch what he eats.
“I feel I’m going to have to be patient and understand what’s going on,” said Blatche on Tuesday when asked about the need for the entire team to be patient. “We have a lot of young guys that’s still trying to find their way into the league, and I’m definitely coming off an injury – I’ve been out for four months, so my main thing is don’t come out and expect too much, just let the game come to me and then just take what I can get and continue to work hard.”
3. How about the recent/former Wizards last night? (I can’t go back any further than the guys I covered – we’re keeping it to guys that were on the roster at the start of last year) Was there a single surprise from any of them? Who was it that fed Griffin for the monster alley oop that served as his first NBA bucket. Yep, Randy Foye, who finished the night with 5 points and 5 assists (sounds about right) in the Clippers’ 98-88 loss to Portland (see link above), which got 3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 fouls and a -10 from Fabricio Oberto (again, sounds about right).
Meanwhile in Dallas, Caron Butler had 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting, Brendan Haywood was in a reserve role and DeShawn Stevenson got the dreaded DNP-CD for the Mavericks, while Shaun Livingston had 3 assists in a limited role off the bench for Charlotte, which fell to Dallas, 101-86.
And in Cleveland, the season started poorly for Jamison, who had 4 points and 4 rebounds off the bench for the Cavaliers. He was the only guy who didn’t finish with a positive +/- in the 95-87 win over Boston.
