There’s either buzz or anxiety here at the Verizon Center, I can’t quite tell which.
We’ll start with the anxiety of the Wizards starting Mike Miller despite him clearly not being at 100 percent coming off his left shoulder sprain. It certainly doesn’t feel like he’s playing down the pain that he’s managing. But there’s no keeping him off the floor.
“He can spread the floor so much you have to guard him,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “I think what it can do, it can open up, relieve a little bit of pressure off of Gilbert [Arenas]. It also gives another ball handler out on the floor who can make plays for other people. Even though he’s been our two guard at 6-8, he’s been our best rebounder when he’s been on the floor. He’ll add in all three of those areas.”
Meanwhile, Antawn Jamison is still out with his non-flu illness, and Randy Foye isn’t quite ready to return from his right ankle sprain.
Now to the buzz. First, there’s the unspoken buzz of Saunders facing his old team for the first time in the regular season. Of course, he’s motivated.
“We just got to get into a flow and start playing with some confidence,” said Saunders.
Then, there are hints that Agent Zero is again on the case. Seriously, there’s buzz. Perhaps it’s just the chance to pair him with Earl Boykins, who Saunders said will likely see 15-20 minutes in his first game for Washington. But we’ll have to see if there’s more to it.
As a sidebar, a couple of reporters jumped at the chance to say hello to Detroit rookie DaJuan Summers. I covered him the last three years at Georgetown. Funny, we never once had locker room access to him while he was a Hoya…
“I thought about it beforehand. I didn’t think I would feel like I feel,” said Summers, when asked about his first game back at Verizon Center. “It’s exciting, seeing all the people, everybody on the staff here at Verizon, it feels like family. It’s good to be back.”
