Wiz open camp with sights set on playoffs
The “Hibachi” and the “Agent Zero” trench coat have been put away. Fully healthy after nearly two full seasons on the shelf, and backed up by a team that is as deep as it’s been this decade and boasts a new head coach, Gilbert Arenas is done with gimmicks.
“I’m 27 now,” said Arenas. “I’m not the entertainer anymore. I wouldn’t be here today if there wasn’t a big fine coming because I don’t feel like speaking anymore. I just want to go out there and play.”
Whether the All-Star guard maintains his portended media silence and the serious tone he adopted for most, not all, of his session with reporters at Washington Wizards media day on Monday remains to be seen. But the idea of a collective chip on the Wizards’ shoulders resonated throughout the team, which opens training camp Tuesday at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. All the players are healthy except for forward/center JaVale McGee, who was getting wisdom teeth removed Monday, making his status uncertain.
“I’m going hard,” said forward Antawn Jamison, who is also fully recovered from minor ankle surgery during the offseason. “I ain’t going to try to hurt ’em, but I’m ready to go.”
Brendan Haywood, who returns to starting center after a wrist injury sidelined him last season, said failure this year for Washington would be missing the playoffs or losing in the first round of the postseason. Expectations are clearly much higher.
“I think we’re going to win a lot of games,” said guard DeShawn Stevenson. “I think it’ll bring the excitement back, the fun, the laughing. Last year, everybody was depressed: the media, the players, everything, the clubs. Everything. We going to bring all the excitement back that D.C. has.”
Head coach Flip Saunders traveled all over the country during the offseason to get to know his new players in person.
“I never had a coach reach out to me in the summer,” said forward Caron Butler. “For him to come out in the summer, all the way out to Chicago, to talk about the game of basketball and what he expected from this team, and what our expectations was — winning a title — you see what they’re trying to bring back here.”
As for Arenas?
“As long as he’s out there performing on the court, that’s the only thing I worry about,” said Jamison. “You don’t want Gilbert to get away from being himself. It’s always good to have him joking around and having a good time.”
