Coach thinks Wiz can compete with the elite teams in the East
One week before opening his first training camp as head coach of the Washington Wizards, Flip Saunders was asked more about Gilbert Arenas than he was about his own expectations for taking over and resuscitating a team that finished 19-63 last season.
Saunders was undaunted by the volume of Arenas-focused inquiries — “I did coach Rasheed Wallace, and KG,” he said — as well as by Arenas’ own recent comments in which he was critical of the way the Wizards handled his comeback from a knee injury. The point guard has required three surgeries that have kept him off the court for most of the past two years.
“The main thing is, Gilbert’s healthy at this point right now,” said Saunders. “That’s the number one thing. He’s healthy, he’s excited about playing. I don’t see any ill effects.”
Saunders, who for the first time in his 13-year NBA coaching career spent the offseason traveling around the country in an effort to get to know his new players, spent time with Arenas in Chicago.
“I don’t see any difference, as far as the things that he does now, that he was doing three years ago when he was a MVP candidate,” said Saunders, whose plans include utilizing Arenas strictly at point guard.
Saunders saved lighter comments for the intense battle from DeShawn Stevenson and newly-added Mike Miller and Randy Foye over the starting shooting guard position: “We were thinking of going to reality TV and letting people vote them off.”
Saunders also talked about his plans to improve the Wizards defensively but his eagerness to work offensively with his three All-Stars — Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison — was clear.
“As a coach, you become very excited because you have the opportunity to mold your team,” said Saunders. “Everybody always jokes about my playbook. It’s thick. We’ve got a lot of plays, but I’ve never had the weapons that I have on this team.”
Saunders cited health and age concerns among nearly all of the contenders in the Eastern Conference as part of the reason for Washington’s offseason acquisitions but put few limits on what he hopes to achieve.
“You want to make sure you have depth in case you have some tweaks along the way,” said Saunders. “But I don’t think there’s any reason that we shouldn’t be able to compete with the elite teams in the East or in the league, for that matter.”
