The Washington Wizards are hurting real bad in a way that only losing teams with talent can hurt.

Oklahoma City 127 Washington Wizards 108

The Wizards are not just losing, but looking very disoriented while they do it. It is every man for themselves in a constant free agent tryout. This situation has Coach Flip Saunders boiling.

Wizards coach Flip Saunders said changes in the lineup can be expected when the team plays its next game at home Tuesday against Philadelphia. The team is off Sunday and has a practice scheduled Monday.

“We have guys that are frustrated that they’re not playing and I’m sure they are sitting there wanting opportunities,” Saunders said. “And guys will get opportunities starting Monday because we’re not getting it done as it is right now.”
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The only real threat a NBA coach can bring to the table is the threat of playing time and even that is weak, because if the coach loses he will have to take the blame. That is the way it works in the NBA.

The Washington Wizards hit new lows with a loss to Oklahoma City. The defense for the Wizards completely disappeared.

In the final 15 minutes, the Thunder outscored the Wizards 45-27.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 35 points, while Russell Westbrook added 26 and James Harden recorded 25 points. Caron Butler led the Wizards with 24 points, Gilbert Arenas had 23, and Antawn Jamison posted 22 points and 12 assists. Brendan Haywood had 16 rebounds and 14 points.
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No one doubts the talents of Gilbert Arenas

The accusations are flying now with Gilbert Arenas claiming players are playing for themselves and not the team. Yes, Gilbert Arenas said that and yes that is pretty funny.

Gilbert Arenas said players on the team had “hidden agendas,” noting that eight players on the team are free agents following the season.

“I guess when you start losing everyone wants to start pointing fingers everywhere else,” Arenas said. “I converted my game to try to get people involved, but at the end of the day, to be honest, this is the same team since three years ago. We added a couple of pieces, but everybody else is basically the same player.

“I’m sitting here thinking ‘Do I have to go in attack mode like I was two years ago to get us over this hump?’ I hope not. I hope we’re strong enough mentally that we can get over this.”

Arenas leads the team in total points and assists. But heading into Saturday’s game he had taken 55 more shots than the next player.

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That only served to set off Brendan Heywood, who claimed that some players need to check their egos at the door in reference that a certain Agent Zero might just be playing for his points and not for his team.

Will the Wizards pull out of this downward spiral and establish some team chemistry? It seems highly unlikely, but at the same time they may start winning with all the offensive talent on this squad and winning can go a long ways in bringing a team back together.

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The Phoenix Suns are just as hot as that yellow orb in the sky and in some ways even hotter. The Suns are 6 – 1 on the young season leading the Western Conference and a half game up on the Lakers in the Pacific division. The Sun God Ra would be proud of the way Phoenix is scorching the competition. The Suns have exceeded 100 points in every game this year.

Ok, enough with the puns, the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash took down the Washington Wizards and Gilbert Arenas 102 – 90 in a road game. Road games appear to be a specialty for the Suns who now have a 4 -1 road record.

The Suns were turnover prone early and had to uncharacteristically depend on defense with Jason Richardson and Grant Hill guarding the Washington All Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

The Suns are supposed to be flawed defensively and with rebounding. They lured Washington into jump shots and the Wizards wound up shooting 39 percent from the field. Even bigger, they kept the Wizards to 12 second-chance points. Jason Richardson mostly guarded Gilbert Arenas, who went 7 for 22 from the field. Grant Hill covered the Wizards’ other All-Star in action, holding Caron Butler to 7-of-19 shooting while lead the Suns in rebounding for the fourth time in seven games.
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NBAObsessed has discussed the contributions in offense and leadership by Steve Nash before.

——> Steve Nash is raising Arizona

Steve Nash looks one way and passes the other

Steve Nash continues to play at an MVP level for the Suns and this game was no exception. Jason Richardson was not only making Gilbert Arenas work hard, but was the major contributor in the scoring end for the Suns as well.

Nash had 17 assists to go with 11 points, assisting on seven Suns baskets in the third quarter that sent the Suns to the fourth quarter with an 80-71 lead. Jason Richardson led the Suns’ scoring again with 22 points, including four of the Suns’ 12 3-pointers. The Suns’ frontcourt players all had double-doubles – Hill (13 points, 13 rebounds, Amar’e Stoudemire (17 points, 12 rebounds) and Channing Frye (18 points, 10 rebounds).

It is early in the season, but maybe we took the Phoenix Suns and Steve Nash a little too lightly in our predictions of an easy Laker Division win.

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Wow, this is news. Coach meets players before season starts. Who would have thought about doing that?

Supposedly Flip Saunders has been travelling all over … all over, uh, America to meet his new players, uh, well, his old players or rather the current players for the Washington Wizards, where Flip will be coaching.

The big key was getting to know Gilbert Arenas, because now that he knows him, Gilbert will straighten up and give a full effort all the time. cough cough cough. Good luck on that one, Flip. This Washington Wizard team is driven by two players that like themselves more than they like to play defense and you should like yourself if you want to be loved, but maybe hate yourself if you want to play great defense, because it is hard!

But we digress. Agent Zero is not going to suddenly change into a complete player from an offensive talented entertaining player just because Gilbert and Flip Saunders met for a friendly chat. No, Washington is going to have all the same problems they have always had with that crew. Some nights they explode with offense and just beat you and other nights they take too many plays off and lose.

Gilbert Arenas realizes his wax image plays better defense

It seems Flip never introduced himself in Detroit and that is why he is gone.

Saunders didn’t forge a similar relationship with the Pistons. Despite helping guide Detroit to three consecutive Eastern Conference finals, Saunders never won much locker-room support. He quickly lost favor with Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace because the pair thought Saunders was emphasizing offense at the expense of defense – the foundation of the Pistons’ success when they won the 2004 championship under previous coach Larry Brown.

Saunders also wasn’t as strong a disciplinarian as Brown. When he tried to get tougher in his third season, it was too late. Early in the 2007-08 season, Rip Hamilton lashed out at Saunders from the bench without any rebuke from the coach. TNT analyst Chris Webber, who played for Detroit during the 2006-07 season, said during the 2008 playoffs that the Pistons didn’t listen to Saunders. Saunders was then fired after Detroit lost to Boston in the East finals.

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Yeah, 3 conference finals was a lousy job by Flip Saunders. What was he thinking? Eventually the Flip way was not the Detroit way and the players just tuned him out. Such is big time sports and big time egos.

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Ok, forget the five players involved in the trade. Randy Foye, so what. Mike Miller, likes to shoot. Etan Thomas, can rebound a little. Think more on the picks. Minnesota now has both the 5th and 6th pick in the upcoming NBA draft 2009. Think about the possibilities.

For the Timberwolves, they now own both the fifth and sixth picks in Thursday’s draft. With Foye now on his way to D.C., it’s safe to assume Minnesota will likely draft a point guard with at least one of those two selections.

Multiple sources have indicated that Wolves are very high on combo guard Tyreke Evans. However, there have been questions as to whether or not Evans will be a true point guard in the NBA. With the fifth pick now in their back pocket, the Wolves could now potentially draft Evans along with another “true” point guard should they so desire. The Wolves could also package the fifth and sixth picks in an attempt to try and move up in the draft, possibly as high as #2 if the Grizzlies are willing to pull the trigger.
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Will Ricky Rubio be a Timberwolf?

Timberwolf fans have to be loving the new GM David Kahn. He has put the team in position to land two great rookies or even trade up and get a possible franchise player like Rubio or Thabeet. This was an excellent trade.
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Former Coach Eddie Jordan explaining how to take a defense stance

Eddie Jordan was fired from being the coach of the Washington Wizards.

The excuse from GM Ernie Grunfeld was the lack of defense. Oh, and that 1 – 10 record probably did not help.

It just felt like we were going in the wrong direction,” Grunfeld said. “It felt a little stale.”

Jordan was in his sixth season with the Wizards and led the team to the playoffs each of the past four — the longest postseason streak for a Washington coach since Dick Motta did it from 1976-80. Under Jordan, though, the team made it past the first round only once.

In September, shortly before the start of training camp, the Wizards picked up a one-year option to keep Jordan under contract through the 2009-10 season. That, along with the injury-depleted roster, were reasons Jordan’s job was thought to be safe — and why Monday’s move came as something of a shock, despite the team’s record.

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Guess you can’t win for losing. Eddie Jordan gets this team into the playoffs 4 straight years, then he loses not only his best offensive player in Agent Zero to injury, but maybe his only real defensive player in Brendan Heywood to injury and they fire him?

They should fire Ernie Grundfeld for failing to find more players that have ever played defense.

Photo source Newscom

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The Wizards need Gilbert Arenas and maybe Brendan Haywood even more

Washington is 0 – 5. Now you would think they would be a little bothered by that, but that does not seem to be the case.

Whatever the reason, the Washington Wizards profess they are not worried, even if they are the only NBA team without a victory this season. Even if a loss to the Northwest Division-leading Utah Jazz on Wednesday night would drop Washington to 0-6 for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s early,” co-captain Antawn Jamison said after practice Tuesday. “Not even close to pushing the panic button.”

Really?

There isn’t any concern about the season slipping away?

“No. Never. There’s too many games. If we were at this point a month from now and I’m saying, ‘Hey, we’re 0-20,’ I would tell you, ‘Yeah.’ I couldn’t be as positive as I am right now,” said Caron Butler, Washington’s other captain and 2007-08 All-Star.

“But 0-5? We’re cool. (If we were) 0-20? Yeah, I’m in Tahiti right now, mentally. But we’re fine right now.”

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So what is up with the Wizards anyway?

Hmm, a missing Agent Zero does not help, but maybe the real problem is a missing Brendan Haywood.

The Wizards’ defense had taken a step forward last season under the tutelage of new assistant coach Randy Ayers, and much effort was made to funnel foes toward the 7-foot Haywood in the paint. But he is out four to six months after surgery on his right wrist.

“He was the anchor of the whole defense,” reserve forward Darius Songaila said. “He was right there at the back. Everybody knew he was there. He was always talking and pointing and affecting shots and changing shots.”

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Gilbert Arenas can often beat you with just one finger

Gilbert Arenas is a big hoop star in the NBA.

Like a lot of big hoop stars, Gilbert can put the ball in the hoop. In fact, there are times he can put the ball in the hoop from almost anywhere on the court once he passes half court. Yes, on offense he is that good.

Unfortunately like a lot of big hoop stars there is not room for ‘team’. How do you let some other player do something when you can do it better?

That did not bother Ernie Grunfeld, the General Manager of the Washington Wizards. Maybe he looked at Gilbert and thought he would put a lot of butts in the seats, who knows?

Anyway they gave Gilbert Arenas a 111 million dollar contract. Ouch.

The surgery is the third on the knee in 17 months. Arenas missed 69 regular-season games last season and had to shut himself down during the playoffs. Still, Grunfeld expressed no regret about the decision to give Arenas a six-year, $111 million contract after the point guard opted for free agency during the offseason.

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At times, when Gilbert was out, the Wizards played great ball and that put doubt about the signing in all of our minds.

Again, who knows, Gilbert Arenas is only 26 years old and may have his best basketball ahead of him. The question remains if he can become the team player that produces championships and not just stats.

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Six years and 111 million bucks.

But Gilbert Arenas took less.

The Wizards offered Arenas a max contract — $127 million over six years — leaving it up to the unpredictable Agent Zero to decide whether he would live up to his previous statement that he would take a lesser amount if it would help the team sign other players and improve the prospects of contending for an NBA title. Arenas negotiated the deal without an agent while traveling in China on a promotional tour for a shoe company.

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The Wizards have resigned Antawn Jamison and now have enough money to add one more player.

Could it be Gilbert Arenas wants to win? Even more than posting stats?

Check out this YouTube on Arenas and what he has been thinking.

Now that you know his thoughts, watch his scoring ability in this mix.

Gilbert just seems to be able to walk right through defenses for layup after layup.

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Gilbert Arenas is thinking “Ok, got the money, now how to get the NBA title?”

Image details: Washington Wizards v Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 2 served by picapp.com

Ok, so it is a bad pun in the title. Who are we kidding here? Agent Zero should not be this expensive.

The unpredictable three-time All-Star point guard, in vintage Agent Zero fashion, told the Post and the Washington Times on Thursday that he has agreed to re-sign for $111 million over six years, considerably less than the maximum deal he said the Wizards offered him when the free agency period began on Tuesday.

Arenas negotiated the deal from China, where is traveling as part of promotional tour for a shoe company, and did so without an agent.

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Let’s see, the Washington Wizards with Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas will win how many titles with this twosome? Maybe that is what the Zero represents in his nickname.

Forgive me, but Gilbert is exciting to watch, but that does not always translate to victories.

Arenas has averaged 22.8 points, 5.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds in his seven-season NBA career. He was known as much for his tantrums as for on-court play when he came to Washington from Golden State in 2003, but he began to display more maturity as he developed into a take-over-the-game player with a knack for hitting buzzer-beating shots. Although he still has his many quirks— yelling “Hibachi!” after making a big shot is just one of many—he has helped the Wizards became a playoff regular.

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There was 1:47 left in the game and the greatest player currently playing in the NBA (well, except maybe for Kobe) on the planet had the ball in his hands.

The score was 87 to 82. The game was in hand. The Cavaliers would win game 5. This playoff thing was easy.

LeBron milked the clock. The cameras showed the Cleveland Coach Mike Brown and he looked tense. LeBron shoots and misses a three by three feet. Washington flies down the court forces up a shot and gets the rebound and scores.

Cleveland would continue to mild the clock with LeBron now passing and other players missing shots.

First, James missed a wild 3-pointer and Daniel Gibson followed with another 3-point miss. Joe Smith missed a short jumper and Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed a tip shot. Instead of going strong to the hole or at least forcing the officials to call a foul, the Cavs settled for the pretty outside shots.
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Washington would continue to race down the court and score, until they were 1 point behind. Then they put the ball in Caron Butler’s hands. He had been hot all night. Caron drove on LeBron James and scored the game winner.

The Washington Wizards had won the game 88 – 87 and my thoughts were on the Cleveland Coach. Would Mike Brown retain his job for next year?

The final shot by Washington was taken by Caron Butler, who had 32 to LeBron James 34. Here is what he was thinking before the shot.

“I didn’t want to settle,” Butler said. “I didn’t want to look back on the season and say I settled for a jump shot and probably bailed out the defender. I wanted to just try to go in there and get contact and try to get it to go in.”

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This YouTube will show Caron’s brilliant night including his final shot.

It is back to Washington for a game 6 and Caron Butler is the hero.

NBA Basketball special comment The old it ain’t over till it is over. Cleveland mismanaged the final minute of the game. LeBron can’t be expected to win everything.

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