Things For A Washington Wizards Fan To Be Excited About

*Whew* The Washington Wizards have had a ROUGH season. I mean, they have been taking Colonel H. Stinkmeaner beatings, with no “Ass Whipping Insurance”. Even through all of the dubs, and only 14 victories, the worst part of this entire ordeal is; no one saw it coming.

OK, so the signing of Gilbert Arenas to a $111 Million contract might have been maybe, $20 million over the top I’ll say, but Abe Pollin and Ernie Grunfield are well aware of (as well as all Washington Sports Enthusiasts) what I like to call the “Washington Potenital/Talent Transference Theory” © .

The Washington Potential/Talent Transference Theory states that once a player leaves a Washington sports team, he (or she, not that there are any in remembrance) moves to another team and has unheralded success. There are numerous examples, but are mostly restricted to my two most beloved teams, the Redskins and the Wizards. For the Redskins, see Brad Johnson (Super Bowl champion), Trent Green (Led Kansas City and had 4,000 yard seasons with the Chiefs), and even David Akers (successful Eagles kicker). But this theory has most assuredly hurt the Washington Wizards more than anyone. See Richard Hamilton, Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Sloan, Muggsy Bouges, Ben Wallace, and most recently, Roger Mason Jr. Now while that might not be the most impressive lineup of players, most of the players on that list have either won an NBA Championship, or has had post season success away from the Most Powerful City in the World. There are always the ones who prove that theory false, i.e. Kwame Brown, LaVar Arrington, and others. But for the most port, the theory holds true.

Anywho, Gilbert announcing that he was going to have surgery on his knee again, right AFTER her signed that contract, was not a surprise to me, and actually very business savvy. But with Gillie the Kid playing about 20 games last season, the Wizards still managed to win games; and were the 5th seed in the paltry Eastern Conference Division. After getting blown out in game 6 against Lebron and the Lebrons, every Wizard fan said “Wait till next year!” But with Brendan Haywood going down in training camp, I still believed we would at least be competitive in the East. In the great words of Charlie Murphy, “Wrong…WRONG!” We went 1-10, and fired Eddie Jo. (Stupid choice) Next thing I know, we’re 13-35, and hoping for the most number of ping-pong balls in the NBA Draft. But fear not, Wiz Kid faithful. There are some things for us to look forward to.

1. The Wizards are a virtual lock for either the first or second pick in the NBA Draft.
The last time we had the first pick in the NBA Draft, we wasted it. No, Jordan wasted it, picking Kwame Brown over Tyson Chandler, and Pau Gasol, As I anticipate the NBA Playoffs and Finals, I also am waiting to see if we can steal the number one pick away from Sacramento in the NBA Draft Lottery. Chad Ford’s Mock Draft has the Kings at no. 1, Wizards at No. 2, and Clippers as No.3. Though I don’t believe we need big men, but as my good friend Johnathan Tillman so eloquently put it, “Everybody needs Blake Griffin.” If we do sneak in to get the No. 1 pick, we should take Blake and not gift him to the Kings or Clippers. Ford has us picking Georgetown standout Greg Monroe. But on the other hand, I hope we don’t get the first pick but rather the 2nd or 3rd and draft Spanish PG Ricky Rubio. Yes, I know most of you have never heard of him, but this guy is the truth. He was part of a Spain team that in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medal game gave the US Team work, and I stayed up to watch it even at 5 AM. For those of you who don’t agree, check my rhetoric. We signed Gilbert, and hope he can play to his level as he did in years before. In that second group that comes off the bench we do not have that point guard who can run the show. Mike James is not going to cut it. We dealt away Antonio Daniels (another stupid decision), so I can see Rubio coming in giving good minutes with Nick Young, Dominick McGuire, and hopefully a developing Olesky Pecherov and Javale McGee. Don’t sleep on Spaniards. I’m a slightly superstitious guy, and when we had the first pick and passed on Spaniard Pau Gasol, hope we take him 2nd and get some help while Gil is on the bench.

2. Brendan Haywood Will Be Back
Before I hear all the hems and haws about Brendan, consider this. He was a definitely a candidate for Most Improved Player in 2007-2008, raising his scoring and rebounding numbers, and especially his free throw percentage. As much as I love Etan Thomas, he should have never beat out Haywood for the center job. Haywood gives us a consistent scorer inside, a solid rebounder, and help—not a stopper, but help—against big guys like Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, and others who have been abusing us all season.

3. The Maturation of Oleksiy Pecherov
I mentioned him before, but Pech is a 7’0 center we drafted in 2006, but didn’t sign until 2007. This can play, even though his defense is more than shady. He can post up, has a decent mid-range game, and can step behind the arc and drain 3’s. Pech is the truth, ask David Zenon (my boy whom I used Pech to drop 45 on him in Live 09).

4. The Cutting of Deshawn Stevenson, and Unleashing of Nick Young

If Nick Young can learn to play defense, and score more consistently, I want him to take D-Steve’s job and never give it back. I want us to cut Deshawn, no hard feelings, but back surgery and schooling by Lebron James, and diss songs from Jay-Z, he just hasn’t been the same. He’s done for the season, and I cant help but to think (hope) that he is done with the Wizards for good.

All in all, if the Wizards do as I hope they will do, they will once again be 4-5-6 in the conference, if not better. Its not a hard fix, it will just take the patience of management, players, and fans in the Nation's Capitol.
Peace.

Moving Forward: Things for a Redskin Fan To Be Excited About

This piece was written by Jeff Scott, one of my good friends for somewhere around 15 years. He's helped me out on my other blog, and he's allegedly a contributor to FU, but apparently he lost his login information. Perhaps he should've been a swifter with his additions. Anyway, here are his unedited, homeristic thoughts. Peep after the random picture...

Well, the playoff hopes are FINALLY done for the Washington Redskins (though true fans knew that they were done after the Pittsburgh game). Being a lifelong fan (and a sports journalist), I like to think I enjoy a deeper and more in depth look into the Skins than the average fan. ----Sidebar Alert---- This was written around 2 a.m. Props to my best friend Corey for getting me the History of the Redskins DVD. Knowing at 7-7 and with a myriad of other NFC teams in the Wild Card Race, I started to look for the bright spots, even before we beat the Eagles again, and came up with the top 4 things that Skins fans have to look forward to heading into next season.

The Progression of Jason Campbell
Barring some freak accident within the next week, Jason Campbell will have completed his first full season as an NFL quarterback. Now that might not sound impressive to some, but for a guy who’s been in the league for 4 years that’s equivalent to peace of mind. Staying virtually injury free this year, JC has thrown fewer interceptions than your quarterback (unless your quarterback is Jeff Garcia). Jason Candle, er, Campbell is not only throwing the ball better thanks to rookie head coach Jim Zorn, he is completing more passes, he is making quicker decisions, and he is pulling the ball down and running with it more often. All that needs to happen now is increasing his accuracy when throwing downfield. He showed flashes of brilliance in this category in his game winner versus the Saints. If the Redskins improve their offensive line, Jason could build on his breakout year.

The Maturation of Jim Zorn
Its been a whirlwind for coaches in the past decade. Dedication and loyalty to the head coach has all but disappeared in the realm of professional sports today. But the public demands a successful product. When Jim Zorn first took the helms of my favorite sports team, my first words were “Huh?”. I thought that we would be at or around .500 this year cause hey, we lost a lot of players, through free agency or through untimely death, and that seemed average. At 6-2, everyone was putting Zorn as Coach of the Year, but a smacking by the Steelers showed the Skins for what they really are; a good team but not a great team. After the crushing loss to the Bengals, radio personalities and less than intelligent fans were calling for Zorn’s job. But, even if a team loses five of six and essentially moves itself out of the playoffs, the coach is never totally to blame. Play execution is the name of the game; yet if the coach doesn’t change his game plan when defenses have decided to blitz your quarterback every other down, then something is wrong. I know Zorn will get it together and learn from this rookie season to be at least a good coach. Skins fans should remember the greatest coach in team history, Joe Gibbs, only started 8-8 his first season. He then led the Skins to three Super Bowls. So even if the Redskins lose to San Fran next week, its not the end of the world.

The Maturation of Laron Landry and the Solidity of Chris Horton
I don’t know if anybody else feels the same way I do, but watching the Skins-Eagles game last night I got chills. Why? Because watching the defense on Sunday, I momentarily thought that Sean Taylor came back in the form of LaRon Landry. The hits he laid on DeSean Jackson, and the hit on Reggie Brown to seal the deal, were very reminiscent of the way Sean used to cover from sideline to sideline. He finally seems to be settling into a smarter player, one that doesn’t just head hunt for streaking receivers and gaining as many personal fouls as he can. His coverage has improved drastically and the Redskins have rarely given up extremely long pass plays.
The very last pick in the draft is usually destined for: a.) mediocrity or b.) a short career. But Redskins Rookie Chris Horton has played above and beyond any expectations. For those of you who don’t believe in God consider this; I prayed and prayed and prayed to the Heavenly Father for a replacement for the biggest bum that I’ve seen thus far Reed Doughty (other than John Lynch I cant even remember a decent safety of the Caucasian Persuasion). And the Great One answered my prayers with a rookie from UCLA. His tackling and knack for finding the football in the air or on the ground is very promising.

In conclusion, there’s a lot to look forward to next season. So Skins fans don’t feel disappointed in an 9-7 or 8-8 season, because it always could be worse…we could be in Detroit.