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'Bout time Wizards got defensive
Grant Paulsen's column
Date published: 10/29/2006
GILBERT ARENAS couldn't have been any better in the playoffs last spring. A perennial All-Star and one of the league's most innovative ball handlers, Arenas played some of the best basketball of his career at a time when his team needed him most. He went shot-for-shot with NBA poster child LeBron James, carrying his team deep into an extremely entertaining series. In the end, Arenas' efforts weren't enough. Despite his averaging 47 minutes and 34 points a contest, the Wizards dropped their first-round series to the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. Still only 24 and entering his sixth NBA season, Arenas is ready for his team to take that next step from good to great that he himself took last season. The return of the majority of his supporting cast should go a long way toward helping Washington to get off to a quick start. A year ago, the Wizards, who had made a plethora of offseason acquisitions, struggled to find an identity. It wasn't until late in the season that the team finally played to its potential. By retaining the bulk of their roster this offseason, the Wizards are hoping that cohesion and unity are the least of their worries this time around. That said, it isn't as if Washington was a non-factor this summer. Rather, they didn't make the kind of addition capable of shaking up a locker room. The two free-agent signees the Wizards added--swingman DeShawn Stevenson and forward Darius Songaila--will both play pivotal roles in shaping Washington's season. Both players were acquired in an effort to bolster a defense that finished in the NBA's bottom third in just about every major category. Neither averaged in the double digits in points last season, nor are they expected to do so this year. They don't need to. The Wizards have Arenas and returning starting forwards Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler to compile points. What this team craved was defense. Washington was ravenous for a couple of hardworking defenders, which is exactly what they obtained.
Date published: 10/29/2006
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