Gilbert Arenas goes off

[og15]

I agree with most of what has been said in this thread, Arenas is playing terrible himself and he's calling out other guys. Also who are these free agents he's talking about that are looking out for themselves?

[Zerocious]

+1 on about 70% of the posts so far.....then again:

only 12 games played,
3 new players,
1 new head coach + staff,
3 players coming back from injury,
3 players off and on hurt since start of season,
new scheme's,

It's like trying to get a smooth offensive rhythm going while playing pick-up ball, it just aint gonna happen.

I'm gonna give them 13 more games to become mediocre again, then another 25 to break mediocrity then 32 to get ready to play some serious ball.

who's with me? (trust me, you'll fell better about it the less you care what happens right now. It's all part of a grand plan )

[LyricalRico]

I'm gonna give them 13 more games to become mediocre again, then another 25 to break mediocrity then 32 to get ready to play some serious ball.

who's with me? (trust me, you'll fell better about it the less you care what happens right now. It's all part of a grand plan )

Hey, that's been my plan all along. Doesn't make Gil's comments right, though. If all they had to worry about was the transition, then fine. But if the Wiz locker room turns into something resembling "Housewives of Verizon Center" then they gotta do something.

[Pollinator]

I think Gilbert's comments to the press are a nonissue aside from showing what we already knew, that he is not the kind of leader who is going to motivate and inspire his team to get out of this rut. The question is- what's the story with him on the court? The only game I've seen this year was the first Miami game (where Miller got hurt the first time), and Gil looked as good as advertised, about 90% physically, and he was penetrating and getting into the lane almost like the Gil of old. Is his calf still hurt from when he almost missed a game? Is his knee flaring up? Or is he just broken up emotionally because Shaq is having a thing with his girl? And what's the deal with Butler? Is Shaq sleeping with his woman too?

Judging from the looks of things, Shaq would appear to be carrying on with the entire players' wives section, except maybe Miller's, Jamison's, and Blatche's.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

All things considered, Gil just needs to hit his free throws, shoot a couple more threes, and hit just a little more often and he'd be MUCH more effective offensively.

He's obviously not a great leader.

The personal stuff might have a thing or two to do with things, too, but I don't want to even comment on that. His scapegoating and throwing others under the bus are the only things that bother me.

I think he's physically pretty close to fine. I just want him to stay healthy. I trust he'll find his shot and extricate his head from his own behind soon enough.

[Dat2U]

Lol, at people being mad about Gil "throwing teammates under the bus".

This entire team needs to be thrown under the bus, including the GM.

His statements would bother me more if we didn't just get blasted by nearly 30 last night.

Gil is not a great leader but I don't think Jamison or Caron are very good either.

The leader of this team isn't on the roster yet. Unfortunately after 5 years EG has yet to realize that.

And all this nonsense about Gil being washed up is garbage. He's 12 games into a comeback after a two year layoff and he's being asked to do something he hasn't done before. Yeah, his play & mouth is pissing me off right now but trading Gil (even if that were a realistic option) wouldn't make us any better than we currently are.

[Wizards2Lottery]

The problem is that these clowns bought into their own hype. If they didn't expect a struggle with the overhaul, they are a bunch of idiots, which apparently they are judging by the comments and piss poor attitude.

[keynote]

Michael Lee's article paints an even uglier picture, with Haywood being fairly blatant in his derision of Gil:

As Arenas spoke, Haywood walked past him to get something to drink and started singing "Ego," a song by R&B diva Beyoncé: "I've got a big ego-o-o," Haywood sang, offering a musical take on comments he made a few minutes earlier when asked how frustrating it is for the Wizards to be only one game better than they were this time last season, when they finished 19-63.

Arenas was walking out of shower while Haywood spoke. He immediately walked back into the shower until Haywood finished.

Awkward...

[doclinkin]

Haywood has to have an enemy, every year. That's just been a fact. KFB, Etan, GMEG ("Free Chucky") Eddie, Gil... He's got a caustic wit, and tends to need a focus for it. Right or wrong. The focus generally lands on the guys he's with every day. No big deal when the squad is winning; but if not, yeah he'll unleash on teammates. Gil and Wood are both right and wrong. No big deal, seems to me these things will iron themselves out, though it may take Sammy Cassell chewing a new hole into them both.

Fortunately he's got the teeth for that.

[Hoopalotta]

Michael Lee's article paints an even uglier picture, with Haywood being fairly blatant in his derision of Gil:

As Arenas spoke, Haywood walked past him to get something to drink and started singing "Ego," a song by R&B diva Beyoncé: "I've got a big ego-o-o," Haywood sang, offering a musical take on comments he made a few minutes earlier when asked how frustrating it is for the Wizards to be only one game better than they were this time last season, when they finished 19-63.

Yeah, exactly, the more recent reports put it in context a lot better.

Haywood pretty well called Gilbert out in the heat of an emotional loss and Gilbert then responded with misguided pride. Everything Gil said was in reaction to Haywood.

All parties could have handled it better, but I think we all knew years ago that Gil wouldn't react well to that kind of criticism and certainly wouldn't display humility or a "gosh, Wood's right" kind of remark. Ego? Sure, but Gil's not going to be Gil without an ego. The idea that these particular free agents are causing difficulties is rather ludicrous, but I'm hardly looking for Gil to come in with a rational and balanced critique under those circumstances.

I can see where Haywood's coming from too, as he's been about the only guy on the team working in a way that will consistently facilitate team success (wayward hook shots not withstanding).

Ultimately though, objectively understanding the individual perspectives doesn't make the picture any prettier. Things are starting to look pretty well irreconcilable. It seems that the best case scenario is that the team squeaks into the playoffs, but i just don't think that you keep a frustrated $75 Million dollar veteran team around for that.

[pancakes3]

eh. mountainous molehills i say. it has the potential to implode our team, but i'm skeptical of the likelihood. winning will solve all problems (ask shaqkobe), and winning convincingly doubles the efficiency. playing the sixers is a step in that general direction.

[Shanghai Kid]

The last time he played almost a full season, in 2006-07, Arenas was able to carry the Wizards out of a 4-9 hole and to the best record in the Eastern Conference by late January. "I'm sitting here thinking, 'Do I have to go into attack mode like I was [three] years ago to get us over the hump?' " he said. "I hope not. It's only so many nights, so many games before I'm going to have to start doing what I do."

This was a good quote from the article. You just wonder if Gilbert is being real or fake here. Has he really been holding back? He's already taking 19 shots a game. Is Gilbert going back to what he used to do mean he's going to suddenly take two more shots a game and be more effective? I believe he's not mentally or physically capable of carrying the team at this point, but I would love for him to prove me wrong.

[mohammed10]

This was a good quote from the article. You just wonder if Gilbert is being real or fake here. Has he really been holding back? He's already taking 19 shots a game. Is Gilbert going back to what he used to do mean he's going to suddenly take two more shots a game and be more effective? I believe he's not mentally or physically capable of carrying the team at this point, but I would love for him to prove me wrong.

I call BS on Gil...he knows he cannot turn his alter ego, Agent Zero, on or off. He doesn't have it anymore.

FYI for those who wrap themselves in the warm blanket of 'it's early in the season' or 'we have 70 games left' or 'what could you expect, we have all these new players?', I say we are nearing the precipice. 7-10 more games (when we could realistically be 8-14) before GMEG either makes a move or Uncle Abe may be forced to do so...

[Hoopalotta]

eh. mountainous molehills i say. it has the potential to implode our team, but i'm skeptical of the likelihood. winning will solve all problems (ask shaqkobe), and winning convincingly doubles the efficiency. playing the sixers is a step in that general direction.

We do have to consider though that if the team is not good enough to compete in the east, we're going to get a lot more back if we make some trades during this season rather than after it.

If we make trades over the summer, we basically have Butler and Jamison to trade.

If we make trades during this season, we have all kinds of useful expirings in addition to Butler and Jamison (and my view is those two could be more valuable to trade during an in-season arms race)

So we need to decide before the trade deadline whether we're going to go all in with the team as presently constituted or go decisively the other way. Playing the season with these guys is tantamount to saying "yes, I feel good about this team and I we're committing to this core for the next two or three years".

That's at least two or three years, as we're going to give longer contracts than that.

[Pass_The_Sticks]

Trade Arenas for Ellis

[DaRealHibachi]

Trade Arenas for Ellis

Why...???

[jimij]

As much as Gil needs to STFU, I don't think Haywood is just referring to Gil when he talks about ego. I'd bet he had Butler just as strongly in mind with his comments about being happy with less if they win.

No player on the Wizards roster has played more selfishly IMO this season than Caron. All he seems to do when he catches the ball on the wing is turn, pump fake a few times, wait for the defender to close on him and shoot a jumper. The man won't pass anymore, doesn't agressively drive the lane and is a turnover machine. What's even more frustrating to me is that almost all his turnovers are off the dribble due to his poor handle. At least most of Gil's TO's are on bad passes. Caron doesn't make bad passes anymore because he just doesn't pass.

It's been frustrating as hell watching Caron play like @ss all year and I'm guessing that both Gil and Wood aren't exactly loving playing with him either.

That said, Gil definitely is crazy if he thinks that free agency is the reason for the teams problems and he just needs to shut up and play.

[nate33]

As Arenas spoke, Haywood walked past him to get something to drink and started singing "Ego," a song by R&B diva Beyoncé: "I've got a big ego-o-o," Haywood sang, offering a musical take on comments he made a few minutes earlier when asked how frustrating it is for the Wizards to be only one game better than they were this time last season, when they finished 19-63.

Yeah, exactly, the more recent reports put it in context a lot better.

Haywood pretty well called Gilbert out in the heat of an emotional loss and Gilbert then responded with misguided pride. Everything Gil said was in reaction to Haywood.

All parties could have handled it better, but I think we all knew years ago that Gil wouldn't react well to that kind of criticism and certainly wouldn't display humility or a "gosh, Wood's right" kind of remark. Ego? Sure, but Gil's not going to be Gil without an ego. The idea that these particular free agents are causing difficulties is rather ludicrous, but I'm hardly looking for Gil to come in with a rational and balanced critique under those circumstances.

Well said. It doesn't seem quite as bad in this context. Haywood was frustrated and made a more or less accurate criticism of Gil. Gil, who isn't the most objective fellow in the world, responded with a misguided criticism of others.

The one thing I don't like is the singing part. It's one thing for Haywood to blurt out in frustration that he thinks certain other players are the problem, it's another to continually taunt them for it. That's just not productive.

[closg00]

Cleary there are locker-room issues, perhaps even a carry-over from last seasons disarray. Flip has got to field a lineup of players willing to play team-ball even if it means having a favored vets coming-off the bench.

[jholmbe1]

Trade Arenas for Ellis

Why...???

45 million dollars would be the main reason I think. Clearly, Gil is the superior player but he definitely is not $45 million dollars better than Ellis