How many wins next season?

[nate33]

The loss of Mason cannot be measured yet either, were going to have to see a different Nick Young out there this season, but he looks far from ready.

The loss of Mason is damn near irrelevant. The only reason Mason was needed last year was because Arenas was out for the entire season. If Arenas, Daniels and Stevenson are healthy, Mason doesn't play except in garbage time.

[closg00]

The loss of Mason cannot be measured yet either, were going to have to see a different Nick Young out there this season, but he looks far from ready.

The loss of Mason is damn near irrelevant. The only reason Mason was needed last year was because Arenas was out for the entire season. If Arenas, Daniels and Stevenson are healthy, Mason doesn't play except in garbage time.

That's why Mason's loss cannot be measured yet. IF Arenas & Daniels are healthy for the entire season, and IF Young can be a clutch player for us this year like Mason was, then what you say might be true.

[301baller]

What the hell? Who said anything about winning a championship?

Dallas was a 55-60 win team. The Lakers won 57 last year.

The question is whether Arenas' addition means more than 43 wins in the regular season. That

The question was, "How many wins next season?". You said "40-42". I said you were drinking haterade. Then you come back with an entirely irrelevant post about how the Wizards aren't built to beat Cleveland in the playoffs and won't win a championship. So Pradmaster said, "Who said anything about a championship?".

I've got to look up some numbers. In a few minutes, I'll put together a succinct argument as to why it's reasonable to expect 45+ wins.[/quote]

go head with that haterade ****.
becuz i think the team hasn't improved and won't be better that's hatin? man please. u can't be serious. this is not a 48+ win team. but we won't know for sure until the season starts,

[doclinkin]

Funny quote, Piston's official site evaluation of the Southeast division:

"BOTTOM LINE – The Wizards have had tough injury luck the past two seasons, but you wonder if – even healthy – they have the balance and depth to be more than what they’ve been, a 40-something win team and a relatively punchless playoff opponent. It also bears watching to see what a $111 million contract does to the psyche of the slightly crazy Arenas. "


Rest here.

[Pradamaster]

go head with that haterade ****.
becuz i think the team hasn't improved and won't be better that's hatin? man please. u can't be serious. this is not a 48+ win team. but we won't know for sure until the season starts,

Jeez, you're annoying.

There is no wrong answer to this question, so there's nothing wrong with having an opinion that the Wizards will win 40 games. Conversely, there's also nothing wrong with someone saying you're drinking the "haterade" (and frankly, nate wasn't addressing you specifically).

But whatever, 40-42. Here are your reasons as I understand them:
-They'll never get by Cleveland in the playoffs without improving the frontcourt.
-This is fundamentally not a championship-caliber team because they don't play good enough defense.
-And...that's it

Basically, you're saying the Wizards will be three games worse in the regular season despite Gilbert's return because they have flaws exposed in the playoffs. Problem is, this discussion isn't about the playoffs, it's about how the Wizards will do in the regular season. If this was a discussion about whether this team could advance in the playoffs, then the thread title would be "How far will the Wizards go in the playoffs." Not "How many wins next season."

Nate says 48 wins as a base. Here are his reasons.
-The Wizards were 43-39 even without Arenas for most of the year and Butler for a third of the year
-In the past, the Wizards win over 60 percent of their games with the Big 3 healthy
-The Big 3 were unusually injury-prone last year based on their career injury history
-The East isn't much better. Philly will win more regular-season games, but Detroit will lose more. Miami will win more, but Boston is likely to lose more than 16 regular-season games with Posey gone and their Big 3 older. Toronto, Indiana, Milwaukee and New Jersey are going to be about the same, and any net improvement will be marginal. (Making the argument more current, Cleveland is better, but Milwaukee is worse after the Mo Williams trade). Atlanta is worse without Childress. Therefore, not much net conference improvement.

I don't know about other onlookers, but it seems Nate's argument is more developed and focused on where the discussion should be. If you want people to stop calling you a "hater," perhaps you should form a better argument.

[Dat2U]

I disagree with Nate's premise that the East hasn't significantly improved. Thusly to just look at the Wizards performance the past few years in a vacuum without consideration of their competition is not taking into account the whole picture.

You can make a strong case that a majority of the teams in the East improved, just like Nate made a case regarding the Wizards being better than their record when not taking into account their injury issues.

Philly has improved and we can all agree on that.

Detroit continues to win year after year. We've been predicting their downfall for the past 4 years. I notice no mentions the continued development of their young talent. They've got a potential stud in Rodney Stuckey. Amir Johnson is their own version of Andray Blatche and don't forget Wizboard favorite Jason Maxiell. Dumars has done a nice job of drafting and their young talent is slowly becoming a bigger part of their rotation. They are clearly better than us until proven otherwise.

Miami has improved and they've shown in the past that they could beat us alone with a healthy D-Wade. Still I won't rush to judge them until we see the trio of Wade, Marion & Beasley in action. But they should be an exciting team to watch next year.

Boston probably won't win 65+ games this year but I think were slightly overstating the importance of Posey, his absense may be a bigger factor in the playoffs but lets not kid ourselves and act like he's an absolute difference maker night in and night out. Also a team that's led by Kevin Garnett doesn't strike me as a team that would coast through the regular season.

Whatever you think of Jermaine O'Neal's offensive efficiency the past few years, he improves Toronto's interior defense ten fold. He allows Bosh to remain at his natural PF position where he's best suited. They become a far better rebounding team. If healthy...and we can certainly use "if healthy" when describing us, O'Neal helps Toronto. Also remember, he won't be asked to be a #1 scoring option anymore thus he may not be as much as a burden offensively as he had become in Indiana.

As far as Indy is concerned, Jim O'Brien worked magic with his roster last year. Considering the lack of talent and that their best player, O'Neal wasn't a good fit in O'Brien's offense and couldn't get healthy, it was amazing that they even stayed in the playoff hunt as long as they did last season. Adding a legit PG like TJ Ford to replace the likes of Jamaal Tinsley, Andre Owens & Ronald Murray is a big time upgrade. He's exact type of PG that O'Brien loves to push tempo with. If O'Brien coaches like he did last season, Indiana may very well improve and be in the playoff mix this season.

Milwaukee is a mixed bag. Mo Williams, like Michael Redd dogged it last year and didn't perform up to standards. With new coach Scott Skiles, there could be a quick turnaround in attitude & effort. Ramon Sessions showed alot of promise as a defensive minded, pass first PG late last season. Richard Jefferson will definitely improve what was considered a half decade long weakness at the SF position. They may not make the playoffs, but with improved coaching and a better mix of roster talent, they should be more competitive this season.

Look for improvement from Charlotte. Larry Brown is motivated to prove haters wrong. And Charlotte has finally found their 1st legit PG since the franchise was born into the NBA. The difference b/w the floor leadership & PG skills of D.J. Augustin vs. Ray Felton, Earl Boykins or Jeff McInnis is like night and day.

Cleveland with a motivated Mo Williams just acquired the best scoring threat LeBron has ever had as a teammate. Mo was never a true PG, so he'll fit perfectly playing with LeBron off the ball. Cleveland definitely improved.

Finally, Atlanta took a hit by losing Childress, but they're counting on continued improvement from their young roster including Marvin Williams (who will see more minutes) and Josh Smith. Maurice Evans was a decent stopgap signee to ease the blow of losing Childress. They've may have stagnated their development in the long term with his loss, but they'll still be competitive in our division.