I think this is more telling..
http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball ... ace-returnWith Paul Pierce (big right toe) sitting out, the Wizards (12-5) didn't do any 5-on-5 drills and took it easy Thursday. That left Nene a tad less optimistic about his chances to play until he puts his foot through a more strenuous test. It could be a situation where Nene is activated vs. the Nuggets and only gets put in for a few minutes at at time, possibly to end the first or second quarter, and then go from there.
"How am I going to know?" Nene said when asked if he thought he'd play. "It's hard to say specifically. It's improved... You can't simulate things in a game. That's the thing. You can't simulate in practice. Games, you don't think you just react. In practice you can (stop) a little bit when things go wrong. That's what I need to play, see how I feel playing 5-on-5, defense and that kind of testing."
The good thing for Nene is the supporting cast is so strong, the Wizards no longer rely on him so heavily to succeed. Marcin Gortat is playing his best basketball in his second season here, Humphries is a rebounding machine and Drew Gooden's ability to stretch to the three-point line gives Wittman lots of options.
"In the past we didn't have the kind of effective bench. This season wee have players who can step in and send a message," Nene said. "Our bench is solid right now. We've been playing really good ... It's a good thing to me because I won't have that urgency to come back earlier or rush."
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Anyway, looking forward to seeing what the team looks like with Nene off the bench. Its an expensive option but they can afford it for now. Nene off the bench could make this team nasty deep up front and a load for other teams. Plus Nene against back ups could be very effective. Specially out there with Miller, Rasual, Otto and maybe Gooden.
And eventually, they can even use Webster if needed. And they still have Blair and Kevin in the wings.
Thats a deep team.
