no D in Hibachi wrote:
I can't believe this weak argument! 06-07 was THREE years ago! Every single team in the East has gotten better since then. Dwight Howard didn't exist as superman at that point, Lebron James was deferring to Jeff McGinnis in 06-07, KG wasn't on the Celtic's, and Derrick Rose was in high school. The Wizards have done nothing to improve. I thought EG was the only person in the world who still uses that argument, but I guess there are two people who believe that a team of 3 years ago, that spent 1 week in first place can still amount to something. This team is pathetic, they need a complete overhaul and deserve no respect from anyone.
Lebron James has turned Mo Williams into an all-star, he lead a team with Ben Wallace as the starting PF to the ECF. Paul Pierce helped make big baby look like a top 10 power forward in the playoffs. So what if Jamison and Butler played with a bad cast. Every other 'star' does the same and they make it work and look good doing it. Jamison and Butler were an embarrassment last year. They either quit on the team because the 'young guys weren't good enough' or played strictly for their stats and for no other reason. They deserve to be thrown under the bus because at the end of the day no one expected the Wizards to compete because Andray Blatche and Nick Young. They expected the Wizards to compete because Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler are getting played 10+ mill per year and are "all-stars". The blame doesn't fall on the supporting cast it falls on the players who are supposed to lead the team and help make the supporting cast better.
Just have to say about the Bulls; they did make it to the 2nd round in 06-07 and were projected to make a top 5 finish.
Ben Wallace came off the bench for the Cavs this year and I wouldn't consider the Cavs making it to the ECF a major accomplishment being that they played perhaps the two worst teams in the postseason. The only reason Mo Wililams made the all star team was because a) all the top PGs are in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference is starved for PG talent; more deserving guys who were not pgs deserved to make the team like Vince Carter, Ray Allen, and even Caron Butler B) Jameer Nelson got injured.
Big Baby Davis played well on his own especially when he hit that game winner in game 5. BTW I would not even say Big Baby is a top 10 PF in the playoffs (Dirk, Aldridge, Gasol, Odom, Lewis, Boozer, Millsap, Duncan, Scola, Josh Smith) although he puts in a lot more effort than Andray Blatche. I would say Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kendrick Perkins all made him better as they were 4/5ths of the starting five of a championship. The Celtics also looked a lot better because Orlando was choking even back then, they should have put the Celtics away in 5-6 games. While the Bulls/Celtics put on quite a show, neither were championship caliber this season.
I would say Caron quit on this team at some point 20 games into the season but not Jamison. I would also say that the Wizards defense "lack of defense' was due to the fact Brendan Haywood was not making up for the Wizards lack of errors. DeShawn Stevenson also was injured who took the tougher defensive assignment.
So what's the reason to hope you ask? If Gilbert is 100% or anywhere close to it, he is probably the best point guard in the conference. Mike James, was the worst starting point guard in the league last year and BTW I don't even think LeBron could make him better. That's an immediate upgrade to the position. Brendan Haywood greatly upgrades our depth at center. The young guys are a year older and are more ready to contribute. Certainly the Wizards supporting cast (#5 pick, Young, Blatche, McGuire, McGee) has the potential to be better than the one the healthy Arenas/Jamison/Butler/Haywood had before (Ruffin, Hayes).
And the other reasons, not all teams have gotten better. One of the teams that made it to the ECF so many years in a row has fallen off (Detroit). Even Miami isn't as scary without Shaq. If you watched the NBA finals, you would realize that Dwight Howard isn't superman. Plus it's questionable whether they can keep Turkoglu and/or Gortat.
I agree that the Wizards are not going to be championship contenders this season. But they can take steps to becoming one 2-3 years down the line instead of blowing it up. The Memphis Grizzlies essentially traded Pau Gasol because he was a player who wasn't giving 100%.
Magnumt
