Predicting the Wizards 2012 Regular Season Record

[nate33]

This team has two really important players: Wall and Nene. If they spend much time on the injured list, it'll hurt real bad. We have the depth to withstand injuries at other positions with minimal impact.

[montestewart]

In just over three months, the Wizards acquired three veteran players likely on the downsides of their careers, likely projected to be the starting front line, that eat up more than half the team payroll, none of who would be called ironmen (people used to complain about Butler's injuries, but he's played in more of his team's games than any of these players), and all of whom are coming off of injuries. In addition to any other issues related to the acquisitions, this aspect tells me that something could go wrong, something a little more than, "Well, yeah, injuries happen, but..."

What if Lewis plays more games than Okafor and Ariza combined, while winning a ring? Snakebit are the Wizards. Snakebit I tell you. Snakebit!

On the plus side, more minutes for Seraphin and Vesely to develop. I wonder if there was a cheaper way to get there?

[Zonkerbl]

Nene had plantar fasciitis last year that was bad enough it forced him to miss several games. His plantar fasciitis is so bad now that, six weeks after the end of the olympics, he still has to miss ALL OF TRAINING CAMP.

Nene is DONE.

I called it when Gilbert was done, way before anyone else wanted to admit it. I'm calling Nene done.

[nate33]

Zonker, I just don't get why you consider plantar fasciitis to be a death sentence. In the spectrum of injuries, I'd say it's relatively minor. It really does get better with rest. And once it gets better, there are some pretty basic exercises to keep it from recurring. And if all else fails, you can play with it as long as you can tolerate the pain.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

In just over three months, the Wizards acquired three veteran players likely on the downsides of their careers, likely projected to be the starting front line, that eat up more than half the team payroll, none of who would be called ironmen (people used to complain about Butler's injuries, but he's played in more of his team's games than any of these players), and all of whom are coming off of injuries. In addition to any other issues related to the acquisitions, this aspect tells me that something could go wrong, something a little more than, "Well, yeah, injuries happen, but..."

What if Lewis plays more games than Okafor and Ariza combined, while winning a ring? Snakebit are the Wizards. Snakebit I tell you. Snakebit!

On the plus side, more minutes for Seraphin and Vesely to develop. I wonder if there was a cheaper way to get there?

I would bet you a large sum that Lewis will have his best season since playing with Orlando. Peer pressure and better teammates around him, plus motivation will all factor into giving him his best results. The same will be true for Blatche. The same will be true for McGee. The same will be true for Nick Young. Everyone who the Wizards called a knucklehead will be a decent role player this season. The player the Wizards thought was shot will probably cut down a championship net--but that is not a done deal.

Meanwhile, I have a bad feeling about the Wizards simply because of the timeliness of Nene's latest. They haven't improved much if any adding Okafor and Ariza. Beal is a rookie. The Wizards best players at the end of last season were James Singleton and Nene. They weren't smart enough to stick with James Singleton, and Nene is not going to play a whole lot of games.

[Zonkerbl]

Zonker, I just don't get why you consider plantar fasciitis to be a death sentence. In the spectrum of injuries, I'd say it's relatively minor. It really does get better with rest. And once it gets better, there are some pretty basic exercises to keep it from recurring. And if all else fails, you can play with it as long as you can tolerate the pain.

First, it's usually a minor injury, but at least in two cases that I remember it was career ending. Mark Price, and then this other high draft pick for Sacramento in the nineties who ended up needing surgery and was never the same afterwards. Wish I could remember his name. So fact #1: In a small number of cases, it has been career ending.

Second, if it's such a minor injury, why is it lingering for so long? Booker had plantar fasciitis too -- why isn't he skipping training camp?

Second and a half, plantar fasciitis is a minor injury for us plebes who don't spend two hours a day playing ball, either in practice or in games. Plantar fasciitis is a much more serious problem for a professional basketball player than it is for basically anybody else. My intuition, also, is that if you are a pro player who gets it while you're young (Booker) it's just a sign of temporarily overstressing the area, but if you get it at Nene's age it's much more likely to be a symptom of wholesale structural degeneration. It's not likely but the likelihood increases with age. So fact #2: Nene's a prime candidate for the unlikely occurrence of career ending plantar fasciitis.

Third, since when have the zards EVER had good luck with injuries? Fact 3: Murphy's Law says lightning is more likely to strike in a place with a lousy medical staff.

Nene is done.

[I_Like_Dirt]

Plantar fasciitis tends to linger, zonker, particularly when a player doesn't take a long period of time off. Notable PFs that had significant time missed due to plantar fasciitis are Time Duncan and Chris Bosh. Both guys missed significant time and saw reduced minutes and eventually returned to their normal selves. In and of itself it isn't normally a death sentence. Combined with the Wizards crack medical/training staff, however...

[nuposse04]

Well I bet everyones gonna have to revise this a bit... I was pretty optimistic at first...maybe 35 wins now...

[Zonkerbl]

Billy Owens, that's who it was...

Huh...

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/billy_owens/bio.html

I could've sworn that he ended up retiring because he couldn't come back from plantar fasciitis. Not what it says here though.

[Nivek]

Plantar fasciitis didn't end Mark Price's career. He missed nearly half a season in Cleveland, and then almost a full season with the Wizards. After leaving Washington, he played two more seasons -- 70 games and 1876 minutes for Golden State and 63 games and 1430 minutes for Orlando. He wasn't as good as he had been in Cleveland, but it's hard to say how much of that was the foot and how much was natural aging effects. He was 31 in Washington; he retired at age 33.

All that said, I'm a lot closer to agreeing with Zonk on this one.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Zonker, if it is an older athlete and Ernie trades for him, and that athlete gets plantar fasciitis, it's as good as saying that player is on borrowed time in the league.

At some point you have to step back and ask yourself how in the heck this stuff just keeps piling on one franchise.

Right now, I think the Wizards could end up right back at the bottom of the league in wins. HOWEVER, not having John Wall at the beginning of the season might prove something I have been saying for a while. He is not a great player. They can manage games without him.

The real problem, however, is everything the Wizards did in player acquisitions was predicated upon building around John Wall's speed.

[tontoz]

If one or two of the bigs go down it isn't that big of a deal since there is some depth there. If Wall goes down it is curtains because there is nothing but garbage backing him up.

Sorry John, I underestimated the power of my words.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

If one or two of the bigs go down it isn't that big of a deal since there is some depth there. If Wall goes down it is curtains because there is nothing but garbage backing him up.

Beware of the power of tontoz' words.

[Benjammin]

Commence tank 2012-2013. We need t-shirts made up like a concert tour. We live for the tank.