Wizards Dancers

Washington Wizards Preview

Washington had the big three in the east last year, but Gilbert went down and that was the end of their hopes. They come back this year with the same team, because they believe they have the right guys to get the job done, while I disagree. Gilbert is amazing, although selfish at times, and he misses more clutch free throws and shots than most superstars (people just remember the ones that he makes because ESPN really highlights those). Caron Butler is extremely good, as is Jamison, but is that enough? It’s obviously not. They need other players to really step up, so let’s see who might be capable.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Gilbert Arenas
28.4 – 4.6 – 6 – 1.88 – 0.18 – 42% & 40

SG – DeShaw Stevenson
11.2 – 2.6 – 2.7 – 0.79 – 0.23 – 46% & 30

SF – Caron Butler
19.1 – 7.4 – 3.7 -2.13 – 0.27 – 46% & 39

PF – Antawn Jamison
19.8 – 8 – 1.9 – 1.14 – 0.51 – 45% – 38

C – Brendan Haywood
6.6 – 6.2 – 0.6 – 0.44 – 1.14 – 56% & 22

Key Bench Players
Antonio Daniels
Darius Songaila
Andray Blatche

Yes, I only put 3 players hat will get decent minutes off the bench. When you have three players averaging close to 40 minutes per game, there isn’t much room for anyone else.

PG
We have already discussed Gilbert. He’s the best PG out there in the fantasy world, though I would take quite a few ahead of him in real life. Daniels will get minutes, as Gilbert plays SG as well, but Daniels wont have much value.

SG
I like DeShawn Stevenson as a player, but he wont do much for your team. Avoid him.

SF
Caron Butler is fantastic. He does it all, except for blocks (which you don’t expect at that position anyways).

PF
Jamison will score and he loves the three, but he’ll also give you decent rebounds, though I usually want more out of a PF. Songailia will back him up here, but again, no value unless there is an injury to Jamison or Haywood.

C
Brendan has the job, but he’s not the answer on this team. Look at his minutes per game last year and you will see. He is very raw offensively, and if you say he’s out there for his defense, then you and the Wizards are wrong. He simply is not a good defender. 1.14 blocks per game is pathetic for a 7 footer who’s been in the league as long as he has. I like Blatche here and think he has the talent to over take the starting job, but the question there is his dedication, desire and mental makeup. If he can put it all together, then he’s possibly the answer the Wiz have been looking for. Keep an eye on him.

This team will score a lot, because they can’t stop my ANYONE, but all the love will go to the big three. This is an easy team to preview. Look at last year. It’s more of the same.

Miami Heat Preview

While the East was growing and getting better this off-season, the Heat slept. They actually got a little worse. They lost Kapono and Posey. Antoine Walker is out of shape, Wade is out for at least 3-4 more weeks and Shaq is one more year older and fatter, I’m sure. Things look grim, and they should, unless Shaq is actually in good enough shape to be dominant and Wade is only out for two weeks AND he’s completely healthy when he comes back. Yeah, I’m not counting on either of those happening.

Projected starting lineup with last year’s stats:
Stats follow this format – Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, FG percentage & Minutes

PG – Jason Williams
10.9 – 2.3 – 5.3 – 0.95 – 0.02 – 41% & 30

SG – Dwayne Wade
27.4 – 4.7 – 7.5 – 2.1 – 1.22 – 49% & 37

SF – Dorell Wright
6 – 4.1 – 1.4 – 0.62 – 0.70 – 45% & 19

PF – Udonis Haslem
10.7 – 8.3 – 1.2 – 0.62 – 0.33 – 49% & 31

C – Shaquille O’Neal
17.3 – 7.4 – 2 – 0.20 – 1.38 – 42% & 28

Key Bench Players

Smush Parker
Anfernee Hardaway
Daequan Cook
Antoine Walker
Wayne Simien
Earl Barron
Alonza Mourning
Alenxander Johnson

You would think with this many “key bench players” they would be good, but that’s not the case. I had to put almost the whole team down because I have no clue who’s going to get minutes and contribute. Let’s look at it more closely.

PG
They brought in Smush to compete with Jason, but Smush is Smush, so Jason Williams remains the starter. Pat Reilly spent all summer looking for a PG and he failed to find one that can make a difference. Jason will be asked to score more in the beginning of the season with Wade out, and he might actually put up decent stats by default, but they will quickly go back to his norm of the last few years, once Wade is back on the court.

SG
They are lost at this position until Wade is back and healthy. I like Daequan Cook’s potential, but they are kidding themselves if they think he is ready to contribute now. PENNY???? Wow, they dug deep for that one. Wade is this whole team, they will be awful without him.

SF
Dorell Wright is super-athletic and has a TON of talent, but will it ever “click” between the ears?? The Heat are praying it does and they need it NOW. Pat Reilly said last year that he envisioned the Heat being lead by Wade and Dorell Wright. Is he ready? We’ll find out, since he was given the starting job from the first day of camp. However, he has not had a good preseason and I don’t think he is capitalizing on the opportunity. Walker is becoming discontent (what else is new) and the older he gets, the more threes he jacks up with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. I’m actually planning on drafting Dorell in the last round of my draft, and hoping he taps into his potential, but from what I’ve seen in the preseason, I’m not really betting on it.

PF
Udonis is one of the most underrated players in the league. He very effective on the glass, has a nice midrange jumper and is a good defender. The problem is that he will be asked to be more than a role player this season, and I question whether he’s up the task. I really like Earl Barron and Alexander Johnson, but we wont see them until Shaq goes down.

C
Shaq is older, slower and more out of shape, but he’s still Shaq so by default he could get 20 & 10 if he really wanted to. Now, he will be bored with the regular season and will get very frustrated, if the Heat suck as much as I expect them too, which means, he will get hurt. I say he plays around 55 games this year. Mourning is incredible for his age, but he is older and not nearly as effective as he used to be. I expect the heat to get to the point where they will need to start developing their young talent instead of thinking playoffs, which will open the door for Earl Barron and Alexander Johnson.

I am very down on Miami this year, as you can tell. It wouldn’t surprise me if Pat Reilly also had a health problem, which causes him to miss some time, once he sees that his team is going nowhere. Dwyane Wade is the best shooting guard in the league, but he needs to take his time and make sure he’s healthy before he comes back.