Washington Wizards Tickets

The Washington Wizards came into the season with high hopes after general manager Ernie Grunfeld made a couple of key offseason acquisition and with the return of Gilbert Arenas from a chronic knee injury.

The team traded for guard Randy Foye and forward Mike Miller in the offseason and also signed forward Fabricio Oberto.

Foye has been a solid addition while Miller has spent much of his time nursing injuries. Oberto has also made little impact, rendering Grunfeld's moves almost meaningless.

There was also hope that the team might be improved under new head coach Flip Saunders, who was counted on to stress defense much more than predecessor Eddie Jordan. The team's defense has been slightly better, but not significantly enough to make up for a dip in offensive production.

The team also had to weather an injury to forward Antawn Jamison that kept him out of the lineup for the first few weeks of the season. He has since returned and has not missed a beat. The veteran is still playing at a very high level and has more heart than anyone on the team.

Caron Butler was one of the most underrated players in all of the NBA heading into the season, but he looks nothing like the stud he used to be. He looks slow and tentative and his shot has been flat. They need himt to step it up if they want to make a run to the playoffs or even a run through it if they get that far.

Arenas is certainly not the player he was before the knee injury. The guy used to be an assasin on the court, but now he seems to have no feel for the game. He isn't shooting the ball that well and has poor shot selection and has become a turnover machine.

The Wizards need Arenas to get back into a rhythm and return to the player that many felt was one of the ten best in the NBA right before his injury. The guy was a stone-cold killer who would kill defenders off the bounce or step back and knock down the jumper. He was almost unguardable and hit a ridiculous number of game-winning shots.

In fact, diminutive free agent pickup Earl Boykins has been the better point guard at times this year. He has really provided the Wizards a much-needed spark off the bench.

Fortunately for the Wizards, the Eastern Conference is a very forgiving place to play basketball. Despite their poor record, a substantial winning streak will have them right back in the thick of the playoff hunt. The team definitely has more than enough talent to reach the playoffs, but will they put it all together? Will they finally get past the first round of the playoffs? Only time will tell.