The Wizards had a hard time keeping up with the Hawks in Atlanta tonight. Gilbert Arenas had another solid game with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Brendan Haywood was a beast in the middle for the Wizards in this game with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Andray Blatche was solid off the bench again for the Wizards tonight with 13 points and 6 rebounds. The Wizards are now 1-1 on the season.

The Wizards will be without point guard Javaris Crittenton until at least December after he had recent surgery on his left foot. This won’t hurt the Wizards who won’t push him to return too soon. That is because the Wizards are loaded at point guard with Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye and Mike James.

The Washington Wizards look like they have got their “Agent Zero” back, as Gilbert Arenas looked great last night in the Wizards win over the Dallas Mavericks.  Arenas had 29 points, 9 assists, and 2 rebounds while shooting 10-21 from the field and 8-9 from the line.  Arenas only played in 15 games in the past two seasons, and it looked like knee injuries and multiple surgeries might hinder the talented guards’ abilities and possibly cut his career short.  Arenas looked like his old self last night though, and although it is just one game, things looked great for Arenas.  His knee seemed strong and he had the explosion, quickness, and quick jumper that made him so difficult to guard in the 06-07 season and prior.  The NBA season is a marathon though, so it will be interesting to see how Arenas and his knees hold up.  This was a great sign for Arenas and the Wizards though.

The Wizards got off to a great start to the season last night winning Flip Saunders’ head coaching debut for the team. Gilbert Arenas led the way for the Wizards with 29 points, 2 rebounds and 9 assists. He looked fantastic both driving to the hoop and his outside shot looked smooth. Andray Blatche was outstanding off the bench with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The Wizards hope he keeps giving them games like that while Antwan Jamison is out of action. Randy Foye had a solid debut for the Wizards with 19 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals off the bench. Caron Butler didn’t shoot too well in this game but he still finished up with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The Wizards are now 1-0 on the season and looking good.

The bookmakers in Las Vegas saw all of the positive moves the Wizards made in the off-season and all of them were to win right now. The Wizards are going to be one of my favorite teams to watch this season because they are going to score a lot of points and give up quite a few too. I have a feeling that they are going to outscore their opponents more than half of the time so I would bet on the over with the Wizards this season even with Antwan Jamison missing some time at the start of the year.

The Wizards will be without starting power forward Antwan Jamison for the next 3-5 weeks due to a shoulder injury. This is a huge blow to the Wizards and it will have a ripple effect on the playing rotation at both power forward and center. Andray Blatche will move into the starting lineup to replace Jamison. Blatche is not near the offensive player that Jamison is but he should be able to rebound and play defense. Fabricio Oberto will move into the backup forward slot for the Wizards until Jamison returns to action. JaVale McGee will now get a lot of playing time behind Brendan Haywood at center and he should do a good job. The Wizards will miss Jamison who along with Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas (when healthy) a great offensive trio.

The Washington Wizards hope that new head coach Flip Saunders can bring out the best in the very talented roster they have assembled for him. Saunders has a career regular season record of 587-396 (59.7%) and he has a post season record of 47-51 (48%). Saunders has coached both young and veteran teams as a NBA head coach so he can relate to both kinds of players which the Wizards have a nice mix of. I definately see Saunders getting the Wizards back to the playoffs this season and it will be interesting to see how they play once they get there.

All the Wizards want out of the center position is defense and rebounding. The group they have at this position should be capable of handling that job. Brendan Haywood missed almost all of last season for the Wizards as he only played in 6 games. In those games Haywood averaged 29.2 minutes, 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.5 blocked shots per game. The Wizards would be ecstatic if he could average those kind of numbers in 70+ games this season. 34-year old Fabricio Oberto is the veteran option behind Haywood. He played in 54 games for the Spurs last season and he averaged 12.5 minutes, 2.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. The younger option behind Haywood is 21-year old JaVale McGee who has a nice upside. He played in 75 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 15.2 minutes, 6.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Andray Blatche will also get some playing time in the pivot this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CENTERS IN 2009-2010: C-

33-year old Antwan Jamison is back to start at power forward for the Wizards this season. He is one of the most underrated basketball players in the entire NBA. Jamison played in 81 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 38.2 minutes, 22.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Jamison still has plenty left in the gas tank despite him getting up there in age. 23-year old Andray Blatche will back up Jamison this season. He played in 71 games last season for the Wizards and he averaged 24.0 minutes, 10.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Blatche will also get some playing time at center this season for the Wizards as he is a player on the rise.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POWER FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: A-

The Wizards are very deep at small forward. It all starts with 29-year old Caron Butler who plays hard on both ends of the basketball court. He played in 67 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 38.6 minutes, 20.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game. The Wizards will likely cut back Butler’s minutes a lit bit this season in an effort to keep him fresh and healthy. Mike Miller will be the top backup behind Butler and he is a good basketball player. He played in 73 games for the Timberwolves last season and he averaged 32.3 minutes, 9.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Miller is a good shooter and he will also play some shooting guard this season. 23-year old Dominic McGuire will likely see his minutes drop quite a bit this season. He played in 79 games for the Wizards last season and he averaged 26.2 minutes, 4.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SMALL FORWARDS IN 2009-2010: A-