Wizards 0-2. Panic Time in DC? Maybe.

Two games into the NBA season the Wizards are still looking for their first victory. Is it time to panic? Maybe. It seems that every pre-season Eddie Jordan places a high emphasis on improving the team's defense. And every season we end up with the same type of team...one that can score and can't stop the opposition from scoring. If the Wizards best defense is their offense Wizards fans are in for a long frustrating season.

The 'zards opened the season with an Indiana team that was missing two starters, one of which (Jermaine O'Neal) is a perennial all star. Yet they allowed this team to score 119 points! Both of the local newspapers hailed the 4th quarter play of Indiana point guard Jamal Tinsley. Tinsley scored 16 fourth quarter points and almost recorded a triple double. Tinsley was able to get into the lane at will and either score or kick the ball out to wide open teammates who unlike the Wizards, were able to make shots. Who was guarding Jamal Tinsley? It was none other than the beloved Agent 0, Gilbert Arenas, who lived up to that moniker by playing no defense.

Let me be clear. I am an Arenas fan. I love his passion for the game. He is a great talent (on offense). However, he is still a defensive liability. He also dominates the ball too much on offense. Basketball is a team sport. Arenas must learn to share the ball and make his teammates better to be the elite player he wants to be recognized as.

The Boston Celtics unveiled their "Big 3" Friday night in Boston, thoroughly whipping the Wizards 103-83. That's two bean town beatings in a week for D.C. area sports fans (the Patriots gutted the Redskins 52-7 on October 28th). I didn't see the entire game, but what I did see was disheartening. I saw a team playing with no energy, no defensive intensity and poor offensive execution. I saw players that have what I call a low basketball IQ. Some of the players just don't seem to understand what a 'good' basketball play is. For example, if your much maligned center (Brendan Haywood) is working his butt off getting offensive rebounds (11 in Indiana), what makes a player (DeShawn Stevenson) think that jacking up a 3-pointer is the proper play to make 2 seconds into the new shot clock? Why does Gilbert Arenas attempt a cross court pass from the post when Kevin Garnett is directly in the path of the pass? Why does Caron Butler throw a bounce pass through the legs of a 7-foot center cutting to the basket?

It may be early in the season, but Saturday night's home opener at Verizon Center is a must win for the Wizards. Hopefully the home crowd will energize them. They must prove to team management that keeping this team basically intact was the right thing to do. Much has been said about the Wizards having the best record in the eastern conference before injuries began to take a toll on the roster. Not much has been written about the fact that chinks in the armor were apparent before then. The Wizards had what amounts to one good month (December) last season. Let's hope they get it together and play at a consistently high level this season. The bar of expectations has been raised for this team. It's no longer enough to make the playoffs. Nothing less than a deep run into the postseason will be seen as a failure.

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