Wizards Seek Revenge in Season Opener
Written by DCist contributor Matthew Yglesias.
The scheduling gods decreed that for tonight's season-opening game, the Wizards face off against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the very team that sent the Wiz packing from the playoffs last year in a heart-breaking six game defeat.
Despite the superficial difference in records (50-32 for Cleveland, 42-40 for Washington), the two squads were extremely closely matched last season in terms of point differential and expected wins. The closeness of the matchup was reflected in the outcome of last spring's playoff series where the Wizards actually managed to outscore the Cavs over the course of the series, while still losing thanks to three stunning late-game failures in which Cleveland prevailed by just one point
Stat-heads attribute such defeats to dumb luck and would tell you the series was a wash, while traditionalists, believing in clutch play, can point to the fact that James made specific efforts to psyche Wizards star Gilbert Arenas out before he uncharacteristically bricked two free throws at the end of Game Six to pave the way for Cleveland's victory.
Either way you look at it, Washington enters the game with plenty to prove. Most analysts see divergent fortunes for the two teams this season, with King James widely anticipated to lead his team to new heights of greatness and many foreseeing a slip out of the playoffs for DC in an Eastern Conference that's seen improvements to many cellar-dwelling squads.
Realistically, however, neither team made dramatic changes in the offseason. Cleveland is hoping that ex-Wizard Larry Hughes will stay healthy this season and make the difference, but Hughes is not especially well-suited to partnering with James and wasn't notably effective even when he was in the lineup last year. Nothing has been done, meanwhile, to address Cleveland's open sore at the point guard spot where aging offensive non-entity Eric Snow will once again start.
Over the offseason, Washington acquired reserve forward Darius Songaila, who will make his debut in 10-12 weeks due to a back injury. The Wizards also let Jared Jeffries, the team's consensus top on-the-ball defender, walk to the Knicks. Stepping into Jeffries' shoes as designated defensive stopper is DeShawn Stevenson, brought over from Orlando, who has the unenviable task of debuting in the role against James, perhaps the league's least-stoppable player. If Stevenson takes to the bench to make room for the more offensively-minded Antonio Daniels, or if James' size proves to be too much for him, expect small forward Caron Butler to inherit James-guarding duties, a role in which he had some success last spring.
Perhaps more contentiously, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan has decided to bench Brendan Haywood and give the starting center job over to Etan "More than an Athlete" Thomas who, unfortunately for Washington fans, isn't an especially good athlete. The more-talented Haywood, however, has suffered from persistent focus and effort problems over the years, and the occasional benching seems to improve his motivation.
After what should be an intense game in Cleveand, the Wiz will return to D.C. for their home-opener against an eminently beatable Boston Celtics Saturday night at the Verizon Center. Then it's back on the road for another symbolically important game against the Orlando Magic. Wizards-skeptics who think the team will slip into the lottery primarily have Orlando in mind as the rising team that might bump them off.
The Magic now pair young superstar Dwight Howard in the frontcourt with Darko Milicic, the one-time hopeless draft bust who showed enormous potential at the very end of last season and over the summer playing for Serbia in the World Championships. Orlando's fortunes over the course of the season may well hinge on the never-reliable health of Grant Hill, but he'll probably manage to avoid injury in the season's first week. Taking at least one of these two games on the road against rising conference rivals would go a long way to establishing that the Wizards are for real.