DC Wizards

I'm fortunate to be a Washington Wizards season ticket holder. This upcoming season will be my second consecutive. I've met many die-hard Wiz fans at MCI-Verizon Center last season (most are big time sports fans in general) and with the team moving in the right direction (thanks to Coach EJ, GM EG, Owner AP, and several all-star caliber players), I'm excited to be back.

I've been a NBA fan since the days of "NBA on NBC" and now most games are broadcasted on TNT, ESPN/ABC, and NBATV. I wasn't a DC fan from the start; however, there were former players on past teams that intrigued me to follow them (i.e., Googs, CWebb, Juwan Howard, Stack, MJ, and even Calbert Cheaney).

I enjoy the team we have now and one thing that this team have is great chemistry. I do sense that each player genuinely likes other players and coaches on the team. As long as the team stays healthy, the Wiz should win between 40-48 games this season. Losing Jared will hurt because he was a decent man-to-man defender. The team has enough offensive players, but in order to battle the Dwyane Wades, Dwight Howards, Josh Smiths, and Adam Morrisons of the league, they need to play stronger defense. The Wiz also needs to close out games better. Too many times last year the team had a lead only to lose it at the end. Finally, everyone knows that Gilbert is for real and teams will attack him more during crunch time. Gil knows it and as long as others step up, the team will be ok. If not, it'll be a long season of not fulfilling potential.