Friday, October 13, 2006

Quick Picks for 06-07 Postseason (E=East, W=West)

E1. Detroit
E2. Miami
E3. New Jersey
E4. Cleveland
E5. Chicago
E6. Indiana
E7. Washington
E8. Toronto or Orlando

W1. San Antonio
W2. Phoenix
W3. Denver
W4. Dallas
W5. LA Clippers
W6. Sacramento
W7. Houston
W8. LA Lakers or NO/Oklahoma City

Several Wizards are Fantasy Studs

In the latest ESPN the Magazine, Gilbert Arenas is ranked # 1 overall for all point guards and in the top 10 overall for all players in fantasy basketball. Antawn Jamison is in the top 50 overall. Caron Butler got picked on by the editors as being overhyped because of his breakout season last year. The Mag didn't even mention Antonio Daniels.

DC's new Big 3 + AD would make any fantasy team thrive. It's not a good idea to bet against 2 former all-stars, a potential all-star, and a potential 6th man.

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.