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11:53:00 PM EST
Hearing the Wiz take on the West
Retro Bullets
Which NBA franchise is the most dreadful? The Clippers always come to mind. Run TMC's era outstanding, Golden State has been horrible. And the pre-'Bron Cavs sucked, right? All good answers, but only one has failed to win 45 games in any one season since the '70s. Yep, the Washington Wizards have either been average, poor or unwatchable for literally as long as I can remember (which predates the Manute Bol pick in '85).
This is how bad the Wiz / Bullets have been over the past 25 years: they've had only five winning seasons -- all between 42 and 44 wins. They made the following first-round picks in one 10-year span ('84-'93): Mel Turpin, Kenny Green, John "Hot Plate" Williams, Anthony Jones, Harvey Grant, Tom Hammonds, LaBradford Smith and Calbert Cheaney. In the '90s they traded four 21 to 25 year-olds who became so accomplished they're still one-name guys: Webber, Rip, Ben and 'Sheed.
But suddenly everything has changed. This year's team is on pace to win 50. They've beaten the Magic in D.C., the Lakers in L.A. and every middling Eastern team in between. They might even have the best threesome of players in the league. Name a trio that's better than Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes. Gil is the athletic playmaker, 'Tawn the silent leader w/ an inside-out game and Larry the silky smooth assassin. They combine for 63.6 ppg, 13.1 apg, 19.2 rpg and 5.6 spg. Those are Scottie Pippen-times-three numbers. The Wiz could be a top seed in this East, revitalize basketball in D.C. and capture my still beating heart ... or revert back to yesterday's losing ways.
When you look past the Trio there lies a meager frontcourt. Brendan Haywood is doing a poor man's Robert Parrish impersonation. Kwame Brown is huge, young, improving, clumsy andmostly lost. Jared Jeffries is skilled, talland soft. The Wiz get less than 25 a game from these guys. They desperately need Etan Thomas to come off the IL. Once he's back, Michael Ruffin stops getting 15-20 minutes a game. And that's a good thing.
Another good thing is their hot orange retro uniform, modeled after the '70-'71 Baltimore Bullets. They've already worn it in L.A. and at Golden State, and the jerseys are an early favorite to make the Mitchell & Ness 2005 best-seller list. On that old Bullets team was Earl "the Pearl" Monroe, who BasketballReference.com lists as having a lesser-known nickname: "Black Jesus." Imagine an orange Bullets jersey w/ "Black Jesus" across the back. Someone get L'il Jon on the two-way pager before the next awards show.
But seriously folks, these are not Juwan Howard's Wizards. Or even Jeff Malone's Bullets, for that matter. They're the Retro Bullets, and they're running Eddie Jordan's Princeton offense to the fine tune of 100+ per game. Just for kicks they bring the local-hero backcourt of Juan Dixon and Steve Blake in for semi-mandatory 2nd quarter substitutions. Arenas, Jamison and Hughes are a constant threat to pull a three-headed Wilt "the Stilt" and put up 100 by themselves. They're a whole lotta fun and should make the playoffs. They might even win a series. And Wizs fans under 30 have no idea what that feels like.
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I know someone just said this but I also would go with Shaq, Wade, but then Haslem.
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If I remember, this was the same three in Golden State a few yeras back, when they were only a 11th seed. Only in the Least, could three players who had NO impact in the Wild West be dominate in the east.
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Warriors east is like any other team. a championship is won with a big man. unless Micheal Jordan is getting the calls to go with greatness.
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Let's not use only 3 how about the staring 5 of the Phx. suns?
12/29/04 8:56 AM