From Dennis Velasco,
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Washington Wizards preview by Mike Prada

1. What can the Wizards learn from the 2006-07 season to help them improve their 2007/2008 campaign?

Two things really jump to the front of my mind here.

Stop talking about playing better defense and actually PLAY better defense.

After LeBron James made the Wizards’ defense look silly in the 2006 playoffs, management correctly identified the team’s defense as a major, major problem. They responded by hiring Bill Berry as a "special assistant," stealing DeShawn Stevenson for the veteran's minimum, and feeding us an assembly line of quotes about how there was going to be a renewed focus in that area. Instead, somehow, the defense got even worse, going from 23rd in defensive efficiency to 28th.

One of the biggest problems that doomed previous editions of the Wizards was that they relied too heavily on confusing gimmick defensive sets. Under Berry, that was supposed to change, but it didn’t. Even with a simpler scheme and a supposed defense-first starter in Stevenson, things got worse. Gilbert Arenas was even less interested in defense, Caron Butler continued to play the passing lanes over his man, and Antawn Jamison continued to be slow and skinny. Brendan Haywood, the one defensive stalwart on the team, feuded with Eddie Jordan and was too often unfairly benched for Etan Thomas, a hard, but limited defender.

At this point, there really is no excuse. Berry was replaced by Randy Ayers, the brains behind the Philadelphia 76ers' outstanding defense in the early part of the decade. It’s on the players now to make defense more of a priority.

Don’t be afraid to use the bench.

When Arenas’ hibachi was cooking in December and January, this was legitimately a dangerous team. But below the surface, storms were brewing. The Wizards were winning, but they were doing so while playing their Big 3 and Haywood over 40 minutes a night. An awful bench was, for the most part, never used. If it was used, it was used ineffectively, such as when Eddie Jordan suddenly decided Jarvis Hayes was a power forward. Eventually, even before the injuries to end the season, the Big 3 slowed down, and none of the bench players had been trained to step forward all season.

The connection between the fatigue of the Big 3 and their injuries is tenuous at best, but what’s indisputable is the indirect connection. Suddenly, when guys like DeShawn Stevenson and Jarvis Hayes were forced to play prominent roles, they couldn’t do it. They didn’t have the rhythm that could have developed if Eddie Jordan’s player rotations were better.

This season, the decrepit trio of Hayes, Michael Ruffin, and Calvin Booth is out, replaced by promising rookies Nick Young, Dominic McGuire, and Oleksiy Pecherov. Jordan really has no excuses now. He has the athletes, now he just has to use them.

2. What was the Wizards' best and/or worst move during the off-season, either by free agency, trade, or draft?

I’m probably digging deep with this answer because the Wizards didn’t do much of anything this offseason, but the best move was stealing Dominic McGuire with the 47th pick of the draft. He had first-round talent, and his defense-first game is going to fit in extremely well here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays more than Nick Young, the first round pick.

The worst move was the Juan Carlos Navarro saga. I’m not sure whether Ernie Grunfeld could have gotten more than the conditional first-round pick he got from the Memphis Grizzlies, considering the circumstances with the self-imposed deadline on his services, but in hindsight, Grunfeld should have been more prepared to deal with Navarro deciding he wanted to play in the NBA. By the time Grunfeld knew about it, he had already drafted Nick Young and began negotiations with DeShawn Stevenson. That left no room for Navarro, a legitimate European star, so Grunfeld was lowballed by teams asking for his services. It just seemed like he had no idea what to do, and that’s the first time we can say that about his general manager tenure in DC.

3. Who is the Most Important Player on the Wizards? The MIP is not necessarily the most talented, but the one that makes the biggest difference in his TEAM doing well each game.

The only answer to this question is Gilbert Arenas. He announced his intentions to opt-out of his contract after this season, though I’m not nearly as worried about him leaving as many ill-informed columnists. Still, Arenas, for all the recognition he received, had a down year by his standards. He shot below 42 percent from the field, yet still hoisted up more shots than ever before. His defense also slipped, and he was less explosive going to the rim. I’m confident he can bounce back after knee surgery, but as he goes, so does this team. It would be nice to see him really try harder defensively instead of just talking about it.

Therein lies the catch-22. The Wizards need Arenas to be Arenas, but they also need him to become more committed to an area that goes against his persona. How Arenas defends is one of the major keys to the season.

Oh whoops. I was just jumping ahead a bit.