The 2009-10 Washington Wizards’ roster seems to finally be shaping up as the addition of Fabricio Oberto solidifies their frontcourt with a viable back-up who has significant playoff experience. Oberto made his name with the San Antonio Spurs, complimenting Tim Duncan and fulfilling that role admirably. His statistics are unimpressive but he will essentially be asked to fill the Shrek-sized hole left by the departure of Michael Ruffin. Let’s just hope his number isn’t called to guard a Lebron crab-dribble on the baseline at the end of a playoff game.
Oberto will find his niche grabbing rebounds and providing spotty offense but basically his purpose will be to absorb personal fouls. Barring an injury, which given the Wizards history it should be expected, he probably won’t see extended minutes considering that Saunders is known for a short rotation. It would be ideal for Andray Blatche and/or Javale McGee to step up and be ready to be relied on but again, a seven-man rotation, or whatever he plans on utilizing, won’t allow for them to make many mistakes. Regardless, competing against Dwight Howard and Shaq requires depth down low for the purpose of fouling. The Celtics have both Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace now so depth at the forward and center positions is extremely important.
The Wizards roster as it currently stands looks like this:
- Gilbert Arenas
- Nick Young
- Jarvaris Crittenton
- Randy Foye
- Mike James
- Deshawn Stevenson
- Caron Butler
- Dominic McGuire
- Mike Miller
- Antawn Jamison
- Brendan Haywood
- Andray Blatche
- Javale McGee
- Fabricio Oberto
Given the results of the last two seasons it is hard to hold my expectations as high as I used to. The success of this team really reduces down to the health of Gilbert Arenas. We have seen that the Wizards can compete with out him in the line-up, at about an average level. However, it is Gilbert and only Gilbert that can take the Wizards deep into the playoffs. You just don’t see teams anymore that make deep playoff pushes without a superstar player to take the game over. Without him the Wizards are still a mediocre team but with him the possibilities are hard to gauge. You could see them maybe win a series and then get defeated by the Cavaliers. You could see them gaining a good seed but then being upset by a rolling Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat in the first round. Or you could see Gilbert Arenas develop into the hardest player to guard at the point guard position in the NBA. When he was at his peak Chauncey Billups proclaimed Gilbert as just that, the hardest defensive match-up for him. If Agent Zero can evolve his game to more of a team leader and playmaker he could be nearly unstoppable. There is no point guard in the NBA with his combination of size, speed, strength, and quickness. He showed flashes last season of being that type of player as he averaged 10 assists a game with no turnovers in his brief cameo of two games. If his game and particularly his basketball IQ continue to make strides in that direction the Washington Wizards will have a chance to compete for the Eastern Conference title next year.
Keywords: Washington Wizards
