Welcome! Come one, come all, to the main event! It's season preview time, and Upside and Motor is ready to rock your world. The previews will be both concrete and lyrical in this magical world, both by numbers and by prose. To take a look at all the previews, click here.
Straight Up
Straight Up features all the stuff you actually want to see in your team previews: who are the new kids on the block, who skipped town, and where the team stands for the upcoming season. Along with my projection and standing for the upcoming season, it'll also feature three individual awards: Team MVP (let's not get into the debate over exactly what that means), the Most Important Reserve, and the Most Unheralded Asset.
Projected Record:
Off-season Acquisitions: JaVale McGee, Juan Dixon, Dee Brown
Notable Losses: Roger Mason
2008-2009 Team MVP: Caron Butler - A healthy Gilbert changes things up a bit, but this is Caron Butler's team. The things he can do with the ball are phenomenal, and he's a game-changer on the defensive end as well. He's tough as...Tough Juice, a leader, and an elite player. Can't ask for much more than that. Oh yeah, and his blood may or may not be entirely made up of Mountain Dew. At least, until recently. Damn you, healthy diets!
Most Important Reserve: Andray Blatche - Nick Young and Juan Dixon are important in terms of the scoring they can provide, but few have as much weight on their shoulders as Blatche. Gilbert's injury garners most of the attention, but Haywood's injury may actually be just as detrimental. Gil has the chance to return and make an impact this season. Without him, the Wizards proved they can still stay competitive, especially if the matchups favor them (looking at you, Celtics). You can make up for the scoring you lose when Gil goes down. It's not easy, but it's possible. You can't easily replace the size and balance that Haywood provides this team. We'll see what Etan Thomas can do, but a lot is going to come down to what Blatche can provide. He's had his time to develop and it's time to cash in; the Wiz need to know what they have in Blatche.
Most Unheralded Asset: Antonio Daniels - It's not easy to keep the boat from a'rockin' in Gil's absence, but Daniels does so easily. He's a veteran presence and a calming presence in a topsy-turvy world, and one that should be much appreciated.
Poetry in Motion
Photo from Getty Images.
Poetry in Motion will feature my feeble attempts at mimicking the sonnets of one William Shakespeare, complete with a weak, liberal interpretation of iambic pentameter and an identical rhyme scheme. As they say, the NBA imitates art...I mean poetry...err, life imitates the NBA...or I imitate poetry while writing about the NBA. Something like that. Either way, each preview will contain two sonnets: one focusing on a wider, team outlook and another focusing on the roles and futures of individual players. Revel! Criticize! Enjoy!
The Wizards are officially cursed,
All conspiracy theorists, unite!
Arenas is out, and that's only the first,
Of the inj'ries that mark the Wizards' plight.
E'en at full strength the Wiz may have been outmatched,
An increasingly competitive East,
But they'd be playoff bound, no string's attached,
Now they find their playoff chances decreased.
It's no sure thing for this Washington team,
They'll have to claw and fight all season long,
And if Gil returns to his form supreme,
The Wiz may be unexpectedly strong.
I mean, the season's not o'er yet, I guess,
But the Wiz will have to do more with less.
It is hard to find a stronger trio,
Than Caron Butler, Antawn, and Gilbert,
Dropping thirty, for them, is like a free throw,
To these maestros, each game is a concert.
Young is fantastic, on offense at least,
DeShawn's antics a welcome diversion,
Andray Blatche shows that he could be a beast,
But his bursts are followed by reversion.
Antonio Daniels is essential,
In a world where Arenas is sidelined,
Pecherov ponders the existential,
Because he and the bench are intertwined.
A roster of players, characters, all,
But in D.C., the writing's on the wall.
Player Preview Spotlight: Antawn Jamison
Photo from Getty Images.The Player Spotlight feature highlights just one of the many cogs that make up the team. They may not be the best player on the team and they may not be the most recognizable (or who knows, they may be both), but I can guarantee that they're interesting. Their game, their on-court persona, their role within the greater scope of the team. Something about the player in the spotlight deserves your attention, and as usual, I'm more than willing to point it out to you.
Antawn Jamison is both lauded and ignored. I think of all places to be in the NBA, Jamison's position (and it is by no means unique to only him) is one of the most complex, both in terms or on-court production and role in the greater scheme of the organization. Antawn is an All-Star, but he's the third best player on his team. He averages 20-10, but he's not larger than life. He's not a household name. But he produces tirelessly, creating opportunities for his team, scoring in a plethora of ways, and offering only all of himself. He doesn't complain and he doesn't squabble. Antawn Jamison is not petty or cocky, he is not overbearing or unforgiving. The guy is a leader. And on a team that features Gilbert Arenas, there needs to be a reserved leader who guides the team by example.
So often we talk about the "consummate professional," and Jamison very much embodies that ideal. He's active in the community, he's active on the boards (arguably the most workman-like task on the hardwood), and though he's capable of being a team's primary scorer, he doesn't demand the ball. Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler are immense talents. Truly immense. But Jamison is a different kind of beast that those two couldn't even hope to become. Jamison's nature is at once a blessing and a curse, an intersection of talent, production, leadership, and subordinance. Antawn is every bit as capable of being a primary scorer as Gilbert or Caron. I know it seems like it can't be true or shouldn't be true, but it is. Gil may be more exciting and Caron more rugged, but in terms of shear output Jamison can put points up with the best of them. Jamison may not necessarily match Arenas point for point, but the nature of the difference in their methods would surely favor Antawn. Agent Zero is clearly capable of coexisting with other stars, as is Jamison. The difference is that Gilbert succeeds in spite of other capable players around him. He wants the ball in his hands. He needs the ball in his hands. I'm not saying that he never passes, because it's obvious that he does. That dominant on-court identity is blessed, but also draining. And, although it seems infinite in nature, it is certainly limited. In his own way, Arenas is limited by his dominance, limited by the very thing that gives him strength.
I'm not saying that Antawn's game isn't limited in its own way, because it most certainly is. But the "limitations" of Antawn's game are merely extensions of his ability to not only coexist with his teammates' successes, but thrive. Jamison feeds off of the energy and play of his 'mates with the screens, the offensive rebounds, the cuts down the lane. His role on this team (and on the Mavs, for that matter) doesn't require him to create. So what does he do? He takes the role the team gives him, and he creates anyway. You can't just say he's like Marion, because he's not. Both are excellent in complimentary roles, but their games just aren't similar enough to warrant the comparison. Jamison defines his own on-court destiny through his flurry of floaters and runners, an array of jumpshots and post moves. He takes these aspects of his game, the more dominant traits of his on-court persona, and uses them to enhance his subordinate scoring role. That is a truly unique player. Jamison gets his props for what he does, but he isn't idolized like Arenas, or Wade, or even Marion. Part of me wonders why that is, and part of me already knows the answer.
Season Previews, F'real
For those poor, conservative souls trapped in normativity, I'll make sure to send you to a few places where you can read through more conventional, in-depth season previews. Most of these links will be from team bloggers whose trade is knowing what there is to know about their respective teams, so tell your ears to perk up; it's time to listen.
Hardwood Paroxysm
SLAM
Ball Don't Lie
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