Welcome to The Now

Firing a coach during a season does not guarantee a turn-around. I don't know why organizations continue to do this.

You could fault tonight's loss against New Jersey on Arenas not making that shot, if you know nothing about basketball. He was double-teamed. Really, how many famous game-winners where done while a player was obviously double-teamed (and with one person being an All-Star)? No, the loss was more about giving up 30 points in the forth quarter. I think it goes without saying that this "focus on defense" will continue to be a work in progress. It will take time, but if they are serious they'll get results. However, let me add that the defense starts with Haywood (as it should be). But as I said, the team looks like they are coming back to familiar territory: the Big Three totaled 66 points, Jamison and Butler did good on the boards, and Arenas had a decent number of assists. Unfortunately, Haywood had three boards in almost 30 minutes (although since most of rebounds in the first three games were offensive ones, that's kinda understandable) and the bench's contrib...

So far, so good. Even though it's just halftime, the Wizards look like they are back to their old selves. The evidence ? Jamison and Arenas are already in double figures. Jamison has seven rebounds. The team is shooting 47% from the field. Their opponent (the New Jersey Nets) has eleven turnovers. And Brendan Haywood only has two rebounds (neither of them offensive). Of course, there's still another half to play.