Celtics look to extend winning streak to nine games by beating Wizards

There are some things in life that are certainties:  The sun will rise in the morning, the Los Angeles Clippers will suck, and Greg Oden will get hurt.  Oh yeah, and the Washington Wizards will woefully underachieve.

Every year, it seems, the Wizards are a trendy pick to rise near the top of the Eastern Conference.  A few years ago, when Gilbert Arenas was coming into his own and it was easy to be wow'ed by the potential of the Arenas-Antawn Jamison-Caron Butler trio, it was acceptable for people to be enticed by the potential of a young, exciting team. 

But it's now, what?, five or six years later, and it should be clear to anyone and everyone that they will never fulfill their potential.  For whatever reason, the Wizards seem destined to continue to fall short of expectations, year after year.  Whether it be because they don't play defense, rely on too many shoot-first players, never stay healthy, or have never rounded out their roster with reliable role players, the Wizards never, ever live up to people's preseason prognostications.

This season, they were supposed to be much improved.  With a "healthy" Gilbert Arenas in tow and Mike Miller and Randy Foye to add depth, the Wiz were supposed to be the league's most-improved team, and they were supposed to fight for one of the East's top four seeds.  Looking back, it's hard not to laugh about the preseason predictions.  Almost a quarter of the way into the season, the Wizards are 7-12 and look to be lottery-bound.  Meanwhile, they are suffering from the same maladies that have long been the cause of their shortcomings, health, selfishness, and lack of cohesion.

Too bad for the Wizards, the Celtics come into Washington tonight, and bring with them an eight-game winning streak.  The C's have looked unbeatable on the road of late, Kevin Garnett is rounding into form, and Kendrick Perkins all of a sudden looks like one of the league's top center.  All that probably spells trouble for Washington, which, according to Antawn Jamison, has got to "make the ball move, be more aggressive going to the basket - too many jumpers. And defensively we've got to do a better job with dribble penetration." 

On paper, this looks like a mismatch of epic proportions, but that's why they play the games.  Every dog has his day.

Three things to look for in tonight's game

1. The Celtics frontcourt - It seems like, every game, I say the C's frontcourt should have their way, and that's because most nights it's true.  If the Wiz start Antawn Jamison at power forward, Garnett should punish him down low.  Especially with the way Garnett is playing, he should have a field day on Jamison, never a good defender.
2. Gilbert Arenas - I'm curious to see how Gilbert decides to play in this game.  It seems like, some games, he decides to be strictly a scorer and, others, he decides to be strictly a passer.  He hasn't been able to find the right balance to where he can keep his teammates involved but still be a scoring assassin.  Plus, I miss him screaming "Hibachi" after big buckets.
3. Earl Boykins - If you can see him on the t.v. screen, that is.  Boykins is small, but he's a joy for me to watch play basketball.  He's constantly moving, constantly energetic, and somehow finds a way to score despite being a midget.  Also, he bench-presses twice what I do, so I have to say good things about him for fear of getting beat up by someone half my height.

Wizards struggling to reach preseason expectations

Remember at the beginning of the season, when everyone was drinking the Washington Wizards kool-aid?  Some people, experts even, actually thought the Wizards might be a contender; In its preseason power rankings, The Sporting News rated Washington seventh in the entire NBA, and I saw it mentioned in some respected online publication (I forget which one it was) that the Wizards actually had the best bench in the entire NBA.  Uhh, guys, just slow down.  Take a few deep breaths, and you would have remembered that Washington has never been a contending team, even when they were healthy.  How were they going to all of a sudden become a contender just because Gilbert Arenas was back and -- maybe, somewhat, almost -- healthy?  Did people really think acquiring Mike Miller was going to put them over the top?

If you think I'm just reacting to recent developments, basing my judgments on the Wizards 7-12 start rather than how I felt before the season, read what I wrote before the season about that seventh spot in the power rankings:

Yes, seventh. As in, higher than they rate the Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets. When are people going to stop overrating Washington? Even when their quasi-Big Three has been healthy, they have never been a true contender. Add to that the fickleness of their health and you get a team that will be closer to missing the playoffs than to the cream of the crop. A healthy Gilbert Arenas won’t suddenly make a 19-63 team into the 7th best team in the league, or even a top-four team in the East. It’s just not happening.

How can anyone be surprised that bad chemistry and early-season issues have been a problem for this team?  Those have always been problems of this Wizards crew, so why in the world would it stop now?

Somehow, people overlooked the fact that Washington has always had injury issues, and judged them as if they would be healthy and at full strength all season.  At some point, though, you have to just realize that certain players aren't meant to withstand the physical pressures of an 82-game season.  Certain bodies are far more prone to breaking down than others, and the Wizards are a team filled with players who are incapable of staying healthy for an extended period of time.  It's just the fact of the matter.

Still, some Wizards are surprised by the bad start (via the Washington Post):

Brendan Haywood said the Wizards' performance this season has been perplexing, regardless of the circumstances. "Are we surprised we're 7-12? Yes. Even with Antawn out, I thought we'd be 12-7, maybe a little better. It comes down to us, man. It's nothing that Flip's doing. It's executing and taking what we do in practice and applying it to game plans correctly."

Saunders said he thought that the Wizards "are beaten up a little bit" from winning just 19 games last season, with Arenas and Haywood sidelined with injuries most of the year. He is trying to help the team break some bad habits. "I looked at the games last year, and in a lot of games, they were inventing ways to lose at times, too. So I'm not totally surprised, no," he said. "But it's one of those things we have to overcome in order to get better and better."

In my eyes, nobody -- not even the players on the team -- should be surprised by the injuries or the slow start.  In the Arenas era, the Wizards have always had a lot of talent, but have never won more than 45 games in a single season.  They have never been a contender, not by any sense of the imagination.

Why did anyone ever think this year might be different?