Antawn Jamison is Talkin’ Computers and winning a Championship

 

Even though the Washington Wizards suffered through one of their worst seasons in franchise history last season with only 19 wins, forward Antawn Jamison is thinking NBA Championship. Recently, Jamison spoke out with confidence that if healthy(lol), the Wizards are just as good or better than last season’s elite teams, especially Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando in the Eastern Conference.

Jamison was at Jefferson Junior High in D.C. as a spokesman for the NBA, to help launch the HP Digital Assist, which is a nationwide program that gives more than 5,000 students in various cities a chance to win more than $80,000 in Hewlett Packard products for their school. After promoting the educational program, he fielded questions about the Wizards chances this season.

In a story first reported by the Washington Post, Jamison spoke out about his squad’s chances of finally bringing a championship to Washington D.C., after playing 11 seasons in the NBA. He thinks the additions of Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Fabricio Oberto, along with the return of “the Hibatchi” Gil Arenas, Brendan Haywood, and Deshawn Stevenson from injuries bolsters the Wizards roster enough to be considered contenders for the NBA’s Championship trophy. When asked why he thought that way, Jamison responded emphatically, “Why not?” “I’ve been around here for six years and championship talk wasn’t a norm around our locker room. That’s all we’re talking about now.”

Jamison has quitely been one of the league’s best under the radar players over his 11 NBA seasons. He has averaged 19.9 ppg and 8.0 rebounds for the Warriors, Mavericks, and most recently, the Washington Wizards. Antawn has averaged over 20 ppg five times with a high of 24.9 ppg in ’00-’01 with Golden State. Rebounding has been one of his best skills by averaging over 6+ rebs/game every season of his career, with a high of 10.2 rebs in ’07-’08. He is entering his 6th season in Washington, one in which he missed the postseason after making it to the playoffs 5 straight years.

The pairing of Jamison, and Caron”Tough Juice” Butler, both 2 time All-Stars, with a healthy Arenas, who is a 3 time All-Star, gives Washington a tremendously talented trio which should be very good, but is it good enough to get the better of Boston, with Pierce, Garnett, Allen, and Sheed, Cleveland with Lebron and Shaq, or Orlando, with Howard, Carter, Lewis, and Nelson?

Why the Wizards Could Be a Sleeper In the East

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.  Allen also writes for Hoopdoctors.com

When the Washington Wizards traded out of the #5 pick in this season’s draft, it left many people scratching their heads wondering why a last place team that finished a dismal 19-63, would do such a thing. There were more puzzling reactions once Minnesota used that lottery pick on European superstar Ricky Rubio. I am going to attempt to talk all Washington Wizard fans off of the ledge by breaking down why it was actually a good move to trade the pick, and how the Wizards can make the playoffs next season.

First of all, and most importantly, Gilbert Arenas, aka Agent 0, must be healthy. The Wizards have been hit by the injury bug harder than any team over the last few years. A close second may be Houston with the reoccuring T-Mac and Yao Ming injuries. When healthy, Arenas, a 3 time all-star, is as talented and deadeye shooter as you can find in the entire NBA as evidence by his career scoring average of almost 23 ppg. In his last three full seasons from 05′-07′, he established himself as one of the game’s elite players averaging 28-30 points, more than 5 assists, while shooting more than 42% on 3’s. The problem is he has played only 15 games in two seasons. Amazingly, reports have him making a full recovery, hoping to be ready by training camp.

A healthy Arenas, along with Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler forms one of the most imposing offensive trios in the league. Jamison, an 11 year pro out of North Carolina, has a 20 ppg career scoring average to go along with 8 rebounds per game. He had arguably his best season in 08′-09′ at 22.2 points and 8.9 rebounds while playing in all 82 games. Caron Butler, a 7 year pro has apparently found his home playing for his 3rd team in Washington after establishing career highs in points averaging 20.8 and also has 1 All-Star game appearance. The question on Butler also is health, since he has never played a full season in the NBA.

The Wizards chose to try and win now when they traded the #5 pick and three players to Minnesota for Randy Foye and Mike Miller, a former Rookie and 6th Man of the Year. Why wait for a rookie to possibly develop when you can acquire two proven NBA veterans. Foye, coming from Big East power Villanova in college, has been a double figure scorer each of his 3 years in the league topping out at 16.3 points while averaging 4.3 assists in 09′. Many feel he hasn’t reached his full potential yet. Mike Miller, known as one of the leagues best 3 point shooters, is actually one of it’s most underrated all around players averaging 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting over 40% on 3’s for his career. Their roster also includes ever improving Nick Young(10.9 ppg), NBA badboy but talented DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood, and Andre Blatche(10 points, 5 rebs), who is performing well in the NBA Vegas Summer League, to come off the bench.

Trading Rubio may be a blessing in disguise since Minnesota is now having a hard time working out the details of his buyout from his European team. Some rumors even have him returning to Spain for another season with Jonny Flynn getting early reps at point guard. Financially, the Wizards are also in decent shape next season, with under achieving Mike James’ $9 million dollar contract due to expire at season’s end, allowing Washington to possibly acquire a better than average role player for 2010.

Hopefully, Washington Wizard fans can now take a deep breath and have some hope going into next season. Some rumors have the Wizards not quite a finished project just yet as they may add another player or resign free agent Juan Dixon before free agency is done. With an injury free Agent 0, along with a strong supporting cast. and a little luck, the Wizards may just surprise everyone and contend for an Eastern Conference crown