The Washington Wizards have some serious problems to deal with off the court. Gilbert Arenas admitted Monday to bringing four guns to the team's locker room in December, a violation of the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement.
But the Wizards had problems before Arenas brought those guns to the Verizon Center. On the court, they've been the biggest disappointment in the league and, at 11-21, are 11th in the weak Eastern Conference after Tuesday's comeback win over the Sixers.
With the talent they have, the Wizards should be battling the Hawks for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Instead, they're battling the Pistons and Pacers for lottery combinations.
After a loss last Tuesday in which they allowed the Thunder -- not a strong offensive team whatsoever -- to score 110 points on 54 percent shooting, Wizards coach Flip Saunders blasted his team's defense.
"They can't guard anybody," Saunders said. "You know, I think I can go out there on that floor and take anybody on our team one-on-one, 52 years old, and drive right around them.
Since then, the Wizards have had four strictly defense practices, with a loss to the Spurs mixed in.
The Wizards are 20th in the league defensively, giving up 105.3 points per 100 possessions. That's not good. But it's also not much worse than could be reasonably expected for a roster not made to defend well.
The three most talented players -- former All-Stars Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison -- simply aren't very good defenders. There are role players who are good defensively, but if the Wizards' stars aren't leading the charge, the defense will never be very good.
So Saunders may be fighting a losing battle with his team's defense. Even worse, though, may be the offense ... especially when you consider the team's talent level.
Washington ranks 23rd offensively, scoring just 101.6 points per 100 possessions. Yet considering the talent level, the Wizards should be the Suns of the Eastern Conference: a top five offensive club that plays just enough defense.
"That's what we want to be," Jamison said. "You don't have to be the best defensive team. You've got to be somewhere in the middle of the pack. Offensively, we have a lot of weapons that we can make it difficult."
But 10 weeks into the season, those weapons are mostly silent. Injuries to Jamison (shoulder) and Mike Miller (calf) have been a small factor, but the bigger problem is the team's poor shooting. Of the five guards and wings who have been playing (Miller has yet to return), none is shooting better than 43 percent.
"We're clicking when we move the ball and we're aggressive going toward the basket," Jamison said. "When we're a one-pass, one-shot team and it's straight jump shots, we put ourselves in a position where it's difficult to win games consistently."
The Wizards' rank 27th in assist-to-field goal ratio and score 38 percent of their points in the paint, which is 26th in the league. Their offense is much more efficient (105.6 points per 100 possessions) when their assist-to-field goal ratio is above their season average of 50.2 percent than when the ratio is below the average (98.0 points per 100 possessions). But the ball movement is inconsistent from quarter to quarter and game to game.
Despite all these shortcomings, Jamison still has hope.
"I still think right now is a pretty good opportunity where we can salvage the season and really move up in the standings," he said. "And given time, you could see this team putting together a string of wins."
The Arenas situation may prevent that from happening. If he's suspended for more than a few games, the team's attempt to rally may be over before it starts. With their best scorer and playmaker gone, the Wizards' talent and depth is compromised.
Such a scenario may expedite the deconstruction of Washington's roster, which would be a good thing long-term for this flawed team. The Wizards should be contenders, but even at their best, their defensive DNA is what's keeping them from getting to that point.
Worse yet, the Wizards have no financial flexibility. Even before the gun incident, Arenas' contract was looking like a $111 million mistake. In today's NBA, that kind of mistake is impossible to fix overnight.
All of that means that the situation in Washington, both on and off the court, is likely to get worse before it gets better.
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