Washington Wizards: A New Hope

Last night, for the first time in what feels like a long, long time, fans of the Washington Wizards felt hope.

Hope that maybe the promise that was derailed by so many injuries isn't all the way dead.

Two years ago, Gilbert was taking the league by storm with buzzer-beaters and blogging, and the Wizards-Cavs seemed to be a rivalry that was destined to meet every year in the playoffs.

This season, we've watched as LeBron has turned in one of the all-time greatest seasons, and his team is the best in basketball, while the Wiz have sunk to the dregs of the league.

Arenas, who signed a monster contract, had yet to play until last Saturday, but he showed up to start against the Cavs on national TV.

I was at the game, and let me tell you, it was the only playoff game that the Wizards will experience this year. The atmosphere was electric.

There were tons of LeBron fans, but the Wizards fans drowned them out by booing Bron Bron every time he touched the ball.

The game marked what could be a promising start to a new era in Wizards basketball.

Gilbert has been admittedly hesitant about driving to the basket over the last two games, and he is likely to stay that way until next season.

But this reluctance to go to the cup has revealed something in his game that no one expected: he's a pretty darn good passer.

I know "Agent Zero" and "passing" don't go together in sentences very often, but take a look at the stats. He's had 20 assists and only one turnover in the two games he's been back. Not too shabby.

65.8 percent of the Wizards' FGs last night were assisted, which is notably above the 55 percent they've been averaging for the year.

In Gil's first game back against Detroit, 68.5 percent of their baskets were assisted. As unbelievable as it may seem, Gilbert is helping the team become more unselfish.

What's special about this is the element of surprise. When you see Gilbert going to the rim, you know he's going to shoot it. Only last night, he didn't.

He made a Tony Parker-esque kickout to Butler or Jamison, or flipped it to an open Haywood for a dunk. Defenses aren't used to seeing that from Agent Zero.

He's also shooting much less, which can be a good thing. The Wiz have plenty of offensive firepower with Buter and Jamison, and the last thing they need to be doing is jacking up more three-pointers.

Instead they're moving much better on the fast break, many of those breaks started with Haywood getting a rebound in traffic, a great outlet pass, giving the Wizards numbers.

The Wizards had 20 fast-break points, which is something new.

Key to the win was Brendan Haywood, playing in only his second game of the year, starting his first.

I've said all along that his absence has hurt the Wizards almost as much as Gilbert's has.With Haywood, you've got a good rebounder, good defender, and someone who can mentor the young big men like Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee.

And he made his presence felt last night with a 12 and 10.

With players like JaVale McGee, Nick Young and Dominic McGuire, who are 21, 23 and 23, respectively, that's a pretty good young core of players. Add the high draft pick the Wizards should have in this year's draft, they they can have a solid young team with enough veterans to make things interesting.

The only other vacancy is at head coach. Ed Tapscott clearly isn't the answer, and unfortunately, Eddie Jordan would be a great match. But they already blew that one.

A coach like Avery Johnson isn't going to work, but someone like Jeff Van Gundy, should he decide to get back into coaching, would go a long way towards making this Wizards team competitive again.

Though the Wizards have been perennially bounced out of the playoffs in the first round, and that has given many people cause to call for the team to be blown up. But they've never been 100 percent healthy come April.

With everyone on the team getting older, there's no reason to believe that they can stay healthy for a full 82 games, but there's hope.

There's always hope.

Hope that the team can stay healthy for a season, and find the right combination of youth and experience, smart play and exciting play.

And if there's one thing that beating the best team in the NBA, featuring the best player in the NBA can do, it's give you hope.