Eastern Conference 2010-2011: Why the Wizards will make a Playoff Run

The Washington Wizards have exceed the expectation by "winning" the draft lottery, but also have not lived up to expectations last year of becoming a playoff contender.  The Wizards have had one of the biggest off-seasons in the NBA (with Miami being the most successful).  They have acquired number 1 overall pick John Wall, Clemson beast Trevor Booker, the athletic but raw Kevin Seraphin, the questionable Yi Jianlian, and veteran Kirk Hinrich.

My playoff standings for the 2010-2011 NBA Season:

1. Miami Heat

2. Boston Celtics

3. Orlando Magic

4. Chicago Bulls

5. Milwaukee Bucks

6. Atlanta Hawks

7. Washington Wizards

8. New York Knicks

Before you scratch your head, please allow me to breakdown the projected starters and bench.

PG: John Wall

The speed demon with a winner's mentality, shouldn't have a problem with guarding the majority of the point guards in the East, excluding Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Raymond Felton, Brandon Jennings, and maybe Jameer Nelson.  An improved jump shot will help but that will take some time; so will cutting down his turnovers.

Although many people ask if he will translate what he did in college to what he will do in the NBA. 

When you think about it, most of John Wall's points were off athleticism.  Am I not right?  Athleticism doesn't change when you are in the NBA,  the rim is still 10 feet, the court is still 94 feet long and 50 feet wide.  Just ask the players who weren't all that good ofbasketball players but still give that Sportscenter Top 10 dunks every week or so in their rookie year (i.e. Demar Derozan, Terrance Williams, Tony Allen, James White). If you were athletic in college, there is a 9 times out of 10 chance that you will be athletic in the NBA

Projected Stats: 17.3 ppg, 8.3 apg, 4.3 rpg

SG: Gilbert Arenas

If this guy can get back to all-star form which according to Tracy Mcgrady he is  going to be "back and better than ever".  I hope Gilbert's ego doesn't harm the relationship between him and John Wall, that may result in a trade before February. (Carmelo anybody?!?!) I feel although he ended last year on a bad note, statistically he ended with being top 10 in scoring and had a career high in assist average.  So obviously he can make an impact.

Projected Stats:  21.8 PPG, 5.3 APG, 4.1 RPG

SF: Josh Howard

Yes he is a headcase, yes he did disrespect the national anthem, and yes he did smoke marijuana during the playoff run with Dallas.  But besides all of this the guy on the court is a pretty solid player and adds another veteran presence to the starting five, although Al Thornton could take this spot too.   When on the Wizards last year he was still the solid defender and scorer that was at Dallas years ago...but with this recent ACL injury we will just have to wait for him to recover and see how much he has left in the tank.  John Wall likes the resigning of Howard too.

Projected Stats: 11.2 ppg, 2.3 apg, 6.4 rpg

PF: Andray Blatche

This guy proved that he is a rising star and showed many flashes of a young Kevin Garnett.  The only thing that he might turn into a headcase as well.

He made a comment about his contract and feeling underpaid and decided not to play in a game after a dispute with head coach Flip Saunders.

 Blatche was the only player after the All-Star break to show some consistency and I expect him to do the same but his scoring may go down because of the re-entering of Arenas and arrival of Wall.  I see him being the most improved player in the NBA.  Although he may get beaten out by his own teammate Javale McGee.

Projected Stats: 16.8 ppg, 2.3 apg, 7.4 rpg

C: JaVale McGee

McGee was very raw coming into the NBA but has developed and showed to be a solid player.  He dominated the summer league and with hard work (and a little luck) survived 2 cuts on the USA National Team due to the illness of Brook Lopez.  JaVale is a very exciting player to watch and does moves that make you scratch your head which shows that his awareness isn't that bright, but his athletism allows him to make those types of shots.  With his limited time of being coached by the USA Team staff and players hopefully he will continue to grow as a player.

Projected Stats: 11 ppg, 9 rpg, 1.2 bpg

Bench

Bench:  I feel the bench for the Wizards are deeper than some may think, Kirk Hinrich, a pick-up that was meant for mentoring Wall as he did Derrick Rose.  Coach Flip Saunders said that he is going to run some 3-man offenses with Wall, Hinrich, and Arenas.  Yi Jianlian, who came off a great FIBA World Championship run, although he was the only thing attractive on China.  Hopefully he can transfer those skills to the Wizards bench play.  A fan favorite Nick Young, excites the crowd with crazy dunks and his crazy shots, but is coming on his contract year and is very inconsistent in every year he has been with the Wizards; he is almost comparable to J.R. Smith.  Trevor Booker will be a better version of Paul Milsap.  Just click on his name and see how beast this guy was in college...from dunking on 2 Duke players to monster put-back dunks, this rookie will make some noise.  Other notable players are Al Thornton, Kevin Seraphin, and Hilton Armstrong.