Gilbert Arenas Quietly Regaining Form on Young Washington Wizards Team

The Washington Wizards are not predicted to win many games this season. The story of the year is John Wall and how he is going to lead Washington out of a two-season slump. But after playing just 47 games over the last three years, Gilbert Arenas has proven he can be professional on the court after all the distractions off the court.

For a team with an average age of just 24 years, Arenas is one of three players on the Wizards with the experience to lead the young team for the time being.

Until Wall gets a couple of seasons under his belt, the Wizards are going to look to the veterans on the team for guidance. Josh Howard and Kirk Hinrich are both older than Arenas but have just seven years of experience to Arenas' nine. Arenas is the last remaining player from Washington's run of playoff appearances from 2004-2008.

With the playoffs not exactly in the near future for Washington, Arenas will have to act as a mentor to Wall and hope his experience on the court is enough to earn some respect.

His off court incidences hurt his credibility as a leader, as do his comments made to the media during the preseason. It seems that once he lost his beard and got over a foot injury that held him out of three games, Arenas has worked to recapture his professionalism and distance himself from the gun charges that took 50 games away from him last season.

Before the suspension he was averaging 22.6 points and a career high 7.2 assists, becoming a more well-rounded point guard instead of just a scorer.

With Wall running the show from the point guard position, Arenas has been moved back to shooting guard where he spent the early years of his career. While he isn't handcuffed into being a spot up shooter, Arenas has had to work a bit harder to get his points. He is shooting just 36.2 percent from the field, but is making up for it by shooting 43.8 percent from three.

He isn't running as much as Ray Allen, but he is moving without the ball and just needs to find the proper rhythm to knock down his shots.

Arenas is still getting his legs this season and remains a bit inconsistent. He is averaging 14.3 points and has yet to put together a string of games that prove he has shaken off the rust accumulated over the last three years. He put up 18 and 13 in his first two games, but followed them up with two five point performances.

Then he rebounded with a 30-point night where he was seven for ten from beyond-the-arc.

It is safe to say that it is going to take some time before Arenas gets back to the type of play fans and experts associate with the man formerly-known-as Agent Zero. It seems like a lifetime ago that Arenas was filling seats with his personality in the media and fire on the court. Now, he's watching Wall fill seats with his exciting play.

The best thing Arenas can do is see this as a chance to grow as a player. He may not be "the man" on the Wizards anymore, but he has the experience most of the roster lacks. If he can shake off his label of immaturity and put the past behind him, he would be the perfect compliment to Wall and the rest of the young Wizards.

Until then, all he can do is show fans a bit of good faith by putting together a run of nice games and better behavior.