Washington Wizards 2009 Playoffs
The Washington Wizards were once a team with a commendable postseason history that had plenty of playoff appearances and a few finals appearances. Those NBA Finals appearances yielded a single championship. In 1978 the Bullets took the floor with Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld, two big men who were in the latter part of their careers. That season, playoff tickets for the 44-38 Bullets were not supposed to go very far. The team was expected to exit early like it had in the last few seasons. Instead they made an improbable run to the NBA Finals that ended in a 4 games to 3 defeat of the Seattle Supersonics.
Years later the Bullets faded into mediocrity and the team that had changed cities three times changed its name to the Wizards. The name change was not enough. The addition of Gilbert Arenas was the beginning of consistent postseason play. Wizards playoff tickets started to appear annually after Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes created a big three for the Washington franchise. The Wizards went to the second round that season, but could not overcome the Miami Heat. The next three years the Cleveland Cavaliers gave them walking papers in the first round.
Washington Wizards Background
This season the Wizards hope to not meet the Cavs or end the curse of LeBron James. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler are the big three now for the Wizards. Arenas is the scoring threat and the All Star for the club. He is the heart and soul of the team. Butler stepped and blossomed after years of teams waiting on him. Jamison is consistent as the power forward that is a terrifying match up because of his shooting range. If all three can remain healthy over the entire regular season schedule then Wizards playoff tickets will be available for the fifth season in a row.
The major hurtle in the postseason is that the rest of the supporting cast needs to give the three some support. No team can win very long playing three on five. DeShawn Stevenson needs to find his three point stroke again this season and Brendan Haywood needs to do more than simply pick up junk baskets and a few rebounds. The bench- Antonio Daniels, Nick Young, Darius Songaila, and Andray Blatche- need to come together to provide the scoring and defense to give the team some depth and make playoff tickets last longer than one round with Cleveland.