Power Rankings: Improved defense the trick for Wizards
Updated Jan. 22
Washington's season sweep of Dallas was its first over the Mavericks in 11 years, feeding the ever-developing confidence monster that has been growing as the team continues to keep it together without Gilbert Arenas.
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| Caron Butler has his game face on as he leads the Wizards. (AP) |
How have they been able to manage? It goes way beyond Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison having career years, though that's certainly helped. The difference has simply been defense, a facet of the game that has been overlooked in the past. Last season, the team was 28th in points allowed and 27th in opponent field-goal percentage. The Wizards weren't only giving up a lot of baskets, they were giving up a lot of easy ones.
This season, they're in the top 10 in both categories.
Sure, Butler becoming one of the best forwards in the Eastern Conference has helped. So has the fact Jamison ranks second in the conference behind Dwight Howard in double-doubles and is hustling on the boards to the tune of 10.6 a night, nearly three higher than his career average.
But it's the contributions of Antonio Daniels, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood on the defensive end that has supplied the difference. It has more to do with Butler recording at least one steal a game in the last 22 contests than it does with him scoring 20.
Washington has a new identity. Arenas will have to buy in when he returns and he's smart and hungry enough to know that.
Bottom line, come April, Eddie Jordan will finally have the roster he envisioned during training camp. Arenas will be back from his knee surgery. Etan Thomas, already back on the bench, gives the team another post defender. They Wizards will have a few weeks to gel before the postseason and should be in the mix for the Southeast Division title.
Will it all come together? That remains to be seen, but at least the Wizards are halfway there. They now know what it takes to win. Plugging in their best player and another rugged big man shouldn't hurt matters, so long as those currently on the mend are observant.
The week's Power Rankings:
| Power Rankings | |||
| Current | Team | Previous | |
 | 1 | Bulls · Trends | 2 |
| Luol Deng is back. And there's no way you can miss that because Tom Thibodeau keeps playing him 37 minutes game. | |||
 | 2 | Heat · Trends | 1 |
| If it weren't for their second unforgiveable loss to Milwaukee in three weeks, they'd be on a seven-game winning streak. If it weren't for either loss to Milwaukee, it'd be eleven. | |||
 | 3 | Thunder · Trends | 3 |
| The Thunder's stars are playing better but their overall performance has stumbled a bit. So the head is shining and brilliant while the body's kind of knocking into things, clumsily. It's like Robin Williams in "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen," which I'm sure none of you have seen. | |||
 | 4 | 76ers · Trends | 5 |
| The Sixers respond to criticism over their inability to beat good teams by knocking off Chicago, Atlanta and the Lakers. So when we said they can't beat good teams, we really just meant the Heat. (Yes, you had injuries, Bulls fans, we hear you.) | |||
 | 5 | Pacers · Trends | 8 |
| They wind up losing the season series to the struggling Magic, but other than that have taken care of business. Their slamming of the door on Dallas' face was impressive. | |||
 | 6 | Clippers · Trends | 4 |
| The word "sustainable" comes to mind with the Clippers because some things seem very sustainable, while others, not so much. The words "Vinny Del Negro" keep popping up in the same conversation. | |||
 | 7 | Spurs · Trends | 13 |
| I criticize their defense, and the Spurs win five straight, hold their opponent under 100 five times and only give up a plus-100 defensive efficiency once in that stretch. San Antonio has re-entered "extremely dangerous" territory. | |||
 | 8 | Lakers · Trends | 14 |
| Kobe Bryant passes Shaq on Monday. Good for him. Then he wound up hurting his team by going 1-11 in the second half and watching the Sixers down his Lakers for a second straight loss. That's pretty much the Lakers' season so far. | |||
 | 9 | Hawks · Trends | 9 |
| "No change" is such an apt description of this team. | |||
 | 10 | Nuggets · Trends | 6 |
| The wheels are coming off in Denver. And I mean that literally, the Nuggets keep having foot injuries. The schedule is beating up the league's deepest team, which says a lot. | |||
 | 11 | Celtics · Trends | 18 |
| Celtics don't die, they multiply (wins). | |||
 | 12 | Trail Blazers · Trends | 11 |
| Magic 8 Ball says: Team outlook cloudy. Try again later. | |||
 | 13 | Magic · Trends | 20 |
| Beat up some scrubs to stabilize the ship. Big week starting with the Heat on Wednesday. | |||
 | 14 | Rockets · Trends | 12 |
| This team would be so much higher if it could just beat Minnesota. | |||
 | 15 | Jazz · Trends | 10 |
| Beat the Lakers, lose to a Knicks team playing without Melo or Amar'e Stoudemire. The Jazz should change their name to the Utah HEAD EXPLODES. | |||
 | 16 | Timberwolves · Trends | 16 |
| If the Timberwolves can just play the Rockets every game, they will have an excellent shot at the playoffs. | |||
 | 17 | Mavericks · Trends | 7 |
| Oh, hey, Dirk is playing better. Oh, hey, the rest of the team is not. Bottom fell out of Dallas in only a week's time. | |||
 | 18 | Grizzlies · Trends | 19 |
| The Grizzlies are infuriating to watch on a consistent basis until you remember their injury situation. But those injuries should not excuse their decision-making at times. | |||
 | 19 | Bucks · Trends | 17 |
| See, look what you did. You all screamed "Fear the Deer!" and then the Bucks ran back into the woods. | |||
 | 20 | Cavaliers · Trends | 15 |
| Does anyone else think it would be wise to avoid Kyrie Irving in a first-round playoff series? | |||
 | 21 | Knicks · Trends | 25 |
| ALL LINSANITY EVERYTHING. | |||
 | 22 | Suns · Trends | 23 |
| It's Tuesday, Feb. 7, and Steve Nash still deserves better. | |||
 | 23 | Kings · Trends | 27 |
| You really need to check out the Kings' under-sized scoring point guard. No, Isaiah Thomas. Who's this Jimmer guy you keep talking about? | |||
 | 24 | Nets · Trends | 22 |
| The Nets without their injuries are likely not as bad as their harshest critics suggest nor as good as their fans continue to claim. The question is how good would they be with Dwight Howard? | |||
 | 25 | Raptors · Trends | 21 |
| The effort is consistent. The production is not. | |||
 | 26 | Warriors · Trends | 24 |
| You have to wonder whether huge roster changes are coming from an aggressive management if this keeps up. | |||
 | 27 | Pistons · Trends | 29 |
| They're going streaking! They also lost to the Nets! But they're going streaking! | |||
 | 28 | Hornets · Trends | 28 |
| If you offered 90 percent of the Hornets to just go into cryogenic stasis for the rest of this year, as long as they still got paid, they'd likely take you up on it. | |||
 | 29 | Wizards · Trends | 26 |
| Still bad. Not as bad. But still bad. | |||
 | 30 | Bobcats · Trends | 30 |
| Their next four games are against playoff teams. Let the "record losing streak" watch begin. | |||
