You are all saying what I’m thinking. To paraphrase Dennis Green, we are NOT who we thought we were. We have all of our starters healthy, we are coming off of a big win over our hated rivals, and we were completely outclassed in every phase of the game by the OKC Thunder. The Thunder! Every team around us is getting better, and we’re still the same mediocre Wizards! Well, almost the same. We are no longer young and up and coming. We are getting old and two of our “stars” aren’t playing up to billing.

Gilbert Arenas is only 80% of the player he used to be. He used to be a notch below the elite in this league, capable of taking over games and carrying the Wizards to victories. He’s still a good player, sometimes very good, but he just isn’t that much of a factor in games any more. I’m still hoping he’ll regain what he once had, but it might be wishful thinking at this point. He’s no longer young, and his knee will always be on his mind for the rest of his career every time he takes a shot or drives to the basket.

Caron Butler’s game is in complete shambles right now, IMO. He consistently breaks the flow of the offense when the ball rotates to him. Instead of taking the open shot, he hesitates, drop steps, then attempts a wild, out-of-control drive to the basket that usually involves him dribbling off his shoe or losing control of the basketball. He’s starting to remind me of Andray Blatche from two seasons ago.

If this is the best product the Wizards can put on the floor, then I suggest we break this team up at the end of the season. Five seasons after our first playoff appearance with our new nickname, and we don’t look any better than that squad did. 45-37? I highly doubt it at this point. I also highly doubt we make it to round 2 like we did back then.