Decisions, Decisions

It's been a few years since we as Wizards fans haven't had a rooting interest going into the Playoffs.  This dilemma makes people react in different ways.  Some of you will ignore the playoffs all together and focus your attention on the Capitals or the Nationals or the NFL Draft.  There are others of you, like me, who still need your fix of playoff basketball even if the Wizards aren't a part of the action.

The most common way to get that fix is to find an old member of the team that you still like and root for them.  This year, there's quite a few former Wizards to pick from, so the choice isn't a clear-cut as it has been in year's past.  If you're looking for a former Wizard to root for, here are your choices.

Spurs (Roger Mason Jr.): Big Shot Rog is an easy guy to root for: D.C. native who spent time overseas honing his game before making it as a rotation player with his hometown team and then becoming a critical part for one of the elite teams in the NBA.  On the other hand, for fans who think that letting Mason go in the off-season was a bad idea, it could bring back a lot of anger.

Hornets (Antonio Daniels): Like Roger, Antonio is a very easy guy to root for here.  The consummate backup point guard gave the Wizards some good years and kept the team together last year when Gilbert Arenas had to have knee surgery.  Of course, now whenever you think about Antonio Daniles you have to think about Mike James.  If you can deal with that, the Hornets might be your team.

Blazers (Steve Blake & Michael Ruffin): Blake and Ruffin might not give you the same memories that Mason and Daniels do, but the parallels between the 2004-05 Wizards, that both players were a member of, and this year's Blazers are intriguing.  Like the Blazers, that 04-05 squad had lots of good, young talent and both teams had long playoff droughts before coming up with the #4 seed to break the streak.

Pistons (Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace, and the player who shall remain unnamed): Sure, it's a long shot that they'll do anything in the playoffs, but Rip and Sheed still have their supporters in the District.  Considering that they're arguably Washington's two best draft picks from the 1990's, it's easy to see why.

Cavaliers (Ben Wallace): Just kidding.

Mavericks (Jerry Stackhouse): If you're holding out for a former Wizards to come through with a game-winning dunk in the playoffs, Stack is probably your man.