FanPost

Why I think we can pursue BOYD strategy and still make the playoffs


Yeah, I know, I am a very optimistic person. But here's what I think, or more so, what I HOPE.

Remember the Bucks this year? I mean before the 09-10 season started, who even thought that the BUCKS would make the playoffs? Seriously, how did they do it? Well they did it through a great, special rookie point guard, a former #1 pick finally showing up, a great coach, and bringing in a free agent during the trade deadline to make a serious push.

Apparently, we have a lot of those things in common. So first of all, no one thinks the Wizards are going to make the playoffs next year. That's similar, though that's really not the point. Are we getting a special point guard? YES (or at least we hope we are). Do we have a former #1 pick that never showed up yet? No, but we do have a former superstar/allstar that would love to show up again. Do we have a great coach? YES (and I can argue that Flip Saunders is even better than Scott Skiles, here's a post http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-top-10-NBA-coaches-of-the-last-decade?urn=nba,193972, and I read somewhere that Flip Saunder's is one of the 5 coaches that actually makes his players better (those 5 coaches involving the likes of Greg and Phil Jackson))
Of course Arenas isn't Bogut, he's not a center that can play good offense while playing GREAT defense. But I think we have better surrounding role players than the Bucks actually do. Seriously you probably can't name their 5 starters, or 7 of their players. Well if you can you have great nba knowledge, there's no way the average nba fan can't name those players (I'm sure Charles Barkley can't).

So if we already have what the Bucks had before their season started, I seriously don't think we should be bringing in a free agent now. Yes you can argue that I have flaws, I argue that we can be like the Bucks and contend for playoffs but we shouldn't bring in a free agent to become a championship contender? Well my point is that we are A LOT like the Bucks BEFORE the 09-10 season. Did they pursue max free agents, or look to trade for one? No. Did they do just fine? I think so. Also, during the 09-10 season, all went well for them. Jennings proved himself, Bogut DID show up, and the defensive scheme from Skiles worked out great, thus they made a move during the trade deadline. That's what we can do. If Wall is indeed who we think he is, and Arenas shows up in his game, and Flip Saunders makes our role players better, then can we discuss bringing in a free agent. Oh I forgot to mention all those prospects we have that could also improve next season.

Everyone knows that the linup of Arenas/Butler/Jamison we had last season was headed straight towards a 30 win season. So how can a lineup of Wall/Arenas/and bunch of role players to contend for playoffs? Well yeah, because I really really really do believe that Butler and Jamison were poisons to the team. After Arenas got suspended, the team led by Butler and Jamison won 6 games out of 18, before they got shipped away. After they got shipped away, the young team won 9 games out of 32. Yes, Butler and Jamison did do better than our bunch of role players, but out of 12 losses, 7 were by 10 or more points for the Butler and Jamison squad. For the bunch of role players, they lost 11 games by 10 or more points out of 23 loses, meaning they had much more closer games. Oh, and Butler and Jamison also had Haywood. What happened that one season where we didn't have Haywood and Arenas?

Think like this. We got rid of a guy that jacks up contested shots thinking he's so great (Caron Butler), and we got rid of a guy who is so bad on defense that apparently the opposing team's plan on offense is to expose that (Antawn Jamison). We lost a guy that plays great defense, but averaged a career 0.6 assists per game and was pretty much a liability on offense (Brendan Haywood). And instead, we're going to be getting a guy that can potentially revolutionize the point guard position (John Wall). We're going to get back a three time all star guy that HAS to prove himself this season (Gilbert Arenas). We have a growing prospect in the power forward position who can score, pass, and defend better than the guy we had before (Andray Blatche).

So if you ask me, our team is definitely better than last year, especially now that Saunders had one year of sucking and will ENFORCE his system to the team. So pursue the BOYD strategy, do it, because we're not going to need Lebron James to make the playoffs. And when the next season comes, oh Durant and Carmelo will know which team's got the hype. And every team in the league will know who's got the most assets. And oh boy will there be a new dynasty in town.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.