Seeing interviews with both Jamison (halftime) and Butler (end of game) after whipping the Bulls got me thinking about the Young Guys/ Old guys rift.

Jamison and Butler were clearly happy to see the young guys (specifically McGuire, Young, McGee, Blatche and Crittenton) play with smarts, effort and intensity.  It is also clear that they feel this is a rare occurrence, which has obviously caused a lot of friction this year.

But the teams overall performance got me thinking about the future of this team, specifically once Arenas comes back.

I think that outside of on-court performance, Gilbert is inadvertantly going to play a huge leadership role on this team. 

Who is the one guy who seems perfectly suited to bridge the culture/experience gap between someone like Young or McGee and Butler and Jamison?  Gilbert is.  He has the attitude and general I-like-to-screw-around-and-have-fun nature of the fun-lovin' kids of the Wiz.  But he is competitive as hell, has the respect of the older vets, and takes his job very seriously. 

I think his return will have the effect of bringing the different (but both very talented)  elements of this team together, and will find himself in the position of team chemistry lynchpin - all from a guy labeled as a shoot-first, me-first ball-hog by some.