Nobody will be more happy to see the preseason end than the Washington Wizards; if it had gone on any longer, they’d have run out of bodies completely.
With Martell Webster already on the shelf following his third back surgery in four seasons, the harms just kept coming.
Bradley Beal fractured his wrist, Glen Rice Jr. rolled his ankle, Kris Humphries ripped open his arm on the rim (since when are those items sharp?) , requiring surgery to fix the gash. Even John Wall was restricted with knee tendinitis.
The Wizards’ oldest player was able to live the display record unscathed. Paul Pierce, set to begin at small forward for the Wiz, offered some veteran perspective on the parade to the coach’s table, per Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post:”It’s been tough. It’s been challenging. We haven’t had a full squad the majority of the preseason. The key is understanding it’s a long season. The key is to get healthier.”
When the collective swelling recedes and the stitches hold, Washington can nevertheless make good on the lofty expectations it set last season. Forty-four wins got people thinking in D.C., and the Wizards confront a world in which anything less than a top-four seed will constitute a disappointment.
Demands like which are as sterile as they’re daunting, especially for a company with so little success in yesteryear. In 33-1, the Wiz are not totally out of the championship picture, but they are still a notch below the East’s elite.
Read more here: http://softballedge.com/?p=32187
