NFL
By: Joe Cardoso
If you grew up in the Washington DC area better know by locals as the DMV, you know that for our sports teams the glory days are over. Or are they? Don’t look now but the Washington Wizards are making major noise in the NBA and led by two dynamic young ballers in John Wall and Bradley Beal. Remember way back when the Wizards had Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, and Larry Huges the 45 wins team? Then in 05-06, they landed Caron Butler and those three were awesome and had so much promise. But injuries, ego, and bad moves ended it all, the final nail in the coffin was on December 24th, 2009 when Gilbert Arenas decided to bring unloaded guns to work.Now we have a new era the era of John Wall and Bradley Beal. Both of them are young and want to establish themselves in the league. That led to some infighting and media and fans taking that and running with it. As their games improved they began to mature as individuals. Wall is the fastest player with the ball in his hands in the league, and when healthy Beal is an assassin from mid range and deep.
Not since 1969 has a player wearing a Bullets/Wizards jersey won the MVP or even been in the conversation, well John Wall is in it. When was the last time a D.C. team was on national TV and successful like these Wizards? The Cavs game where LeBron had to hit a three off the glass to force OT, the Knicks game that saw them take over the 4th quarter. The game Vs the Blazers that saw them win in OT. A ROAD win against the mighty Cavs.For us, hard luck fans those are the games we “always lose.”
The trade deadline came and although they weren’t major moves getting Bojan Bogdanovic and signing Brandon Jennings are great additions to the squad which needed bench depth. But back to Wall and Beal what Duo is better in the league right now? The knock on Beal has always been he can’t stay on the court. This season he’s played 69 games. The knock on Wall was his decision making and shooting touch. Wall star is shooting 43% and is not the guy you want to foul late in games at over 80% from the line.
John Wall: 23ppg 4 rebounds 11 assists
Bradley Beal 69 games PLAYED 23ppg 3 rebounds 4 assists
They have shown they can go toe to toe with the NBA big boys and with a playoff spot clinched its time to turn up the heat and get ready for what we hope is a long playoff run. I’m here to tell you it’s ok Wizards fans buy those playoff tickets and get out and support the team. Scott Brooks shook off early season jitters to mold this team into what it is now. When they lock in on defense they become dare I say borderline elite and play with a nothing to lose attitude.
The line of people calling former Georgetown Hoyas star Otto Porter a bust was long. Who’s a bust now averaging almost 15 points a contest, and about to get paid? Yes, the Cavs are still the beasts of the east but why not us? With two of the rising stars in the NBA on the squad, it’s our time. Enjoy the moment of having our team mentioned on national TV in a good way. Not the usual Capitals blowing a top seed, or the Nats disappointment we expect yearly. The NBA playoffs kick off April 15th this is one of the teams to watch.
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