| Confessions of a Bullets Fan Authored by - January 26, 2005 - 1:38 pm
January 26, 2005
By James Rouse
The Bruise Brothers. Thunder and Lightning. Hot Plate. Mugsy ‘n Manute. Never Nervous. Bernard. Googs. Big Gheorghe. 2 Fab 4 the Future. The “Three All-Stars.” MJ.
Since the team’s lone championship in 1978, longsuffering Bullets fans (is there another kind?) have watched as a procession of former All-Stars, circus sideshows, and would-be saviors have donned the uniform. Unfortunately, the results have been dismal:
Last playoff appearance: 1997
Last win in a playoff game: 1988
Last playoff series win: 1984
No matter what the Bullets/Wizards tried, failure hung over the franchise like that moldy smell in the old Capital Centre. Not even the GOAT could drag this team to the playoffs – from the front office or the court. And this perpetual futility helps explain the paradox that exists within every Bullets fan.
To be a Bullets fan is to be an optimist. Continuing to believe in this team in the face of such overwhelming historical evidence is the very definition of an eternal optimist. Each year, the results are brutally similar, and each year, fans continue to believe that maybe things will turn around. The fan’s refrain is, “If we could just add that one missing piece we’d be a contender.” What they don’t say is that piece is Shaquille O’Neal.
Every young player is on the verge of a breakout. Remember when John Williams was “the next Magic,” or Tom Gugliotta was “the next Bird”? OK, neither do I, but at the time, many fans voiced these thoughts.
Even while sometimes walking on the boardwalk of optimism, a Bullets fan takes frequent dips into the sea of pessimism. The Bullets personify Murphy’s Law: If anything can go wrong, it will. Got a young star? He’ll blow out his knee and eat his way out of the league.
Acquire an All-Star? Watch him experience an abrupt decline in skills.
Make a trade? The guy departing will end up as an All-Star, while the guy coming in will have less impact and staying power than Wesley Clark.
Fans have been conditioned to expect such results because we’ve seen this movie before.
Bullets fans are always looking for signs of change. If things don’t look good, then maybe just one trade, or one draft pick (a little lottery luck would have helped here) could start the turnaround. And if prospects are looking good, then it’s time to run for cover, because the sky is about to fall.
So how does this relate to the current team? After 40 games, the Wizards are 25-15. The last time they were 10 games over .500, Jimmy Carter was in the White House. With one game left before the season’s midpoint, they’ve already matched their win total, and have two more road wins than all of last season. They have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference, and seem a near shoo-in for the playoffs. They may even get home court advantage for at least one playoff series.
Naturally, this makes Bullets fans nervous. This is too good to be true. We’re all convinced that one day we’ll wake up and find that it was all just a dream, the Wiz are back to 14-29, and we’re trying to spell the name of the next hot Euro prospect so we can sound knowledgeable on draft night. In fact, some fans went looking for things to criticize. Gilbert Arenas turns the ball over too much. Antawn Jamison can’t guard a fence post. Eddie Jordan is clueless as a bench coach.
And it looked like our neuroses were well-founded. The Wiz won their first seven games of 2005 to reach the rarified air of 22-13, but then lost Larry Hughes, their best all-around player and clutch performer, to a thumb injury. Diagnosis: Out 4-6 weeks. In the first two games without him, they were disorganized and disinterested, not even competitive in games vs. San Antonio and Dallas.
Never mind that the opponents were two of the best teams in the league, and the games were on the road. We were watching yet another implosion. The house of cards was falling down. How would Arenas survive without his “twin?” Jamison was one-dimensional. The bench was too thin.
But a funny thing happened on the way to oblivion. First, the Wiz beat the Raptors at home. A game that should have been an easy win before Hughes’ injury became a tonic to calm fans’ nerves. The next night, the Wiz went on the road to play a Pacers team that has become a challenger for playoff seeding. No one would have been surprised to see the Wiz lose such a game on the second night of a back-to-back. But instead, they won an exciting game – and best of all, their defense in the last two possessions was a big part of the win.
Two nights later, the Wiz went to Cleveland to play the team with which they were tied for second in the Conference. Again a road loss seemed likely, especially when they fell behind by 17 in the first half. But an eye-popping 76 second half points carried them to another come-from-behind win, and another step upward in the standings. The team showed that they not only have the talent to win, but more importantly, they have the heart and the confidence to win close games against tough opponents.
Of course, Wiz fans still need an outlet for their anger and their angst. What could be a bigger target than a 7-foot, 270 pound former #1 pick that has yet to live up to the expectations the fans put on him? Kwame Brown has been a non-factor this year due to injuries and rust, and has been the subject of countless trade rumors. Perhaps his biggest contribution this year will be to focus the fears and frustrations of WizFans everywhere.
The reality is that the Wizards need help on the frontline. Jamison is getting worn down playing against power forwards. Etan Thomas has been injured and mostly ineffective. Brendan Haywood has had a very good season, but on defense is sort of like the Texans at the Alamo. Michael Ruffin is an inspiration, but is lacking in standard basketball skills like shooting, dribbling and passing.
A big, skilled player who can shore up the interior defense just might allow the team to make some noise in the playoffs. Hmm, anyone know a player who meets that description? Maybe he could have a breakout season, become the missing piece, and make us forget about the Lottery for once. That might just help to put an end to our neuroses once and for all. But then what would we have to talk about?
James Rouse is a columnist for WizFans.com. He can be reached at jrouse9394@hotmail.com
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