Washington Wizards: John Wall, Gilbert Arenas, and Early Season Troubles

The Washington Wizards (5-11) are in the midst of a three game losing streak.

Rookie sensation John Wall has missed the past two games due to injury. But Gilbert Arenas, the team's former go-to-guy, just recently recaptured the top spot as the leading scorer with 18.1 PPG. 

However, Arenas looked anything like his old self Saturday night when he clanked a runner off of the rim as time expired that would have given Washington it's sixth win of the year.

Instead, at six games below .500 so early in the season, it would seem as if the Wizards are on a journey back to the lottery this summer.

But, upon glancing at the roster, one finds that they actually have a halfway decent group of players.

John Wall and Gilbert Arenas jump out first for obvious reason. Then names like Kirk Hinrich, Al Thornton, Yi Jianlian and Josh Howard become noticeable, as each was an excellent player at one point or another in their young careers.

Howard was a huge piece in Dallas just a few years ago, while Hinrich was one the best defensive point guards in basketball two seasons ago in Chicago.

Also, veteran Wizards like Nick Young, Andray Blatche, and JaVale McGee have all been around for at least three years and have shown to be capable players at one point or another.

For whatever reason Washington just hasn't been able to put it all together since the core of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes, and Antawn Jamison made a run to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals six years ago.

Sadly enough, two of Washington's five wins this season are overtime games at home over the lowly Philadelphia 76ers (5-13).

But even with such a poor start the Wizards have life. After all, they play in the Eastern Conference, where oftentimes 30-something wins will earn you a playoff spot.

Don't forget that they still have John Wall who is arguably one of the league's most gifted point guards when healthy and a top contender for rookie of the year along with Los Angeles' Blake Griffin.

If the Wizards want to turn things around, now would be a good time considering four of their next five games are on the road, where they are 0-8 this season. The last three games in that stretch are on the West Coast.

Washington is currently 14th in the Eastern Conference standings, but remain only one and half games out of the eighth spot.

Patrick Clarke is a student at Towson University and a writing intern for Bleacher Report.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/531508-washington-wizards-john-wall-gilbert-arenas-and-early-season-troubles

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