 Washington Wizards WiretapWizards LinksNews Archive
NBA News
Arenas Gives Up Blogging To Focus On Playing
"I'm 27 now. I'm not the entertainer anymore," Arenas told the media on Monday. "I wouldn't be here today if there wasn't a big fine. I don't feel like speaking anymore. I just want to go out there and play. "If I'm not going to get fined, I don't think you're going to hear me again. I don't have a blog. I don't have a tweeter. When I was entertaining, all you guys focused on was my words. Now I'd rather you just focus on my basketball." Arenas didn't say much about the knee injuries that robbed him of a majority of the last two seasons. However, he did stand by recent comments made to the Washington Times in which he blamed the team for rushing him back in prior rehabs. Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Grunfeld: No Conflict Between Arenas, Wizards
Arenas publicly criticized the team last week for his failed comebacks the past two seasons. "I talked to Gilbert about the situation, and obviously you get frustrated when things aren't going well, but the bottom line is he's healthy now. This is his life and what he loves to do," Grunfeld told the Washington Times. The Wizards were 19-63 last season, while Arenas missed 80 games. "Our relationship is strong. He has a very competitive nature," Grunfeld added. "This is my seventh year with Gilbert. He was the first guy I signed when I first got here. He was only 19 years old at the time. I've seen a great change in him over the years. ... I haven't seen him this excited in a very, very long time. He's excited about what's going on. He's about the environment; he's ready to get going." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Wizards To Open Up Offense For Arenas
Saunders added that he knows he's going to butt heads with his star guard at times, something he's prepared for. "He expresses opinions," Saunders told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "We're not going to agree a lot. That's part of the process as you go through. But when it comes down to it, you have to understand one thing. When I say we're going to play a certain way, that's the way we're going to play, whether you like it or not. He's starting to understand those things." Washington went 19-63 last season, but Saunders came to town with a four-year, $18 million contract because he feels they are close to contending. "I don't think there's any reason we shouldn't be able to compete with the elite teams in the East -- or in the league for that matter," said Saunders. Saunders has already put his own stamp on the team, scraping Eddie Jordan's Princeton-style offense in favor of a system that will allow Arenas to make plays. "He's in a totally different situation. He's going to have the ball in his hands 80 percent of the time. He's going to make decisions," the coach added. "He has a great opportunity to really improve a lot." Read the Full Story Discuss Send Feedback Buy Tickets Wizards Sep 2009 Archive
|
Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas has given up his popular internet blog so that he can focus on playing this season.