Agent Zero gets promoted

After being named to the All NBA 3rd team the last two seasons, Gilbert Arenas was named to the All NBA 2nd team today.

Arenas joined Elvin Hayes as the only players in franchise history to receive an All-NBA honor three consecutive seasons.

"It's a real accomplishment,'' Arenas said in a statement issued by the Wizards, "and a lot of the credit has to go to my teammates.''
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Arenas finished third in the league in scoring this season, averaging 28.4 points, and helped the Wizards reach the playoffs for the third straight year. But he missed the postseason after having knee surgery April 5.

He scored 30 or more points in 35 games and 50 or more points in three, including a franchise-record 60 against the Los Angeles Lakers in December.

Gilbert also spoke about the need for the team -- and himself -- to improve defensively.

During the season, Arenas and Wizards coach Eddie Jordan clashed publicly about Jordan's desire for better defense.
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"We have been playoff contenders for three years in a row, but that is not good enough anymore. We want to get to the Eastern Conference finals,'' Arenas said Thursday. "We can score with anybody in this league and we proved that this season, but we know now that the way to get better is to get better on defense. I'm going to get stronger so that we can do that.''

And a final bit of good news for Bullets fans:

Arenas also said he's ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation.

"I can walk without crutches, I can walk up the stairs, and I'll probably be able to get on the treadmill next week,'' he said.

I hope Gilbert means what he says about improving defensively. We've heard pretty talk about defense from the Bullets before, but there has been no improvement. Gilbert, in fact, has, at times, made it clear he resents the focus on defense and would prefer to win simply by outscoring the opponent. Perhaps it has dawned on him that for the Bullets to become an elite team, they have to learn to get stops.