1. What is Gilbert Arenas’ target minutes per game?
One of the biggest (yet most entertaining) mistakes the Wizards made after acquiring Arenas was his back to back 40+ minutes per game seasons of 80 starts each. In Jason Kidd’s 19 14 years, he’s only eclipsed 40 mpg in a season once (John Stockton never did). This is the equivalent of when an NFL team gives their running back 400+ carries (think 1998 Jamal Anderson or 2006 Larry Johnson). Naturally Gil’s future looked bleaker than Jay-Z’s sidekick.
If I am Flip Saunders, I target Gilbert to a conservative 30 mpg. I take him out in blowouts. I don’t let him go for 50. I give him the occasional back-to-back off. I massage his feet during timeouts. I massage his feet at his house. I become a certified acupuncturist. I sacrifice woodland creatures to my altar of Nepthys (the Egyptian god of knee ligaments). Lastly, I call in a bomb threat to Barry Farm.
2. Is this the year Andray Blatche makes the leap?
You don’t need a Magic 8-Ball to know this is “very doubtful.”
