So This Is How It Sounds When Doves Cry? Wizards get killed, 118 - 94

Don't let the score fool you as the Wizards were out of this game from the very start.

Here at the Verizon Center, the Wizards were suppose to play the Spurs but it seems like the Wizards didn't come at all.  The Spurs had the fat lady at the Verizon Center singing and screaming her big old lungs out.

I saw people leave after the 3rd quarter ended. This is a sad because usually the crowd leaves IN the 4th quarter.  Tonight, I thought I would have lots of positives to talk about but honestly, there weren't many at all.  Well Hilton Armstrong did hit a 3 pointer to close the game out but eh.

The most cheer for the Wizards came when the fans were cheering on for one of the Spurs player to miss so the stadium could get Chick Fillet, but he made one of two.  Funny thing was, Coach Flip Saunders stated that the fans were still behind them with around 8 minutes to go in the game but in fact, he didn't know that the BIG SCREEN at the Verizon Center flashed "If he misses both free throws, everyone with a ticket will get a free chick fillet sandwich," (or something around those lines).

Nick Young lead the way for the Wizards as they snapped their 8-game losing streak by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 100-85. Young scored 26 points but teammate Cartier Martin stole the show putting up 15 points that included 12 in the fourth quarter.

JaVale McGee grabbed double digit rebounds for the first time in eight games with a monster 17-board night to go along with his 16 points. McGee started the game slow, giving up a quick 8 points to Bucks center Andrew Bogut. McGee kicked it into gear though and held Bogut scoreless for the rest of the quarter.

SNEAKECHAMP.COM is a website dedicated to Gilbert Arenas as the “leagues first true sneakerhead and curator of the ultimate shoe collection” for the 2010-2011 season. The website records all of the different kicks that “Agent Uno” adorns with a picture and name of the shoe in month to month calendar style.

Something we saw as interesting is that on this website the entry for February 4, 2011 shows a pair of Jordan 6 Rings Foamposite Black/Varsity Royal. For Gilbert’s recent return to the Capital, he wasn’t wearing those Jordan’s, he instead wore a pair of his Adidas Gil-Zero’s; his signature shoe when he was the king of this city, and an All-Pro, All-Star point-guard.

Adidas terminated Arenas's contract hours after his January 16, 2010 guilty plea for bringing concealed weapons into the Wizards locker room. Since then he’s worn a variety of different shoes from brands like Under Armor, Nike, Jordan and even Dolce Gabbana’s (pictured below).

In an interview with The Mike Wise Show with Holden Kushner Arenas expressed remorse over his poor decision-making. He stated that he hopes the fan-base he electrified from 2003-2007 could see past his mistakes and remember him for what he meant to the Washington D.C. area.

"At some point I hope they can forgive me as a person." Said Arenas. "Maybe not as a basketball player. Maybe I wasn't worth the contract. Hey, I don't think anyone's worth $100 million if Michael Jordan wasn't. But hey, that's what Abe Pollin thought I was worth, and if someone put $100 million in front of you, you're gonna take it too."

Against his former team 'Mr. Hibachi' was the first Magic player out on the court during shoot around. While taking part in his first pregame as an opposing player at the Verizon center in over 8 years, Arenas brought back his signature kicks, paying homage to the floor and stadium that were once his.

The question we asked is why would Arenas's people post a different shoe on the website the day after the game? Maybe the Jordans were the shoes that were supposed to have been worn, but Gilbert either had a change of heart or felt a bit nostalgic when he got to the arena. Having all of his games and highlights, we haven’t seen him where the Gil-Zero’s since he and Adidas split. So didn’t he have to have that planned out ahead of time? Perhaps he had a secret stash left somewhere in the Verizon Center.

We may be reading to deeply into this but honestly it's refreshing to see an athlete who had as long and drawn out of a divorce as he had come back show the city and team the respect that Arenas did.

The crowd let Arenas know how they felt when he subbed in with 1:31 left in first quarter by giving him a standing ovation.

"I expected to get booed some, but I'm glad I got cheered," said Arenas. "It just shows that people understand that it was one year, one bad mistake, and it can't erase seven good years I had here."

“It’s (Washington D.C.) home. I mean this technically is the longest place I’ve ever lived,” said Arenas. “When I moved to California at ten, I moved back and forth. This is the longest place I’ve ever lived. I consider this home.”

For anyone who saw how awkward and poorly mishandled LeBron James’s return to Cleveland this year was, it’s refreshing to know that we still have sensible fans amongst all of this chaos that we Wizard fans have endured the last few seasons.

Over time, after the dust from the gun charges and crazy shenanigans that plagued the end of his tenure in Washington, will Arenas’s jersey join the likes of Earl “The Pearl, Elvin Hayes, Gus Johnson and Wes Unseld in the rafters at the Verizon Center? It’s hard to say, but for the endless hours he gave us before and after practice, for all the big shots and game winners and most importantly the excitement he brought back to the team and fan-base, we would like to say thank you Gilbert Arenas.

Visit the SNEAKERCHAMP.com website to keep track of Gil's Kicks

Follow @thesneakerchamp for updates and to vote on what shoes he should wear next.

SNEAKECHAMP.COM is a website dedicated to Gilbert Arenas as the “leagues first true sneakerhead and curator of the ultimate shoe collection” for the 2010-2011 season. The website records all of the different kicks that “Agent Uno” adorns with a picture and name of the shoe in month to month calendar style.

Something we saw as interesting is that on this website the entry for February 4, 2011 shows a pair of Jordan 6 Rings Foamposite Black/Varsity Royal. For Gilbert’s recent return to the Capital, he wasn’t wearing those Jordan’s, he instead wore a pair of his Adidas Gil-Zero’s; his signature shoe when he was the king of this city, and an All-Pro, All-Star point-guard.

Adidas terminated Arenas's contract hours after his January 16, 2010 guilty plea for bringing concealed weapons into the Wizards locker room. Since then he’s worn a variety of different shoes from brands like Under Armor, Nike, Jordan and even Dolce Gabbana’s (pictured below).

Fans of mercurial shooting guard Gilbert Arenas have had February 4, 2011, circled on their calendars for weeks now.  That date represented the first time in nearly eight NBA seasons that Arenas has played at the Verizon Center without a Wizards’ uniform.  In fact, he hadn’t played in DC since being traded by the Wizards to division-rival Orlando Magic on December 18, 2010, in exchange for Rashard Lewis.

Although known for his prolific scoring, it was almost surreal to witness his assignment for the game against his former teammates.  Instead of the volume shots that we were accustomed to from Arenas, he played the role of defensive stopper when he entered the game.

Yes, you read that right - Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr., formerly known as “Agent Zero,” was given the task of slowing down Wizards’ leading scorer Nick Young.  And believe it or not (I still don’t believe it) but Arenas performed respectively on the defensive end.  Although Young scored his season average of 17 points, he only shot 7 of 20 (35%) in 36 minutes of game action and had to work for every shot.

Missed free throws late in the fourth quarter doom Washington as they lose their eighth consecutive game 99-92 to the Atlanta Hawks. The Wizards kept the contest close through-out the night but their inexperience closing games was evident and as they've done many times this season, they found a new way to lose. 

After the game Coach Flip Saunders described Washington’s style of play as “Playstation” like, where players would opt to isolate and create on their own as opposed to moving the ball.

“We can’t predetermine too many times what’s going to happen on the floor because when you do that your too easy to defend… They run people at you and trap you and you end up taking bad shots.”

Sportscenter top play...has to be...

Wizards 92 - Magic 110

There were many questions that surrounded Gilbert Arenas's return to the Verizon Center for his first game against his former team. Will the crowd boo or cheer him? Will he revert back to old Gil’ and score 30? Will his return affect the play of his former teammates?

What was lost in that discussion was the real question of how Washington would stop All-Star Dwight Howard, who in their last meeting grabbed 11 rebounds and scored 32 points including a put back with a few seconds left to secure a 100-99 victory for the Orlando Magic.

Superman’s latest duel against the Wizards provided much of the same results. Howard matched his season average of 22 points and dominated the boards grabbing 15 rebounds after starting the game a perfect 10 for 10 from the field. Granted many of his shots were alley-oops and other easy looks in the paint, his final bucket however came with a fade away jumper from the left baseline that drew moans and groans from the home crowd.

Chris Miller of Comcast had an opportunity for an exclusive interview with Gilbert Arenas as he prepares for his return to face his former Washington Wizards team on Friday night.  The highlights of part one of the interview can be found here, by Asad Naqvi.

Part two began with trying to understand when Arenas knew his time with the Wizards was coming to an end.

"I couldn't see myself back.  There was no way the city would let me play for them again.  They're going to kick me out no matter what so I might as well run out."

He was asked what it was like to have John Wall join the team as the number one pick and the heir to the "face of the franchise" throne.  Miller asked Arenas what it was like to meet Wall for the first time and how their relationship was as time progressed.

"It was weird.  It was like, awkward.  First day was funny."

Arenas talked about how the two sized each other up.  Up to that point, Arenas knew that Wall's perception of him was whatever he had read or heard in the media.  After the initial getting-to-know-you phase, things seemed to go smoothly.  Arenas even compared his understanding with Wall on the court to his close friend and ex-teammate Larry Hughes.

"After that it was like big brother little brother.  I watched so much tape on him so I knew what his strengths was."

When asked about how things were with Arenas on a personal and mindset level, he went on to say that he was in a different mindset and "zone" than the other players.

"Going into training camp was good.  I think, I kind of, I kind of messed myself up in training camp because I wasn't trying to be dominant.  I was trying to fit in.  All that aggression I had built up through the summer that made me go go go, the reason I was terrorizing summer league, I let it go during training camp, to fit in.

When you see the beard, and the no smile, that was who I was at that time.  I was an assassin.

Everyone is trying to feel everyone out, get to know each other.  I was letting that wall down.  But then it's like, 'that's not fair to them'.  I can probably still be who i want to be as a player and let go.  Once I started letting go, I started losing my aggression."

Despite having his guard up in the beginning, it seems that Arenas began to loosen up for the sake of the team.  Unfortunately, we'll never know how things could have been as he now plays for an eastern conference foe.

Part three of the interview will be covered later tonight.

Nobody expected what to hear from Gilbert, hell, I don't even think Gilbert knew either;

Chris asked Gilbert about his life as a Wizard in the beginning:

"I did not have no expectations, I basically got play however i wanted to play, once Eddie Jordan saw what i could do, he let the leash go."

On the ride with the All Star:

"It was like a roller coaster ride, it went really quick....when I was up there, I was up there.....it was that swagger that I had, the confident level was high because at that point in time,  I felt like nobody in the planet that could have stopped me even if they tried, only person that could have stopped me would have been Eddie Jordan who could have benched me."