One thing the loss of Etan Thomas is going to do to the Wizards is make them even less physical than they have been in the past.
Make no mistake about it: The days of having a Charles Oakley on the roster to pound people into submission are gone. No one is stocking their roster with guys like that anymore.
And while brutish players have clearly gone out of style -- sort of like boy bands -- it doesn’t hurt to have a guy who at least makes opposing players think before they drive the lane.
"It's always important to have that type of physical play that Etan brings," Antawn Jamison said. "I don't care if you are a physical team or if you are a finesse team, you need that one guy who really stands out as far as saying, 'you know what, you're not going to come in here and push my teammate around.' Etan brought that to this team. We have other guys who did it but as far as our big guys he was the one guy who was really physical and really brought that toughness to the team -- and we're going to miss that. It's just one of those things that when a guy like that is out somebody else has to step up and fill the void."
Any volunteers?
- John N. Mitchell
Comments (3)
I like Etan, but I'd never been all that impressed with the physicality of his play -- at least with the effectiveness of his physicality. He always struck me as faux tough -- swinging his elbows after a rebound, shaking the rim on dunks, flexing at opponent shooters rather than putting up a hand. Yeah, he'd be good for pushing a guy in the back every few games, but in terms of truly rugged play in the paint, I never thought he was all that effective.
Posted by TSW | October 15, 2007 2:59 PM
i agree
Posted by Anonymous | October 17, 2007 2:52 PM
Agreed with TSW. Etan had a couple of good games early last season, that's all. I do not see his "physical-ness" during last year's playoff where he started all 4 games. You can even say he was out-played by Varejao, the player with similar size and physique.
I like this year's line-up. I think the athleticism of Blatche and McGuire will help this team more so than the loss of Etan.
That said, wish Etan a speed recovery, nothing against the guy.
Posted by Sage | October 19, 2007 12:02 PM