Wizards Hang On to the Positives

First-Round Exit Measured Against Injuries, Future Hope

For the first time since late September, the Washington Wizards had no basketball obligations yesterday. There was no practice or shoot-around to attend, no game to play, no flight to take, no weights to lift and no scouting reports to review.

A tumultuous season began with center Etan Thomas announcing on the first day of training camp that he needed to undergo open-heart surgery and ended with forward Darius Songaila learning six hours before tip-off that he was suspended for what turned out to be the final game of the season.

It all came to an end with a 105-88 home loss to Cleveland in Game 6 of the first-round playoff series on Friday night.

Along the way, the team endured the on-again, off-again drama surrounding three-time all-star Gilbert Arenas, who was limited to 17 games by a left knee injury, a string of injuries to all-star forward Caron Butler, who nonetheless had a breakout season as a pro, and all kinds of basketball and non-basketball ups and downs.

It's a team that left its fans bouncing between optimism and pessimism. The Wizards (43-39 in the regular season) lost 10 games by 20 points or more but beat the Boston Celtics three times and finished 7-1 on the road in a Southeast Division that produced three playoff teams.

Along with the Detroit Pistons, the Wizards are the only Eastern Conference team to make the playoffs four straight seasons. Then again, they've been knocked out of the first round three straight years by the same team and its dominating, just-entering-his-prime superstar.

"We believed in each other all year," said veteran guard Antonio Daniels, who played the final two months with a wrist injury that will require surgery this summer.

"No matter what the circumstances were throughout the season, we laid it on the line. Guys played extremely hard, with a lot of heart, and a lot of confidence. I'm very proud of this team and the coaching staff."

Here's a capsule look at one of the most unique seasons in the 47-year history of the franchise -- and some issues it faces.

· HIGH POINT: Consecutive wins over the league-leading Celtics in January. Wizards fans won't forget the sight of all-star Antawn Jamison celebrating a stunning comeback win in Boston on Jan. 14 by bounding to midcourt while doing a little wiggle dance.

· LOW POINT: Watching LeBron James and the Cavaliers celebrate yet another series-clinching victory Friday night, something that is becoming a Washington tradition right up there with the cherry blossoms.

· INJURIES: Arenas was lost on Nov. 17 for 66 games after aggravating a knee injury and never really recovered. Caron Butler's season was put on pause when he suffered a left hip injury -- and scored a career-high 40 points -- in a loss at Milwaukee on Jan. 27. Thomas missed the entire season and Coach Eddie Jordan had to hold practice with seven or eight healthy bodies for a large chunk of the season.

· STEVENSON'S INTERESTING SEASON: You've got to give it to a guy who brings to the table a hand-wave celebration, the rapper Soulja Boy and a beard that would make Abe Lincoln jealous. Stevenson played through assorted knee and ankle problems, started every game and was a reliable presence at both ends of the floor .

On the other hand, he tugged on Superman's cape by saying James is "overrated" on March 13 and was unable to stop James in the playoffs. He may be the most hated man in Cleveland outside of Art Modell and John Elway.

· BEST PLAYS: In no particular order, the highlight plays were rookie Nick Young's stunning dunk over James in Cleveland on Jan. 23, Butler's game-changing dunk over Sacramento's Kevin Martin on March 28 (made all the better because the bench players reacted like excited little kids at a birthday party) and Stevenson's game-winning jump shot at New Orleans on Feb. 25.

· WHAT'S NEXT? Jamison and reserve guard Roger Mason Jr. are the team's two unrestricted free agents and Arenas can become one by opting out of the final year of his contract by July 1. Team president Ernie Grunfeld has repeatedly said it his "priority" to retain Jamison and Arenas.

· THE ROOKIES: Young, Dominic McGuire and Oleksiy Pecherov will hone their games in the summer league in July and forward Andray Blatche, who will be entering his fourth season, wants to join them. The team also holds first- and second-round picks in the June 26 NBA draft.