Pretty much any day that features news about the Washington Wizards is a good one for me. So imagine the anticipation I felt yesterday when I heard the 2014-2015 NBA schedule was finally going to be released at 6 p.m. today. This announcement is a bit later than last year and I've barely been able to contain my excitement at work all day. This is the most thrilling news I've had since the end of Summer League. OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not far from the truth.
Last year's Wizards campaign was arguably the best in my 14 years as a season ticket holder. We made the second round of the playoffs and managed to win a couple of games when we got there. For the record, that was only the second time in those 14 years that the team actually made the second round of the postseason; the 2004-2005 team won their first round series but promptly got swept 4-0 after that. So despite one fewer regular season win than the 45 win 2004-2005 team, I think last year has to be considered the best so far because of the two extra postseason Ws. The lack of success is sad, I know, but it's what I have. Last year I wrote about the schedule's release with a five year playoff drought at my back. This year, I have more hope.
So just like last year, today I tore into the schedule with as much enthusiasm as Trevor Booker pursuing a close rebound (or maybe Kris Humphries?). And also just like last year, here's once again a lucky seven things I see as exciting about this year's schedule.
1. National TV
I guess making the Eastern Conference semifinals affects your marketability. Last year's NBA schedule featured the Wizards in exactly one nationally televised game (NBA TV games don't count here). That game, vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 7 of this year, was ultimately bumped for a Portland-Indiana matchup meaning the Wizards ended up on zero nationally televised games last year. Coincidentally, that's the same number they played during the 2011-2012 season and the 2012-2013 season.
This year is totally different. The national broadcast slate has nine Wizards games on ESPN and an additional one on TNT. That's over 10% of our schedule on national TV. That means my dad will finally get to watch a few games this year; he's been without the Wizards since his local cable company dropped Comcast SportsNet Washington a few years ago and the NBA League Pass rules still black out our games in his area. That also probably means we'll start to develop a bandwagoning fan base just like all the popular teams in the NBA do. I'm still watching Buck and Phil on Comcast but it's exciting to get some national recognition.
2. Hot Start?
Over the past 14 seasons, the Wizards have gotten off to some historically bad starts. I mean like really bad. Last year, I highlighted the first dozen games as especially tough (they were!) and thought if the team managed to get out of those first 12 games with six wins, that we'd be alright the rest of the season. The team managed just four wins in the first 12 but ended up in the playoffs anyway but these poor starts have got to stop at some point. Digging yourself out of a hole every year just isn't helping and I genuinely thought we looked unprepared in some of our early season games last year.
This year looks a little easier, although with this team, you never know. Our first 12 games this year get us Milwaukee and Orlando twice and Detroit once. We also play the suddenly vulnerable Indiana Pacers twice in that span. The toughest games are probably Dallas, Toronto and Cleveland. It is absolutely imperative we come out prepared to win most of our first 12. I'd say eight is the minimum and nine or ten is preferred. We brought pretty much everyone back. We have to start strong this year.
3. The Rivalry Is Back
I know, I know...the folks in Cleveland are going to claim that there never was a rivalry. Just like their beloved turned traitor turned returning home hoped for hero LeBron "Crybaby" James claimed. Let's get one thing straight: Wizards fans like nothing better than beating a LeBron team, but there's something special about beating a Cleveland LeBron team. Crab dribbles. Soulja Boy. Taunting. Whining and crying to the officials in disbelief over every non-call. Let's get it on!
Anderson Varejao is the only Cavalier left from those teams that beat the Wiz back to back to back in the mid-aughts, but sprinkle in a little Mike Miller (who DeShawn Stevenson once chided for wearing LeBron sneakers while they both played in DC, although play is a dubious term for Miller's conduct while here) and we have something juicy to look forward to. I'm hoping the Miami fan from Cleveland I met last year in Section 415 is sitting in front of me at Verizon Center again this year but I'm guessing he's not going to be wearing red and black. Bring on the fair weather Cavs fans; bring on the "King"! The first home game vs. Cleveland is November 21. Friday night, national TV. Can't wait!
Oh…and one more thing. I just feel bad for Brendan Haywood. This guy has to get some kind of buyout or release or something, right? I can't see B Wood playing for a LeBron Cavs team.
4. Happy Holidays
Many casual fans of the NBA consider Christmas Day to be the unofficial start of the NBA season. College football is over (well except for the 865 bowl games to be played each year) and the NFL season is winding down so non-committed sports fans everywhere are casting about for some sort of pro ball to watch and for a lot of people, the NBA is just what they need. Of course, those casual NBA fans are misguided in my opinion but arguing about it is like getting upset with fans showing up to VC in Cavs 23 jerseys. It's just not worth it.
Regardless of the opinion of casual fans, Christmas Day is huge for the NBA. They are the only gig in town that day, usually featuring five games blanketing the whole holiday so there's complete wall to wall NBA coverage from noon to midnight. Playing on Christmas Day is huge. And this year, the Wizards are back on the holiday slate for the first time since 2008 when they played the hated Cleveland "Don't Call It a Rivalry" Cavaliers. It's good to be important enough in the court of public opinion I guess that the Wizards made it this year. I'm just glad it's a road game, because there's no way my mom's letting me leave on Christmas morning to go watch hoops. I'm going to have to ask for a half hour delay in Christmas dinner time as it is.
5. MLK Day!
Simply put, this is one of the best days of the year when it's not a presidential inauguration year. The Wizards have a 2 p.m. game that day against the Philadelphia 76ers, who we seem to play a lot on this day. Good times with a great friend while the rest of the non-government employees are hard at work. Almost enough said. The importance of this day is never lost on me when I am at an NBA game. They make you think hard about real issues that still need a lot of work on this day.
6. Division Games
Every year the Wizards play each of their four division opponents four times and this year is no different. But what is different this year is that the Wizards actually have a shot to win the division, something that hasn't happened since 1979. But if they are going to be serious about doing that, they are going to have to improve performance against the four other teams looking to either take the title for themselves or play spoiler. There's no question in my mind that we can't afford a letdown against any division opponent. Four of the five teams in the Southeast Division made the playoffs last year and I could see any one of those four taking the title this year.
We start playing our division in game one of the year, on the road in Miami and play an additional seven division games by the end of the calendar year: two against the Heat, three against the Magic and one against the Hawks. I can't necessarily believe I'm writing this but these three teams have to be considered the third through fifth teams in our division. The biggest challenge is likely to be with the suddenly very good Charlotte Hornets, who we don't play at all until February. If there's a couple of months that will determine if we have the right stuff to get a banner hung in Verizon Center for the first time since the Carter administration, it's February and March, when we play the Hornets four times. We have to do better than a 1-3 record against that club this year. We might be looking at a second place (or worse) division finish if we don't.
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| My friend Bryan in Milwaukee with the statue of the Fonz last March. It's cold in Milwaukee in March! |
7. Road Trips
The best thing about NBA schedule release day is that I get to plan my fall and winter. I've made a habit the last few years of traveling to Wizards road games or going on mini NBDL road trips to discover some places in the U.S. that I just don't get to go to that often (or ever). I love traveling whether it's to watch basketball or just to get away but I won't travel when the Wizards are at home. Last year I managed to squeeze in a mid-December trip to Iceland as well as hoops trips to Philadelphia, Milwaukee and New England.
This year, it looks like there are a couple of good traveling opportunities. As I knock places off my NBA list, the options get fewer and fewer each year but it looks like there is a good possibility of squeezing in a mid-December trip to Miami to see how many fans are left in that area now LeBron has bolted for home. There also may be tempting games against the Clippers in Los Angeles and maybe Memphis in early April. Better than March in Milwaukee and Maine, but the NBDL schedule may change my plans. Either way, it looks like I'll be able to add to my portfolio of cities.
So that's it. That's all I have to say about the schedule within the first four hours of its release. Now all I have to do is get through the next 77 days. Getting the shakes already!
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