One small thing to mention re: the defense: If you look at on/off numbers from 82games from the past few years (i.e. 04/05-06/07, not as much in 07/08), you’ll notice that the Wizards defended significantly better when Brendan Haywood was in the game. This is a very simplistic way of looking at it, but it’s as if the Wizards were a league-average unit with Haywood in the game and the worst defensive team in the league (by far) with him out.

Despite that, Haywood played only about half the game because he wasn’t a good fit offensively in Eddie Jordan’s Princeton offense and because he was perceived to be a whiner and a loafer (incorrectly, I might add) by Eddie. Eddie never realized what he had in Haywood. The two years Haywood played the most (04/05 and 07/08) were the two years the Wizards played the best defense during this stretch. And even then, Haywood probably wasn’t playing enough. You also saw what happened to the defense last year when Haywood was injured — it fell apart.

So basically, just having no more Eddie Jordan will mean more playing time for Haywood, which means the defense should be better. How much better, I don’t know, but it’ll be better assuming Haywood plays the type of minutes he should. Considering Flip’s a much better coach than Eddie and the lack of options behind Haywood, that’s a pretty easy assumption to make.

One thing I will say about defense … Yes, while the capabilities of the personnel continue to be very questionable, the coaching change could have a noticeable effect (albeit likely not at the level that Wizards fans desire).

One of Flip Saunders' stated goals is to create a much more efficient offense (as opposed to Eddie Jordan's gunning ways of the past), and that in turn, that increased efficiency will limit easy opportunities for the opponent (such as in transition).

But that seems to be only a small part of it as you hit the nail on the head with the Wizards' inability to defend the perimeter.