Head Coach Eddie Jordan talks about the upcoming season before heading down to training camp in Richmond. He talks about Gilbert and Caron’s health, the rookies, new coaches, and the teams emphasis on defense.

Check out the photo gallery to get an up-close look over how Gilbert Arenas, one of the NBA’s most electrifying talents, has rehabbed (in the past four months) seven days a week, four hours a day, to return to action in preparation for the upcoming season.

Here is his daily workout menu:

After being followed around in his workout and training sessions, Wizards All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas sat down with reporters Friday inside the Verizon Center practice court and shared his story about how he has worked arduously to come back from his knee injury, his teammates, the defensive focus in the training camp and much more…

Wizards Guard Gilbert Arenas

On dealing with his injury:

“When you get hurt, all you can do is reflect on what did and what you want to do. As I was sitting back watching the games and reflecting on what I have done my first seven years in the league, I realized that you need to cherish it more. At any moment it can all be taking away from you. This game is not guaranteed forever. I took this summer to really concentrate on getting myself healthy again.”

On re-gaining his confidence:

“I have been playing with the guys in pickup games and I have been burning past them. There is no longer any doubt in my mind. When I began doubting myself earlier in the summer and my recovery from the injury, I just began to push myself harder. I started playing at Barry Farms and the first week there I could not touch the nine-foot rims. In the second week I was able to touch the rims. The third week, I was able to dunk one handed. The fourth week playing at Barry Farms I was dominating — scoring 45-50 points in games. When I started playing pickup at Verizon Center my confidence was back.”

On the team:

“We did not have Etan (Thomas), Darius (Songaila) and Michael Ruffin for the first half last season and we were still the number one team in the Eastern Conference at the All-Star Break. We added a pretty good scorer in Nick Young off of the bench. He is a great shooter and he can create on his own. This year everyone is coming in healthy, so we do not have to worry about teaching players during the season our style of play.”

More on the team:

“We have three guys that score 65-70 points a game combined. We have three scorers and playmakers and defenders with Brendan and DeShawn (Stevenson) in the starting lineup, and we have added scorers of the bench with Nick Young and Dominic McGuire.”

On the defensive focus in training camp:

“We are playing defense this year. I talked to Coach (Jordan) today and he said we will not be focusing too much on our offense in training camp. We focused a lot in the past on learning the complicated offense that we never really had a chance to focus a lot of the defensive end. This year Coach said he was going to simplify the offense in training camp so we can focus more on the defense.”

On his ‘Takeover Reloaded’ theme for the upcoming season:

“I am coming back with the same vengeance. Nothing is going to stop me. Coming back from this injury I have to prove myself again. I have to prove that I am an MVP candidate and that I am one of the best point guards in this league. I am going to come out with the same passion and fire that I come out with every year.”

Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan sat down with the media Friday to discuss his thoughts on the upcoming season. Coach Jordan discussed topics such as chemistry, depth and playing team defense. Check out the quotes below to see exactly what Coach Jordan had to say:

WIZARDS HEAD COACH EDDIE JORDAN
On what the team looks like this season:
“Everybody is healthy, which we have not had in a while. The continuity
of the team is at its all-time highest and hopefully that will be our biggest
ally at the start of the season. We do not have to learn something new or bring
any new personnel in other than the rookies.”

On the chemistry of the team:
“Our guys believe that chemistry is important. Offensively and also defensively
we can keep our top eight or nine guys together and hopefully that will lead
to a good beginning.”

On continuity leading to success:
“That is what the best teams have. If you keep your core group together
you will have a greater chance of success. If you do not change a lot of guys,
they will learn how to play with each other. We have a good locker room and
our core guys believe in each other. They know how to play with each other.
They share the ball and they know how to communicate.”

On the depth of the bench:
“I feel better now about our top eight guys because I know them and they
know me. We know how to play with each other, especially at the offensive end.
I am counting on our core group of eight veterans right now.”

On getting contribution from the bench:
“Antonio (Daniels) is a veteran and played very well in the playoffs.
Roger Mason was able to get quality experience in the playoffs. He (Roger Mason)
is a reliable guy and that is why we wanted to sign him.” Including Darius
(Songaila) and Etan (Thomas) we have nine solid guys including our starting
five. We are looking for Andray (Blatche) to improve and we will see what our
rookies can give us.”

On the expectations for this year’s rookies:
“I want them to be professional: work hard, come early, stay late. They
have to bring a high skill level and terrific hustle game. I think we have those
types of guys (in Nick Young, Dominic McGuire and Oleksiy Pecherov).”

On Brendan Haywood:
“I told him it is like when you are playing golf: it is the shot right
in front of you. That is the most important – not what happened before,
not what you think can happen on the putting green. It is the shot right in
front of you that means everything to you. When I met with him, it was about
that meeting. It was not about training camp or expectations. It was about that
meeting. The next time I see him, it will be about that day, and that is how
we are going to take it. Brendan is very intelligent. People on our team like
to listen to Brendan because he is very funny. We want him to use that soap-box
that he can stand on to lead. Brendan loves to play, he has got a terrific body,
he is in great shape, and he knows how to play the game. We just want to maximize
the defensive end and the rebounding.”

On whether Haywood or Thomas will be the starting center:
“I want them to compete. It is the same approach we took last year. It
is no one’s job. We know that Gilbert (Arenas), Antawn (Jamison) and Caron
(Butler) are very solid in the lineup, and DeShawn (Stevenson) is very close
to being that sort of guy, but the (center position) is up for competition.”

On defensive improvements this year:
“We are going to try to be better. We are going to do more in training
camp and when you think we have done enough, then we will do more.”

On Randy Ayers’ role on the coaching staff:
“Randy is bringing a lot of experience to us. He went to the finals with
the Philadelphia 76ers working under Larry Brown. He had a huge hand on the
defensive end with that team. He worked for Orlando for a couple of years and
they improved dramatically defensively. Randy is a terrific coach. He is a terrific
human being. He fits perfectly with the personality of our team and staff.”

On defensive schemes:
“We are going to do more defensively. We are going to emphasize it. The
continuity should work at the defensive end as effectively as it does at the
offensive end. If we are not great individually, we have to be great as a team.
Instead of doing one-on-one drills defensively we might do more five-on-five.
We will get better that way.”

On the Wizards playoff performance without Gilbert and Caron:
“I thought Antonio (Daniels) did a great job, we put Antawn (Jamison)
in a different sort of attack mode on the box. With Antawn being the second
leading scorer in the playoffs and Antonio having the numbers he had, we maximized
what we had.”

On individual versus team challenges:
“I think our guys have been talking to each other. They know that we have
to play together, and this is our team. We have three All-Stars, and we play
together. Each guy is motivated in different ways, but at the same time we understand
that we have to play together and get better defensively.”

On the increase in individual preparation for the season:
“I have seen everybody get in the best shape they have ever been in. Antawn
is rested. Darius has played all summer and he is healthy. Etan is cut, even
better than he has been. Brendan is always in good shape, and he is working
on being a solid center for us. Caron is in the best shape he has been in. I
see us as a team really focusing and concentrating on being very good.”

On the coaches and training camp:
“Coaches are going down early. I am proud to announce that Pete Carril
will join us as an honorary coach at training camp, as well as Brian Winters,
so that is a treat. Pete is going to be a treat for our coaches and our players.
He is still going to be a treat for me. It is incredible just to hear from him.”

Verizon Center launched its year-long tenth anniversary campaign on Thursday, September 27 at 9:30 a.m. at Spingarn High School with a Community Service Day makeover. Team personnel, players and staff members from the Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, Washington Capitals and Verizon Center helped paint Spingarn High School’s gym and landscaped the exterior of the school.