By @KeithFirmin

Date: 15th January 2007
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Game: Regular season match-up between the Washington Wizards (114) and the Utah Jazz (111).
Gilbert Arenas points total: 51
Point of note: This game was held on Dr Martin Luther King Jr. day

Gilbert Arenas vs Utah Jazz: 51 points and the game winner

FIRST QUARTER:

2-0 Utah: 10:33 remaining – Gil has the ball about 16 feet out with his back to the basket. A couple of back down dribbles later, Gil turns, fades and fires with Deron Williams in his face and hits. The tone for the rest of the game has just been set.

4-4 Tied: 8:54 remaining – As the shot clock runs down to eight, Gil is on the wing with the ball in his hands. Arenas looks for any kind of opening but with the clock at 3 he takes a dribble to his left and shoots a three. The ball goes through as the shot clock buzzer sounds.

8-7 Utah: 8:03 remaining – A simple give and go gifts Gil a golden opportunity which he gladly takes, guiding the ball in for three. Today’s sentence has been sponsored by the letter G and the number 0.

Once again we’re reminded of the side of Gil that has often been overlooked: His generous side. Nominated learning centre, William Wirt Middle School, is the game’s recipient of $100 for every point Arenas gets.

20-18 Utah: 3:49 remaining – You know what was written a moment ago about the bucket off of the give and go? Yeah, well just re-read it because it happens again.

SECOND QUARTER:

56-43 Utah: 59.0 remaining – Arenas drives to the basket, his defender leans on his back but Gil is still able to finish at the rim. What started off as beating just his own man turned into blowing by two men and finishing over a third.

HALF-TIME

THIRD QUARTER:

60-51 Utah: 9:28 remaining – Gilbert steals the entry pass, gets his head down and drives the full length of the court where he draws another foul off of Brewer before finishing at the rim.

66-61 Utah: 6:14 remaining – This play is created by Arenas’ crossover on the wing but helped by the fact that instead of playing defence, Ronnie Brewer stumbles around like a hapless drunk, fouling Gil and then inadvertently clearing the path to the rim by blocking Kirilenko which allowed Gil to convert an uncontested lay-up. And talking of Kirilenko…

69-66 Utah: 4:30 remaining – Agent Zero takes the lengthy Russian for a native Khorovod dance before driving baseline and hitting the lay-up on the opposite side of the rim.

69-68 Utah: 4:10 remaining – A baseline inbounds play finds Gil a couple of feet behind the three point line. He drills it. A fan holds up a sign saying ‘Arenas = MVP’.

80-78 Washington: 15.8 seconds remaining – Arenas streaks down the court off of the Jazz miss where he lays it up and in despite Kirilenko swooping in for the block.

FOURTH QUARTER:

99-96 Utah: 3:16 remaining – “Casual [ˈkæʒjʊəl] adj: being or seeming unconcerned or apathetic” – that pretty much summed up Gil’s attitude when he dribbled back out to the three point line before taking a step in and nailing the jumper with the defender on him.

104-100: Utah: 2:15 remaining – Gil no worry about screen on perimeter no working. Gil shoot ball anyway and watch ball touch net only.

106-103: Utah: 1:47 remaining – Give + go + screen = open look from 3. Which Gil cans in typical Gil fashion.

111-111 Tied: 10.4 remaining – The ball is in Gilbert’s hands at just over centre court. Deron Williams is no more than a foot away from Gil which, considering he’s about 40 feet from the basket, tells you everything you need to know about the damage the Jazz fear Arenas could do.

Gil has the ball held away from Deron like an old brother holding a younger brother’s favourite toy away from him in order to tease him, while the younger brother looks to knock it loose. And then it happens:

With the shot clock turned off and only five seconds the difference between a W or an overtime session, Arenas spins to his right and Williams jumps off of him, allowing Gil only a little space to operate but that is all he needs. He threads the ball through his leg with the same unconscious thought that we use to breathe, there’s a slight hesitation in his dribble, less than a millisecond and then he explodes. One hard dribble to get to the three point line and then he stops, pops and it drops. GAME OVER.

The true beauty of the shot and the defining moment of the play is that as the ball was still in the air Arenas raised his arms and began to turn his back in triumph.

Some may describe his actions as pure confidence, some as pure arrogance. We can all agree though, that it was definitely pure Arenas.

By @KeithFirmin

Even though my mountain of Christmas presents have been opened and are now scattered throughout my house and despite the opening slate of NBA games having been played after a lengthy off-season, I am left unfulfilled. The reason for this is because Gilbert Arenas, the Agent formerly known as Zero and now perceived as being a zero following his injuries and off-court antics, hasn’t yet had opportunity to suit up.

While others have been signed off of waivers and are getting minutes with their new teams, Arenas has been left untouched and unwanted. So to remind the world exactly why Gil should be at the fore of every GM’s mind, we here at Gilbertology.net have decided that until he is signed by a team we will take a look back at some of Gil’s finest scoring performances via everyone’s favourite video library, www.youtube.com.

First up is his one man show against the Phoenix Suns.

Date: 22nd December 2006
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Game: Regular season clash between the Phoenix Suns (139) and the Washington Wizards (144).
Gilbert Arenas points total: 54.
Point of note: Gilbert Arenas had been cut by Team USA in the summer before the ’06 season and stated he was going to drop 50 points on Mike D’Antoni and Nate McMillan, both of whom were assistant coaches for Team USA.

Check out the video below to see Gil shoot the lights out.

As soon as the clip starts, we hear about the ‘Scores for Schools’ scheme where every point Arenas scores, $100 is donated to a chosen school. The school in question, East Silver Spring Elementary, is about to be on the receiving end of a very generous donation courtesy of Gil’s hot hand.

FIRST QUARTER:

12-10 Phoenix: 7:30 remaining – Gil dribbles to the high post where he backs down the smaller Nash, turns fades and fires while the Suns throw an extra defender from the top of the arc to block the shot. It hits and kinda sets the tone for the rest of the game.

14-12 Phoenix: 6:39 remaining – Arenas makes a straight cut from the right wing to the top of the key where he receives the ball and with a half-hearted Steve Nash hand in his face, he squares up and drains the jumper. Effortless.

20-18 Washington: 4:04 remaining – Gil brings the ball up, throws it cross court, jogs down to the wing where he gets the ball back again, sets himself and let’s fly a three pointer. Bottom of the bucket.

27-22 Washington: 1:48 remaining – An attempted pick and roll between team-mates sees Jamison in the post and Gil rolling out to beyond the arc. The ball reaches Arenas with one second left on the shot clock, he shoots it in rhythm and it’s another triple. When he’s on, he is ON.

33-25 Washington: 53 seconds remaining – A screen at the top of the arc frees Gil up to launch a three which is automatic.

36-28 Washington: 05.6 seconds remaining – Arenas in-bounds the ball, receives it right back, takes four aggressive dribbles which gets him into the front court. Raja Bell is shadowing him but doesn’t expect Gil to pick up his dribble, pull up from about 35 feet out, raise up and launch a shot with two seconds left. He does and it hits. “He can do it from almost anywhere on the court”. Yes, yes he can.

SECOND QUARTER:

45-41 Washington: 7:42 remaining – The ball is launched from painted area to painted area where Arenas collects it and lays the ball off the glass.

50-49 Phoenix: 5:06 remaining – Bell, one of the premier perimeter defenders in the league in 2006 is on Gil at the top of the arc. Arenas jabs with his right foot, gathers the ball as if preparing to take a jump shot, Bell swipes at it and Gil explodes. Not literally but figuratively. The last thing he needs is a reputation as a guy who dabbles with gun powder….oh wait….
Anyway, two hard dribbles to Bell’s right and a sharp pull-up J from the free throw line.

57-54 Washington: 2:23 remaining – This time a defensive switch gives Shawn Marion the chance to lock down Arenas and enhance his reputation as one of the best defenders in the league. Gil keeps his dribble and moves towards the wing, threading the ball through his legs and forcing Marion to change his feet defensively. As soon as that happens, Gil makes his move by going into the middle of the lane, drawing the contact and making the shot.

HALF TIME: Arenas has 24 points.

THIRD QUARTER:

64-58 Washington: 11:43 remaining – Gil drives right at Marion from the top of the arc and then pulls up in a sweet hesitation dribble, leans back slightly and draws Marion in before blowing by him. THING. OF. BEAUTY. Illegal goal tending is called on the shot.

78-67 Washington: 7:47 remaining – Gil has the ball at the top of the arc and goes iso against Marion. The ball passes through his legs as he dribbles, making Marion back peddle and giving Agentzero a clear path to the top of the key where Gil hits the jumper.

80-69 Washington: 7:05 remaining – On the elbow of the wing and with Marion on him once again, Gil pulls up about 24 feet out and hits another three. “Gilbert Arenas is putting on another clinic here”.

84-72 Washington: 5:26 remaining – Coming off two screens, Gil finds himself with a clear lane to the basket and on a hard drive he draws a foul from Bell falls to the deck and STILL hits an off balance lay up.

88-80 Washington: 3:08 remaining – Gil backs down his defender before fading away with a jumper that hits. Simple as that.

95-90 Washington: 06.8 seconds remaining – The shot clock is off and the ball is in Gil’s hands which can mean only one thing: we’re about to witness a buzzer beater. Y’know, the thing that makes great players great is that everyone watching knows how the final possession will play out and yet no-one can prevent what takes place. On the Wizards final possession, Arenas attacks Bell before pulling up and hitting the last second shot. (Check the bottom right hand corner of the screen as the seconds play out – perfect reaction by a team-mate)

FOURTH QUARTER:

103-98 Washington: 7:56 remaining – Gil uses a screen to get a relatively open look to the basket where he uses his body to shield the ball from the defender before flipping it up and in.

117-115 Phoenix: 2:45 remaining – Copy and paste an earlier field goal attempt by Gil where he dribbles towards the bucket before pulling up and canning the J. The defender, Marion in this instance, has backed off out of fear that Gil will burn him. (I waited until the fourth quarter before making weak ‘Suns temperature’ references – burn, heat, too hot, smokin’ etc. I’m proud of me even if you’re not.)

121-117 Phoenix: 1:50 remaining – Arenas puts the moves on Marion once again, actually loses control of the ball, gathers it and from about 10 feet out drills the jumper with a hand in his face.

127-124 Phoenix: 23.8 seconds remaining – Arenas in-bounds the ball inside the Suns half and gets it back where he then drives straight at Marion, draws the foul just outside the key and throws it in off the glass. Marion looks bewildered and there isn’t a single person who can blame him.

OT:

131-128 Phoenix: 2:55 remaining – Classic Arenas coming up – dribble through the legs at the top of the arc followed by a quick pull-up two point jump shot which lands. The only difference with this one is that it bangs home as opposed to swishing through the net. Shoddy technique.

136-134 Washington: 36.4 seconds remaining – Guess what happens when the shot clock is off and the ball is in Gil’s hands? If you’d guessed it was a dribble through his legs 23 feet out followed by a banked three pointer which slams off the backboard and into the basket, it would be one helluva guess and it would also be completely correct.

Gilbert Arenas finished the game 21/37 from the field, 6/12 from three point range and 6/6 from the free throw line.

It was a vintage Gilbert performance and one that showed just what a force he was back in his prime. Although those days are believed to be behind him, it still confuses me how anyone can overlook Gil in favour of four year, $12 million Travis Outlaw, especially when video like the one above exists.

Gilbert Arenas has been called a lot of contradictory things over the
course of his career;

An All-Star. A waste of talent. Entertaining prankster. Distraction to
the team. A fan who understands the privileged position he is in. A
player who has forgotten his responsibilities.

The Perception Of Gilbert Arenas:

The most accurate description of Arenas is ‘scrutinized’. The
frequency with which Arenas is examined, analysed and criticised is
unreal and the fact that he is yet to wave the white flag in surrender
speaks volumes about his resiliency.

Instead of folding under pressure like many would, he simply takes it
all in his stride even though he is constantly reminded of his
previous decisions whenever his time in the NBA is discussed.

People conclude that because of his career altering knee injuries (1),
questionable decisions surrounding his rehabilitation (2), the guns in
the locker room and the falsities relating to a pre-season DNP (all of
which have been greatly publicised), as well as some of his ‘close to
the bone’ comments on Twitter, Arenas should be the newest addition
into the Hall of Shame for sports stars – a home for athletes who have
seemingly had the world at their feet but through a series of bad
decisions, sabotaged their careers. (See: Michael Vick, Mike Tyson,
Tiger Woods).

And unsurprisingly, it’s those critics whose voices get even louder
when Arenas’ enormous contract is mentioned:

$111million for his services which, as of writing, averaged out during
his time in Orlando at 8 ppg on .344 FG% and his all time lowest 3P%,
2.4 rpg and 3.2 apg. Hardly setting the world alight, is it?*

The majority of what we know about Arenas comes through the media and
as a result of that, opinions are formed by whatever is shouted about
the loudest and the longest, which for Arenas, tends to be negative.

“Gilbert Arenas is too rich so buys a shark tank” (3)

“Gilbert Arenas got served child support and custody papers during
half time of a regular season NBA game” (4)

“Arenas laughs in the face of his gun trial by immaturely performing a
‘finger gun dance’ before a game” (5)

Despite the increasing pressure on Arenas to keep a low profile and to
conform to Commissioner Stern and society’s way, it’s unlikely Gilbert
will ever stop being Gilbert.

In a league dominated by athletes who are so acutely aware of image
that instead of being themselves they adopt a generic persona and hide
behind the façade of being wholesome, he is a breathe of fresh air.

Arenas not only breaks the mold created by others, he smashes it. He
says what’s on his mind, he plays the game the only way he knows how
and he does it all by being himself.

But as suggested by the polarizing views of Arenas, being ‘himself’ is
a double edged sword.

For every one fan who idolises Arenas and enjoys his charisma and
candidness, there are two detractors who will use the fact that Arenas
wears his heart on his sleeve against him.

Case in point: (6)

October 12, 2010

Wizards – Hawks pre-season game in the Verizon Centre in Washington

On the day Arenas is due to make his return to action after a lengthy
lay-off brought about by his firearm folly, he doesn’t suit up.

Instead he registers a ‘Did not play’ brought about because he claims
to be carrying an injury. Later on he tells the media that he sat out
in order to let his understudy, Nick Young, register some minutes on
the floor before eventually confessing that his previous reasons for
not playing were lies and that the real reason he didn’t want to step
onto the court to play the game he loves so dearly, was because he was
scared of being booed by the home fans.

Look at that again: Gilbert Arenas was crucial in making the DC club
relevant again and key in getting the team out of the first round of
the play-offs for the first time since the ’81-’82 season.

The Washington faithful were enamoured with Arenas thanks to his
off-court antics and on-court heroics and he quickly became the face
of the franchise. He was drawing more attention to the team and adding
more highlights to the Sportscenter reel than fans had seen in years
and yet, in an almost meaningless pre-season game, he was too scared
to take to the floor through fear of being hated by the very same fans
who had once idolised him and whose applause he had once bathed in.

The years of hard work Arenas had put in while in a Wizards uniform
were about to be wiped out in an instant. That doesn’t sound fair.

But that’s something Arenas is use to: He’s never been treated fairly.

On the court his perceived inability to run a team and style of play
led to him being branded ‘selfish’, despite making marked improvements
after his rookie campaign. (7) And the harsh remarks relating to his
behaviour away from the hardwood were similarly cutting even though
onlookers were encouraging him to continue being himself. For a
28-year-old who has been described as ‘fragile’ by his own father,
experiencing that must have been painful.

The DNP incident was the last in a long line of perceived
misdemeanours by Gilbert and due to the poor image he was now
projecting, the Wizards wanted no more to do with their former
franchise player.

On December 18, 2010, few were surprised when it was announced that
the Washington Wizards had traded their once golden child to the
Orlando Magic. And less than a year later Gilbert has found himself
out in the cold again as the Magic released him into free agency using
the CBA’s new ‘amnesty clause’.

The Real Gilbert Arenas:

Abandoned by the team he gave everything for, weighed down by an
enormous contract, confined to limited minutes on the floor and
receiving criticism from almost every corner, Gilbert Arenas now faces
an obscene amount of obstacles if he is to rescue a career which at
one stage looked to place him in the upper echelon of NBA stars. Many
doubt he can complete a comeback of that size but don’t be so certain
that he can’t.

For Arenas, the circumstances are familiar. The details may be
different but the task that Arenas faces is the same – disbelievers
polluting the air with talk of failure and reason to show the
naysayers wrong is something Arenas knows all about.This is what Gil
has faced his whole career…scratch that…his whole LIFE. The
negative arena that he now finds himself in would eat most people
alive but for the man who has dedicated his career to proving that
‘Impossible is Nothing’ , it’s no more than just another challenge. An
opportunity to prove himself once again.

Although it’s unlikely he will have ever have the plethora of fans who
once had his back, those that do stand up in his defence will do so
because they understand that there is more to Arenas than his well
crafted game and engaging personality. Behind the eccentric exterior
of Arenas is a man who is unlike most NBA stars – he is relatable.

During the 2007 NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas, Arenas saw a line of
Elvis Presley lookalikes performing dunks off of trampolines during a
time out. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, he picked up a ball
jogged towards the trampoline before exploding for a
through-the-legs-windmill jam which delighted his team mates.

In 2008, Arenas was at a press conference held by EA Sports in order
to announce that he was the cover star for their annual NBA Live game.
Watch the video and count how many seconds Arenas doesn’t have a
beaming smile plastered across his face.

The answer is zero.

His unbridled joy tells you how happy he is to be himself and how
happy he is to be in that situation. Those simple, almost childish
pleasures, show you yet another side of who Gil really is. He’s not
such a bad man after all, is he?

Arenas is someone whose game is as exceptional as the circumstances he
finds himself in but rather than being aloof and hiding behind his
money, Gilbert does the opposite and opens his arms to those around
him.

Little is known about Arenas’ unbelievable generosity but if you look
hard enough, proof of it exists. The competition he runs via his
Twitter account (8) to give away his game worn shoes for free has been
well publicised but that is only the most recent in a long line of
acts of kindness, acts that have included providing children of tragic
events with memories and experiences that they will never forget,
being a big brother to those very same children and checking in on
them to see how they’re doing, donating (9) money regularly to
schools, including local workmen in his impromptu Paintball fight,
giving away free jerseys… the list could go on but these are the
occasions that are barely reported, even though these are the
occasions that should define how Arenas is thought of.**

Former NBA player, analyst and current NBA coach, Doug Collins, said
‘That’s why he’s Gilbert’ following his All-star dunk but I don’t
think that does Gil full justice. Arenas has stated that he wants to
be remembered as a fan who got to play the game he loves. He
understands that he is leading the life any basketball fan would love
to lead and that is why he isn’t just ‘Gilbert’.

He is We.

*Gilbert’s numbers in Orlando were heavily affected by limited minutes
and role on a new team whereas prior to his move and whilst still in
Washington (10) in 2010, he posted averages of 17.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg and
5.6 apg in 34.6 mpg. Something that is ignored by the fault-finders..

** A number of the above links could not be added as they were part of
Gilbert Arenas’ blog on NBA.com which, due to the lockout, means the
information has been removed from the site. However, if you can spare
some time, I highly recommend reading through the court papers
associated with the gun trial. (11)

(1) – http://espn.go.com/nba/recap/_/id/270404027/charlotte-bobcats-vs-washington-wizards,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/11/21/ST2007112102862.html

(2) – http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/16/arenas-to-return-for-wizards-camp/

(3) – http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2011/01/rs-_arenas_1.html

(4) – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/05/gilbert-arenas-custody-child-support_n_819108.html

(5) – http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Gilbert-Arenas-continues-to-take-gun-case-in-str?urn=nba-212006

(6) – http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1177199/1/index.htm

(7) – http://www.nbauniverse.com/awards/nba_most_improved_player_year.htm

(8) – http://twitter.com/#!/agentzeroshow

(9) – http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/08/AR2006110800854.html

(10) – http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/arenagi01.html

(11) – http://www.scribd.com/doc/28857026/Gilbert-Arenas-Sentencing-Memorandum

You can follow the author of this article on Twitter at @keiththejourno

Gilbert Arenas cleared waivers after being released by the Orlando Magic on Friday through the league’s amnesty clause. What does this mean? Gilbert is free to sign with any team, other than the Orlando Magic.

So far, the rumors have Arenas waiting to see where Dwight Howard may be traded to and join him. The Miami Heat are also a possibility and Gilbert has ties to Los Angeles, where the Lakers are in need of a point guard upgrade. Where do you want to see Agent 0 play next?

Gilbert Arenas’ knee seems to be fine as he takes part in Dwight Howard’s D12 Foundation Celebrity All-Star Game and dunks from a trampoline.