Sadly, The Takeover: Reloaded failed to live up to the hype of the original Takeover.  As much as he tried, Gilbert just couldn’t recapture the magic that he had up until that fateful game last year against the Bobcats where he injured his knee.

But oh did he try, using everything from parachutes to knee stimulators to get on the court.  He even went to the point of near drug addiction to get on the court:

“It’s frustrating because I was willing to do anything; I end up taking the shot, taking four different kinds of pain pills, Vicodin, I sound like a drug addict just to play in the game, and it still doesn’t work. We just have to go back and start rehabbing it again and get ready for next season.”

In hindsight, it was probably a little too much.  While you can certainly admire a guy who’s willing to do anything to get on the court, there’s something to be said about letting your body take care of the healing process.  At least now Gilbert has the off-season to let that happen and get back to the form that we all remember.

Of course, while he’s working on recovering his body this off-season, he’ll have plenty occupying his mind.  He’s gone on record multiple times saying that he will opt-out of the final year of his contract, in the hopes of getting a max contract deal.  Now that he’s sidelined again, you would have to assume that there’s little or no chance that he’d still be able to get that kind of money, so the question shifts from “How much money will Gilbert get?” to “Will Gilbert still opt out?”  Even venturing to guess the answer would be crazy at this point since I get the feeling that no one really knows, including Gilbert.

Like anything involving Gilbert, this off-season will probably have some twists and turns and just enough wackiness to make it interesting.

Gilbert just came out with a new blog as the team gets ready for a pivotal Game 5 in Cleveland.  Unlike most of his blogs, it’s short, simple and to the point, which is expected since he’s got to stay focused for the game on Wednesday.

Here’s a passage from his latest:

If we’re going to pull out this series, we’re going to need a miracle. We’re going to have to dig. We’re going to have to play big. Everyone is going to have to bring their A games. We can’t have no let downs now.

It’s one of those things where we’re going into the lion’s den. That arena is going to be ready for us. They’re going to bring out the boo birds and call us every name you can possibly think of. They’re going to boo us from tip-off until the end of the game.

For us to silence that crowd, we’re going to have to get out to a quick start and try to get up big to get the fans out of it a little.

I’ve got a big paper that I’ve got to write, so I can’t get too in-depth right now, but here’s some recaps from Gilbert’s first day of practice from Wizards Insider, the Wizards website, and DC Sports Bog.

A few weeks back you may remember a post that linked to Oly Sandor’s argument that Gilbert should sit this season out.  Well, SVPStyle points out that in the comments section of that post that a baller name Sidney Pointer (not Sidney Poitier) asked for Gil’s help:

Agent 0 this is Sidney Pointer from Chattanooga,TN. I recently attended a workout for the Utah Flash. They told me that I was high on there List. But didn’t any thing happen. So I was wondering could you help a guy out trying to get connected playing ball in the states or overseas. Please help me out and contact me asap. Thanks so much.

You can also find a highlight reel of Pointer at SVPStyle.

The University of Arizona Wildcats will have a player in a #0 jersey this season but it won’t be Gilbert Arenas. Freshman guard Jerryd Bayless hand picked #0 after the number he wore in high school (#32) was unavailable and retired from former NBA player Sean Elliot.

Unlike Arenas, who wore the number because he was projected to get 0 minutes in college, Bayless is projected to be a full time starter throughout his college career. Still, he is fully aware of Gilbert’s legacy and knows that there are high expectations as the new college Agent Zero.

Besides Elliot, the other Arizona jersey numbers retired include Mike Bibby and Steve Kerr.

Even though Arenas will likely be one of the top players to ever come out of Arizona, don’t expect to see his #0 hanging from the Wildcat rafters anytime soon. The Arizona athletic department guidelines say, “Only student-athletes who were recognized as national athletes of the year or received a major national ‘athlete of the year’ honor are eligible for their jersey to be retired.”

Perhaps we will see an Arenas #0 jersey in the rafters of an NBA area when all is said and done.