Last Season:	42-40
Preview prediction:	50-32
Oddsmakers:	40-42

The Washington Wizards are the last Eastern Conference team to be covered by NBA Blog Previews. Mike from Bullets Fever offers a great companion/rebuttal to the John Hollinger preview. Of course, he's a bit more optimistic:

Many people have the Wizards pegged for a similar season, with a possible drop out of the playoffs. Naturally, I disagree with those predictions. There are those who wonder aloud whether the defense can ever be decent, and while those are legitimate claims, we need not look further than Dallas last season and Seattle the season before to illustrate that teams can improve their defense without making significant changes to the team’s core. In addition, the Wizards had the point differential of a 46-47 win team last year, and I don’t expect them to be as unlucky again. They’ll win more of those close games this season.

Mike also laments the team's mediocrity over the past 25 years:

The psyche of a Washington basketball supporter is one that is unlike any other in the NBA. Let’s consider the history. One playoff series win from the end of the Bullets Fever era of 78-79 to 2005. No seasons with more than 45 wins since 1979. 10 different head coaches in the last 10 years. One ridiculous name change. These are just a few of the things that drive a Washington fan crazy.

It's clear from the chart below that Washington has been through a tough stretch. There are 2 other teams that have also lost consistently over that period, and they're coincidentally up next on the preview schedule:

• The Clippers (up Friday) have been the worst, enduring a 15-year playoff drought as well as an 8-year drought since 1977. But like the Wizards, they're on an upswing.
• The Warriors are still bad ... much more on them tomorrow.