The beginning of preparations for the 2007-08 National Basketball Association (NBA) season for the Washington Wizards franchise was decidedly uneventful.

The Wizards chose to retain most of their 2006-07 roster, only losing Jarvis Hayes (Detroit), Calvin Booth (Philadelphia) and Michael Ruffin (Milwaukee).

Washington opted to sign 2006 overseas draft pick, Ukrainian Oleksiy Pecherov, and had two picks in the 2007 NBA draft, acquiring Nick Young with pick 16, and Dominic McGuire with pck 47.

Before the season had even started, the Wizards lost Etan Thomas, who had to undergo open-heart surgery, and wouldn't play at all in 2007-08.

The regular season could not have started any worse for the Wizards, as they lost their opening five games.

However, they rebounded to win their next six straight, before again slumping, losing four of their final five games for the month of November, finishing the month with a 7-9 win-loss record.

December starting very promisingly for the Wizards, as they won six of their first seven games for the month, however dropping four of their last six games for 2007 undid most of their good work, finishing the year with a 15-14 win-loss record.

The new year was quite productive for the boys from the capital city, as they went 9-6 for the month of January, a highlight being consecutive victories over the all-conquering Boston Celtics.

Finishing January with a 24-20 win-loss record had the Wizards firmly entrenched in the top-half of the Eastern conference standings, and in-line for a playoffs berth.

However, in February, things suddenly went pear-shaped. The team had already lost the immensely talented Gilbert Arenas with a torn medial ligament in his knee, an injury which would keep him out until the final few regular season games.

They also had now lost the well-performing team co-captain Caron Butler with an initially-misdiagnosed labral tear, an injury which would keep him out for 20 games in total.

Missing such talent partly explains why the Wizards lost their first seven games of February, and nine of their first 10, en route to a disastrous 4-10 record for the month.

Finishing February with a 28-30 win-loss record had the Wizards precariously placed in the playoff race, and as with so many months, March was going to be decisive in seeing whether the Wizards had the gumption to gain a spot in the playoffs.

With stirring victories over the highly-fancied Cavaliers and Pistons, the Wizards stood

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