AD is gaining steam

[UK Peregrine]

Below, I have pasted the relevant information on Daniels from the linked AD and Caron Butler article. It's a nice acknowledgement of Daniels's leadership and his adjustment to playing in D.C.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01635.html

Newcomers Have Sparked Wizards
Butler, Daniels Taking On Larger Roles

By Ivan Carter
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

If the Wizards are able to keep the momentum going, the team's two major offseason acquisitions, Butler and guard Antonio Daniels, likely will be major reasons why.

After struggling through the first portion of the season, Daniels finally is looking like the player who helped Seattle win 52 games last season and advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Daniels, a career 44.4 percent shooter, is making only 35.4 percent of his shots but has scored in double figures in five consecutive games, and his defense and decision making have been crucial factors in close wins over Boston, Indiana and Atlanta.

With guard Chucky Atkins out of the lineup for the last five games, Daniels's minutes have increased, and with the extra playing time he has grown more comfortable with his teammates and with the role assigned to him by Jordan, who is allowing Daniels to handle the ball more often as a point guard rather than having him run off screens like a traditional shooting guard.

When put on the floor with scorers such as Butler, Antawn Jamison and Gilbert Arenas, Daniels is creating headaches for opponents because of his ability to read the defense, penetrate and then either attack the basket or pass to an open man. In the last five games, Daniels's aggressiveness has earned him 31 free throw attempts (he has made 26 of them), and he has turned over the ball only five times.

"The coach and we as teammates are giving him chances to do what he does best, and that's using the pick-and-roll, getting into the paint and creating opportunities," Arenas said. "He'll come off the pick-and-roll, give you the hesitation [dribble] and get to the rim or pass to a teammate. That's what he's good at doing."

Daniels has been one of the more vocal players on the team all season, actively guiding teammates on defense and regularly huddling with Jordan for brief chats during stoppages of play. But he has been reluctant to go into detail about his own game.

"I'm not going to talk about myself, but as a team we are starting to come together," said Daniels, who is averaging 6.1 points and 2.6 assists per game. "We're starting to trust one another more, especially on the defensive end of the court, and that's leading to wins. When you trust one another and listen to what the coach is saying [and] go out and execute, the game becomes so much easier."