Wizards coach Flip Saunders believes that Gilbert Arenas will be as good as he was before knee issues caused him to miss most of the last two seasons.

Saunders added that he knows he's going to butt heads with his star guard at times, something he's prepared for.

"He expresses opinions," Saunders told the Associated Press on Tuesday. "We're not going to agree a lot. That's part of the process as you go through. But when it comes down to it, you have to understand one thing. When I say we're going to play a certain way, that's the way we're going to play, whether you like it or not. He's starting to understand those things."

Washington went 19-63 last season, but Saunders came to town with a four-year, $18 million contract because he feels they are close to contending.

"I don't think there's any reason we shouldn't be able to compete with the elite teams in the East -- or in the league for that matter," said Saunders.

Saunders has already put his own stamp on the team, scraping Eddie Jordan's Princeton-style offense in favor of a system that will allow Arenas to make plays.

"He's in a totally different situation. He's going to have the ball in his hands 80 percent of the time. He's going to make decisions," the coach added. "He has a great opportunity to really improve a lot."