The Wizards have struggled offensively, and Gilbert Arenas believes the reason is that he's thinking too much.
Arenas is the primary decision-maker in new coach Flip Saunders' offense.
"I find myself doing more thinking than I am just reacting, off my instincts. Players in this league, they react," Arenas said.
"I was a reactor. Now I find myself being a thinker. I'm sitting there concentrating on getting assists -- averaging eight assists, averaging nine assists -- because I want to be labeled a 'point guard.' You see the players out there, Chris Paul averaging 20 [points] and 10 [assists], and you know they consider him the best point guard. So you put that in your mind, like, 'Man, in this system I can average 20 and 10. Let me go average 20 and 10.' And then I catch myself trying to force it."
Washington teammate DeShawn Stevenson complained to Arenas following the team's 106-103 loss to Detroit on Saturday night.
"He said: 'Before, this wouldn't have happened. You would have taken over the fourth quarter, even if you had to take every shot,' " said Arenas. "It's frustrating for me because I know I can take over in fourth quarters. But I don't want to take away from the team."
Arenas is averaging 23.4 points, 6.3 assists and 4.4 turnovers through nine games.