Post Season Player Grades

It had slipped my mind to post my post season player grades for the Wizards, but I'm on top of things now. Here are my mid season player grades. So let's see if players were able to improve on their mid-term grades.

Goalkeepers

Kevin Hartman - Did what was expected of him, he was an improvement in net over Oshoniyi, though the stats do not show it. Will be interesting to see if age continues to catch up with him over the course of next season. B-

Eric Kronberg - Did not play a first team minute this season. INC

Chris Konopka - See Kronberg. INC

Defenders

Jimmy Conrad - Not the Groins best season in KC, but Captain Kansas has continued to be a rock in the middle of defense for Kansas City. B+

Jack Jewsbury - Jack did well in his first season after making the move from midfielder to wingback. Was able to still get into the attack some, as well as making some good defensive plays. I still don't think he's the long term answer at that position, but he certainly showed himself capable of playing there. B

Aaron Hohlbein - After appearing in 5 games early in the season, Hohlbein disappeared from the team for the rest of the season. He did not make a first team appearance after July. Still some good quality minutes from the rookie, and some high hopes for the future. B-

Tyson Wahl - Seemed to gain the number 3 center back spot from Hohlbein around the midpoint of the season, as Wahl was the only one of the two to appear after the midpoint of the season. Did well in his few appearances, but I'm still not sold on the guy. B-

Nick Garcia - Has really started to show his age this season. He's not the same player he was a few years ago. How much longer he remains a starter remains to be seen, but another season like this one could see Nick playing a lot less. C+

Ryan Raybould - Played a much bigger role in the second half of the season, after a slow first half. Was a very serviceable sub, being able to play both wingback and the wing. C+

Jose Burciaga Jr. - Onalfo finally got tired of the mistakes that Jose was making from the left back slot. He lost the spot to Michael Harrington, and was moved into the midfield, where he still had trouble. Finally after two costly mistakes in New York, Burciaga was benched and only got garbage minutes the rest of the season. Very easily could be his last season in blue. D+

Midfielders

Michael Harrington - The Wizards first round pick showed himself to be a fantastic selection with the number 3 pick. He was second on the team in appearances, 5th on the team in goals and assists. He did start to fade late in the season, which likely cost him the rookie of the year. Still a good season by the rookie. A-

Davy Arnaud - Continues to be the heart and engine of the Wizards. Seems to be giving his all in every single game. He's not the most talented player, but is that blue collar player that fans love. B+

Sasha Victorine - Found himself in a role of coming off the bench late in the season due to the emergence of Morsink, but was still able to be second on the team in assists. A good season by the veteran, but he's likely going to be the supersub/bit starter from now on. B

Kerry Zavagnin - Zavagnin was able to come back from a poor season last year, and picked up his play this year. He set a career high this year with 3 goals, all 3 of which were highlight worthy strikes. He's moving into more of a mentor role for Morsink now, as Onalfo has said that him(Morsink) and Marinelli are his midfield pairing of the future. B

Carlos Marinelli - Had a bright start to the season, and played decently. But faded drastically as the season progressed. Too many injuries, and too much time to get to full fitness. He'll get at least 1 more season to prove that he can stay fit, if not, we'll see why he hasn't been with any of the clubs he's played with very long. C+

Kurt Morsink - The Wizards 4th round pick got a lot of playing time as the season progressed. He still has plenty of stuff he needs to improve on, specifically his passing, but for where he was drafted, the Wizards got a lot out of him. C+

Eloy Colombano - Joined the Wizards late on in the season, and only played in 310 minutes, but showed a lot of promise, and looked to remind a lot of fans of Arnaud with his hustle and work ethic. INC

Edson Elcock - Did not appear for the first team this year. INC

A.J. Godbolt - See Elcock. INC

Will John - 3 games, 26 minutes, not enough to give a proper grade. INC

Michael Kraus - See Elock. INC

Amir Lowery - See Elcock. INC

Ryan McMahen - Missed the entire season with an ACL tear. INC

Lance Watson - 2 games, 23 regular season minutes and a token substitute appearance against Chivas in the playoffs for Scrappy is not enough for a proper grade. INC

Forwards

Eddie Johnson - Was a leading MVP candidate over the first half of the season, but after my first half player grades, Johnson only scored 6 goals the rest of the way. That's not the output you want or expect from an MVP candidate. Still miles ahead of his performance in 2006 though. B

Scott Sealy - At the mid point of the season, I was ready to give him a failing grade, but he came back and picked up greatly when Johnson started to struggle. Scored two of the Wizards biggest goals in a while in the 2-0 win in the season finale in Dallas. B

Ryan Pore - Seventeen games this season, zero goals for the Wizards forward. Not exactly the output you expect from a forward. He had a chance to really step up and state a claim for the number 3 striker spot when Yura Movsisyan was traded, but he couldn't do it effectively. C

Willy Guadarrama - Did not make a first team appearance this season. INC

Coach

Curt Onalfo - Looked like either the league caught onto his tactics as the season progressed, or he didn't have the right personnel for the system he wanted to play. Either way his early season success was tainted by the way that the Wizards finished the season. Still, he's definitely got a keen soccer mind and will come back with something new next year. B-