Arenas still among MVP candidates

Gilbert Arenas' game-winning 3-pointer against the Jazz back in mid-January left fans of the Washington Wizards guard thinking quite highly of their hero, as he exited the Verizon Center after a 51-point performance to chants of "MVP, MVP."

Two-plus months later, Arenas — who visits EnergySolutions Arena tonight with the Wizards — remains a top-five MVP candidate, though arguably behind front-runners Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas and Phoenix's Steve Nash.

Teammate Caron Butler, however, has vaulted Arenas all the way to superhero status.

"He's a superstar," Butler said. "When he's called upon, he puts on his cape and flies around the court and makes things happen."

The Jazz, for their part, know the three-time All-Star is no comic-book joke. In fact, they left Washington with a healthy respect for the popular character nicknamed Agent Zero.

"He's a great player," point guard Deron Williams said.

"Honestly," center Mehmet Okur added, "he's one of the best scorers in the league. ... Once he gets hot, it's hard to stop him."

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan also seems to have a healthy respect for Arenas' game.

"He isolates guys. He even looks at guys' feet. They drop their head down, and, bam, before they can even pick their head up he's shooting in their face or beating you off the dribble," said Sloan, who noted that Arenas has both tremendous quickness and terrific range. "He's got a little bit of everything you'd want in a player, plus he's got the ability to step up and make it when (a game's) on the line. That's what makes him a great player."

Beyond that, Arenas — who is averaging 28.9 points per game, trailing only league leaders Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver's Carmelo Anthony as of Sunday — has a seemingly innate ability to call his shot.

He did it against the Jazz in January, predicting his game-winner during a timeout shortly before the end of Washington's 114-111 win over Utah.

"He came into the huddle and said he wasn't down with overtime," Butler said. "Everybody was looking at him, and believed in him."

ALUMNI UPDATE: According to the Orlando Sentinel, "Although he was banished from the regular rotation and virtually buried on the bench less than two weeks ago, (ex-Jazz point guard) Carlos Arroyo suddenly has re-emerged as a spark to the Magic's often-sputtering offense."