The Amazingly Suck Theodore Leonsis Thread

[Nivek]

Instead of trying to "change the culture" by bringing in "veterans" perhaps the Wizards could trying something truly radical to improve the team: Find better basketball players.

Find players who are more skilled, and you're finding players who are more likely to bring about this magical culture change. This is because the way to acquire skill is through persistent work over an extended period of time.

[TGW]

Frank Hanrahan on 106.7 this morning said that Ernie and Wittman both agreed to take pay cuts to stay on this year.

Not surprising. Penny-wise, pound foolish I guess.

[payitforward]

Frank Hanrahan on 106.7 this morning said that Ernie and Wittman both agreed to take pay cuts to stay on this year.

So the guys on the show came to the conclusion that Ted is just too cheap to hire a real GM and coach.

If this keeps up it won't be long before we're all waxing nostalgic for the good old days with the Pollins and Susan O'Malley.

He can do it himself; he is "hands on." Plus he has his son. His son is the head of the Wizards "advanced statistics" department. For example, I assume he's the guy to who explained to dad that A.J. Price improved the Pacers' defense when he was on the floor, which Ted explained as part of their "dull diligence." Wait a minute, make that "due-due diligence."

[Nivek]

That would be the same crack "advanced statistics" department that had the front office convinced they were getting a steal when they traded for Yi.

[closg00]

Frank Hanrahan on 106.7 this morning said that Ernie and Wittman both agreed to take pay cuts to stay on this year.

So the guys on the show came to the conclusion that Ted is just too cheap to hire a real GM and coach.

If this keeps up it won't be long before we're all waxing nostalgic for the good old days with the Pollins and Susan O'Malley.

He can do it himself; he is "hands on." Plus he has his son. His son is the head of the Wizards "advanced statistics" department. For example, I assume he's the guy to who explained to dad that A.J. Price improved the Pacers' defense when he was on the floor, which Ted explained as part of their "dull diligence." Wait a minute, make that "due-due diligence."

This his getting even more depressing, it's going to take empty seats and a revolt of season ticket-holders to get Ted to do change anything. I imagine Ted going to Ernie and asking him "what can we do"?

[dangermouse]

That is the worst news ever.

Welp. Looks like we are stuck being the new Clippers for the rest of the decade.

Hopefully we get the #1 pick again and Shabazz turns out to be a franchise-changing talent. Adding someone like that to the roster may be the only way we sniff the playoffs again in the forseeable future.

[pineappleheadindc]

.
When he bought into the Wizards from Abe, never in a million years would I have guessed that Ted Leonsis was Donald Sterling in disguise.

Sell the Wizards, Ted.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

.
When he bought into the Wizards from Abe, never in a million years would I have guessed that Ted Leonsis was Donald Sterling in disguise.

Sell the Wizards, Ted.

When I heard Ted was sitting with the part owner of the Nationals, I got the thought I hope Leonsis sells.

[tontoz]

Ariza's TS% of 41% is 64th out of 68 small forwards listed in Hollingers rankings.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinge ... Pct/page/2

Nobody who plays as many minutes as Ariza shoots worse at the 3.

Meanwhile Okafors TS% of 44.3% ranks 45th out of 48 centers.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinge ... hootingPct

Great trade.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

tontoz, Denny Green would say of Okafor and Ariza, "They are who we thought they were."

Ernie Grunfeld and Ted Leonsis should have known this from their last few seasons with the Hornets. Instead, to get Okariza for Lewis, they gave the Hornets cap room to sign Ryan Anderson and a pick that turned out to be Darius Miller, a player better than Vesely or Satoransky, most likely.

Lunacy, ineptitude, mismanagement … whatever the reasons it goes a long way towards explaining the Wizards 0-12.

[Jay81]

Ted is shockingly delusional. He is either in denial...or just defiant. It seems like the more that people want Ernie fired, the more he holds his position.

No amount of bonding,practice,character,etc is going to fix this team. Basketball is about talent first.

[tontoz]

There are some pretty harsh comments in his blog that haven't been taken down.

[w dumseld]

Nice to see Realgm posters posting on Ted's Take. He doesn't hire a new GM because he doesn't know how. Look at him. He never played basketball in his life. EG said he has these high speed cameras that showed Ariza and Okafor were undervalued talents. We should've received the #10 pick in that trade. Instead we gave up a 2nd rounder. He's in a gun fight armed with a squirt gun. If he hasn't figured that part out already, then maybe he won't ever truly get it. Sucks for us...

[Nivek]

I pointed out in my blog that Ariza is highly likely to start shooting better. He's never been a particularly good shooter, but he's never shot this bad for a season. Regression to the mean goes both ways. He's been in a bad stretch thus far, but he's more likely to start shooting better than to continue shooting this bad.

[w dumseld]

Wow, awesome blog. I'm impressed with how bad Vesley is. I wonder on your system if James Singleton is 2x better than Jan Vesley or 3x or 4x or 5x or 10x. Ouch! We need to bring over Satoransky to see how low your system can go.

Love the Redskin stuff. What would the odds of making the playoffs be if we beat the Giants?

Keep strong Wizard fans. Just mark on your calendar our first home game against Brooklyn. When Blatche hits us up for 25 and 10, the boos will be so loud that even Ted will hear them.

[Nivek]

Wow, awesome blog. I'm impressed with how bad Vesley is. I wonder on your system if James Singleton is 2x better than Jan Vesley or 3x or 4x or 5x or 10x. Ouch! We need to bring over Satoransky to see how low your system can go.

Thanks for the kind words. Vesely is pretty close to scraping bottom. Pargo, of course, was even worse. Last season, Singleton rated a 154 in my system -- about double what Vesely produced last season (73). Vesely was a lot more productive toward the end of last season, however.

Love the Redskin stuff. What would the odds of making the playoffs be if we beat the Giants?

I'm away from the spreadsheet I used to estimate those odds, but with just an eyeball estimate, I'm thinking it would be about a coin flip chance. As of now, I think Skins could/should be favored to win each of their remaining games. "Favored" is probably too strong a word though -- the Giants, Eagles and Browns games really are coin flip odds. The numbers suggest Skins should be solid favorites against the Ravens, but I think that's closer to 50/50 as well.

[w dumseld]

Wow, so -16 versus 154. That sounds like at least 10 times better.

CCJ's head might explode.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Nice to see Realgm posters posting on Ted's Take. He doesn't hire a new GM because he doesn't know how. Look at him. He never played basketball in his life. EG said he has these high speed cameras that showed Ariza and Okafor were undervalued talents. We should've received the #10 pick in that trade. Instead we gave up a 2nd rounder. He's in a gun fight armed with a squirt gun. If he hasn't figured that part out already, then maybe he won't ever truly get it. Sucks for us...

w dumseld, I would help Ted out for free.

I could go either "Thanks for your dedication and all your hard work, Ernie" or "Dude, get your shyt and go". We could have security escort him out. I would let him speak his peace. In the end I'd tell him he's fortunate to have done what he did for as badly as he did it for as long as he got away with it.

I respect Ernie because he's smarter than I am. He kept his job and got paid a long, long, time in spite of. We all should be so talented!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Wow, awesome blog. I'm impressed with how bad Vesley is. I wonder on your system if James Singleton is 2x better than Jan Vesley or 3x or 4x or 5x or 10x. Ouch! We need to bring over Satoransky to see how low your system can go.

Thanks for the kind words. Vesely is pretty close to scraping bottom. Pargo, of course, was even worse. Last season, Singleton rated a 154 in my system -- about double what Vesely produced last season (73). Vesely was a lot more productive toward the end of last season, however.

Nivek, I would venture to guess Vesely was a lot better playing with James Singleton on the court at the same time. I remember Singleton hitting a lot of midrange shots and spacing the floor while still manning the PF spot. That enabled Jan to get away with playing C.

Vesely also played well with Nene (for the same reason) and when Kevin was on his amazing double double streak last season. Both players commented they liked playing with Vesely.

The main thing wrong with Vesely IMO is Ted/EG screwed up the roster. That's the same reason why Wittman has lost every single game.

They should have just given James Singleton a contract and not brought in Okafor and Ariza.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Wow, so -16 versus 154. That sounds like at least 10 times better.

CCJ's head might explode.

TOO LATE.

Being a Wizard fan and obsessing on their misfortunes as I do, I feel like I would have been right at home on the inside, next to the Chief and Jack Nicholson, in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Seriously, the Wizards are so bad it is very entertaining to me. When they're not infuriating I find myself shaking my head.

Ted and Ernie … short bus …

IF YOU ARE WITH THE WIZARDS, PLEASE DO NOT GET ANGRY. THINK OF THIS: Last year the Bobcats were 7-59 and everyone was laughing at MJ. Now, they're 7-6. They might not be THAT good, but they are no longer a laughing stock. Ted can turn this around if he mans up and gets rid of the real source of most of his problems.