Countdown to Ernie Grunfeld Firing

[Knighthonor]

just search for Washington Wizards on facebook

found it. I am joining that mess. he has to go...


edit: dont get me wrong, I dont hate EG. I dont hate anybody. I do remember the good he done for this team. Gil Era was great.
But at the moment, its not working out. He has to go. Drafting JV was a huge mistake. Now we still have no cornerstone Shooting Guard, nor Small Forward.

[AFM]

Hush little baby dont say a word, Big Teddy Leonsy gonna fire this turd

[dangermouse]

Every morning i head straight to the wiretap to see if there is any good news.

One day, one day....

[willbcocks]

Every morning i head straight to the wiretap to see if there is any good news.

One day, one day....

+1, the news could come any day now.

[Tyrone Messby]

Ted is too much of a coward to fire this clown, we all just gotta..

[closg00]

Ted is too much of a coward to fire this clown, we all just gotta..

I don't get the photo, but+1, Ted isa clueless and mushy-soft owner.

[queridiculo]

Latest gem from Ted's blog of misinformation:

http://www.tedstake.com/2012/11/24/change-versus-too-much-change/

[...]

In fact, the best of franchises seem to have stability, longevity and dependability. This is the dilemma facing all of us in pro sports. Our most tenured player isn’t even in the lineup and this would be only his third season on the team.

[...]

We need to improve, we need to continually add more talent, we need to get healthy, and we need to settle in. But what we need most is a win right now. Wish us well tonight at Verizon Center.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

How are you going to add talent when the man in charge is quite obviously inept at identifying it? Stability doesn't mean **** if the same people keep making the same terrible decisions.

Fire Grunfeld already you coward!

[pineappleheadindc]

"....we need to add more talent."

By letting the guy who's designed this abomination of a roster have a 2-year extension.

Really, Ted?

EDITED TO ADD:

Sometime soon, Ted's blogposts will have all the credibility of statements from the Iraqi Information Minister. It's like he's living in his own bubble.

[P'Oed]

This guy is the biggest crook in this city. How the hell he has been able to get paid for the past several years while repeatedly putting together rosters that more closely resemble a steaming hot pile of human feces than basketball teams is beyond me. He's had his chance. Hell, he's had is 1,000,000th chance. Grow a pair of balls and fire this guy and start something new. It can't possibly get any worse than this. Honestly, I come to this board every week and wonder why we're all dumb enough to even care about this gaping hole of a franchise. From the top down, there's no pride and no respect for this city and its fans. We're not a laughing stock anymore; we're SO irrelevant that we can't even be made fun of. If anything, people feel badly for us. That's just who I want to root for and spend my money on; an absolute, total embarrassment. Sell the team if you don't really give a ****.

[dangermouse]

Latest gem from Ted's blog of misinformation:

http://www.tedstake.com/2012/11/24/change-versus-too-much-change/

[...]

In fact, the best of franchises seem to have stability, longevity and dependability. This is the dilemma facing all of us in pro sports. Our most tenured player isn’t even in the lineup and this would be only his third season on the team.

[...]

We need to improve, we need to continually add more talent, we need to get healthy, and we need to settle in. But what we need most is a win right now. Wish us well tonight at Verizon Center.

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

How are you going to add talent when the man in charge is quite obviously inept at identifying it? Stability doesn't mean **** if the same people keep making the same terrible decisions.

Fire Grunfeld already you coward!

"stability, longevity and dependability."

He's having a laugh.

Grunfeld is anything but dependable. Botched picks, getting absolutely robbed in trades. Unless Ted means you can coun't on him to SUCK.

Longevity? Only because you extended the bum. Under Grunfeld we're a revolving door for underachieving veterans on big contracts. The only longevity we have is as a bottom feeder team. Can't see it changing without making some changes mate. If something isnt working, you change it. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity, I can't remember who said that.

[Nivek]

Every time Ted speaks I wonder if I'm getting punked or something. He seems incapable of saying anything that doesn't indicate he's learned the wrong lessons about everything to do with basketball.

Good teams do have "stability, longevity and dependability" but those things aren't CAUSES of those teams being good, they're an OUTCOME. Good teams stay together because there's no reason to tear them apart -- THEY'RE GOOD. They don't become good by staying together, they get good, and then they're kept together.

Getting Some Veterans and adding Some Young Players and then Keeping Them Together won't make a winner unless the players are actually good. Getting good players comes before everything else, which is a lesson Ted and Grunfeld seem not to have learned yet.

[Mickstix]

Think about it.. Ted's never fired a single person in his tunure as Caps/Wiz owner.. (His "GM's" do all the firing) He's nothing but a scared fat cat who's ONLY concern is raking in the $$.. He's a coward of an owner.. Too afraid to fire one of his "buddies", as long as ticket sales are good, he'll continue on with his head in the sand and his hands in your pocket!

[montestewart]

More like "obscenity, monotony, and hilarity"

[Nivek]

Lemme put it this way, there is no amount of time an NBA team could have kept together a group like say Michael Adams, Harvey Grant, Larry Stewart, David Wingate, AJ English, Ledell Eackles and Charles Jones and been any good.

[TheKingOfVa360]

Every time Ted speaks I wonder if I'm getting punked or something. He seems incapable of saying anything that doesn't indicate he's learned the wrong lessons about everything to do with basketball.

Good teams do have "stability, longevity and dependability" but those things aren't CAUSES of those teams being good, they're an OUTCOME. Good teams stay together because there's no reason to tear them apart -- THEY'RE GOOD. They don't become good by staying together, they get good, and then they're kept together.

Getting Some Veterans and adding Some Young Players and then Keeping Them Together won't make a winner unless the players are actually good. Getting good players comes before everything else, which is a lesson Ted and Grunfeld seem not to have learned yet.

I agree 100 percent, you can't keep together a cast of below average players and expect for them to turn into winners over time. It just doesn't work like that. We need a new GM that knows how to put together a talented roster.

[closg00]

My read is that Ted doesn't know crap about basketball and he is just regurgitating what Ernie tells him. Ernie will never be fired.

[Nivek]

Here's what Ted's comments sound like, "We've gathered together some rocks in a very nice pile. Some of the rocks are a bit older. Some are younger, but are definitely prizes -- other people really wanted these newer rocks. Now we keep this pile of rocks together so that they'll turn into diamonds."

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My read is that Ted doesn't know crap about basketball and he is just regurgitating what Ernie tells him. Ernie will never be fired.

My read is you're right about his basketball acumen, closg00.

I think Ernie Grunfeld is like a big brother and a friend to this owner. The whole New York connection, both being Euro kids raised in America, and them in this together makes me think their connection is a lot like Wes and Abe Pollin. These two are like family. Wes was like Abe's son, seriously. They had tremendous love for one another.

Ted's in a tough spot because this is personal, his rapport with Ernie Grunfeld. It might prove MORE painful to the owner to have to fire his friend/brother.

Don't forget Ernie was a NYC school boy legend around the time Ted Leonsis was coming of age in NYC. We say fire and replace Ernie as if it's just a personnel move to Ted Leonsis, but clearly to me it is NOT.

[montestewart]

It may be difficult, emotional, and personal for Leonsis to fire EG, but that amounts to a high profile dysfunctional relationship playing out before our eyes and killing the team, with the fans as collateral damage, and the paying fans actually financially enabling that very particular and sad continuity, something of a betrayal of trust right there if you ask me.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

monte, I know I rant, emote, and go all over the place with my posts. The pragmatist and coldly analytical side of me says what this owner should do is ride it out all season with EG.

At the end of the season simply hire a new head coach if the Wizards haven't played impressive basketball. Hiring Ernie was the WRONG move, but Ted made that call and If I were him I would stick to it. The GM doesn't play the game or coach. If I were Ted I would shuffle my organizational structure by hiring a new scouting staff with someone pretty renowned in analytics. I would try to find Ernie a way out to save face at the end of the season, but I wouldn't fire "my boy" so soon after signing him to a new deal.

Just use this year to regroup and strategize for all the moves to be made in the offseason. Unless Wittman loses the team, I would ride it out with Randy, too.