Countdown to Ernie Grunfeld Firing

[jivelikenice]

After the deadline, I hope Ernie takes a hard look at the d-league. A couple ex G'Town grads could contribute on this roster in reserve roles. I'd really like to see the team take a hard loomat Summers and Wright....

[payitforward]

And clearly John Wall was a mistake. We should have picked... who? Evan Turner? Derrick Favors? Wesley Johnson? Cousins?

Cousins is the only one on this list who might be better than Wall. But the reason he was picked fifth is on display for all to see.

As for Jan, I guess we should have drafted Kemba Walker. Would be a really awkward situation though since Wall and Kemba are both PGs. Yes I'd rather have Wall than Kemba but I'd rather have Kemba than Vesely...

The "rather than Vesely" list is a long one, alas! Yet, weirdly, he played well towards the end of last year. But he's really not an NBA kind of player.

As to whom to take instead -- why Walker? We had the opportunity to take Leonard, Faried and Chandler Parsons in 2011. Any two of them would have been a competent draft and changed the team significantly. I underestimated Leonard, but I certainly had him as a better choice than Vesely! Faried was a no-brainer where we took Singleton. And Chandler Parsons, off his numbers and the draft-season videos of his workouts, was an obvious steal.

Worth mentioning that I'm not sure any other team has had to cut their 2011 round 2 pick once he was signed. Another demonstration of Ernie's ability to pick 'em.

I wonder if Parsons was even an obvious steal to the Rockets. If they knew he was going to be this good, they would have taken him earlier than 38- they took Marcus Morris (ahead of Leaonard and Faried) and Nikola Mirotic with the 23rd pick.

Just saw this response...

1. No one *knows* how good a player is going to be. You are always risking something. So that's not the point.

2. I'm sure GMs rank players in groups based on where they think they're going to be picked, and they try to give themselves a chance to maximize their draft. If you think you can get e.g. Parsons in Round 2, then you don't take him mid-first round. You want two prospects -- you want the maximum value out of your draft.

3. Parsons was a 4-year college player. He'll turn 25 this Fall. His college numbers were good, and it's not that big a surprise for him to be playing well this early in his NBA career.

But you are right that they took Morris w/ Leonard and Faried still on the board. Then they took Motiejunas -- with Faried *still* on the board.

So... just like the Wizards, the Rockets could have had Leonard, Faried and Parsons. On the other hand, they did a lot better than we did, wouldn't you say? Morris is a rotation player, Motiejunas I think is going to be a very good NBA player. Parsons we know about.

We got Vesely, Singleton and Shelvin Mack. All our picks were before theirs. I.e. the fact that they didn't "know" Parsons would excel doesn't change the fact that they out-drafted us by a mile!

[montestewart]

For every player EG missed out on, you can argue that many other GMs passed up on the same player. The difference between EG and those other GMs is his record as Wizards GM. EG can't afford to go 0-3 in a draft.

[TheBigThree]

Dude better be thanking his lucky stars that Ted is the owner of this team. Ted's shown for years now with the Capitals the inability to recognize long-term dysfunction and being blinded by what appears to be short term success.

EG isn't going anywhere.

[closg00]

Sooo, the latest reports are that EG is hard for Josh Smith. Who wants to play odds-maker? Specifically that our 2013 lottery pick will be gone along with Okafor most-likely.

[manifested]

What would it actually take to get Ernie fired? I've gotten no sense from Leonsis that Ernie is accountable in any way.

For comparison, it took hiring Jim Zorn for Dan Snyder to switch up and get rid of Cerrato, at least according to Snyder. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc- ... -jim-zorn/

It took complete and total embarrassment both on the scoreboard and in operations (hiring the bingo caller, swinging gate) before the Skins got someone who would pay attention to his scouts, use draft picks more judiciously, and put a stop to the silly contracts. Unfortunately, it was two years of Jim Zorn's amateur hour that finally led to Cerrato's dismissal, not the poor use of assets.

If the last several years (culminating with an upper potential of being a 7th or 8th seed next year) haven't been rock bottom, what qualifies as rock bottom?

[Dat2U]

Sooo, the latest reports are that EG is hard for Josh Smith. Who wants to play odds-maker? Specifically that our 2013 lottery pick will be gone along with Okafor most-likely.

I'd consider trading the 2013 pick in an Okafor/Horford swap... but definitely not for Smith.

[dandridge 10]

The Wizards sent me a season ticket holder survey the other day asking what my chances were for renewing next year. I responded "unlikely." In response to the question asking what services they could provide to make it more likely I would renew, I just wrote, "Fire Ernie Grunfeld." I hope other season ticket holders are replying in the same fashion.

[nate33]

Sooo, the latest reports are that EG is hard for Josh Smith. Who wants to play odds-maker? Specifically that our 2013 lottery pick will be gone along with Okafor most-likely.

I'd consider trading the 2013 pick in an Okafor/Horford swap... but definitely not for Smith.

That would be awesome!

[FAH1223]

The Wizards sent me a season ticket holder survey the other day asking what my chances were for renewing next year. I responded "unlikely." In response to the question asking what services they could provide to make it more likely I would renew, I just wrote, "Fire Ernie Grunfeld." I hope other season ticket holders are replying in the same fashion.

[Ruzious]

Can any other front office boast that they've created 2 good candidates for Executive of the Year? Dell Demps and Darryl Morey owe their success to Washington. Of course, they never worked for Washington, but ya can't have everything.

[Jay81]

Ernie is out of his league. He is like a guy with a degree from NOVA trying to do business with guys who went to Harvard business school

[Higga]

Ernie is out of his league. He is like a guy with a degree from NOVA trying to do business with guys who went to Harvard business school

That's disrespectful....to anyone who went to NOVA. Ernie is more like a High School dropout.

Grunfeld is just out of his league now. Modern GMs are smart, analytical, and understand economics and statistics. Grunfeld is part of the old guard, guys who got FO positions because they played and/or coached. Not in tune with reality anymore.

It made sense that an old timer like Abe Pollin would keep him around, but I'm shocked Leonsis who's supposed to be pretty smart is sticking with this out of touch loser.

[mohammed10]

Ernie is out of his league. He is like a guy with a degree from NOVA trying to do business with guys who went to Harvard business school

That's disrespectful....to anyone who went to NOVA. Ernie is more like a High School dropout.

Grunfeld is just out of his league now. Modern GMs are smart, analytical, and understand economics and statistics. Grunfeld is part of the old guard, guys who got FO positions because they played and/or coached. Not in tune with reality anymore.

It made sense that an old timer like Abe Pollin would keep him around, but I'm shocked Leonsis who's supposed to be pretty smart is sticking with this out of touch loser.

But that's the thing - I think Ted is out of touch as well. Sure he is a media mogul, connecting with fans via e-mail and his incessant blog post drivel about Bon Jovi, etc. But he seems to be as inept as an owner as Ernie is as GM. It's a match made in heaven.

[Higga]

Ernie is out of his league. He is like a guy with a degree from NOVA trying to do business with guys who went to Harvard business school

That's disrespectful....to anyone who went to NOVA. Ernie is more like a High School dropout.

Grunfeld is just out of his league now. Modern GMs are smart, analytical, and understand economics and statistics. Grunfeld is part of the old guard, guys who got FO positions because they played and/or coached. Not in tune with reality anymore.

It made sense that an old timer like Abe Pollin would keep him around, but I'm shocked Leonsis who's supposed to be pretty smart is sticking with this out of touch loser.

But that's the thing - I think Ted is out of touch as well. Sure he is a media mogul, connecting with fans via e-mail and his incessant blog post drivel about Bon Jovi, etc. But he seems to be as inept as an owner as Ernie is as GM. It's a match made in heaven.

Yep, that seems to be the case. Very very disappointing.

Gonna be another 30+ years of futility it looks like.

Thank god the Skins and Nats are well run franchises, so we still have good sports for about 9 out of the 12 months of the year.

[pineappleheadindc]

Sign and promote this petition:

Fire Ernie: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fireernie/

[mohammed10]

Sign and promote this petition:

Fire Ernie: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fireernie/

Done!

Also e-mailed to my fellow Wizards friends

[FAH1223]

Sign and promote this petition:

Fire Ernie: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fireernie/

done

[dandrews]

Even if we do fire Ernie, does anyone expect Ted to hire an actual competent GM.

Let's give the Wizards to Sacramento so I can start the process of finding a new team sooner than later.

[FAH1223]

Even if we do fire Ernie, does anyone expect Ted to hire an actual competent GM.

Let's give the Wizards to Sacramento so I can start the process of finding a new team sooner than later.

Ted has never fired and then hired a new GM, so we have no idea.