Countdown to Ernie Grunfeld Firing

[Mickstix]

If EG figures out how to get livingston, webster, and ariza to commit beyond this season before the end of December, i believe that is grounds for giving EG a contract extension.

Ernie, you sly dog you! Wazup bro?

[noworriesinmd]

Ravens fire Cameron!

I was listening to ESPN last night. They were ranking franchises that just want to win a Super Bowl.
The Ravens were in the First Tier.


Difference between a mediocre and great franchise is that a great franchise will NEVER embrace mediocrity, while a mediocre franchise makes excuses.

When LA thought they were going in the wrong direction, they quickly fired the coach and replaced with a "better" one.

When Baltimore broke their home winning streak AND lost twice in a row for the first time in YEARS, they made an organizational change.

In Washington, we talk about how we are not a destination. How we need continuity.

EG, not the coach, should have been gone years ago. We are a destination. Players want to win championships and get paid.

I was listening to the Junkies interview an ex Raven...forgot his name. He had played with other teams before coming to Baltimore...but he said..."once a Raven, always a Raven." They have an identity, a system. Even if they didn't have Ray Lewis, they'd still be good.

Washington should have a system a program...but we don't. The Raven's move took me by surprise, but they sent a clear message. The Wizards send a messages to the league, players, and fans that they are not truly serious. I really hope Ted figures it out soon.

[pancakes3]

I agree but also think that
a) It's really hard to get grown men, especially athletes to buy into a system
b) It's really hard to build that system without a leader or established cred
c) Randy Whitman looks to have some cache but EG HAS to go. Players aren't dummies. Booker is mad that Ves and Singleton are drafted who are in turn mad that Ariza was signed who in turn is pissed that Webster was signed. If we can see it, they can definitely see it too. And you think we're mad that crawford is a ballhogging gunner? Try playing on the court and losing with that guy. Despite all of this, they like Whit. So... who do they resent? Management. Easy peasy.

[closg00]

+2 to Pancakes and noworriesinmd, unfortunately Ted is under Ernie's spell. Ted does not have the golatas to really shake things-up properly.

[Mickstix]

Yea, Ted's happy just selling tickets.. Which is a little odd, after seeing how empty the arena looked during one of the games I saw on NBANet.. But, like with the Caps he's afraid to take any real chances, in fear of.. Hell, Im not even buying that anymore.. What the hell is he waiting for?? The Bullets **** suck for cripes sake?? At least the Caps are relavant.. Im beginning to think Ted just doesnt have the nads to fire ANYONE!! He's not fired a single person since he bought the teams.. Always lets his GM's do the dirty work.. Dude is just a piss poor owner..

[closg00]

WHAT ME WORRY

The more injuries the-better for Ernie. I think the chances of him getting fired are pretty close to zero now that he has the injury excuse to sell......again.

[leswizards]

WHAT ME WORRY

The more injuries the-better for Ernie. I think the chances of him getting fired are pretty close to zero now that he has the injury excuse to sell......again.

The injury excuse is BS. Going into this season, the complaint was the Wizards were way too loaded in the front court. Hence, Nene's injury should have caused the Wizards very little concern. Yet, it has because Seraphin, Jan, and Booker have all regressed to a certain degree, while Okafor has not returned to his career form after a bad last season. Furthermore, Wall's injury was known about for some time, yet EG decided to do nothing to get a PG who would actually be capable of starting in Wall's absence.

[Higga]

David Aldridge just said it best:

"It's okay to build thru the draft...if you draft guys who can actually play."

Yep, it's that simple.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It would help if they kept draft picks. Steph Curry is tearing it up right now. The Wizards gave away that #5 pick that could have been Curry. In that same draft they sold the #32 pick that could have been DeJuan Blair.

I was not pleased with Ernie on draft night in 2009.

The Timberwolves drafted Ricky Rubio #5. The Wizards did not even press the Wolves to include the #18 pick they had that season. That pick turned out to be Ty Lawson.

While the Wizards frittered away picks, other better teams built nicely through the draft as the Wizards might have if they had a better GM than EFG.

[closg00]

Reading the box scores is soooo depressing. The list of names to choose the biggest missed- opportunity is long, but the most painful "one that got away" (and there are many), might be a toss-up between Rubio and Curry. After them is the blown 6th pick. Biyombo got a double-double last night. the list of guys who could have made this team better from that draft is very long.

[Silvie Lysandra]

Just for fun, I went through the first 25 pages of the OkaRiza trade thread and noted down the first impressions of everyone who posted (Unless I knew they were from another board, or had less than 100 posts). Here is where we all stood on that fateful day...

Sadly, I didn't get in my post until page 66.

Tell me, what makes this trade so good? Because you've heard of Emeka Okafor? Because he was a good player 3 or 4 years ago? That is Vinny Ceratto-tier thinking, just bring in random "names" that don't fit the team, and then sell "hope". It is the EXACT same logic as the Miller and Foye deal, where getting overpaid veteran backups was supposed to have much more impact than it actually did.

EG is worse than Vinny ever was though. Vinny on his worst day > EG on his best day. Vinny drafted Sean Taylor over Winslow, and drafted Chris Cooley in the 3rd round. He's actually drafted star-level players like Rak and Fred Davis. Grunfeld has drafted exactly ONE All-Star since 1999. He's traded for All-Stars, but drafted them? Nope. What a joke.

Danny, please buy the Wizards.

[closg00]

Did anyone just hear SVG on AM 980? SVG said:

*John Wall is not a player to build a team around, he is very fast, but has not demonstrated good decision-making
*Our roster does not make any sense

SVG danced around the edges, but you can read between the lines.

[hands11]

Just for fun, I went through the first 25 pages of the OkaRiza trade thread and noted down the first impressions of everyone who posted (Unless I knew they were from another board, or had less than 100 posts). Here is where we all stood on that fateful day...

FOR OkaRiza

• LyricalRico
• Rafael122
• dandrews
• Halcyon
• GUYANNAGRIZZLI
• Ironpanthr
• AWIZZINGBULLET
• DCZards
• Floater
• SUPERBALLMAN
• VictorPage44
• BruceO
• queridiculo**
• dlts20
• zardsfan

AGAINST OkaRiza

Montestewart
KevinFCheng
nate33
WallTown02
TGW
Severn Hoos
Ruzious
colts18
sashae
Jay81
keynote
nuposse04
miller31time
closg00
TheKingOfVa360
Dat2U
Captain_Obvious
Nivek
mohammed10
JonathanJoseph
barelyawake
Wizards2Lottery
Benjammin
MJG
dobrojim
tontoz
WizarDynasty
truwizfan4evr
fishercob
Upper Decker
jimij
MikeTheKid
Wizardspride
Illuminaire
FAH1223
MF23
Chocolate City Jordanaire
7-Day Dray
Benjammin
hands11***
The Consiglieri
willbcocks
go'stags

ON THE FENCE

Higga
Wizstorm
W. Unseld
MDStar
dandridge 10
kirubel94
penbeast0
Jimmy Recard
WashWiz54

Who The Heck Knows???

80sballboy
Saqs
jivelikenice
GhostsOfGil
McGully Culkin
AFM
verbal8

**Flipped back and forth a few times, but argued for the trade more often than against.
***Hands was actually against the trade as of page24. Not sure when he started in on the Koolaid flavored jello-shots.

In summary, 58.66% of posters were clearly against the trade, 20.00% were [s]bat-crazy[/s] for the trade, and 21.33% were in denial.

***Hands was actually against the trade as of page24. Not sure when he started in on the Koolaid flavored jello-shots.

I love me some Koolaid flavored jello-shots. leads to then some and some then more then some late night followed by and the inevitable

[closg00]

Did anyone just hear SVG on AM 980? SVG said:

*John Wall is not a player to build a team around, he is very fast, but has not demonstrated good decision-making
*Our roster does not make any sense

SVG danced around the edges, but you can read between the lines.

Perhaps I should have started a thread

[montestewart]

Did anyone just hear SVG on AM 980? SVG said:

*John Wall is not a player to build a team around, he is very fast, but has not demonstrated good decision-making
*Our roster does not make any sense

SVG danced around the edges, but you can read between the lines.

Perhaps I should have started a thread

When I saw that thread, I knew it had a really familiar ring.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Did anyone just hear SVG on AM 980? SVG said:

*John Wall is not a player to build a team around, he is very fast, but has not demonstrated good decision-making
*Our roster does not make any sense

SVG danced around the edges, but you can read between the lines.

Perhaps I should have started a thread

When I saw that thread, I knew it had a really familiar ring.

Sorry, closg. I hadn't heard.

[closg00]

It's all-good CCJ, I was just surprised nobody discussed this earlier. Steinbergs article came-out 3-4 days after the AM 980 interview. Good discussion.

[FAH1223]

We are going to need them to lose with a full deck of cards. Hopefully this streak is the high point of the season so EG can get canned by season end.

And yes I'm a fan but I'm not going to get caught up in a feel good run to end the season. Not again. It's ridiculous how having the 3rd worst record in the NBA since 2003 can have a guy keep his job.

[closg00]

NBA League Pass has dropped to $59.95 for the remainder of the season.

[LyricalRico]

NBA League Pass has dropped to $59.95 for the remainder of the season.

You blaming Ernie for this? LOL