Brendan, please forgive us! and come back!

[ZonkertheBrainless]

We fired EJ and will get rid of Tapscott soon and will bring in a coach who actually understands and appreciates defense. We have gone from a playoff team contending for home court advantage to laughingstock of the league, and the only major difference between this team and last is your absence!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GET WELL SOON AND COME BACK!!! ALL IS FORGIVEN!!!

[JWizmentality]

Gotta say, some of you are having a hard time adjusting to having a crappy team. Buck up man! We've got lotto balls and Arenas coming back next year. We'll get rid of all the dead weight and this year will be a distant memory. Have some patience.


Bloody ingrates.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

*whimpers*
*curls up in a fetal ball*

[nate33]

What has Haywood done that should be forgiven? Getting upset with his coach for rightfully believing he should get more minutes?

If anything, this thread should be titled: "Brendan, please forgive those of us who doubted you and come back!"

[Dat2U]

Yeah Nate, folks owe Brendan an apology, not the other way around. Oh man, is he being vindicated or what?

Take Jamison out and replace him with Haywood. You think we'd be as bad as we are now?

Haywood might very well be the most important player on this team outside of a healthy Arenas.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

edited to reflect our suckitude as hating fans

[FreeBalling]

What has Haywood done that should be forgiven? Getting upset with his coach for rightfully believing he should get more minutes?

If anything, this thread should be titled: "Brendan, please forgive those of us who doubted you and come back!"

Well said Nate, I've always believed in Haywood.

[mhd]

Heck, 80% of this board has been Haywood backers for years. I hope Brendan knows that at least this board has known have good he has been.

[nate33]

Heck, 80% of this board has been Haywood backers for years. I hope Brendan knows that at least this board has known have good he has been.

There was a time when most of this board lost faith. Early in the 2005/06 season when Etan was starting and playing well and Etan and Haywood were getting into fights, most of this board calling for Haywood to be traded. There were only a handful of Haywood backers left then: myself, SevernHoos, Dat2U, WizKev, maybe a couple others.

I remember going on a trip to Asia where I was away from the board for a week, and when I got back there were a bunch of anti-Haywood threads. It took me a while to talk you guys down. Then there was the infamous 57-page Haywood Asks to be Traded thread where I dutifully shot down scores of bad Haywood trades.

[MJG]

I'm proud to have been an unwavering Haywood backer since 04-05. He's had 100% of my support since then, and the only time I considered the idea of moving him was after that playoff benching, when I lost all hope that he would ever get the minutes he so plainly deserved.

I just hope everyone here remembers to thank him come next season, when the media is dumping all the credit on our +30 game improvement on a healthy Arenas, the new coach, and our top five draft pick. We'll all hopefully know better, know the real secret behind our success.

[fishercob]

Heck, 80% of this board has been Haywood backers for years. I hope Brendan knows that at least this board has known have good he has been.

There was a time when most of this board lost faith. Early in the 2005/06 season when Etan was starting and playing well and Etan and Haywood were getting into fights, most of this board calling for Haywood to be traded. There were only a handful of Haywood backers left then: myself, SevernHoos, Dat2U, WizKev, maybe a couple others.

I remember going on a trip to Asia where I was away from the board for a week, and when I got back there were a bunch of anti-Haywood threads. It took me a while to talk you guys down. Then there was the infamous 57-page Haywood Asks to be Traded thread where I dutifully shot down scores of bad Haywood trades.

Good times, nate. I remember "nameplate-gate," when BTH took the nameplate off his locker after we were swept by the Cavs. Amid a chorus claiming this was "definitive proof" that Haywood would be traded, I knew that EG valued Haywood a great deal and wasn't tradign him for anything less than full value. I'd love to dig up that thread and re-read some of the responses to my proclamation that Brendan wasn't going anywhere.

[miller31time]

I've always supported Haywood strongly. But I was almost sure he was going to be traded back in the tough times. I'm glad Ernie didn't budge.

[JWizmentality]

Okay, I'll quash all the Wood love and say I was a staunch Etan supporter when "Brenda" was sucking a bit. He even proved me right for a while, until Brendan finally got minutes and proved me wrong. Predicting that Haywood would stay is a toss up. He could have been pissed enough to demand a trade and force Ernie's hand. Glad Wood was a man about it...and he stayed to see EFJ get the boot. How's that for uber gratification.

[hands11]

There were plenty of people that wanted him gone after the season when he took his name off his locker. But remember the environment of the argument them. Pro EFJ supporter were likely to be anti Haywood supporters. But people busted on him way before that. Back when he had hands of stone people really hated on him.

But Haywood succeeded in spite of EFJ. He survived. EFJ is gone. You can only wonder what this team could have been had it had a coach would could develop a big man.

I thought Haywood was right on for opening his mouth that year though. At least he had the balls to do it. He knew EFJ was an idiot and he said so in public with his actions. I liked it that he was passionate enough to make a scene about it. Someone needed to call EFJ on his crap. And it all came full circle when EFJ was crying about how his offense was designed about Haywood and GA. LMAO that Haywood being gone has a lot to do with him getting canned.

Actually, EG choosing to keep Haywood was on of those few moments when you could read between the lines and see that EG and EFJ were not on the same page.

I can remember years of reading posts both on another board and then here where every off season people had all these crazy trades looking to replace Haywood at center because they thought he sucked. None ever made any sence Haywood was a great value and would have played better if he played more and got the ball once in a while.

I've seen him interviewed a few times lately. He looks even more ripped and acts even more mature so when he finally comes back, I think we are going to have an even better Haywood then the one that left. I remember a day when I really didn't want them to put a mic in front of his month but he seems different now. Todays Haywood seems all grown up and ready to be a part of the teams leadership.

I was starting to loose hope for this team but from what I have seen the last week, you can see this team healing from the EFJ effect. They are righting the ship. Tapps is working out and EG is being redeemed.

[Wizards2Lottery]

<------- Haywood supporter since day 1. You the man Brendan.

[lupin]

Ivan is still a non-believer. He had something in a blog post the other day, basically a "WTF? Haywood? Really?" post.

I think I've always been a supporter. The team has always had a losing record with Etan as the starter.

[Benjammin]

In general, the anti-Haywood crowd is little different than the mouth-breathers on the John Thompson show who think that if a center is not Shaq, Olajuwon, or Ewing he must suck (truth be told I at times am also a mouth breather because of sinus issues). I've always supported Wood, even if he doesn't frenetically "bring the force" with sound and fury, signifying nothing.

[GilArenas88]

Biggest Haywood supporter of all time here. I've even called multiple times for him to have a larger role in the offense. Given 30+ minutes nightly Haywood would be as good if not better then Camby, something like 13pts 9.5rebs 2.5blks 55fg% 70ft% and excellent help and man defense.