Ernie Grunfeld vs Ted Leonsis vs Wittman: who you blame most

[Newk Rollins]

Leonsis.

"Fish stink from the head."

[hands11]

So Min is the team in a similar situation to compare the Wizards too. Good call. And its even a team that has a Flip, Sam Cassell and Randy connection along with some interesting player connections. Calvin Booth, Brian Cardinal, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Mike James, Oleksiy Pecherov, Maurice Evans, Martell Webster and now Josh Howard.

Both teams have been bad since 2008 but Min has been bad since 2005 even with KG
They got K Love in 2008 and still sucked even with him on the team.
Has there ever been a team with two amazing players that has sucked so much ?

They were 26-40 Wiz were 20-46 last year.

So lets see if what some differences are. For starters, the Wizards are only two years into their rebuild. Min has been at it much longer.

Rick Adelman is in his second year there. Rick is obviously a well established coach.

While Min did lose Rubio they know he wasn't going to be available as early as last year. They have two other PG that can run the team in the mean time.

Jose Juan Barea is signed for 3 more year at $4,493,000 $4,687,000 $4,519,500 and
Luke Ridnour for 2 years $4,000,000 $4,320,000
Once Rubio returns, something has to give there. They are paying two much for 3 PGs

They added Andrei Kirilenko for 10M a year for two years.
Nikola Pekovic was a nice find. 1st pick in the 2nd round from 2008 6-11 243, now his is 290 age 26. Nice draft and stash. He started playing for him in 2010. He is one of the main reason they were able to hold on while Love was injured. Huge tall strong body holding down the middle. Should be interesting to see what it cost them to keep him. Wouldn't mind the big guy finding his way to the Wizards next year.

Looking over the games they won, the young man is played well. They lost the two games he was out. I doubt they would have one a single game without him. Only thing they had behind him was Greg Stiemsma.

So they had 2 PGs even without Rubio and a strong big center at 290 who was a long term project that worked out and who has been on the team 3 years and drafted in 2008. And with that, they beat SAC, ORL and Indy for 3 of their wins.

They did well to hold on while Love was out. Interesting team for sure. Man they have moved at lot of players on and off the team

This team has been a revolving door since they traded KG in 2007. They've had Love since 2008
Big difference between the two team is that KG was an asset to trade while Gil was a boat anchor.
And for all those years of suck and with Love back, they started

Love, Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic, Luke Ridnour, and Malcolm Lee and they lost to Denver.

They just picked up Josh Howard off the streets
Derrick Williams their their 2011 #2 pick got a DNP
Chase Budinger - nice add but knee surgery and will be out three-to-four months
Brendon Roy - done
Rubio torn ACL but should be returning soon.

Talk about a snake bitten team.

[AlohaWiz]

So Min is the team in a similar situation to compare the Wizards too. Good call. And its even a team that has a Flip, Sam Cassell and Randy connection along with some interesting player connections. Calvin Booth, Brian Cardinal, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Mike James, Oleksiy Pecherov, Maurice Evans, Martell Webster and now Josh Howard.

Both teams have been bad since 2008 but Min has been bad since 2005 even with KG
They got K Love in 2008 and still sucked even with him on the team.
Has there ever been a team with two amazing players that has sucked so much ?

They were 26-40 Wiz were 20-46 last year.

So lets see if what some differences are. For starters, the Wizards are only two years into their rebuild. Min has been at it much longer.

Rick Adelman is in his second year there. Rick is obviously a well established coach.

While Min did lose Rubio they know he wasn't going to be available as early as last year. They have two other PG that can run the team in the mean time.

Jose Juan Barea is signed for 3 more year at $4,493,000 $4,687,000 $4,519,500 and
Luke Ridnour for 2 years $4,000,000 $4,320,000
Once Rubio returns, something has to give there. They are paying two much for 3 PGs

They added Andrei Kirilenko for 10M a year for two years.
Nikola Pekovic was a nice find. 1st pick in the 2nd round from 2008 6-11 243, now his is 290 age 26. Nice draft and stash. He started playing for him in 2010. He is one of the main reason they were able to hold on while Love was injured. Huge tall strong body holding down the middle. Should be interesting to see what it cost them to keep him. Wouldn't mind the big guy finding his way to the Wizards next year.

Looking over the games they won, the young man is played well. They lost the two games he was out. I doubt they would have one a single game without him. Only thing they had behind him was Greg Stiemsma.

So they had 2 PGs even without Rubio and a strong big center at 290 who was a long term project that worked out and who has been on the team 3 years and drafted in 2008. And with that, they beat SAC, ORL and Indy for 3 of their wins.

They did well to hold on while Love was out. Interesting team for sure. Man they have moved at lot of players on and off the team

This team has been a revolving door since they traded KG in 2007. They've had Love since 2008
Big difference between the two team is that KG was an asset to trade while Gil was a boat anchor.
And for all those years of suck and with Love back, they started

Love, Andrei Kirilenko, Nikola Pekovic, Luke Ridnour, and Malcolm Lee and they lost to Denver.

They just picked up Josh Howard off the streets
Derrick Williams their their 2011 #2 pick got a DNP
Chase Budinger - nice add but knee surgery and will be out three-to-four months
Brendon Roy - done
Rubio torn ACL but should be returning soon.

Talk about a snake bitten team.

You make a strong case that, despite all the injuries and despite Kahn's mistakes, Kahn has put his team in a position to win some games even without their best point guard and best low post player. Grunfeld has not.

[Nivek]

Teams that have bad players should be revolving doors. The notion that teams get good through continuity is hogwash. First get good players, THEN worry about keeping them together. Wizards haven't accomplished the first step.

[payitforward]

Teams that have bad players should be revolving doors. The notion that teams get good through continuity is hogwash. First get good players, THEN worry about keeping them together. Wizards haven't accomplished the first step.

+1

[NCHeels2008]

it would be like the Cavs without Kyrie and Varajao

[montestewart]

it would be like the Cavs without Kyrie and Varajao

I'll buy that. Injuries can never in any way be anticipated (especially Nene's injuries) and thus Wiz brass should be credited with a 3-9 record. You can practically taste 11th seed.

[leswizards]

I am not sure what we are blaming them for. It seems to me that even EG's biggest detractors expected this team to be doing better than it is. I think the reason that they have been such a disappointment is that 3 young players (Vesely, Booker, and Seraphin) who were the teams biggest bright spots have all significantly regressed. I really don't know who to blame for that.

[AWIZZINGBULLET]

I am not sure what we are blaming them for. It seems to me that even EG's biggest detractors expected this team to be doing better than it is. I think the reason that they have been such a disappointment is that 3 young players (Vesely, Booker, and Seraphin) who were the teams biggest bright spots have all significantly regressed. I really don't know who to blame for that.

How exactly has Seraphin regressed? He just started his first game, is averaging double figures behind Crawford and has answered the call many times this season with the team trailing and in need of a basket. if anything he's the same guy from last season. Booker has regressed to an extent, while Vesely remains limited.

[montestewart]

I am not sure what we are blaming them for. It seems to me that even EG's biggest detractors expected this team to be doing better than it is. I think the reason that they have been such a disappointment is that 3 young players (Vesely, Booker, and Seraphin) who were the teams biggest bright spots have all significantly regressed. I really don't know who to blame for that.

Look at the preseason predictions and the reasons offered for them. Many, possibly most, of those that offered predictions of late 30s to mid 40s (and a late seed) were not thrilled by the team's path and long term prospects, and many, possibly most, of those rosier predictions were laden with qualifiers of potential downfalls: injuries to expensive veterans, failure to acquire a veteran backup PG and efficient scorers, over-reliance on the maintenance/development of flawed players (Booker's size/injuries, Seraphin's size/position/rebounding, Vesely's lack of shot/handle/assertiveness).

The fans have no input into roster moves, and little choice but to accept the roster and hope for the best. There may have been some self-delusion in some of the rosier projections, because fans want their team to win. When those delusions are exposed, it's like we've been taken, and anger naturally focuses on the con men that took us. Delusion or not, as the season approached, many of us revised our predictions downward, not only because Wall and Nene were injured, but because Wiz honchos seemed either to be living in a dreamworld or lying through their teeth. Or both. I predicted 30 wins or thereabouts, and I wasn't happy about it. Seeing the Wizards stink as they do now, in largely predictable and predicted ways, merely confirms the skepticism that many of us have about the team's path.