Official Countdown to Firing"NoLowPostOffense"Grunfeld

[Hoopalotta]

Rico's going to lock this thing in the night and meticulously bump about 2,437 other threads so that no one can find it.

[montestewart]

Rico's going to lock this thing in the night and meticulously bump about 2,437 other threads so that no one can find it.

Do a Google search for the nodding emoticon, this thread will pop right up.

[AceDegenerate]

Ernie Grunfeld should not be running an NBA Franchise in 2010.

[mohammed10]

Depends on how fast we get better.

If we win 36-40 games this year and make the playoffs (which wouldn't suprise me one bit - Blatche played like a top 15 big man, McGee finished strong, we have John Wall, and we may well have a healthy Gilbert Arenas, all on a team that was average defensively with Randy Foye, Earl Boykins, Mike Miller, McGee, Arenas, Jamison and Butler getting lots of minutes), and make a big leap in year 2 (44-48 wins), then we can resign Hinrich to something like 4 years 24 million and feel pretty good about it. I think he's a championship piece as a backup PG and perimeter defender.

The Thunder sucked for 2 years after getting Durant; I think we'll get good much faster because it's the East, and I think we have more talent to start with than Presti did (Blatche would easily be the second best player on the Thunder before Westbrook's emergence this year, for example).

It's really not that much to ask that a team adding 3 1st round picks, a 2nd rounder, and a couple FA acquisitions shows some sign of a pulse. And that young guys specifically targeted by management look like they may be players one day rather than abject duds out of the gate like Pech.

[mohammed10]

Ernie Grunfeld should not be running an NBA Franchise in 2010.

+1,000,000

[Pollinator]

All I can say is that Ernie Grunfeld has been a totally different GM ever since they decided to dump Jamison and Butler. The team was a complete wasteland with no leverage and somehow he made two deals and got Howard, Livingston, Thornton, and Singleton and the team suddenly got physical, competitive, and instead of bitching each other out publically in the press (or bringing firearms into the lockerroom), played hard and were a team you could actually root for. And what he's done since the draft is to bring in more of what made them more fun to watch at the end of last year- more physical, more tough, more athletic, and obviously with John Wall, more skilled.

I don't know what has come over Ernie Grunfeld over the last six months, but whatever it is I'll take it. I was ready to see him gone after the Foye-Miller deal, but I'm cool with him going forward. I'm really looking forward to watching this team play this year like we did in those two Celtics games at the end of last year. Granted the C's were resting up for the playoffs, but they seemed genuinely shocked at how we were running them off the court with athleticism and physical play at both ends of the floor. Health permitting, we'll see a lot more of that this year.

[mohammed10]

All I can say is that Ernie Grunfeld has been a totally different GM ever since they decided to dump Jamison and Butler. The team was a complete wasteland with no leverage and somehow he made two deals and got Howard, Livingston, Thornton, and Singleton and the team suddenly got physical, competitive, and instead of bitching each other out publically in the press (or bringing firearms into the lockerroom), played hard and were a team you could actually root for. And what he's done since the draft is to bring in more of what made them more fun to watch at the end of last year- more physical, more tough, more athletic, and obviously with John Wall, more skilled.

I don't know what has come over Ernie Grunfeld over the last six months, but whatever it is I'll take it. I was ready to see him gone after the Foye-Miller deal, but I'm cool with him going forward. I'm really looking forward to watching this team play this year like we did in those two Celtics games at the end of last year. Granted the C's were resting up for the playoffs, but they seemed genuinely shocked at how we were running them off the court with athleticism and physical play at both ends of the floor. Health permitting, we'll see a lot more of that this year.

*** takes another sip of the Kool-Aid ***

[JonathanJoseph]

I didn't say that EG has been a disaster as a GM with the Wizards. I said he's been average at best. He has made some good moves and some poor moves. He also acts like his poop doesn't stink when his results have been mediocre. I think Wizards/Bullets fans have such low expectations that mediocrity looks like brilliance. Seven years and one playoff series victory and no wins in the second round is decidedly mediocre. You can spin it any way you want (injuries, coaching, the dastardly Mr. Pollin), but those are the facts. This has been their regular season victory totals since he took the helm (25,45,42,41,43,19,26). That my friends is 46 games under .500, or an average of 34-35 wins a season. I am being generous and kind when I say his record has been mediocre with the Wizards. But he benefits from comparisons of years and regimes previous to him, so that makes him look good.

And by that measure, Sam Presti is one of the worst GMs in the game with an average of 31 wins per season.

Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated.

[Benjammin]

I didn't say that EG has been a disaster as a GM with the Wizards. I said he's been average at best. He has made some good moves and some poor moves. He also acts like his poop doesn't stink when his results have been mediocre. I think Wizards/Bullets fans have such low expectations that mediocrity looks like brilliance. Seven years and one playoff series victory and no wins in the second round is decidedly mediocre. You can spin it any way you want (injuries, coaching, the dastardly Mr. Pollin), but those are the facts. This has been their regular season victory totals since he took the helm (25,45,42,41,43,19,26). That my friends is 46 games under .500, or an average of 34-35 wins a season. I am being generous and kind when I say his record has been mediocre with the Wizards. But he benefits from comparisons of years and regimes previous to him, so that makes him look good.

And by that measure, Sam Presti is one of the worst GMs in the game with an average of 31 wins per season.

Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated.

Thanks for making my point for me so eloquently. Sam Presti has been their GM for three years. There's a pretty big difference between being GM of a team for seven years and three years. I think it's a pretty safe bet that over the next few years the Thunder will be winning close to 50 games a year, heights the Wizards under EG never reached, and in the Western Conference no less.

[hands11]

Well, that 100 pages. Now this thread can die to slow painful dealt it deserves.

[Benjammin]

No reason it can't go to 101 pages before it's locked and a new one is started. Like it or not, for many of us, EG doesn't get a free pass.

[JonathanJoseph]

I didn't say that EG has been a disaster as a GM with the Wizards. I said he's been average at best. He has made some good moves and some poor moves. He also acts like his poop doesn't stink when his results have been mediocre. I think Wizards/Bullets fans have such low expectations that mediocrity looks like brilliance. Seven years and one playoff series victory and no wins in the second round is decidedly mediocre. You can spin it any way you want (injuries, coaching, the dastardly Mr. Pollin), but those are the facts. This has been their regular season victory totals since he took the helm (25,45,42,41,43,19,26). That my friends is 46 games under .500, or an average of 34-35 wins a season. I am being generous and kind when I say his record has been mediocre with the Wizards. But he benefits from comparisons of years and regimes previous to him, so that makes him look good.

And by that measure, Sam Presti is one of the worst GMs in the game with an average of 31 wins per season.

Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated.

Thanks for making my point for me so eloquently. Sam Presti has been their GM for three years. There's a pretty big difference between being GM of a team for seven years and three years. I think it's a pretty safe bet that over the next few years the Thunder will be winning close to 50 games a year, heights the Wizards under EG never reached, and in the Western Conference no less.

Yup. And I happen to think that a Wall/Arenas/Blatche/McGee core will see 50 wins faster than Presti did it in OKC. If that happens does that mean you would say Grunfeld>Presti? Just curious.

[Benjammin]

I think that if an EG constructed and led team gets to 50 wins faster than OKC (while acknowledging the Western Conference will continue to be the stronger Conference) would go a long way in rehabbing EG's reputation and value. I don't think it's going to happen, so I won't have to say that Grunfeld is superior to Presti. By the time the Wizards win 50 games, we may be talking about 10 years for EG at the helm. Would you consider one 50 win season in ten years successful?

[JonathanJoseph]

I think that if an EG constructed and led team gets to 50 wins faster than OKC (while acknowledging the Western Conference will continue to be the stronger Conference) would go a long way in rehabbing EG's reputation and value. I don't think it's going to happen, so I won't have to say that Grunfeld is superior to Presti. By the time the Wizards win 50 games, we may be talking about 10 years for EG at the helm. Would you consider one 50 win season in ten years successful?

Of course not

[pineappleheadindc]

Are we still locking topics that hit 100 pages and starting new ones (for tech reasons?)

If so, would somebody please do the honor of starting a part 2 of this topic?

If not....never mind.

[JonathanJoseph]

More fuel for the "you are all underestimating Ernie Grunfeld" fire.

The Wizards experienced a huge turnaround from the beginning of the season, when the surprising dip in the salary cap had them staring at a $78 million payroll and expecting to make a luxury tax payment - for the first time in franchise history.

But after the team foundered, the Wizards aggressively worked to get under the luxury tax by dealing away Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson near the trade deadline. They also made extra savings by reaching buyout agreements with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike James. Instead of making a $9 million luxury tax payment, the Wizards received a rebate check worth $3.7 million from the league for staying under the tax line - and almost $14 million turnaround.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/07/nba-sets-2010-11-salary-cap-gi.html

[doclinkin]

Are we still locking topics that hit 100 pages and starting new ones (for tech reasons?)

If so, would somebody please do the honor of starting a part 2 of this topic?

If not....never mind.

We're just in stoppage time. Got to make up for a few minutes worth of posts of rolling on the floor 'LMAO' and all.

The new thread could use a re-title though.

[closg00]

The Ernie watch does not die with this thread, looking forward to the discussion on the next thread.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

IBTF (In Before The Firing)

The Wizards experienced a huge turnaround from the beginning of the season, when the surprising dip in the salary cap had them staring at a $78 million payroll and expecting to make a luxury tax payment - for the first time in franchise history.

But after the team foundered, the Wizards aggressively worked to get under the luxury tax by dealing away Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson near the trade deadline. They also made extra savings by reaching buyout agreements with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike James. Instead of making a $9 million luxury tax payment, the Wizards received a rebate check worth $3.7 million from the league for staying under the tax line - and almost $14 million turnaround.

What a load of crap.

What happened was Gil got suspended for the remainder of the season, thus making EG finally make some smart moves, and that ended up saving the Wizards' ass financially.

The author of that piece doesn't even have objective credibility as far as I'm concerned.

[JonathanJoseph]

IBTF (In Before The Firing)

The Wizards experienced a huge turnaround from the beginning of the season, when the surprising dip in the salary cap had them staring at a $78 million payroll and expecting to make a luxury tax payment - for the first time in franchise history.

But after the team foundered, the Wizards aggressively worked to get under the luxury tax by dealing away Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson near the trade deadline. They also made extra savings by reaching buyout agreements with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Mike James. Instead of making a $9 million luxury tax payment, the Wizards received a rebate check worth $3.7 million from the league for staying under the tax line - and almost $14 million turnaround.

What a load of crap.

What happened was Gil got suspended for the remainder of the season, thus making EG finally make some smart moves, and that ended up saving the Wizards' ass financially.

The author of that piece doesn't even have objective credibility as far as I'm concerned.

Whaaa??? The author, Mike Lee, hasn't been any sort of Wizards apologist and certainly has better access to the Wizards than just about anyone else out there.

The Wizards season was a failure way before gungate ever happened. Gungate is the most overblown incident in NBA history.