closg00 wrote:Took this from Mike Lee's blog, to my knowledge, this is the 1st local media/sports person to make the case for one Ernest Grunfeld to be fired. The first dream-beat has sounded from beyond the world of the internet message boards.
http://www.espn980.com/includes/blog/in ... st_id=1653
I don't think we should be calling for Ernie's head yet. After all, this is a rebuilding year and expectations weren't that high. If YOUR expectations were high, than they were TOO high. This team talent, but it's a roster full of young guys with VERY little NBA experience, who are still raw, and has few veterans. Wizards fans need to be patient.
I don't think any move THIS season has warranted a Grunfeld firing. We were active in the draft, which we never were before instead of trading second round draft picks. We netted Kirk Hinrich and the #17 pick, just for cash. Even though Kirk hasn't been very impressive this season, I know why Grunfeld wanted him. He was a tough, pesky defender and was a great leader for Derrick Rose, and Grunfeld thought that Hinrich could have the same influence on Wall that he had on Rose. With the #17 pick, he drafted Kevin Seraphin, who was RAW, but if developed, can become just what the Wizards need, a BANGER. Then he traded the #30 & #35 for the #23 & #55 pick. I wasn't a huge fan of the Booker deal, mainly because I don't think we had to trade up to get him, because if we didn't choose him, he would've likely feel to the 2nd round, but similar to Seraphin, we needed more toughness on the frontline. Again, I wouldn't have chosen him that high, but I understand the pick.
Then, we acquired Yi Jianlian & cash for Quinton Ross. Yi Jianlian has been far from impressive this season, but c'mon, everybody thought it was a steal getting him just for Quinton Ross, especially because of the way he played in FIBA. The deal is more & more looking like a better deal for New Jersey as each game the Wizards play goes by, but you can't blame Ernie for making that trade. Admit it, if you were the GM of the Wizards, you would've made that deal too.
And of course, the Acquisition of Hilton AKA "Neck" Armstrong. Yes, he SUCKS, but there weren't any other bigs on the market. And I think that he gets too much hate on the boards. He's done whatever you can ask from a backup center, and he most likely won't be here next season anyway.
And with all this being said, don't think I'm a Grunfeld nut-hugger like Rico & melodious thunk because I was calling for his head LAST season. When we dealt our 5th pick for Randy Foye & Mike Miller, I wasn't a huge fan of the deal. If though I didn't like it that much, I didn't hate it, because we were trying to win now and I though that Foye & Miller would make us a better team. Well, that didn't happen and I became VERY ANGRY to why we traded our 5th pick. But with all that being said, Grunfeld was just following Pollin's orders. Abe wanted one last run at the championship before his death and if Grunfeld didn't abide, he would've been fired.
While Grunfeld has made some mistakes in the past, we also tend to forget the good things he did, like the Caron-Kwame trade. I understand why people were calling for Ernie's head BEFORE THIS season, but I don't see anything that would justify his firing so early in the season.
