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Pretty damning article IMO. Shaun Livingston was surprisingly honest. The roster has been overhauled, we've replaced the head coach and yet the atmosphere in the locker room is still horrible.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... ty-for-me/

The chemistry wasn’t there,” Livingston said. “I don’t think the engine parts really meshed together the way they are meshing now. Obviously John Wall is a big part of that, but it wasn’t a lot of chemistry on the team. It didn’t work out.”

Livingston said recently that Washington was “one of the worst spots” he’s been in and added that it had “a lack of structure from an organizational standpoint.” When asked to expound, Livingston tried to be diplomatic.

“The structure, system wasn’t necessarily…it’s tough to elaborate without really going overboard,” Livingston said. “It’s just sometimes I think I work a little better with more structure and the personnel, sometimes you play better with certain guys that put you in position to succeed and I wasn’t necessarily able do that for the team. I don’t think my skill set was being utilized to help guys. For whatever reason. I can’t put the blame on the coaches. Sometimes the players and chemistry didn’t fit as well.”

And we wonder why ALL of our returning young players have regressed or haven't developed at all.

I specifically wonder how Wall & Seraphin would have developed with another organization.

We are still a complete a joke. When do you see a respected guy like Livingston, go out of his way to trash a former organization like this?

Dat2U wrote:Pretty damning article IMO. Shaun Livingston was surprisingly honest. The roster has been overhauled, we've replaced the head coach and yet the atmosphere in the locker room is still horrible.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... ty-for-me/

The chemistry wasn’t there,” Livingston said. “I don’t think the engine parts really meshed together the way they are meshing now. Obviously John Wall is a big part of that, but it wasn’t a lot of chemistry on the team. It didn’t work out.”

Livingston said recently that Washington was “one of the worst spots” he’s been in and added that it had “a lack of structure from an organizational standpoint.” When asked to expound, Livingston tried to be diplomatic.

“The structure, system wasn’t necessarily…it’s tough to elaborate without really going overboard,” Livingston said. “It’s just sometimes I think I work a little better with more structure and the personnel, sometimes you play better with certain guys that put you in position to succeed and I wasn’t necessarily able do that for the team. I don’t think my skill set was being utilized to help guys. For whatever reason. I can’t put the blame on the coaches. Sometimes the players and chemistry didn’t fit as well.”

And we wonder why ALL of our returning young players have regressed or haven't developed at all.

I specifically wonder how Wall & Seraphin would have developed with another organization.

We are still a complete a joke. When do you see a respected guy like Livingston, go out of his way to trash a former organization like this?

Blame it on Grunfeld.

Because Wizards.

We should change our name to the "Anti Spurs".

I'm glad this quote surfaced. It's not like he said anything we didn't know but if the media continues to publish quotes like this, Ted will be forced to re-evaluate the franchise.. right?... maybe not...

Ha, Ted laughs at that 1st round never was! What does Shaun Livingston know about running a pro sports team!? Ted runs 3 highly successful sports teams, thank you very much, Shaun!

I did a little research, just to put Shaun Livingston's comments in perspective.

--Livingston was with the Wizards (this time) for about 5 weeks, from 11/15/12 to 12/23/12.
--He was signed the day Jannero Pargo was waived.
--When Livingston became a Wizard, Washington was 0-7.
--The Wizards lost their next 5 games after Livingston was signed, to go to 0-12.
--Washington was 3-22 and had lost 7 straight. So, they were on a 12 game losing streak when he arrived and on a 7 game losing streak when Shaun Livingston departed.
--Washington was without Nene and Wall the entire time.
--When Livingston was a Wizard, Jordan Crawford was the de facto PG. A. J. Price, Shaun Livingston, and Shelvin Mack all played sparse minutes.
--Without Nene, Earl Barron generally outplayed Okafor and Seraphin the entire time Livingston was a Wizard.
--Livingston was waived as the Wizards had lost their seventh straight game. Garrett Temple was signed.

So, with all this in mind, my comment is this season started with a terribly toxic lineup. Livingston saw nothing but a confused roster and a team that had to have TERRIBLE chemistry.

Since then there has been a revolving door. Livingston, Barron, and Mack have each been waived. Crawford was essentially waived. Temple was signed. Wall and Nene returned. Beal hit his stride.

The result is the current, rather flat team.

Upper Decker wrote:Ha, Ted laughs at that 1st round never was! What does Shaun Livingston know about running a pro sports team!? Ted runs 3 highly successful sports teams, thank you very much, Shaun!

Successful by Ted's criteria but the Wizards are DEPRESSING, DISGUSTING, DISGRACEFUL by my criteria. Their young guys have no future, except for Beal. Wall has talent with an asterisk.

Every veteran on the Wizards has to secretly desire they were part of a winning team elsewhere. Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor have to be looking at their revived numbers with an eye on opting out and moving on. Their departures will be interesting. Knowing how INEPT and CRAPTASTIC Ernie Grunfeld works, I don't expect much good to come from Ariza and Okafor.

Meanwhile, Seraphin is playing terrible basketball. Vesely needs airfare back to Europe, and a one-way ticket. Singleton can't get minutes on THIS team. That says all you need to know. Webster has been a bright spot and he's a FA.

This team sucks in almost every way. The Wizards have some good guys on their roster. Nice people who are professional in their approach. But overall, what do they have?

If I could meet Ted Leonsis I would tell him I think Ernie is terrible and I am sorry he is the one who bought the team. He is close to the opposite of a hero to me. Ted Leonsis to me is like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. The guy is determined to strive for mediocrity and ticket sales. He is the opposite of a winner. He is a LOSER because he abandoned his vision at the behest of this GM.

Shaun Livingston is almost right. It is not one of the worst sports. I think it probably IS the worst spot. Charlotte could be worse, but they don't have guys making 14M on their roster.

I think CCJ's points are spot on - that we were clearly a team in disarray then. But the larger point is that from the outside, and from the inside, for most of EG's tenure we can say virtually the same thing.

There's something to be said for cleaning house, Ted...

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:I did a little research, just to put Shaun Livingston's comments in perspective.

--Livingston was with the Wizards (this time) for about 5 weeks, from 11/15/12 to 12/23/12.
--He was signed the day Jannero Pargo was waived.
--When Livingston became a Wizard, Washington was 0-7.
--The Wizards lost their next 5 games after Livingston was signed, to go to 0-12.
--Washington was 3-22 and had lost 7 straight. So, they were on a 12 game losing streak when he arrived and on a 7 game losing streak when Shaun Livingston departed.
--Washington was without Nene and Wall the entire time.
--When Livingston was a Wizard, Jordan Crawford was the de facto PG. A. J. Price, Shaun Livingston, and Shelvin Mack all played sparse minutes.
--Without Nene, Earl Barron generally outplayed Okafor and Seraphin the entire time Livingston was a Wizard.
--Livingston was waived as the Wizards had lost their seventh straight game. Garrett Temple was signed.

So, with all this in mind, my comment is this season started with a terribly toxic lineup. Livingston saw nothing but a confused roster and a team that had to have TERRIBLE chemistry.

Since then there has been a revolving door. Livingston, Barron, and Mack have each been waived. Crawford was essentially waived. Temple was signed. Wall and Nene returned. Beal hit his stride.

The result is the current, rather flat team.

Wins/losses set aside, are you not taking SL's comments to-heart that there exists "a lack of structure from an organizational standpoint"? Shaun has been here twice, his comments and those of another insider, Jay Glassie, confirms what we have been bitching about for years about the Wizard organization, but you know what? Ted is a clueless and hapless owner. We are doomed.

sfam wrote:I think CCJ's points are spot on - that we were clearly a team in disarray then. But the larger point is that from the outside, and from the inside, for most of EG's tenure we can say virtually the same thing.

There's something to be said for cleaning house, Ted...

I concur, it's puzzling that EG hasn't been fired yet. Out of like 5 first round picks and 3 second rounders we ended up with Kevin S, Ves, Chris Singelton, Booker, Shelvin Mack, Beal, and Thomas Sonastky. Only one of them has shown they are in our long term plans, that's pitiful. And why is Okafor and Nene taking minutes away from our young guys at this point in the season? We should be playing the young guys as much as possible so we can determine who will be in our long term plans. The problem is EG and Whit are just trying to save their jobs right now and neither could give a crap about the future of this team only the present.

Because in the NBA, you have owners that invest, and you have owners that EXTRACT.

Investor owners: Davidson of the Pistons, Mark Cuban, Holt of the Spurs, Clay Bennett, a few others. I'd put the guy running the Nets in that category; his "win-now" approach is completely different from that of Leonsis.

Extractive owners: Don Sterling (at least until he drafted Blake Griffin), Herb Kohl, Ted Leonsis, guys who see the team not as an investment but as a piggy bank (and in many cases, a piggy bank funded by taxpayer money)

That's why there's such a big gap between the contenders and the non-contenders - they're content to collect their profits and not try to win beyond getting the occasional 8th seed. Because that costs time, money and effort - effort owners like Ted don't want to expend. Hey, much easier to make **** blog posts than to do the research and hire an effective medical staff and advanced scouting department!

This is depressing.

On the positron side, I'm thinking one of the reasons Livingston thought it was a bad situation here was the presence of the 3 dumbigos. Now that Blatche, McGee, and Young are gone - the atmosphere is different.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/1/26 ... ree-agency

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc- ... ball-game/


This is why we HAVE to keep Martell Webster!

SUPERBALLMAN wrote:http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/1/26/3917346/martell-webster-washington-wizards-nba-free-agency

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc- ... ball-game/


This is why we HAVE to keep Martell Webster!

Nah, I think he just loves DC area more than anything

It starts at the top.

Ted is a joke. He's no better than Abe Pollin, in fact he might be worse. Abe was just old, but in his prime this franchise was among the best in the league contending for championships.

Great, the Livingston quote is on the tap. More fodder for the "No FA's will come here unless we trade from them" mindset. Oh-well, Ted will take to his blog with a response from his PR machine.

Quickly someone send this article to Ted and Ernie.

closg00 wrote:Great, the Livingston quote is on the tap. More fodder for the "No FA's will come here unless we trade from them" mindset. Oh-well, Ted will take to his blog with a response from his PR machine.

I love how the picture is EG and not SL.