Grunfeld a Great GM. Proves Doubters Wrong

[milellie111]

Just an interesting thing about this team and the playoffs this year
8 seeds.
1 & 2: Miami or Indy
3, 4, 5: Both NY teams and Toronto
6: Cleveland.

The Wiz are probably fighting for the 7th or 8th seed. This is not looking good.

I see no reason why Nets & Knicks won't put it together especially after tonight.
Toronto is clearly better than the Wiz
Cleveland just added an All Star.

In all seriousness, and I probably should not take this thread seriously...you want to extend a GM that "might" get a 7 or 8 seed in a HORRIBLE Eastern Conference....yeah good luck.

Our options are limited.
Resign Ariza &/or Gortat!
Loose a pick in a STACKED draft.
Draft too many ppl playing the same position...

Sigh,

Misguided pessimissm there. With the exception of perhaps Miami and Indiana, our starting lineup is on par with any other team in the East and will give all of those teams a run for their money. This team is not that far away from contending.

[miller31time]

Misguided pessimissm there. With the exception of perhaps Miami and Indiana, our starting lineup is on par with any other team in the East and will give all of those teams a run for their money. This team is not that far away from contending.

I like how you're still undecided whether Miami and Indiana have better rosters.

[keynote]

5 straight sub 30 win seasons. A decade long sub-40% winning percentage. A losing record this year with a capped out team in one of the weakest conferences in history. No draft pick in one of the strongest drafts in years.

[MJG]

Misguided pessimissm there. With the exception of perhaps Miami and Indiana, our starting lineup is on par with any other team in the East and will give all of those teams a run for their money. This team is not that far away from contending.

I just wanted to pop in and note that the "perhaps" in the post above made me literally laugh out loud.

[BruceO]

I think it's imperative that we keep grunfeld signed for another half a decade or else some other team other than us will reap the fruits of his labor and become a powerhouse team that will win 30 games for the next few years, eventually leading to the 500 season whose glory we are currently basking in.
I wish I was a billionaire like Ted and have the genius to hire a fellow kindred spirit who validates my intelligence and faith in him, giving away the opportunity at Stephen curry, klay Thompson and creating the sort of aggressive moves that would lead to many free agents wanting to play for us.

If he continues this performance, I hope science comes up with a way where one man can have another man's babies cause I want him to have mine in him while eating steak and playing old wizards playoff games from the last five years

[tontoz]

If you havent noticed, this team is 1 game out of 4th place in the East and is built to be a contender for at least the next 5 years. The future looks very bright.

In case you hadn't noticed this team has a losing record in a historically bad conference in spite of one of the easiest schedules in the league so far. If they were in the west they would be one of the worst teams in the conference.

[payitforward]

I can't decide which way is funnier -- if this is consistent, straight-faced sarcasm? Or if if the OP actually believes what he's writing?

I'm betting on sarcasm, and I hope he doesn't abandon his position, keeps on pointing out how great things are, but either way -- it's great stuff. We need more like this.

This, btw, is why I've repeatedly asked LyricalRico to explain why he likes Ernie so much. I need the laugh.

[queridiculo]

[GhostsOfGil]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHoNWwhzh3M[/youtube]

[stevemcqueen1]

My bull detector isn't calibrated finely enough to figure out this thread. It's actually blowing my mind a little.

If it's a joke, well done. If it's not, then the OP still has plausible deniability about his sincerity so far. So I guess I might as well assume it's a joke.

My brain hurts now. Time to leave.

[hands11]

I'm going with milellie111 is serious and you'll are just a bunch of grumpy old farts that can't appreciate a fans enthusiasm for his team that is finally winning some games. Agree with him or not, I applaud his optimism and hope he keeps posting.

Let a fan be fan. You'll probably ran him off. Grumps.

[montestewart]

I'm going with milellie111 is serious and you'll are just a bunch of grumpy old farts that can't appreciate a fans enthusiasm for his team that is finally winning some games. Agree with him or not, I applaud his optimism and hope he keeps posting.

Let a fan be fan. You'll probably ran him off. Grumps.

I could buy that. It's an outlier opinion, but it's not obviously cynical or sarcastic. Even if you don't fully believe it, some of us grumpy old farts are natural targets. I kind of like this thread, not as much as LyricalRico, but his is a love that dare not speak its name.*

*jk LR

[Nivek]

With the exception of perhaps Miami and Indiana, our starting lineup is on par with any other team in the East and will give all of those teams a run for their money. This team is not that far away from contending.

Just ran the numbers on starting lineups (each team's top 5 in games started -- if you disagree with that methodology either a) come up with your own and post results, or b) designate the starting 5 for each team, and I'll be happy to run the numbers on those players).

According to my stat (PPA), the Wizards have the 4th best starting lineup in the East behind Miami, Indiana and Atlanta. Their starting 5 is solidly below those three teams -- Miami's minutes weighted starting lineup PPA is 173; Indy's is 146, Atlanta's is 144. Washington's: 127. The Wizards are "on par" with the next several teams in the East -- Cleveland, Detroit and Toronto each have minutes weighted starting lineup PPAs of 120 or better.

Overall, the Wizards rank 15th in the quality of its starting lineup, albeit with an aggregate score slightly lower than average. Washington's starting lineup has a collective PPA of 127; league average is 131.

Other tidbits:

- League average PPA is 100. Only Boston and Milwaukee have starting lineups less productive than league average (BOS = 95; MIL = 86).

Top starting lineups in minutes weighted PPA:

1. MIA 173
2. LAC 169
3. SAS 159
4. POR 158
5. MIN 156
6. OKC 155
7. GSW 153
8. DAL 148
9. IND 146
10. HOU 145

OKC's score is dragged down by their insistence on starting Kendrick Perkins, who is awful.

MIN is a team with serious depth problems. Love is great; Pekovic is very good; Rubio and Martin are good. The rest of the roster is pretty bad. Getting Budinger back should really help them.

[milellie111]

Do not understand the pessimissm here. The future of this team is bright with a young core of guys who will win games for this team a long time. This team is solidly contructed and if you didn't realize, Grunfeld has set this team up nicely in terms of cap space. Walls contract is an absolute bargain considering the level he's playing at and his potential. Credit to Grunfeld. Do not forget, this team would have been a playoff team last year if it were not due to Walls injury. Many focus on mistakes that Ernie has made. Yes he has, but every gm does. The nature of any high stress job is definte that mistakes will be made. The draft is a crapshoot. There was nothing wrong with the Vesely pick and if you know basketball, you will see how Jan will be an asset to this team VERY soon. He is continuing to mature and develop as a baskeball player, so will Beal, so will Seraphin.

It was nauseating to constantly read and hear Wizards fans throughout the city complain about Ernie "dropping the ball" and not bringing in James Harden, when most don't even know the details. This team is not a James Harden away from competing, you know it and Ernie knew it. How would Harden have fixed the bench depth or getting muscled down low defensively on the boards? If you step off the ledge a bit you will see that Grunfeld is in control because Ted trusts him to manage his franchise. Ted is a business man first, and business men are pretty savvy and thorough in whom they choose to put in leadership roles to manage their assets. The main thing i notice about Grunfeld is that he is willing to adapt. If something isn't working, he does not let it sit and fester(Arenas, Crittenton, Blatche, Mcgee). Note, Grunfeld purged the team of such guys, what are they doing now? Looks like Ernie was right on those too. Compared to management of other teams in the NBA, many take for granted the work that Ernie has done here. Many of you (whom I'm sure are Redskins fans) have clamored for years for Daniel Snyder to change his ways and stop signing high priced free agents. Yet, the Wizards have a capapble GM who is quite the opposite, but many want him fired in the middle of a playoff season? Doesn't make sense to me and it doesn't make sense to Mr. Leonsis either. From a business perspective, I along with a few others fully expect contract negotiations for an extension of Mr. Grunfeld taking place at this very moment.

[Dat2U]

Someone just wants to be fed. Please don't feed the trolls.

[Nivek]

C'mon Dat, it's time to turn that frown upside down! Grunfeld has done such a good job with the Wizards -- ONLY 27 NBA teams have a better winning percentage during his tenure -- that I'm sure you're now thinking the same two words I'm thinking:

Spoiler:

LIFETIME EXTENSION

That's probably the only way the Wizard can keep a basketball mind of his caliber at the helm. Behind the scenes, other owners are surely clamoring for Grunfeld's services. They're plotting ways to pry him from Leonsis. They're checking their Swiss accounts and Cayman Island shelters -- just hoping they have enough money to bid on the services of one Ernest Grunfeld. Leonsis should move NOW to lock him up.

I'll say it again:

Spoiler:

LIFETIME EXTENSION

I mean, only 27 teams have been better. Not just anyone can do that.

[tontoz]

The future of this team is bright with a young core of guys who will win games for this team a long time.
.

This team is not a James Harden away from competing, you know it and Ernie knew it. How would Harden have fixed the bench depth or getting muscled down low defensively on the boards?

Maybe we should step aside and let the OP argue with himself.

[MikeTheKid]

3 things for Mr Milellie111 to ponder while he's sitting in the hotel room with Ernie wondering how masterful a job hes done in Washington and I'll only mention 3 of at least 100 things done wrong by Ernie which folks here have covered forever:
2009 Draft- Hi Steph Curry, Ty Lawson and Rubio
2011 Draft- Hi Klay, Kawhi, Faried, Vucevic, Shumpert, Jimmy Butler, CHANDLER PARSONS in Rd 2, Isiah Thomas
Eric "Fart" Maynor signed on the first day of FA who hasn't logged legit PT in 2014 as of yet who is sitting on a BAE contract

Need I say More Thanks Troll now tell Ernie and Ted I said Hi and hire a Real Gm and Coach and not Ted's Boy Scout Friends

Either this troll is a highly paid Monumental employee or Ted and Ernie really think were stupid on this forum!!!

[Zonkerbl]

milellie, I respectfully disagree. I think we're getting $50 million worth of production out of $70 million worth of salary. We're not well positioned to contend and I don't see how we're going to get any better with the assets we have.

But have at it brother! Positive thinking FTW!

[MikeTheKid]

The draft is a crapshoot. There was nothing wrong with the Vesely pick and if you know basketball, you will see how Jan will be an asset to this team VERY soon. He is continuing to mature and develop as a baskeball player, so will Beal, so will Seraphin.

The main thing i notice about Grunfeld is that he is willing to adapt. If something isn't working, he does not let it sit and fester(Arenas, Crittenton, Blatche, Mcgee). Note, Grunfeld purged the team of such guys, what are they doing now? Looks like Ernie was right on those too. Compared to management of other teams in the NBA, many take for granted the work that Ernie has done here.

Im going to try not to sound like an "old fart" as you said when Im only 27 but I ask you since you say Vesely was a good pick in 2011. Why were we the only team to truly scout him? Was it something we knew or was it something the other GMs knew. Oh yeah he has no basketball skills other than running up an down the court with John Wall which is what Ernie even said when we drafted him. Have you seen what other players from the 2011 draft are doing? If he is such a great pick why is 90% of the players drafted in 2011 statiscally better than him??? If im wrong about that percentage please bash me guys.

As far as your Ernie adapting post, he didn't adapt he had no choice but to let all those guys go because they were all knuckleheads. Blatche (Consistent 6th man mins), Mcgee (Starter but injured now), Nick Young (6th man getting starters mins), Jordan Crawford (starting in BOS) are all doing well with there current teams because the structure of the organizations won't allow them to act like complete morons with the possible exception of BK cause Billy King is as bad a GM as EG.

Oh and adapt to "Gungate" as far as Arenas and Crittendon which happens to be Ernie's locker room

I understand your positivity but the fact is as much as a marketer for getting us to believe in Ernie he just hasn't got it done in 10+ seasons which will be 11+ cause were going to be capped out this offseason resigning Gortat to a 14 mil a yr contract with no 1st rd pick in a good draft and stuck in neutral cause we cant make moves. Fart will still be stealing money on the bench, maybe Ves and Singleton will be gone since there FAs after this season.

But as you said I wouldnt be mad or shocked if Ernie gets another long term deal cause thats how much of a sucker Ted is. Look at the Caps, been in neutral the past what 7 seasons and still cant make the Stanley Cup Finals. It is what it is sorry I fed the troll guys but this guy is irritating.