Wizards in the Media Thread

[fishercob]

Not sure how many fellow Sports Guy readers there are out there. I've known for some time that his buddy "House" was an avid Wiz fan, but have always discounted his opinion after I heard him in a podcast say that Brendan and Etan were "essentially the exact same player."

That said, today's SG column is worth reading b/c it goes a deeper than most into the financial state of the NBA and he dreams up some pretty interesting trades.

Most noteworthy is House's sidebar about the Wiz. Here's the link to the column:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/091223&sportCat=nba

Here's House's Plea, which is really well articulated (even if it was plainly written before Gil started warming up out west:

Newsflash to no one: Washington's professional basketball franchise remains as directionless, uninspired and unentertaining as the "Jay Leno Show." Not altogether surprising, given it hitched itself to a $111 million wagon led by a horse with a bum leg. Agent Zero is passionate, committed and super-eager to return to All-Star form, just not capable of it right now. He's still a half-step slow, his stroke isn't all the way back and he's failed (so far) toearn his usual respect from the refs, all of which have made him tentative. A worst-case scenario for your crunch-time guy, hence the repeated end-of-game fails (although -- silver lining -- we have Earl Boykins back in our lives!).

With our "leader" searching for himself, is it any surprise that this is a team in dire need of an identity? BRING BACK THE BULLETS. Let's return "Wizards" to the exclusive domain of the soccer team in Kansas City. Sure, our 1997 name change was motivated by a noble anti-violence impulse. But "Wizards" was the least interesting/inspiring of the choices and has nothing to do with D.C., a town with a sneaky-deep tradition and hardcore love for excellent basketball. The area's high-school teams regularly rank among the tops in the nation, and college/pro teams throughout the land are populated with talent from and around the Chocolate City. Does anyone know D.C. spawned Elgin Baylor, George Raveling, Dave Bing, Adrian Dantley, Michael Beasley and Kevin Durant? You certainly wouldn't know by the atmosphere at Wiz games.

We need to re-connect this team to the city. Bring the red, white and blues back to the nation's capital. Get an updated version of this song cooked up immediately Give us live go-go music at every game -- it's only the city's most prominent cultural export (just ahead of Samuel L. Jackson). Take advantage of D.C.'s young-and-hip status right now -- we have our own "Real World," Reggie Love, Alex Ovechkin and Stephen Strasburg. (Hey, it's a start.) Let's make the Wizards yesterday's news and bury them in a public funeral during All-Star Weekend. An unprecedented gimmick? Sure. So what? This is the town of "Yes We Can." Bring back the Bullets. That's my Great Call of the Week.

Here's Simmons' take on the Wiz:

2009-10 payroll: $78.5 million (OVER TAX)
Projected 2010-11 payroll: $53.2 million

• VP's Take: Would anyone like Gilbert Arenas at a steep discount? That's what I thought. (Check the sidebar to the right for my buddy House's sad take.) The way he's played this year, he might have to change his nickname from Agent Zero to The Chalk Outline. That leaves Plan B: packaging Caron Butler ($20.3M through 2011) with Antwan Jamison ($39M through 2012) to lower this year's luxury tax, defray future payroll and go with Arenas and the kids.

• Mitigating Factor: Like Colangelo, embattled Wizards GM Ernie Grunfeld can't hit the RESET button because he'd be effectively resigning with pay. But still. Every Wizards fan is ready to see this team blown up. When I threw the idea at House, he chewed on it a little, then asked, "Do I get a new GM out of it?" (Yes.) "Then please blow it up. I want to build around our 2009 lottery pick that we gave away. I hate being a Wizards fan. Put that in your column."

• VP's Verdict: I'd clean house. What would Cleveland say if Washington offered them Jamison, Butler and Brendan Haywood for Shaq's expiring contract and J.J. Hickson? What would Miami say if Washington offered them the same trade for Jermaine O'Neal and a 2010 No. 1? My favorite of the possibles …

Fake Trade 9 (three-way): Wizards get Carlos Boozer and Shaq; Utah gets Butler and Mike James' EC; Cavs get Jamison, Haywood and Kyle Korver's EC. Utah drops close to the tax line. Cleveland upgrades two positions for nothing. And Washington remains competitive this season and gets to start over financially next summer. Just enough to string fans along in case the Chalk Outline rises from the sidewalk.

[Dat2U]

I like Simmons overall but I hate when he goes into pretend GM mode and acts if he knows it all. That was a miserable read. I'd consider Gil a little more than a "chalk outline". I guess that's the ESPN opinion on him but anyone who's watched him lately knows he's really turned the corner, is far more aggressive and looks much closer to his old self. And the idea of having to dump Butler is ridiculous. Sounds like he's more interested in handing LeBron a ring than rebuilding the Wiz. Seriously, Jamison, Butler AND Haywood?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Dat, what's funny is that with 2/3rds of the season to go, Gil's already dropped 45 and is averaging 30 plus the past few games. I'll bet Simmons wrote that article but since has checked the box scores the past few games. Dude's going to very likely eat those words.

Gil's suffered mightily on the court and in the press, but IMO has pretty much handled it perfectly. I think he's more like a Lazarus (dead but about to be brought back) than a chalk line. Dude can definitely carry a team if he keeps up this past 5-6 games' play.

As bad as the past few games have been, it isn't even close to over, even if parts do need to be shipped away or blown up.

[Rafael122]

BUTLER, JAMISON, HAYWOOD for a few months of Shaq and JJ Hickson? HA!

I agree about blowing it up. My first trade would be to see what the Suns would want for Amare. It would have to be dependent on Amare signing an extension though. I'd give Butler since he's the closest to an extension. That's just to start off though.

[nate33]

Yeah, Simmons is way off on those trades.

Clearly, Jamison is worth expirings by himself, and would likely bring back a late 1st rounder. Haywood doesn't need to be traded for expirings because he is one. So I guess he thinks we need to add a 1st round pick to Butler in order for him to net us J.J. freakin' Hickson plus expirings.

[Rafael122]

His whole idea is clear as much cap room to start over. I get that, but there are more...thoughtful ways of doing it other than giving up 3/5 of your starting lineup for 3 months of Shaq and JJ Hickson.

[miller31time]

Simmons: right church, wrong pew

The idea that we need to blow this mutha up is correct. How he plans to do it is just wrong and shows a clear lack of understanding with regards to player talent evaluation.

[Hoopalotta]

Though his columns can still be good fun, Simmons whole "Everyone's an idiot but me" shtick is a tired and demeaning act. Actually Simmon's, you can be an idiot too (some ten or twelve games into the season he was still saying Tyreke Evans should have been picked after Harden; by that point it seemed pretty obvious that Evans had twice the tools of even Jennings, much less harden)

And yeah, that deal makes me think the best thing would be if he were granted control of a franchise as he wishes so to that he could much it up and eat crow forever. Preferably a South East Division franchise.

And yeah, I have still been hearing national media opinions on Arenas' has been status.

Weh'll, they a'goh'n get fidd'y upside the head soon 'nough.

[DaRealHibachi]

"Until we decide that we get upset when we miss defensive assignments, as much as we get upset when we don't get the ball on offense, we're not going to take that next step," Saunders said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... ds-89.html

I still like this dude...

Blaming him for these guys not playing D, or rebounding, or shotjacking is BS... Blame him for rotation issues isn't a problem, but since every coach has that problem, I dunno if it's gonna help...

And for those that want him gone... Who the hell are you going to replace him with...??? I can guarantee you that the next coach would have the same problems Flip's having...

[nate33]

Guys have to be disciplined. They have to be willing to turn down a shot at time. Tonight, we had no shot discipline. Tonight, it was, 'I haven't taken a shot, so I'm going to shoot it.' when you do that, you shoot 38 percent from the field.

I like that Flip isn't afraid to publicly call out his players. EJ always kept it in house. The result was that the players loved EJ, but they didn't play all that hard for him. We'll see if Flip's method brings better results.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Sounds like he's calling out Jamison.

Missing defensive assignments? Check
Complaining in general? Check
Jacking up every time he touches the ball? Check

I hope he is sick and tired of Antawn as much as I am.

[dandridge 10]

Guys have to be disciplined. They have to be willing to turn down a shot at time. Tonight, we had no shot discipline. Tonight, it was, 'I haven't taken a shot, so I'm going to shoot it.' when you do that, you shoot 38 percent from the field.

I like that Flip isn't afraid to publicly call out his players. EJ always kept it in house. The result was that the players loved EJ, but they didn't play all that hard for him. We'll see if Flip's method brings better results.

Agreed. The thing I like about Flip is that he speaks the truth. Complain all you want on his rotations, but at least you have to give Flip credit for acknowledging the problems with this team and preaching the right things. With EJ, I was never quite sure he truly saw some of the flaws of this team. For example, I don't think he had a problem with the quick shots. The problem Flip, as well as any other coach, is going to have with this team is you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

[LyricalRico]

From the Times:

"You go back to principles, and it's like pounding on a rock. You keep pounding and pounding, and eventually you break it down," Saunders said. "But you can't vary away from the process of where you want to go. ... It's a long-term project - that's what you have to understand."

<snip>

Saunders was visibly upset the majority of the game, but the Wizards' players didn't seem to share in his frustration. Their biggest problem is mental, Saunders said - not anything he's doing. But until the Wizards can adjust their focus, the losses will likely continue to mount.

"It's like I told our players: As coaches, I'm not going to change what we do - a coverage defensively or something - just because we don't do it hard or do it right," Saunders said. "When you don't do it hard or do it right, no matter what you do, it's not going to work.

"Until we decide that we get upset when we miss defensive assignments as much as we get upset when we don't get the ball on offense, we're not going to take that next step."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... aunders-e/



Great stuff from Flip. Pretty much all anti-Jamison IMO. And if the organization really does see this seem as a "long term project", then moving Jamison could be getting closer to reality. Every loss brings us closer to a change. I'm getting excited again!

[lupin]

Boswell writes a pretty good column in appreciation of Flip's rant. I just want to know where the press has been for the last 5 years?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01878.html

[montestewart]

Boswell writes a pretty good column in appreciation of Flip's rant. I just want to know where the press has been for the last 5 years?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01878.html

Pollin is a beloved character in DC sports history, and his standing sometimes seemed to insulate him and the team in general from obvious criticism: sticking with Unseld as coach and GM for so long, the huge contract for Juwan Howard, the Webber for Richmond trade, the way Michael Jordan was hired and the way he was fired, etc.

I'm not saying it's the only factor in the superficial reporting and lack of detailed criticism of Wizards basketball, because Mike Lee and others started doing better, more frank reporting before Pollin's death, but the obvious difference right now, as others have observed, is Pollin's passing.

Pollin never got his second championship, and he waited a long time. There are still fans here, customers, that are waiting for a serious run at a championship. I assume Flip wants one too. If I were a reporter covering the Wizards, I'd want one too (that would be fun to write about), and I'd consider it my job to question what is being done about that.

[closg00]

The Fox Sports web site redesign is awful.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Boswell writes a pretty good column in appreciation of Flip's rant. I just want to know where the press has been for the last 5 years?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01878.html

How do you hide a knife in your rectum?

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Sweet, Andray Blatche accepted my friend request on facebook!

[TheSecretWeapon]

Boswell writes a pretty good column in appreciation of Flip's rant. I just want to know where the press has been for the last 5 years?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01878.html

How do you hide a knife in your rectum?

Very carefully.

[closg00]

Sweet, Andray Blatche accepted my friend request on facebook!

Which one of the 6 AB's accepted your request?