WaPo article on Pollin (cheapskate to the nth degree)

[montestewart]

Thanks, monte -- shoulda known better than to rely on my memory.

The correct numbers:

- 3 Finals in 5 years (1975 -- lost; 1978 -- won; 1979 -- lost).
- 4 Finals in 9 years -- they also lost in 1971.

As for MJ being fired for being too "frank about NBA realities" -- I think that's being awfully generous to MJ. He was a world class a-hole in DC. I give him loads of credit for rebuilding the front office and establishing an actual NBA franchise (not the nearly one-man front office -- Wes Unseld was running both the Wizards and Mystics with a staff so small, that when his secretary was away from her desk, he answered the phone himself). But Jordan earned his dismissal.

Yeah, I'm not defending MJ; he and Pollin were a match made in hell. But my view is that Pollin was somewhat sheltered from these realities by his employees, and MJ's arrogance busted through a delicate facade. MJ did some good things for the Wizards, but I can understand how that arrogance was too much for the relatively low-key Pollin.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's too bad MJ was and still is an a hole.

I think him being away from the game as a player and running the basketball operations would have been far better than where we are today.

MJ creating cap space and running Byron off is the only reason EG was able to sign Gil. MJ moved Howard's deal. How would EG have handled a matter like that? Juwan would still be a Wizard, like Jamison.

I'd prefer a jerk to EG. The way to deal with MJ is to just call him all kinds of arrogant MFers and speak your mind. I wish I could meet the man, because to me he wipes his butt the same way we all do--that is unless he chooses offend others, which seems to be what he's in to.

Any way, the Pollin's probably had a little bit to do with why MJ was as arrogant as he was. MJ went off on Kwame early. And now I think we all see that Kwame turned about to be pretty much what MJ said. The Pollins IMO aren't nice and probably never were. Abe had things his way. He ran this darned thing into the ground for 20 years and anybody that tried to do something right probably ended up like MJ.

Thibodeau was smart to never get involved with the Wizards.

In retrospect, I don't think EJ was bad at all for this franchise. At least he clearly had class.

Grunfeld in my book is a liar and an incompetent. I'd take MJ's arrogance over Ernie's stupidity any day of the week.

[TheSecretWeapon]

It's too bad MJ was and still is an a hole.

I think him being away from the game as a player and running the basketball operations would have been far better than where we are today.

MJ creating cap space and running Byron off is the only reason EG was able to sign Gil. MJ moved Howard's deal.

It's true that MJ moved Howard's deal, which I think was symbolically important, but trading Howard did not create cap space. If MJ had simply stood pat, Howard's deal would have expired the same offseason Grunfeld signed Arenas. The Wizards would have had significantly more cap space ($4 million to about $8.5 million MORE) the year they signed Arenas if they'd either a) not traded Howard, or b) signed Laettner to a shorter deal, or c) passed on signing Larry Hughes. I don't have the time to go back and look up the list of free agents in 2003, but the Wiz could have entered that offseason with somewhere in the neighborhood of $17 million in cap space.

And, it's worth poining out that MJ nearly screwed the pooch entirely by giving Bryon Russell a player option on a second season with the Wizards. Thankfully MJ helped make life so miserable in DC that Russell chucked $1.5 million just so he could get out of town.

Personally, I could care less that MJ was a jerk. I'd have taken that too if it meant winning. But MJ didn't build a winner -- even when he returned to the floor. He may ultimately find some success in Charlotte, though it's unclear how much of the actual work he does. It seems like the moves they've made are more attributable to Larry Brown and Rod Higgins.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Thanks for providing me clarity on a day I've been in full rant, TSW.

(Did anybody see Tropic Thunder? You never go full (Please Use More Appropriate Word)).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxr0hYef ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_GMxauC ... re=related

I could see Ernie playing Simple Jack, BTW.

[dobrojim]

as much as I like to take pride in what the Bullets accomplished
in the 70s, the ugly part is that every time we did make the finals,
except the year we won, we got swept out.

Losing to Alcindor's Bucks wasn't bad. That was a great team.
Losing to the Warriors was bad. The thing about the last sweep (SEA)
we suffered was that we were really beat up, no BobbyD and
no Mitch Kupchak who might have been one of the top 2-3 six men
in the league. Until he got hurt. He was _really_ good. And their
Gs destroyed us.

[montestewart]

as much as I like to take pride in what the Bullets accomplished
in the 70s, the ugly part is that every time we did make the finals,
except the year we won, we got swept out.

Losing to Alcindor's Bucks wasn't bad. That was a great team.
Losing to the Warriors was bad. The thing about the last sweep (SEA)
we suffered was that we were really beat up, no BobbyD and
no Mitch Kupchak who might have been one of the top 2-3 six men
in the league. Until he got hurt. He was _really_ good. And their
Gs destroyed us.

Basketball reference shows them taking a game in that last series, but still, Seattle lost Marvin Webster from the year before and still came back to win 4-1. The Warriors one was tough, and I remember the image of beaming Barry just after game 4 somehow made it worse.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The year they got swept by the Warriors, what I remember is they tried to have Mike Riordan foul Barry a lot and rough him up to throw him off his game. It backfired and just made him play better. Keith Wilkes (before he became Jamal Wilkes of Laker fame) had a good series for GS, IIRC. George Johnson and Clifford Ray neutralized Elvin and Wes. I also remember Phil Smith of the Warriors playing well.

In hindsight, the Warriors seemed to be the better team despite not being favored. It was shocking the Bullets got swept, but it's not hard to see how in hindsight.

montestewart, that was the height of Barry's career success. He was pretty old playerwise by then.

[montestewart]

The year they got swept by the Warriors, what I remember is they tried to have Mike Riordan foul Barry a lot and rough him up to throw him off his game. It backfired and just made him play better. Keith Wilkes (before he became Jamal Wilkes of Laker fame) had a good series for GS, IIRC. George Johnson and Clifford Ray neutralized Elvin and Wes. I also remember Phil Smith of the Warriors playing well.

In hindsight, the Warriors seemed to be the better team despite not being favored. It was shocking the Bullets got swept, but it's not hard to see how in hindsight.

montestewart, that was the height of Barry's career success. He was pretty old playerwise by then.

Yeah, Barry had a huge production drop off the following year. I saw him on the Washington Capitals in his prime, but I was pretty young and have no particular memories of it, other that I liked watching basketball.

I guess the Bullets had that Buffalo Bills thing in championships, but they won one. Sweeps and all, I'm not going to complain about the franchise in that decade. The thrill of victory, the agony of getting swept, such things made me a Bullets/Wizards fan. But I prefer victory.

[Ruzious]

Yeah, Rick Barry was just an unbelievable shooter and passer. I don't know if his game would translate to today, but he was amazing back then. Gotta give him credit for having the guts to shoot free throws underhanded. Clifford Ray was a freaking moose on defense - a poor man's Unseld. And Phil Smith had his coming out party against our Phil - Chenier. Notice one player on that Warriors team that later went to the Bullets and helped them win their championship - Charles Johnson - Chenier's buddy. Dude was under-sized and under-skilled... he'd take the craziest shots... but what a winner.

[Cramer]

The year they got swept by the Warriors, what I remember is they tried to have Mike Riordan foul Barry a lot and rough him up to throw him off his game. It backfired and just made him play better. Keith Wilkes (before he became Jamal Wilkes of Laker fame) had a good series for GS, IIRC. George Johnson and Clifford Ray neutralized Elvin and Wes. I also remember Phil Smith of the Warriors playing well.

In hindsight, the Warriors seemed to be the better team despite not being favored. It was shocking the Bullets got swept, but it's not hard to see how in hindsight.

montestewart, that was the height of Barry's career success. He was pretty old playerwise by then.

Didn't the Riordan thing backfire so bad that he snapped and went after Barry? That sweep was a shock but as I remember everything just went to hell in a handbasket. Started bad and just got worse.

When we lost to Seattle (I was at one of those games), that was pretty damn good Seattle team. I remember just hating Sikma but the backcourt of DJ and Gus Williams, not to mention Downtown Freddy Brown, was very damn good. The just killed us. Not having a healthy Bobby D was killer. Aquiring him the year before is what put us over the top. Wes, E and Bobby D was one hell of a frontcourt when healthy.

[Ruzious]

The year they got swept by the Warriors, what I remember is they tried to have Mike Riordan foul Barry a lot and rough him up to throw him off his game. It backfired and just made him play better. Keith Wilkes (before he became Jamal Wilkes of Laker fame) had a good series for GS, IIRC. George Johnson and Clifford Ray neutralized Elvin and Wes. I also remember Phil Smith of the Warriors playing well.

In hindsight, the Warriors seemed to be the better team despite not being favored. It was shocking the Bullets got swept, but it's not hard to see how in hindsight.

montestewart, that was the height of Barry's career success. He was pretty old playerwise by then.

Didn't the Riordan thing backfire so bad that he snapped and went after Barry? That sweep was a shock but as I remember everything just went to hell in a handbasket. Started bad and just got worse.

When we lost to Seattle (I was at one of those games), that was pretty damn good Seattle team. I remember just hating Sikma but the backcourt of DJ and Gus Williams, not to mention Downtown Freddy Brown, was very damn good. The just killed us. Not having a healthy Bobby D was killer. Aquiring him the year before is what put us over the top. Wes, E and Bobby D was one hell of a frontcourt when healthy.

Best frontcourt ever when they had Kupchack and Ballard backing them up. Kupchack was the perfect 3rd big. Too bad he tore up his knee after abandoning the Bullets.

[Cramer]

The year they got swept by the Warriors, what I remember is they tried to have Mike Riordan foul Barry a lot and rough him up to throw him off his game. It backfired and just made him play better. Keith Wilkes (before he became Jamal Wilkes of Laker fame) had a good series for GS, IIRC. George Johnson and Clifford Ray neutralized Elvin and Wes. I also remember Phil Smith of the Warriors playing well.

In hindsight, the Warriors seemed to be the better team despite not being favored. It was shocking the Bullets got swept, but it's not hard to see how in hindsight.

montestewart, that was the height of Barry's career success. He was pretty old playerwise by then.

Didn't the Riordan thing backfire so bad that he snapped and went after Barry? That sweep was a shock but as I remember everything just went to hell in a handbasket. Started bad and just got worse.

When we lost to Seattle (I was at one of those games), that was pretty damn good Seattle team. I remember just hating Sikma but the backcourt of DJ and Gus Williams, not to mention Downtown Freddy Brown, was very damn good. The just killed us. Not having a healthy Bobby D was killer. Aquiring him the year before is what put us over the top. Wes, E and Bobby D was one hell of a frontcourt when healthy.

Best frontcourt ever when they had Kupchack and Ballard backing them up. Kupchack was the perfect 3rd big. Too bad he tore up his knee after abandoning the Bullets.

Well, on the short list but some Celtic fans would have a fit if they read that (Bird, McHale, Parrish, Walton, Maxwell...). We peaked at just the right time the year before and won it. The year we lost, it pains me but Seattle deserved to win it. Gus and DJ in their prime, Sikma coming into his own, bruisers in Silas and Shelton....that really was a very damn good team. If they'd met in January we'd have taken it but I think age and injuries hit us and with Seattle really coming into their own, the better team won.

[montestewart]

Notice one player on that Warriors team that later went to the Bullets and helped them win their championship - Charles Johnson - Chenier's buddy.

If I remember right, he was also Hayes buddy, because he was the only one on the team that really liked Hayes. He seemed like an outgoing man that really just liked everyone.

[Cramer]

Notice one player on that Warriors team that later went to the Bullets and helped them win their championship - Charles Johnson - Chenier's buddy.

If I remember right, he was also Hayes buddy, because he was the only one on the team that really liked Hayes. He seemed like an outgoing man that really just liked everyone.

Sweet Jesus....I thought you were talking about Hayes for a second.

I'm ok now.......

[montestewart]

Notice one player on that Warriors team that later went to the Bullets and helped them win their championship - Charles Johnson - Chenier's buddy.

If I remember right, he was also Hayes buddy, because he was the only one on the team that really liked Hayes. He seemed like an outgoing man that really just liked everyone.

Sweet Jesus....I thought you were talking about Hayes for a second.

I'm ok now.......

Ha! I remember articles at the time carefully alluding to the friendship between Hayes and Johnson, and that young age, it only slowly dawned on me that they were implying that finally there was someone on the team that was actually willing to try to engage Hayes in conversation.

The funny thing is imagining a conversation between Unseld and Hayes. That would be a quiet room.