Practice gate

[Zonkerbl]

Any reaction to Flip's meltdown at practice yesterday?

I hope that all the front court needs is to focus more and bring more energy. I hope and pray that's it.

[verbal8]

I think it is pretty understandable given the situation. The Wizards are not a good team, but to be 1-4 given the competition the last 2 games is worse than it should be. I think it was partially frustration and partially calculated by Saunders. It happened after a couple of disappointing losses, but before a break of a few days. Hopefully this leads to better focus the rest of the practice time before the next game.

I think it is a bit of a motivational tactic by Flip. I think it has some upside(increased focus, effort from the bigs) and the risk is pretty low. I think it contrasts pretty favorably with Shanhan's high risk, low reward benching of McNabb.

[fishercob]

The sad thing is that I remember this being done to me when I was in high school. I remember doing it to the JV girls basketball team I coached in 1998 (it worked well both times) It's a reflection of the overall maturity level of this team, IMO.

[willbcocks]

Liked Dray's quote, and since he's one of the few players on the team I give a **** about, I found the article more encouraging than discouraging.

I mean, look at the Wizards game threads on this board--they have made for some pretty toxic reading during losses, and we don't even have to spend hours in person with each other every day.

[Nivek]

I had a high school coach throw us off the floor once. He thought he was Bobby Knight. (He was not.) It didn't work all that well, to be honest. Our senior "leadership" just made fun of him in the locker room until he called us back out. No wonder we went only 11-11 despite having the best shooter in the state of Virginia and a guy who went on to be scholarship TE at Maryland.

I never did it to a team I coached.

I agree with fish -- it does indicate the maturity level of the team.

[fishercob]

Kev, it's an "internal marketing" issue. You have to know your audience. Your coach clearly didn't. I innocuously scared the crap out of some high school girls -- and because of who they were individually and collectively, they responded extremely well.

Tough dynamic in WIz land. You have some talent that's prone to knuckleheadedness -- McGee, Blatche, Young, and some "leadership" that isn't very talented -- Hinrich, Armstrong, etc. Then you have a rookie captain who isnt old enough to drink (too much too sign, IMO) and a complete enigma in Gil.

It's not a big shock that the ship is a bit rudderless right now.

[montestewart]

It already looks like it's resulting in Blatche taking even more of a leader role, based on his comments. I haven't really looked at Blatche as a leader type, but this team needs leaders.

[Nivek]

I agree completely about the "internal marketing" thing. This sort of thing probably would have worked pretty well with one team I was on when I went to a military school. We started the season 2-4, and part of the problem was lack of focus. We should have lost 2 of those games because they were against a local public high school that was pretty loaded -- their best player got a scholarship to play for Dean Smith at North Carolina. The other 2 losses were just embarrassing.

It was kinda funny what happened. There was a sort of soft firing of the head coach. The headmaster came on board as an "assistant" but he took over entirely. New offense, new defense, new substitution patterns -- everything changed. Luckily the headmaster was GREAT coach. He tried to emulate John Wooden, and he had the right demeanor for it.

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with the Wizards, though. A nice trip down memory lane, I guess.

[FAH1223]

When I think of why Flip is frustrated, i get an image of McGee and all of his immaturity.

[miller31time]

I like the move from a psychological perspective but it appears that our band of moronic misfits are public-humiliation-proof. For as much as I like Nick Young and JaVale McGee, if it turns out they were the reason for this situation (as I suspect they were), then I don't want them around Wall or anywhere near a team that hopes to one day be respectable.

[pancakes3]

Tough dynamic in WIz land. You have some talent that's prone to knuckleheadedness -- McGee, Blatche, Young, and some "leadership" that isn't very talented -- Hinrich, Armstrong, etc. Then you have a rookie captain who isnt old enough to drink (too much too sign, IMO) and a complete enigma in Gil.

It's not a big shock that the ship is a bit rudderless right now.

That's what makes this storming off the real headscratcher. Walking out on a team, or sending them to the locker room means you want the players to hash it out. Our guys can't hash things out. Most just want to get out of there and play video games/make youtube videos/go party. I can understand that Flip is sick and tired of yelling but it's what he's being paid to do. Lock up this team and set them on a winning tradition. Between this, repeatedly throwing his players under the bus, and just terrible defensive gameplanning the past few games, i'm getting pretty fed up with Flip.

[cdouglas]

Saunder can blame some of this on himself. Does he play who he likes or those who deserves playing time. I look at the Nick and Thorton situation and it really makes me nod my head to this coach. Hinrich plays terrible and he stays on the floor. Thorton and Nick plays good and they get pulled to never see the floor again. What kind of crap is that!! He talks too much and has lost the respect of the team. He complains to the media about what a certain player does wrong and how he's never had that problem with Garnett. Garnett this and Garnett that!! Well maybe he shouldn't have taken this job and waited for the opportunity to coach the Celtics.

[Zonkerbl]

Well, he may be like EJ in that he rewards people for focusing on what he has to say and trying to implement it in practice. That's probably why Ruffin got so much playing time, he was trying to make a statement about rewarding people for paying attention. [Note: Pure speculation on my part.] Doesn't seem to work in the NBA. You gotta admit Flip has a pretty sucky job.

So who would be a good coach for a young team? Scott Skiles? Really? You want someone even more irritating?

[queridiculo]

Liked Dray's quote, and since he's one of the few players on the team I give a **** about, I found the article more encouraging than discouraging.

I mean, look at the Wizards game threads on this board--they have made for some pretty toxic reading during losses, and we don't even have to spend hours in person with each other every day.

Sure, great sound bite, but we've heard Dray talking the talk for quite some time now.

From everything that's been said Blatche made the effort to get in shape until he got hurt, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

What really grates on me though is his playful demeanor. He's in his 6th NBA season and just got the contract extension he's been clamoring for.

He shouldn't be the clowning ring leader, he should be setting an example. When I see the practice videos I just don't get the sense that Blatche has that fire and intensity you need to have in this league. He comes across lazy and disinterested, and that sort of attitude is toxic.

What I found more interesting than anything were the observations about Howard being part of the 5 on 5 sessions and how the energy level changed with and without his presence.

[cdouglas]

Well, he may be like EJ in that he rewards people for focusing on what he has to say and trying to implement it in practice. That's probably why Ruffin got so much playing time, he was trying to make a statement about rewarding people for paying attention. [Note: Pure speculation on my part.] Doesn't seem to work in the NBA. You gotta admit Flip has a pretty sucky job.

So who would be a good coach for a young team? Scott Skiles? Really? You want someone even more irritating?

My question is what was Saunders doing late last season that was working and has he gone back to what wasn't working in the beginning of last season and if so, why? If something isn't working it's hard to convince the team that it will. He needs to play them according to their strengths. Funny how Wall's names wasn't mentioned with Kirk, Al and Martin.

[DallasShalDune]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... .html#more

Walking the walk, now?

[CaPtaiN eYeSaNo]

More Seraphin and Booker. They can't be any worse than Armstrong.

[JWizmentality]

Why do we always end up with players who have no business being in the league...AND WHY DO OUR COACHES ALWAYS HAVE A HARD ON FOR THEM!!!

[montestewart]

Well, he may be like EJ in that he rewards people for focusing on what he has to say and trying to implement it in practice. That's probably why Ruffin got so much playing time, he was trying to make a statement about rewarding people for paying attention. [Note: Pure speculation on my part.] Doesn't seem to work in the NBA. You gotta admit Flip has a pretty sucky job.

So who would be a good coach for a young team? Scott Skiles? Really? You want someone even more irritating?

My question is what was Saunders doing late last season that was working and has he gone back to what wasn't working in the beginning of last season and if so, why? If something isn't working it's hard to convince the team that it will. He needs to play them according to their strengths. Funny how Wall's names wasn't mentioned with Kirk, Al and Martin.

One big difference last year at the end was Miller and Singleton and better rebounding. Look at the games at the end, especially the wins. Even Blatche and McGee showed better rebounding, for whatever reason (maybe inspired by Miller and Singleton).

More Seraphin and Booker. They can't be any worse than Armstrong.

Maybe that's the answer, especially if they attack the boards, regardless of anything else. At least they can get valuable experience and show the team what to expect from them in the future. Myabe it also inspires a better overall team effort.

[Dat2U]

To me, the problem isn't just the young guys... its the lack of quality veterans on the roster. Hinrich seems like an overall good guy and quality role player. But he's got no business starting considering how much his game has declined over the past four years. And outside of him, there's no real veteran for this team to rely upon for leadership & toughness.

There's no one guy or group of guys to hold our young talent accountable for their mistakes. We are not OKC. Our players lack the maturity or IQ of a Durant & Westbrook at this point.

The idea that John Wall can come in and be a captain from day one seems like a bad move. It's nothing against Wall but the kid is still learning how to be a professional and how to deal with the grind of the NBA season. He's still learning on the job so expecting him to be able to hold others accountable seems like a huge stretch at this stage.

To me, it all starts at the very top. The culture of an organization will be determined by its leader. Right now that responsibility falls on Teddy Leonsis. I like Teddy a lot but right now he's learning on the job and isn't infallible. The problem is Teddy didn't clean house. The guy making basketball decisions has thoroughly shown he's incapable of building a team correctly. The same problems our young team has right now are the same problems we've had for years with a different group of players. Soft, low IQ, sense of entitlement, lack of toughness. All those traits remain even though we cleaned house. We had those problems back when we won 45 games. The one constant is Ernie Grunfeld.

We need a new direction. Teddy must realize this isn't the NHL and Ernie Grunfeld isn't George McPhee. Until that change is made, making trades or firing coaches will be like putting bandage on a open wound.