mohammed10's Official "Ted's Wizards" Thread

[fishercob]

Mike Wise with an unbelievably frank interview with Ted.

Must read.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/fu ... print.html

[closg00]

Great read, thx for posting.

[montestewart]

According to Leonsis, Wittman has his players behind him. That's a good sign.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Mike Wise with an unbelievably frank interview with Ted.

Must read.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/fu ... print.html

I wish I had a boss like Ted. He sticks by people to the end. I don't have a problem with any of his answers. I hope things works out for the Wizards because he is a lot more likeable than Dan Snyder and Leonsis obviously does want to win very badly.

I'm critical of him for sticking by Ernie, but I do applaud Leonsis for his decision to stick with Randy Wittman. That decision is going to pay off IMO.

[verbal8]

According to Leonsis, Wittman has his players behind him. That's a good sign.

It was interesting Ted mentioned players being in favor of Amnestying Blatche.

Q. I was thinking about your book, “The [Business] of Happiness.” Did you ever think that that pursuit would involve cutting someone a check for $23 million NOT to work for you?

A. It isnt emotional with me in any way. There was a new CBA — there was an amnesty clause — we could use it if we wanted — the coach and GM and several players said we would be a better team if we used it. 15 other players have been amnestied to date, it is a tool that can be used now .So we used it.

[fishercob]

Great read, thx for posting.

sure.

My main takeaway is something Mike Prada said on twitter -- while I may not agree with every decision they make, it's pretty clear that thy have put a lot of thought into their decisions.

From a fan's standpoint, Ted seems like as good an owner as one could hope for.

[hands11]

It all start and stops with a great owner and we have one and since he showed up, things have been turning for the better. Owners lead the way. GMs GM. Its a team.

He pretty much nailed every question. They turned the entire team over in short order.

He is doing the things people wanted in an owner. Advanced stats, etc He stepped up to do the right thing about Dray as the final house cleaning move.

I have said it many times. Turn the page. Look forward. Things will continue to get better.

He has a vision and an approach I agree with. They will get there. This should be a decent to good year. He has a plan.

Randy is going to become know as a very good HC. Just watch.

Breath in. Exhale. Things are going to work out people.

Hard for me to understand how some of you got behind Abe, EFJ an Gil and you can get behind Ted, Randy and Wall.

[willbcocks]

I'm not much of a hockey fan, so I did a double take at this question:

Q. Let’s get to some rapid-fire stuff. Semin. Keep or discard?

[Ruzious]

According to Leonsis, Wittman has his players behind him. That's a good sign.

It was interesting Ted mentioned players being in favor of Amnestying Blatche.

Q. I was thinking about your book, “The [Business] of Happiness.” Did you ever think that that pursuit would involve cutting someone a check for $23 million NOT to work for you?

A. It isnt emotional with me in any way. There was a new CBA — there was an amnesty clause — we could use it if we wanted — the coach and GM and several players said we would be a better team if we used it. 15 other players have been amnestied to date, it is a tool that can be used now .So we used it.

Maybe I'm too harsh on Ted on this, but the fact that he waited till the last day to do what seemed like the obvious move makes me doubt his motivation. He waited till several other owners used the amnesty on less obvious choices - like Brand and Scola. If he hadn't used it, he'd have taken a lot of criticism from the smart folks that cover the NBA, and he damn well knew it. And he's been awfully prickly about criticism this offseason. Anyway - he ended up doing the right thing, and that's what matters.

[Ruzious]

Q. Along those lines, most fans of the team are wondering when would a Dwight Howard want to come here? What would be your answer to that?”

A. I think when we can establish we’re a perennial playoff team and when we have one or two young stars — real, legitimate stars. Everyone knows that John Wall is a burgeoning star, but he’s not playing tonight. He’s playing in the league that gets them ready. But I think most people in the league feel this year, next year that John has the opportunity, if he improves, to be a real star player.

The real... Dwight Howard... wanted to go to Brooklyn. Are they a perennial playoff team?

Brooklyn!

DC is the capital of the world. Ted is (or used to be) a gregarious charismatic owner with deep pockets. Use the strengths available to you.

[closg00]

Mike Wise with an unbelievably frank interview with Ted.

Must read.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/fu ... print.html

I wish I had a boss like Ted. He sticks by people to the end. I don't have a problem with any of his answers. I hope things works out for the Wizards because he is a lot more likeable than Dan Snyder and Leonsis obviously does want to win very badly.

I'm critical of him for sticking by Ernie, but I do applaud Leonsis for his decision to stick with Randy Wittman. That decision is going to pay off IMO.

There was some time spent on discussing why George and Ernie have not been fired, I thought Ted's answer was weak.

Q. But you haven’t fired a general manager yet.

A. I haven’t had to yet. You have to look at the arc of the team. It’s not just how the team is performing. It’s how the fan base is performing. The Caps have 98 percent renewals. 98 percent.”

Q. And you raised prices too.

A. We raised prices. We sell out every game. Again, counterintuitive. I’ll hear, ‘Well, everyone wants this.’ And I go, ‘Really? So you’re tuned in? Because if everyone wanted that, they wouldn’t renew. They’d say, ‘I don’t believe.’ They wouldn’t come to the games. They wouldn’t pay higher prices. They wouldn’t rock the red. So the decisions have been empirical.

“With Ernie what I found was, could we be on the same wavelength? Would he build team with eight or nine first-round picks? Could he make trades? I thought trading Gilbert was impossible. I thought trading Rashard was impossible.

Ted also talks about bringing-in player development guys, well what is Ed Tapscott's job? Tapscott and Ernie presided over the very culture that Ted is seeking to change.

Overall seem good stuff being- said but also some things that don't make sense.

[OffTheWall2]

Ted is a pretty sad owner to me. Seems, from that interview excerpt, the only way to get him to even care about winning is to hit him in his wallet. :shrug:

[fishercob]

Mike Wise with an unbelievably frank interview with Ted.

Must read.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/fu ... print.html

I wish I had a boss like Ted. He sticks by people to the end. I don't have a problem with any of his answers. I hope things works out for the Wizards because he is a lot more likeable than Dan Snyder and Leonsis obviously does want to win very badly.

I'm critical of him for sticking by Ernie, but I do applaud Leonsis for his decision to stick with Randy Wittman. That decision is going to pay off IMO.

There was some time spent on discussing why George and Ernie have not been fired, I thought Ted's answer was weak.

Q. But you haven’t fired a general manager yet.

A. I haven’t had to yet. You have to look at the arc of the team. It’s not just how the team is performing. It’s how the fan base is performing. The Caps have 98 percent renewals. 98 percent.”

Q. And you raised prices too.

A. We raised prices. We sell out every game. Again, counterintuitive. I’ll hear, ‘Well, everyone wants this.’ And I go, ‘Really? So you’re tuned in? Because if everyone wanted that, they wouldn’t renew. They’d say, ‘I don’t believe.’ They wouldn’t come to the games. They wouldn’t pay higher prices. They wouldn’t rock the red. So the decisions have been empirical.

“With Ernie what I found was, could we be on the same wavelength? Would he build team with eight or nine first-round picks? Could he make trades? I thought trading Gilbert was impossible. I thought trading Rashard was impossible.

Ted also talks about bringing-in player development guys, well what is Ed Tapscott's job? Tapscott and Ernie presided over the very culture that Ted is seeking to change.

Overall seem good stuff being- said but also some things that don't make sense.

That answer is a bit weird, no? With regard to McPhee, he seems to be saying, "why would I fire the GM if 98% of our fans have renewed and we have raised prices?" He's saying "if the customer base is happy, then so am I." I see a couple of potential of reasons for this.

First, Ted made it pretty clear in the interview that it's McPhee's show (sort of in contrast the the Wizards). I infer that Ted doesn't have the knowledge or interest in influencing personnel decisions with the Caps, whereas with the Wiz he says "Beal was our guy all along." The second thing is that the Caps are really good. While they have disappointed in the playoffs, Ted is clearly unconvinced that changing GM's would change that for the better at all. He seems to believe that that is that once you're at a certain level, luck and health play as big a role as anything else. I can't say with any authority that he is wrong.

With Ernie, I think he's basically saying that we don't know yet if what we set out do to is going to work. It's just too early to tell. If Okafor and Ariza suck, if last year's rookie's suck, if we greatly disappoint this year, then I think he'll think about scrutinizing Ernie more.

It's a little incongruous to me because Ted is such a process-oriented guy. He readily admits the Blatche extension was a mistake. I have to wonder why he isn't questioning the process through which they arrived at the decision to extend him and for how much. OTOH, maybe he did and that's why they didn't keep Young and McGee.

People can nitpick and disagree all they want. It's their right for sure. I just love that he gives these type of interviews. Can you imagine Dan Snyder doing this?

[Nivek]

I expect (hope?) that Ted is doing (or had done) a thorough examination of the decision-making process that arrived at giving Blatche the extension. He wasn't asked about that process specifically so he may simply not have talked about it.

I do concur completely with fish that it's good that Ted does these interviews. I'm glad he's as open as he is, although I disagree with his thinking a fair amount of the time. At very least we have a sense of where he's coming from, which is a lot more than most team owners will provide.

[Saqs]

Absolutely love Teds answers. It's obvious the dude has a great mindset.

[badinage]

I expect (hope?) that Ted is doing (or had done) a thorough examination of the decision-making process that arrived at giving Blatche the extension. He wasn't asked about that process specifically so he may simply not have talked about it.

I do concur completely with fish that it's good that Ted does these interviews. I'm glad he's as open as he is, although I disagree with his thinking a fair amount of the time. At very least we have a sense of where he's coming from, which is a lot more than most team owners will provide.

Nivek, I'd be interested in hearing about the specific things you disagree with him about.

[closg00]

It could be a total coincidence, but it appears as-though Ted is publically addressing common complaints made here on the boards. Specifically complaints about a shooting coach and player development. Let's see what actually happens in the coming off-season.

[Dat2U]

There was some time spent on discussing why George and Ernie have not been fired, I thought Ted's answer was weak.

Q. But you haven’t fired a general manager yet.

A. I haven’t had to yet. You have to look at the arc of the team. It’s not just how the team is performing. It’s how the fan base is performing. The Caps have 98 percent renewals. 98 percent.”

Q. And you raised prices too.

A. We raised prices. We sell out every game. Again, counterintuitive. I’ll hear, ‘Well, everyone wants this.’ And I go, ‘Really? So you’re tuned in? Because if everyone wanted that, they wouldn’t renew. They’d say, ‘I don’t believe.’ They wouldn’t come to the games. They wouldn’t pay higher prices. They wouldn’t rock the red. So the decisions have been empirical.

“With Ernie what I found was, could we be on the same wavelength? Would he build team with eight or nine first-round picks? Could he make trades? I thought trading Gilbert was impossible. I thought trading Rashard was impossible.

Overall seem good stuff being- said but also some things that don't make sense.

Oh wow, I was already skeptical about Ted but that answer. That answer is just damning. What a joke! At least he lets us know where he stands. But that answer, wow. It's becoming obvious that winning isn't the biggest priority here. If you want to kill my love for a franchise, that comment is great place to start.

[closg00]

....and Just to piggyback^^, by ( in-theory) returning to respectability/winning sooner, you get-back the approval of the casual fan sooner. Ticket sales will increase while you plot the next-move to keep "the wheel of mediocrity" going until the next trade for "vets" . The flipside is perhaps we can be a destination for attractive FA's if we start sniffing the playoffs sooner.

[montestewart]

That was at least a poorly worded response. Interesting too that he kind of sidestepped how that applies to the Wizards. Wonder what their renewal rate is this year?