Wizards Only the 7th Most Futile Franchise of the Decade

[Nivek]

82games has a new "futility" measure. According to this measure, here are the "dominant" teams of the past decade:

1. San Antonio
2. LA Lakers
3. Detroit
4. Miami
5. Boston
6. Dallas

And the cellar dwellers --

30. Charlotte
29. Toronto
28. New York
27. Portland
26. Milwaukee
25. Golden State
24. Washington

Woo hoo!

I can hear the chant building through the streets of DC and the suburbs: "We're marginally less unsuccessful than Golden State!"

Shout it with me brothers!

"We're marginally less unsuccessful than Golden State!"

I think I may have found my new sig.

[nate33]

Aren't we marginally MORE successful than Golden State?

[closg00]

Futility Measure, that is the state of the poor Wizard fan. ESPN's read on our future puts us at 28th put of 30.

When the marketing department is more aggressive in selling tickets than the management is in acquiring talent, you'vd earned your place amongst the bottom-feeders of the NBA.

[Nivek]

Aren't we marginally MORE successful than Golden State?

If you're an optimist.

[nate33]

Aren't we marginally MORE successful than Golden State?

If you're an optimist.

I just wanted to make sure we get credit where credit is due.

[Severn Hoos]

I'll admit - when I read the headline I thought it was referring to all franchises (say, of the 4 major sports). Finding out we're only 7th worst among NBA franchises - that's pretty good!

BTW, out of curiosity - do they mean the last 10 years ('03-'12), or the previous decade ('00-09)? Minor difference, but Detroit seems pretty high, given that their last title was in '04 and they really haven't been relevant for years.

[nate33]

I never would have guessed that we outrank Portland. After all, we're "the Clippers East" and Portland is a consistent .500 team in the West that is often mentioned as a sleeper to go deep in the playoffs.

If it wasn't for Juan Dixon's 30 point effort in the "Amazingly Sucky Redemption", we would have lost the Chicago series and never faced Miami. That would drop us to 28th. In a way, us RealGMers deserve most of the credit for us ranking 24th rather than 28th.

[TGW]

God Bless You Ernie Grunfeld. Thank you for the wonderful memories.

[montestewart]

Aren't we marginally MORE successful than Golden State?

If you're an optimist.

I just wanted to make sure we get credit where credit is due.

Some see the glass half-empty, others see the glass only half-empty. Some see the glass half-full, others see the glass only half-full. So many options for Wizards fans.

[Severn Hoos]

In our Stockholm-Syndrome way of thinking, I might be tempted to make the case for the Nuggets as having had a decade more marked by "futility." They did make the playoffs 9 times, but have only 2 series wins to show for it - and they were both in the same year.

8 one-and-dones in 10 years. Groundhog Day. For the most part, we just flat-out suck, but that's futility in my book.

[jmrosenth]

This thread could only exist on a Washington Wizards message boards. As much as we whine, complain, and criticize, we wouldn't be here if we weren't eternally optimistic.

[payitforward]

Some see the glass half-empty, others see the glass only half-empty. Some see the glass half-full, others see the glass only half-full. So many options for Wizards fans.

And some see the glass broken and its contents running down the drain.

[DCZards]

And some see the glass broken and its contents running down the drain.

Those people have my sympathy.

[closg00]

And some keeps their mouths open under the koolaid tap and can't drink enough

[LyricalRico]

And some keeps their mouths open under the koolaid tap and can't drink enough

Well, I do love me some Sharkelberry Fin!



(Interestingly, Ted does kinda resemble the Kool-Aid man. LOL)

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

[Severn Hoos]

Purplesaurus Rex was my favorite.



Well, by the time I was in college, that is. When I was in single digits, you identified your Kool Aid by color, not by flavor.

[DCZards]

Yeah, at 5 cents a package Kool-Aid was the joint growing up, especially if your family had a tight budget. I drank so much of it as a kid that I refuse to touch the stuff now.

[HotelVitale]

but Detroit seems pretty high, given that their last title was in '04 and they really haven't been relevant for years.

DET got to the conference finals or better from 2003 to 2008, also made the playoffs in 2009. It's only been three seasons of futility in the D after seven seasons of awesome.

[doclinkin]

Some see the glass half-empty, others see the glass only half-empty. Some see the glass half-full, others see the glass only half-full. So many options for Wizards fans.

And some see the glass broken and its contents running down the drain.

And on here you'd get some saying, well technically the glass is just under 1/5th full, a little over 23% full if you want to be a stickler.

And some know it's just time to order another round and keep 'em comin' barkeep!

Woo! A little good-humored collective misery just makes for a more rousing party, That's the reason I'm a Bullets Fan!. (you da man you da man)

[closg00]

For Rico, Zard and Hands

Top 5 NBA General Managers
Honorable Mention:


Ernie Grunfeld, Washington Wizards – While it’s easy to look at last year’s dismal record and write off a guy like Grunfeld, the man’s complete body of work (including what he did just in the last several months) is pretty impressive. This is the man who signed Gilbert Arenas to play alongside Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. This is also the man who, after it became clear Arenas would never live up to his huge contract extension, found a way to trade that contract for Rashard Lewis. Despite the fact that the Lewis deal was equally bad, he managed to switch that out for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor this summer—two guys much more likely to earn their paychecks than Rashard. In just the last year, he’s cleared the team of Nick Young, JaVale McGee, and Andray Blatche, leaving behind a really interesting core that combines promising youth with talented veterans. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see last year’s second-worst team make the playoffs in 2013, and Grunfeld is a huge part of that.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/top-5-nba-general-mangers/

I was going to stop reading after that intro, but there are plenty of sports writers out-there so there has to be a counter to Hollinger and others who wonder how Ernie is still around. Enjoy.