Countdown to Ernie Grunfeld Firing

[tontoz]

Down to the wire here. Nate seems to be wallowing in his Wizards-induced-lethargy.




EDIT: WINNERWINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!

[verbal8]

Down to the wire here. Nate seems to be wallowing in his Wizards-induced-lethargy.




EDIT: WINNERWINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!

Sweet.

[tontoz]

I'm all verklempt. Excuse me while i bask in the glory that was once Rome's.

[milellie111]

Asinine topic supported by asinine ideas.

-Putting together possbily the best back court duo in the NBA
- 1 game out of 3rd place in the East
-Wins against quality teams on the road
-A rising superstar right in front of our eyes who very well could be the best pg in the game soon.

Yep, let's fire the guy who's responsible for this

[Kanyewest]

[milellie111]

So if we've had an easy schedule and our starters are average, that must mean that the reason we have not been able to exceed .500, despite the easy schedule, is the weakness of our bench.

Sad that our starters aren't even above average. That is just flat out depressing.

And where are you getting that from? Wall is definitely above average. So is Beal. Ariza is also above average.

[milellie111]

Not surprising that many blamed the GM for losing, now that the team is winning they don't give him any credit.

[verbal8]

So if we've had an easy schedule and our starters are average, that must mean that the reason we have not been able to exceed .500, despite the easy schedule, is the weakness of our bench.

Sad that our starters aren't even above average. That is just flat out depressing.

And where are you getting that from? Wall is definitely above average. So is Beal. Ariza is also above average.

He is saying the starters overall. Beal has potential, but has not reached average yet. Ariza is probably the only other significantly above average starter. Keep in mind that the average starter is better than the average NBA player.

[verbal8]

Not surprising that many blamed the GM for losing, now that the team is winning they don't give him any credit.

The Wizards won 44 games one season with Wes Unseld as GM, does that make him a better GM than EG.

[Nivek]

Compared to other starters, Wall, Gortat and Ariza are above average. Beal and Nenê have performed below average so far this season. On balance, the starting lineup is about average when compared to other starters.

Ran some numbers on 2nd year guards age 21 and under. Beal is a little below average for that group (41 players with at least 1,000 minutes since 1979-80). Nothing to be overly concerned about since: a) Beal still has nearly half a season to play; and b) some 2nd year youngsters (like Beal) rated near where Beal rates or worse and went on to have successful NBA careers.

That list of "about the same or worse but became good" includes: Joe Johnson, Kyle Lowry, Larry Hughes and Kobe Bryant. Also: Martell Webster, Tyreke Evans, and DeShawn Stevenson.

Stevenson didn't have a season approaching league average until he got to DC -- his 8th season.

[tontoz]

So getting to .500 at midseason in a terrible conference is enough to ignore the fact that he has a sub 40% "winning" percentage over a decade?

[dckingsfan]

Millie - pretend you are Ted and looking at these numbers, do you:
1) Convince yourself that he fans are stupid and stay the course?
2) Understand that the fans are not morons and begin to work on a long-term strategy sans EG?

Since you are a fan or fanatic (n.) A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning optimistic enthusiasm, as for a cause.

You will choose 1) or rationalize 1)

[payitforward]

I'm following Block's blog now. Always enjoyed his books. I see that he wrote one in collaboration with Donald Westlake. For a long time, Robert B. Parker was my favorite, but I LOVE Westlake's books whether he's writing under his own name or under his Richard Stark alias.

Yes, he and Westlake were buddies until DW died.

Note that Block wrote an early book that starts with a guy waking up in a bed in a cheap hotel and not remembering how he got there, and there's a dead woman in the bed w/ him!

[DCZards]

Millie - pretend you are Ted and looking at these numbers, do you:
1) Convince yourself that he fans are stupid and stay the course?
2) Understand that the fans are not morons and begin to work on a long-term strategy sans EG?

Since you are a fan or fanatic (n.) A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning optimistic enthusiasm, as for a cause.

You will choose 1) or rationalize 1)

If you're going to factor in the opinion of "fans," what if Ted found out that say maybe 50 percent of the fans, the overhwhelming majority of which don't post on realgm, want him to stay the course? My guess is that most of these fans think EG should be replaced, but many of them might like this current team and what they see as progress.

Many of these fans are season ticketholders who might also want to see the Zards make the playoffs...whether it's as a 3rd seed or 8th seed. Should Ted take into account their opinions as well?

[Zonkerbl]

You guys are nuts. Ted should look at EG's performance as a GM and make the extension decision based on that. Really? Let the fans determine whether EG stays or goes?

Talk about the lunatics running the asylum.

[Nivek]

Here are the winning percentages for Washington Wizards/Bullets GMs:

Code: Select all

GM            YEARS            W%      RANK    TEAMS
Grunfeld      03-04 to present 0.395   28      30
Jordan        00-01 to 02-03   0.378   24      29
Unseld        96-97 to 99-00   0.449   19      29
Nash          90-91 to 95-96   0.327   25      29
Ferry         73-74 to 89-90   0.523   8       27


During that span (1973-74 to present), the Wizards/Bullets have a winning percentage of .443, which ranks 22nd out of the 30 NBA teams.

So, one way of looking at it is that Grunfeld is arguably the third best GM of the Wizards since 1973-74. Woo hoo!

[milellie111]

Millie - pretend you are Ted and looking at these numbers, do you:
1) Convince yourself that he fans are stupid and stay the course?
2) Understand that the fans are not morons and begin to work on a long-term strategy sans EG?

Since you are a fan or fanatic (n.) A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning optimistic enthusiasm, as for a cause.

You will choose 1) or rationalize 1)

If I am Ted Leonsis, i'm not concerned with the feelings and suggestions of the fans from a management perspective, most if not all who will never own a multimillion dollar organzation or placed in the capacity to make business decisions of a General Manager. Most if not all who ever had such qualifications to run a large franchise and never will. I am concerned about profit and the end product. I am concerned of the blueprint of success i've had before (Capitals) and furthering the interests of the Washington Wizards and making them compete. The product is currently producing. Production leads to increased season ticket holder accounts and enthusiam from most fans who enjoy the game of basketball and a competitive home team fighting for the playoffs. The small minority of forum "Owners" and "GM's", well their opinions don't matter much.

[tontoz]

Looks like the EG defenders have something they can really hang their hat on now.

EG > MJ