Countdown to Ernie Grunfeld Firing (Part 2)

[verbal8]

BulletsForever.com reports that a fan at the Wizards vs. Bobcats game made a half court shot and won a whopping $500. If that doesn't sum up the capabilities of the Wizards front office, I don't know what does.

Have to save pennies for the EG extension

[noworriesinmd]

That half court shot was awesome. He made it as soon as I said there is no way he makes it because he sucked on all his other shots....that said I said Cuban would have wagered WAY more than $500. The amount was embarrassing, that would not even get you court-side seats. At minimum...anything you win for the half court shot should get you court-sides.

[Nivek]

I did respond to that NY Times nonsense, by the way. Nothing particular new in my response -- just kind of a rehash of stuff I've posted here.

I did talk about the Continuity Theorem a bit -- that is the notion that continuity causes a team to be successful. I think it's actually the other way around -- success causes continuity.

I also did notice that it's been 17 seasons since the Spurs had a year as bad as the Wizards' BEST under Grunfeld's direction.

I also took a look at Grunfeld's attempt to compare the glacial rebuild in Washington to OKC. If I was in his position, I wouldn't want that comparison made.

[queridiculo]

Would be interesting to see a breakdown of payroll to win ratio for Grunfeld's tenure.

[Nivek]

Would be interesting to see a breakdown of payroll to win ratio for Grunfeld's tenure.

Oh man, that's a great idea!

Might have time to get to that on Monday.

[closg00]

Would be interesting to see a breakdown of payroll to win ratio for Grunfeld's tenure.

Oh man, that's a great idea!

Might have time to get to that on Monday.

Funny, I was thinking of that very thing today but knew that it would take someone like Kevin to do the data properly. My thought was how-much are we better off win wise when compare to younger rebuilding teams who appear to be competitive sooner in their rebuilds compared to Ernie's scatter-shot approach.

[jivelikenice]

Considering he's not under contract it would be great if a team pursued him. Its too bad the Knicks have Phil, they could have chased him. Ted may be ok with keeping him, but I'd be stunned if he got into a bidding war for him. (Even typing bidding war in regards to Ernie makes me laugh)

[dobrojim]

BulletsForever.com reports that a fan at the Wizards vs. Bobcats game made a half court shot and won a whopping $500. If that doesn't sum up the capabilities of the Wizards front office, I don't know what does.

we were joking in our seats as he was qualifying for the half court attempt
that he was going to win a free 0.99 coffee. How awesome would that be!
Or a tee-shirt. Or one of the highly desirable Wizard prize packs.

OK, I shouldn't be completely cynical. At the last (and only planholder event)
I've been to this season I won a drawing for a team autographed basketball. That's
pretty nice. I can put it next to my JW and BB autographed balls.

BTW - I've got an Andray Blatche (not Baltch) autographed ball. Make me an offer!

[daSwami]

I did respond to that NY Times nonsense, by the way. Nothing particular new in my response -- just kind of a rehash of stuff I've posted here.

I did talk about the Continuity Theorem a bit -- that is the notion that continuity causes a team to be successful. I think it's actually the other way around -- success causes continuity.

I also did notice that it's been 17 seasons since the Spurs had a year as bad as the Wizards' BEST under Grunfeld's direction.

I also took a look at Grunfeld's attempt to compare the glacial rebuild in Washington to OKC. If I was in his position, I wouldn't want that comparison made.

This is an obvious ploy by the NY press to get Ted to keep EG around long enough to irreparably damage an Eastern conference rival of their beloved Knicks (and Nets). Ted's way too smart to fall for that old trick. Just read his blog, he'll tell you himself.

[closg00]

*Bumping* Don't lie-down and surrender guys, do not accept fan abuse.

[montestewart]

*Bumping* Don't lie-down and surrender guys, do not accept fan abuse.

99 bottles of beer on the wall

[closg00]

In the last 15 years, the Wizards have gone through the most number of coaches in this period: 10. With the lowest regular season winning percentage at 38.3 percent, the Wizards have also not won more than 45 games in a season since 1979.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sports/the- ... ry.html/3/

Just to balance-out the Hands love-in on the other thread.

[DCZards]

^^^^ Those were the old Wizards, closg. Just look at the uniform G-Man has on in the photo and the flag he's carrying. It's a new day.

[hands11]

In the last 15 years, the Wizards have gone through the most number of coaches in this period: 10. With the lowest regular season winning percentage at 38.3 percent, the Wizards have also not won more than 45 games in a season since 1979.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/sports/the- ... ry.html/3/

Just to balance-out the Hands love-in on the other thread.

And on que, the 15 year time frame evaluation.

Balance out ?

Right. We don't have enough posters posting stuff about how the Wizards suck, have sucked and will continue to do so. I do wonder why these people claim to be Wizards fans. Seem like trolls to me. Probably TOR and Cleveland Trolls is my guess.

First off, I would argue the longer time period evaluations are much less relevant then shorter term ones. Starting with Wall and a new owner would be much more relevant. After cleaning up Gils worst in a decade contract even more so. And considering they started a rebuild cycle with Wall, looking at Wall year 3 and forward is even more relevant. If I was to evaluate the Sixers rebuild, I would look at two years from MCW first year in a rebuild ( his 3rd year) much more then the first year. Of course their record will stink this year and it will next year as well. Its the year after that when the window begins. Well for the Wizards that would be Walls 3rd year which was last year and forward.

Clearly the team is not the worst over that time period. Clearly Wall has turned the corner and is now projected to be a top 5 PG over the following years as he comes into his prime. And clearly they would be a lot better with a legit quality HC vs an NBA assistant as HC. A legit HC is something they can add this off season since they don't have a HC signed to a contract after this season. Thats the next big move this team needs to make for the future. Not another mid level draft pick. What they need is the right HC to lead the group of talent they assemble, attract the best of the FA class and get the most from the roster. Getting that right is going to be HUGE. EG or not, the right HC would be a huge move.

As for your link, I do find it funny the cut off date used. They picked the low year of 18 wins in a strike year. Not the 39, 44, 42 win years that proceeded that. Adding those years would have allowed them to list two more coaches, bring the total to 12 coaches. You would think they would favored listing 12 coaches over 10 but I bet they didn't because those wins would have mess up their statement about them having the lowest number of regular reason wins. 10 coaches was enough I guess.

But for the record, the other 4 teams she listed as the worst in recent history ( 15 years window for the Wizards was recent ), she listed.

TOR, MEM, GS, and the LAC

You want to see a horrible franchise. LAC from 1993 to 2008. 15 years of suck and 7 head coaches. Is that more relevant to a Clippers fan then what they have done the last 3 years. I doubt it.

[leswizards]

With the CBA rules in the NBA, to be title contenders, team must either find free production or be willing to pay the luxury tax. To understand what I mean by free production consider the Miami Heat with Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Heat pay those 3 players approximately $56 million. However, in a free market, to replace their production, an NBA team would have to pay considerably more to replace those 3 players. Hence, the Miami Heat are getting free production from those 3 players. If your team can't find that kind of free production, its only alternative is to pay the luxury tax. The problem with paying the luxury tax is that the team ends up paying more than the production is worth.

Paying the luxury tax is out of EG's realm of responsibility. If Ted wants to pay the luxury tax, the Wizards might have a shot to be title contenders. If Ted doesn't want to pay the luxury tax, the only way the Wizards can be title contenders is if they find players who can generate free production. This is EG's responsibility, and he has utterly failed in spite of having numerous resources. At this point, the only 3 viable options for the Wizards getting free production are from John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter. Only John Wall has come close to showing that potential, and regardless, all three players fell in the Wizards lap, and EG provided nothing of value in acquiring these players.

[Nivek]

"...the most number of coaches..."

I hope no one got paid to write that sentence.

[tontoz]

The Bobcats are only 2 games behind us and we face them two more times. Be sure to set the DVR.

[Dat2U]

The Bobcats are only 2 games behind us and we face them two more times. Be sure to set the DVR.

Sadly I don't think slipping down to the 7th seed is really going to make a difference in what happens this off-season from the Wizards standpoint. As Nivek has mentioned, the Wizards success this year is solely judged on making the playoffs, it doesn't appear to matter what happens once they get there. If they face MIA and lose in 4, the season is still a success. It's the journey, not the destination that matters to Ted. Maybe different standards will be set going forward, but the bar is so low right now, nothing is going to get in the way of that "mission accomplished" banner being displayed and extensions for everybody.

[nate33]

The Bobcats are only 2 games behind us and we face them two more times. Be sure to set the DVR.

Sadly I don't think slipping down to the 7th seed is really going to make a difference in what happens this off-season from the Wizards standpoint. As Nivek has mentioned, the Wizards success this year is solely judged on making the playoffs, it doesn't appear to matter what happens once they get there. If they face MIA and lose in 4, the season is still a success. It's the journey, not the destination that matters to Ted. Maybe different standards will be set going forward, but the bar is so low right now, nothing is going to get in the way of that "mission accomplished" banner being displayed and extensions for everybody.

I dunno.

We all beat Ted up about his stubbornness, but this is the future of his franchise we're talking about. EG and Wittman have contracts that are expiring. He wouldn't be firing them, he would merely be refraining from extending them. I really think Ted is going to have to think long and hard about this. If we finish 43-41 and barely limp into the playoffs as the 7th seed thanks only to the contributions of a bunch of over-the-hill vets with no future; Ted's gotta consider it in his evaluation.

Even Ted has to understand that EG has done a horrible job at acquiring and grooming young talent. He's got to realize that this team is basically John Wall plus a bunch of overpaid mercenaries on the downside of the career, most of whom have expiring contracts. He can't possibly believe EG has done a good job. At best, he may consider it a barely adequate job. But even so, if other viable GM candidates are out there, he's going to have to at least talk to them.

Honestly, I think a 7th seed and 4-0 sweep or a 4-1 trouncing is going to leave the door open to can EG. I think EG is safe only if we get a top 6 seed and play at least 6 games in the first round.

[mohammed10]

I dunno.

We all beat Ted up about his stubbornness, but this is the future of his franchise we're talking about. EG and Wittman have contracts that are expiring. He wouldn't be firing them, he would merely be refraining from extending them. I really think Ted is going to have to think long and hard about this. If we finish 43-41 and barely limp into the playoffs as the 7th seed thanks only to the contributions of a bunch of over-the-hill vets with no future; Ted's gotta consider it in his evaluation.

Even Ted has to understand that EG has done a horrible job at acquiring and grooming young talent. He's got to realize that this team is basically John Wall plus a bunch of overpaid mercenaries on the downside of the career, most of whom have expiring contracts. He can't possibly believe EG has done a good job. At best, he may consider it a barely adequate job. But even so, if other viable GM candidates are out there, he's going to have to at least talk to them.

Honestly, I think a 7th seed and 4-0 sweep or a 4-1 trouncing is going to leave the door open to can EG. I think EG is safe only if we get a top 6 seed and play at least 6 games in the first round.

nate - I hope that you are correct (about Ted willing to can the dynamic duo, not about the 4-0 or 4-1 first round exit). It just seems like a fait a complis that Ernie and Whit would be brought back for another season (or more). Heck, even the media types (Mike Wise from WaPo) have bought into them coming back for the reunion tour next season.

Many of us have hoped for a long time that this was 'it' for the both of them. I often have visions of Ted firing both of them in the off season....then I wake up and have to towel off.