Nivek wrote:MDStar wrote:This is becoming quite the conundrum for me. On one hand (maybe 1 and a half) we have all of the terrible decisions that EG has made to where he should have been fired a long time ago. Moves which have been discussed and will continue to be discuss ad nauseam until EG is replaced. However on the other half hand, can I really say that the team built today is mediocre IF they go on to make a lot of noise in these playoffs? I'm not so sure.
This year has been pretty "all over the place" in terms of determining how we stack up against the competition, however in terms of talent, especially in our starters, we could possibly be in the top ten in the league. With this team i wouldn't be surprised if they lost the series to Chicago but I also wouldn't be surprised if they went all the way to the conference finals and played Miami to a game 7 for a chance to go to the finals. I just have no idea of how good or bad they truly are.
A playoff run would be nice, but the regular season still happened. It's in the books and it's not changing. And, against the league's easiest schedule, the Wizards had the 14th best record. A perfectly average team playing against Washington's schedule this season would win about 43-44 games (the Pythagorean formula spits out 43.3, which ain't exactly possible). That's not criticism of the Wizards -- they can only play the teams on their schedule. But, it doesn't change the reality that they were average during the regular season.
Also not changing is that key parts of the team are older and/or expiring. They're going to have to re-acquire Gortat, Ariza, Booker and Gooden (if they want them back). Or, they're going to have find adequate replacements. Then they'll be in the business of hoping the young guys (Wall, Beal, Porter) improve fast enough that they'll become outstanding players before the inevitable declines of Gortat, Nenê and Miller.
Even if they make a deep playoff run this season, the time for them to repeat that kind of run is pretty short.But, this is a "conundrum" we can revisit at some point down the road. Maybe after game two of this first round series against Chicago.
As an aside, I'm reminded of this
thing that I wrote back in 2011.
As usual I agree with a majority of what you’re saying here. I guess my argument, if you want to call it that, is more so for the roster than for the decision maker. I believe that EG has lucked into the team that is currently built and with a more competent person at the helm, to tweak the current personal, there could be a bit more longevity in any potential playoff success.
The way I see it, Nene is the problem in the long run for this team (age/contract/production/etc.) However, our upcoming decisions are not on Nene, they’re on Ariza and Gortat, who I feel both could continue to play at current levels. So if we bring them back (which is likely), with the improving Wall, Beal and Porter, I feel the foundation is pretty solid. Having someone who could turn Nene into a better long term asset, as well as improve the bench a bit with some shrewd moves and the mid-level exemption, would be the deciding factor as to if this team could sustain some success.
Just let the young boys play! It's truly the only hope at this point.
