zero2hero wrote:Illmatic12 wrote:zero2hero wrote:Austin Rivers on his time in Houston vs. when he was playing in Washington
Start at :51
https://youtu.be/eOoqQMJ3egQ?t=51Obviously, this isn't new news, but I'm convinced we will never have a sustained winning team as long as Beal/Wall are playing with each other. How many years will we keep hearing about "agendas", "selfish ball", and "players only meetings"?
Open your eyes my friend, it's not about Beal and Wall. Those are hallmarks of Ernie Grunfeld-led teams , and it's been happening in DC since well before those two even got here.
There's a reason why Brad directed his frustration specifically at Ernie in the infamous practice rant. When there's no culture of accountability from the top, it leaves the locker room to police itself and that's when players develop factions amongst each other. Gilbert Arenas said himself that's how it was when he was there, listen at the 9:30 mark
It's unbelievable to me that some of you guys have been following the Wizards for as long as you claim, and still think a basketball team's culture starts from the players. The problems came from Grunfeld and firing him was the biggest step towards getting the franchise back on track.
Never said it was fully on the players, but ok. At the end of the day, everyone shares blame. These aren't children. These are grown men. I think they'd find it offensive that you don't think these grown men can assert themselves.
So you think that now Ernie is gone, everything is water under the bridge? The genie in the bottle can simply be put back in - that the poison in the locker room that has been festering for 10+ years just disappears? That was my point - that the relationship between possibly Beal and Wall and maybe others within the locker room has soured and that one may have to be moved in order to really get a full reset. Not that it's solely and completely 100% their fault.
If you don't think that basketball culture in no way is part of the player's responsibility to foster and in part create as well, then I find that part unbelievable.
Well by all reports Beal and Wall have been communicating with each other and with Ted as well, and they're in lockstep about turning around the team's culture. If anything they've grown closer during this whole ordeal. Both John and Brad mentioned in these interviews that they've been supporting each other and Brad adamantly believes that John can recover and they aren't done as a duo .
The most important thing is to get buy-in from your two franchise leaders, and they have that. As far as a full reset? That's going to happen anyways.. there are basically 8-10 open roster spots this summer. Most of the longtime holdovers from the Grunfeld era are gone , other than Ian Mahinmi and Sato , and as far as Sato I consider him someone who can be part of the solution moving forward.
Wizards have a strong opportunity ahead of them this offseason, with a new voice in charge they will be able to set a culture of accountability from the top and bring in the right collection of talent and high-character guys. I expect the vibe around next year's team should be completely different from any Wiz squad under Ernie.
But if I'm wrong and nothing changes over the next 12 months, then sure at that point you look at moving one of Wall/Beal . But I'd rather see them exhaust all options before making that kind of move. We likely can't trade Wall until he returns and shows his value, and if we trade Beal it could very well be years before we get a player with his ability. That's not a decision you make unless it's the absolute last resort. Because imo Bradley Beal is the exact type of young star teams would seek out to help them improve the culture, it's very difficult for me to see how you trade that kind of player and get better on & off the court.