Flip Saunders Firing Is Failure Of Status Quo Of Washington Wizards
by Sean Fagan on Jan 24, 2012 1:50 PM EST
in Team Analysis
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PrintI come here not to bury Flip Saunders, nor to praise him. Instead, I believe that his dismissal should instead be viewed as a continuation of the status quo at the Verizon Center, and one that should bring no small amount of worry to Wizards fans who are currently celebrating the exit of a coach who had lost his way.
To understand this problem correctly, I believe that one has to return to the last days of Eddie Jordan, another tenured head coach of the organization who was dumped at the side of the road by the organization after leading through what was arguably the most successful period in the franchise's modern era. At the time of Jordan's dismissal, fans were calling for his head due to many of the same issues that resulted in Flip's firing -- the young players were not getting time, the coach had "lost the players" and the substitution patterns remained baffling. Eddie Jordan had to go because he wasn't getting results with all that "talent," and now Flip Saunders is being let loose for the same reason.
However, one salient point gets lost amidst all the chatter: neither coach was ever given the tools to succeed at his profession. Despite all the criticism that Jordan received for not playing his youngsters, he ran a complicated system that necessitated the drafting of players with high basketball IQ who could come in and contribute immediately. Instead, Jordan was supplied with a series of long shot projects and low-IQ players who needed excessive amounts of development on what was at the time a veteran team. How Jordan was supposed to develop Andray Blatche and Nick Young while also keeping the team competitive within his system of play would eventually (along with the injury to Gilbert Arenas) prove his undoing. Bones were thrown to Jordan by supplying him with Antonio Daniels and Darius Songalia, but neither an impact player nor a draftee with a high-IQ pedigree was ever supplied. Instead, "we got buckets, son."
Ownership has changed, but this same lesson has borne out with Saunders. The Wizards brought in a coach with a complex offensive system with the idea that Saunders could take the core of Arenas/Jamison/Butler to the playoffs and make one last run. For a moment, it appeared that the FO had learned its lesson, since by trading for Mike Miller and Randy Foye, they were (in theory) supplying their coach with the weapons needed to run his game plan effectively. Instead, everything turned sour that year with GunGate, and the Big 3 were broken up and shipped off, leaving the Wizards and Saunders with a collection of talent that any generous GM would describe as "middling" to "atrocious."
After that debacle, the front office is left with a choice. Do you continue the course with Flip, or find a coach better tasked for overseeing a rebuild? Once the decision was made to retain Saunders, then one obviously has to draft players that fit his offensive system, the one which he had been successful with throughout his NBA tenure. Comprised of a system that relies (once again) on players with high basketball IQ, the ability to run a half court offense and shoot jumpshots, the front office must have understood what tools were needed to construct a successful rebuild under the tenure of Saunders.
Instead, the front office had to have its cake and eat it too. Instead of providing Saunders with the tools he needed to succeed with his system, they instead continued to draft the high-upside, long developing players which have long been a hallmark of the current regime. Those players with high basketball IQ who who were drafted and could contribute right away were square pegs for Saunders' round system: hustle players who struggle to put the ball in the ocean from beyond five feet. (See Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin, Chris Singleton). Therefore, we were left instead with a coach whose entire system of offense is predicated on the jumpshot attempting to win with almost no players on the roster that could shoot.
I'm sure that many will point to the fact that this was a failure on Saunders' part and that a better coach would would have created a slightly palatable lemonade out of the lemons he was given. I get that. But I also am turning my eyes to a front office that continues to draft players that fail to fit the standards of the coaches' system. This status quo has carried over from the Pollins to Ted Leonsis.
Godspeed Flip. I hope your next stop provides you with shooters a'plenty.
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Yeah great read and very true
Who won? Who lost? Who cares?! The NBA is Back! - David Aldridge
What seems to be the officer, problem? - Randy Marsh
by Dutch Hoopfan on Jan 24, 2012 4:04 PM EST up reply actions
Absolutely spot on.
Does anyone know of a coach who will be happy to develop low-IQ, me-first basketball players who have inflated opinions of their own worth?
Should have fired Grunfeld too!
Grunfeld is mainly responsible for this mess and should have been fired the day Leonsis became the owner.
by Bups on Jan 24, 2012 2:00 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Grunfeld's more to blame than Saunders.
Leonsis really should have started with him, then moved straight down the organization.
I guess he figured this move would, at least momentarily, appease the rabid fan base.
Writing is on the wall
Why just keep Whittman through the end of the season if not so your new GM can hire his own coach?
Also agree
Saunders was not the problem. You shouldn’t have to get a new coach to get young players to work hard and try and get better. This isn’t high school. These guys made the choice to go pro, they should be working hard every day, not finding out an hour before tip-off that the guy they’re tasked with guarding that night is shooting over forty percent from the three-point line.
by seewhite on Jan 24, 2012 2:01 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
he wasn't the problem i agree
but saunders needed to get the players in positions where they can win games.
players choosing to go pro, esp. early is a result of the system we currently have, and is also not entirely the players’ fault either.
And as pros I do think players should be able to shoot, dribble, pass and understand what the purpose of defense is.
that's the mindset of a loser organization isnt it?
It’s not our fault these young suck, they should be working hard on their own since they are pros now.
Flip compares the players to children all the time, but then sends them email scouting and just hopes they read it since they are pros…..Dray famously says “Wow, Love shoots 3s?” or whatever it was
Meanwhile Pat Riley fines players for not being in shape and sends trainers to their houses over the summer to make sure they are doing what they are supposed to. He forces the players to succeed or fail, seems like we just see what happens while they are here
Udonis Haslem
Pat made him get in shape dude came back 100 lbs lighter looks like Blatche could use a “South Beach diet” lol thank you thank you I will be here all night.
Sorry Mike,Sean, David
I just couldn’t help myself with the whole South Beach diet thing. I know we are not supposed to talk about the players.
I don't know if Pat Riley or Phil Jackson have really developed a mass group of guys at once
but they create a culture of accountability where guys who don’t fall in line are dealt with immediately.
The Wizards can’t have that culture til all these guys are gone.
But the young players need to openly show that they are working hard on their own too.
I think we are talking about the same thing
Accountability is the answer, but we are still trying to lay blame. To me, you have a coach who coached one of the best PF’s of all time into his prime, took another veteran team to the ECF twice, and he was the problem? It just doesn’t wash to me.
by seewhite on Jan 24, 2012 2:53 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
with this team he was a big part of the problem...
but that is the conundrum that Sean has nailed with this piece…
the other way to look at that is he rode KG and then inherited a Championship team that then underperformed.
The players are surely to blame, but so is Flip is all I am saying.
Agreed
When something goes this bad you have to blame everyone involved, that’s just the bottom line. My only point is that Flip is a good coach, maybe not a great one, obviously not the one for this roster, but he is not incapable of leading a basketball team. But we’ll find out soon enough who the real problems are on this roster, and whether Flip was holding the young guys back.
Every time I read "current regime"
I’m assuming we should be hearing “Ernie Grunfeld”. Ernie needs to fall next. We can’t have him making any more decisions for this team.
I don’t agree. Comparing EFJ to Flip is apples to oranges. Different coaches, different coaching styles, different players. Plus, if there were a ’universal coaching meter," Jordan would measure out at a 2 and Flip at 7, imo, of course there is no way to agree on this.
The main difference is that Fip has too many knucklehead players in the middle of a rebuild; no coach is going to squeeze much more out of these guys over the course of a year. Though I expect them to perform better over about 12-15 games after a coaching change.
And I don’t blame management, either. This is a rebuild. “Rebuilds,” by definition, mean that the coach, in the short term, is not going to have the tools he needs to succeed.
can you think of a coach whose system would work well with our players?
larry brown? mike d’antoni?
We don't have the mentality for brown
and we don’t pass enough and can’t shoot well enough for D’Antoni, though I think his system is the better of the two…..
the team will look a lot different by the start of next year though
Not saying its going to be really good, but I’d have to believe Rashard, Andray, and Nick will all be gone, and that Ernie or hopefully our new GM will realize we need some shooting.
not true
brown only needs players who want to win and are willing to play a little d. he took charlotte to the playoffs for gods sake.
by BigPenisArenas on Jan 24, 2012 3:18 PM EST up reply actions
If Ernie survives this
we’re not even TRYING to rebuild, just get by and sell tix. When the building’s falling down, generally you blame the architect. The Wizzies keep firing the janitor.
i'd be happy next year if...
Keep John, Javale, Singleton, and maybe Vesely. Everyone else can go…and I mean EVERYONE coaches/assistants…everyone.
I think Wall should be untouchable. Vesely, Singleton, and Booker should all be relatively highly valued and only dealt if they help acquire a stud. Mack & Turiaf are great team players who can fill backup roles at the 1, 4, and 5 with little trade value, so I see no reason to get rid of either of them. Seraphin & N’Diaye are expendable trade chips if necessary, although I’d like to keep 1 of the 2 around for depth and potential. I like N’Diaye more, personally.
I love McGee’s potential, but I am firmly a believer that we should trade him this year and get something solid in return rather than lose him for nothing or take the risk of handing him a huge contract. Crawford has a lot of potential and clearly has the competitive fire in him, but I think a good 6th man is a luxury for us right now who is more valuable to us as part of a trade.
Young, Blatche, Lewis, Evans, and Mason can all go away and I won’t be the least bit upset. Young is the only one with any real shot of being a good player, but his immaturity and selfishness are too risky for a young team like the ’Zards.
I only wonder if Young, Crawford, Vesely, Booker, Seraphin, McGee, a 2012 2nd rounder, and a 2013 1st rounder would be enough to get Dwight Howard (and Turkoglu & Duhon). I’d make that deal in a heartbeat.
Well done Sean...
Ted faces a serious question.
Do you go in for the dollar now that you have spent the dime?
Or is this just another chapter in a tale of woe?
Great write up
"I wear tinted visor not to trick other players, but so hot girls in stands don't see me looking at them" - Alex Ovechkin
Honestly, look at the roster
I keep hearing how difficult this group of players is, yet the only ones named are McGee, Blatche, and Young. They could have perfect attitudes and this team only be marginally better. That’s because the roster lacks talent from top to bottom. Our number 1 guy, Wall is better suited as the second best player on a good team. Our 2,3, and 4 guys (McGee, Blatche, and Young in some order) are the 5,6, and 7 guys on a decent team. And the rest of the roster are 15 minute a game energy guys.
I dread the upcoming offseason, because I believe the “plan” for replacing the “not so Big 3” will be to move Crawford, Booker, and Seraphin to the starting lineup, while assigning their bench roles to 2 new rookies who can’t shoot and a low budget trade acquistion similar to Turiaf.
by hotplate on Jan 24, 2012 3:12 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
Those guys all have questionable professionalism, low bball iqs and should have been traded
Eg messed up trading the 5th pick big time. He fosteted a culture of unaccountability.
I do understand your hesitations to lay it all at his feet, but at the end of the day, it’s HIS roster
by spotless on Jan 25, 2012 12:05 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
this post
relies on several big assumptions, by far the biggest that Flip had no input in the players EG drafted. It also pretends that the drafting of non-shooters Booker, Seraphim, and Singleton (who seems like a decent 3 pt shooter in the making, in my opinion) somehow represents a long-term trend of drafting low-skill hustle players. (Regarding which, I think many, many fans wanted to see the Wizards START acquiring those type of blue-collar types).
It’s human nature to want to seek out scapegoats, but the reality is that this is a team in the early days of a rebuild. We have no idea what direction they’re going in, because no one can really know until there’s more talent on the team, which will come in time. Just because he players they have now can’t win doesn’t mean that ay of them can’t be vital members of a good team.
In short: stop expecting the results you want. They are nowhere near that point, and it’s frankly rather foolish to be impatient about it so early on.
by Stanicek on Jan 24, 2012 3:15 PM EST reply actions 2 recs
Ah, the old "you have to wait and see" argument
Not buying, thanks.
The artist formerly known as ledellforlife.
by Sean Fagan on Jan 24, 2012 3:22 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
and by the way
I’m not endorsing Grunfeld stay on. I just think your argument for getting rid of him is specious.
Actually its not
If you want an onerous documentation of the current FO drafting history and how we have consistently chosen “project and promise” over a more developed player, I refer you to basketballreference.com.
Further, I think your twin arguments that “you have to wait and see the course” and “you don’t know what involvement Flip had in drafting” is one that limits the conversation on this board and gives credence to the pablum t hat is currently being put out about “trusting the process.” In fact, your modus operandi is to name call and and be overly negative towards anyone who might have a differing opinion, which has been true since day one. I’m sorry you didn’t like the post. Realize that everyone doesn’t live in a world that has to agree with you.
The artist formerly known as ledellforlife.
by Sean Fagan on Jan 24, 2012 3:37 PM EST up reply actions 4 recs
Nothing wrong with limiting conversation
when conversation is based on fantasy and conjecture and a constant need to see heads roll when things don’t go your way.
Meanwhile, as for Flip’s involvement, seems you’re allowed to make assumptions and I’m not, because you think it hurts the conversation if I disagree with your premise (because I am very willing to bet you you’re wrong on this count).
Anyway, let’s look at who Grunfeld’s drafted and who he’s passed up:
2005 – Blatche. The fans gave up on him years ago, but the fact that a 49th pick is still in the league is impressive on its own.
2006 – Pecherov. A total flop. Could have taken Rondo, Lowry, or Milsap. Unfortunately, could not have taken Adam Morrison, Patrick ‘Bryant, Saer Sene, Hilton Armstrong, Ronnie Brewer, Cedric Simmons, or Rodney Carney, since they all went before him.
2007 – Nick Young. So-so. Could have taken Chandler, Fernandez, Brooks, Aflalo, Glen Davis, or Carl Landry. Not sure any of them were seen as sure-fire non-projects at the time, and none are going to the Hall of Fame. Also drafted Dominic McGuire in the 2nd round. He was a project who never panned out, despite some promise. Marc Gasol went with the next pick.
2008 – Javale. Could have taken Hickson, R. Anderson, C. Lee, Ibaka, Batum, George Hill, or DeAndre Jordan, who went in the 2nd. It’s still to be determined, but it’s hard (or at least a lie) to say they made the wrong choice or gambled on upside rather than going for the sure thing.
2009 – N/A
2010 – Gambled on upside, taking John Wall over Evan Turner, who many (if not most) pundits seemed to think was more NBA-ready (though Wall was still pretty much the consensus #1). Could have taken Avery Bradley over Seraphim. Not sure who you think they should have selected over Booker. 2010 has not looked like a good draft class in general so far.
2011 – I’m not even going to look at this one. Maybe you feel qualified to make assumptions about who’s going to have a good career based on a few weeks of games, but I don’t.
So, yeah, all in all, looking at it objectively, I’m right and you’re wrong. I’m all for people disagreeing with me, but I’m not for people just making things up and presenting it like expert commentary.
You're right
I made up all those historical facts. Shameful of me. I must have hallucinated my experience of watching the FO draft those players and the time I spend first hand covering the team.
And yes, there is something wrong with “limiting conversation” because because it goes against the very premise of this site. So does stating “I’m right and you’re wrong.” But hey man, troll away.
The artist formerly known as ledellforlife.
Dude
all I did was question your methodology. You made a sweeping statement without backing it up. And your response was to call me negative and tell me to research it myself. Which I did—and, in case you missed it two inches above here, what I found did nothing at all to back up your argument, at least not in a way that shows the supposed pattern on which your whole article is based.
No, you entirely misread the article and
moved the goalposts to suit your argument. I point to the fact that neither coach was given the tools that fit their system and the franchise either willfully or ignorantly chose to think that wouldn’t make any difference in their player selection. Your argument is based around the concept that since I am not currently employed by Monumental, I have no right to make a comment. Which means that I should hang it up, but also means that Mike and Mike Lee should as well.
But I’m done. If you want to to continue to call out the entire BF community, be my guest.
The artist formerly known as ledellforlife.
Spare us the sanctimony, Sean
You can have differing view points without “narrowing the argument”—often they are hashed out in respectful, objective, and rational critiques of one another’s arguments. This site has had a tendency—with the Wiz’s organizational turmoil these past few years—to feed the community frenzy toward scapegoating, but this piece is a sober assessment that I for one agree with. Eddie and Flip didn’t have the right guys. After that, It’s dicey for any of us to try to assess drafted talent in hindsight because the state of the team, the organization, and so many factors seen and unseen ultimately shape his development (see Brown, Kwame). We trust our FO and reporters to see something we can’t when picking and profiling these players. Speaking of specious, Bill Simmons has made a career of writing about “what-ifs”, except it’s usually fun when he does, and also expansive because it forces us with each passing year to reconsider how we grade player and team direction. Looking at Stanicek’s lists, I want as many of those players as the number of potential coaches I’d like to hire today. Story of the NBA. Somebody’s gotta pull a rabbit, or else eat the “chicken salad.” The Wiz give us both the sublime and the f-ing unthinkable often within a second of one another. We could be a few moves away—the Hawks, the NBA’s version of the wait and see—but probably we need a sea change.
by ArvydasEnvy on Jan 25, 2012 12:07 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs
Sanctimony spared
and fair enough.
However, an conversation based on the presumption that one can’t make an opinion without waiting for a certain undefinable period for or being a part of the organization being questioned is not a conversation, its an direction to neither ask question nor critique.
The artist formerly known as ledellforlife.
Thanks
You’re better than that. When asserting the “wait and see” argument, you’re either appealing for patience or answering a screed. I don’t see a screed on this page, but I have seen a lot of condescension. People act as if there’s a magic bullet (f puns) that Grunfeld has neglected to use. Sure he traded the fifth pick, and paid Baltche twice, but how quickly we forget that he got more than dog poop for Kwame Brown (“but he didn’t get Pao Gasol”), or the deft series of moves involving Hinrich. I think the right coach and a complete change of culture, starting with addition by subtraction, could turn around a core of Wall, Singleton, McGee, and Crawford with Booker, Vesely, and Seraphin making small contributions. Prob not with Whitman, but then this whole thread has little to do with your piece, which I actually don’t find at all objectionable, and pretty solid actually.
by ArvydasEnvy on Jan 25, 2012 12:47 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Actually it does
All of those draft picks are upside over right now talent. Every single one, except maybe for Nick Young.
The big trend
In the NBA is to stockpile young talent, whether you develop high picks, like OKC, into something homegrown; or to horde them until some other team’s star demands a trade/becomes a FA. From this standpoint, I think EG has made smart moves—our 2010 and 2011 drafts both garnered A’s—although there is no chemistry, and it remains to be seen if your team’s talent can be devalued the GM’s own reputation. The team’s worst problem is a lack of discipline, but they’re the youngest in the league, and we expected them to suck per Leonsis! If a new GM is hired, you can’t say he has nothing to work with.
by ArvydasEnvy on Jan 25, 2012 1:02 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
You're actually not
I don’t know how putting this list out makes you seem correct in your assumption. It doesn’t, I hope you can see that.
If it were actually "so early on"
You might have a point. The reality is that we’re two years in to the “rebuild” and have little to nothing to show for it. Flip was part of the problem because he didn’t adjust his coaching to fit the team that was given to him. He stubbornly stuck to a jump-shot-centric offense on a team with one shooter (Young). Good coaches adapt on the fly and retool. Look at Pop in San Antonio – they went from a slow-it-down defensive team to a run-and-gun team on the fly as the team changed.
That said, Flip isn’t the whole problem, and that’s also what Sean seems to point out. The current regime has done a piss-poor job of constructing this roster. That’s Ernie’s fault, and perhaps the fault of whoever does our talent evaluation.
A rebuild necessarily must have direction in order to be successful. You can’t slap a bunch of random pieces together and hope it works. You must define what you want the team to look like and seek the players that will fit this vision. So far, the FO has failed to do this, or at least it appears that way because of the way Flip has managed the playing time. The only way to know what we have on the roster is for the kids to play and for them to be put in positions to succeed. Flip refused to do this – first by not playing them (or playing them limited minutes), and then by forcing them to play a system that did not fit their skill-sets.
It is never too early to expect to see results. Results should be benchmarks, of course – but this team has failed to produce ANYTHING that resembles progress. When young players fail to progress, you must evaluate why that is and correct the problem. The Wizards have taken the first step in correcting the problem, and that was through relieving Flip of his duties.
by jakenbake on Jan 24, 2012 5:29 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
We are not "two years into the rebuild"
Ted Leonsis hasn’t even owned the team for two years. And I never said there don’t need to be signs of improvement. But change is incremental. People here are unrealistic to think that things can just happen in an instant. Firing Flip Saunders is all well and good—IF you think that Randy Wittman can make a difference. I hope he can. Firing Ernie Grunfeld only makes a difference if there’s someone’s better willing to come here. I’m all for whatever it takes to fix this team. The problem is that fans (see your comment above) can’t seem to get their heads around the idea that not everything is someone’s fault. This team doesn’t suck because Ernie Grunfeld is an idiot or because Andray Blatche is out of shape; it sucks because it sucks. There is no easy answer. All they can do is keep adding whatever talent they can, however they can.
But you people—AND I MEAN PRETTY MUCH EVERY ONE OF YOU—somehow believe that there’s some simple move (either firing someone/everyone or signing some max-contract free agent who would never in a million years play for the Wizards) they can make that’s going to turn this team into a champion, when the reality is that it’s going to take years, and even if every move they make is the perfect one, there could be a bunch of key injuries and the team could go on sucking forever. And no matter what, all of your complaining and demanding that people you don’t know and whose job performance you’re unqualified to judge be fired in cold blood is going to accomplish nothing.
Yeah but
Ernie built this team
I get some of what your are saying
But Nick Javale and Blatche all play selfish bball.
Plus, we aren’t just bad, we often play like chumps
It’s more than talent, it’s culture
Ernie built it, so imo, find a replacement
by spotless on Jan 25, 2012 12:16 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Wut?
But you people—AND I MEAN PRETTY MUCH EVERY ONE OF YOU—somehow believe that there’s some simple move (either firing someone/everyone or signing some max-contract free agent who would never in a million years play for the Wizards) they can make that’s going to turn this team into a champion
Pretty sure NONE of us believe that
by Bullet Nation in Exile on Jan 25, 2012 8:34 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
And no matter what, all of your complaining and demanding that people you don’t know and whose job performance you’re unqualified to judge be fired in cold blood is going to accomplish nothing.
Ah yes, but complaining about people complaining about a GM’s job performance is going to accomplish something.
He doesn't seem to be impatient in this post
rather, he seems to be arguing that the match between FO philosophy and HC philosophy was inconsistent, in the drafting of “upside” players VS more polished talent hurt coaches like Eddie Jordan and Flip Saunders in the long term. Making that point is a valid one, since simply hiring experienced coaches that cannot match the raw talent approach that Grunfeld takes.
What I've Gotten From All of This
In my humble opinion, it seems that
If you fire Flip, you HAVE to make other significant changes in the office, in particular Ernie must be fired. Many have noted that Flip came to Washington to coach a playoff team, and was left rebuilding a team with little talent. IMHO, Flip was not the core problem of this franchise.
REGARDLESS of the situation, it is Ernie’s responsibility to get the best value out of the assets he has. And it feels to me that Ernie did not do that. The players that we have now are clearly not a team, and the coach cannot change that- that is the responsibility of the manager.
Firing Flip without any other changes will not change this franchise… In order for things to change, management must be changed and new leaders must be in agreement. If the plan is instituted by everyone, change will occur.
by Gchaimso on Jan 24, 2012 3:43 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
yahoo article
headline, pic, and the pic caption – too funny. those facial expressions are perfect
by stevie on Jan 24, 2012 4:22 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
I think he that (as another writer once wrote about a legendary editor)....
Kelly wrote that piece before he brushed his teeth this morning.
Tell it like it is, kid.
So much work to be done here….
whitman
coaching record
Career 326
On December 8, 2008, club owner Glen Taylor fired Wittman after a 4-19 start, asking Kevin McHale to step in, in a complete change of the organization’s structure, as the former Boston Celtics great had been Minnesota’s vice-president of basketball operations since 1995.
he was REPLACED by Kevin McHale! yikes!
4-19 – that must be why they hired him – doubled Flip’s win total………….
The plan is right on schedule
So far the plan is to lie to the fanbase until all investors get their money. I am not sure what the next plan is.
Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild - through the draft.....
Draft young guys (read: cheap players)
develop them (read: play cheap players)
Put your trust in the young players (read: only sign cheap, over the hill, veteran minimum Free Agents to fill in the roster).
Keep the process open and honest (read: tell the fans we’re going to suck, but we’re building a Championship contender)…
Fire Coach
rinse, repeat.
That’s the plan…..
I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.
by Rook6980 on Jan 24, 2012 5:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Blandom has hit the organization
The Wiz will be competitive in a few more seasons.Grunfeld knows this because its in the Prophecies of Nostradamus.
by hambonejackson on Jan 24, 2012 6:16 PM EST up reply actions
Cheap players? Even this roster is at $58million
If a (any) GM has the freedom to pay up to the softcap, can’t he do better than Ernie has done now? I’m sure he can.
Who won? Who lost? Who cares?! The NBA is Back! - David Aldridge
What seems to be the officer, problem? - Randy Marsh
by Dutch Hoopfan on Jan 25, 2012 4:53 AM EST up reply actions
right? yawn. predictable. fixes nothing.
i suppose at this point you might have to change for the sake of change.
now about those players we’ve got… and the organization, who put both the coach and the players in place…
by DarrellWalkerFan on Jan 24, 2012 5:38 PM EST reply actions
Don't know how realistic it is...
but I like Frank Martin(KSU head coach). He would be the no nonsense coach this team desperately needs.
Fact is Flip was doomed as soon as the big 3 blew up.
He was just biding his time while the teardown and slow rebuild started. There is almost no team in history that starts its rebuild and finishes it with the same coach. The rebuilding coach is always a sacrificial lamb.
I’m pretty sure Flip knew this and I applaud him for keeping keeping on despite this. Trying to teach these guys. It’s going to take a second house cleaning to get the attention of some of these players. It will require a trade to get the attention of some.
by MR on Jan 25, 2012 2:58 AM EST reply actions 3 recs
I agree, but apparently the organization felt differently
If you are going to say good bye to him, why not do it immediately and hire a coaching staff that is suited for the task at hand?
Who won? Who lost? Who cares?! The NBA is Back! - David Aldridge
What seems to be the officer, problem? - Randy Marsh
by Dutch Hoopfan on Jan 25, 2012 4:56 AM EST up reply actions
Yes I think that was the wiser option
but then the Wiz would have had to eat $12 million of $16 million contract instead of about $5.5 million pro-rated from the date of his firing.
It’s bizness
Yeah
And the fact that he cost so much pretty much guaranteed the FO was determined to get something out of him
by Bullet Nation in Exile on Jan 25, 2012 8:36 AM EST up reply actions
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