Well, that was ugly.  

Anyone catch this article?  http://www.nba.com/2012/news/10/04/wizards-ted-leonsis.ap/index.html

With reality quickly setting in, Ted Leonsis seems less than bullish on the upcoming season: 

Way to raise the bar, Ted. 

I'd be happy to have Maynor as the backup, but he's still under contract with OKC and they're almost certain to pick up his option for 2013-2014. 

Pargo's a decent addition under the circumstances.  You just hope he can find a way to play FOR us the way he played AGAINST us while a member of the Bulls.  All he did was hit big shots. 

I'm not a Brewer fan, but I agree wholeheartedly on Lewis and the amnesty waivers.  GOOD players were available this summer and we refused to throw out a bid for ANY of them.  

Honestly, is paying the league minimum for Elton Brand that much worse than paying FOURTEEN MILLION for Emeka Okafor?  New Orleans did what the Wizards were too cheap and cowardly to do, and their franchise will benefit from it.  They have the roster flexibility we now lack.  We are essentially locked in to mediocrity at multiple positions, because we insisted on overpaying for second & third-tier talent.  Normally, this occurs when teams panic at the thought of losing a key contributor and spend too much to retain their own players.  We voluntarily took on other teams' toxic waste - and PAID for the privilege!

It's fair to say that today's game wasn't an accurate representation of what we can expect this season.  We were without Wall, Nene, Okafor, Booker, and Pargo.  Charlotte was at full strength.  We were at half-strength - and that's being kind.  

I'm not going to pretend that Wall or Nene are MVP candidates... or even All Star candidates... but, for better or worse, they are our two best players and it's difficult to win whenever you're without MULTIPLE starters.  As discouraging as the loss is, I'm not ready to declare the Wizards worse than the Bobcats just yet.  

I do expect a "bobcats bump" to influence our poll question, however. 

You're comfortable with him setting the bar at "it's not a failure unless we have a worse record this year than we had over the past two seasons?"  

If they have the fourth-worst record in the league, that's not a failure?  

You can only blame Abe for so much.  Ted is responsible for keeping Ernie.  Ted is responsible for choosing Randy Wittman over many superior candidates.  Ted is responsible for the state of the team's scouting, for the team's athletic trainers, and for the modernization (or lack thereof) of the team's front office re: stats/metrics, etc. 

Who's helping our young players develop?  Who's keeping them healthy?  Who's evaluating our trades and draft picks?  All of that falls on Ted's shoulders.  For him to look at what fans are spending on tickets, let alone what he's spending on this roster, and say, "well, it's only a failure if we're not as bad as we were last year" is a joke.  

It's not a good sign when you spend $28 million per year on two frountcourt players with a grand total of ZERO All Star appearances, then tell your fans, in essence, "I'd like to make the playoffs, but as long as we aren't in the bottom three then I've done my job."  Then why the hell did you lock us in to two more years of mediocrity if you didn't expect those players to take you to the playoffs?  Have some guts.  Say, "if we don't make the playoffs, we've failed our loyal fans and we will THOROUGHLY reevaluate our entire approach."  

Granted, the quote could have been pulled out of context.  He could've been asked about his tenure to date and referencing the second- and third-worst records in the entire league is a means of saying "if we're as bad this year as we were in my first two years as majority owner, then it's a big problem and that starts with me."  Fine.  But I think the team's fans deserve better than that.

There are a good number of "high class" organizations in this league investing heavily in all of the areas the Wizards continue to neglect.  We don't have a first-rate anything.  

Abe Pollin ran the team like a "family business." In other words, he made a bunch of cheap, nepotistic hires to fill vacancies.  Cronyism isn't exactly the best way to build a winning organization.  We still have Flip Saunders' son on the coaching staff.  Why?  Because he, like Wittman, is still under contract?  That's garbage.  

Our players get hurt all the time.  Is that just dumb luck, or is it possible that we don't have the type of training staff Phoenix does?  Our players never develop.  Is that just dumb luck, or is it possible that we don't have the type of scouting and coaching that San Antonio does?  

JaVale McGee may be a knucklehead, but what other team would tell their "franchise center" that he'll have to go out and hire his own big man coach?!  

Ted had the opportunity to clean house after he took over and he failed.  Yes, the roster has been turned almost completely over - but let's be honest, the players weren't the problem.  

If you hire the three stooges to fix your plumbing, you don't get to say, "well, golly, it's not my fault.  The plumbers I hired underachieved."  No, the personnel you hired didn't underachieve.  You just made a stupid hire.  

Team records fluctuate from year to year, but over time there are pretty clear patterns in franchise performance.  You can't blame all of that on Andray Blatche and Gilbert Arenas. 

This organization needed a complete overhaul, not a facelift.  Leonsis hasn't demonstrated the courage needed to truly clean house and kick all of Abe's flunkies to the curb.  That's the true test of Ted's mettle.  Instead, we got an amnesty waiver and new uniforms.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJs07 

Caught some of the game last night. A few observations:

Jan Vesely does NOT look like a guy who can get more than 10mpg. He's a bust in every sense of the word. Dude looks completely lost on the court. SMH.

Martell Webster IS our starter at the 3. Dude has been balling since day 1. Hopefully he can keep it up.

Yup, PLEASE start Brad Beal.

For as little game as AJ Price has, I'm happy to see that he won't back down from guys on the other team.

Remember "Thunderstruck," Hollywood's answer to the question no one asked:  "What if you made Space Jam without Michael Jordan or the Looney Tunes characters and focused it entirely on one of the talent-drained NBA Stars?"  

You don't need to pay $7.50 to see what it would be like if Kevin Durant lost all of his talent.  Just watch Jan Vesely.  

For about the same price as Thunderstruck's entire budget, the Wizards will see what it's like to give heavy minutes to a 6'11" guy who can run the floor, but can't shoot, dribble, pass, defend, hold his ground, or tie his shoes.  He has no touch, no handle, no instincts, and no clue. 

He's not an NBA player.  His best skill for Partizan Belgrade was dunking, which, at his height, requires him to reach up and lean forward.  And, for that, he was dubbed "the dunk ninja" overseas.  I'm afraid that doesn't really translate.  Here in the NBA, he lives solely on garbage points and, for that, he deserves nothing more than garbage minutes.  He should be behind every forward we have on the depth chart.  End of the bench?  Sit him twelve rows behind the bench.  

I've had enough of seeing 20+ minutes, 5 fouls, no free throws, and below 30% shooting.  This guy delivers worse lines than Tori Spelling.

We could've had Klay Thompson, though I understand this team's reluctance to draft a player with a drug-related suspension.  We could've drafted Kawhi Leonard, who was going to the Wizards in a number of the mock drafts.  That would've been pretty nice.  As "projects", I'd be happy with Biyombo over Vesely.   I wasn't thrilled when the mocks were projecting Montejunas, but I'd taken Montejunas over Vesely in a heartbeat.  I'd be happy with Lavoy Allen or Kenneth Faried over Vesely.  I'd be happy with an an empty chair over Vesely.  At least the chair could set a pick without fouling. 

2011 was a weak, weak draft, but we still could've traded that pick.  It would've been better to PASS on the pick than to pay $3.5 million per year and waste a roster spot on a non-contributor.  Send him to the D-league so I don't have to look at him anymore.  He simply cannot play at this level - and anyone who thinks "it's too early to judge" hasn't been kept track with our player development history.  What you see is what you'll get.  The guy is a certified bum. 

Prove me wrong, Jan.  Prove me wrong. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by WAVY BONE 

I apologize for thinking the Hornets deal wasn't "that bad". I was wrong.

In the back of my mind...I was thinking Ariza/Okafor are still serviceable vets. And even moreso I was just elated that the Blatche/McGee/Young era had come to an end (I don't care if all 3 become all stars...they had to go).

I take back whatever I said to people who were weary of the deal. They were right. That deal set us back.

- Ariza is TERRIBLE. Absolutely TERRIBLE. He can't dribble. He can't shoot. Outside of playing passing lanes...he's not even that good of a defender anymore
- Okafor played decent against the Nets...and if he can remain serviceable for at least 65 games this year he's not bad to have. But still...I'd have rather just paid Shard to leave.
- This team is going to be bad for for the next two years pending some sort of miraculous trade for a star or John Wall turns into a 24 and 10 player. So whatever money comes off the book for 2014...who's really going to want and come and play here?
- The draft isn't that great next year. 2014 is looking good tho
- All that said...I am TOTALLY against spending just to spend. I noticed alot of fans upset that we weren't players in Free Agency the past couple of years but for what? Why overspend for guys that aren't going to place you in the top 4 teams in the conference. I'm all about having flexibility. If we're not fielding a top playoff team...why throw big money at somebody like Kris Humphries just because you had it sitting around? Point blank...we need to find our cornerstones and then build your team through free agency. I believe we have our ONE cornerstone (Wall) and despite his faults...I respectfully disagree with anyone who believes he isn't.
- http://www.hoopsworld.com/2014-nba-free-agents/ = Who on that list puts us over the top that we would realistically have a shot at? If we could somehow find a way to get DMC...that would be perfect but that's a long shot. We should have been finding a way to get him after his rookie season when they were more likely to try and move him.
 

See, the problem I have is that, while we do get cap room in two years once Ariza and Okafor's AWFUL deals come off the books, there was NO advantage to taking them on for TWO years when we could've done what New Orleans did and simply waived Lewis NOW to gain cap relief IMMEDIATELY.  

I agree that it makes no sense to overpay for second or third-tier talent, which is a weakness of all bottom-feeders like Washington, but there were bargains to be found this summer.  Just look at the amnesty signings!  

You cannot tell me that Brand, Scola, Kaman, Childress, or even Haywood wouldn't have helped this team as much or more than Ariza and Okafor - and at a SUBSTANTIALLY reduced rate.  If there's nobody out there you're interested in signing at a bargain rate, FINE!  You don't HAVE to spend the money.  In fact, it's to your advantage to have a little extra space so you can absorb a deal as part of a mid-season trade when teams in the middle of the pack start getting desperate.  

The worst case scenario for us was to lock ourselves in to mediocrity.  The Wizards will not find a greater fool willing to eat Okafor and Ariza's contracts.  Nothing short of including John Wall or Bradley Beal would make such a trade possible.  We are stuck with this flawed core for two full seasons, and when their time is up, Wall's CONTRACT is up.  Would any of us truly blame him if he opts to leave at that point?  

Quote:

Originally Posted by the coolness 

Hey, not a Wizards fan here but I'll be keeping an eye on the team this season for Beal's rookie campaign. He's been looking good from what I've seen. Still don't understand why Crawford is starting ahead of him but . Hope you guys get that 8th seed.

Thanks for the well wishes!  We're all just as confused as you when it comes to Crawford starting over Beal, but that's what you get when you appoint your assistant coach as your head coach for no reason other than the fact that he's already under contract.  

We can understand why the Thunder would prefer to bring Harden off the bench.  We can understand why the Spurs bring Manu off their bench.  I don't understand why the Wizards want to bring Beal off of their bench, aside from the fact that "he's a rookie."  Our starting lineup doesn't have enough firepower to contend with the league's better teams.  We're one dimensional and far to easy to defend.  Pack the lane, give the selfish, lackluster shooters enough rope to hang themselves.  

With Okafor AND Nene, there won't be many driving lanes for Wall and, frankly, I'd rather not see him become the next Derrick Rose in terms of injuries.  We didn't draft him to play halfback.  That means we need to have either cutters off of Okafor/Nene screens or we need to play inside out, which negates Wall's passing abilities.  In either case, Beal is 1) a better shooter than Crawford (ESPECIALLY off screens and in pick & pop) and 2) he's also a better FINISHER than Crawford.  

Leaving him to come off the bench simply because he's a rookie and that's "conventional thinking" is a waste of everyone's time.  And besides:  if we're not paying to watch a winner, at least let us watch the kid play.  Jordan Crawford had his chance.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJs07 

One of my problems w. Vesely is that he has shown no improvement in his game since last season. I expected MUCH more out of him. He was the #6 pick. He has pro experience. He's on the older end of the rookies drafted last year (especially in the top-10). I can't stand when people try to justify the selection by saying things like "well, he does things that don't show up in the stat sheet." or "he sets amazing picks." You don't take a guy that high in the draft to do those things. THose are expectations for guys drafted in round 2 out of Duke. He's turning out to look like a colossal bust.

At least with a guy like Chris Singleton (who I'm not high on), he's at least shown through summer league and the preseason that he's been working on improving his game. Where is it with Jan?

Also, I'm not exactly sure what's going on w/ Ariza. Dude says he's trying to get adjusted, but IMO, he looks like he doesn't give a **** out there on the floor. I highly doubt that he'd pull a Mike Bibby, but damn....he looks horrible. I didn't think much of the Martell Webster signing, but he looks like he's going to be our starting 3 to open the year.

Guys have to get healthy and play close to .500 ball while Wall is out. Might be easier said than done with the way the roster is shaking out at the moment.

*Brad Beal is silky smooth out there. Dude just knows how to ball. I know Wall has to be excited at the prospect of sharing the backcourt w/ him. Got two franchise cornerstones - build from there. PLEASE.

I think Singleton's a solid reserve.  Every team needs a utility guy who can come in, play solid defense, and hit an open corner shot.  He has the potential to fulfill that role for us, and his size only adds to his versatility.  He's the only reason the 2011 draft wasn't an absolute wash for us.  

Perhaps what I like best about Webster, from what I've seen thus far, is how he's managed to manufacture points from the line even when his shot isn't falling.  We don't have nearly enough of that on this team.  Guys *cough* Crawford *cough* just settle for jump shots.  

Ariza was the presumed starter heading into training camp.  Now, it seems that we have dilemmas/openings at multiple positions.  This begs the question...

With Wall and Nene out:  who would you guys start to open the season?