Washington Wizards 2012-2013 Season Thread - Thanks for a great year!

[wavy bone]

Shelvin Mack is a grade A bum.

And as the third pick in the draft...I don't see why Beal shouldn't be ready for big minutes.

James Harden went 23 minutes per game off the bench in his rookie season. Beal should see even more.

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

The Wizards could snag Eric Maynor (or other player like him) to replace Mack. Maynor is a great quality true PG.


Mack just looks out of shape and seemed like a good solid college player, not sure at the Pro level though.

 

[mrtarheel]

Well as long as we have Erine we will struggle. " Now we have a hardy crew of experienced underachievers" Thats the best way to put it. If Arzia and Oakfor played on a team that was just as bad as the Wizards last year, how in the world can they help us?

 

[eyedea]

love j wall but....

dudes gotta do better than 8% 3pointers...

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

I wasn't particularly fond of any of the additions we made last season, they all seem like moves that just further perpetuate mediocrity.

 

[jjs07]

Shelvin Mack is a grade A bum.
And as the third pick in the draft...I don't see why Beal shouldn't be ready for big minutes.
James Harden went 23 minutes per game off the bench in his rookie season. Beal should see even more.

Yeah, I see no reason why they don't start Beal off the bat. If he was to come off the bench, there would be no shooters in the starting lineup (assuming Cartier Martin wasn't the starting 2 - but why would they do that?).

Well as long as we have Erine we will struggle. " Now we have a hardy crew of experienced underachievers" Thats the best way to put it. If Arzia and Oakfor played on a team that was just as bad as the Wizards last year, how in the world can they help us?

I'm with you on Ernie. However, what else do you think he could have done in a trade to move Shard? Who else was out there? Also, Ariza/Okafor are off the books in 2 seasons, and will be attractive expiring deals next year.

I wasn't particularly fond of any of the additions we made last season, they all seem like moves that just further perpetuate mediocrity.

I love the addition of Nene. That being said, something had to be done to get rid of Blatche/McGee/Young. That trio wasn't working and was hindering the development of wall and also hurting the team.

I was saying it before, but I think this team is going to have a completely different look in 2014. Hopefully by then, DC will be an attractive FA destination due to the fact that the team will be trending upwards.

 

[mrtarheel]

Well I know he had to move Lewis, but he didn't have to give up the pick. But it was a second round pick, and he probably would have drafted another no name player from overseas that cant play right away.

 

[wavy bone]

Well I know he had to move Lewis, but he didn't have to give up the pick. But it was a second round pick, and he probably would have drafted another no name player from overseas that cant play right away.

The roster is damn near full. Using that 2nd round pick on a player you want in your rotation meant limited playing time or another young player the team's invested in getting moved.

There's already a logjam now at the forward spots.

 

[pmatic]

They could have waived Lewis and made a play for Scola (amnesty waiver) and a bargain small forward like Brewer.

But I understand the move for Okafor and Ariza

 

[wavy bone]

I know it's the first preseason game and many key players are missing but...

These dudes look terrible.

Jan Vesley is still a foul machine. 5 fouls in 17 minutes.

 

[wavy bone]

Crawford is shooting 3 for 12 with more turnovers than assists.

Beal is 5 of 10...no turnovers.

 

[Methodical Management]

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: 

"We would all find it unacceptable if we finished with the second- or third-worst record in the NBA this year," Leonsis said. "That would be a failure, and the failure would start with me."

Way to raise the bar, Ted. 

The Wizards could snag Eric Maynor (or other player like him) to replace Mack. Maynor is a great quality true PG.

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. 

They could have waived Lewis and made a play for Scola (amnesty waiver) and a bargain small forward like Brewer.

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. 

 

[jjs07]

Just read the article, and honestly Meth, I don't have an issue with the quote you posted from him. I think ANYONE who follows this team would find it to be unacceptable to have a horrible record like they've had for the past couple of seasons.

Rest of his quote

"That would be a failure, and the failure would start with me."

Again, I still say this team SHOULD win between 35-40 games this year. Most crucial part of the season is the first month. Reason being, we have to see how they'll play without wall - and possibly Nene. IF they can float around .500 for that stretch, I'd like our chances going forward.

 

[Methodical Management]

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.  

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”   - Albert Einstein

 

[jjs07]

Actually, I didn't get that from what he said. As a beaten down Wizards fan, I can understand WHY you'd be skeptical of the quote - and for good reason. The team has had a series of missteps for the better part of the past decade (or more). No need to beat a dead horse, but getting guys in here who are good professionals was ESSENTIAL to the development of John Wall. We're kidding ourselves if we believe his trajectory wasn't hindered by the organizational structure before the house was cleaned. But going back to the quote, to me, Leonsis is saying that if we remain a joke by way of having another horrible season, then by all means point the finger at him for helping to construct this roster.

Leonsis has repeatedly said that we are in a rebuild. A rebuild that has various stages. Let's not kid ourselves. It's not saying a lot, but the team with a healthy Wall/Nene will be the best one we've put out on the court since the Big 3 were in their primes. I'm going to stand pat on my prediction for 35-40 wins.

One thing you're getting hung up on is salary. The 28 mil is irrelevant. We buy out Shard, and then what? Would Luis Scola or anyone else have made a bigger difference than the two guys we brought in? These guys are only here for the maximum, 2 years. The reason I say maximum is that one (or both) should be valuable trade chips next year as their deals are expiring. 2014 is going to be a huge year for the franchise. Guys like Wall, Seraphin, etc will all be up for extensions. By then, we'll have hopefully shed the contracts of Ariza/Okafor and will be looked at as a team on the rise and a possible FA destination for other guys around the league.

My one issue with the team currently is that Ernie was retained. I'll never undserstand it or give the man credit for cleaning up his mistakes. Now, if I remember correctly he was only given a one year deal, so a lot is riding on this season for Grunfeld.

We'll see what happens going forward. Either you'll be correct with your pessimism, or you'll slowly start to regain faith with the organization.

 

[hypebeast5]

I feel like john wall stays getting stress related injuries, remember his rookie season, hopefully that's not the case, don't wanna see him hurt 3 to 7 times in a season

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

Jordan Crawford looks like somebody the Wizards found playing at Run n Shoot one night and decided to ink him to a deal.


Rough day for the area sports yesterday.....Skins lose, Orioles lose a tough late inning game, the Wizards are the Wizards still. At least the Nats won.

 

[rdfm]

I'm entering my 12th year as a season ticket holder (got them when MJ came back) and I don't think the playoffs are very realistic, even the 8th seed. I mean, we just don't have the talent. AND, I think an appearance as an 8th seed would actually be worse for team development than missing the playoffs, as others have said. Perhaps my biggest fear would be Ted and the rest of the front office thinking that a playoff berth is an accomplishment and, thus, they are on the right path.

I'd like for the team to be both good AND entertaining. As flawed as the Gilbert-Jamison-Hughes/Butler teams were, at least they were fun to watch. And provided the only second round appearance this team has had since the 80s.

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

Yeah for the last 20 years plus, all we have is a Gilbert Arenas GW jumper against Chicago in the 1st round......that is it.

 

[wavy bone]

I'm entering my 12th year as a season ticket holder (got them when MJ came back) and I don't think the playoffs are very realistic, even the 8th seed. I mean, we just don't have the talent. AND, I think an appearance as an 8th seed would actually be worse for team development than missing the playoffs, as others have said. Perhaps my biggest fear would be Ted and the rest of the front office thinking that a playoff berth is an accomplishment and, thus, they are on the right path.
I'd like for the team to be both good AND entertaining. As flawed as the Gilbert-Jamison-Hughes/Butler teams were, at least they were fun to watch. And provided the only second round appearance this team has had since the 80s.

I think making the playoffs is important for the development of our franchise player.

The last thing I want to see happen is to watch him become the star we all know he will become in another city

 

[rdfm]

I'm not sure he is quite franchise-caliber sadly.

 

[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.

 

[trynafeelmink]

I like the beal-wall combo & i think its critical for this team to make the playoffs this year or atleast hover around the playoffs. Although emeka and Ariza arent star players they are players who can get this team to play solid and become big trade chips next year

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

Caught some of the game last night.

Not sure who the stength and conditioning coach is, but a few of the players could use some reps in the weight room (Mack) and need to get back in shape.


Beal looks solid, I just wish he and Wall could be building chemistry in practice and these preseason games. Beal is the type of player DC needs, a quite confident, hardworking guy who is an impact player. It looks like he will pay immediate dividends.



Good to see Blatche out there too......on a team that doesn't say Wizards on the jersey.

 

[INTLplayers]

yeah Beal is looking good out there..very happy with how Webster has been playing.