So I know I am a couple of weeks late on this as Grunfeld was extended by the Wizards 2 weeks ago but Robbie had his say on the matter and how much he disliked the move and I am in the same boat as Rob, just not quite as passionate about it. From what I understand Leonsis has given Grunfeld a 2 year extension so he will at least be around through the 2013/2014 season and basically will be in charge of this new era of Wizards basketball. Let me first give you a quick overview of Ernie Grunfeld’s tenure thus far with the Wizards and why a lot of people are questioning his return.
Tag Archives: Nick Young
Pat’s NBA Playoff Preview
Eastern Conference
#1 Chicago Bulls vs. #8 Philadelphia 76ers
Ernie Grunfeld Returns
Earlier today Eddie sent me the worst tweet I have ever received. I am absolutely devastated. It has made conjuring up willpower to write this post almost impossible. As a Wizards fan I have never felt more defeated. His tweet…
Ughhhhhhhhh. What? Seriously? I don’t know if I’m more upset by this news or the realization that I have chosen the wrong career path. There is no career you could choose that provides the number of chances Grunfeld has received despite continuous failure. At the height of his tenure as the Wizards head decision maker his performance would have best been described at mediocre. That was at his height, for the most part his results have been far below average. He is a horrendous evaluator of player talent and production, he has a history of grand delusion when assessing his decisions, and as a result his teams tend to lose many, many games.
Wizards Players Report Card and Wizards Awards
John Wall: B+
John started off the year poorly and was being ripped by the sports world. Then in the second half of the year he has been playing great. His field goal percentage is better than it was last year, and his points have gone up, as well as his rebounding. The reason John Wall is getting a B+ is because of his shooting and assists. He is 3 for 36 on three-pointers this season, last year he was 34-115. Although he was not shooting well last year, 29% is much better than .083%. His assists have gone down this year too, from 8 apg to 7.7 apg. All in all Wall has had a pretty good season and will hopefully improve even more next season. His best game was against the Rockets in January. He had 38 points and 8 assists, along with 6 rebounds.
Wizards 2nd Half of Season Going Well
At first glance the title of this statement looks ridiculous. How good any part of an 11-39 season being going well? Well I am here to explain that to you. I will start right before the trade deadline because that is basically the day where the Wizards franchise changed dramatically with the Nene trade. At the time we were sitting at 9-32 (nothing to write home about) and had the 3rd worst record in the NBA was is actually one of the most significant parts of this year. We were a team that had an infinite number of players that had no basketball IQ, played sub par defense, and overall just took a selfish approach to the game. The culture around the Wizards was terrible as all of their top players (sans Wall) not only didn’t know how to win basketball games but just created a losing atmosphere around the other players. The main culprits in this culture was McGee, Young, and Blatche; all of whom had been in the league year for years yet they had all always been perennial losers (specifically as starters) and not one of them seemed willing to change their game or attitude on the court for the better of the team. It was pretty clear that Young would be gone after this year because he is an unrestricted free agent and Blatche was also probably gone due to the existing amnesty clause that the Wizards are sure to use on him; but with no deal looming it seemed as if we would have to watch these guys play out the year and soil our young impressionable players even more. Then you have McGee who we would have had to make a huge decision on this summer as to whether to pay this big time highlight and potential guy that hadn’t yet figured out how to play and win in the NBA the big bucks or let him walk for free. It is basically the type of decision that gets NBA GM’s fired every year.
Wizards Trade Young, McGee, Turiaf; Recieve Nene, Cook, and 2nd Round Pick: My Thoughts on the Deal
For those who have not heard, today at about 3 p.m. (right at the trade deadline), our Washington Wizards made a big trade today. As I read on Yahoo!: “The Washington Wizards have acquired Nene, Brian Cook, a first-round pick and a second-round pick in a three-team deal with the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers for Nick Young and JaVale McGee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports“.
