Wizard's Misery

[darkwitzki]

Washington is off to its own dreadful start at 3-9, and after losing for the eighth time in nine games, the Wizards began putting the blame on egos and hidden agendas without calling anyone out by name.

The loss was the worst yet this season for Washington, topping what had been their worst loss Friday night after going down 127-108 at Oklahoma City. "Everyone's got their own individual goals, I guess. Hidden agendas," guard Gilbert Arenas said. "You can't win like that." Arenas continued: "I guess when you start losing, everyone wants to start pointing fingers everywhere else. I converted my game to try and get people involved." It didn't work.

Arenas scored 18 points and Antawn Jamison had 15, but the Wizards shot a season-low 33 percent from the field. Arenas shot 7-of-18 but said he could have put up plenty more. "I think the only person who actually had to sacrifice [to win] was me," Arenas said.

Six of Washington's losses have been by double digits. "Move the [darn] ball. Play some defense," center Brendan Haywood said. To add to Washington's bad news, guard Mike Miller could miss a month after straining his right calf in the first quarter and leaving the game.

Washington coach Flip Saunders said trainers thought Miller "might have popped it," and if that's the case, it could be four to five weeks. "We're very much in a bad situation," Saunders said. "A lot of guys are frustrated, including me."

Source : http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=291121024 **

Any chance they trade some of their players for expiring and call it a season?

[AO41]

Never liked Arenas, always thought they should have traded hima while back and they would have been better.


.....am almost at the same feeling with Josh

[dirno2000]

Serves them right. They should have been one of the teams trying to unload salary this summer but instead they traded the 5th pick in the draft for a couple of ok players.

[AO41]

Originally Posted by dirno2000

Serves them right. They should have been one of the teams trying to unload salary this summer but instead they traded the 5th pick in the draft for a couple of ok players.

Actually I think that was a very smart trade for them. Foye is still young and can be a very good player. They needed to get rid of Arenas and get some good players back.

Foye
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

Blatch
Stevenson
*** who ever they got back for Arenas


this sound much better to me than having Arenas on the team

[chumdawg]

Fire the coach. And if that doesn't help, start unloading players.

[spreedom]

Arenas calling anyone else selfish is "LOL of the week" material if you ask me. He's been chasing paydays since he was drafted. I honestly think the Wizards could trade him for nothing and be a much better team. And a guy jacking 18 shots when his shot isn't falling, then knighting himself as the only player on the team willing to sacrifice is equally ridiculous.

God, I hate Gilbert Arenas.

[dirno2000]

Originally Posted by AO41

Actually I think that was a very smart trade for them. Foye is still young and can be a very good player. They needed to get rid of Arenas and get some good players back.

Foye
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

Blatch
Stevenson
*** who ever they got back for Arenas


this sound much better to me than having Arenas on the team

That makes sense in theory but with is contract and injury history Arenas is virtually untradable.

It wasn't a terrible trade since they got two usable players (although I don't think Foye is going to get much better than he is now) but I would have taken my chances and hoped to pick up a cheap player with upside at 5.

They have a $79MM payroll and their best case scenario coming into the season was the 4th seed and a 2nd round playoff exit. Doesn't seem worth it.

[iella]

Adding to the misery: Abe Pollin, Wizards Owner, Dies at 85

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Abe Pollin, the Washington Wizards owner who brought an NBA championship to the nation's capital and later had the mettle to stand up to Michael Jordan, died Tuesday. He was 85.

...

In the changing world of professional sports, Pollin stood out for decades as an owner who tried to run his teams like a family business. He bemoaned the runaway salaries of free agency and said it would have been difficult for him to keep the Wizards if it weren't for the NBA's salary cap.

...

A builder by trade, Pollin also constructed the Verizon Center's predecessor, originally known as the Capital Centre, in the Washington suburbs in 1973. He renamed his NBA team in 1997 because of the violent connotation of the word ''Bullets,'' particularly in a city associated with crime.

The Bullets won the 1978 NBA title, and Pollin maintained he would not sell the franchise until it won another championship -- repeating that vow from his wheelchair as he was inducted into the George Washington University Sports Executives Hall of Fame in March.

...

Pollin was critical of modern-day player misbehavior and wouldn't hesitate to trade a star who got in trouble off the court. At his insistence, the final labor agreement after the 1998-99 lockout included stricter rules concerning player conduct.

''You may or may not want to be role models, but you are role models,'' Pollin told his players after the labor talks ended. ''If you don't want to be role models, you should get out of this business and go do something else.''

Sounds like an interesting guy... there's some stuff about his relationship with Jordan in the article as well.

[spreedom]

Arenas calling out his teammates while he's shooting 39% from the field and leading the league in turnovers is also pretty good stuff.