ANALYSIS/OPINION:
“The Wizards may be entering that no-man’s land that defined this franchise in the 1980s — winning 40-plus games a season, always making the playoffs, but never being quite good enough to be elite, or quite bad enough to be in position to get the next young star to take them to that level.”
Somebody wrote that before the Washington Wizards faced the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the playoffs last season.
It may have been me.
So now you want to fire people? Now you want to fire Randy Wittman? Now, seriously, is the time you’ve decided that Ernie Grunfeld must go?
Are you nuts? This is the second Golden Age of Grunfeld in Washington.
I’m getting emails and tweets from people asking me to once again publish Grunfeld’s daily “Monumental” record as the Wizards’ general manager since he arrived in 2003.
Where were all of you when it was 312-490 at the end of the 2012-13 season? Where was the outrage then? And now, with a record of 78-64 since then, you want him fired? Not me.
What did you expect? This is the illusion you bought into during the first Grunfeld Golden Age — the Gilbert Arenas years. Four years with a team that never won more than 45 games, made four consecutive playoff appearances from 2004 to 2008 and made it past the first round once, only to be swept in four games by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That was an illusion, a fragile team led by a lunatic and built for playoff failure. But the way Wizards fans talk about it, you would have thought it was a San Antonio Spurs-like run.
So now you’re back, baby — back to the 40-plus win teams and making the playoffs every year, fated for a first- or second-round exit.
Heck, last season Grunfeld’s roster made it to Game 6 of the second round — farther than any team had gotten in his 11 seasons building rosters for this franchise.
And now you want him fired?
This is an even better illusion this time around — playoff teams while waiting for the arrival of the savior, Kevin Durant, in Washington.
That scam is good for another contract extension for the general manager.
Wizards fans are up in arms over the team’s struggles of late, losing six consecutive games and 11 of their last 13, including an embarrassing loss to the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night before snapping the losing streak with a win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. That was a win in which Washington led by 21 points and barely hung on for 99-95 victory.
The search has been on for answers about why this Wizards squad isn’t functioning as well as the one that everyone fell in love with last season, and started this year looking like an Eastern Conference championship contender.
So, what’s missing?
Trevor Ariza. My partner on “The Sports Fix” on ESPN 980, Kevin Sheehan, sounded the warning bell of the loss of Ariza ever since he became a free agent and signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Houston Rockets. He said the team would miss his 3-point shooting and defense — and it does.
Sam Cassell. The Wizards assistant coach who was credited for being instrumental in the development of both John Wall and Bradley Beal left to be Doc Rivers’ assistant in Los Angeles with the Clippers. One of the criticisms of this Wizards squad is it lacks attitude and toughness.
Cassell, a three-time NBA champion, was all of that and more.
Brazil. The entire 2013-14 Wizards revival could be placed as the feet of Christ the Redeemer — the religious icon the team visited in October 2013 on the trip to Brazil, a team-bonding experience that Wittman said at the time would lead to the playoffs.
“This team, we’re pointing toward the playoffs,” Wittman told The Washington Post on that trip. “There is no reason, if we can stay healthy, that that should not be done, That being first, this was fabulous. These four days was the most spectacular four days I’ve had in a long time, and I’ve been all over the world. And the way the people treated us … is the best I’ve seen. And we had a ball. We were here to work, but we were able to go out and do a lot of things. We bonded as a team, and that’s not something we get to do very often.”
They may have tried to recreate that trip with a team dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse Thursday night. But then they went out and lost, 89-81, to the 76ers.
With the return of Beal, who missed eight games with a stress reaction in his left leg, Washington bounced back Saturday night with the win over Detroit. Their record of 34-26 after 60 games ties the best they have had at this point during the Grunfeld regime. The general manager put together a competitive roster this offseason that should sustain the second Golden Era of Grunfeld.
And you want him fired? With a record of 390-554 as Wizards general manager? Are you crazy?
• Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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