Monthly Archives: July 2010

Can We All Handle the Truth?

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Michael Wilbon writes a great column here.

An individual great player doesn’t guarantee a championship — teams win championships. Sometimes it takes time for a franchise to weather the storms and win a title. Cook slowly to perfection.

8 player rotations are the norm in basketball –13 to 15 players on a team. In the NBA, 3 core players are the foundation, but a team needs to be 8 players deep to contend for a championship. Role players matter. Team chemistry matters. Coaching a consistent system matters. Lots of hard work to be done. Very few have figured it out. Winning a championship is the hardest accomplishment to reach in business, I believe.

In the NHL, free agency is important, but hockey is the ultimate team game. 23 active players on a roster. The best players play 24 minutes or so per game. In the NBA, a great player sees 40 plus minutes of action per game. And the NHL has a hard cap. Make a mistake in free agency in the NHL, and it is a huge set back for a team, more so in the NHL than the NBA right now.

We have been truthful to our fan bases on our plans — about how we view free agency, and how we intend to rebuild the Wizards and get the Capitals to the next step of excellence. I know some folks don’t agree with the plans. Time will tell who is right and who is not right, but to be surprised (as some fans are) that we aren’t making a big splash in free agency, is incomprehensible to me. We have been very straight forward with our plans and strategy.

Glad You Liked It, and Notes

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I am glad you liked the last trade at the Wizards, but it was only done to help our basketball team. Nothing sells like a winning team. We learned that with the Washington Capitals. Teams win. Systems win. A good locker room is important too. Yi has upside — he is a blossoming talent. We will be patient. We will welcome him with open arms. I bet he is much improved as a player within our system and embrace. Click here to read.

As to Gilbert’s number, yes, he would like a different number than new number 6 — more as it develops. And as a great man once said, “there are times when a cigar is only a cigar.” Don’t read so much into every little pixel and statement generated, ok. :-) It will drive you all crazy… This isn’t the Da Vinci Code. I will be direct when I need to be. No morse code here.

And in Capitals News

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We did kinda sign a big time free agent already this off season. His name is Nicklas Backstrom. We signed him to a ten year deal. We took him off of free agency later in his career. Doesn’t that feel good? We don’t have to trade anyone to get under the cap. We are managing our roster and salary cap issues quite well, I believe.

That move was consistent with our plan, and is the kind of commitment that is key to our franchise. Draft, develop, and keep our core team together. Treat our own great players like they are unrestricted free agents.

We also will add lots of our young prospects to the lineup next season. We have a great pipeline of home grown talent. That is key, too, as a deliverable to our fan base. I believe we be will better next season than we were last season.

I believe in what we have more than what we don’t have.

Don’t expect us to go crazy in free agency. We don’t need to do it. We don’t have cap space to do it. As we want flexibility and optionality for our club, we want the ability to reward our own players when they play well for us. That is what we believe. That is the plan we will continue to execute against.

Specific enough Peerless? :-) Go Caps.

Singing From the Same Prayer Book

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We are all aligned. We are all on the same page. We are all in it together.

That is the first step to creating a positive, winning culture, I believe – organizations that share common goals and belief structures with no finger pointing — all being positive and knowing what is necessary to create success in our own way…in our own time.

Read this one and thanks to the fans for joining this call.

Thank You

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We agree. Click here.

What happens to a fan base that has been promised a bunch of new max free agents, and then it doesn’t get them delivered?

That is the question to a great social experiment I want to see answered later in this NBA off season. Free agents can do what they want. It is out of a team’s control. They are unrestricted free agents. They do what they want, when they want. Good for them. They earned that right.

I never like being not in a semblance of control, not knowing how the strategy will be executed. It actually feels good to NOT be holding our collective breathe right now, doesn’t it?

We will be the tortoise. We will rebuild slow and steady. We still want to win the race. Time will tell which plan works best.

Consumer Warning — Big Heads Up

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It is possible, and perhaps likely, that Gilbert Arenas will decide to change his number on his Wizards uniform this coming season.

It is his call. We also await what number John Wall will wear as well this coming season. Numbers are very important to players — to each their own.

So, if you purchase a Gilbert Arenas jersey today and his number changes, I wanted to give you all fair warning. I think that is the honest and fair thing to do. So heads up ASAP. I apologize in advance if this number change causes any inconvenience. Thank you.