Monthly Archives: February 2011

I Just Started to Read This Book

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It is a simple and good read. It discusses next generation media creation; how to sift through the good from the bad; and why it is liberating to have the steering wheel in your hands. Curation Nation by Steven Rosenbaum, a filmmaker, author and big thinker. You will get a lot out of this book. Click here to order it from Amazon.com. Thank you.

See You All Tonight

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I am on the road but will hustle back to DC to catch the Caps vs. Rangers game at Verizon Center.

There are only 21 games left to play with 11 more at home starting tonight.

Looking at some top line stats: Did you think we would be 3rd best in the East with only 153 goals against when the season started? We are 4th best of the 16 teams that would qualify for the playoffs today.

We now need to get the fore check working again; score on the power play; and enjoy watching the streaking and highly productive Alex Ovechkin.

Go Caps! We need to get back to our winning ways at Verizon Center. Help us rock that red. Go Caps!

OK – Let Us Move Forward Now

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Let us play out the rest of the season and see improvement and upside and hunger and hard work. We want the team to play in a manner that our fans can be proud and see promise.

There are around 25 games left to play for the Wizards. We have made a lot of trades this season. We have loaded up on picks. We are going to let young players get their minutes now. I am being straightforward here.

We are done now in collecting picks and prospects. We have to let them work hard and learn. We have to see how the new NBA is set up in the go forward years and because we have some financial flexibility now, we can start to see and map out how our team could look in year 2 and 3 of the rebuild. We will be younger but we will also add vets via trades and some free agency.

New day. New way. We want to see upside now. We want the team to enjoy playing together and learning together and going through hard times together.

I am excited and need to be patient. And I am anxious – just like you. Click here and here to read these two stories if you are so inclined. Thank you.

Mea Culpa

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Don’t blame the player.Don’t blame the staff member.

Or the Coach. Or the GM.

You should just blame me on this one. The buck has to stop with me on organizational sloppiness and for a mistake like this one.

I apologize to our fans and to Andray. And I will make sure something like this never happens again. I believe every detail matters and this mistake is quite unfortunate. We deserve the ridicule it brought upon us last night.

We didn’t play very well either which is even worse but there is no excuse for a mistake of this nature. I apologize.

As a Part of a Rebuild

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I have always believed in trades that get as a return picks and prospects and players as well. Volume is good for “optionality” and for building a portfolio of players for our present and future.

Last night’s trade was right on strategy and shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise.

We traded a really good player – Kirk Hinrich – a player who we received in trade last summer along with a first round pick and some cash because another team needed cap space to go after a free agent. We used that pick to claim Kevin Seraphin in the draft. Kevin will be developed and will get more and more minutes. I believe he will play in the league and for our team for a long time. He is big and tough and has upside.

We then traded Kirk to Atlanta and received back Mike Bibby, another veteran point guard, as well as Jordan Crawford, a player we liked in the draft and Atlanta’s former first round pick from last season and their first round pick for next season.

Hence we received a player who is a vet and a winner for now and next season and 3 first rounders to replenish our team for the future. Seraphin, Crawford and a player we will pick next in the next draft.

We also added John Wall and Trevor Booker in last year’s draft. Two winners and players we are happy to build around with John Wall, I believe, as a bedrock foundational player.

And we will no doubt have one more high draft pick in next year’s draft as well for our own pick.

In one year we were able to replenish our team with young players and additional high draft picks. We were so in need of a change in this manner, I believe.

We also built into the trades now and during the season a bunch of financial flexibility as our young players will develop and we can use trades and then free agency to recraft the team in the future, a team that was in need of a total makeover.

We also traded Hilton Armstrong for Maurice Evans. Maurice is a tough and savvy player. He is also one of the most respected players in the NBA as he is a leader for the players union. I have always respected him as a player and as a great locker room presence.

I want to thank Kirk Hinrich and his family. Kirk is a great player and a great person. I will miss him. We will miss him.

He will now get to start at point guard for a playoff caliber team. This is a good move for Kirk.

He was a very dedicated and steady presence for us.

And his value was so great that he essentially played for us for 5 months and in return we received Mike Bibby, Kevin Seraphin, Jordan Crawford, a first round pick and a bunch of money. That is great productivity from a set of trades.

The rebuild is messy. It is painful.

It is going as I expected. Lots of bumps; lots of emotion; and lots of frustration. I have been down this road before. That is the reason I remain calm and steadfast. There is no other option for us.

But I am happy that we have loaded up on picks and prospects. That part of the rebuild after we pick twice in the next draft is over. We have enough young assets now.

We will soon have more financial flexibility.

We are rebuilding just as I said we would.

Transparency is good.

I apologize for the short term pain. I believe we will see mid and long term gain.