# Ground Zero: GM and Coach candidates



## BCH

Who is it going to be?

Who would possibly want to come into this disaster?

Can I be the first to say, "Please, God, No!" to Whitsett and Babcock?


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## GB

Bob Whitsett


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## BCH

> Originally posted by <b>gettinbranded</b>!
> Bob Whitsett


Please, God, No!


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## MikeDC

I just read that Whitsett is staying in the Seahawks org, so he won't be here.

If it's gonna be someone know, I think it's down to:

* Babcock (The kind of nice but grossly incompetent figure that seems like an Abe wet dream)

* Krause (The irony would rather large, but the pieces of the puzzle fit; former member of the org (did he leave on good terms?), would be a perfect fit for a couple of years as Wes returns from his "leave of absence", and oh the irony of him replacing MJ.


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## jazzy1

This whole MJ buisness sucks. He was used by Abe and dumped. Pollin is too damn old and isn't making sound decisions at all. I'm upset. He's crippled our summer. He has to fire the whole darn staff we won't have adequate scouting, trades, free agency. the draft. Find a new coach. This is terrible. 

All I can say is Pollin has someone in mind already and he's already likely to have the name floated shortly. 

Abe treated MJ like a total chump. Abe got the benefit of MJ playing making all the extra money and then tried to paint the picture as if MJ didn't work hard enough. MJ and not working hard enough have never been associated with one another but our 2nd rate pro team in this city found a way to sully MJ's reputation. This is pathetic and I'm feeling sick. 

Saying player disension, a whole bunch of players who've not accopmlished JACK in their careers as a reason for why MJ was fired. MJ, was he lying in his player criticism. MJ's only mistake was he hired Collins as coach. A coach subject to a melt downs and being overly critical as coach. That was the mistake. MJ cleaned up the cap, he added younger more athletic players, and structured a brighter future. To say player disessension was a cause and the team hadn't improved significantly when this PLAYER CREATED THE ONLY EXCITEMENT THIS CITY IN A LONG TIME. WE were dead when MJ got here, DEAD had nothing. Had Wes's incompetance and Pollin's cheapness . We had NOTHING. 

WE show ponied MJ We used him as a show pony he could have fired MJ as John Thompson said before he came back to play you mean to tell me MJ who got the team playoff excitement for the 1st time in a long while for 2 years you get the benefits of all the sell outs and then when he doesn't play anymore you fire him as an executive. This is Bull**** total Bull**** . MJ could have been fired before he came back to play its as simple as that. 

We could have prevented this whole Joke and not sullied MJ's rep in the process. 

I have season tickets to that joke of a franchise downtown and quite frankly I might give them up. This garbage smell of something I'll hold my tongue on right now. 

I don't care who they bring in because I've been a Wizards/Bullets fan for 27 years and I might not be one anymore.This is tough for me to accept as a fan. We are gonna be the same ole same ole because in a sense Hughes, Stackhouse, Kwame got a legend MJ fired as or so Abe Pollin says guys who haven't busted a grape in the league. 

For now I'm done , I might be back I might not.


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## Shanghai Kid

*GHHHHAAA!*

This is the worst news as a Wizards fan that i've heard in a LONGGG TIME. Like everybody else, I wasn't impressed with MJ the GM, but what Abe has done, is kill the credibility of the Wizards franchise. This whole situation makes the Wizards look like the bad guys because they used Jordan to sell out arenas, and than kicked him to the curb after a 30 MINUTE MEETING. 

Gone is our committment to winning.

Gone is our summer to look forward too.

Gone is any media attention we had.

Gone is any hope for this franchise.

Your telling me that one of the reasons Abe fired Jordan was because a candy *** like Stackhouse, who hasn't proved anything, was feeding all this junk to the media about Jordan?
What a joke. This franchise is going to be looked at as a joke. We're not going to get any good free agents, we'll probably trade Kwame for Shawn Kemp....ahhh this makes me mad.

Their will be a backlash from Wizards fans, this is not a popular decision. Theirs a sinking feeling in the air....and that feeling is all the excitement gone from DC. Jordan will move on to Charlote, and it will come back to haunt the Wizards in the future.


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## alchemist

We'll need a new GM, and probably a new coach. Since Abe new Wes was gone, Jordan was his only option! Why did he give him the boot? Now, we're supposed to scramble to find a new coach, GM, and the rest of the staff? 

And this team is supposed to be better next year? Crazy!

Who can coach us? Who will want to now? I like Paul Silas. Jeff Van Gundy is available. But I doubt after seeing these latest events either will want to come here.


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## GB

Ummm...did the Wiz sell tickets for next season (season, or multi-game packages) based on MJ GM'ing?

Sick if they did and had this in mind all along...


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## BCH

> Originally posted by <b>gettinbranded</b>!
> Ummm...did the Wiz sell tickets for next season (season, or multi-game packages) based on MJ GM'ing?
> 
> Sick if they did and had this in mind all along...


The implication was there and that was one reason why MJ was perturbed with Susan O'Malley. She sold plans for next year, offering up MJ's last home game this season.


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## BCH

I have always heard Kenny Smith was interested in coaching, or at least I thought I head that. Is he the type of guy that is young enough to relate to the younger players and be able to work with them much like the new wave of younger coaches in the league?


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## TJ Kidd's Head

My choice would be Greg Anthony...

He's articulate, well-respected, and has a great basketball mind. I think he would do a good job with a young team such as the Wiz.

Finding a GM would be the tough part. Who are the options?

Krause
Trader Bob
Babcock
St. Jean

Not so great a list. However, with Abe, I think its safe to say someone in-house is going to get that position.

Wes Unseld JR? :sour:


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## MikeDC

> Originally posted by <b>TJ Kidd's Head</b>!
> Finding a GM would be the tough part. Who are the options?
> 
> Krause
> Trader Bob
> Babcock
> St. Jean
> 
> Not so great a list. However, with Abe, I think its safe to say someone in-house is going to get that position.
> 
> Wes Unseld JR? :sour:


I'm petrified of Babcock. He's the ultimate nice guy who finishes last... Abe will love him.

My choice is Krause, because of the massive entertainment value we'll have watching him inherit Jordan's team and smooze with the snobby Washington media (lol, I can't wait to see him launch into a profanity laced tirade on Kornheiser :laugh: ). And in fairness, he's definitely better than Babcock or St. Jean and I don't think he's any worse than Babcock.


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## BCH

I want Krause. 

I want him to come to the Wizards franchise because it would be such a hoot. Pollin and Krause together can't be beat for entertainment value. It would keep it interesting until Leonsis buys the team.


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## BCH

Ok. Who would be the worst possible combination of GM/Coach the Wizards could get?


Babcock/Bickerstaff?

Unseld/Wilkens?

Whatever it is, that is what is going to happen.


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## BCH

> If Collins is fired, former New Orleans coach Paul Silas is one possible replacement. Silas, who was fired after the Hornets were eliminated in the playoffs, is well-liked by Jerry Stackhouse, the Wizards' remaining marquee player. Other coaching possibilities include Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Dunleavy and former Washington Bullets player and current scout Darrell Walker.


Coaches:
Silas
JVG
Mike Dunleavy
Darrel Walker



> Longtime Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Wayne Embry's name had already surfaced. Atlanta Hawks Director of Basketball Operations Billy Knight, whose long-term job status could depend on the potential new ownership of the team, could also be available. And, in what would be an ironic twist, former Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, who once worked for the Washington/Baltimore franchise and feuded with Jordan in Chicago, is also on the market.


GMs:
Wayne Embry
Billy Knight
Jerry Krause

Based on this list the worst combo would be Embry/Walker.

Mark it down, that is who it is going to be.


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## jazzy1

> Originally posted by <b>BCH</b>!
> 
> 
> Coaches:
> Silas
> JVG
> Mike Dunleavy
> Darrel Walker
> 
> 
> 
> GMs:
> Wayne Embry
> Billy Knight
> Jerry Krause
> 
> Based on this list the worst combo would be Embry/Walker.
> 
> Mark it down, that is who it is going to be.


I agree BCH Walker and Embry who it'll be. Walker's the new company man everytime Abe fires a coach they get Darrel from sweeping the floors to coach the team.


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## MikeDC

Didn't Walker come in with MJ? I think, being that they're supposedly buddies from way back, he's gone.

FWIW, what was so bad about him as a coach? He did better than Gar Heard :angel:


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## TJ Kidd's Head

Embry is not as bad as you think BCH. He put together a pretty good Cavs team in the early 90's. 

He's no West, but he's certainly better than Wes...


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## MikeDC

> Originally posted by <b>TJ Kidd's Head</b>!
> Embry is not as bad as you think BCH. He put together a pretty good Cavs team in the early 90's.
> 
> He's no West, but he's certainly better than Wes...


LOL, so are monkeys throwing darts, flipping a coin or utilizing the I Ching.

Who were Embry's teams? Was he running them during the Lenny Wilkens era or the Mike Fratello era?


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## TJ Kidd's Head

> Originally posted by <b>Mikedc</b>!
> 
> 
> LOL, so are monkeys throwing darts, flipping a coin or utilizing the I Ching.
> 
> Who were Embry's teams? Was he running them during the Lenny Wilkens era or the Mike Fratello era?


In the 88 draft, he picked up Brad Dougherty, Ron Harper, Mark Price, and a couple of other decent players. 

I think he was GM during the Lenny Wilkens era...I'd have to check.


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## mjisback

Embry was part of the Cleveland front office all the way until the 1999 season when Paxson took over.

Here's a nice write-up before he was let go...
http://www.sunnews.com/news/newsmaker/nm98/newsmakr022698.htm


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## BCH

The Washington Post breaks out with a slew of candidates.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28769-2003May22.html

Ernie Grunfeld anyone? No thanks.


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