What will happen to Flip Saunders, the Wizards Head Coach after this season?

To me it's anyone's guess. Good chance he just quits especially if the team blows after game 60 with a 15-45 record. Given the drama with Gil being the leading actor, I can't see why Saunders would want to stay here. Then again, he may relish an opportunity to rebuild a team as well as he did with Minnesota. I doubt he'll get fired because this is Grunfeld's first true coaching hire and given that the roster (much of whom are free agents after the year) isn't buying into his D or O, he should be given an opportunity to get the guys who will fit in the system. We aren't going to get a coach of his caliber again for a very long time should he leave, not to mention, Eddie Jordan's firing does seem like a mistake with each coming week, even though Flip is the overall better coach. At first I thought Flip should've gotten the ax, but now, he is one of the guys that must stay for a successful rebuilding of this team, that is inevitable, no matter how good they get this year.

He will stay..Doesn't matter the situation..if we tweak a few pieces..he'll stay...if we rebuild the whole thing..hell stay

I can see him stay and leave because of the team being in shambles off the court right now. I picked the latter because he came here to win a championship in the next two years, not to try to get the team in the playoffs or rebuild, though I think he is one of the key pieces to any rebuilding effort.

Who believes the Wizards are making a deep playoff run?

Playoffs

If this team ever gets it's shit together, they could beat an Orlando or Cleveland in a first round upset.

Gilbert Arenas shoots him.

Sorry, but I can't see them in the playoffs.
If they do make it, they would be a first round exit IMO.

They have the most talent of any under .500 team in the NBA.

Gilbert, Boykins, Foye, Miller, Butler, Young, Jamison, Blatche, and Haywood would all be playing in just about any team in the NBA's rotation. Not to mention that they also have Stevenson and Oberto, who are also decent conrtibutors

They have great players, but can't get the chemistry going I guess...they could be a powerhouse in the East if they did. I predicted them to be the 4th or 5th seed before the season...not so much anymore

I don't think they're in the playoffs to be honest. But then again the east after Miami is WIDE OPEN.

It is wide open after Miami but I still just don't see the Wizards taking a spot in the playoffs. Sure, they do have talent but it seems like there are some issues that need to be overcome before the chemistry can be 100 percent there. Not to mention, some other teams competing for playoff contention have better chemistry...sooo...I dunno. As I said before, they would prolly get eliminated in the first round anyway...I can't see them pulling an upset on an elite team at all in the playoffs.

I see the Raptors winning it all, as the 8th seed. They have great defenders in Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani, etc. who are all capable of shutting down any superstar in sight and who can get all of the clutch rebounds. Then they have the MVP in Chris Bosh. Oh man is he good. 24 and 11 are you serious? TD in the making for all you kids out there. Potential COY Jay Triano will sure as hell be pumped up for the playoffs. He probably still has vague memories from the '06 Raptors team that lost in double OT in Game 7 of the ECF. Triano wants revenge.

The only obstacle the Raptors have is their fans. Worst fans I ever saw. No support for the team whatsoever. Might as well sell the tickets to a bunch of moose. They'd be more supportive.

3 Hotties One Cup wrote:

I see the Raptors winning it all, as the 8th seed. They have great defenders in Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani, etc. who are all capable of shutting down any superstar in sight and who can get all of the clutch rebounds. Then they have the MVP in Chris Bosh. Oh man is he good. 24 and 11 are you serious? TD in the making for all you kids out there. Potential COY Jay Triano will sure as hell be pumped up for the playoffs. He probably still has vague memories from the '06 Raptors team that lost in double OT in Game 7 of the ECF. Triano wants revenge.

The only obstacle the Raptors have is their fans. Worst fans I ever saw. No support for the team whatsoever. Might as well sell the tickets to a bunch of moose. They'd be more supportive.

...lol..?

Get outta my chair! wrote:

It is wide open after Miami but I still just don't see the Wizards taking a spot in the playoffs. Sure, they do have talent but it seems like there are some issues that need to be overcome before the chemistry can be 100 percent there. Not to mention, some other teams competing for playoff contention have better chemistry...sooo...I dunno. As I said before, they would prolly get eliminated in the first round anyway...I can't see them pulling an upset on an elite team at all in the playoffs.

I agree with you 100% on it. My initial post on blowing up the Wizards is coming true with each week and loss. The one piece that must stay here (really three) are these:

1. Flip Saunders (best coach the Wizzies could have hoped for after letting Jordan out to the unemployment line - really, Jordan probably shouldn't have been fired but he never got along with Grunfeld)
2. Ernie Grunfeld (He makes good moves, even here. Sure not every move panned out, but he is a good GM)
3. Gilbert Arenas (Well he's our franchise player and of the three All Star players, he is the most talented one (even after injuries) and I guess we're still keeping him anyway because no one wants him because he had three surgeries, AND he may go by the way of the gun like in my avatar (no pun intended with the movie with those blue cat faced people - that movie probably sucks anyway but most like it so, yeah.)

3 Hotties One Cup wrote:

I see the Raptors winning it all, as the 8th seed. They have great defenders in Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani, etc. who are all capable of shutting down any superstar in sight and who can get all of the clutch rebounds. Then they have the MVP in Chris Bosh. Oh man is he good. 24 and 11 are you serious? TD in the making for all you kids out there. Potential COY Jay Triano will sure as hell be pumped up for the playoffs. He probably still has vague memories from the '06 Raptors team that lost in double OT in Game 7 of the ECF. Triano wants revenge.

The only obstacle the Raptors have is their fans. Worst fans I ever saw. No support for the team whatsoever. Might as well sell the tickets to a bunch of moose. They'd be more supportive.

lol, wrong person you are making fun of my friend.
I dun know the Raptors will fail if they make the playoffs.

LMFAO @ Moose fans

Get outta my chair! wrote:

3 Hotties One Cup wrote:

I see the Raptors winning it all, as the 8th seed. They have great defenders in Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani, etc. who are all capable of shutting down any superstar in sight and who can get all of the clutch rebounds. Then they have the MVP in Chris Bosh. Oh man is he good. 24 and 11 are you serious? TD in the making for all you kids out there. Potential COY Jay Triano will sure as hell be pumped up for the playoffs. He probably still has vague memories from the '06 Raptors team that lost in double OT in Game 7 of the ECF. Triano wants revenge.

The only obstacle the Raptors have is their fans. Worst fans I ever saw. No support for the team whatsoever. Might as well sell the tickets to a bunch of moose. They'd be more supportive.

lol, wrong person you are making fun of my friend.
I dun know the Raptors will fail if they make the playoffs.

Jaleesa, moose have proven to be the most intelligent species of animals on the planet. Raptor fans have proven to be the dumbest. It all works out. Unfortunately, Colangelo is too dumb to realise that. And if the moose population isn't high enough, there's always a plan B. The scat from moose was used by the Ancient Anastazi Indians to soothe their skin. The players could use it to attract more moose thus more money and more fans. They couldn't smell worse than Raptor fans right?

3 Hotties One Cup wrote:

Get outta my chair! wrote:

3 Hotties One Cup wrote:

I see the Raptors winning it all, as the 8th seed. They have great defenders in Turkoglu, Calderon, Bargnani, etc. who are all capable of shutting down any superstar in sight and who can get all of the clutch rebounds. Then they have the MVP in Chris Bosh. Oh man is he good. 24 and 11 are you serious? TD in the making for all you kids out there. Potential COY Jay Triano will sure as hell be pumped up for the playoffs. He probably still has vague memories from the '06 Raptors team that lost in double OT in Game 7 of the ECF. Triano wants revenge.

The only obstacle the Raptors have is their fans. Worst fans I ever saw. No support for the team whatsoever. Might as well sell the tickets to a bunch of moose. They'd be more supportive.

lol, wrong person you are making fun of my friend.
I dun know the Raptors will fail if they make the playoffs.

Jaleesa, moose have proven to be the most intelligent species of animals on the planet. Raptor fans have proven to be the dumbest. It all works out. Unfortunately, Colangelo is too dumb to realise that. And if the moose population isn't high enough, there's always a plan B. The scat from moose was used by the Ancient Anastazi Indians to soothe their skin. The players could use it to attract more moose thus more money and more fans. They couldn't smell worse than Raptor fans right?

Colangelo can bring in moose, apes, penguins, or any other species on the planet to support the Raptors...the fact is, the coaching/management will still suck. Therefore, the Raptors will still stink as a team until that changes.

and Wiz, I think Flip is a better coach than Eddie Jordan so that was a very good catch on the part of the Wizards organization. To me, Jordan is slightly overrated as a coach. And Gilby is very good, but how come he is being paid sooo much (111 million for 6 years I believe?).

Gilby is getting so much because the Warriors elected to offer him 100 million as well, lol. So the Wizards had to give him 111 reasons to stay.

I thought this was about the Wizards not the Raptors..

Don't worry, that was a brief tangent.
Back to the Wizards now, lol.

Quote :

and Wiz, I think Flip is a better coach than Eddie Jordan so that was a very good catch on the part of the Wizards organization. To me, Jordan is slightly overrated as a coach. And Gilby is very good, but how come he is being paid sooo much (111 million for 6 years I believe?).

Well that leads into my belief why Saunders may leave this year. He came here to win the 2010 NBA Finals, not rebuild or "contend". Jordan may be overrated because the Wizards had success with him, even with the 07-08 injury yet somehow they held ship season, but the Princeton really fit the Wizards very well offensively.

Arenas was paid $111 million because the Wizards and Warriors thought he was worth the money.

the contracy is 98 mill for 5 years

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/01/saunders-says-report-of-rift-w.html?wprss=wizardsinsider

Speaking about more problems with the Wizards, this is ANOTHER one.

According to Wiz executives, Saunders and Arenas have had a rift with each other as early as training camp. Flip denies it, Arenas has yet to say anything about it..........yet. This is just a LITTLE soon for the players tuning out the coach, right? It took Detroit three years to tune him out and the Pistons now know it was a mistake to fire him and so do the former players. Come on Wizards, Flip went further than everyone of you except for Fab.

I'm pretty sure there are coach-player rifts all the time, even LeBron and Mike Brown likely have had their own moments. Kobe and Phil certainly had theirs, but unless the team is performing below standards, this stuff is IN HOUSE. Now that this article makes it seem that Gil is the new Michael Vick, I guess it doesn't hurt more to have this out there and another reason for Flip to leave (not get the ax) if this is even 30% true.

Wow, the drama seems never-ending for the Wizards franchise.

Another reason why they may not make playoffs this year...sorry to say wiz.