Now I know I've said this numerous times before, and have been proven wrong each time, but this time I can assure you: There will be no jokes; no players popping in unannounced; no funny business whatsoever in this presser.If true, not only would it be a first, but it would be a shame. Looking around the dimly-lit room and taking in the somber, oppressive atmosphere, never was a bit of fun and whimsy more needed than at this moment.
Last season was quite the adventure, as we managed to win our fifth division title on the last week of the regular season, giving us our seventh straight playoff appearance. However, I believe our season can be summed up with these two headlines. On December 18th, 2007, a Washington Times article begins with 'On the beginning of a three-game home stand, the Wizards fall in OT despite a 61-point night from Lewis.' On April 23, 2008, the Washington Post wrote 'Rashard's 61 barely prevents the Wiz from Game 3 defeat in Jersey.'As many who had worked on those very articles were in attendance, there were many nods of agreement, as many instantly knew what Xist meant. 61 points in a game was nearly unheard of in today's era, let alone two such games in a season, and when the Wizards lost one and barely won the other, the writing appeared to be on the wall. The 1-point victory in Game 3 in particular was impactful, as many - correctly - assumed that if the Wizards had their hands full against a Miller-less Nets team, their playoff chances were slim.
As you know, we lost that series. In the last seven years, we've only gotten past the 1st round three times. In seven years I'd failed to build a team around a MVP and 3-time scoring champion that anyone could take seriously as a threat, while my peers had consistently done more without such a talent. And it was in that frame of mind that I realized that it was over, I couldn't do this anymore. Rashard has many years left of top-notch production, but the team had reached its ceiling. There was no more possibility of an ECF appearance, let alone a second Finals appearance. And without our 2010 1st, if a rebuild was to happen and we were to get anything approaching full value for Rashard, we had to act NOW. And so we did.Several in the crowd sadly shook their heads. The trade of Rashard Lewis to the "other Washington" sent shockwaves throughout the nation, and at the epicenter of it all was DC. The two youngsters, Danny Granger and Brandon Roy, were not seen in DC until a month or two later, and it was rumored that they were both advised to stay in Seattle until training camp to protect them against potential assault. Sales of the still-new Wizards gear dropped 75%, and several stores reported zero sales of Roy and Granger jerseys.
This will not be a good season. Indeed, I would consider this season to be a disappointment if we finished anywhere outside of the bottom 3 in the conference. That is not to say that there are no good things to look forward to. Zaza has improved once again in TC, proving the the organization made a grave mistake in prioritizing Marcus Banks over him. Brandon Roy has an opportunity to prove his worth to this organization, as do the rest of our new acquisitions. Gerald Green continues to slowly mature as a player. And we do own our 2009 1st, so the suffering we will experience this season could potentially have a silver lining. That's not much of a promise nor much of an excuse, but for the moment, it will have to be enough. At this time I will answer any questions you may have.
