The Wizards are returning to the dark days of the 1990s and there’s nothing to stop it.
The firing of coach Eddie Jordan yesterday was merely a Band-Aid move by a 1-10 team headed for a 60-loss season. It doesn’t truly matter who coaches this team now because the roster has once again failed.
Top offensive threat Gilbert Arenas won’t be back until … well, who really knows? Top defensive player Brendan Haywood is hurt, too. Caron Butler isn’t playing well. Indeed, nobody is playing well.
Changing coaches is like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. The Wiz really sealed their doom when they re-signed Arenas to a mega-contract in July only to see him undergo a third knee surgery in 1 1/2 years. Who knows if Arenas returns to an All-Star level? It sure seems unlikely.
Keeping Arenas was a tough call. He lifted the Wiz from two decades of awful to four straight winning years despite the team’s multiple injuries. Letting him go would have been a public relations nightmare. But, keeping him only to see yet another injury probably seals this franchise’s ill fate for the next few years. It’s remindful of being stuck with Juwan Howard’s deal.
The firing really wasn’t about Jordan. It was about a franchise that can’t win. The owner has spent the money. The general manager is respected. So was the coach. Yet, they assembled a team that was injury-prone and underperformed.
Starting 1-10 meant someone had to go. Playoff chances are shot regardless of Arenas’ timetable. The Wiz should play young talent to determine whether 2009 is salvageable. Imagine, barely 10 percent into the season and already it’s time to look ahead. Sure resembles the old days when the Bullets were simply awful.
The Wiz trail only the Redskins as Washingtonians’ favorite team. People talk basketball in this town, though Georgetown and Maryland cut into the Wizards’ devotion. Certainly, this decision will bring more short-term conversation than the White House change.
It was an unpopular move and Jordan didn’t deserve it. But, I’ll save my tears for friends who have been laid off lately without a golden parachute. Jordan will be fine. He’ll probably grab a microphone before coaching somewhere next year.
As for the Wizards — say hello to another long passage into the darkness.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
