Its been a month now, since Michael
Jordan has taken over the Washington Wizards. Outside of replacing Coach
Gar Heard with interim coach Darrell Walker, initiating a road dress code
and practicing with the team on a couple of occasions not much has changed
with the Wizards.
The Washington Wizards continue
to have their problems. Defensive lapses, turnovers, an inability to hold
on to a lead and of course dealing with injuries. Some of their wins show
that this team is capable of winning but yet they are mired in inconsistency.
Three of the wins illustrate this point. They have had two road wins
against last year's East Conference finalist the New York Knicks and the
NBA champions San Antonio Spurs respectively. They also won a home
game against the Indiana Pacers.
Personnel wise, there is not
much the Wizards can do given that they are currently over the salary cap.
Any trade that they can make within the next week of their high-priced
players would be considered a step in the right direction.
Why would Michael Jordan bother
getting involved in solving this mess? I can tell you it was not
because of a lack of having something to do. He is involved in plenty of
business ventures such as a restaurant in Chicago called One Sixtyblue 1400 W. Randolph St. phone number (312) 482-9179, New York's Grand Central Station and recently opened one
in Chapel Hill, NC called 23, a golf facility in Charlotte,NC and Aurora,Illinois and a gold store a O'Hare Airport, running
his own division in Nike and lastly teaming up with John Elway and Wayne
Gretzky on a sport business site called MVP.com.
Jordan's partnership in Lincoln Holdings turned out to be a very good deal
financially speaking. Lincoln Holdings consists of ownership in the NHL
teamWashington Capitals, the Wizards, Washington DC area Ticketmaster offices,
the US Air arena and lastly the MCI Center. My opinion on why he did it?
Michael Jordan was without a doubt the best player of the past decade.
Michael Jordan is a great player so I think a great player needs a great
challenge.
What issues will Michael Jordan
not need to be concerned with? I think one of the biggest issues is that
he would not have to get involved in a battle with city of Washington in
a getting a new basketball stadium since its a relatively new arena that
is easily accessible via local public transportation and its right in the
city. The other added bonus with the MCI Center is that the practice facility
is located inside the stadium itself so there is no need to upgrade the
practice facility either.
How long will it take for the
Wizards franchise to turn around? I believe it will take at least five
to seven years assuming the team makes improvement each year. I consider
the time it took for the Chicago Bulls to become a force to be reckoned
with as an example. When Michael Jordan arrived in Chicago back in 1984
the team didn't become instant champions. The fans didn't fill the seats
in Chicago Stadium right away either. The Bulls in the early 1980s before
Jordan arrived was close to the bottom of the standings in the Central
division. They were so bad not even former Bull great Jerry Sloan could
coach them to respectibility. In early 1982, the team failed in an attempt
to get Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Bulls went through numerous changes to
the first championship since Michael had arrived. There was an ownership
change, he went through at least four coaching staff changes and numerous
changes in teammates. In fact, by the time the Bulls won their first NBA
title in the 1990-1991 season, Jordan was the only member of the 1984-1985
team that was still there.
What should Wizards' fans expect
for the remainder of this season? I believe it will be more of the same
up to this point. I think Jordan was being overly optimistic in saying
that this team has a chance to make the playoffs this season. I commend
him for his optimism though. I believe for this season I would attempt
to trade any of the four high salaried players to a contender who is a
player or two away from being successful in the playoffs. I would attempt
to get players in return that would be free agents at the end of this season
in order to create cap room. In the meantime Coach Darrell Walker needs
to implement strategies to reduce the mistakes that the current team is
doing.
What kind of changes can Michael
Jordan make in the meantime? A few weeks ago, he commented to a Newsweek
reporter about replacing the dance squad. I think that would be a good
idea in that maybe through replacing them with better ones it might illustrate
to the players that even the dance squad is working harder than they are.
Another person, that Michael Jordan might consider replacing is the trainer,
Kevin Johnson. I recall during Chris Webber's stay while he was on the
team that he wasn't too particualarly fond of him. Secondly, it seems when
some of the Wizards players remain on the injured list for a very long
time. Current F Lorenzo Williams seemed to take residence there during
his stay on team and was all of the sudden better and ready to play when
Jordan arrived.
Other issues of note: I believe
Jordan will backtrack on his statement as far as living in Chicago is concerned.
I have no problem with him remaining there for the time being given that
his children are currently attending school right now. I think once that
school is out for the summer, I think Michael will reconsider moving to
a place in the metro area of Washington D.C. He could etiher live in Washington
or in the Maryland or Virginia area closeby. As far as having a general
manager, I think that's not a problem either. For example his counterpart
on the Lakers, Jerry West has Mitch Kupchak as the general manager working
underneath him. The issue fo hiring his friends for jobs:that happens in
lots of industries not just basketball. In some industries people hire
their friends as opposed to the most qualified. Kevin McHale of the Minnesota
Timberwolves hired his old college teammate Flip Saunders to be the coach.
Former Wizards and current Nets GM John Nash has hired his friend Jim Lynam
to be a coach on more than one occasion.
What kind of players are the
Wizards going to need in order to be a championship team? First and foremost
they need players with a winning attitude and hard workers, that
goes for all 12 guys. Along with the winning attitude comes the discipline
it takes to win. That means showing up to practice, practicing on the skills
it takes to perfect their position, for example a center working on their
footspeed in the post as opposed to working on 3-point shots. Secondly,
one or two of these players are going to need to be a leader, something
this current team lacks. Basically this player or players need to be the
coach on the floor, earn the respect of their teammates and be willing
to get in their teammate's face when they are slacking off. Thirdly, two
of the starters and one of the bench players are going to need to be a
goto player in tight situations. In order to win close games the Wizards
are going to need more than one option.The Bulls 1996-1997 is an example
of this. Game 5 at Utah, towards the end of the game, Pippen receives the
outlet pass, he's double-teamed and passes it out to Jordan who makes the
winning shot. The following game in Chicago, Jordan receives the outlet
pass, he's doubled teamed and he passes it to Steve Kerr who makes the
winning shot. What kind of coach is needed? One that emphasizes, self-discipline
teamwise on the offense and defensive side of the ball.
The Wizards with Michael Jordan
at the helm, can become champions once again. It will take some time. In
order to do this the team will need to be in a constantly improving state.
There may be some questionable personnel moves, but as long as the good
choices outweigh the bad ones it will work itself out.
