Heuge
Starter
Dear Sacto: You blew it
By Tom Friend, ESPN The Magazine
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=2005105
TO: The state capitol of California
FROM: Washington Wizard fans (all six of us)
We saved you once, but you're on your own now, Sacramento.
We took Mitch Richmond off your hands seven years ago, gave you our best player, Chris Webber, and made you a big-league town.
With us, Webber shot ridiculous 3s. With you, he triple-doubled.
With us, he got caught with dope. With you, he got caught with supermodels.
You have no idea how badly you fleeced us. Our owner (still in charge) and our GM (long gone) thought there would be life after Webber, thought Richmond still had legs left, thought Juwan Howard needed the low post all to himself. What a laugh.
We all knew it was a mistake the day it happened, that ugly day, May 14, 1998. You can't replace someone who's 6-foot-10 with eyes in the back of his head. You ever seen that guy pass?
If you're ever going to trade that guy -- and I don't care if he's got a bum knee and a contract like an anvil -- you get something back. Something young. Something with a long-term upside. Not Mitch Richmond. And not Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner.
You had your chance, Sacramento. You were an eyelash from a championship just three years ago -- if only you would've stuck a hand in Robert Horry's face -- so why are you giving up so soon? Some people say your window was already shut, but not me. When the Lakers chose Kobe over Shaq, that put the West up for grabs. Phoenix may have a gaudy record, but in the playoffs, they'd better learn to play halfcourt offense. Seattle shoots too many jumpers. Dallas, too. Over a 7-game series, both those teams are going to need an inside presence.
But you guys already had that inside-outside threat, and instead all you have now is outside. It could've been you and San Antonio in the Western Finals, but your GM, Geoff Petrie, decided to smooch up to free-agent-to-be Peja Stojakovic, and now you're suddenly on your way back to the Wayman Tisdale era. Now you're window is shut.
Peja's your cornerstone? Face it: Basically, you're Dallas now. Yes, when you're shooting well, you can be a bear. And, yes, you just stole a game in Philly, and, yes, you even stole a game against my Wizards. But that's only because Mike Bibby was throwing in bombs and we coughed up a 7-point lead in the last five minutes.
Trust us, now you're going to learn the hard way. Bibby, Peja, Mobley and Brad Miller ain't winning a championship, folks. It was Webber who drew the double-teams, Webber who took the pressure off Peja, Webber who began the Kings' culture of sharing the ball, Webber who got you respect with the refs. It could take seven years to get back in the mix. Trust me, we just lived it.
When we traded Webber, we became Clippers East. First we were abysmal, then we got desperate and then we just kept digging ourselves deeper. Richmond, Howard and Rod Strickland never clicked together, and because we had no offensive post presence, we blindly traded a young mountain named Ben Wallace to Orlando for Ike Austin. Brilliant.
By Tom Friend, ESPN The Magazine
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=2005105
TO: The state capitol of California
FROM: Washington Wizard fans (all six of us)
We saved you once, but you're on your own now, Sacramento.
We took Mitch Richmond off your hands seven years ago, gave you our best player, Chris Webber, and made you a big-league town.
With us, Webber shot ridiculous 3s. With you, he triple-doubled.
With us, he got caught with dope. With you, he got caught with supermodels.
You have no idea how badly you fleeced us. Our owner (still in charge) and our GM (long gone) thought there would be life after Webber, thought Richmond still had legs left, thought Juwan Howard needed the low post all to himself. What a laugh.
We all knew it was a mistake the day it happened, that ugly day, May 14, 1998. You can't replace someone who's 6-foot-10 with eyes in the back of his head. You ever seen that guy pass?
If you're ever going to trade that guy -- and I don't care if he's got a bum knee and a contract like an anvil -- you get something back. Something young. Something with a long-term upside. Not Mitch Richmond. And not Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner.
You had your chance, Sacramento. You were an eyelash from a championship just three years ago -- if only you would've stuck a hand in Robert Horry's face -- so why are you giving up so soon? Some people say your window was already shut, but not me. When the Lakers chose Kobe over Shaq, that put the West up for grabs. Phoenix may have a gaudy record, but in the playoffs, they'd better learn to play halfcourt offense. Seattle shoots too many jumpers. Dallas, too. Over a 7-game series, both those teams are going to need an inside presence.
But you guys already had that inside-outside threat, and instead all you have now is outside. It could've been you and San Antonio in the Western Finals, but your GM, Geoff Petrie, decided to smooch up to free-agent-to-be Peja Stojakovic, and now you're suddenly on your way back to the Wayman Tisdale era. Now you're window is shut.
Peja's your cornerstone? Face it: Basically, you're Dallas now. Yes, when you're shooting well, you can be a bear. And, yes, you just stole a game in Philly, and, yes, you even stole a game against my Wizards. But that's only because Mike Bibby was throwing in bombs and we coughed up a 7-point lead in the last five minutes.
Trust us, now you're going to learn the hard way. Bibby, Peja, Mobley and Brad Miller ain't winning a championship, folks. It was Webber who drew the double-teams, Webber who took the pressure off Peja, Webber who began the Kings' culture of sharing the ball, Webber who got you respect with the refs. It could take seven years to get back in the mix. Trust me, we just lived it.
When we traded Webber, we became Clippers East. First we were abysmal, then we got desperate and then we just kept digging ourselves deeper. Richmond, Howard and Rod Strickland never clicked together, and because we had no offensive post presence, we blindly traded a young mountain named Ben Wallace to Orlando for Ike Austin. Brilliant.
