I guess it’s good for the DC area fans to get excited about the Wiz. The guys definitely need some support after an absolutely abysmal year. But I’m gonna squash all that – starting with this Flip Saunders hiring.
He’s a professional with a great deal of actual NBA-coaching experience. But I’d strongly suggest that he is not the right fit for this team. In fact, here are my top reasons why he won’t be the huge difference-maker that many expect him to be:
"Yeah...whatever. Anything you say "Flip"..."
– Any coach with the first name “Flip” cannot be taken seriously.
– His coaching style changed Detroit from a team that had a great defense and mediocre offense into a team with a mediocre defense and weak offense. In other words, they got worse on both sides of the ball.
- The guy wears a shag. How can anyone keep from laughing at a guy who looks like he starred in “Welcome Back Cotter?”
Is that a "shag" in the back??
- He coached Kevin Garnett for 10 seasons, and only made it past the 1st round in one of those seasons.
- Gilbert Arenas (assuming he is playing, and not blogging, next year) has too much personality for him. Agent Zero will be the ”real” coach of this team.
- Arenas, Butler and (especially) Jamison do not play defense. Saunders does not stress defense. Looks like a match made in heaven.
- He’s too doggone mild-mannered. Successful coaches have to know how to play mind games (Phil Jackson), push buttons (Pat Riley) and ruffle feathers (Larry Brown).
In all seriousness, the Wizards have no choice but to be better than they were this past year. They’ll get lots of improvement if the Black President is healthy. But please don’t expect Flip to put them over the top. Especially after he has already proven that he is incapable of doing that.
But maybe if he would cut off that doggone shag…
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T Lamont is an administator and author covering all sports for Ball or Nuthin'. Send T Lamont a question or comment for future discussion (tlamont@ballornuthin.com). 
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I must admit, I am a diehard Wizards fan and am pretty excited about the “Flip” signing. I’d like to personally welcome the new Shagadelic coach to the Phone Booth. To set things straight, I honestly would much rather have seen Eddie Jordan still at the helm (it was not his fault that he lost his best player and starting Center before the season even began). But for Flip’s sake, let’s take a look a at how he could right this ship and take my beloved Wiz deep into the playoffs.
- He has a healthy Big Three. Barring any injuries, the trio will finally be on the court together for a full season. Combined with Brendan Haywood and Stevenson, this was the top team in the Eastern Conference before injuries derailed their season 2 years ago.
- He’s got the experience. Flip coached a mediocre Minnesota team with only Kevin Garnett and made it to the playoffs several times. It wasn’t until they got Cassell and Sprewell before they got past the first round and to the Western Conference Finals. I’d take Agent Zero, Twan and Tough Juice in their primes and say it’s a safe bet this group has what it takes to go deep into the postseason. He took that Detroit team to the Eastern Conference finals 2 or 3 times. I’d say he is “capable” of guiding them to at least the conference finals.
- He’s got the Hibachi. Marbury, Brandon and Billups all did well under Flip. This is an offensive minded coach with a PG like he’s never had before. In Arenas, Flip has an elite scorer and a closer. The Princeton offense was pretty, but use the offensive sets that Flip has combined with Arenas skills and that could be a deadly combination.
- The Bench Mob. As ugly as this season was, the young bucks got invaluable experience they would have never gotten in any other situation. Mcguire, Young, McGee, Crittendon and Blatche all got PT and played against starters. This will help them take out a lot of other teams second units. Flip still has to groom them but he’s got a great bench to turn to when he rests his starters.
- Most importantly, he has the shag. It’s a little known fact that shags = coaching success. Name one coach that’s got a shag and wasn’t successful in the NBA… okay you’re 3 seconds are up.. You couldn’t do it could you? Every coach that has grows that extra something in the back of the head is successful (even if he’s the only one)
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The Wiz need to do like Cleveland and get a player coach.
I wonder if Mike Brown has given Lebron his coach of the year award yet.
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Probably not. I’ll bet Coach Brown thinks he actually had something to do with the Cavs winning. Talking about player coach, I heard the Mr. Shag Fu is bringing in Sam Cassel as an assistant coach.. that’s a LOT of experience coming off the bench should the Wiz need a wily vet.
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