Enough Already, its time to let Flip go.

I'll admit that I was never a huge fan of this hiring. Even last year when they felt the need to bring in a guy to help Arenas, Butler and Jamison try to make a run. Well, now all three of those guys are gone and the Wiz...err..Bullets are a super young team in need of leadership that will help them develop their talents. I don't know who would be a good coach for this group, but I do know who isn't getting it done.......Flip Saunders.

Last night they were never in the game, but usually its a familiar story that we're seeing from these guys. They hang on until the mid to late 3rd quarter, and then implode in the 4th. Doesn't matter who's playing at the moment, or what happened earlier in the game. They are very likely to start falling apart to the point where the game is lost.

The last thing we need is John Wall to be ruined

The main reason Flip needs to be let go right away is John Wall. I'm not going to say that Flip is to Wall what Spurrier was to Patrick Ramsey. But its hard to deny that Spurrier ruined Ramsey and turned the poor guy in the a shell shocked QB who never recovered. When we were basking in Strasmas last summer, everybody knew the rules when it came to him. He wasn't going to be pushed too hard, because the franchise had big plans for him. I know its weird to say now that Stephen had Tommy John surgery and is out for awhile. That doesn't mean the concept is flawed. It actually needs to be applied to Wall also considering the games he missed this year because of knee issues. He's still a kid, he's still growing into his body, and you can't rely on a coach who isn't going to be mindful of the future during any game this year.

Yesterday on ESPN980, Thom Loverro said that either Saunders or Ernie needed to be fired. This was based I think on Andre Blatche recently, and his poor performances. Finally when Kevin pressed him to pick the coach or the GM to be let go, he went with the GM. I agree that somebody needs to be let go, but think it should be the coach. Maybe Ernie was wrong to give Blatche that money. Hell, a lot of us were wrong when we wanted them to give Arenas big money to stick around. However. I'm going to ask what exactly is this coach doing if the young players aren't developing or improving on mistakes from game to game? To me, Ernie earned a little more time with the moving of Arenas. That has to be worth something around here when his contract was like a noose around the neck of Ted and this franchise.

I recall a game recently where Flip left the team to be with his ill mother, and Randy Wittman took over for the game against Indiana. I don't think it was by chance that the Bullets played what seemed like their best game of the year that night. I'm not saying Randy is the solution in the long term. I'm saying that he's the solution for the rest of the this season. The team isn't going to win a lot of games, but when you have so many young guys and a league heading towards a lockout. You need to use this time to develop and improve on the fundamentals.  That includes teaching and coaching while the game is going on, and putting them in the best position to win games. If Saunders is taking out the guy who had the hot hand in the 1st half and leaving in the group that just turned it over 5 straight times. Then either he's not paying attention, or he doesn't care. Neither are acceptable reasons.

I get the overall plan. They know a lockout is coming, and want a young team without a lot of cap hits so when all the dust settles, they can start building a real team around Wall the same way they did with the Caps and the NHL lockout. That's fine, but it doesn't mean you can't start a little early by removing one of the bigger problems facing this franchise today. If Flip can't get some of these guys to improve parts of their game, then its time to let somebody else give it a shot. I don't think all of these players can improve their games, but I do believe some of them can....and that's on the Head Coach.