1998-1999 Knicks - lost in NBA finals. big 3 = sprewell, houston, and camby. supporting cast = larry johnson, charlie ward, kurt thomas, chris childs (ewing was hurt)

2000-2001 Bucks - Lost NBA Eastern Conference Finals (4-3) versus Philadelphia 76ers. big 3 = allen, cassell, robinson. supporting cast = tim thomas, scott williams, ervin johnson, jason caffey, lindsey hunter, darvin ham.

assuming all we do from here is add another serviceable big man, where do we stack up against these teams?

in anticipation of a really downbeat post tomorrow and general outrage, i'd like to try to inject some positivity and get a contrarian viewpoint out there.

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Sally Jenkins article

was anybody else taken aback by this one? she writes nothing about the wizards in several years then drops in saying how awful the team has been and basically insinuates that they haven't tried hard enough. okay, they've been bad on defense, we get it - but to straight up question these guys's committment? that's BS i think, especially considering how hard these guys competed last year.

i wasn't a big fan before, but now i'm really sour on Sally Jenkins.

here are some odds i'm seeing, not gonna link it since i don't want to encourage gambling, but i think it's interesting. from the looks of this, vegas isn't projecting the wiz to be a playoff team. i'm more bearish on the wizards than most on this site, but still, that seems pretty harsh. where's the love?

ODDS TO WIN NBA TITLE

Charlotte BobCats  +10000    
Seattle Sonics  +10000    
New Jersey Nets  +10000    
Indiana Pacers  +10000    
Minnesota T-Wolves  +10000    
Memphis Grizzlies  +10000    
Sacramento Kings  +10000    
New York Knicks  +8000    
Milwaukee Bucks  +8000    
Los Angeles Clippers  +6000    
Washington Wizards  +6000    
Golden State Warriors  +5000    
Atlanta Hawks  +5000    
Chicago Bulls  +4000    
Miami Heat  +4000    
Toronto Raptors  +4000    
Philadelphia 76ers  +3500    
Denver Nuggets  +3000    
Orlando Magic  +3000    
Portland Blazers  +2500    
Utah Jazz  +1800    
Cleveland Cavaliers  +1800    
Dallas Mavericks  +1800    
New Orleans Hornets  +1500    
Phoenix Suns  +1500    
Houston Rockets  +1200    
Detroit Pistons  +1000    
San Antonio Spurs  +800    
Boston Celtics  +300    
Los Angeles Lakers  +250   

ODDS TO WIN EASTERN CONFERENCE

Charlotte BobCats  +3500    
Indiana Pacers  +3500    
New Jersey Nets  +3500    
Milwaukee Bucks  +3000    
New York Knicks  +3000    
Washington Wizards  +2000    
Atlanta Hawks  +2000    
Miami Heat  +1500    
Chicago Bulls  +1500    
Philadelphia 76ers  +1200    
Toronto Raptors  +1200    
Orlando Magic  +1200    
Cleveland Cavaliers  +600    
Detroit Pistons  +300    
Boston Celtics  +130   

1. HIRE NEW TRAINING STAFF
2. have them check out gil's knee.
3. assuming it's good, resign gil + twan to reasonable contracts.
4. get etan back on the court.
5. get blatche in the weight room.
6. let mason walk (i love him but there's no room).
7. draft brandon rush (was projected in 20's but now it looks like phoenix might snatch him up earlier than 18. i'll stick with this suggestion).
8. cut mcguire or pech. (sucks to do it, but hey...)
9. get additional stopgap backup point guard.
10. utilize new training staff and finish top 3 in conference with healthy team.

apparent setback: anyone worried?

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