Eddy Jordan

I feel somewhat obligated to comment on the Wizard's firing of Eddy Jordan. I really liked Eddy Jordan as a person: always well-spoken, articulate, positive in his demeanor, never belittling the press or acting like an asshole. That type of attitude and comportment is hard to find in the NBA these days.

Jordan was also a successful product of DC public schools, graduated college, and played very well in the NBA; I think he's an excellent role model for black kids in DC and I am very sad to see him go.

The irony is that Washington Post writers are claiming that the reason behind Jordan's firing is the way the Wizard's played defense; basically they say that because the team made the playoffs over the last few years and because they scored so many points (usually in the top five in points scored), everyone ignored the bad defense they played night after night. Now, after losing 10 games in a row, the Post argues that defense has always been Jordan's achilles heel.

This is true to a certain extent, but the Wizards improved to the 12th in the league from dead-last last year, and they were making strides; Haywood, until he was injured, was leading the league in blocks (or at least top five) and I think that under Jordan, he was turning into a good presence in the paint.

Of course you can also look at the injuries to Gilbert, Haywood and the trading of Roger Mason, whose nasty on the Spurs right now, for reasons as to why the Wizards suck so badly right now.

Why don't we fire Grunfeld along with Jordan instead of just firing Jordan and leaving the league with one less black coach who is a stellar example to all?

Better yet, why don't people question why Arenas got 110 million dollars, thereby ruining our cap situation for the 2010 bonanza coming up, despite his injury problems? This is the GM's fault for signing this injury prone, overpaid player and not Jordan's fault, right?

Grunfeld also resigned Andre Blatche this year and he's nothing but Kwame Brown redux. I have no idea why they resigned him, other than his size and occasional tendency to hit the three pointer.

Put the signings aside for a minute and think about how the Wizards have not noticeably improved over the last few years while other teams have. Wilbon says it best in his recent column:

"There's no arguing that. Atlanta, Philly, New York, Miami, Toronto, Milwaukee -- they all got better over the summer. The Wizards gave Arenas $111 million and he hasn't played one second, and we don't know when he will or what he'll look like when he does. Every time the Wizards lose a game it looks like keeping Arenas, especially at that price, was an enormous mistake. Grunfeld made a very nice draft pick in JaVale McGee, but the kid needs a couple of years to become a consistent impact player."

The ultimate irony in Jordan's firing, however, was again the idea of defense. When Jordan played in the league, he was known as a fierce defender and very good at getting steals (averaged close to two steals throughout his career). In 1979, on the Nets, he was second in the league in steals so you know Jordan excepts and understands the importance of defense!

I hope Jordan lands on a good team and I also hope that he leads his future team to success. Washington will miss him.