Of course not. This is why I left room for decline. Compare now to the end of January when we were riding high still in decent contention for the #3 spot if only the team could put a win streak together. Those were good times, huh? Probably not, but they were better than now, and things can get worse. Wait until we fall out of mathematical contention for #8. I put him in C- to D range now. D if he limps into the playoffs at 7 or 8, which will end up in a sure loss to a team we have no answer for, and F for not even making the playoffs. I still think that leaves a bunch of room at the bottom. We could miss the playoffs and still have 7 teams in the East alone with worse records than us; nevertheless, the closer the team got to the bottom I might have to start raising the grade again in order to reward the guy for even an unwittingly successful tank job. All in all this whole grading thing is a matter of how one views the proverbial glass. I bet plenty of Miami fans were giving Spoelstra B's and A's when our standings were flip-flopped. Meanwhile, our team is only 4 games behind 4th seeded Atlanta, putrid losing streaks and all. They make 4th seed and grades will rise again. If they get lucky and upset one of the top 3 in the playoffs the players and coach will be hearalded as "battle toughened" for making it through these rough times. Richard Hamilton will declare those rough times "right", and then we will promptly drop the next 4. I'm with round. No serious final grades from me until June. We're just throwing stuff out there until then.
My vote is for Kindergarten. We know he's obviously not proficient in mathematics because none of his moves have added up all season long. lol. If Curry coached defense the way Cloud defended Joe's decision to hire him early on, we'd be tied for 1st place in the Eastern Conference.
Moreso than simply defending the decision I was refuting any assertions that MC's hiring or the trading of Billups meant that Joe had given up on the season. If that was true on either level, it would mean that Dumars, despite supposedly being a "straight shooter", misled Antonio McDyess into believing he was all about winning a championship this year. Either way, he sort of broke the promise of doing whatever it took to win this season by valuing salary and cap space over any potential trade deadline deals. Obviously Antonio wanted to play for a team that was willing to do whatever it took to win this year. With the Bynum injury, his choice of Cleveland or Boston would have given him a 50-50 shot at high fiving over bottles of champagne in June. Bottom line is, I don't think Joe lied to him, I think everybody in the organization from Joe on down thought this was going to work up until not too long ago. Now that the deadline has passed, and Joe has sort of made it look like he's given up, it doesn't surprise me at all if those below him start following suit. Unfortunately, for some fans, the lack of further expectations may also mean that no one who really matters is concerned with giving out grades anymore. That would point to Curry being back next year.
Before the season, it was like this: (I think he forgot to mention the possibility of us losing 70 to 120. Now, it's like this: Oh yeah, only use it 50% of the time. No way they can possibly prepare for that.
Mike has a firm grip on reality. I wonder what is going on inside of his head. Is he agruing with himself, does he give himself suggestions, does he agree with all of his strategic moves. I think he needs a CAT scan.
Either way, he sort of broke the promise of doing whatever it took to win this season by valuing salary and cap space over any potential trade deadline deals. [quote B+] - That's not fair to any frugal GM. The money is down for everyone this year.
Then perhaps he should release the player he convinced was playing for a contender in order to get them to come back this year. Then he should release Rasheed and Iverson so they can roll with a team and GM that hasn't already given up. The contracts are up anyway, and that will actually save him some more money this year. This might even serve to get 6FOULS and Spellcheck back onto the floor. Everybody wins.
If you didn't apreciate the teams of the last 6 years and would like to go the Boston route [4 losing seasons then the championship] just say so. I'm sure there'll be 3 players every year that some team can hire and get to the 'ship.
