Like a Glove

Flip Saunders and the Washington Wizards are a match made in Gilbert’s own Gilberty heaven.  There are performing circus animals everywhere, fireworks, unicorns, elaborate masked balls, and the whole thing is probably scored by Animal Collective.  But somewhere in that world, there’s an incredible offensive coach whose style has been ridiculed, leadership has been questioned, and successes attributed to others.  He’s a kindred spirit with a perfect fit for not only Gilbert’s style, but the team’s style.  So light the fuse, pick out your feathery masque, and cue Sung Tongs — things just might get magical in Washington.

Flip Saunders isn’t just a good offensive coach, he’s a great offensive coach.  He’s also one that doesn’t come with the baggage of say, a Don Nelson.  Depending on how you interpret the events that transpired in Detroit, you may have your list of qualms with the man or his style, but it’s hard to argue with how he transformed one of the league’s slowest and least imaginagive offensive teams into a vehicle for easy buckets, exploiting mismatches, and whimsy.  Where Flip got the raw deal was with how the Pistons completely overachieved in the their two years under Larry Brown.  Yes, they won the championship, but the Pistons were masters of opportunism, not the league.  They were a good team that played great defense playing against a great team that had a great meltdown at a great time.  I dare not deny Detroit their ‘ship nor its legitimacy, but come on, the Lakers were the better team.  The next season, the same squad got all the way to the Finals, but fell short against the Spurs.  Those were good runs by a quality team, but does that really mean that merely reaching the conference finals three times in a row was an abject failure?  Especially when handed a…let’s say ‘confident’ roster with questionable focus?  He won an average of 58.7 wins over three seasons, for blog’s sake.

Blaming so-and-so for what went down in Detroit is SO 2008, so I’m going to let sleeping Sheeds lie.  What we have now is a depressingly bad Wizards squad with an interim coach who never had a chance.  Gilbert and Brendan Haywood’s injuries had a lot to due with the EPIC FAIL of 2008-2009, but that doesn’t change the fact that this team will need guidance to reintegrate Arenas, Haywood, and potentially a high lottery pick into the rotation.  What better man is there to champion the Wizards’ regular season than a man famous, or even infamous, for his regular season pedigree?  Realistically, I’m not sure how far this team can go, as currently constructed, in the Eastern Conference in years to come.  A lot of that hinges on exactly what Gil can do and chooses to do.  But Saunders fits Washington’s bill perfectly, and seems an ideal candidate to bring the Wizards back into the postseason and, perhaps even more importantly, get the most out of Arenas.