There are a few teams that just can't get a break. Whether it's bad coaching, poor management, or just plain bad luck, there are a few "hopeless" teams in the NBA. Which team would you like to see succeed, just for the hell of it? Atlanta - stuck in one of the worst sports towns in the country, and has had ownership instability, though that has resolved. They've had some decent players in recent years (SAR, Terry, Robinson), but they could never gel as a team. Washington - Jordan set this franchise back a few years with this constant berating of the team while he was a player. Plus, they overpaid for Arenas. It's also weird that the player that shoots so well (Kwame Brown), gets so few shots, while two players shooting under 40% get so many...Definitely a sign of poor coaching. Chicago - NEVER should have traded Elton Brand. One of the few Dukies that has had success in the NBA. A trio of Brand, Heinrich, and Crawford is a playoff team in the East Golden State - TEN lottery seasons in a row for the Warriors? Even the Clippers can't make that claim. They haven't had a decent inside presence since Nate Thurmond. LA Clippers - This team has actually made some decent personell decisions recently, and still have cap room to sign some free agents. Their defense is terrible, though, and they don't have a decent point guard. They probably would have benefitted most from Van Gundy.
chicago. traded brand for what shouldve been the next KG. drafted what was supposedly the next shaq. both look like the next in a long line of busts. so then they turn around and draft an experienced college player, and his basketball career is cut short.
Atlanta. They just need a break. A few of those teams HAD talent but just bungled it away. I dont even think Atlanta even had any talent to screw up.
There are a couple of teams I just can't pity. Highest of these is the LA Clippers. Their pain in wholly self-inflicted. The owner sucks, and his demeanor pervades the whole franchise. He's unwilling to make the financial commitments to have a successful team, so he'll never get one. And, the fans are doubly masochistic. They should know better than anyone that Sterling is not a winner and is not committed to bringing them a winner and yet they still give the Clipps their money and loyalty. Even though there is another home-town team they can root for without looking like a bandwagonner. Such self-debasing behavior deserves the punishment it receives. Second on the list is Chicago. This team, not long ago, won 6 titles. Plus, they were well overhyped for a decade, have fans in the remotest deserts of China, are even now making money in gross disproportion to their success and have the most arrogant city of fans in the league. They can stand to suffer for a little while longer. The team I was feeling sorry for in the offseason was Utah. They had lost their bread and butter and were staring at a bleak future in which they would be certainly the worst in the league and would never be able to get a decent free agent to come. Then, they showed they didn't need my pity. Now, I hope they are like the Orlando of old -- able to do better with scrubs than stars. So, I voted Washington. Their pain is also self-inflicted by a bad owner and bad management. However, the desire is there; they lack only competence. I've been impressed by the sincerity of the owner's attempts to bring the franchise back into respectability. He seems to want it bad enough that I hope he gets it. Besides, Washington is in the East, so his success doesn't have to be at the Rockets' expense.
I don't know if I can pity the Bulls, given their high attendance figures (third in the league in attendance, and one of the worst records). But the Bulls organization did make some horrendous mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20, but imagine if they still had Elton Brand and Ron Artest. And Brad Miller. That's got to hurt.
I feel sorry for Golden State. Someone posted to a GSW forum on here and they were still debating what they would do if they had the #1 pick in the draft last year. Some were still dense enough to choose Jay Will over Ming. And it's not like they haven't had talent during those 10 years. They just always seemed to be one step away from becoming a playoff contender to only trade away a key piece of their puzzle and fall one step back away from even getting a peak at a playoff run. They always seem to sabotage any hope of becoming a playoff contender with their bad trades, and bloated contracts.
I picked Golden State. Yes, Garry St. Jean has done a terrible job as GM, but that team has still had a ton of bad luck over the last decade. They never really recovered from the Chris Webber/Don Nelson debacle. How could anyone feel sorry for Chicago?! They won 6 titles in 8 years. Let them suffer for another 15 years like Celtics have since their last championship. Washington and L.A. Clippers? Please, those two franchises seem to get off on being mediocre. Atlanta would've been my second choice after the Warriors, except that no one in that city(or anywhere else in the world for that matter) gives a rat's ass about the Hawks. So why should I?
Maybe if they were a good team people would care. This is a franchise that hasn't had a solid player since Nique left and thus the town has given up on them because there isnt any excitement. At least the Warriors HAD Run TMC, they HAD Chris Webber. It was THEM that allowed those players to get away. At least they HAD players to do something with. Atlanta hasn't had jack squat!
It's hard to feel sorry for a team that won the lottery two consecutive years (one with the worst chance of all the lottery teams) and also managed to sign two top notch free agents in one offseason. Also, look at the division they'll be in next season. Atlanta, Miami, Washington, and the Charlotte expansion team. They have a good shot at the division title if Grant Hill stays healthy...
I can't feel sorry for Chicago. They once had a rontcourt of Brand, Artest, and Brad Miller who have all become all stars since being traded. I'll have to go with Washington. Like Bill Worrell said, they're building for the future. And as Calvin astutely replied, they've been building for the future for 29 years
The Wizards have a good shot at the title if their team name suddenly grants them magical powers (think Angels in the Outfield). Unfortunately, I don't think either is very likely.
I agree. One other thing is that I have no respect for the overrated T-Mac. No player has been more overrated and blindly respected for a while. The roster around T-Mac isn't much worse than other teams. Look at the Bucks. They don't have anyhting close to a great player, and make do with journeyman big men. A supposed superstar like T-Mac should be doing better than he has.
Agree as well. 1- They won 6 rings in 8 years. 2- They blew up their own dynasty because Jerry Reinsdorf was stupid enough to believe that Jerry Krause made the dynasty. Thinking that you can find a Michael Jordan and a Phil Jackson anywhere. Fact is that he either got lucky or made a good choice with Jordan and Jackson, however to think he could reduplicate that was purely asinine. The whole thing started with the Bulls refusal to extend Pippen's contract, which led to Phil not really wanting to come back if Pippen wasn't back, which led to Michael leaving, which led to Rodman leaving... Which led to the current state of suckdom the Bulls are in. 3- The Bulls had a good piece in Brand. Trading him for a teenager, while drafting another was as mind-numbing as it gets. I vote for Washington as the team I feel for, if onyl because they have great fans (the city that is) and I have family there.
i feel bad for the clips because of their owner, had they had any other decent owner they would not be that bad at all. they could have easily been a playoff team with an owner who is committed to the team, that itself kills the team ruins any chance for the team to do anything.
After last night's robbery by the Gasol-less, Bonzi-less, Swift-less, twice-last-second-three-point-hitting (including a 35-footer by Posey) Grizzlies -- i gotta say i feel most sorry for Atlanta. Team just can't catch a break. They're not afraid of big contracts -- Mutombo, Ratliff, SAR, Lorenzo Wright etc -- yet still suk.
Yep. The Hawks have really buried themselves. They will have a lot of cap space next year, and they might even trade Jason Terry to the Spazz for a draft pick (Terry having signed an offer sheet with them last summer which the Hawks matched); so how will the Hawks attract free agents? A lot of players hail from Atlanta and the nearby area. If the Hawks can catch a break---acquire an All Star, maybe, for their high draft pick---then maybe they can build a team that the local populace will support. Attendance at the Toyota Center leaves something to be desired, but, dayumn, when you see highlights---oops, sorry; low-lights---of the Hawks games, and all those empty seats.....dayumn!
I agree with people who say they can't feel sorry for a franchise that has won 6 titles. I hope the Bulls get stuck in the cellar for 2 more decades just to even out their karma in the 90s. I feel sorry for the Clippers' players. They are just stuck with a bad owner. Every Clipper wants to get out of there. And I just want to see the Clippers do better than the Lakers for a change.
