You Don't Understand The Pain I Feel

It's like getting a date with a rocket scientist who moonlights as a supermodel, only to watch her get seduced by the waiter and leave you with the $100.00 bill. It's like finding out that "LOST" has just been Walt's dream the whole damn time. It's like Superman learning that Lois Lane prefers Kryptonite jewelry because it brings out her eyes. It's like going to the zoo to show your kids cute animals then being attacked by a cyborg-gorilla hybrid that's hopped up on PCP.

Sure, there are more things going on in the world, but as far as sports are concerned, I can't shake the feeling that this is it. The final curtain call. I can't remember an NBA team who has been screwed as many times as the Wizards. I don't care what any of the execs say; they did not want the fifth pick. Trying to make lemonade out of rotten bananas isn't fooling anyone.

How can I count the hurts?

1. We lose to a franchise who's notorious for either losing good picks to free agency and injury or choosing the worst possible player. Looking at their roster, they don't even need Blake Griffin! In short: The L.A. Clippers were the team that deserved the #1 pick the least.
2. That whole "play the vets to try to win some games" plan was for nothing. Now they have a pick that's basically useless to them (on it's own) and added mileage on Jamison and Butler.
3. The minutes that Butler and Jamison collected could have been divided amongst the younger players, giving them the experience needed to either (a) make them good trade bait; or (b) make the Wizard's bench stronger. But the sporadic playing time has resulted in sporadic results: other than Dominic McGuire, no one else is ready for heavy/starter minutes.
4. Coaching-wise, we wasted money. The management fired Eddie Jordan believing that this would somehow spark the players. What really happened is that Butler went into a funk, Jamison started a mini-civil war between the vets and the kids, and the younger players began to tune Eddie Tapscott out. We got an upgrade in Flip Saunders, sure, but Ernie Grunfeld could have just as easily fired Jordan at the end of this season, hired Saunders and still got his money's worth from both transactions. And after looking back on the season, keeping EJ would have certainly kept the mood lighter than it became under the Palace of Good Play.
5. Now the team is on health watch and death watch. Anything worse than Second Round should be considered an utmost failure and the team needs to start thinking about rebuilding. I can't see this current squad getting past a LeBron-led Cavs team or a Celtics squad that still has The Big Three and Rondo, but Grunfeld remains convinced. The fan base isn't going to stand for another season of "coulda, shoulda woulda" from this incarnation of Wizards.

Nevertheless, I'm going to remain as optimistic as a Wizards fan can be at this moment, and hold out hope that Grunfeld and Saunders can turn this around.