Richmond, VA--
When you look at the roster that the Wizards have in training camp this season, you have to look no farther than the stands of the Siegel Center and see the man behind one of the best rosters in Wizards history, Ernie Grunfeld.
Grunfeld joined the organization on June 30, 2003 and immediately went to work building the team's roster. Within 13 months, Grunfeld had signed free agent guard Gilbert Arenas and acquired forward Antawn Jamison in a draft day trade. Both players made their NBA All-Star debuts as Wizards and were the driving forces behind the team's playoff appearance in 2005. That playoff appearance and subsequent victory in the first round marked the franchise's first playoff series win in over two decades.
"We showed last year that we can beat any team in the league. We can compete with anyone in the league, and our players believe that," Grunfeld said. "We have a very good core of players. We have continuity."
"Last year, we lost three games by one point in the playoffs. That's an area that we obviously want to improve on, and we want to improve on our rebounding. At the same time, we want to continue to be a high-scoring offensive team," he said.
