When our favorite NBA team loses, we fans often place blame on a particular person in the organization. The blame falls on that person quite a lot, rightfully or wrongfully so. We call him the Scapegoat.

So I ask the blogosphere, “Who’s your Scapegoat?” The blogosphere answers. First I present the NBA All-Scapegoat Team, then the blogger explanations.

The All-Scapegoat Team:
C Andray Blatche, Washington Wizards
F LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers
F Mike Miller, Minnesota Timberwolves
G Sasha Vujacic, Los Angeles Lakers
G Roger Mason, San Antonio Spurs

Bonus! We even have
Scapegoat Coach of the Year: Vinny Del Negro, Chicago Bulls
Scapegoat Executive of the Year: Kevin McHale, Minnesota Timberwolves

And now, the evidence.

Brendan, 2nd Round Reach:

As a Lakers fan, our scapegoat is pretty much Sasha Vujacic these days. After having a legitimate run of good play through last season (especially after Andrew Bynum got hurt), he was signed to a too-large contract that makes Laker fans sort of resent him the way the rest of the league seems to. I mean, let’s lay it all out: He’s European, and that often reads as kind of girly (he literally got that hair thing from a Laker Girl!). He plays really irritating defense (which isn’t the same as GOOD defense, but is sometimes decently effective), which really makes you hate it when he gets plain outmatched. And the thing he was paid to do above all others – shoot the ball – has completely disappeared from his game. There’s a reason he spent the year getting buried deeper and deeper down on the bench.

I think if there’s one piece of evidence that stands out above all others, the omen of things to come and the thing etched into the brains of Laker fans for now and forever is this:

 

With just over 25 seconds to play in a one-possession Game 4 of the 2008 Finals, in desperate need of a stop to get the final shot, Sasha gets absolutely DESTROYED by Ray Allen. That was the moment when Sasha Vujacic gave up a championship to the ever-hated Celtics.

On that night, Sasha’s officially became our goat.

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Michael, Project Spurs:

Roger Mason has to be the scapegoat for San Antonio. With Manu Ginobili injured, Mason got the start and plenty of minutes to be an impact player in the series with Dallas. Unfortunately, Mason showed that he still had some of that Wizards funk in him and played in his third one-and-done postseason. Everything was in place for Mason and he showed in the regular season that he could hit the big shot. But he may as well have had sheets over his head instead of a silver & black jersey because he went ghost with 6.6 pts a game and 37 percent shooting from the field, a considerable drop from the 16 a game he averaged in the last six games of the season.

See Spurs vs. Mavs head-to-head and Spurs season in review.

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Kyle, Truth About It:

Since entering the league four entire seasons ago, Andray Blatche has shown flashes of brilliance, wowing the occasional opponent and their fans. Unfortunately for Wizards fans, these glimpses couldn’t be further from the truth.

From sleeping in the arena because he couldn’t pay rent, and eating nachos right before games early in his career, to getting caught by an undercover cop posing as a prostitute last offseason, Blatche just hasn’t been able to take his God-given talent seriously.

Back in September ‘08, Andray had some big talk about gaining maturity, being serious, etc., etc. The Wizards veterans didn’t take much stock in Andray’s word, tired of him talking about it and not being about it.

Not surprisingly, Blatche’s ‘08-09 was plagued with the inconsistency represented by errant passes out of bounds and literally stinking on the bench. If anyone needed to step up in the absence of Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood, it was Blatche. He failed minimal expectations. From partying while injured to hosting ‘End of the Season’ parties before the actual end of the season, I’ve just about had enough of Andray Blatche on my team.

The kid has a diverse skill-set and is very agile for his 6′11″ frame, and to be clear, he’s certainly not the a**hole type. But I have doubts that he will ever be someone the Wizards can depend on to play with a fire, passion and heart.

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Wyn, Canis Hoopus:

Mike Miller was a big part of the justification for the Wolves to swap OJ Mayo for Kevin Love. Personally, I’m happy with Love over Mayo, but not everyone is. Miller was billed as a sharpshooter with above-average passing and rebounding skills to boot. Then, after Al Jefferson went down, Miller was expected to step into the #1 option on offense and rain down 3s. Unfortunately, that never happened and Miller averaged 9.9 points on the season, a career low. Not only did he not score, but the man barely shot at all, putting up 7.5 field goals a game, also a career low. South Dakota Sharpshooter my ass.

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Mookie, A Stern Warning:

Amongst Blazers fans, Brandon Roy is seen as the rock — the player who has progressed to star status. The remainder of the team is filled with complementary players, or those on the rise with their best years ahead. Meanwhile, there is one other player — LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is rightly considered to be the guy who should be on par with Roy and providing scoring, rebounding and shot blocking on a nightly basis. Unfortunately, Aldridge has his ups and downs and it often appears to be the games where the Blazers lose that we see L.(M.)A. disappear.
 
I reference the Oregonian for examples of the disappointment in Aldridge at times:

L.A.’s big game: They could see it coming

When LaMarcus Aldridge played poorly Sunday afternoon against Toronto, his Trail Blazers teammates knew what to expect in the coming hours: Silence.

There would be no talking – not by Aldridge, not by teammates wishing to engage in conversation with their teammate. He is normally one of the most personable and goofy guys in the locker room, which led to his being affectionately nicknamed “Scooby Doo” last season by the now-departed Juan Dixon. But by now, the Blazers know: When LaMarcus has a bad game, give him his space.

[snip]

“It was typical L.A.,” Brandon Roy said. “He was real quiet. He wasn’t playful, he was all business. He came in here and wasn’t talking, and you could tell he was getting himself mentally ready to breakout. He knows we need him, and he felt like he let us down.”

See also: Blazers ‘need a lot’ out of LaMarcus Aldridge

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Nels, Give Me The Rock:

Derrick Rose blocks shots. Joakim Noah steals and makes breakaway dunks.
Ben Gordon hits clutch three-pointers. Tyrus Thomas blocks shots, catches
alley-oops, and makes outside jumpers when you don’t expect him to. Vinny Del Negro throws out 4-guard lineups. Vinny Del Negro calls timeouts and doesn’t set up anything better than a dribble-down-the-clock-and-launch-a-three. Vinny Del Negro plays Brad Miller instead of Tyrus Thomas in the 4th quarter even when Miller is having a terrible game. None of the Bulls are perfect, but none of them hurt their team as much as their own coach.

Evidentiary links:

• Bulls-Celtics Game 5
• Dear VDN
• Blame Vinny
• If Vinny Doesn’t Care About Defense, Why Should I?

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Mike, TWolves Blog:

In the curious case of the Minnesota Timberwolves, no single player has been a consistent scapegoat over the years. Instead, former Vice President of Basketball Operations Kevin McHale is our scapegoat. By a long shot.

Although one could blame the chicken (Glen Taylor) for lack of accountability for a 13-year period of mediocrity for the Timberwolves, consistent mismanagement by the former Celtics legend sure takes the cake. Here are Kevin McHale’s top 3 blunders as GM, and It really required some careful thought, and will likely spark a lot of debate:

3. Wolves fire Dwayne Casey and sign assistant coach Randy Wittman to a 3-year contract extension. Wittman has gone down to be one of the worst coaches in the history of the NBA, record-wise, and did little to motivate his young team.

2. Draft day 2006. Wolves trade Brandon Roy for Randy Foye and cash considerations. Aside from Kobe for Divac or Dirk for Tractor Traylor, it does not get much worse than this.

1. The Joe Smith scandal. Signing a mediocre PF to a secret deal cost the Wolves $3.5 million, Joe Smith himself, and 5 1st round picks (later reduced to 3). McHale was suspended from Target Center for the year, yet still kept his job for another 8 years.

On the bubble: Marko Jaric trade in 2005; Ndudi Ebi draft selection

To view McHale’s complete transaction history and make your own list, click here.

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Dishonorable mention comes from clarkpojo, SLC Dunk:

While clarkpojo defends Utah forward Carlos Boozer, he acknowledges four main reasons (”myths”) why Jazz fans boo the Booze:

1. Boozer is faking the severity of his injury and is trying to miss games
2. The Jazz are fine without Boozer
3. Boozer cost us the series against the Lakers last season
4. Boozer is a snake and disloyal to the Utah Jazz

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Who’s your Scapegoat? Comment below.