Rasheed Wallace has become a joke

Just because he's your most despised player doesn't mean that's a universal sentiment. Bonzi probably ranks as a bigger asshat in most people's book.

Sheed is/was volatile and a knucklehead on the court and sometimes off of it, but for all of his faults he's still shown a great deal of care when it comes to charity work for disadvantaged kids, so it's not like he's this universal dickhead that you paint him out to be.

And I'll ask it again, why the hell are we talking about a player who hasn't suited up in a Blazers uniform for years, especially when the current iteration is playing so well.

 

No hate for JR Rider???

 

I wonder how many years it will be after Sheed retires before we stop revisiting this topic.

 

Pretty amazing.

I've never thought that Sheed was a jerk or lazy. He's just unbalanced, to the point where I think it's pretty likely that a psychiatrist might diagnose him as mentally ill.

My guess? Borderline Personality Disorder. I've got a relative who has it, and they just can't see shades of gray. A ref is either really great or really horrible. All the media is out to get you because it's bad. All your teammates are great.

It's actually not nearly as fun or easy to deal with as it sounds. You tend to constantly be worried that somebody is about to "find you out", so you tend to be extremely secretive and paranoid. And when you do think somebody is about to "get at you", you might explode in amazing fits of rage. (Plus, you are constantly dealing with the cognitive dissonance of reconciling that somebody who used to be really great is now evil. That can take you to weird places where your mind invents facts just to try to square it with reality.)

Maybe I'm just reading too much into the guy based on my own experiences. *shrug*

Anyway, after dealing with my relative's erratic behavior for decades, I've learned not to get too excited by the ups or the downs. None of us are as bad as we are at our worst, or as great as we are at our best. The key is to look at the long-term, and when you see Sheed's career you see a pattern of team success and family success. Makes it pretty easy to look beyond the techs and the tantrums, at least for me.

 

No, what's weird is that Blazer fans like you (and shooter, for that matter) think that smoking weed is somehow much worse than regularly cheating on your wife. Damon gave back to the community. Brian Grant regularly banged another woman while he was married. I was, and still am, a big BG fan. But, calling someone "a far bigger turd in the punchbowl" and giving BG a free pass is totally ridiculous.

...and how many BG sucks threads have we had? Rasheed has had 10x the career.

 

Come on speed, keep up with the logic of this thread . . . that happened because Yao has become a joke.

 

While I totally understand your feelings on Wells and Patterson, why Kemp? He was already washed up by the time we got him. Or is it just a general dislike for him and that he happened to be on the Blazers for a time. Just curious.

I think the "turd in the punchbowl" comment is more referring to on the court contributions. While I too agree that adultery is a more serious offense than weed, I generally don't think either are much of a concern to me. For the most part, I don't really think it's any of our business what players do off the court (exception of course for really serious stuff).

Damon seems like a good enough guy off the court (even if you think his weed smoking is a big deal). On the other hand, Sheed is fairly giving also off the court and that hasn't stopped any of his bashing. Maybe it's just the "local kid" angle that keeps him from too much criticism.

 

My opinion on the matter has nothing to do with pot smoking. Damon was making almost as much money as Sheed, and was not even 1/2 the player. On the court, Sheed was unselfish while Damon was a ballhog. Sheed didn't like the media, but Damon was a tattletale who used the media to throw his team-mates under the bus.

As for comparing Shooter and I......you must be VERY new to this debate. Shooter cares (some would say is obsessed) with "character", "personality", whatever you want to call it. I am from the Al Davis (just win baby) school. ON THE COURT, Damon was a liability - Sheed and BG were not - hence the unflattering reference.


BTW: I have been married for 31 years, and have never cheated on my wife. I DID smoke pot as a kid. Draw your own conclusions as to where my (personal) priorities are.

 

OK, I thought you were talking about the pot thing.

However, part of your angst seems to be related to Damon's contract. Would you have so much criticism if he made
vets min? Of course, you wouldn't. Yes, by accepting a larger contract he accepted larger responsibilities. However,
it's more the responsibility of the people who got him that larger contract.

Damon has done a lot of good in the community, but as far as "just win baby", yes he was basically a 2-guard in a 5-10 body who couldn't play defense, so I understand some of the criticism there.

p.s. you have me beat, I've only been married for 24 years!

 

I think the primary reason people keep bringing up Wallace, is because they're so frustrated by being titillated by his potential. RW was and is a fantastic player, but if he played with a little more focus he could have been Tim Duncan's equal. He's never wanted to be a star though, and some Portland fans still hold a grudge.

In 3 or 4 years, RW will be washed up. If he continues to play, a similar thread will be created here. Eventually the subject of the thread will be correct, and there'll be a ridiculous amount of "told ya so"s. Sad really.

 

He may not be well liked for reasons I can't understand, but he is definitely not the most hated Blazer of all time. I think that designation should be left to Bob Whittsit. Or, if you need a player, Harvey Grant.

 

IMO, that doesn't look like the resume of a "borderline HOF'er" to me.

- I don't think too many "key players" on a championship team on borderline HOF. It seems to me he would have to be THE key player. Maybe I should take a closer look at the existing HOF list.

- I think saying "-- One of the best defenders in the NBA for more than a decade" is a bit kind. Sheed has never been on an All-defense team. If he were truly "one of the best defenders" he surely would have made at least one all-defense team. I think he is a good to very good defender, but not one of the best.

- The rest of those stats don't appear to be HOF level, but maybe I have it in my mind that HOF is a higher caliber than it really is. How many other players get to those rankings simply by playing in the league for many, many (13) years?

 

Please understand, to me what consenting adults choose to do in private is totally not my business.

But sex, like driving, carries responsibility.

A grown man and millionaire who, first, can't be troubled to put on a condom, and then forces six women into the humiliation of having to file in court for child support is not a person I am going to like. I know there are those who claim that women deliberately try to get pregnant by wealthy athletes for the money, but it could not have happened without his active cooperation, and a 79 cent piece of latex would have prevented it. If he's not willing to prevent, he can take responsibility without a court order.

 

lol. That reminds me of the time my mom had to go to the hospital for minor surgery, the hospital made a few small mistakes, and she declared afterward, "That place was like Auschwitz!" And she actually meant it. She says some crazy things sometimes, but that was the all-time weirdest. (Kind of a private joke between me and the wife now. Whenever a line at the DMV gets too long or it's a hassle picking up the kids at daycare, we always whisper, "This place is like Auschwitz." Then we roll our eyes. It's the sort of joke you make sure nobody ever overhears.)

There have been dozens (hundreds?) of guys with Sheed's build in the NBA, but there's only been one "Greatest PF of All Time." (Well, two if you count Karl Malone.) But you can't hold it against all of them for not being Tim Duncan.

There was only one Auschwitz, and there is only one Tim Duncan.

 

Not from everyone.

I, for one, called Damon the True Cancer of that imploding team. And, I declared that the trade for, and subsequent undeserved, unearned extension, was the key and biggest mistake Whitsett made as GM, compounded by his refusal/inability to correct said mistake.

 

It's funny, I was traveling through Phoenix for Thanksgiving last week and turned on some sports radio. People were lamenting the fact that Amare has a tendency to dominate some games and fade into the background in others. The callers I heard wished he'd bring the same focus every night, play better on defense, etc. The reason I bring this up is because I think we can all agree Amare is one of the elite PF's in the game today, but even he is subject to these same criticisms. Any player with a lot of talent is going to have a lot of expectations from fans, which are often unfair. Everyone wants to compare everyone to Duncan, or Shaq, or Kobe, and when they come up short in some aspect of their game, they get criticized. Hell, there was even a big debate (on my drive back through Phoenix) as to whether they should try to trade 2-time MVP Steve Nash. And most callers seemed to favor the idea, because he doesn't play defense and they can't win a championship with him, etc.

The point is, no player can please everyone. Sheed has had a great career, and he is what he is. Very few players have the whole package that makes them superstars. It doesn't mean they're a joke. That distinction belongs to Stephon Marbury.

 

I suppose it is for you.

Me, I find it endlessly ironic that the creator of an INSANE amount of threads about one of dozens of ex-players is calling Rasheed a nutcase.

You lose this argument, and have lost it a long time ago.

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, expecting a different result.

You will never will never win over thinking people in your campaign to argue that Rasheed was a "loser" an "underperformer" and a "cancer".

Facts don't support your contention.

Never have.

I wish you would just get over it and stop repeating the same failed argument over and over and over and over and over and over and over.........

It tired.

 

A reasonable position. I knew he was irresponsible but I didn't know he was also a deadbeat towards many of his children (though not surprised). I guess I just didn't pay that much attention to him.