Canzano Calls The Worst Draft Pick In Blazers History......

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by ABM, May 21, 2010.

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  1. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    Taking Martell over Paul and Williams.

    What say you?
     
    ABM, May 21, 2010
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  2. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    No. Still Bowie over Jordan, but Martell ranks high up there.
     
    Natebishop3, May 21, 2010
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  3. ABM

    ABM Happily Married In Music City, USA!

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    He said (just as in the Bowie pick,) the Blazers drafted for specific position, as opposed to BPA.
     
    ABM, May 21, 2010
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  4. julius

    julius Living on the air in Cincinnati... Staff Member Global Moderator

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    2 words, 11 letters. LaRue Martin.
     
    julius, May 21, 2010
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  5. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

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    Passing on the greatest player of all time is and will always be the worst draft decision ... until/unless Durant eclipses Jordan as the GOAT and then Oden will become the worst draft decision of all time. Martell over Williams and CP3 is a real stinker though.
     
    Nikolokolus, May 21, 2010
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  6. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Webster was a disaster because it was so painfully OBVIOUS that (a) the team had locked in on him, and (b) that Paul was perhaps the best player in the draft.

    The team traded down, at least, which is better than snapping Webster up at #3... but it was a terrible decision to take him no matter what.

    Bowie over Jordan is still worse, however.

    Ed O.
     
    Ed O, May 21, 2010
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  7. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

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    At the time, CP3 had just punched a dude in the nuts in the ACC Tournament. I could see it if people around here were saying "take Deron!", but I don't remember much of that. Then again, I wasn't on the interwebs much then. But in 2005, taking a "thuggish" cheater who played the same position as our last lotto pick wasn't in the cards, and everyone knew it.

    That said, I gotta agree about taking Bowie. I wasn't alive for Larue Martin.
     
    BrianFromWA, May 21, 2010
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  8. julius

    julius Living on the air in Cincinnati... Staff Member Global Moderator

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    My reason for LaRue.

    he was taken based on 1 game against Bill Walton, and sucked every other minute he played in college and the NBA.

    At least Bowie was good in college and had a respectable career in the NBA.

    Martins career averages were 5 and 4 (although his per 36 #'s aren't atrocious). He played 4 seasons.



    Martin was also taken BEFORE Bob MacAdoo and Dr. J (granted, they more than likely wouldn't have played in Portland..but they could've been traded ala Moses Malone).
     
    julius, May 21, 2010
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  9. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    We went 'round and 'round about it on this board (well, at a different site). I don't think that anyone actually LOVED Webster, they just had a lot of faith in Nash.

    They ignored statements by STOMP about how great Paul was going to be, and they mocked my reiteration of expert opinions that considered him the best PG prospect since Magic Johnson.

    I remember but one person on the "pro-Webster" side, who said not only that they should take him if they want him, but that they shouldn't trade down and risk losing him. Unfortunately, that poster no longer is active on this board. Unfortunately for me :)

    Ed O.
     
    Ed O, May 21, 2010
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  10. RoyToy

    RoyToy Clown Town

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    Michael Jordan wouldn't have stayed in Portland.
     
    RoyToy, May 21, 2010
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  11. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Dude, you're taking what used to be a reasonable position (skeptical until Oden proves himself) straight off the deep end. ;)
     
    Minstrel, May 21, 2010
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  12. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Haha. Where was he going to go?

    Working for the richest owner in sports when there was no maximum salary... I think he would have stuck around :)

    Ed O.
     
    Ed O, May 21, 2010
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  13. RoyToy

    RoyToy Clown Town

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    I don't. Besides, Allen didn't own the team until 1988.

    I feel pretty confident in saying Jordan wouldn't have stayed with the team.
     
    RoyToy, May 21, 2010
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  14. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    When do you think Jordan first became a free agent?

    Ed O.
     
    Ed O, May 21, 2010
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  15. RoyToy

    RoyToy Clown Town

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    It's irrelevant to me because I don't think $ would stop Jordan considering all of his money came from endorsements anyways. An extra maybe $5M-$10M a year isn't worth going to a big city and becoming the global icon he was. I think someone even posted something on here where MJ mentioned something about not staying here if he was drafted.

    You have to understand as much as Jordan was about winning, he was just as much about marketing himself.
     
    RoyToy, May 21, 2010
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  16. Draco

    Draco Well-Known Member

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    I remember many discussions being whether we should take Gerald Green or Martell Webster.

    Being able to trade Telfair for Roy lessens the sting of passing on CP3 to me, but yeah that still is the worst draft pick in my 20 years as a fan of the Blazers.

    I always wondered at the time if maybe Paul Allen had enough of all the local criticism back in those days and just said screw it, let's have the team suck ass for a number of years then the fans will come back with a passion once they return to a first round exit team. That's basically what has ended up happening.
     
    Draco, May 21, 2010
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  17. oldmangrouch

    oldmangrouch persona non grata

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    I will reluctantly agree with Canzany on this one.

    There were extenuating circumstances for the Martin draft, and Bowie was picked to make Dr Jack happy. Why was the Webster pick made? That was just monkey-humping-a-moose-turd stupid. :crazy:
     
    oldmangrouch, May 21, 2010
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  18. Nikolokolus

    Nikolokolus There's always next year

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    Oh I'm being a little bit tongue in cheek and having some fun ... I give Durant about a 0.5% of ever eclipsing his Airness, but I think there's a pretty good chance he snags an MVP trophy or two (assuming Lebron plays on a team that has a down year or two). If current trends hold though -- Oden struggling with health and Durant continuing to rack up scoring titles -- the pick is going to be pretty hard to defend in a couple of years. I really do hope it doesn't come to that.
     
    Nikolokolus, May 21, 2010
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  19. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    I think even if Durant proves to be a Hall of Famer and Oden never stays healthy, it still wouldn't be the worst draft pick in franchise history, or a contender, for one reason: the pick made plenty of sense at the time.

    It may be the most unfortunate pick, the unluckiest pick, but not the worst, because it wasn't a silly or dumb pick. The Bowie pick honestly didn't make sense at the time, because it was made from an illogical basis: select need over talent. Even at the time, very very few people thought Bowie was as or more talented than Jordan. He was simply one of the top big men and the Blazers were bound and determined to take a big man. When you're trying to maximize your chances of getting a top player, passing on a superior talent is always a mistake.

    Similar things could be said about Webster. In Nash's view, the team already had its "point guard of the future" in Telfair, so he wasn't going to take another one. Disqualifying superior talents in Paul and Williams, due to perceived positional needs, fit right into the flawed basis that characterized the Bowie selection.

    When Portland chose Oden, it wasn't a need over talent selection. At the time, the team believed it had a franchise perimeter player and big man in Roy and Aldridge. So it's unlikely that they felt they had to choose based on need. In addition, the consensus was that Oden was the most talented prospect in addition to being a big man. Oden had been considered a phenom since he was a sophomore in high school. His collegiate performance didn't contradict those scouting beliefs. While there will always be nay-sayers about any prospect (I remember people who were even detractors of LeBron James, when he was still just a prospect), Oden had a consensus about his ability that was near those for LeBron James and Tim Duncan, from my recollection.

    So, it was the right pick based on the information at the time. That disqualifies it, in my mind, from being the "worst" pick (which, to me, connotes ineptness, short-sightedness or horrific scouting). Oden's performance when healthy has validated the scouting. The injuries, IMO, were not predictable. So if he remains injury-prone and busts for that reason, I'll chalk it up as supreme misfortune, not a terrible pick.
     
    Minstrel, May 21, 2010
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  20. BlazerCaravan

    BlazerCaravan Hug a Bigot... to Death

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    There was quite a bit of Webster love that week.

    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178681-rate-blazers-draft-day.html
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178884-we-drafted-good-guy-webster.html
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178826-i-love-our-new-backcourt.html
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178563-nice-job-nash-patterson.html

    ...and Telfair love too (which is why we "didn't need" Paul or Deron):
    http://www.basketballforum.com/port...ster-jack-article-hoopsworld.html#post2368079

    (for the benefit of the new guys, Talkhard changed his name to Shooter later on)

    We also got good grades on that draft overall:
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178880-cbs-sportsline-gives-us.html

    ...except from Colin Cowherd, who wanted us to take someone else:
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178834-collin-morning.html#post2363798

    And it looks like someone was possibly hoping we'd get Webster:
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178527-cross-your-fingers-chad-fords-mock.html

    ...he seemed pretty pleased in this post:
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178944-big-guys.html
    http://www.basketballforum.com/portland-trail-blazers/178975-key-next-season.html#post2364953

    :ghoti:
     
    Last edited: May 21, 2010
    BlazerCaravan, May 21, 2010
    #20
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