Your 8 year old neighbors have spent time speaking to and dealing with Kevin Pritchard? I actually would love to hear what they have to say. Much better than the cowardly unnamed sources.
If you'd take a deep breath and actually read or listen you'd know they both said they weren't 100% sure why he was let go. Then gave their personal accounts of dealing with Pritchard. To all you posters losing your shit over "these 2 morons"... At least these "these two morons" have the balls to go on record instead of using "unnammed sources" to push a poisonous agenda.
I have heard Prichard talk about his scouts. I don't doubt that. But I never get high enough on any ledge that I would need to look for a way off. Has Simmons stopped bashing KP? How ironic is that? Why isn't he on the attack like he was before the draft?
Simmons doesn't bash KP, so far as I've seen. He bashes Oden and basically claims it was KP's one, monumental mistake.
No offense, but why would anybody equate Simmons with Ford? Ford may have his flaws, but he knows a heck of a lot more about the NBA than Simmons. (or somebody like Quick) He has interacted with many GMs around the league, and knows more about what is happening outside of the Blazers than any of us. Just because he has a high opinion of KP doesn't make him wrong.
Well apparently he doesn't know enough: "It's an hour before the draft. As you're getting ready to walk in the war room, Paul Allen says, "Hey Kevin, can I talk to you for a second?" Fires him an hour before the draft but says, "Hey, we still want you to run the draft room tonight." Is that what happened? I don't think so. What i do agree with him on is KP in general. I liked KP and I thought the national media (As usual) screwed him (and the Blazers ) over by tagging him with the "Pritch-Slaped" tag. All in all I think Ford was informative with what he knew and ignorant with what he knows nothing about. Which is normal for these guys who cover 30 teams. They don't do enough research. They read too many blogs.
remind me of some of the wisdom of Chad Ford. I've read his stuff for years and it seems to me to be the regular run of the mill agent fueled rumors and passed along media speculation that rarely turns out... usually Portland considering trading their best talent to NY for a boatload of bad contracts sort of stuff. In the exchange with Simmons at the beginning of this thread he's trying to be outrageous/entertaining. KP was fired an hour before the draft. If he (Ford) was in KP's shoes, he would have traded Roy for a late 2nd rounder. PA = Donald Sterling. I'm supposed to respect that sort of silly crap because he's talked to GMs around the league? STOMP
I guess there must be something really wrong with me, because I had not the slightest intention of jumping off a ledge (although here in the Bay Area it would be a bridge).
KP and his agent made the right move. They struck first when the iron was hot. First impressions make a HUGE impact. Without telling the details Vulcan and Allen (mind you I despise Vulcan) are fighting with one hand behind their back. They need to tell the real story and to ESPN pronto. I wouldn't care, but it might impact our GM hunt and FA's etc.
Chad Ford likes KP; he always has. I think Bill Simmons respects him. They don't have inside knowledge of what goes on in Seattle or Larry Miller's office. As such, they comment on what they know. And from that angle, it looks like three months of humiliating Pritchard then the coup de grace on the GM's biggest day of the year. Regardless of who gets the credit for building us up from 2005-06, the personnel team of the Blazers appeared to be successful. So the act of neutering and then publicly executing Pritchard seems from the outside to be an unnecessary and self-inflicted wound.
I think this is exactly right. But given how crazy this looks from the outside, I have to wonder why Ford, who I respect as a sports journalist (Simmons, not so much), isn't at least curious enough to want to dig a bit deeper before letting loose on Paul Allen with both barrels. While I liked KP, I'm beginning to wonder if my perceptions of him really squared with reality. How much credit did he personally deserve for the good moves that were made? How many opportunities did he miss out on? What were the in-house intrigues and personality conflicts that may have doomed him? While those questions are intriguing, the fact is it's doubtful we're ever going to know what instigated KP's fall from grace. About all we can do is move on with the hope that a new GM will be brought in who can continue to build on the good foundation that's been laid. I don't intend to spend any time worrying about what Chad Ford, Bill Simmons or others like them have to say until somebody can produce something more substantive than an outsider's ruminations on KP's dismissal.
By all accounts Miller's story is true. It seems to jive with what others have been saying and has not been disputed. Patterson's story also appears to be mostly accurate, and nobody within the Blazers organization or KP's camp has disputed anything. Brian Berger's theory of KP's demise also appears to hold up. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together here, it's plain as day. Simmons and Ford have NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT! They're just talking out of their ass. Who's their source? Were they actually there? Who are these yahoos? Are they even in Portland? I think it's real interesting that nobody from KP's camp has disputed any of the claims against him. Of course, this is just because he's such an outstanding person who's simply taking the high road, right?
If Miller's version of the story is true, then he should be fired immediately. Forrest Gump had more knowledge of the operations of Bubba Gump Shrimp than did Larry Miller of the Blazers. Strolling in on draft at at lunch time and then finding out his GM was fired from a security guard?
I found Brian Smith's interview on the fan very insightful. He said what many here are suspecting, there is no black and white on this issue (with regards to who was in the wrong). This was one big grey issue that developed not over months but a over a year. he explained that things changed ever since Penn was brought in. The way Penn was fired and the slow demise of KP seems to fit Smith's position.
They are their own source. They are relaying their own personal interactions with Pritchard. Do you have a problem with first-hand accounts? Do you think that they are lying? Simmons is a columnist. Ford is someone with deep connections in the NBA. Are Paul Allen or the Vulcans even in Portland?
