Zombie Fire Olshey

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by Fez Hammersticks, Dec 26, 2016.

  1. SlyPokerCat

    SlyPokerCat cats rool dogs drool

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    And it still is unprofessional. And can make those guys get labeled as a malcontent which makes them potentially less likely to get future opportunities.

    A reporter can be sued for misrepresenting things unless they revoke or adjust their story.
     
  2. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    Neil is from Queens NY....don't know if you have had many friends from New York but let's just say, Many New Yorkers are aggressive and swear. I doubt he'll sweat a bead even if he gets canned....he'll land on his feet selling shoes somewhere
     
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  3. tester551

    tester551 Well-Known Member

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    I'm praying for that!:blessed:
     
  4. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Sure, and if a lawyer from New York went into a court room and swore at the judge, they'd face consequences. It doesn't matter where you grew up, some jobs have professional decorum that you can't breach (without repercussions). "Where you're from" doesn't change that decorum.
     
  5. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    of course but that was not my point and courtrooms aren't sports locker rooms or press meetings....all along I've said he'll probably get fired ....my New Yorker stereotype was to say he's got a lot in common with Stephen A Smith also a New Yorker....and like my roommate in the navy from Queens...let's say a lot of professional jobs have less than polite dialogue behind the scenes...same as the military or the fire dept.....some guys are wired that way..doesn't make them right but it's not unusual. Not everybody in a suit follows the corporate decorum even in the highest positions of power. Being loud doesn't make you right but it can cost you a job or get you elected president
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2021
  6. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Agreed, and (potentially) getting fired is the repercussions. I just don't understand what the "from New York" has to do with this particular conversation. There are probably a lot of reasons for why he is the way he is--not everyone from New York is a jerk or casually curses other people out. But the why's aren't too relevant. In my opinion, at least.
     
  7. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    The "from New York" is my stereotype ....he sounds just like my roommate from Queens or my drummer back in the day from Brooklyn.....it's like knowing yoga instructors from Santa Barbara that speak in hot tub lingo.......it comes with the territory but it is a stereotype...I'll own that for the third time here .....people have bashed Olshey's press conferences...he's not west coast in his verbage at all...he's brash, has a short fuse and seems impatient. ....since everyone talks about it, I weigh in that he's an urban New Yorker who grew up an irish jock who didn't make it in hoops and played Lacross instead....he's an easy read from me but I'm going off 10 years of pure speculation...I don't know shit about him behind the scenes
     
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  8. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    All true. He’s all New York. It shouldn’t be an excuse and it really isn’t, but he’s what you think of when someone uses that excuse. In person he’s friendly and funny and an open book. But direct and no nonsense. I have a little bit of a hard time believing he goes around and is a dick all day. Just don’t see it. What I could see is someone was supposed to do something and he has no patience and says what the fuck get it done etc. He probably runs things like someone would in the 80’s and would be normal.
     
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  9. Natebishop3

    Natebishop3 Don't tread on me!

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    He hasn’t done anything to earn this kind of ego. If you look at the entire breadth and width of his time here, the guy has made some monumental mistakes. He hasn’t earned the right to call out anyone.
     
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  10. calvin natt

    calvin natt Confeve

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    Sure but let’s be realistic. He had an ego before coming here. Then he’s hired as a GM and given Millions. Of course a good person should handle that with humility and class. And in real life he’s completely fine. Within the walls of Blazer offices who knows, but he probably has a style that bothers people. Abusive? I don’t know. Not fun to be around? Likely.
     
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  11. beast crnjo

    beast crnjo Well-Known Member

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    What are you, a mailman?
     
  12. beast crnjo

    beast crnjo Well-Known Member

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    We should hire geoff petrie
     
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  13. SlyPokerCat

    SlyPokerCat cats rool dogs drool

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    I'm a cat.
     
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  14. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    He’s being a meanie? Lol
     
  15. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    West coast behavior:
    “Hey friend “A”. thats a nice looking new coat you have!”
    Whispers to other friend “B”, “ hey did you see that hideous thing friend “A”is wearing?”

    East Coast behavior:
    “Hey friend, what the F Are you wearing that hideous thing for? You didn't pay for that did you?”



    Cant stand west coast behavior….
     
  16. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    Yeah, in general, you seem to hate Oregon. Is it just the Blazers keeping you in the state? ;)
     
  17. Orion Bailey

    Orion Bailey Forum Troll

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    I love oregon, i also understand im not the only one that lives in oregon. But really it is all Bout politics. Not the love or beauty.
    How often are you sayin, you know im not going to go check out st helens cause its not in Oregon…

    the border doesn't dictate Americans travel/site seeing trips.

    So the only real issue to me, should be the political/voting ramifications.

    population has grown out west but the borders have remained the same. I see no real issue, again, other than potential political ramifications that would need to be assessed, to see eastern Oregon, some of Washington etc, form a state based on their geographical location. Its a different style of living and not everything that works for the metro works for them. Totally fine with splitting more aNd letting each handle their own more. So they can make decisions based on their needs.
     
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  18. Fairly-Hard

    Fairly-Hard Former Member Gone New!

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    So you've been called a number of variations of "cat"?
     
  19. Scalma

    Scalma Well-Known Member

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    https://theathletic.com/2939632/202...and-as-trail-blazers-investigate-his-conduct/

    Everybody around the Trail Blazers knows Neil Olshey has a terrible temper. Everybody. Including Olshey himself.

    The Portland general manager in 2012 didn’t hire a coach for fear he would clash with his own temper. And after a public outburst at referees in 2017, the Trail Blazers’ top executive couldn’t trust himself to watch a game courtside because of his temper.

    Today, Olshey is at the center of an investigation into the workplace environment at the team’s practice facility. The team hired the law firm O’Melveny & Myers to review concerns that were raised recently by non-player personnel. It is unclear who, and what, sparked this investigation. But to understand the undercurrents of life inside the Blazers, you have to consider Olshey’s temper.

    Olshey swears a lot. He rants often. And he has little patience for incompetence. Catch him at the wrong time and all three of these traits can manifest into a red-faced, vein-popping tornado of anger. For the past 10 years, the norm around the Trail Blazers has been to check the Olshey weather forecast: Bad mood? Best to steer clear of the storm.

    “He will talk to you however he wants and treat you however he wants. People literally avoid walking his way in the office,” a former employee said.

    In a world where it seems everybody is accused of being an a–hole at one point or another, Olshey is widely regarded as a full-time a–hole. His New York confidence, Los Angeles arrogance and underdog mentality combines to form a mostly volatile, on-edge personality.

    Sure, he can be charming, and funny, and caring. But if you know him, you also knew his temper could erase those traits like a wave over sand. His temper is his weakness. And he knows it.

    When he was hired to run the Trail Blazers’ basketball operations in 2012, one of his first tasks was hiring a head coach. Unable to convince Jerry Sloan to come out of retirement, Olshey turned his attention to other candidates, and one, in particular, stood out: Michael Malone.

    But as much as Olshey loved Malone’s basketball mind, and his leadership qualities, there was a catch: Malone was a firecracker, unafraid of confrontation or of speaking his mind. Just like Olshey.

    “I loved Michael,” Olshey once said. “But there was no way two hot-headed Irish Catholics from New York like us could work together. We would kill each other.”

    Malone would eventually land with Sacramento, and later Denver, and Olshey would go on to hire Terry Stotts. For nine years, Olshey and Stotts became the Odd Couple. Stotts was a calm and non-confrontational man who emphasized treating people with respect, balancing Olshey’s direct and sometimes abrasive approach. Olshey’s tact was a plus when it involved tough conversations like convincing Carmelo Anthony to take a bench role or negotiating a contract with an agent.

    But often, Olshey’s tact left scars.

    We still don’t know what incident prompted this investigation. But we do know he has a history of outbursts.

    In 2017, at a home game against Washington, Olshey stormed the court and went after referees in a profanity-laced tirade after they missed Markieff Morrisstepping out of bounds on his way to making a game-winning baseline jumper. Since that game, Olshey has tried to hide his temper by watching the majority of games on television from his office underneath the arena bowl.

    And he has been combative in enough press conferences that it hardly registers these days when his ire is raised.

    Keep in mind that there are a legion of Blazers employees who swear by him. One longtime employee who has connections to the Blazers’ 1977 championship season reveres Olshey, comparing him to former NBA commissioner David Stern: firm, fair, demanding and exceedingly smart. Other longtime staffers who have been around before Olshey’s arrival say the culture and feeling of being part of a team have never been stronger. Coach Chauncey Billups, who has known Olshey for more than 10 years, said he has never experienced or heard of misconduct by Olshey.

    On the court, we can debate until the cherry blossoms return how successful Olshey has been as the decision-maker. He would argue his success by pointing to eight consecutive playoff appearances (the longest active streak in the NBA) and in 2019, the franchise’s first Western Conference finals appearance in 19 seasons. His detractors will point to draft busts in Zach Collins, Meyers Leonardand Caleb Swanigan, and his testing the patience of Lillard, the franchise’s greatest player (whom he also drafted) by failing to construct a serious contender.

    One thing that can’t be debated: When Olshey has constructed the roster over 10 years, he valued character, bringing in players who have been respectful, if not exceptional, members of the community.

    I’m not sure anybody in the Portland media felt Olshey’s ire more often, and more harshly, than myself. We went at each other. And boy, did he give it to me sometimes. I’ve been so angry after conversations with him that my eyes have watered. For long stretches throughout seasons, we couldn’t even bear to make eye contact. We could be the only two people in a hall and we would pass without saying a word.

    But in the past year or two, we’ve talked more than ever. And I’ve seen a different side of him.

    He is a dedicated walker, and he loves to talk on the phone as he strides through the streets of Tualatin near the practice facility. Sometimes my calls would happen to catch him during these walks, and we would talk for upwards of an hour.

    In these talks, I’ve learned that on the last Sunday of every month he joins his church, Our Lady of the Lake Parish, and helps feed the homeless. I’ve wanted to write about it, but he didn’t want it made public. And for as much as he spent his early years in Portland complaining about the rain and the lack of valet parking, he now laughs at himself being a regular on the deck at Duke’s, enjoying wings and a beer, followed by a trip to Salt & Straw. He, his wife and two sons have grown to love the area.

    But as he has grown more comfortable in his everyday surroundings, he has become more sensitive to the growing criticism of his work. He would never admit it, but he’s been stung by the outside criticism. I know, because I’ve heard him rant and rave about an opinion of a random Twitter account with 860 followers. And I’ve listened to him lament how he was to blame for the moderator of Chauncey Billups’ introductory press conference inexcusably shutting down a question, simply because he happened to drink from his bottled water at the time it was asked.

    This is not to try and paint Olshey as a saint, or as a sympathetic figure. He has done enough on his own to create his enemies. It’s to show that as much as he has eased into his life here, and as much success as he has experienced, he has never been able to enjoy it. He’s never been able to lose that edge, that temper.

    Olshey considers himself a fighter, an underdog who scrapped and clawed his way to becoming one of the longest-tenured executives in the NBA. In college, he was a standout lacrosse player at Le Moyne and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. After graduating, he returned to New York City and became a soap opera actor, appearing in “One Life to Live,” “All My Children” and “Loving.” He later moved to Los Angeles and pursued his love, basketball, becoming a workout specialist for basketball prospects entering the NBA Draft. Eventually, he earned his way onto Mike Dunleavy’s bench as an assistant with the LA Clippers. Ultimately, he became the Clippers’ general manager.

    “There is no one more competitive than me because I love basketball and wasn’t good enough, so I have to find another avenue to compete in the game I love,” Olshey said in September. “And this is the avenue I’ve taken.”

    It’s an avenue in Portland, however, that is threatening to end.
     
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  20. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    Hey Neil!

    [​IMG]
     
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