http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2008/12/jason_quick_chat_starring_bran.html Quick recap: Pritchard wants to see what we have with Webster and just give this team more time. Portland is not actively trying to trade right now. All the talk is generated by other teams who want our players. Really doesn't believe there will be a trade. Has no idea why people are always talking about trades all the time. We need to chill the fuck out Blazer fans. Enjoy what we have. (That's good advice) A big difference between this years team and last years team, is they're pulling out ugly wins on the road, which shows pose. A big portion of that is due to Roy, who is no longer just an all-star, he is becoming an elite player. The other player Quick has been around with the same commanding aura as Roy, was Pippen. But Pippen's greatness was vastly wasted due to the other players in the locker room not really listening. Nate and Roy are working on not letting complacency settle in, or be content with their current record. Roy keeps it very real, he's the same with the cameras on/off. Doesn't know of any other Blazer he's been around, who has the respect of his teammates, to a man, as much as Roy. Thinks right now, you have to have Roy at least in the discussion for MVP. Says Joel and Roy play through more injuries than anyone on the team. Joel is in best shape (core strength) of his career. Joel has more confidence that he won't be broken down by injury and is more aggressive offensively. He is the guts of this team. Rudy has some back issues, ice being applied after practice. But he should be able to play he thinks. Doesn't look like Webster will be back on this trip. Looks fine, but are going to be patient till he gets his wind back. Expects him to play next week. Don't know if he'll start or come off bench. Outlaw will probably see more time at the 4. Frye probably the odd man out. Frye has a great attitude about it though, he understands the situation. He's being a pro. Greatest strength is depth. Can hurt teams in a lot of ways. Blake quietly killing it this year, doesn't understand why fans are always banging on him. Thinks only Roy would make allstar team right now. But he does praise Aldridge, he's tearing it up lately. Thinks he's got a great blend of an inside/outside game right now. They talk about the Boston game and how we got killed last year under similar situations (we'd won 18 of 20). This is a better team, says Garnett will not get in this teams head this year. Our second unit is a lot better with Joel instead of Frye, we got killed in the middle last year. He'll also take Rudy over J. Jack and Batum's defense. The Blazers have a bit of a chip on their shoulders, don't really like the way Boston treated them last year. The theme right now with the Blazers - They're going into the game tomorrow thinking we're not going to get any calls, or breaks, Boston will push shove and talk, and they're just going to have to accept it and not let it get to them. Feel they have something to prove, but don't want to put too much into the game, like they did with their season opener in L.A. Thinks it'll be a real fun game. In Boston, Quick left practice with Nate, walking back to the hotel and they got to talking about the possibility of winning in Boston. Nate said, "You know, I think they can do it, I really do." It made Quick smile, Nate's not like that very often where he would reveal that.
I think people like to talk trades because its inevitable this team will eventually have to make a consolidation trade or else people will start to get pissed off and ruin team chemistry
I talk trades b/c Pritchard told me there would either be a trade at the deadline or we'd target a free agent. Now that there's smokescreening, I'm not as worried. BTW: If you believe every word the media reports about KP, then what happened to Ford/Stein/Whoever on ESPN who propmpted the "KP is getting aggressive with Raef's contract" thread this week? Did a writer just pull that out of his hat?
Hey, LaMarcus told my kid at the fan fest that this is going to be a good year. You heard it here first!
I hope that's not directed at me, don't shoot the messenger. I just thought it was good advice to enjoy what we have going as opposed to criticizing every player who has a couple bad games, I'm not trying to outlaw trade discussions.
Nah, noknobs, no malice intended. Just answering the question (and the bolded "you" was the plural...I should go back to using "y'all". ) It was in relation to the editorial "That's good advice". I tend to think it's odd that people will use KP interviews to the media as proof of what's going on inside the War Room. Do you think KP's going to come out and say "we're deciding if Conley's going to be enough for Travis, or if they need to swap picks with us"? Not saying I'm an insider by any means, but that's why I think a trade is more likely than not. But to each his own.
to each their own indeed You concluding that KP answering "no" to a direct question of whether a trade is going down as an indication that it will doesn't follow for me. If he were to answer the same question "yes it is" would you think it would mean that this hypothetical trade isn't going to happen? STOMP
I see what you're trying to do, and it won't work... I think that there's a difference in what KP says to the media, and what he has in his plans/actions. He's not going to confirm a deal unless it's done. That's just being a better-than-mediocre GM. The day before the Oden draft on PTI he didn't (to my recollection) say that he was definitely taking Oden--he left it open until Draft Night. But what has he said (not to the media)? That Raef's contract is the probably the biggest trade chip in the league this year. He's said that players who don't buy into our team culture are going to be gone, at whatever the cost. (I'm not saying anyone fits that right now, btw) There is absolutely no reason for him to tip his hand to anyone in the media, whether it's a beat writer, a radio show, a blog post, etc. He just won't. That doesn't mean we have to stick our head in the sand and say "no trades!" because KP's spoken the company line until he has confirmation the deal's going through. Here's a "for example" anecdote (and I'm repeating what I heard from his mouth, but I don't know if it's true). Before the draft, KP was asked about trade scenarios, moving up, etc. His response to the radio guys was something to the effect of "the first part of the lottery's in flux--it's hard to know what options there are when you don't know how the dominos fall" or something like that. At the M&G he said that on the morning of the draft, he was 99% sure of the top 15 picks, and had them in order. The man is good, and knows smokescreen and double-speak. To answer your question about "if he answered yes", how many times have Stephen A., Bucher, Stein, etc. said that "a source confirms they're close" to completing a trade and it doesn't happen?
OK... I'll play nothing you stated really correlates to your original contention (that his recent speak indicates a TO trade for Conley is eminent). Name the sig bet... you're wrong STOMP
I have never proclaimed that a deal of Conley for TO was imminent. Or eminent. Why would you put that on me? My whole point of posting in this thread is that I disagree with those who think that b/c KP said "enjoy your team" that there won't be trades. I'm not sure what a "sig bet" is. But I'm confident that there will be a trade between now and the trade deadline. I don't know if it'll involve TO, Webs, Conley, etc. I'm pretty sure it'll involve Raef. That's it.
Quick has a link to a good article on Roy. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/ian_thomsen/12/04/roy.blazers/index.html
That's not really contradicting statements. If someone takes a player he's after then he wouldn't move up. In that case the 1% happen. I think what he said is true, he's not looking for a trade, but has been listening when other GMs call. But that's just my opinion.
