sort of disagree. What KP has shown us is that he's got a both a great eye for talent and the confidence in his judgement to make the bold moves necessary to acquire it. No doubt that having Paul Allen bankrolling every whimsical angle money can buy (including an extensive global scouting department) and filling other Owner's pockets with spare millions has helped facilitate matters. I'm sure there've been guys he wanted that he didn't have the means to get... but they've got a whole book on each of those guys and their eye towards the future. That Nash had those same advantages shows just how important the final judgement of the GM is. since everyone else is fessing up to their 2006 draft rankings, I had it 1.LA 2.Roy 3.Gay 4.Bargnani (based on complete hearsay/hype) 5.Not sure, but I wanted no part of Morrison and didn't think much of Thomas. AM could obviously shoot the ball, but the question was always... could he get his shot at the next level. He proved those doubts real at the combine when he measured in as a small SF who couldn't run/jump with anyone but lumbering centers. Dude had been working out like a madman tuning up for the combine/draft coming in at a rail thin 198 lbs. The spirit was willing but he was obviously not an NBA athlete. Roy and Aldridge were on the other end of the spectrum coming in taller/longer/faster then expected. Though there'd been a ton of adamant draft the stache blather going on, I was very surprised to see him go so high. I thought for sure Portland would be passing on him at #4 and he'd fall to at least the end of the lotto where someone would ride the hype for season ticket sales. The rest of the day made up for that disappointment STOMP
I like Morrison because he's a socialist. Heard from a reputable source as that being the reason Ernie Kent decided not to recruit him. Anyway, I thought he would be better than what he is turning into. I definitely saw him as a 15-18 point scorer right off the bat. Obviously, that was way off. But I will say that I was ecstatic with the drafting of Roy and Aldridge. I loved the way Roy carried his team in all facets while at UW.
He had the clean buzz cut tonight (1 inch worth), no beard, I hardly recognized him at all at first glance!
So, what exactly are your disagreeing with? Are you saying Pritchard didn't go for BPA and drafted based on positional need? That makes no sense given our highest pick in the draft was Aldridge and Zach, at the time, was by far our best player. Of course, once it was clear Aldridge was going to have success at the NBA level, it made Zach expendable, but that's the whole point of taking BPA. You can then shuffle the pieces and trade the redundant parts for other assets. BNM
I'm actually quite proud of my random draft targets of late. I wanted Toronto to trade down for Brandon Roy that year we won the lottery, and even though I'm not all that upset with having Bargnani, there's no doubt that should've been the move. The year before I was seriously pissed off that we drafted Joey Graham over Danny Granger, and that's turned out to be justified. The year before that I was praying for Devin Harris to fall to 8th, because I thought he'd be the best PG in the draft. As for Morrison, I was never much of a fan. Didn't think he'd suck this bad, but I did think he'd suck.
Yeah, good thing he decided to cut the hair and shave that scraggly "beard" and stache - otherwise in 20 years he'd look like that guy in your avatar. BNM
It cracks me up how few people here admit to wanting Morrison. I was at some Blazer event the day of that draft and the whole room wanted Morrison!
Other than Bargnani (who I never thought much of), your position and mine were eerily similar. I thought Aldridge was the runaway #1 and Gay should have been #2. I thought Brandon Roy would turn out to be Shane Battier-lite and have a decent career as an 8th man off the bench. Oops.
I was mostly on O-Live at the time, but those who were there will remember my anti-Morrison stance. I figured if I was opposed to what Gavin Dawson and John Canzano wanted, I was on pretty solid ground.
So, not only has he underachieved, he concomitantly developed a falsely inflated sense of self-worth? Exactly how much does he think his signature would be worth on E-bay? I think Kramer went for more in Elaine's bachelor auction.
His mannerisms make me think meth head... I suspect he's got more going on than just shortcomings in his game.
And that's the magic of KP. He sees the player he wants and when we're not in a position to draft them, he finds a way to trade for them. For the life of me, I can't figure out how he does it.
Getting back to AmMo, it seems to me that he's a one-trick pony, and that one trick has abandoned him. He's playing with zero confidence.
according to him a big part of his success in completing draft day deals is being on the phone a lot. Basically he asks the other teams what it will take for them to part with their pick. STOMP
Jesus, people take things seriously around here. It was just a flippant remark, I really don't care one way or another if he cried after losing in the tournament (no matter how embarrassing it was ).
Heh. You actually had a full-fledged meltdown the night of that draft. I actually rated Gay higher than Roy in that draft (my top two prior to knowing the team was moving up in the draft), but I wasn't disappointed in the draft at all and remember spending most of the night trying to calm people down on BBF. I also saw Foye as a bust, due to his size, and he isn't, so I was wrong on that one.
Probably his agent told him to... "Hey Adam, you suck, you should really consider cutting off all your hippy hair if you want to stay in the NBA."
I care. He cried before losing, with the game still winnable. That showed a lack of maturity and poise, plus being wound so tight that I figured him very likely to implode against better competition.
