Merged: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

There is a member of the Nuggets coaching staff with whom I'm friendly. That person refers to Warkentien as a "prick".

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

LMA is a solid second option and when Roy was out, he led us in scoring. People take him for granted. All Star? No. Solid second option for us? Yes.

 

Up to a point, I can understand Warkentien's bitterness. By all accounts, he was a valuable employee for the Blazers, but he just couldn't stomach working for John Nash. If he had hung in for another year, or if the Blazers had gotten off their duffs and fired Nash a year earlier, Warkentien would likely be the Blazer GM right now.

Instead, his former subordinate just falls into the job, and becomes a hero to the fans. The problem is, he is directing his wrath at KP, not the people who screwed him over.

 

Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with the people at Vulcan? I've dealt with their RE group and they're idiots. It seems the folks on the sports side are no better. Whether or not all the shit said about Pritchard is true (and I don't believe it is), this is a clusterfuck of the first order. The timing, the lack of control over the message, the words coming from management and the awkward "press conference", everything.

Way to prepare a team for the playoffs, gang. Great fucking job.

 

And Wark is the anti-Pritchard. Like Trader Bob, he's no chemistry major. Working for the Thuggets by most accounts isn't much fun. As for the players he covets, I've rooted for enough d-bags wearing the Scarlet & Black. Just say no to Whitsitt, Jr.

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

Well...because if they assumed the worst, that there will be some ridiculously restrictive salary cap, then they wouldn't have any talent at all.

 

What's most disturbing in all this is how Larry Miller tried as hard as he could to NOT back KP.

 

Exactly. What did KP do to him? Did he tell him that he didn't like 70s retread soul bands for opening night?

 

For every WarkenWoj dish on KP, you have another anonymous source vouching for him: http://www.beyondthebeat.net/20100323452/2010-articles/march/source-stop-qhatingq-on-pritchard.html

More @ link.

 

why is KP on the chopping block? I am so confused. I thought the presser was about TP, not KP?

And why is there this speculation about moving the team to seattle?

can someone help a dude out ?

gracias.

 

This reminds me a little bit of a situation with the Cleveland Indians a few years back. Their manger Charlie Manuel got some information the GM wasn't happy with his work. So he went to the gm and asked if he was gonna be fired. And the GM said "No, but we are going to interview candidates (including Manuel) at the end of the season". And so Manuel quit because he didn't want to work for someone who didn't have confidence in him. Of course he went on to manage the Phillies to two world series appearances. I almost wish Pritchard would do that because I really think he has been done wrong.

Here's some opinion from Dave at Blazer's Edge and I agree:

The most head-slapping, incredulity-evoking example came from Larry Miller when he said:

"I'm as surprised as you guys are that all this stuff came out of [the Penn firing]."

Let me offer a simple quote in response: What?!?

* You whack a guy publicly and dramatically
* You know his agent is a rabble-rouser
* You know his agent is your GM's agent
* You know your team has had turmoil internally that is both festering and heretofore unknown to the public (and thus bombshell material)
* You spent years in an adversarial and invasive relationship with the media

Yet you're surprised that anyone's bothering to ask about the huge fireworks display all of this is creating? If you dress up in green and crimson, walk into a circular ring in Mexico, and start waving a cape it probably shouldn't surprise you that some kind of cattle charge ensues. How could you not talk about all of this before you fired Tom Penn?

In order to be surprised by all of this you have to be woefully unaware of your environment: media, fans, even your own organization. And see, this is the part that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The Blazers are no stranger to being disconnected from their environment. It already brought the franchise and this city to the brink of divorce once. It certainly brought this franchise and the media to blows. We all assumed that we had a fresh start once the Jailblazer era was over. But the roots of that era didn't rest with the players or their actions. The deepest roots rested within the organization itself...precisely the kind of disconnect that this chain of events hearkens to. This has nothing to do with the fitness of Penn or Pritchard or anyone else. It has to do with a franchise where relationships that progress normally in other places--for good or ill--become this here. It has to do with this happening in multiple eras, across multiple executives, in multiple situations. It has to do with a franchise that cannot get out of its own way enough to let its followers love it.

http://www.blazersedge.com/

 

Loved the article by Quick this morning, knocking both Woj and Wark. Fuck them both. And Fuck Vulcan if they listen to the two of them.

 

Considering the state of the economy, the expiring CBA and where things project, Portland absolutely paid full price/top dollar for the honor of extending Roy and LA. Management's actions were as if they had zero leverage when in fact they had quite a bit. If they'd allowed them to play out another year and become RFA's they could have matched any offer that they might have received from another club... and any offer from another club would have been less then what they got + the two players wouldn't have the extra security. All management really risked by doing so was catching flack from a bunch of Blazer fans for a year.

That they overpaid was pretty obvious to many of us here... Ed was hardly alone in noting this at the time those deals were signed. What made me especially uncomfortable was that this would leave less dollars available under the lux tax line for resigning Greg, Batum, Bayless, Rudy, etc... I didn't feel that BR & LA's talents were so great that they could drag just anyone to championships. I can recall Ed saying similar things when Zach and Theo were extended against a tide of cheers from the board... I was with him then too

Hanging one's hopes that current deals are going to be voided is pie in the sky nonsense.

STOMP

 

Well said.

It's insane that this kind of distraction is coming up now, just when the team is fighting for playoff position. I mean jesus, there are 10 other months of the year they could be doing this shit...

Every player on the Blazers' team owes their employment in Portland directly to a Pritchard decision. I want our team to be thinking about the next game and the playoffs, not whether their boss is getting fired. This kind of crap shouldn't impact on-court play, but why the hell is management even risking it?

Man, if Pritchard is indeed dumped, I want to see the guy who fires him come up with a better replacement. Because I look around the NBA and I don't see a lot of better prospects out there.

 

Although I dont always agree with KP....

The guy NEEDS to stay. What the hell is wrong with these people making decisions

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

Aldridge averaged 20/10 on >50% shooting when Roy was out. If anything, Andre Miller needs to shoot less and get Aldridge the ball more often. It's hard for me to bitch about Aldridge when his PG is taking more shots than he gets in many games.

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

Thats an Aldridge (maybe nate) problem not a Miller problem

 

I never "hanged my hopes" that the current deals would be voided. I merely pointed out that the latest that I've read says that the owners will want current deals to be voided after the CBA expires.

So ... you basically wasted your time writing that nonsense to me. I don't think the Blazers overpaid for Roy. You do. Oh well.

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

How is not get enough touches Aldridge's fault?

 

Re: 2pm KP and Larry Miller Press Conference

Because he disapears in the 4th quarter, and he is a choker. He gets plenty of touches in the first quarter. why? because he is assertive in the 1st, and makes shots in the first.

He gets lost as the game goes on and his rep as a choker is well deserved