Suffer in silence and shame like I did during the Whitsitt years. Especially when he trades for guys like JR Smith.
Warkentien lives in Lake Oswego so I think he'd love to be GM here. I actually think he's a good GM, but I like KP better. I'm not a fan of back-stabbers either. I thought Wark should have replaced PatterNash back in 2004 when they drafted Telfair over Big Al. I'm still pissed at that blunder.
Well, I'm no big JR Smith fan, but I don't think the team needs to be completely composed of choir boys either. Assuming KP is fired, Wark is hired to replace him, and he starts to trade for some 'troubled' guys I would hope that the core of players currently in place would be enough to exert some level of institutional control ... I'm sure I'll be suffering with you though, when/if he trades Brandon away for some knucklehead.
You know what would be awesome? We can pull off a series of upsets to win a title, and all will be forgotten. A book about this season would be in order too.
I already have no doubt that I will fall to the ground in Tears when/if the Blazers win a championship, with how much sweat, blood (sometimes literally lol) and tears, and passion and money, and time I have pumped into my passion for this team. But if they did it after the type of season this has been. Wow, I dont know what I would do.
Warkentein didn't draft Carmelo Anthony. Thus, the major building block was already in place when he arrived in Denver.
That is correct they had Carmello there before he was there. But you will also notice, the team didn't do jack dick during that time. The corner turned when Billups was procured, and that was a god damn masterful trade. He turned Andre Miller into AI, and then turned old washed up AI into Billups. Are you going to tell me Affalo wasn't a good pickup as well? How about Lawson?
The team was primarily in place when he took over. Trading Iverson for Billups was a good move. But he was also the one that traded FOR Iverson. Thinking him and Melo would mesh well. He gave up an expiring for a good PG. I don't think Kupchak should be praised as a genius for landing Gasol for expirings and young players, and this is similar, IMO. But besides that, he took over a team with a 22 year old Melo, and saw him mature, which has helped as much as anything he has done. Anderson was a good pickup, and Lawson a good draft pick. But that's a small portion of that team. Carmelo was there. Nene was there. JR Smith was there. Kenyon Martin was there. Looking at the team he inherited, and assuming similar improvements by guys like Nene and Carmelo, who have both gotten better, is the team they have now much better than that team? Andre Miller, JR Smith, Carmelo, Kenyon Martin, Nene With Kleiza, Camby, Najera, Joe Smith, Reggie Evans on the bench. Bench was very front court heavy, but smaller moves could have easily been made to rectify that problem, like the one they made bringing in Blake. That teams about as good, IMO. Assuming the same maturation and progression of Melo and Nene, which has more to do with their success.
I'm not saying that Warkentein hasn't made some good moves. I am saying that he didn't have to completely rebuild a very bad team. Pritchard did have to rebuild the worst team in the NBA. RR7's post elaborates more on what Warkentein did/didn't do in terms of building the Nuggets.
Exactly. Look at the two rosters they inherited. And with most reports I've read suggesting KP was in charge of the 2006 draft, I'll count his time as starting then. I mentioned the Denver roster above. Blake/Telfair/Jack Dixon/Martell Miles/Outlaw/Monia/Khryapa Zach Joel/Ratliff Look at the turnover in rosters between the two, and level of progression between the two. Yeah, KP has benefited greatly from Roy becomig a star. But he did select him. Wark inherited a ready made star. He made a good pickup in Billups. It was likely just as important that he get rid of AI. A Move he made. And then had to correct. I think Miller would have fit alongside Melo as well, as Melo matured and improved. Similar to how we see Miller alongside Roy, and their improvement as Roy has matured. Nene got healthy finally. So if we fire KP, and the new GM comes in and trades Rudy, Bayless, and Miller for say Devin Harris, but then Oden is fully healthy and dominant, and we win a title, should the new GM get exec of the year, and all of the credit for building the roster?
Much greater success? Had the exact same record, and IMO, they had an easier opponent in the playoffs, otherwise we could have just as easily been in the WCF last season. A tie breaker shifted our position with their position. I wouldn't say that's MUCH greater success.
while I agree that if the roles were changed. The differences for both teams would be numerous. But With how situations were and did happen. Their WCF appearance is much greather success than our 1st round loss.
I see one team being a championship contender and the other team being a first round playoff team. But I see what you are saying and if you are just comparing records, they are close. I don't think fans around the league see the teams as being equally comparable . . . but I guess it is just how you look at it.
