Blazers want to bring Pritchard back now?

Well to those that think that KP and or Patterson is responsible as the "genius" behind the 06 draft; here is a few links for you:

http://www.blazersedge.com/2007/10/17/45243/376

 

For our purposes, it means it didn't happen. Prove it.

 

Would he kick Wesley Matthews out of his Lake-O house?

 

whatever, i dont think it really matters who it is, we are full of win

 

While he would have been overpaid, I don't think Hedo in Portland would have been nearly as disastorous as Hedo in Toronto. Other than Bryan Colangelo's infatuation with soft, jump shooting Europeans who don't play defense, I never did understand why he swooped in and snatched Hedo from the Blazers. Hedo made no sense at all in Toronto. He was totally redundant. They just added more of what the already had (soft, perimeter oriented, no defense, jump shooter) to a roster full of the same.

Hedo was at his best when paired with a dominant low post player. He posted the best stats of his career playing with Dwight Howard in Orlando (the first time). The two of them were great at running the side pick and roll. They milked that all the way to the NBA finals just a couple weeks before Pritchard tried to sign Hedo. And, I'm sure visions of Hedo running the same side pick and roll with Greg Oden figured heavily into Pritchard's hot pursuit of Hedo. Keep in mind, the Blazers had just won 54 games with one of the youngest teams in NBA history and were looking to add a veteran roll player to help take them to the next step - advancing in the play-offs, and Hedo had just helped the Magic advance all the way to the finals. He seemed like a good fit for what the Blazers were looking for at that time, and they were prepared to overpay to get him. Fortunately, Toronto, who had missed the playoffs and needed much more than a veteran roll player to help them contend, was inexplicably willing to overpay him even more - thanks goodness. And while his PER was still low, Hedo's WS/48 in Orlando last season was exactly the same (0.143) as it was the same year he posted his career best 17.8 PER in Orlando.

Of course, I'm thrilled that we have Gerald Wallace and would take him any day of the week over Hedo, but even with Oden injured, I'm not sure Hedo would be a poor fit in Portland. Even though his PER was down last season, he shot 0.410 from 3-point range. With Oden out, his most lilely roll in Nate's offense would be to stand ot the 3-point line and jack-up jumpers as the shot clock expires - a roll he's well suited to.

Again, I'm not trying to say I WANT Hedo, or that he's better than who we ended up with (Gerald Wallace). I'm just pointing out that Hedo may not have been the same total failure in Portland that he was in Toronto. It's all about fit. Hedo was a horrible fit in Toronto. Toronto didn't have a dominant low post player for Hedo to feed. In fact, their starting center is just a taller, worse passing version of Hedo. Hedo + Bargnani = totally redundant = total failure. Hedo + Greg Oden = interesting inside/outside combo running side pick and roll, or Hedo + LaMarcus in Beast Mode (or Brandon Roy pre-injury) = lots of wide open 3-pointers for Hedo. While the latter two may not be perfect, they are a LOT better than Hedo in Toronto or Hedo in Phoenix (playing next to 3-pont specialist Channing Frye).

BNM

 

Why? You are 100% correct. If someone can't prove they know someone or heard something, there is no way it is true. I'm not married, I have no children, I don't work, I have nothing because I can't prove it to PapaG and the other forum police. This isn't evem me typing....I mean I can't prove it, so there is no way it can be me. It must be my secretary. Wait, do I even have a secretary? I wonder who has my dogs? No way I could own any because I can't prove that to you.

 

Sadly for you there is no way to prove that, so it never would have happened that way.

 

JohnCanzanoBFT John Canzano
Could the "talk" with Kevin Pritchard be about his return? I have other ideas. 750-AM at 3 pm
23 minutes ago


wonder what hes thinkin..

 

What talk?

 

Pritchard supposedly targeted four players in that off-season, Turkoglu, Millsap, David Lee and Miller. Only one of them, Turkoglu, would probably have been a mistake. Miller has been great for Portland and Millsap and Lee were both very good young front court players and have continued to be valuable front court players.

Building on Boob-No-More's thoughts, Turkoglu was overrated that off-season because he was a "fit" player. He had some really valuable abilities, but he needed the right roster to exploit them. On a roster with no one for Turkoglu to set up and play off of, he was a disaster. If Pritchard's thinking was that Turkoglu would help Oden develop offensively, it was very solid thinking. Oden's inability to stay in the lineup would have made a mess of that plan, but Aldridge's subsequent emergence would have once again provided Turkoglu the ability to do what he does best.

Mind you, I'm not saying I was a fan of the offer to Turkoglu, then or now. Even then, I would rather have had Miller. But it appears Pritchard was looking for one of two things: more front court help or a high-level playmaker who could help Oden (and maybe Aldridge) flourish offensively. I really can't fault either desire. And, again, three of the players he targeted were pretty clearly valuable even without "fit" justifications.

 

If only I had a link!

BNM

 

It's time to reboot the cake. Bring the Preacher back.

 

It's all the proof you need. If it's on the internet, it must be true.

 

Exactly. I questioned Colangelo's motivation for the Hedo signing at the time. I think it was a desperation move in hope Hedo would help the Raptors make the play-offs and that would be enough to convince Bosh that the franchise was committed to winning and lure him into resigning with the Raptors. Ironically, signing Hedo, and giving up Shawn Marion in the sign and trade, probably insured Toronto would not make the playoffs and Bosh would bolt as an unrrestriced free agent. I don't know what Colangelo was thinking. Chris Bosh is no Dwight Howard. Bosh is a face-up jump shooter (just like Channing Frye in Phoenix) and a horrible fit next to Hedo (as was Bargnani). There was absolutely no one in Toronto for Hedo to feed in the low post and no one to cause the defense to pack the paint and leave Hedo wide open at the 3-point line. For the life of me, I can't understand how Bryan Colangelo still has a GM job in Toronto. He spent a ton of money, his team plays in a very weak division in a very weak conference and they couldn't even make the playoffs Bosh's last two seasons there.

BNM

 

Actually you're correct. Millsap was their 2nd choice after the Turkoglu deal fell through. Obviously my memory ain't what it used to be!

 

They can't hate Pritchard too much if they kept his lieutenants on and keep having them run things every time they fire a GM.

 

IF KP comes back as our GM, hell has officially frozen over

 

Canzano on the BFT just said the meeting with KP is today in Seattle.

 

I love it.