http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/39318/tanking-is-the-tip-of-the-iceberg Lots of good stuff in the story, but I thought this section was interesting; providing a little bit of window into Cho's thinking. Whether you were pro or con on Cho as the Blazers GM, I think it makes it pretty clear that he got fired when he asked Paul Allen and Larry Miller the same question he posed to Michael Jordan.
The Blazers have it right. Make the playoffs and get shit canned int he first round every year so you are just good enough to draft guys like Babbitt each year
Oh please. San antonio seemed to rebuild on the fly by picking great players late. Sure they had duncan, we have aldridge (obviously not as good, but still an all star). How has that thunder model worked for the warriors, clippers (until now) and kings? It has more to do with your scouts, gm etc.
Yes, but with a good scouting team you will be better with the 5th pick rather than the 15th pick. Aldridge is an All Star, but not even in the same class as Duncan in his prime.
Let's be honest here. Had Seattle won the lottery, Sam Presti wouldn't be viewed as a 'genius' after picking Oden, and the Blazers would be title contenders with LMA and Durant, along with Chris Paul or Deron Williams, or whoever decided to come get a title in Portland.
Sure Durant was a bit of a stroke of luck, but it's all the follow-up moves that separate Presti and guys like Buford from everybody else. He hit on Harden, Westbrook, Ibaka and got some very good value free agents like Sefalosha, and made a series of very shrewd value based trades getting Maynor from Utah and Perkins from Boston. The only thing he might wish he had to do over is not voiding the Chandler deal and maybe a few other moves like drafting Aldrich, etc. The lesson here for the Blazers is that it's going to take not just getting one big hit in the lottery this year, but a sequence of positive moves to get back to being competitive ... in other words installing decision makers with some savvy and vision.
@PapaG well.. anybody, and I mean anybody (like off the streets anybody)... I am 99%+ sure.. would of picked the other from the Oden/Durant question... you did not have to be an employed GM to do it but I understand what you mean..
Who in this draft is going to help rebuild the BobCats? There is no Durrant. Davis is a excellent piece but no where close to helping turn a team around. They better hope there is one next year (if they are lucky enough to get the top pick) I see it taking much longer than OKC.
I don't think anyone thought Westbrook would be all nba 2nd team when he was drafted. Just let it play out. For the record, I think Davis is a franchise player.
The more I see of Anthony Davis, the more I see a potential NBA superstar. He has handles and hops. Conversely, the more I see of Thomas Robinson, the more I see Corliss Williamson. Dude should be a TE in the NFL.
Yeah, Westbrook was a complete shock compared to who was drafted, and where he is now, but remember before that draft when he was shooting up the draft boards after some workouts. You have to wonder about how shitty of a coach Ben Howland really is, though. He should have let those UCLA teams play ball instead of the slow-it-down BS that always stagnated in the Final Four.
I have seen it play out. With the Clippers. I see a lot of similarities with their ownership and GM. That strategy is fine, but it's far from fool proof.
Good lord, Cho lucks out with getting the #2 pick instead of the #1 pick and years later Cho is golden GM and KP is out. If those ping pong balls turned out that Seattle got the first pick and Ptd the 2nd pick, KP would be the golden child and no one woulod be listening to Cho. Looking forward to see what Cho can do with the Bobcats. Meanwhile I don't see many teams in the West following Cho's stategy. I wish Utah, Phx, Denver and the likes who will lose in the first round would tank so Blazers could get in, but looks like teams are playing with the idea of winning.
The draft. Sonics get Oden instead of Durant. Where is that team now after enduring that 5 year period of tear-down and miserable tanking?
You might be right, but I think Davis is going to be a total monster Then again I also remember some people talking about how skinny Durant was and how he might struggle to take the pounding of the NBA and wouldn't be able to play D ...
With Ibaka, Harden, Westbrook and whomever else? They're still a damn good team ... who knows, maybe Oden never buys "Dance, Dance, Revolution" if he lives in OKC?
