Ben, If you had to eat sushi off the naked body of one African American on the Portland Trailblazers, who would it be and would you thank LaMarcus afterwards? Sincerely, HCP
Here ya be, guys and dolls............ Resistance is waning. Internet media folks are increasingly becoming commonplace compared to when I started in 2007. Most of the well-respected national guys are online now. One issue that causes tension is size of media contingent in locker rooms making individual interviews (1-on-1s) more difficult. Lots more media -- all types -- now than five years ago! Thanks. Nah, I'm currently very happy with SI. It's a dream job. Kahn was an attorney and Hollinger has incredibly unique basketball knowledge/skills, and very focused on transactions/salaries/player skillsets. They are entirely the exceptions to the rule because they entered so high on the totem pole (not as lower-level scouts, etc). We call both "sportswriters" but Kahn was also a "lawyer/businessman" and Hollinger might also be called a "statistician." I have been told Kahn has been invited to many Comcast shows, but has declined the invitations. It's generally the rule that, once a GM-type parts ways with a given organization, silence is golden and agents often encourage their executives to keep a low-profile. Kahn did offer a number of his views when "debriefed" in a Star-Tribune piece following him parting ways with the T-Wolves. Rich Cho declined all interviews after he was fired by Blazers. Also, Kevin Pritchard was similarly quiet after he was fired by the Blazers for quite a long time. I was told that he was offered an opportunity to somehow do work with ESPN but declined. No better than 50%. However, a 90% chance he plays the entire 2013/2014 with the Blazers. As long as Blazers are competitive no reason to trade him. Only if something catastrophic happens (i.e. Batum going down with a season-ending injury), and the Blazers take a nose-dive, then chances would increase Aldridge is traded at the deadline. Otherwise, best bet is trade comes next summer. Leverage shifts at that point towards the player and organizations understand that. We've seen it time and time again in the last few years. Notable: Aldridge has seen a crazy high number of GMs as a Blazer. John Nash was shown the door right before 2006 draft and then... Patterson, Leiweke (interim), Pritchard, Cho, Buchanan, Olshey. You could also throw Miller into that mix too. Nobody currently in the organization has felt the management turnover like Aldridge (Except maybe Buchanan, but in a different way obviously). On the Aldridge perceived negativity. Go back and view the exit interview. Aldridge's comments about 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons are very clear. Downplayed expectations for next season, something stars rarely do. Those comments came after frustrating end to season where he did detach at times. Olshey and Aldridge manage to get along, no love affairs there. It's clear who is the organization's priority now (Lillard over Aldridge). Additionally, multiple reports indicate Aldridge's thinking to various degrees after the chatter picked up early this summer. At Blazersedge, we've been diligent about tracking every single Aldridge-related on-the-record quote from Aldridge, Olshey and Stotts. No one else can say that. That is the fairest thing we can do for any player. He should be able to display that this season in an enlarged role. One statistical forecast shows him to be a potential 15/11 guy. By default, double-digits rebounding numbers are usually considered in the elite status. He has the potential of becoming an MIP candidate, although that might be unlikely to happen as the Jazz won't be good enough to provide the foundation for that honor.
Just him and I. He was kind enough to buy lunch. I insisted on doing the tipping, but he would have none of that, either. He really is a class guy. Some in here give him no credit at all. But, whatever.
I wasn't trying to sound like a jerk there ABM, I'm just saying when you hear people blast people you are cool with, it's tough.
HCP cares my a$$! Good stuff ABM. While I don't always agree with Golliver, namely his approach to the Blazers, I can respect his life path, recent success, and passion for the game.
