Hey, it was on the Crapzano show, so it has to be good, right? "I think it's about the character of the players," Barry said. "It shouldn't matter how much money you're making. You should have great personal pride to be happy with yourself and give your best effort and be the best you can every time you step on the court. "Obviously, they misjudged the character of these individuals that if all of a sudden they're getting paid these contracts and are not going to give the effort... they screwed up." http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...y_points_to_trail_bla.html#incart_river_index You know, because the lack of money accounted for the same record at this time last year, so it's perfectly logical to point to it being the new contracts that are causing the problems this year.
Lots of people on this forum also think that players got paid and have lost motivation. I don't subscribe to that theory, but it's a popular one in general (not just about these Blazers). That's why you always hear about "contract year" play and such.
I believe in this theory to an extent. Especially when you look at Meyers and Crabbes season so far. Moe is not like that at all though. It might be a character thing. Meyers is weak minded, we know that, lets others get to him. Look how he plays. Shit, Crabbe just got 70 mil, maybe he just never expected to get this far in the league and is content with just getting money.
Rick Barry is the last guy who should be making statements like that. This is the guy who was the first "big" star to jump to the old ABA for (mainly) monetary reasons. Eventually (the short version) he got sold to the Virginia Squires, where he refused to play because he didn't want to live in Virginia. I like Rick Barry but this is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.....
Sure. I see that line of thinking often, but I think it's a superficial take on what's going on with the Blazers. I see no indication of lack of effort on the players' part. I see a bad stretch of the schedule, some close losses, injuries, and perhaps some roster deficiencies as much more of contributing factors than the new contract BS. But people are going to yap.
But Barry isn't claiming that getting paid is bad. He's saying getting paid and then relaxing and not playing to your maximum potential is bad. I've never heard any suggestion that Barry was lazy after getting paid. Holding out is a different thing altogether--especially back when players had much less power over where they played. (Also, I'm not saying Barry is right about the Blazers. I'm just saying that what's criticizing them for is not getting as much money as possible.)
But this is a guy who bailed on his teammates because he (literally said) he didn't want his kids talking with a Southern accent (though it prolly woulda made Jon Barry more interesting to listen to). He took the money then pretty much tanked it. Not much different than what he's accusing our guys of doing.
Well, as I said, I'd view a holdout over not wanting to be on a team to be a little different than choosing to sign a deal with a team and then easing the foot off the pedal. Granted, I'd agree that that reason for the holdout (if that was literally the only reason) is pretty dumb.
I don't see money as the reason, more like one part of a potpourri of reasons. This was already a bad defensive team, that didn't really get better with their signings and acquisitions. Maybe this year's team will go on another hot streak and make everybody fell a little bit better about their "character" ( or maybe not)? But I'll be happier if Olshey is a bit proactive this trade deadline.
There's some truth to the money end of sports...some guys lose the edge or hunger, get cozy...Vince Carter comes to mind...Plumlee is having a career year and playing his ass off...coincidentally the guy who's in a contract season. You'd hope these things didn't factor in but sometimes they do...I'll say CJ, Dame and Mason are definitely not mailing it in and other guys are playing better but not MIP material like CJ was last year, that's for sure
I don't really think its an effort problem with our recently paid players. I find that a bit of a lazy opinion on Barry's part. No doubt the "BaldFacedDouche " gave him the rundown beforehand and Barry's just going with it for lack of any balanced view. In my opinion we simply overpaid for all but Harkless. I don't necessarily see that much significant difference in Meyers or Crabbes game from last year. We just simply gave them more than I feel they're worth. Simply quadrupling someone's salary is not going to make them all of sudden better than they are. I guess I never figured either ones contribution would vault us to another level. which brings me too Turner. Basically exact same situation only as a new addition we might have at least hoped for a bump in overall team play. No, we basically sank 45mil a year for an inconsistent and mostly ineffective bench rotation. I might find all of them useful players at a price relevant to their talent. Not dogging it in my opinion. Just not that good.
If cannibalism is on the table, he could start with his son Jon.....but Brent must take after the maternal side of the family
