While I agree not everyone cares, it does affect everyone whether or not they're trying to duck the tax or don't care about the optics of being cheap. Jody says she is dedicated to winning, but the actions show otherwise. Now, a lot of that is justified by the team sucking but they're choosing to go cheap again while claiming otherwise.
I think a simple question like "Was it a tough decision weighing how much you wanted Gary versus the cap implications of that signing?" For a "cap expert", he should want to answer thoughtful questions like that.
Olshey would have been killed because he would have said a bunch of other stuff about how this team is ready to win it all right now and bullshit us with a whole lot of other placating condescension. Cronin said that he likes the talent and heart of the players we added and wants to see them play together. There was an obvious ellipsis to that statement which was... before we make future moves to balance the roster. I wish the press would have pressed him harder obviously. I wish Jason Quick would have been there because he would have. That being said, Cronin wasn't condescending with his answers. I don't think he does that so there won't be follow up questions or so the fans will like him, I think that's just who the guy is but the media being soft on him and fans liking him are definitely logical byproducts of his demeanor especially after Olshey.
It's not that they don't want Joe to look bad. It's a player introduction press conference, I think that's been said already? I can't imagine a more disrespectful question than asking Joe, while those players are up there getting introduced to the organization, if he's looking for trades (as an example) during a player introduction press conference. Or asking why they signed GP due to the hard cap. I mean really? The reporters didn't ask those types of questions because they didn't want to look bad themselves, and they must not of felt like being complete assholes.
Best comparison I have come up with between some of the fans on here.... I rode a motorcycle as my primary transportation for about 4-5 years. I never went down. I never came close to getting into a wreck. It's not that there wasn't times that could have potentially gone bad for me, I was just a very defensive rider. I viewed all cars around me as someone that's actively trying to kill me. If there was a car up ahead that was trying to turn, I anticipated that they weren't going to see me and they were going to turn in front of me. If it didn't happen, great, if it did... I was ready. I wore all the protective gear. I didn't take unnecessary risks. It made me a better driver because even in my car, I see potential risks that I never would have paid attention to if I hadn't ridden a bike for a while. I view the Blazers the same way that I approached riding. I see potential risks. If they don't happen, great. If they do, well, it's unfortunate. What happens if Nurk gets hurt? Who plays center? Where are we going to find minutes for Sharpe? For Hart? For Little? How is Dame and Ant going to be different than Dame/CJ? I am very much a pragmatist. But many of you on here aren't like that. If you were riding a motorcycle, you'd be a weekend cruiser. You're out riding your bike in jeans and a tshirt. You're enjoying the nice weather. You're speeding along without a care in the world. That's nice...... right up until the moment a car turns left in front of you and you slam into them, flying through the air and onto the pavement without any of the nice protective gear that saves your skin. If that's how you want to go through life, that's fine. Be my guest. Just stop attacking those of us who don't view things that way.
Yo daddy, bro. HA! And never did I say the Blazers employed these people, hence the lack of “ ‘ “ in the sentence, which would imply they were under the Blazers employ. Child please.
To Nate's post...I rode a motorcycle for over 40 years as my main transportation....daily in a city of 7 million people with bumper to bumper traffic...never had a scratch.(but the one time) .always wore a helmet....when in the Navy in 1971 I was driving 10 mph on the base when in the middle of an intersection with a green light I was blindsided by a carload of drunk sailors that ran the red light....I woke up in the hospital from being knocked out for hours and was sent home without issues...no concussion but my helmet looked like a mess of bailin wire..it was mangled....I'd flown over the roof of the car and landed on the road ...without the helmet I'd be dead today....next day...drove my second motorcycle back to work and rode one everyday until about 2000 when I moved back to Portland....protective gear will save your life but not make you win a basketball game and if you have commuted on a motorcycle you become acutely aware of what's going on around you or you eat concrete.
First off, on a serious note, I am happy to hear that you take cautious precautions on your bike. Too many don't, so as a driver on the road, I thank you for being one less cyclist I need to worry about. Good on you. But your comparisons, to me, are apples and oranges... What you do on your bike, is being a realist. The way you view the team, is being a pessimist.
A pessimist would only see things negatively. I have high hopes for Sharpe. I think Dame will come back and be just as good as he was. I'm hopeful that Ant will continue to break out. But I also see some major issues on the team. I can't ignore those.
Also, I find that people who are purely optimistic seem to view people who are even a little pessimistic as being purely pessimistic, when it's really not that black and white. There are people who are a little optimistic and a little pessimistic. There are people who are going through a phase of mostly pessimism. Just because you only have one speed and that's pure optimism, doesn't mean that anyone who isn't purely optimistic is conversely purely pessimistic.
Um... if he's planning on adding more to the roster was asked. What wasn't asked and wouldn't have been disrespectful at all would have been a question about the hard cap which someone already mentioned could have been in regards to how great Gary must be to be willing to do that in order to sign him. Another question that has nothing to do with what kind of press conference the team wanted it to be but more about the fact that there is no guaranteed availability to Joe for a while after this is if the team is looking to get under the tax as an option now that we are hard capped so it's only a difference of 6M. These questions aren't disrespectful and when GMs (all of them do this, not just Joe) limit their media availability so much, they should expect questions off topic from what they called the presser to announce. It's actually normally what happens with every team in the league at these things and has happened in the past for us. Whatever, it's done... so you guys keep brightsiding shit, that's cool.
are you certain about that? the balance of his contract is automatically stretched. It's Portland's option if it's a 1 year hit on their cap, or a 3 year hit, and either way it isn't calculated until the end of the regular season in order to see if another team picks him up and for how much money. Would make a lot more snse if the Blazers could know all that before they commit to stretching. Of course the CBA doesn't always have to make sense
I have a lot of the same questions, just don't think it was the time to discuss them. They didn't bring the players up there to just ask Joe a bunch of salary cap questions. Joe's availability for those questions is another subject entirely. I think he needs to do that.
Seriously, I think GP2 was a good signing, just a puzzling one considering the makeup of the roster. I think the Grant trade was brilliant. I thought the Nurk contract was an overpay but I'm over that. Same with Ant. I just hope both of them perform at a level that keeps them as positive trade assets should an opportunity arise in which that would be necessary. I really like Joe's attitude and think he ended up getting enough out of the CJ/Larry deal and may have been pressured into the absolutely horrible Norm/RoCo deal by ownership. I guess I'm just an asshole for thinking he should have been asked about hard capping us and what his thoughts about the luxury tax are this season, since he is a cap expert but fuck anyone with any criticism though right?
