The Blazers got Wesley Person and a #1 pick for him, and Bonzi was fairly terrible for the remainder of that contract. That PatterNash then used that #1 pick on Sergei Monia instead of Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, or Anderson Vareho was the mistake, IMO. Person was then flipped to Atlanta in the Rasheed trade, which did net SAR and Theo Ratliff.
Portland traded its second-best player for a guy who was below-average and a worthless draft pick. We helped a Western conference team make the playoffs ahead of us. It was the first step (after Whitsitt's dismissal) of the team spiraling into the toilet for years. But yeah, it wasn't a mistake. Ed O.
Take a look at Bonzi's career arc after that trade. His team didn't get out of the first round, he was oft-injured and even suspended, and is basically a footnote in NBA history. Good riddance.
Take a look at the Blazers for the next several years after that trade and tell me the team was better off without him. Ed O.
Tell the the team was good with him. They were 6-7 when he was traded, and he had an 11.3 PER and a -0.1 WS. He wanted out of Portland, and Portland want him out of Portland. A fucking footnote.
The team was fine. It was 13 games into the season and it would have improved, no question in my mind, if management hadn't panicked. He had 15.9 and 16.6 PERs the next two years. A footnote? Sure. Every single miserable failure of the PatterNash regime is a footnote. It doesn't mean that it wasn't the first in a string of pathetic moves. Ed O.
I just want to feel like I know what to expect from this team. I want to see some kind of direction and vision and then see it executed. Instead the way it's managed at the top makes it feel a bit like 5 people all trying to drive one car at the same time. So am I fed up? Kind of, but I feel like I know it's a gigantic circus behind the scenes instead of merely suspecting it, so knowing that we're the Raiders of the NBA I'm going to be less upset because I kind of have a feel for what to expect going forward. Does that make sense?
Wow what a bullshit statement. The Raiders have been the worst team in the NFL for over 12 years. I don't see how you can even compare the two types of teams and owners. 1.) Allen has proven that he sticks with his players until all is lost. Al Davis, would have gotten rid of anyone in the organization that even speaks their mind. That would mean Roy, Oden and Miller all would have either been benched or showed the door. 2.) Al Davis wants a coach to be his puppet. Obviously Nate is his own person and is doing what he wants. Nate still has a job, so it blows your comparison out of the water. 3.) The Raiders have had some of the worst draft picks. In fact, the only time the pick was worth a shit was when they drafted Woodson and Buchanon. That was nearly 10 years ago.
I'm about as patient and understanding with this team as anyone here - but if they traded Batum and/or Crash to GSW, I would seriously consider rooting for the local team here . . . and that's saying A LOT.
I thought Nnamdi Asamugha was a great pick late in the first round. Darren McFadden had an excellent season last year as well. Plus, the 2010 draft was full of productive rookies that weren't even all first-round picks. Jacoby Ford, Rolando McClain, Lamarr Houston, Jared Velheer, Walter McFadden, Stevie Brown, and Jeremy Ware were all major contributors on an 8-8 team. Ware, a 7th-round pick, is good enough for Oakland to not spend tens of millions on Nnamdi, which while it hurts, is probably best for the team. Bruce Campbell, while a project, was a beast on special teams, and helped spring Ford for some long gains. I'm not sure another NFL team in the last 5 years had major contributions from that many players drafted in their rookie seasons.
I know its not as big of stakes as the NBA and that people laugh at the MLS... but the Timbers are running their organization just the opposite and are doing a perfect job with connecting with the community. Merrit Paulson's suite was right behind the Army at Seattle and he was acknowledging us before the match as we serenaded him with a "Merr-it Paul-son clap clap clapclapclap" and "Merr-it Merr-it Sing us a song" He started a song towards us, disappeared for a second and came back with bags of chips and started dropping them down to the army. I didnt see it but I think I read he dropped a hot dog and some mustard too I cant even imagine Paul Allen saying jack to the entire crowd, let alone the crowd feeling the desire to chant to Paul Allen. I totally get what you mean about Identifying though, and I hope that the Blazers check it out a little bit on how to identify with a city, and its spirit. /rant
Are you a Raider fan? I am, but it's been really hard to cheer for the organization. I'm hoping that soon changes. I suspect things won't really turn around until Al Davis dies.
Word. I had a dream last night Batum was playing for another team, and lighting it up! Can tell what's on my mind.
It's a management style thing. Forgetting results for a second or two -- and 11 years without advancing past the first round aint exactly killing it btw -- I think Paul Allen is very impatient, very erratic and wants to be very hands on as a personnel guy. That's not bullshit, that's Al Davis' MO. But hey, way to get all emotional about it.
No problem and thanks I am emotional about it. I've been a long time Raider's fan and I don't see the pattern at all. Al Davis is a horrible owner and I consider Allen as a very generous one. Also, I compare the Raiders to the Clippers owner. Raiders had some really good players that they traded for nothing. Woodson and Buchannon are two players we should have never gotten rid of. That was all Davis and I'm still very bitter about it. Davis also had an argument with Marcus and because of it; he benched him for an entire season. Allen has never done anything like that. So, I take it somewhat personal that you would even think that the two owners are similar.
To me it's more like Paul Allen realized the foundation of his house was crumbling, so he changed the drapes.
LMAO! So true! It just sucks really. I'm fans of teams that just can't get over the hump. It's a troubling prediciment for me. I'm just too loyal and it sometimes is very painful.
It seems to me that there are two ways to look at this: 1. The Blazers screwed up when they hired Cho. His style doesn't fit with what PA is looking for and they're taking a necessary, if somewhat embarrassing, step to fix the mistake as quickly as possible. 2. The Blazers (PA) screwed up by firing Cho, a competent GM, without giving him enough time to show what he could do. This type of action is typical of PA and will continue to result in bad management decisions in the future. Choice No. 1 is the official Blazers position. If it's correct, then dumping Cho and moving on to somebody who is a better fit as quickly as possible is a good thing. Choice No. 2 seems to be the popular assessment among the many fed up Blazers fans and sports pundits. I suppose that the reality could lie somewhere in the middle: Cho was the wrong choice AND PA is overly meddlesome in micromanaging the Blazers. Regardless of what the true situation is, PA shows no signs of being willing to step aside as owner, so we as fans are going to have to live with him and his idiosyncrasies. I saw nothing from Cho that was so marvelous that says that firing him was an overtly awful decision. The timing looks bad, but so what as long as we end up with a GM that is competent and who is a better fit with PA? All I can say is, they'd better get it right this time.
