Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?/Genius KP rid of ZBo (merged)

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Z-Bo was affecting the lockerroom. He was alienating fans. He was a symbol of everything that was wrong with the Blazers in the early 2000s. His presence was driving fans AWAY from the Rose Garden. I don't care if Z-Bo was putting up HOF numbers, he had to go at any cost. And did. And it was the right decision.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

This thread is repeating the same issues I already answered. To those who say that Zach isn't the same player now as then (some say on, some say off the court)--that's the point. We should have kept him the way we did Webster and Outlaw, waiting for him to improve. Or are you saying that he wouldn't have improved because he got better coaching with his new teams than he would have by staying here with McMillan?

As for the Knicks and Clippers not getting much for him in trades, despite his being no problem there (on or off the court)--that's the point. Those teams were stupid to let the Oregonian affect their thinking. Judge him by the present, not by some hater newspaper from years ago.

As for Aldridge being his equal--not till very recently, and it won't last. After many years, this year Aldridge has peeked out of his shell, but that is unreliable. Aldridge returns to the shadows when another player plays well, and he jumps into the bushes in clutch time, when Zach is the Man. Zach is a leader and Aldridge is a follower.

Look at Zach's teammates. Replace him with Aldridge. Would Memphis still be our equal as they are now? Of course not. Therefore, there's no way Aldridge is as effective as Zach.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I don't know if that's true. Don't get me wrong I would have liked us to have kept Zach, but Aldridge is a more rounded player when you included D. Plus he has shown when he needs to be the guy he can be.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Webster and Outlaw weren't getting involved with the police every other week. Webster and Outlaw weren't causing seats to go unsold in the Rose Garden. Your argument is flawed. The Blazers made a business decision to get rid of a locker room and fanbase cancer while cultivating a youth movement that the management was building, and didn't want Randolph to influence negatively.

The fact that Z-Bo is flourishing in his THIRD team (the first two jettisoning him in similar fashion to the Blazers) isn't surprising. Memphis has a good young athletic core, and Zach has probably grown up a hell of a lot since his "Hoop Family" strip club and hooker days in Portland. Good for him. Hope he keeps it up. The Blazers are just fine without him, and sure as hell wouldn't be better off with him right now.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I believe the Knicks trade generated a trade exception which landed us James Jones and Rudy Fernandez for nothing.

So we dumped Zach's contract for Frye, Rudy, and James Jones.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Could be, but...

In Memphis, Aldridge would have to be the Man every single game and every single clutch time, as Zach very consistently is. I've checked Zach's stats after every game for months, and he's amazingly consistent. Reliability is not Aldridge's strong suit. He comes and goes. In the second half and especially later in the game, he goes. In contrast, you can count on Zach to lead at that juncture.

If Aldridge replaced Zach, Memphis would suck. Aldridge has more head, but Zach has more heart.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

This is just not true. You and Canzano are good at exaggerration. This is why lesser teams catch up to us, like Memphis. They know this hater nonsense just kills a team.

He did just fine with the two teams but they traded him for no reason. So I hypothesize that they were stupidly affected by the Oregonian reputation.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Fixed. Even if you don't include that, Rudy is not an all-star like Zach. Zach carries a team with as many wins as the Blazers. Rudy never will.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Fine. So since you have such a hard-on for the Griz and Z-Bo and hate what the Blazers have become without your precious PF, the Memphis Message board is thataway. Have fun. Take KingSpeed with you.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Waaaaaahh!

I lost the argument!

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

That is a reflection on the Knicks and Clippers. They are awful, AWFUL at trades. On that note, we gave up Drexler for Otis Thorpe.

Zach Randolph has been consistently good the last four years. He just hasn't had good teammates. No one can win by himself. Kobe couldn't make the playoffs in 2005 and he had Odom and Butler! Everyone needs help.

Zach Randolph was an All Star last year and it was not a contract

Zach Randolph was still playing for the Blazers four years ago.

Anyway, my point ALL ALONG has been that Randolph is a great player. The closest we've gotten to a series win was with him as a starter for us. We were down 0-3 against the Mavs in 2003. We started him and we went 3-1 the rest of the way with him leading us in scoring and rebounding. Since then, he has had crappy teammates and no one can win by himself. What disgusts me is the argument that "you can't win with Randolph." That has ALWAYS been wrong and is just being proven again now as the Grizzlies are like a half game behind us.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

That's not true. Zach aside from hitting Ruber Patterson, what did he do wrong? I don't recall him being arrested other than the DUI with the Clips, and I never saw any animosity in the locker room. The Oregonian was still in their smear campaign and Zach was the target of choice at that time because Sheed and Damon were gone. He wasn't driving away fans... they were leaving in droves because the team was terrible. Those fans had no problem supporting JR Rider, Damon, and Ruben when we were winning. That was a lame excuse to turn their back on the team. I didn't see any of them returning until the team started winning again.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I'm a Blazers fan but I respect Zach Randolph's game and it was annoying hearing people ignore 2003 and say that no team with Zach will ever make the playoffs. Those people were wrong and he has proven it this year. He also won the Community Assist Award a couple months ago so he's not such a bad guy either. I met Zach once. He was extremely nice to me. Smiling, generous, and sweet. Very glad for him that he's winning now.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Nothing like a good Zach Randolph thread to get this place jumping again, eh? Just like old times.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Hmm, interesting. I'm often an ally of Chris on political matters and against Nate, but I'm an ally of Nate on the Zach matter and against Chris.

A triangle offense. I just have to pick my issues selectively.

This proves that everyone loves me, as long as I know when to shut my mouth. But I already knew that.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Sheed was never the problem. Trading him was mistake. What we should've done is trade everyone else. I'm sure we could've found ways to get Ben Wallace, Prince, Billups, and Hamilton and then WE could've been the team winning the title.

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Come summertime, mods should start the Sergio thread in June, the Juwan Howard thread in July, the Viktor Khryapa thread in August, and the Juan Dixon thread in September.

I'm up for it! All of those would be better than about 4 guys on our roster!

 

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

He's still under investigation for his role in a federal drug trafficking case, so far as I know. That's less than a year old, and may be one reason Memphis hasn't given him a contract extension.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/27/zach-randolph-drug-invest_n_591705.html