Here is what I know about GMs. They truly dont have all the power or control to make all basketball decisions no matter what anyone says or thinks. I am always hesitant to really evaluate a GM because I know how many times they are either overruled or the opposite, forced to do something. Not always - sometimes GMs just simply fuck up. Just in my experience, I have been around/heard directly from people situations that are mind boggling and the blame 100% goes on the GM, because people don't know the truth. Neil has not been perfect, and if he chose to leave or was fired, I would be fine with that. But I know that not all of the things attributed to Neil are actually Neil's doing. Perhaps CJ is a Blazer still because someone other than Neil wants that to be the case. Perhaps Evan Turner signed here for a ridiculous amount because someone other than Neil told him to do it. Neils job is then to take ownership of those decisions. I will never forget the time I was in a car with a GM and a trade was proposed, and the sequence of events after that call is astonishing. GM took all the blame. Thats the way it goes. I dont feel sorry for them necessarily, becuase they get paid a shit l0ad of money. But still not fair.
Kanter didn’t play much for the Celtics last season; in the playoffs he was barely even in Boston’s rotation. Melo was outta the league mainly because of his defense. Pairing those two together on the same team was a terrible idea. And Stotts loves Melo because he doesn’t give a fuck about defense. But you’re also not gonna carry Melo and NOT play him. Olshey knew what he was getting into with that signing. Cutting Melo’s minutes drastically or benching him just isn’t a realistic option. Neither is cutting him after Neil went on and on about his legacy. They’re stuck and that’s on Olshey.
I believe this to be true to a degree... not only about GMs, but coaches, and players as well. If there is someone above you, then sometimes the decisions you "make" can often be directives.
Giving DJJ the full MLE was another whiff by Olshey. It’s like the team he built is the polar opposite of what his coach actually wants. DJJ not being properly used offensively was the most predictable thing ever. Olshey could’ve just signed RHJ for the minimum and gotten the same production. If Olshey survives, his next hire better be someone he actually sees eye to eye with on how the game should be played, as well as how players should be utilized.
Still my feelings. While we see other teams build and get better, we have basically been the same for years. Something major has to change for the results to be different.
It's like he sees a player that he really likes and he doesn't care about fit. CJ is a perfect example. I said it at the time and I still don't understand it today. Why the hell did he draft CJ the year after Dame won rookie of the year? Drafting a shoot first combo guard made no sense then, and he has chosen that hill to die on. I just don't get it.
Im not one of those that place all the blame on the pairing of Dame and CJ. I’ve been saying for years they can coexist, but not the way they’re utilized under Stotts. CJ should not be given the freedom that Dame is. If he was utilized more off the ball as a spot up shooter ala Klay/Redick, and ball movement was prioritized, he’d be deadly and the offense would be more fluid. All his spot up numbers are elite yet we rarely see any plays run to get him in those positions. Rather, he gets to pound the rock and run the shot clock out before attempting some contested low percentage shot. That’s purely on Stotts. Even when Dame was out Melo had the freedom to essentially play pick up basketball. everyone goes on and on about the defense, and rightfully so, but Stotts’ offensive mind is so overrated it’s unreal.
if a coach can't maximize his players' strengths and adapt to new personnel, how is it the GM's fault? Even Gregg Popovich changed his style to adapt to new players on his team and won a title in 2014. Stotts is running the same basic shit on offense he did in 2016. And using the same drop scheme on defense that he did in 2013. The game has changed, the players have changed, yet our coach remains stuck in his ways. This is the macro lens, but he does the same when you look at adjustments in-game. They just don't happen. When Curry has been cooking you cuz of drop coverage for 40+ in three quarters and you keep doing the same shit for the last quarter, expect to get 60 put on you.
I recognize that GM's are not autonomous in their decision making. I'd expect it to be much like normal corporate hierarchy. GMs would be allowed to make 'low-level' decisions on their own. Anything larger than that needs to be elevated to the owner. The most important job (& skill) of the GM is to 'educate' the owner of why a certain move would be good or poor... Paul Allen most definitely was an involved owner. He asked a lot of questions to his GM's to discuss/educate him. Based on all the reports (mostly from the GM's themselves), they said that Paul generally deferred to the GM's recommendations. Obviously, the Crabbe contract is the one that stands out as being influenced by Paul Allen.... However, I still think that is a blemish on Olshey for not having a strong enough argument that allowing Crabbe to walk would be better in the long run. Since PA passing - I highly doubt that Jody is all that involved. I would expect her to 'rubber stamp' anything that NO presents to her as long as it fits within the financial budget that they have for the team. Long story short - you have a point worth considering, but the GM's still have the majority of blame/credit.
Do you think we could get someone to record an update of the old Aretha Franklin song for Neil Olshey: Hey, what we want (Oo) Baby, you ain't got it (Oo) What we need (Oo) You know you ain't I got it? (Oo) All I'm askin' (Oo) Is for a little reject... send you home (not sorry even a little bit) R-E-J-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-J-E-C-T Take care, bye-bye... Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me Sock it to me, sock it to me) A little reject (sock it to me, sock it to me Sock it to me, sock it to me)
The argument is yes, its the coach's fault but the coach is in place so the GM needs to address it. I get that point completely.
We replaced: Whiteside with Nurkic Carmelo with Roco Hezonja/Bazemore with Jones/Powell And we're effectively worse on defense. Explain that one. The defense WAS addressed in the offseason by Neil. The coach doesn't have a clue on how to use them.
But Neil makes absolutely head scratching decisions. Dame and CJ are relatively the same height. They both play a style that requires the ball in their hands. That was obvious when CJ was coming out of college. They're not good defenders. Obviously there's some differences, but he drafted very very similar players back to back. Why? He signed DJJ with our full MLE while it was PAINFULLY obvious that he wouldn't fit Stotts system. He traded GTJ for a UFA shooting guard who we now have to play out of position if we want to give him minutes. There's wishful thinking and then there's the reality of things. He knew who he had in Stotts. Why bring in players that won't fit the system? Why bring back Melo when we all knew what would happen? And he keeps bringing in old school bigs like Nurk, Whiteside, and Kanter. It really seems like Neil is just as oblivious as Stotts.
Did we? Melo attempts more shots in less time. He's also usually on the floor at the end of games, while Covington sits.
keep preaching NB if the ship is foundering on the rocks, taking on water, the pilot doesn't get 100% of the blame when the captain plotted the course...that's on the captain. Olshey is the captain who has kept the pilot in place for 9 years. Olshey hired every single member of the crew that helped beach the ship on the rocks. Yet we have people here who refuse to blame the captain as he hides in his cabin with all the alarms on the ship ringing, beeping, and buzzing switching analogies, Olshey is the architect of this crumbling house of cards. Sure...fire the lead carpenter, but for fuck sakes, fire the stubborn ego-driven architect too because he sure as shit isn't capable of shoring up the shaky foundation he thinks is just peachy.
IMHO, Stotts has completely mismanaged/enabled the players he has been provided. However.....Neil has had more than his fair share of gaping missed opportunities or moves that have hamstrung the franchise for years. 2012: Blazers had already identified Dame. Either he gets credit for Dame and blame for Meyers, or he gets no blame or credit for either. 2013: Already had a smaller, ball dominant, defensively weaker guard and then drafted CJ. Missed: Giannis and Gobert 2014: No pick. Gave up 2011 pick (Tobias Harris) and 2014 pick (Shabazz Napier) for Gerald Wallace....which they later got Dame for. 2015: Hollis-Jefferson who they traded for Plumlee who they traded for Nurk and a 1st used to help get Zach Collins. 2016: No pick due to the Afflalo trade. 2017: Traded 2 1st round picks to take Zach Collins. Also selected Caleb Swanigan. Missed: Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, John Collins, Jarrett Allen, OG Anunoby, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Dillon Brooks, any number of players who have had better to much better careers. 2018: Anfernee Simons - missed Robert Williams, Devonte' Graham, Mitchell Robinson, Jalen Brunson. 2019: Nassir Little - nothing much after Little and tons of potential with Nas. 2020: Traded for Covington with another pick owed to Houston. That is not a good resume'. To be fair, Olshey has done better in the 2nd round acquiring contributors like Barton,Crabbe, Layman, and Trent. Out of all of those, they have only Powell to show for it...and maybe not him for long. Then there is the ill-fated summer of 2016 where Olshey spent a fortune on players that are either out of the league or barely holding on....and not due to age. That hamstrung the franchise for years. I get the money spent wouldn't have created more cap room by saving it, but who held a gun to his head for the amounts and for max-year contracts? Very poor decision making. It seems like there have been a lot of opportunities and very few of them have come out well for Olshey. The Nurk trade seems the best but it is a lot of disappointment after that. Stotts needs to go....but it shouldn't end at that.
as a certified Olshey hater, even I can't really blame him for all those things. The draft seems to be as much voodoo as expertise. Although I will say that 2013 draft was Portland's big chance at a dynasty. Dame + Giannis + Gobert...wow...although Portland obviously couldn't have afforded to keep all three after their rookie extensions I think the biggest criticisms are reserved for what his intentions have been for established NBA players. The Blazers have been saved from most of them because If Olshey had his way, Portland would be the northwest version of the Kings: * max contract for Roy Hibbert * max contract for Greg Monroe * max contract to Enes Kanter * max MLE for Spenser Hawes * 340 million in contracts in 2016 to CJ, Crabbe, Turner, Meyers, Harkless, Ezeli * max contract to Chandler Parsons * max contract to Hassan Whiteside those weren't college players that needed to be projected into the NBA. They were established NBA players that Olshey grossly overrated after seeing them on NBA floors for years
