"After all, Patterson says if Allen had his way in the 2005 draft, Deron Williams would have been in the Blazers backcourt, not Martell Webster and Jarrett Jack. But Patterson also said it was Allen who "insisted" he sign Darius Miles to a six-year, $48 million contract, over the objections of then-general manager John Nash and himself" That pisses me off. Paul knew more than the GM and the fans. Interesting
But... but... but if we had drafted Deron we wouldn't have sucked bad enough to get Roy, LMA, Oden and traded away Zbo...
I think if it were up to the fans (at least in this community at the time) the Blazers would have simply taken Chris Paul. Webster at 6 was better at Webster at 3, but it was still an inferior move to taking a superior prospect, and I think that most of us knew that at the time. Ed O.
Actually that is very true. And Deron could also of forced his way out of Portland like he did in Utah. It still pisses me off. And I find it ironic that Paul gets shit for meddling in the draft, yet he knows as much as anyone else.
I had actually never seen Gordon around before this season. He was around ALL THE TIME the 2nd half of the season. Shoot arounds, back hallway by the locker room, everywhere but the plane!
I am not sure what message board I belonged to at the time, but I was one of the few that wanted Chris Paul. Most fans said CP3 was too short and would turn out like Damon. A lot of fans actually wanted Gerald Green. Turns out it was a horrible draft. (Overall) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_NBA_Draft
True, but then we'd have Devin Harris and Derrick Favors, which is still better than Martell and Jarrett. barfo
Thats always the caveat when we discuss blowing past drafts. That roster we had, even with a rookie Deron would have still been a lotto team and we could've easily maneuvered to get the Aldridge and Roy. We probably wouldnt have then been able to land Oden. But, who cares, what, has he played like 82 games in a 4 year span?
Forced his way out? He forced Sloan out because he didnt agree with his approach and then the organization forced him out because they wanted something in return for the guy that forced out a cult-like coaching legend (atleast to SLC folks).
More on that 2005 draft: "Other times, the decisions are major, such as the draft of 2005, when Patterson said Allen liked Illinois star Deron Williams. Patterson said the Blazers basketball staff was torn with their decision, with Pritchard –- acting as director of player personnel in his first year with the organization –- favoring Wake Forest star Chris Paul, but general manager John Nash favoring a two-for-one tactic of trading their No. 3 overall pick to Utah in exchange for the No. 6 overall pick and the No. 27 pick. " This backs up the long held rumor that Pritchard favored Chris Paul. So, basically, Allen and Patterson wanted Deron is Deron, KP wanted CP3 and Nash wanted to trade down for Webster. The guy who was our GM was the one who won out and the only one who totally wiffed on his choice. Yet, John Nash is the only GM to serve out his contract under Paul Allen. Every other GM before or since has either quit or been fired. Go figure. This is one time I really wish Paul would have overruled his GM. BNM
This article also shows just how much influence and power Bert Kolde has. Larry Miller's comments are especially telling. Patterson and Whitsitt no longer work for Paul Allen, so they can say whatever they want about Kolde. ""Bert has tremendous influence on Paul, often to the detriment of the organization," Patterson said. Whitsitt declined to comment on Kolde." Neither man has anything good to say about Kolde and his influence over Paul. Paterson had several other scathing comments about Kolde and his meddling ways. "Part of my insistence in working with Paul was that Bert wouldn't be part of the process," Patterson said. "But it wasn't ... I mean, did Bert and Paul talk all the time? Yes. Did Bert have influence? Yes. Did I ever see Bert overrule John Nash, me or Kevin? No. But Bert would often try to manipulate the process to further his own influence. I felt that was a distraction and not beneficial to the franchise, nor to Paul." Miller, who still works for Paul Allen, and values his job, speaks more highly of Kolde. As does Tom Postman. Both of those guys know that offending Bert Kolde is a career limiting move. Steve Gordon (aka "Hat Guy") is dismissed as basically a nobody by Larry Miller. Given that Miller seems to be the kind of guy who covers his own ass, this would indicate that any power or influence "Hat Guy" has is minimal. The article almost makes Gordon sound like a glorified ball boy. Maybe he is. I've always found it hard to take a guy with a nickname like "Hat Guy" seriously. "Steve Gordon really doesn't have much impact at all," Miller said. "To me, it has been interesting to see how people have –- and part of it is Steve –- created this image that Steve is a decision maker or impact person, and in reality, he is not." And finally... "The truth is, outside of Allen, few if any know why two bright, up-and-coming executives were fired in such a short span." Actually, counting Tom Penn, that's THREE bright, up-and-coming executives that were fired in a short span with no concrete reasons given for their dismissals. BNM
You can call it what ever you want, but Deron wanted out of Utah from the first year. Sure he waited to get his max deal first, but make no mistake he was never going to being another John Stockton. Do you think the Jazz organization would have gotten rid of him if he hadn't forced their hand?
Steve Patterson speaks the truth, and only the truth. Regards, SlyPokerDog Doesn't this act ever get old?
SlyPokerDog takes a bunch of silly quotes and forms some sort of factual thesis with them. Ridiculous.
