Wojnarowski: Blazers GM Cho Wants to Blow It Up, Needs To Convince PA

Discussion in 'Portland Trail Blazers' started by SlyPokerDog, Feb 14, 2011.

  1. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    I am sorry you're not sure about it.

    I think he makes a clear link to KP being in trouble with the front office.

    Ed O.
     
  2. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Whether he was good enough or not to make it in the NBA is not what he was writing about. He's writing about whether he was, as the Blazers claimed, physically unable to compete.

    I don't blame the Blazers for going through the process that they did. I don't think it made KP or anyone else bad people or even dishonest. But the evidence of Miles making it through half an NBA season indicates to me that the diagnosis was wrong and if the Blazers were still pitching the idea that it was not possible for him to play on his knee, then they were wrong.

    Ed O.
     
  3. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Where? Can you quote the part where he makes the link? Because I didn't see it.

    It mostly reads as "Pritchard is arrogant and thinks he's great, but he's totally NOT. Portland may think he's special, and maybe he has an eye for talent, but he's not cool. Not cool at all. By the way: Jail Blazers. Remember that? I'm using it again, for no particular reason, because Pritchard is arrogant."
     
  4. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    "It’s strange, but every transaction in Portland has been treated like a validation of Pritchard’s genius. Now, his apologists are blaming Paul Allen and president Larry Miller for the Miles mess, only it doesn’t work like that. Pritchard is the face of the franchise because he made it that way."

    KP was not going to be able to claim the successes of the team's improvement and then avoid the blame when things went wrong.

    Ed O.
     
  5. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    If you can't make it in the NBA, in what sense are you physically able to compete? Is the test being on the floor during an NBA game without dying? You or I are physically able to compete in the NBA by that standard. He wasn't able to compete at an NBA level, as evidenced by the fact that Memphis barely played him and he was out of the NBA once Memphis was done with its dog-and-pony show.

    Memphis exploited the loophole and that's fine. It never outraged me. The idea that Portland improperly deemed Miles physically unable to compete is wrong, IMO. He was physically unable to compete. Bill Russell is currently physically unable to compete. I am currently physically unable to compete. But both Russell and I could be placed on the floor during an NBA game. We wouldn't be, because there's no gain to an NBA team putting us there. There was an indirect gain to Memphis putting Miles there, even though he was physically unable to compete.
     
  6. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    Yes, that's true. Where does he say Pritchard's job was in jeopardy or even might be? Saying that Pritchard would have to own failures as well as successes isn't even remotely suggesting that.

    Right now, I am going to state this: every current NBA GM will have to own responsibility for their failures (as well as their successes). Now, have I correctly prophecied any NBA GM that gets fired/let go? Do I deserve credit for reporting before everyone else the next NBA GM who is fired? (Saying that I didn't name the GM in question isn't a good objection. I could quite easily grab the names of every GM in the league and one by one type "X will have to own responsibility for his failures in addition to his successes." I won't do that to save bandwidth and it's unnecessary to make the point.)

    Klinky's point is perfectly valid. A reporter criticizing a GM is not a report that said GM's job is in trouble. It's just the reporter disagreeing with the GM.
     
  7. ripcity67

    ripcity67 Active Member

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    Not replace, just upgrade with Camby and Roy
     
  8. Klinky

    Klinky Seal Of Approval

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    There really isn't any link. The article is Woj blowing up the Darius Miles issue into some sort of diabolical conspiracy theory to paint Kevin Pritchard as an evil villain. I think it was pretty obvious that we were going to do our best to get Darius Miles medically retired, given his failure to rehab. The Blazers took the non-risk because the alternative to not pursuing it was to just let Miles' contract linger. There was nothing to lose by trying to get Miles medically retired and there weren't evil intentions. The Darius Miles Threat Letter was signed by Larry Miller, but who knows who was really behind it. Many assumed it was probably from Paul Allen's camp / The Vulcans rather than from Miller or Pritchard. The letter was a bad idea, but there isn't a whole lot of proof linking it to Pritchard, since Woj can't directly link the letter to Pritchard, he weaves a tale of how Pritchard is evil and tried to ruin the career of Darius Miles.

    The whole article could probably be summed up as "Durr, Kevin Pritchard is so dumb because he messed up on Darius Miles". Darius Miles was an inherited problem & medical retirement was really the only viable option to dump Miles' contract off the books. He wasn't going to see playing time in a Blazers' jersey and as has now been played out, he really was not in NBA game shape.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2011
  9. UKRAINEFAN

    UKRAINEFAN Well-Known Member

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    You nailed that!
     
  10. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Sure it does. It says that if the team struggles, KP would be held accountable.

    Why do YOU think KP was fired?

    Do you think that most GMs would be fired for taking a slight step back (primarily due to injuries) like KP was?

    I think that it's very unlikely, and this is why I think KP was fired: because he was a difficult guy, and because he earned blame (more than most GMs) because of his attitude when things were going well.

    He was not just criticizing KP. He was criticizing KP's apologists. He was pointing out that KP's ass was on the line, and ... he was right.

    Ed O.
     
  11. Ed O

    Ed O Administrator Staff Member Administrator

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    Wrong. I mean... it COULD be summed up that way, but that would be oversimplistic IMO.

    Ed O.
     
  12. Minstrel

    Minstrel Top Of The Pops Global Moderator

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    Hello darkness, my old friend
    True of every NBA GM. It's neither an insight nor a report that he beat anyone else to.

    I have no idea why KP was fired. Your speculation could be true, but it's not really any better substantiated than those who say he was fired for selecting Oden over Durant or for backing Tom Penn or for various other reasons.

    Again, he was right on a point that was trivially obvious. Every GM's ass is on the line for their failures. Saying so doesn't mean he correctly called Pritchard's loss of a job ahead of time.

    Again, I can say for every GM that their ass is on the line. And I'll be right. If any of them are fired, that doesn't make me ahead of everyone else on the story. Wojnarowski saying that Pritchard was not immune from fall-out when things went wrong is right, obvious and doesn't make him ahead of everyone else on the story when Pritchard was let go well over a year later.
     
  13. Klinky

    Klinky Seal Of Approval

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    His ass was so on the line it took one and a half years to fire him & the warning bells were sounding so loudly that Woj didn't discuss KP's impending doom until after Tom Penn was fired. When he did write about it, he made no mention of "calling it" 1.5 years earlier.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2011
  14. BrianFromWA

    BrianFromWA Editor in Chief Staff Member Editor in Chief

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    KP was fired for two words..."Warren" and "LeGarie".
     
  15. SlyPokerDog

    SlyPokerDog Woof! Staff Member Administrator

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    This
     
  16. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    We blew it up already when we dumped Sergio, Steve, Travis and Martell and Jerryd.

    To call it that again we'd have to jettison Brandon and Greg.

    Nate's using a 6 man rotation. Pretty obvious we're in need of more talent before the playoffs.
     
  17. Fez Hammersticks

    Fez Hammersticks スーパーバッド Zero Cool

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    Bump.

    This is very relevant to the LMA fiasco.

    Any other GM would have been fired on the spot if they lost a prime franchise pillar for nothing.

    The Vulcans are back.
     
  18. MickZagger

    MickZagger Well-Known Member

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    Dude, WTF???
     
  19. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    Imaginary. Capspace.
     
  20. Draco

    Draco Well-Known Member

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    False. Mitch Kupchak, Pat Riley, Stan Van Gundy, and Doc Rivers all had this happen in the last 3 years. None of them were fired.

    In fact I can't think of one GM who lost a franchise player under the current CBA and was fired.
     
    dviss1 likes this.

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