Youth & Lottery <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">It was an innocuous, yet revealing, comment. It came from Trail Blazers interim coach and director of player personnel Kevin Pritchard before Friday's game against Sacramento. "In this league, you need one superstar probably two and you build around those guys," Pritchard said. "You have an opportunity to be pretty good if people fill roles. Look at Sacramento. They know (Mike) Bibby and (Peja) Stojakovic are their mainstays, their pillars." Who are the Blazers' mainstays, pillars? "I'm going to wait another eight games before I decide," Pritchard said. It was a curious comment considering how much money the Blazers invested in Darius Miles, Theo Ratliff and Zach Randolph before this season. Miles re-signed as a restricted free agent for six years and $48 million. And Ratliff and Randolph both signed lucrative extensions that kick in next season Ratliff for three years and $34.8 million, and Randolph for six years and $86 million ($84 million guaranteed). Pritchard wasn't trying to insinuate that the organization had soured on those three. He was just trying to make a point. "When we throw the ball up next year, the most important thing is you shouldn't look at the money when you make decisions (about) playing time," Pritchard said. "I don't believe in that." Pritchard, who scouted for San Antonio for 11/2 years before moving to the Blazers in late August, said Spurs coach Greg Popovich would always tell Tim Duncan at the start of training camp, "You were the MVP of the league last year, but you're not going to play much." "It's kind of a joke, but that was his theory," Pritchard said. "I think what he was telling everyone else was, 'Let's practice, let's see who worked during the summer, and bring on who our best five are.' " He pointed to rookie guard Beno Udrih, who is averaging 5.6 points in 14 minutes per game and has hit 39 percent of his 122 3-point attempts for the Spurs. He also mentioned Devin Harris, a third-year pro averaging 7.4 points and 18.5 minutes. They're young players taking advantage of their opportunity in San Antonio. </div> Source Sounds like Zach Randolph is no longer the player the Blazers want to build their franchise around. Hopefully they get a coach in before the draft.
