Forum Game 2018 Olshey Interview: Who are the 5?

[Pinwheel1]

As I think I clearly stated in my post, I really wouldn't mind that much if the course was to continue to develop young guys. In fact I'm a big proponent of always developing young guys even for championship contenders. However, this was obviously not the course that Olshey wanted to go this summer so anything anyone says about the young guys getting more minutes and all that stuff is merely trying to save face for failing to execute what he wanted to accomplish.

Yeah I think it is the right course as well. I think you try to get a good vet that will help, (i.e Cousins) but in the the end if the only vets possible are only slightly better then the young player you have...then develop the younger ones. I honestly think Layman can be as effective as someone like Hezonja. (and as inconsistent)

Yeah he might be saving face by trying to sell us on the younger ones, but I really don't pay much attention to the rhetoric. Is it really important for him to openly admit that he "failed" at obtaining the vets he wanted? How many people do that? And what does admitting it accomplish?

 

[riverman]

So what you're saying is he's a failure. Great. I'm completely in the fire Neil bandwagon.

No...I didn't say he's a failure, I'm saying he's working within his ways and means...perspective..lot of people here don't like him, I don't have that problem

 

[Natebishop3]

Neil is definitely the dude that carries about a clip board to look like he's working hard.

 

[Propagandist]

I don't see it as "saving face" ...I see it as ways and means.. when contingencies don't come to fruition...you move on to your next options. That's how I see this off season.

If this were perhaps the first time of not delivering on promises I'd totally agree with you. But this isn't the first time. In fact, I have lost count... For all the good stuff Olshey has accomplished, he obviously does not have realistic expectations when it comes to the market. In a bizarre twist, I guess, in order to stay positive, we have to NOT listen to a lot of what our GM has to say. I don't understand it, but it's Trail Blazer fan life at the moment.

 

[BBert]

Olshey mention Layman as a guy who was poised to make a leap and has worked to earn a shot as well...didn't dwell on it but mentioned Jake, Caleb, Zach, Simons and Trent all going to big man camp in Vegas...so it says were trusting our own young guys to step in and contribute...glad to see two of our coaches will attend as well.

Please tell me Meyers is going to that

 

[Boob-No-More]

What??? You're claiming our GM is lying after failing to complete what he set out to do? That can't be.... He's honest as a chior boy.

I think some people are confusing failure with lying. Neil failed to do what he said he wanted to accomplish. That's not the same as lying. Olshey haters, take you're pick, he's either a failure or a liar.

Personally, I'd rather he lie to the press about his intentions than fail at his goals.

BNM

 

[Natebishop3]

This is Neil when Paul walks by his office

 

[BBert]

If this were perhaps the first time of not delivering on promises I'd totally agree with you. But this isn't the first time. In fact, I have lost count... For all the good stuff Olshey has accomplished, he obviously does not have realistic expectations when it comes to the market. In a bizarre twist, I guess, in order to stay positive, we have to NOT listen to a lot of what our GM has to say. I don't understand it, but it's Trail Blazer fan life at the moment.

Olshey seemingly over estimates his salesmanship and deal making ability.

 

[Natebishop3]

I think some people are confusing failure with lying. Neil failed to do what he said he wanted to accomplish. That's not the same as lying. Olshey haters, take you're pick, he's either a failure or a liar.

Personally, I'd rather he lie to the press about his intentions than fail at his goals.

BNM

If the dude has unrealistic goals, and consistently fails at them because they're unreachable, then he's at least lying to himself. So technically he's a liar AND a failure

 

[hoopsjock]

He explained just why that didn't happen....quite simply..we were outbid by teams retaining their players.or players going for bigger offers..there's a difference between trying to make a deal and making the deal...the deals weren't there for us...some he said opted for the no income tax status of certain teams...others opted for more money.others for bigger markets...and the TPE was a draft day asset that he was surprised no one wanted to deal for...it's all in the interview from my perspective and it made sense to me. He then explained that plan B was to add shooters...which he did. Teams weren't gambling on salary given the moves that Golden State made...this just was not that year for almost every team...Sac is the only team with 11 mill in cap space as well. They couldn't get a game changer either

Riverman, I usually don't like to dispute what you are saying because I appreciate your positiveness but everything you just said (and what Olshey said) is hindsight based. Olshey acquired every member of the current roster so if they don't have trade value that is mostly on him, is it not? Sacramento is the only team with cap space right now, there were others before now that had it. Besides with several teams above the cap or in bad financial situations the TPE was valuable. I don't buy for a second that it wasn't. The truth is that they didn't want to pay the tax on whatever player they brought in with it. I totally get that it's Allen's money and he can choose to spend it however he likes but then I don't want to hear about how aggressive the owner is and how valuable the TPE is. They said they were treating the TPE like it was extra cap space and the bottom line is if that was true they had opportunities to use it.

Let's say for the sake of the argument that somewhere along the lines they realized they weren't going to get any of their targets and decided to go back to the youth approach another year. That is totally fine with me but that also means they messed up in other areas. For example, they could've gotten something for Napier and Davis at the deadline last year even if it was just 2nd round picks because obviously neither were in the plans to keep. They could've then used those picks to acquire Trent instead of giving up future picks and depleting our future draft capital. Okay, they missed that one but then they had a chance to add a young player (several were given away this summer) or 2nd round picks (Lin and Chandler are two players that could've both helped the team and came along with a 2nd rounder) with the TPE this summer.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I think some people are confusing failure with lying. Neil failed to do what he said he wanted to accomplish. That's not the same as lying. Olshey haters, take you're pick, he's either a failure or a liar.

Personally, I'd rather he lie to the press about his intentions than fail at his goals.

BNM

I guess I’m an NO hater, and I feel he’s either a liar or he fails at doing his job. I tend to go with liar, but in this case it’s probably better he’s a liar than a failure. Don’t like it either way...

 

[BBert]

Although I suspect that GMs in every profession find themselves in situations where they cannot be entirely candid, or sometimes not completely truthful, I don't know that Olshey has reason, motive, or personal advantage in repeatedly lying to the fan base. What I think is, he sets out aggressive, high reward strategies that in the vast majority of cases simply don't pan out. When he says, "We tried to do X, and we thought we could do Y, but AB and C just weren't there for us", that's probably true. Why wouldn't it be? Olshey has some successes, and some failures. We know about (and debate) the successes. What we don't know, and will never know, is just how many failures there have been. And what is a successful success rate for an NBA GM anyway? I'll bet a 10% success rate would make any GM, the GM of the year. Hell it could be one out of 100 for all I know. At least, I hope he's discussing that many potential scenarios in a year.

 

[hoopsjock]

I think some people are confusing failure with lying. Neil failed to do what he said he wanted to accomplish. That's not the same as lying. Olshey haters, take you're pick, he's either a failure or a liar.

Personally, I'd rather he lie to the press about his intentions than fail at his goals.

BNM

I'd prefer him to just not say anything than to lie but the lying part really doesn't bother me. This is coming from someone who was a huge supporter of his until a week and a half ago. I'm fine with going young around Dame and CJ, but I believe that can be executed better. The issue with that course is that more than likely you are not giving Dame enough immediate help. He's in his prime and I believe he has earned the right to ask for more talent around him. Wouldn't it be great to hear him say I think I can carry this team to a title instead of just I think I can lead this group to the playoffs? I'd also be fine with the approach of adding some more fire power to the team in the form of vets with playoff experience. If this was the plan then Olshey has failed, there simply isn't any other way to spin it. Now he could still rectify it by pulling off some trades but I'm just going off of what has happened so far.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Olshey Interviewed by Brook:

BlazersEdge summary: https://www.blazersedge.com/2018/8/...shey-blazers-traded-player-exception-ed-davis

One of the money quotes:
Olzendam asked Olshey about the lack of arrival of veterans to the team this summer:



I don't want this to turn into another Olshey bitch session. I just want to know who you think the 5 wings were.

Sorry, but did you really think that wouldnt happen? LOL

 

[Pinwheel1]

If the dude has unrealistic goals, and consistently fails at them because they're unreachable, then he's at least lying to himself. So technically he's a liar AND a failure

I have basically told that to every sales manager I have ever had who set unrealistic goals for his salesmen to make. It didn't help.

 

[riverman]

Dame enough immediate help. He's in his prime

I think this is something that folks should address...4 year college guys prime is not one and done college guys primes...the nba miles in Dame's career and Cj's started at an older age...it's not like Kobe or even Swanigan or Simons....entering the league at 19 is different than a guy like Dame who entered after 4 years of college or CJ who did the same I believe.

 

[chzbrgr]

I think some people are confusing failure with lying. Neil failed to do what he said he wanted to accomplish. That's not the same as lying. Olshey haters, take you're pick, he's either a failure or a liar.

Personally, I'd rather he lie to the press about his intentions than fail at his goals.

BNM

I get what you’re saying but isn’t it failure still to lie about what you were trying to do if you end up doing nothing?

Like, say he lied about who he was targeting, and he was really targeting a big man to replace nurk (boogie) he still failed to do that.

Or maybe he lied that he was targeting anyone at all and was strictly bargain bin shopping like he usually does. Isn’t that too a failure to realize the flaws in the roster?

The state of the franchise currently all looks like a failure on Neil’s part to me. Lie or don’t lie I don’t really care, all that matters are results. His results are wildly underwhelming.

I don’t confuse need to know information with results and I still hate Neil.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I think this is something that folks should address...4 year college guys prime is not one and done college guys primes...the nba miles in Dame's career and Cj's started at an older age...it's not like Kobe or even Swanigan or Simons....entering the league at 19 is different than a guy like Dame who entered after 4 years of college or CJ who did the same I believe.

This is an interesting thought, not sure I agree but I’m gonna think about it.

 

[riverman]

Something Olshey said that rings true as well is Mo and ET were battling injuries going into the playoffs last season...if both were healthy, we'd probably have made a better first round series against New Orleans....that was a factor in the sweep. I've never had the impression that our front office deceives the fanbase or is full of excuses..I feel like they are pretty clear about the hits and misses and the fact that this market is one that needs to improve from within not being a destination market. No GM is going to go public about conversations he has concerning trading a guy who's a starter now on the team or rotation player for one reason...they respect the player and if they keep him they don't want him feeling like he's trade fodder. That's a given to me.

 

[Cheese22]

PA has proven that he's not afraid to fire his GM, no matter how popular or successful they were. And I don't believe NO could lie to PA and not get caught. So, the fact NO is still here tells me that he's not the compulsive liar many think he is and PA must be aware of what moves NO has tried to make, only to be outbid.
We can sit here and say we should sign this guy or that guy, but the truth is many teams were able to outbid us. Technically that is NO's fault for giving out the money he did, but PA has the final say and has to take just as much blame as NO for the bad contracts.
The only FA we'll be able land are the unassuming, role player types. Any guy wanting the glitz and glam LA or NY won't be signing here. It's the Joel Pryzbillas and AFAs that are realistic targets. Which is why draft picks are so important to them. It's the only reliable way to add potential stars to the team. That's why they took a chance on Simons IMO.

 

[hoopsjock]

Something Olshey said that rings true as well is Mo and ET were battling injuries going into the playoffs last season...if both were healthy, we'd probably have made a better first round series against New Orleans....that was a factor in the sweep. I've never had the impression that our front office deceives the fanbase or is full of excuses..I feel like they are pretty clear about the hits and misses and the fact that this market is one that needs to improve from within not being a destination market. No GM is going to go public about conversations he has concerning trading a guy who's a starter now on the team or rotation player for one reason...they respect the player and if they keep him they don't want him feeling like he's trade fodder. That's a given to me.

If the reason for our poor showing in the playoffs was injuries then why did he say that he made a mistake by being too conservative with the TPE, draft picks, and young players and was going to switch his mindset to acquiring players that would help them in April? Once again you are allowing him to make excuses after failing to improve the team that simply aren't true otherwise he wouldn't have admitted to making a mistake. If during the exit interview he said that he truly believes that the injuries to those guys made a difference and that the "5 year plan" that he brings up was still on course then people would probably disagree with that but at least he could say that he's held true to what he said. Instead he couldn't help Dame and has to backtrack and spin everything. I'm just sick of it and that he seemingly thinks people buy that.

 

[hoopsjock]

PA has proven that he's not afraid to fire his GM, no matter how popular or successful they were. And I don't believe NO could lie to PA and not get caught. So, the fact NO is still here tells me that he's not the compulsive liar many think he is and PA must be aware of what moves NO has tried to make, only to be outbid.
We can sit here and say we should sign this guy or that guy, but the truth is many teams were able to outbid us. Technically that is NO's fault for giving out the money he did, but PA has the final say and has to take just as much blame as NO for the bad contracts.
The only FA we'll be able land are the unassuming, role player types. Any guy wanting the glitz and glam LA or NY won't be signing here. It's the Joel Pryzbillas and AFAs that are realistic targets. Which is why draft picks are so important to them. It's the only reliable way to add potential stars to the team. That's why they took a chance on Simons IMO.

I get all that, it makes sense, and I do blame Allen too. He's been way less involved than normal lately and I'm not sure why.

I just don't think either should get a pass when Olshey touts how aggressive Allen is and they are going to be this summer and specifically mentions targeting playoff proven vets and we end up with two 19 year old rookies and two free agents with a combined 0 playoff games in their careers. Something is off there.

 

[riverman]

Once again you are allowing him to make excuses

I'm not allowing anybody to do anything...I'm understanding how the offseason has unfolded and being objective about it...and I've stated many times that I believe we have gotten better this offseason...I'm really stoked with the draft picks and the 3 pt shooters we added to the bench....I'm stoked about Layman, Swanigan and Collins filling Big Ed's minutes...what I'm not is a believer that we're a bottom feeding franchise going downhill..I realize I don't have much company around S2 concerning my views but I call it like I see it...and it's fine to disagree..I get that a lot around here..don't mind a bit

 

[riverman]

Instead he couldn't help Dame

adding shooters helps Dame

 

[hoopsjock]

I'm not allowing anybody to do anything...I'm understanding how the offseason has unfolded and being objective about it...and I've stated many times that I believe we have gotten better this offseason...I'm really stoked with the draft picks and the 3 pt shooters we added to the bench....I'm stoked about Layman, Swanigan and Collins filling Big Ed's minutes...what I'm not is a believer that we're a bottom feeding franchise going downhill..I realize I don't have much company around S2 concerning my views but I call it like I see it...and it's fine to disagree..I get that a lot around here..don't mind a bit

The issue to me isn't about if the team is better or not. Heck this team could win 50 games and would probably finish with a worse seed. Our draft pick, Layman, Swanigan, Baldwin, and Collins were all going to be a factor in how good we would be no matter what else happened this off season because they were already on the team. I never felt this way before last week but I'm starting to think more and more that Olshey isn't really doing a good job of creating opportunities and then capitalizing on them. With the roster the way it is he needs to find a way to tweak things more than just hoping someone out of our young group steps up.

 

[Hoopguru]

I have basically told that to every sales manager I have ever had who set unrealistic goals for his salesmen to make. It didn't help.

When objective goals are set within an organization they can be different ratings (numeric scale against a goal, yes or no against a task, etc.) and different weightings. And each year the same goal can be weighted higher. When Paul and Neil sit down for performance reviews and how they are tracking against their goals/plan, Im sure Paul points out what his expectations are in improving and his critique as to where he is under performing. Neil would have been long gone, imo, if he wasn't tracking well against Pauls plan. As Clyde always said "no doubt about it". We know that the weighting is up big time on getting pass the first round.

 

[riverman]

The issue to me isn't about if the team is better or not. Heck this team could win 50 games and would probably finish with a worse seed. Our draft pick, Layman, Swanigan, Baldwin, and Collins were all going to be a factor in how good we would be no matter what else happened this off season because they were already on the team. I never felt this way before last week but I'm starting to think more and more that Olshey isn't really doing a good job of creating opportunities and then capitalizing on them. With the roster the way it is he needs to find a way to tweak things more than just hoping someone out of our young group steps up.

he said in his interview that all the guys mentioned needed to play to make the leap...with vets in front of them they won't develop into impact players while still young....he hinted that CJ probably should have played in front of Wes his second year but Wes was the vet that held him back that last season...and he said that was probably the mistake...he didn't mention Wes by name but said vets ahead of CJ on the roster kept him on the sidelines when he was actually ready to contribute...that meant Wes to me

 

[hoopsjock]

adding shooters helps Dame

At the expense of losing Davis, our best offensive rebounder and best finisher at the rim. I like Curry and think he was a good pick up but he plays the same position as our two best players, it doesn't help Dame that much.

 

[Hoopguru]

The issue to me isn't about if the team is better or not. Heck this team could win 50 games and would probably finish with a worse seed. Our draft pick, Layman, Swanigan, Baldwin, and Collins were all going to be a factor in how good we would be no matter what else happened this off season because they were already on the team. I never felt this way before last week but I'm starting to think more and more that Olshey isn't really doing a good job of creating opportunities and then capitalizing on them. With the roster the way it is he needs to find a way to tweak things more than just hoping someone out of our young group steps up.

Im with you on this and Im sure he realizes he better try and spring a big trade that better balances the roster. I think Paul probably shares the blame in the bad signings and has cut him some slack but, he beer get this team past the first round this year or he's probably gone.

 

[riverman]

At the expense of losing Davis, our best offensive rebounder and best finisher at the rim. I like Curry and think he was a good pick up but he plays the same position as our two best players, it doesn't help Dame that much.

The two shooters we signed weren't replacing Ed....they were replacing Connaughton and Bazz...Collins, Layman, Swanigan and Meyers will battle for Ed's minutes....he explained this. Defenders left Ed alone and doubled up on our shooters...they did the same with Plumlee….no knock on Ed or Plumlee...he said we needed more offense from Ed's position...I understand why and I loved Ed but it was probably the right move going forward...Ed wouldn't be happy with a reduced role...he went to a team where he'll probably play more than he did here