Blazers getting a G league team, playing at U of P. HCP hired as G-League janitor

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It would be logical to name the team the Vulcans as a nod to our Seattle-based overlords.
 
Mediocre Man said:
Still asinine to me they will play 5 miles away. Dumb. Go to a suburb or different part of Oregon
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Why? The Western Burbs have the Hops. The Southern Burbs Have Drag Racing. The Eastern Burbs have Cornhole , fishing, and hunting. Only the Northern Burbs were left out. Perfect area.
 
WesleyMatthews said:
Why do you think its dumb? You've provided no argument except your opinion. Well hey I think its dumb to play in a different city. I'll actually provide reasons as have other posters;

If they go to Eugene its much more difficult for players and coaches to work with both teams. Maybe Salem would be easier, but then really what's the advantage of being in Salem when bigger Portland is even closer and with more potential fans.

When teams like the Ignite come to town there could actually be decent sized crowds. Makes much more sense to have it in Portland where more fans, players, coaches, media, etc can actually see it.

The Stampede was in Idaho when the Blazers owned it. What advantage did that have over all the logistical problems of the team being hours away from Portland? When the Jazz bought the team; guess what city they moved it to?
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My argument is ignorance. Marketing, increasing fan base, expanding the brand. It’s going to be 5 miles from the Rose Garden. I would literally never go
 
tykendo said:
Why? The Western Burbs have the Hops. The Southern Burbs Have Drag Racing. The Eastern Burbs have Cornhole , fishing, and hunting. Only the Northern Burbs were left out. Perfect area.
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Except the northern burbs have the actual Trailblazers, Winterhwks and Timbers
 
Mediocre Man said:
My argument is ignorance. Marketing, increasing fan base, expanding the brand. It’s going to be 5 miles from the Rose Garden. I would literally never go
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You live in Texas, you wouldn't go even if it was Bend.

Here's an interesting thought process. I bet most people who would go the games, are more likely to go now that the team is local, instead of having to drive 50-100 miles to watch a game.

I wouldn't go to games if they were more than 35 minutes away (Chiles is about 35 minutes from me). Most fans aren't going to travel that far for what amounts to AAA baseball, so why put it in a place that's far away from the states (by far) biggest population center and on top of that, is in a better facility than what is available for use within probably 100 miles radius of Portland?

Would I have been fine with the team in Corvallis or Eugene? Sure. I would be far less likely to go to the games if it was that far away, tbh.

But in the grand scheme of things, I don't really care where the team is situated. Complaining about that just seems like bitching for the sake of bitching.
 
julius said:
You live in Texas, you wouldn't go even if it was Bend.

Here's an interesting thought process. I bet most people who would go the games, are more likely to go now that the team is local, instead of having to drive 50-100 miles to watch a game.

I wouldn't go to games if they were more than 35 minutes away (Chiles is about 35 minutes from me). Most fans aren't going to travel that far for what amounts to AAA baseball, so why put it in a place that's far away from the states (by far) biggest population center and on top of that, is in a better facility than what is available for use within probably 100 miles radius of Portland?

Would I have been fine with the team in Corvallis or Eugene? Sure. I would be far less likely to go to the games if it was that far away, tbh.

But in the grand scheme of things, I don't really care where the team is situated. Complaining about that just seems like bitching for the sake of bitching.
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You wouldn’t have to because the ACTUAL Team is there
 
Mediocre Man said:
My argument is ignorance. Marketing, increasing fan base, expanding the brand. It’s going to be 5 miles from the Rose Garden. I would literally never go
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Why do you think this is permanent? I still think it makes sense to start the team up close to home while looking for a suitable long term location.
 
julius said:
maybe people enjoy basketball enough that they want to see a game, and not pay 100 bucks for tickets?
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Or watch the young Blazers players. Or watch young lottery talent traveling through such as the Ignite. The G league and Blazers are a totally different product and a totally different fan experience. Nobody would go to one of the games and mistake it for the other.
 
Mediocre Man said:
I’d keep them in Oregon or SW Wash, but def to expand fan base, viewership, etc

just my opinion, but If I wanted to watch basketball, I’d watch the Blazers, but if I lived in say Bend or some place like that I would tend to go to the g league games
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personally, I think Salem would have checked both boxes. It's close enough to Portland, and it a good sized population with no competition for viewers. I'm just not sure if the Willamette U field house would have been sufficient?

https://www.wubearcats.com/facilities/cone/cone-field-house.jpg
 
wizenheimer said:
personally, I think Salem would have checked both boxes. It's close enough to Portland, and it a good sized population with no competition for viewers. I'm just not sure if the Willamette U field house would have been sufficient?

https://www.wubearcats.com/facilities/cone/cone-field-house.jpg
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2500 seating capacity. As has been mentioned a few times in this thread, average G-league attendance is 3,000. Obviously they would want a space that could hold more than that. The number of college arenas in the state that can hold more than that is lower than one might expect. The Chiles Center holds about 5K. It's understandable why they went where they did.
 
PtldPlatypus said:
2500 seating capacity. As has been mentioned a few times in this thread, average G-league attendance is 3,000. Obviously they would want a space that could hold more than that. The number of college arenas in the state that can hold more than that is lower than one might expect. The Chiles Center holds about 5K. It's understandable why they went where they did.
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yeah, I guess that's true. A 2,500 capacity seems to be the standard in these small colleges like Willamette, Pacific, and George Fox

maybe the Blazers can bring back Mike & Mike for the G-League telecasts. I know where they can get a cheap replay guy
 
WesleyMatthews said:
But you went to Boise to watch the Stampede?
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No. But my point is people in Boise might have become Blazer fans because the G league team was there. People in say….Pendleton, who are huge Blazer fans might enjoy going to their G league teams games. People in Portland can just go to the actual Blazer games
 
Natebishop3 said:
Why do you think this is permanent? I still think it makes sense to start the team up close to home while looking for a suitable long term location.
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I have no idea? It was just an opinion. I’ve had literal bat shit crazy opinions that didn’t get this much attention. It’s crazy
 
wizenheimer said:
personally, I think Salem would have checked both boxes. It's close enough to Portland, and it a good sized population with no competition for viewers. I'm just not sure if the Willamette U field house would have been sufficient?

https://www.wubearcats.com/facilities/cone/cone-field-house.jpg
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I think thats the size of my high school gym.

I mean sure the new team could play in a place like that, but seems to make so much more sense at a bigger venue in Portland, be closer to everything with the main team, and more fans.

If the teams were more stand alone and had players down there for multiple months straight I could see different cities trying to expand the "Blazers" brand. But wanting to have players practice with the main team and play with the Gleague team in the same day multiple times per week, plus Oregon having one legit metro city, it just doesn't make as much sense to have it elsewhere.
 
Mediocre Man said:
No. But my point is people in Boise might have become Blazer fans because the G league team was there. People in say….Pendleton, who are huge Blazer fans might enjoy going to their G league teams games. People in Portland can just go to the actual Blazer games
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Thats a legit advantage and yes I agree for those longer distance fans.

But how many is that, a couple thousand? Compared to a Portland metro area of a couple million. Also, a draw will be the opposition teams talent often as much or more than the home Blazers G League team fans, and again Portland is a better spot for that. Plus the team logistics.

These competing factors don't evenly offset, it greatly skews towards having the G League team in Portland making more sense.
 
I think airport size and proximity have to be figured into it.

Playing in Salem there would be some difficulty at times getting in and out of PDX.

Bend would be difficult.

Eugene is a little better but flights are limited.
 
Mediocre Man said:
I have no idea? It was just an opinion. I’ve had literal bat shit crazy opinions that didn’t get this much attention. It’s crazy
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Well its an opinion that I think a lot of us initially shared as intuitively it yes makes sense to have the teams spread out. But once you look at all the many pros and cons, as well as what works well for other NBA teams, and the actual types of options in other areas of Oregon it greatly skews towards having the G league team in Portland.
 
SlyPokerDog said:
I think airport size and proximity have to be figured into it.

Playing in Salem there would be some difficulty at times getting in and out of PDX.

Bend would be difficult.

Eugene is a little better but flights are limited.
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Great point, yes I didn't consider this but when your talking about 41 opponents flying in per year with staff and needing hotels, etc.

Plus sponsorship opportunities, NBA probably wants to make this a more legit minor league. Can you imagine trying to get business sponsors in Pendleton instead of Portland?

I think the Ignite is a game changer too. If Wemba was on that team this year, I'd certainly go see the game and would pay a ton for close seats. Maybe eventually the GLeague can claw away some of the oversea talent.
 
I wonder if they'll ever have a "single A" type of team?

If the G League really improves and gets television deals, sponsors, oversea talent, millions for prospects to skip college, it could become a legit league rivaling all the european pro leagues. Players contracts could all get well into six figures if not some in the millions. There could be a higher level of play and a lot of competition for those roster spots.

At that point it might make sense to have a development league for the development league. I mean baseball has three levels or more I think.
 
wizenheimer said:
personally, I think Salem would have checked both boxes. It's close enough to Portland, and it a good sized population with no competition for viewers. I'm just not sure if the Willamette U field house would have been sufficient?

https://www.wubearcats.com/facilities/cone/cone-field-house.jpg
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If it were in Salem, I would go to the games for sure. No idea whether enough other people would, or whether Salem even has an available gym that's big enough. In Portland, I won't go to any, but there is a larger population base and Blazers fans who maybe can't afford to go to Blazers games. In the end, putting it in Portland is probably part financial decision, part advantages of having the team nearby for player development and evaluation purposes.
 
Eugene is not an option. They just began a huge marketing program to draw more fans to Duck basketball games. The women's team already has a big following. Plus the fans also support the HS games. Adding another team there (and I assume Corvallis as well for the same reason) would be stupid.

Does Bend or Pendleton really have the demographics for that? Portland is the best option IMO. Tickets are cheap and it will provide the best immediate option to create excitement for fans who can' afford Blazer games unless they are way up in the cheap seats.
Most other teams are doing the same for a reason.
 
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