Chad Ford Chat Wrap

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OSUBlazerfan

OSUBlazerfan

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Mark (Corvallis, OR)


What is going on with Blazers organization right now? Is paul allen really not concerned that he will lose a large portion of the fanbase if pritchard goes? He has been such a huge part of connecting the organziation back to the fans and it seems unfathomable he would his Vulcan chronies destroy that!

Chad Ford (1:11 PM)


Madness. Chaos. What was up with those press conferences yesterday? Why trot out Kevin Pritchard, who has no information he can share, and make him go through that. Why does Larry Miller grant a 15 minute interview and then say nothing. It's all so bizarre. I can't speak to the internal warfare going on inside the Blazers. Clearly there are a lot of players involved with a lot of agendas. But from the outside looking in, Pritchard has been a very successful GM. They'll be hard pressed to find a better evaluator of talent, a guy with a better long term vision and a guy with a better relationship with the media and fans than Pritchard.




Joe (Davis)


Is a team going to risk taking on the contract demands and ego of Kevin Pritchard? He is very good, but his reputation makes him sounds like the Terrell Owens of NBA GMs.

Chad Ford (1:14 PM)


I agree he's being portrayed that way. But who are the sources and what's their agenda? I talk to a lot of people in the league. Not everyone likes Pritchard. Some think he's brash and cocky. But none of those guys are throwing him under the bus right now. I think people should be looking at the folks that want his job (both within the organization and from outside the organization). Those are the folks killing him right now. I love the NBA, but there are only 30 NBA GM jobs and some folks would sell their young to get one.




Greg (OKC)


Hard pressed to find a better evaluator of talent than Pritchard? Greg Oden meet Kevin Durant please.

Chad Ford (1:18 PM)


That's a hard one. Unless Pritchard (and the rest of the organization for that matter) ignored the advice of the Blazers medical staff (which I have a hard time believing) and took him knowing he had major medical issues -- I don't know how you can really fault him. I spoke with virtually every NBA decision maker in the league. All of them told me they'd take Oden. This second guessing now doesn't reflect the sentiment at the time. Durant was seen as a very special talent who could average 30 ppg in the league. But Oden was considered a huge defensive presence who could potentially be a factor offensively as well. While many of us felt that Durant was a better basketball player, I don't think there was anyone who was planning on taking Durant ahead of Oden.
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Fuck Greg from Oklahoma City. Fucking farm shit.
 
Chad Ford has always been a Pritchard fan (for better or worse).
 
Why do folks assume they will lose a large part of the fan base? I am a Blazer fan, not a KP fan. KP is an ok Gm who has made his share of mistakes, and his share of good decisions. Let's get real here. If KP was fired, some part of the fan base might be peeved for a day or two. But nobody really gives a shit enough to stop being a Blazer fan.
 
Man, I've been following this a little bit, and you guys are just plain out of your mind if some office hacks ends up firing the basketball guys in your organization. At first I thought this was just a lot of talk about nothing, but Ford is right. That "press conference" yesterday was really freaking strange, and it doesn't bode well for anything. All I can say is that I'd like to have KP running my Bulls, or even here in Indiana running the Pacers. I guess Greg from nowhere and other folks might not know what they have till it's gone.
 
i think blazers fan should be ready to peeved
 
MikeDC said:
Man, I've been following this a little bit, and you guys are just plain out of your mind if some office hacks ends up firing the basketball guys in your organization. At first I thought this was just a lot of talk about nothing, but Ford is right. That "press conference" yesterday was really freaking strange, and it doesn't bode well for anything. All I can say is that I'd like to have KP running my Bulls, or even here in Indiana running the Pacers. I guess Greg from nowhere and other folks might not know what they have till it's gone.
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Well said.

I've been increasingly critical of KP in the past year, but that's not because I wanted him fired, I wanted him to correct course and learn from what I perceive to be some minor errors. I want him to succeed because I think he's a pretty damn fine talent evaluator and I want to see him make the full transition to excellent talent consolidator and team builder.
 
Were Pritchard's hands tied last trade deadline? What about this trade deadline (for a more higher risk/higher reward deal)? What about during the offseason? Was there something more behind the Turkoglu fiasco?
 
I don't know if this has been mentioned by any of you, but why the fuck would Pritch go behind ownership's back and offer a deal to Roy and Aldridge that wasn't actually offered by ownership? That's like me walking into a car dealership offering 40,000 for a car on behalf of my father, and he's not yet sure even what make, model, or price range he's settled on yet.

I don't get any of this.
 
Crimson the Cat said:
I don't know if this has been mentioned by any of you, but why the fuck would Pritch go behind ownership's back and offer a deal to Roy and Aldridge that wasn't actually offered by ownership? That's like me walking into a car dealership offering 40,000 for a car on behalf of my father, and he's not yet sure even what make, model, or price range he's settled on yet.

I don't get any of this.
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That's not the issue, it was trying to publicly side with Roy and Aldridge by not owning management's position during the negotiations; he made it clear he was frustrated with people above him (Vulcan or Allen?) playing hard ball.
 
Nikolokolus said:
That's not the issue, it was trying to publicly side with Roy and Aldridge by not owning management's position during the negotiations; he made it clear he was frustrated with people above him (Vulcan or Allen?) playing hard ball.
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Ok. Thanks. I hadn't understood it that way. So he was playing good cop, and the Vulcs were angry, vicious, prick-dipper cops. Gotcha.

But, if he publicly sided with Roy, where were those comments. Do you recall that? I don't.
 
Crimson the Cat said:
Ok. Thanks. I hadn't understood it that way. So he was playing good cop, and the Vulcs were angry, vicious, prick-dipper cops. Gotcha.

But, if he publicly sided with Roy, where were those comments. Do you recall that? I don't.
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In the Oregonian. And I should say that he never said anything explicitly anti-Vulcan or pro Roy, it was just implicit in his tone
 
MikeDC said:
All I can say is that I'd like to have KP running my Bulls, or even here in Indiana running the Pacers. I guess Greg from nowhere and other folks might not know what they have till it's gone.
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I know what I have because I remember what we had before (shudder).

In KPIT.

:cheers:
 
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IKPIT
 
Pritchard put together a team that I fell in love with ... again. I never thought I'd connect with a team like those Porter- and Pippen-led clubs. I was so wrong. Although strangely with this team I've become more enamored with the way Pritch goes about managing than really what any one player has done (sorry Brandon).

Where KP goes, I go. Simple as that. He and the scouts are simply the best talent evaluators in the business. The culture he and Nate have imprinted on the team is, IMO, also tops. Dealing with other teams may have become a major issue, but even then he was able to bring Camby to Portland. For all the talk about a premier free agent not being brought in, he sure has signed some very integral players: Miller, Blake, Udoka, Howard, and Przybilla.

He's taken the team from the gutter and with each season added more and more successful pieces, which in turn added more and more wins than victories; achievement than disappointments; and, fans in the seats. I'm sure Pritch has made some mistakes -- and who the fuck wouldn't that was learning on the fly!!! -- but the glaring pink ass elephant in the room is that he has made up for those mistakes time and time again with a bounty of positives. He has shown no inclination to not continue bringing more successful pieces, add more wins, and achievements. So, suck it up Vulcanopolos and grasp this very mind-blowing fact. You're all not that important. Pritchard and Penn are/were. Your feelings are hurt? Well fuck your feelings. Give the man his raise. Give him his extension. Treat your valuable assets with respect.

Fuck.
 
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Chad Ford is being pretty fair here, and accurate, IMO.

I'm not going to freak out until KP's not back... and only then if I don't like his replacement. Actually, I probably won't freak out, but I will almost certainly be critical of the organization for letting an effective GM go.

Ed O.
 
Ed O said:
Chad Ford is being pretty fair here, and accurate, IMO.

I'm not going to freak out until KP's not back... and only then if I don't like his replacement. Actually, I probably won't freak out, but I will almost certainly be critical of the organization for letting an effective GM go.

Ed O.
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And that is the essence of my concern. He's not perfect, no GM is. But he is, inarguably, an effective GM, and god damn they are at a premium.
 
I wouldn't freak out or stop rooting for the team...I'd just be sad that the team (likely) made itself weaker. I have a lot of optimism for the team's current talent base and its prospects with the man who assembled that talent base continuing to make the decisions. While Whitsitt had his share of flaws, he demonstrably was capable of building very good teams. The team cutting ties to him made me worried, since the likelihood of getting a superior GM was low (though certainly not zero). The Patternash/Natterson regime certainly justified my gloomy outlook.

Once again, I'm worried and for the same reason. While it's certainly possible to have a better GM than Pritchard, chances aren't high that one will be available. I think Pritchard is a top-five GM. There's a lot more downside potential to replacing him than upside potential. A lot, lot more.
 
The Professional Fan said:
And that is the essence of my concern. He's not perfect, no GM is. But he is, inarguably, an effective GM, and god damn they are at a premium.
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And to add, I think KP gets Ptd and the type of team many of us want. To build a competitve team that also has a culture and character the city can be proud of is more important to Ptd than other franchises.

I don't know if a new GM will get that or be as effective of screening that out in players.
 
it's_GO_time said:
And to add, I think KP gets Ptd and the type of team many of us want. To build a competitve team that also has a culture and character the city can be proud of is more important to Ptd than other franchises.

I don't know if a new GM will get that or be as effective of screening that out in players.
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Very good point. Agreed.
 
Minstrel said:
I wouldn't freak out or stop rooting for the team...I'd just be sad that the team (likely) made itself weaker. I have a lot of optimism for the team's current talent base and its prospects with the man who assembled that talent base continuing to make the decisions. While Whitsitt had his share of flaws, he demonstrably was capable of building very good teams. The team cutting ties to him made me worried, since the likelihood of getting a superior GM was low (though certainly not zero). The Patternash/Natterson regime certainly justified my gloomy outlook.

Once again, I'm worried and for the same reason. While it's certainly possible to have a better GM than Pritchard, chances aren't high that one will be available. I think Pritchard is a top-five GM. There's a lot more downside potential to replacing him than upside potential. A lot, lot more.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with that ... especially in light of how the Vulcans handled the Mora firing and Carroll hiring -- a move I consider lateral at best as a disinterested observer
 
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it's_GO_time said:
And to add, I think KP gets Ptd and the type of team many of us want. To build a competitve team that also has a culture and character the city can be proud of is more important to Ptd than other franchises.

I don't know if a new GM will get that or be as effective of screening that out in players.
Click to expand...

Sadly, there is a lot of truth to that. The Blazer GM does have a serious handicap in dealing with all the puritanical BS spouted by the local media.

In 28 NBA cities, the fans would dance in the streets if their team landed Kobe Bryant. In Portland, there would be groups organizing boycotts. :crazy:
 
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