Contenders Not Standing Pat

[oldmangrouch]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/03/03/big.men.contenders/index.html

Interesting article by Aschburner. While some teams are willing to "stay the course", including the L*kers, many contenders are still tweaking their rosters, trying to find any possible edge.

It really makes me wonder where KP is coming from in his decision to be so passive. Does he have so much faith in the current roster that he can't see their flaws.....or does he have so little faith in the roster he has just thrown in the towel on this season? Maybe he just considers "minor" moves beneath him.

I admit - I just don't get it.

 

[THE HCP]

What's there to get. We aren't getting close to the finals this year. Or even next! Why add some minor piece that will hinder the growth and maturity of our young guys?

 

[alex42083]

Mikki Moore? No thanks
Joe Smith? Yuck
Stromile Swift? What a waste of talent.
Drew Gooden? Eh, he's OK. Not good enough to make a big impact for us though.
Adonal Foyle? That's a streetttcchhh..

Honestly, I think Channing is just as good as any of those guys if he got the PT. There's not much to be had out there that would give us an edge.

 

[bigbailes]

as hcp said, it isn't this year or even next year that we should be looking at. i know alot of people on here don't want to wait but it's a process and our window will open.

 

[Deebag]

How do you not get it? We're the 2nd youngest team in the NBA and we're chasing the #2 spot in the Western Conference. To risk losing any of these young fine players and possibly ruin chemistry to gain some veteran player with playoff experience just so we can possibly get past the first round sounds absolutely absurd. I'm glad it's KP and not you impatient fans running this team.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

Joe Smith would have been nice.

 

[KingSpeed]

A lot of these late pick ups end up backfiring, hurting chemistry, etc. Remember when we made that clutch pick up of Rod Strickland in 2001?

 

[ABM]

What's there to get. We aren't getting close to the finals this year. Or even next! Why add some minor piece that will hinder the growth and maturity of our young guys?

+1

 

[Tortimer]

Joe Smith would have been nice.

I agree and adding Joe Smith would have been nice. I was hoping at the trade deadline to at least trade for Smith as our backup PF. I doubt Smith would have signed with us but we could have gotten Smith for almost nothing at the deadline.

 

[Pinwheel1]

A lot of these late pick ups end up backfiring, hurting chemistry, etc. Remember when we made that clutch pick up of Rod Strickland in 2001?

You must be thinking of someone else. We Picked up Rod in the summer of 92'

 

[Ed O]

You must be thinking of someone else. We Picked up Rod in the summer of 92'

We reacquired him for 21 games in 2000-01. That was the year that Bonzi blew his knee out and we fell apart down the stretch but still won 50 games.

Ah, the good ol' days where 50 wins was a disaster

Ed O.

 

[RR7]

Even if we wanted topick one of them up, was Moore, Gooden, or Smith going to choose coming to Portland over Boston, SA, or Cleveland, respectively? Hell no.

 

[STOMP]

I agree and adding Joe Smith would have been nice. I was hoping at the trade deadline to at least trade for Smith as our backup PF. I doubt Smith would have signed with us but we could have gotten Smith for almost nothing at the deadline.

I'd imagine Smith would rather play for a contender then a team looking to get a feel for playoff ball... dude is 33.

Besides, Portland already has quality size coming off their bench. I don't see the listed guys looking down at Channing let alone Joel. KP not making a move at the deadline is likely a reflection of his confidence in the guys and approval of them buying into their roles.

15=16 was the being served this preseason for the guys to rally around and it looks like it's going to happen

STOMP

 

[Tortimer]

I'd imagine Smith would rather play for a contender then a team looking to get a feel for playoff ball... dude is 33.

Besides, Portland already has quality size coming off their bench. I don't see the listed guys looking down at Channing let alone Joel. KP not making a move at the deadline is likely a reflection of his confidence in the guys and approval of them buying into their roles.

15=16 was the being served this preseason for the guys to rally around and it looks like it's going to happen

STOMP

If we traded for Smith he wouldn't have a choice and I think he would be happy here for the rest of the year. I don't think Channing is even close to as good as Smith. I'm talking backup PF behind LMA and Outlaw (part time PF/SF). I think he is the one guy picked up that has a chance to help these teams in the playoffs and maybe Gooden if healthy which it doesn't look like he will be IMO.

I know people will say let it bake but taking Frye's minutes and maybe a few here and there wouldn't hurt us because Frye isn't part of our future IMO.

 

[RR7]

And what were we supposed to trade for him that would have been worthwhile for us and OKC?

 

[Tortimer]

And what were we supposed to trade for him that would have been worthwhile for us and OKC?

At the time the trade feel apart with NO I looked and there were quit a few things we could have traded for him and it would have been easy because Okc would have taken almost anything for him that help them in the future. I can't remember but maybe it was Frye (but not sure) and some 2nd round picks. There were a couple of different things we could have done.

 

[PapaG]

We reacquired him for 21 games in 2000-01. That was the year that Bonzi blew his knee out and we fell apart down the stretch but still won 50 games.

Ah, the good ol' days where 50 wins was a disaster

Ed O.

With an $86.5 million payroll, 50 wins, the 7th seed, and a first round sweep was a relative disaster.

 

[STOMP]

If we traded for Smith he wouldn't have a choice and I think he would be happy here for the rest of the year. I don't think Channing is even close to as good as Smith. I'm talking backup PF behind LMA and Outlaw (part time PF/SF). I think he is the one guy picked up that has a chance to help these teams in the playoffs and maybe Gooden if healthy which it doesn't look like he will be IMO.

I know people will say let it bake but taking Frye's minutes and maybe a few here and there wouldn't hurt us because Frye isn't part of our future IMO.

meh... JS is pretty good but I'm not losing any sleep over not having him on the roster.

STOMP

 

[Tortimer]

meh... JS is pretty good but I'm not losing any sleep over not having him on the roster.

STOMP

I'm not losing any sleep over it and didn't even bring it up on this forum because I thought we might be making a more important trade at the time. I'm just saying I wouldn't have minded trading a little something for Smith if we were not going to make another trade. I wouldn't want to give up anything we could use in the future but I do think he would have helped us make the playoffs and in the playoffs.

 

[STOMP]

I'm not losing any sleep over it and didn't even bring it up on this forum because I thought we might be making a more important trade at the time. I'm just saying I wouldn't have minded trading a little something for Smith if we were not going to make another trade. I wouldn't want to give up anything we could use in the future but I do think he would have helped us make the playoffs and in the playoffs.

I wouldn't have minded either, but if everyone is healthy I doubt JS would have averaged double digit minutes.

STOMP

 

[Pinwheel1]

We reacquired him for 21 games in 2000-01. That was the year that Bonzi blew his knee out and we fell apart down the stretch but still won 50 games.

Ah, the good ol' days where 50 wins was a disaster

Ed O.

Wow did I block that one out.

 

[Minstrel]

Wow did I block that one out.

To be fair, though, Rod didn't do anything wrong in that short stint. He was a decent reserve and didn't make waves. Stoudamire was the one who seemed to get his nose out of joint over the move, which is what apparently hurt chemistry.

 

[oldmangrouch]

2 points.

First, we are already on "plan B". Oden is in street clothes and Joel is playing with a broken hand. If Joel goes down, there is no "Plan C", unless you believe Frye is an NBA center. There is no shame in making minor, short-term adjustments in response to injury.

Second, a number of people have pointed out that we are not winning the title this year anyway. So what's your point? Should the team just quit trying until/unless they are guaranteed to go all the way? Call me old fashioned, but I want the team to play till the final whistle. No one is going to guarantee the team a play-off berth. No one is going to guarantee the team a free pass to the 2nd round. That is no excuse for the players to run up the white flag, and it is no excuse for the front office to quit on the team and the fans.

 

[oldmangrouch]

To be fair, though, Rod didn't do anything wrong in that short stint. He was a decent reserve and didn't make waves. Stoudamire was the one who seemed to get his nose out of joint over the move, which is what apparently hurt chemistry.

Agreed. All that situation proved was that Damon was seriously screwed up. If the team had traded him then, team history might have turned out very differently.

 

[MARIS61]

We could easily win the Title this year, with the guys we have.

It's simply a matter of jelling, and getting into a consistently overpowering rhythm.

Bake it!

 

[andalusian]

We could easily win the Title this year, with the guys we have.

It's simply a matter of jelling, and getting into a consistently overpowering rhythm.

Bake it!

Making jello had to do with packets, boiled water and chilling in the fridge.

If you bake it - it will not jell!

This message does not compute.

 

[KingSpeed]

You must be thinking of someone else. We Picked up Rod in the summer of 92'

Yes, he was a great pick up in 92. But we picked him BACK up in 2001. We were in first place when we picked him in like Feb/March. And then we fell to 7th by season's end.

 

[KingSpeed]

To be fair, though, Rod didn't do anything wrong in that short stint. He was a decent reserve and didn't make waves. Stoudamire was the one who seemed to get his nose out of joint over the move, which is what apparently hurt chemistry.

Yea, it was weird. Rod actually played pretty well. But it was a turning point nonetheless. Or maybe just a coincidence.