D69 at clubblazers with some interesting insight on Blazers management structure

[Nikolokolus]

I just thought I'd post what he had to say because he supposedly has connections within the organization and is known to be pretty reliable.

http://www.clubblazers.com/blazers-...801.html?sid=441b5ef766b62088da6200afd04dde0c

This time around Paul Allen is asking Cho for more data before any moves get made. Paul Allen wants more facts then "gut feel / thinks it is a good deal", so he can make a better decision. Paul is more involved and who can blame him.

Paul Allen is making Cho earn his money with data.... and maybe it's a mistake, but at this point I think Paul is learning and getting smarter from past mistakes that just didn't work...
-bringing in talent, but no chemistry
-bringing in talent, but questionable character
-signing players after one great season as a blazer (with the exception of Camby)
...

So for people clamoring for Cho to make a trade and earn his money, maybe it's time to look up the food chain. For better or worse it sounds as though Mr. Allen has a little bit of Heisley (Grizzlies owner) in him.

Hopefully this works out (yikes!)

 

[THE HCP]

Hey Nik, who is this guy?

 

[Nikolokolus]

Hey Nik, who is this guy?

I don't know him personally ...

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I've known D69 for quite some time from Hoopsworld (probably 10 years or so) and met him once (NateBishop was a witness back when he was on HW too) or twice. He's pretty legit. Him and "TBpup" (deal coming soon source) have been around for a while on the blazers board and usually have good mysterious connections with the organization.

 

[MARIS61]

Darius Miles was a Paul Allen pick.

 

[MickZagger]

I've known D69 for quite some time from Hoopsworld (probably 10 years or so) and met him once (NateBishop was a witness back when he was on HW too) or twice. He's pretty legit. Him and "TBpup" (deal coming soon source) have been around for a while on the blazers board and usually have good mysterious connections with the organization.

I used to be on Hoopsworld back in the day. Rarely posted, but always got good info off that board.

 

[STOMP]

This time around Paul Allen is asking Cho for more data before any moves get made. Paul Allen wants more facts then "gut feel / thinks it is a good deal", so he can make a better decision. Paul is more involved and who can blame him.

Paul Allen is making Cho earn his money with data.... and maybe it's a mistake, but at this point I think Paul is learning and getting smarter from past mistakes that just didn't work...
-bringing in talent, but no chemistry
-bringing in talent, but questionable character
-signing players after one great season as a blazer (with the exception of Camby)

producing data for analysis is supposed to be one of Cho's strengths... maybe being more involved in the decision making process then he was under KP has been part of PA's plan all along?

here's hoping management involves some of the same thinkers that targeted Wes

STOMP

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

I think alot of people would be surprised how involved owners are in personnel decisions. With the crazy money that gets spent on draft day, it is not very difficult to believe Paul Allen has a strong opinion/input on every deal.

I can also vouch for D69 and TBPup and know them personally.

 

[illmatic99]

Deal coming soon was MM. TBPup was the "shorts" guy, iirc.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Deal coming soon was MM. TBPup was the "shorts" guy, iirc.

Yet TBPup is legit and has mysterious connections with the organization, and is vouched for by people on the board, and I am an ass for starting the deal coming soon thread about the same damn thing? Ya, that's fair.

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Deal coming soon was MM. TBPup was the "shorts" guy, iirc.

TBPup also put out a "WHEN" not "IF" alert saying this team will have a very different look in a couple of months. I would give it a good chance of happening since it is not just the Blazers he has contacts with.

 

[Natebishop3]

Yet TBPup is legit and has mysterious connections with the organization, and is vouched for by people on the board, and I am an ass for starting the deal coming soon thread about the same damn thing? Ya, that's fair.

He doesn't post here so he still has mystery about him.... you're just plain old MM

 

[Charcoal Filtered]

Yet TBPup is legit and has mysterious connections with the organization, and is vouched for by people on the board, and I am an ass for starting the deal coming soon thread about the same damn thing? Ya, that's fair.

If TBPup were to post here, I think he would recieve the same criticism. He still has doubters on the RealGM board. Every source I have encountered on boards has been met with the same doubt.

 

[Ed O]

That link's post looks like pure opinion/conjecture.

Maybe it's based on inside information, but it's not stated as that.

Ed O.

 

[BBert]

I thing Paul has always had his fingers in the pie. After all, it's his pie. Wouldn't we all? Of course we would. And hopefully we'd learn from past mistakes.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

I want Paul Allen gone and Phil Knight to buy the Blazers! Keep it Oregon, and send all those sonic jack offs home!!!!!!

 

[Pinwheel1]

If Phil was interested he would be great. But he is not (and has stated that over and over). Portland does not have many Billionaire options.

 

[BBert]

If Phil was interested he would be great. But he is not (and has stated that over and over). Portland does not have many Billionaire options.

Yeah, Phil likes making money.

 

[Minstrel]

If this were true (and I have no real reason to believe that "D69" knows anything), it would suggest that Allen is the acting GM and he signed Cho almost as a consultant...an advisory role. That wouldn't be a great development.

However, who knows whether any of this is true.

 

[PapaG]

That link's post looks like pure opinion/conjecture.

Maybe it's based on inside information, but it's not stated as that.

Ed O.

I noticed the same thing. Although, it does reaffirm my view of Rich Cho as being a mere Yes Man. Thus, I will choose to embrace it as fact.

 

[BrianFromWA]

If this were true (and I have no real reason to believe that "D69" knows anything), it would suggest that Allen is the acting GM and he signed Cho almost as a consultant...an advisory role. That wouldn't be a great development.

However, who knows whether any of this is true.

I get what you're saying, but is that really that different from the rest of the business world? The CEO of Boeing isn't the world's expert on aircraft design and wing engineering, but he makes decisions based on what his "consultants" (directors, executives, etc) tell him. Bezos @ Amazon makes decisions based on what his consultants (the "Senior Leadership Team) present him with, and delegates things that he doesn't think are important to others. I don't think PA is the epitome of evil for being an "Acting GM", I think that he'd be justified in telling Cho to work the phones and put numbers and analyses together, and vetoing big decisions if he wants to.

 

[Minstrel]

I don't think PA is the epitome of evil for being an "Acting GM", I think that he'd be justified in telling Cho to work the phones and put numbers and analyses together, and vetoing big decisions if he wants to.

I don't think he's the epitome of evil, either, but as far as I'm concerned the GM position of a sports franchise is more equivalent to the CTO of a tech company. He should be the top of the chain of command as far as the company's core competency (aerospace engineering in Boeing's case, basketball in the Blazers' case). Allen and any type of "President of Operations" should be equivalent to the board of directors and CEO...they set a budget and set goals, and then let the CTO (or whoever's the top position within the organization's core competency...like the GM of a sports franchise) decide how to get there.

So, sure...ultimately, the buck stops with Allen. He should veto anything that seems reckless or budget-busting. But he's not a basketball guy and probably shouldn't be making basketball decisions.

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I don't think he's the epitome of evil, either, but as far as I'm concerned the GM position of a sports franchise is more equivalent to the CTO of a tech company. He should be the top of the chain of command as far as the company's core competency (aerospace engineering in Boeing's case, basketball in the Blazers' case). Allen and any type of "President of Operations" should be equivalent to the board of directors and CEO...they set a budget and set goals, and then let the CTO (or whoever's the top position within the organization's core competency...like the GM of a sports franchise) decide how to get there.

So, sure...ultimately, the buck stops with Allen. He should veto anything that seems reckless or budget-busting. But he's not a basketball guy and probably shouldn't be making basketball decisions.

At the same time, if the last guy working as CTO fucked things up royally, the easiest way to ensure accountability is to force the CTO to show his work on paper before saying yes to his recommendations.

I worked on a project which involved iterative deployments of a software package to a client's server, with updates every week. The dev started deploying hotfixes cowboy style, which worked out great at first, since the client was happy sooner, but soon he got ahead of himself, accidentally reverted a bunch of fixes, and lost about a week's worth of work because of it. After that fiasco, the project manager, who had been a little hands off, clamped down, forcing all deployments through him: you submit a deployment request, he approves it, you deploy. It wasn't a permanent measure, but it was a way to reign in control of a process that had gone out of control. Plus it gave the PM needed context at the dev level.

That's how I see this new hands-on approach.

 

[Minstrel]

At the same time, if the last guy working as CTO fucked things up royally, the easiest way to ensure accountability is to force the CTO to show his work on paper before saying yes to his recommendations.

Well, we'll obviously have to agree to disagree on whether the "last guy" fucked things up royally, but even if the last guy screwed up...I don't think the best answer is for the CEO/board of directors to take over technical decisions with a consultant instead of a proper CTO. You attempt to hire a better CTO, one that you believe won't fuck things up. Ultimately, you have to have people you trust to do good work in the key positions if you want to have a hope of success...the answer is not to eliminate key positions (effectively).

 

[jlprk]

This time around Paul Allen is asking Cho for more data before any moves get made.

I ran this thread through Cho's spreadsheets and the computer reached out and kicked my ass for wasting its time.

 

[Stevenson]

Of course, don't you know? This guy is just so incredibly connected that he knows the actual conversations between Paul Allen and Cho, and that Allen is now demanding more numbers and data. D69 and his pal Pup love to make people think they are so in the loop.

How could anyone know what Paul Allen is asking of Cho, except Allen and Cho?

I call bullshit. No, strike that. I call call complete and utter bullshit.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Of course, don't you know? This guy is just so incredibly connected that he knows the actual conversations between Paul Allen and Cho, and that Allen is now demanding more numbers and data. D69 and his pal Pup love to make people think they are so in the loop.

How could anyone know what Paul Allen is asking of Cho, except Allen and Cho?

I call bullshit. No, strike that. I call call complete and utter bullshit.

Ok, thanks.