Dark days on the horizon?

[Fez Hammersticks]

Nothing like the real World War I is remotely close -- but for Portland fans, the worst thing imaginable may well be on the horizon.

Perhaps the worst possible news for Blazer fans is that according to sources, last summer LeGarie became so convinced that the Blazers would not commit to Pritchard for the long haul that the agent has spent the season looking for another team to take on Pritchard and Penn. His concerns would seem to be validated, somewhat, by the firing of Pen

LINK

 

[MIXUM]

this says it all...

bye kpee

"Kevin is the GM here," says Miller. "I can never commit to anybody being around long term. I don't know that I'll be here long term. That's just not the way it works. To me, Kevin is our GM, and my feeling is we should focus on finishing out the season, trying to win games, trying to have a successful run in the playoffs. That should be our focus right now. The situation with Tom was in isolated incident. It's unfortunate, but hopefully we can put it behind us."


thats pretty clear.... lets wait till summer to blow it up

 

[The Other Guys]

I swear, we could win the NBA Championship and there would still be threads about something bad we did or some sort of negativity. Tom Penn left our team, not Brandon Roy.

 

[OddEnormous]

This could easily be his agent playing for a contract.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

This could easily be his agent playing for a contract.

More like burning a bridge or two.

 

[OddEnormous]

More like burning a bridge or two.

Right, agents always play above board don't they?

Organizations are used to dirty pool from agents.

 

[MIXUM]

Not the most reassuring sight: In the wake of Tom Penn's firing, neither Paul Allen nor Kevin Pritchard were sitting in their customary courtside seats. Instead, Blazers President Larry Miller was flanked by Vulcan Flunky (and Paul Allen's college roommate), Bert Kolde.

 

[BenDavis503]

Why did they say it was the worst thing that could happen lol who freakin cares.

Fuckouttahere KP. I am over it.

 

[<-=*PdX*=->]

I can't believe people are relating losing a VP of Bball Operations along with a GM and calling it a sinking ship

 

[Crimson the Cat]

If Pritchard is fired, I will no longer support the team. In fact the way this is all going down, I'm not sure I want to support the team any longer. That's tough, as I've been a fan since 1984, when I was seven years old.

 

[julius]

If Pritchard is fired, I will no longer support the team. In fact the way this is all going down, I'm not sure I want to support the team any longer. That's tough, as I've been a fan since 1984, when I was seven years old.

Somehow I doubt this is "all going down" the way you think it is (or fans think it is).

 

[SnakeOiler]

More like burning a bridge or two.

What bridge? You don't know dick like the rest of us. You seem to revel in drama, going so far as to make shit up. Sounds like a 14 year old girl bitching about her best friend's mom for grounding her because she went to school dressed slutty.

Did you know the Blazers won last night, on a last second shot by Roy? That's drama.

 

[MIXUM]

Assuming we lose kpee (reading between lines) I would say the ship is still afloat... HOWEVER... major moves need to be made to get us at the lakers level. Time to part ways with guys like martell and rudy. Bring in a legit 3rd scorer. An iggy type. Buy greg knee braces and limit his minutes. Resign camby and hope bayless figures IT out. Remember this.... kpee is kinda like nate. They are good enough to get you so far but to take the next step... you need upgrades IMO.

Wow though... what looked so great has turned into a coin toss on the future. Thats for sure.

 

[RoyToy]

Don't buy it. KP has done too much for this organization to lose his job. Without him we're the Twolves, and any new GM that would come in would ruin what he has built.

Basically it makes no sense, which is why it's not happening.

 

[STOMP]

I can't believe people are relating losing a VP of Bball Operations along with a GM and calling it a sinking ship

having followed this board for years I sure can

10-2 and relatively healthy = dooooooomed

STOMP

 

[illmatic99]

This could easily be his agent playing for a contract.

That was my initial thought as well. I don't like being used in this manner by that guy.

 

[Public Defender]

The big unanswered question is why Tom Penn was fired. If he was fired because there's something about the way Pritchard and Penn operate that they don't like, then the fans among us who appreciate Pritchard have every reason to be worried.

But the way Penn was dismissed - in a sudden firing, rather than giving him an opportunity to resign - says one of two things: a.) that Penn did/said something really bad and the Blazers needed to get rid of him ASAP, or b.) the management structure has sunk to a new low in lack of professional respect for the people who brought them to where they are.

There was a quote from Larry Miller in today's Oregonian that led me to believe that it could have been "a" above.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

Perhaps Paul Allen's health is making him impatient.

Or Penn is just a douchebag who wore out his welcome.

 

[hasoos]

Why does anybody give a fucking shit about Tom Penn? Hell I can't even remember ever hearing of an assistant GM being fired in the past making news. Get the fuck over it.

Only in goddamn small Portland. I swear.

 

[e_blazer]

I have no idea whether KP's job is in jeopardy and neither does Henry Abott. It's crazy the amount of hand wringing that goes on around here over this kind of thing. Maybe PA wants somebody who's got a better record of making trades than KP has managed to pull off. Maybe KP gets the axe. Maybe KP gets demoted to Penn's job. Whatever, life will go on. Whomever is GM this summer has the richest owner in the league behind him and tons of assets. For now, can't we just get into playing out the rest of this season?

 

[Minstrel]

Wow though... what looked so great

Really? It looked so great to you at one time? When? Were you saying it looked great at that time? I can't remember.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Sweet, I hope they rehire Patterson and Nash.

 

[e_blazer]

Trader Bob looms in the shadows.

 

[OddEnormous]

Why does anybody give a fucking shit about Tom Penn? Hell I can't even remember ever hearing of an assistant GM being fired in the past making news. Get the fuck over it.

Only in goddamn small Portland. I swear.

Exactamundo!!!

 

[The Professional Fan]

If KP gets fired I'm going to have a really hard time believing in the future of this franchise. It makes no sense. And who the hell could the Blazers bring in that's any better?

 

[illmatic99]

Like I was saying, Agent = douche.

 

[Masbee]

Not the most reassuring sight: In the wake of Tom Penn's firing, neither Paul Allen nor Kevin Pritchard were sitting in their customary courtside seats. Instead, Blazers President Larry Miller was flanked by Vulcan Flunky (and Paul Allen's college roommate), Bert Kolde.

It was the hapless Wizards.

Nobody wanted to watch that sorry ass excuse of a team. Yes, I know they took the complacent, lethargic Blazers to the wire. Point is season ticket holders who rarely miss games decided to go to the movies last night. Geez.

 

[Masbee]

The big unanswered question is why Tom Penn was fired. If he was fired because there's something about the way Pritchard and Penn operate that they don't like, then the fans among us who appreciate Pritchard have every reason to be worried.

But the way Penn was dismissed - in a sudden firing, rather than giving him an opportunity to resign - says one of two things: a.) that Penn did/said something really bad and the Blazers needed to get rid of him ASAP, or b.) the management structure has sunk to a new low in lack of professional respect for the people who brought them to where they are.

There was a quote from Larry Miller in today's Oregonian that led me to believe that it could have been "a" above.

Exactly. Even the evil Vulcans, assuming they were mostly behind Penn getting the axe (which should not be assumed), aren't so insane as to just drop the hammer this way. They would have waited until the season was over. Something sudden had to happen. Something that they felt required immediate dismissal.

As far as all this hand wringing over KP being sent out of town on a rail, it has already got out of hand in Portland.

KP was a big part of a TEAM that made more good decisions than bad ones in rebuilding this team. But, people forget that Patterson was very involved in the group that made the essential key and dramatic revamp of the team - Telfair and the worst record in the NBA behind us netting the future of Aldridge and Roy.

The moves since then have been obvious (lucking into the no 1 pick and selecting the overwhelming consensus for that pick); good (Batum) and not so good (actually a long list).

I instantly celebrated what the team did in that magic draft as something special. Since then, I have often been less than thrilled - questioning the moves of the team or confused by them: Extending Webster before his did jack in this league; The Miles fiasco; hyping the Golden Ticket; trading Zach for so little; the Roy extension drama; the LaMarcus extension overpaying; non revamping the medical/training staff/team; concerned about the gulf between the players the GM brings in Vs. the style the coach imposes; the attempt to grossly overpay Hedo.

I am not suggesting KP is a bad GM, but I am not so sure he is great. Maybe parts of the coaching or management team get in the way of his brilliance. Not sure. If so, he needs to do a better sales job to get approval for his brilliant ideas. If like the gulf between Nate and KP, there is a gulf with upper management, it may be at the root of the problem.

It would be better to have ownership, upper management, GM and coach all being more closely aligned in philosophy - even if that GM was of average quality, than to have a brilliant GM who is in constant tension and opposition with all other groups.

Or put another way, if KP goes - even if you think he is "brilliant" - it may be for the best if there can be no more alignment with the rest of the decision makers.

 

[MIXUM]

masbee... saying they weren't at the wizards game cause it was the wiz is such crap. not even close. excuses.


from jaynes....

And really? Riots if Kevin Pritchard is fired? Really? Look, if it’s true, as True Hoop is hinting, that Pritchard and Penn were somehow trying to steal power from THE OWNER, man, that’s about as crazy a thing to do as I’ve ever heard. I mean, it’s Paul Allen’s team. And he wants to have a hand in operating it — he always has.

To try and mess with that is so dumb a man would deserve to be fired. And I just don’t think KP is that sort of guy. Or that dumb. And I’d be real careful about sources on this story, too. There are a few guys inside the NBA who would love to have this job and would do anything to get it. I’d listen to their gossip just about as intently as I’d listen to Warren LeGarie, Blazermaniac.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

The agent put the upper Blazer management on blast publicly through Canzano.

That's burning a bridge, IMO.

Larry Miller is merely a PR man for Vulcan Inc.