I'm So SICK & TIRED of Neil Olshey (3 Viewers)

[hoopsjock]

Why does NO not get any blame for LMA leaving, but gets the credit for bringing in players after he left. Obviously LMA got to make his own choice, but NO’s job was to convince him to stay, which he didn’t. The major rebuild the Blazers has to do was because NO didn’t do a good job of figuring out a way to convince LMA to stay.
In NO’s exit interview he talks about Stotts did a good job this season the defense got better, but at the start when he’s talking about the playoffs talks about the other teams coach got to play them 4 times, well didn’t Stotts also have 4 games to figure it out and didn’t?
NO spent most of his press conference saying that the 4 games in the post season weren’t much to judge off of, it was just a bad match up vs a super star! Sure he was disappointed, but he came off very defensive, and like basically we should ignore the playoffs and think about the 82 game regular season more.
He has said a few times that the Blazers rebuild is ahead of schedule, and so the expectations are too high, like really who says that in sports? Oh you guys are just expecting to much out of us cause we’re young (the 4th youngest(?)), NO has neglected bringing in any veteran leadership to the team, something almost every successful team has.

I pretty much agree with your conclusion paragraph, hopefully this summer somehow they find a good piece to put in there and the young guys keep improving.

I understand that Aldridge made a personal decision for himself, but in the end NO's job is to convince players to play here isn't it? I mean I get it, it's not all NO's fault, if a guy is gonna leave there is only so much he can do about it. Who knows if a better GM could've convinced him to stay or not we won't ever know. It sounds like LMA was kind of on his way out the 2nd half of that season, but it also sounds like it was a hard decision for him, and if he was calling last year to come back it doesn't sound like he was fleeing Portland, because he just didn't want to be here.
All in all I get that NO has a hard job, and maybe I'm just too hard on him because I think he's kind of a... jerk(?) ego-maniac? I don't know, he just rubs me the wrong way. I won't be the first person to dislike NO at least in part because of his personality... I keep saying it, but I'd be thrilled if next year the Blazers had a better post-season and you guys are piling on my idiot self for how wrong I was about NO's abilities and the direction of the team.

The blame for Aldridge leaving is 100% on Aldridge. He's the most unstable player I've ever seen. He changes his mind daily and he's like that on the Spurs too so it's not just a Blazers thing. He lied and said he would sign an extension in the off season. The whole organization bent over backwards to make sure he was happy. Every single employee had to walk on eggshells around him because he would turn the smallest things into lifetime grudges. That season and Aldridge leaving ended the day Wes got hurt. Olshey was building a contender around Aldridge and he bailed because waah waah waah Lillard is getting too much attention. Fuck him. Even he himself admitted he should've stayed.

The veteran thing is a good point. I think Turner was supposed to be that veteran. I was kind of hoping they would've made a trade for Vince Carter or someone like that last year. They had Gerald Henderson the 1st year of this rebuild.

 

[jlprk]

Every night I open the S2 main page and I see this thread title with the last poster named. It's always Hoopsjock. Here's how the line looks tonight. Only the number ever changes.

I'm So SICK & TIRED of Neil Olshey Replies:690 hoopsjock

He makes half the posts in the thread, and won't take guff from anyone. You gotta admire his Don Quixotic tenacity in taking on the majority opposed to him. It's his way or the highway.

When he needs help, his 2 O-Live comrades jump in, whatever their names are. I just learned that this poor beaten-up guy Tortured is also from O-Live, but he's not like them. He's their punching bag they brought along. They packed everything they needed.

 

[hoopsjock]

Every night I open the S2 main page and I see this thread title with the last poster named. It's always Hoopsjock. Here's how the line looks tonight. Only the number ever changes.

I'm So SICK & TIRED of Neil Olshey Replies:690 hoopsjock

He makes half the posts in the thread, and won't take guff from anyone. You gotta admire his Don Quixotic tenacity in taking on the majority opposed to him. It's his way or the highway.

When he needs help, his 2 O-Live comrades jump in, whatever their names are. I just learned that this poor beaten-up guy Tortured is also from O-Live, but he's not like them. He's their punching bag they brought along. They packed everything they needed.

I see once again you can't have a civil discussion so you resort to your stupid tactics of attacking the poster instead of the post. Good job

 

[jlprk]

Speak of the Devil, he was lurking! Okay I'll stop posting so you can keep your name at the top of the board.

 

[Sarni]

Why does NO not get any blame for LMA leaving, but gets the credit for bringing in players after he left. Obviously LMA got to make his own choice, but NO’s job was to convince him to stay, which he didn’t. The major rebuild the Blazers has to do was because NO didn’t do a good job of figuring out a way to convince LMA to stay.
In NO’s exit interview he talks about Stotts did a good job this season the defense got better, but at the start when he’s talking about the playoffs talks about the other teams coach got to play them 4 times, well didn’t Stotts also have 4 games to figure it out and didn’t?
NO spent most of his press conference saying that the 4 games in the post season weren’t much to judge off of, it was just a bad match up vs a super star! Sure he was disappointed, but he came off very defensive, and like basically we should ignore the playoffs and think about the 82 game regular season more.
He has said a few times that the Blazers rebuild is ahead of schedule, and so the expectations are too high, like really who says that in sports? Oh you guys are just expecting to much out of us cause we’re young (the 4th youngest(?)), NO has neglected bringing in any veteran leadership to the team, something almost every successful team has.

I pretty much agree with your conclusion paragraph, hopefully this summer somehow they find a good piece to put in there and the young guys keep improving.

Also, if he had a feeling there was a chance he would leave, he should have traded him. Indiana and Sacramento did that with George and Cousins and it paid off.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

The blame for Aldridge leaving is 100% on Aldridge. He's the most unstable player I've ever seen. He changes his mind daily and he's like that on the Spurs too so it's not just a Blazers thing. He lied and said he would sign an extension in the off season. The whole organization bent over backwards to make sure he was happy. Every single employee had to walk on eggshells around him because he would turn the smallest things into lifetime grudges. That season and Aldridge leaving ended the day Wes got hurt. Olshey was building a contender around Aldridge and he bailed because waah waah waah Lillard is getting too much attention. Fuck him. Even he himself admitted he should've stayed.

The veteran thing is a good point. I think Turner was supposed to be that veteran. I was kind of hoping they would've made a trade for Vince Carter or someone like that last year. They had Gerald Henderson the 1st year of this rebuild.

Here's another thing I didn't like, they had / have all these young bigs and fired Kim Hughes because he told the truth. It's pretty clear that Leonard's progression kind of stopped there.
The thing with Aldridge is this. If you have a player that's being a malcontent to the extent that it's eating the entire organization up, your GM has to have the wherewithal to pull that guy aside and say look, we appreciate you as a player but if you cant figure this out we're trading you. Or make the coach do it, but Stotts has never seemed like the type of coach that is going to really push his players or be in there face.
To me all those things you said about what the organization did for over year because of Aldridge makes the GM look bad! I get that your stars rule the league, but Aldridge while a top tier PF wasn't exactly Lebron. If Aldridge's attitude was as bad as reported that year, they should have traded him
not just because he might leave but because very few guys are worth it when they're that much of a problem.
I get it that him leaving was his own choice, but I think NO did a bad job as the boss of the organization the year leading up to that.

Maybe I didn't quite understand it, but from what I heard they let Henderson go because they thought turner was basically the same player but a couple years younger. Which if that's the case, I just don't get it. Henderson was also like half the price of Turner already had experience with Stotts and the system, had become a mentor for some of the guys.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

Maybe I didn't quite understand it, but from what I heard they let Henderson go because they thought turner was basically the same player but a couple years younger. Which if that's the case, I just don't get it. Henderson was also like half the price of Turner already had experience with Stotts and the system, had become a mentor for some of the guys.

Nobody thought Turner was just a younger version of Henderson. Henderson has never been the ball-handler or passer that Turner was touted to be. Not to say that Turner isn't grossly overpaid--because he clearly is--but there was never a perception that Henderson would have been able to bring the same things Turner was expected to bring. This is nothing more than hindsight.

 

[Wizard Mentor]

I understand that Aldridge made a personal decision for himself, but in the end NO's job is to convince players to play here isn't it? I mean I get it, it's not all NO's fault, if a guy is gonna leave there is only so much he can do about it. Who knows if a better GM could've convinced him to stay or not we won't ever know. It sounds like LMA was kind of on his way out the 2nd half of that season, but it also sounds like it was a hard decision for him, and if he was calling last year to come back it doesn't sound like he was fleeing Portland, because he just didn't want to be here.
All in all I get that NO has a hard job, and maybe I'm just too hard on him because I think he's kind of a... jerk(?) ego-maniac? I don't know, he just rubs me the wrong way. I won't be the first person to dislike NO at least in part because of his personality... I keep saying it, but I'd be thrilled if next year the Blazers had a better post-season and you guys are piling on my idiot self for how wrong I was about NO's abilities and the direction of the team.

You must really be all in on the fire Holt and Pops because SA has been a shitstorm this year - they can't even get their guy to play, let alone stay with the organization.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

You must really be all in on the fire Holt and Pops because SA has been a shitstorm this year - they can't even get their guy to play, let alone stay with the organization.

That's weak... Like crazy weak, Pops has how many rings? compared to Olshey having as many as you and I...

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Nobody thought Turner was just a younger version of Henderson. Henderson has never been the ball-handler or passer that Turner was touted to be. Not to say that Turner isn't grossly overpaid--because he clearly is--but there was never a perception that Henderson would have been able to bring the same things Turner was expected to bring. This is nothing more than hindsight.

I'm going to try to find it, but I read an article (or maybe I made it up in my head heh), that showed them as statistically very similar players, and the Blazers wanted turner because of his youth, and didn't offer Henderson anything.

 

[PtldPlatypus]

I'm going to try to find it, but I read an article (or maybe I made it up in my head heh), that showed them as statistically very similar players, and the Blazers wanted turner because of his youth, and didn't offer Henderson anything.

Hmmm...well I'm not going to doubt you, since just because I don't recall such an article doesn't mean that it didn't exist. But I'd think such a claim would/should have been roundly lampooned. Even if they were similar statistically, their skillsets differ significantly.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Every night I open the S2 main page and I see this thread title with the last poster named. It's always Hoopsjock. Here's how the line looks tonight. Only the number ever changes.

I'm So SICK & TIRED of Neil Olshey Replies:690 hoopsjock

He makes half the posts in the thread, and won't take guff from anyone. You gotta admire his Don Quixotic tenacity in taking on the majority opposed to him. It's his way or the highway.

When he needs help, his 2 O-Live comrades jump in, whatever their names are. I just learned that this poor beaten-up guy Tortured is also from O-Live, but he's not like them. He's their punching bag they brought along. They packed everything they needed.

I don't always agree with what you say, but I enjoy listening to the the way you say it!

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

If Aldridge's attitude was as bad as reported that year, they should have traded him
not just because he might leave but because very few guys are worth it when they're that much of a problem.
I get it that him leaving was his own choice, but I think NO did a bad job as the boss of the organization the year leading up to that.

Agreed.

 

[BBert]

He needs help from Stotts too.

Agreed

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Hmmm...well I'm not going to doubt you, since just because I don't recall such an article doesn't mean that it didn't exist. But I'd think such a claim would/should have been roundly lampooned. Even if they were similar statistically, their skillsets differ significantly.

I honestly don't know if it was made up in my head or not. I will look for it this afternoon when I get off of work. Either way you're right that it's not really something that was very accurate. Anyways, I'll try to find it and if I can't we can just call me crazy and I'm cool with it heh.

 

[BBert]

Agreed.

Wow that's spooky

 

[hoopsjock]

Also, if he had a feeling there was a chance he would leave, he should have traded him. Indiana and Sacramento did that with George and Cousins and it paid off.

Not even close to the same situation. George publicly wanted out and was traded in the off season after it was apparent that team was going nowhere when it was swept in the 1st round. The Kings were bad every year and weren't close to the playoffs and were facing having to give Cousins a super max contract. I'll throw Love in there too as he wouldn't commit publicly to re-signing either.

Aldridge on the other hand had publicly committed to the team long term. The only reason he didn't sign an extension the year before he left was that there is a stupid rule that he would make more money if he waited. The Blazers had just won 54 games and Aldridge had two of his best career games in the playoffs.

The next season at the trade deadline the Blazers were poised to get the 2nd seed. Everything was going great. The Warriors were the 1st seed but they hadn't won a title at that point so no one thought they'd be unbeatable. The West was wide open. The Wes injury occurred after the trade deadline so there is nothing Olshey could've done at that point and that moment changed everything. After that moment sure it would've been nice to trade him but no longer an option.

 

[hoopsjock]

I'm going to try to find it, but I read an article (or maybe I made it up in my head heh), that showed them as statistically very similar players, and the Blazers wanted turner because of his youth, and didn't offer Henderson anything.

Henderson had injury problems his one year here. The Blazers might have known his hip could fail him at any time. Of course looking back I'd rather have Henderson (even injured) than Turner at that price.

 

[hoopsjock]

I don't always agree with what you say, but I enjoy listening to the the way you say it!

You enjoy him trying to discourage discussion and take the conversation to personal attacks?

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Not even close to the same situation. George publicly wanted out and was traded in the off season after it was apparent that team was going nowhere when it was swept in the 1st round. The Kings were bad every year and weren't close to the playoffs and were facing having to give Cousins a super max contract. I'll throw Love in there too as he wouldn't commit publicly to re-signing either.

Aldridge on the other hand had publicly committed to the team long term. The only reason he didn't sign an extension the year before he left was that there is a stupid rule that he would make more money if he waited. The Blazers had just won 54 games and Aldridge had two of his best career games in the playoffs.

The next season at the trade deadline the Blazers were poised to get the 2nd seed. Everything was going great. The Warriors were the 1st seed but they hadn't won a title at that point so no one thought they'd be unbeatable. The West was wide open. The Wes injury occurred after the trade deadline so there is nothing Olshey could've done at that point and that moment changed everything. After that moment sure it would've been nice to trade him but no longer an option.

If everything was so great why was everyone having to walk on eggshells around him? He had obviously become a problem even though the Blazers were very good and at the time most people would not have wanted the trade. I just think it’s on NO to handle that last year better not by Boeing down to LMA and walking on eggshells but to make LMA and Dame figure it out, make the coach do something. If the relationship was that strained between your best two players the Blazers were gonna have to move on from one of them at some point. I mean now they look back and wish things were different but so do Kobe and Shaq...

 

[calvin natt]

Placing blame on NO for Aldridge leaving is ridiculous. LMA wanted to leave before NO was even in Portland. Nobody was going to convince him to stay.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Placing blame on NO for Aldridge leaving is ridiculous. LMA wanted to leave before NO was even in Portland. Nobody was going to convince him to stay.

Then NO shouldn’t have let him walk for nothing and traded him right?

 

[riverman]

If everything was so great why was everyone having to walk on eggshells around him?

probably because things weren't so great...Olshey said after letting that core go that we weren't good enough and Aldridge didn't want to work with a young roster.....got his wish playing with Duncan, Ginobli and Pau Gasol.....guys close to 40....he wanted to play with Tyson Chandler which was the attraction in Phoenix...and he was close to Earl Watson as was Wes..ironically, Pop made him play in the paint as a center his first year..didn't go well. This season he went back to being a pick and pop PF but Pop did get him blocking shots at a higher clip.

 

[calvin natt]

Then NO shouldn’t have let him walk for nothing and traded him right?

Yes. I agree. That was a huge mistake. I’ve said it before.

 

[Gronk Brady]

Placing blame on NO for Aldridge leaving is ridiculous. LMA wanted to leave before NO was even in Portland. Nobody was going to convince him to stay.

Yes, but you can place blame on Neil for not trading him earlier since even a common fan knew LMA wanted to leave... it’s Neil’s fault we got nothing in return

 

[calvin natt]

Yes, but you can place blame on Neil for not trading him earlier since even a common fan knew LMA wanted to leave... it’s Neil’s fault we got nothing in return

Maybe. Unless Paul Allen told him they weren’t trading him.

 

[riverman]

Yes, but you can place blame on Neil for not trading him earlier since even a common fan knew LMA wanted to leave... it’s Neil’s fault we got nothing in return

Neil took Lamarcus at his word and I don't think anybody thought Lamarcus would leave a 120 mill max deal in Portland to sign an 80 mill deal elsewhere...Lamarcus could have agreed to a sign in trade but he lied about his intentions...Olshey and Paul Allen trusted his promise and he fucked them ...they could have done a sign and trade ....sometimes you trust people and you lose.

 

[BBert]

You enjoy him trying to discourage discussion and take the conversation to personal attacks?

I enjoy his prose even though I may not agree with his point. As for the personal stuff, I don't take anything he writes seriously. I just imagine his sole aim is to be clever, and move on. It works for me anyway

 

[hoopsjock]

If everything was so great why was everyone having to walk on eggshells around him? He had obviously become a problem even though the Blazers were very good and at the time most people would not have wanted the trade. I just think it’s on NO to handle that last year better not by Boeing down to LMA and walking on eggshells but to make LMA and Dame figure it out, make the coach do something. If the relationship was that strained between your best two players the Blazers were gonna have to move on from one of them at some point. I mean now they look back and wish things were different but so do Kobe and Shaq...

Because that is Aldridge's personality. He hated Roy for years because he thought he went to dinner without inviting him when it was just a misunderstanding. He was jealous of Lillard getting his own billboards when those were all Adidas billboards not Blazer funded. Popovich didn't trade him when he requested a trade either.

This is the most hindsighted argument of all-time. Before the Wes injury this team was loaded and there was no talk about Aldridge leaving. It was only when the season ended with a thud that he was going to go. Can you name a time in the history of the NBA where a team who had a top-5 record in the NBA traded their best player who was also one of the best players at his position? Why didn't that "genius" Presti trade Durant?

 

[CupWizier]

I'm going to try to find it, but I read an article (or maybe I made it up in my head heh), that showed them as statistically very similar players, and the Blazers wanted turner because of his youth, and didn't offer Henderson anything.

As with many articles written it was likely someone speculating rather than in the know. Turner and Henderson offer different skill sets and Turner was brought in to take the pressure off of Dame and CJ having to always handle the ball. Turner was looked upon as a similar to a Batum with a post up game where as Batum was a 3 [point specialist. The stats may have been similar but that's why stats alone can't be used to compare players.