Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?/Genius KP rid of ZBo (merged)

[KingSpeed]

His Grizzlies are 44-34 even with Rudy Gay missing significant time. All the haters always talked about a team that centers around ZBo can't be a playoff team. I always pointed to his fabulous 3-1 stint as a starter for the Blazers in the 2003 NBA playoffs but all I heard was "he couldn't win with Portland, Clippers, Knicks and it's all his fault." Suddenly, he has transformed a basement team into a 7th place team in the west (and rising? I hope not.) in less than two years. Time to put the "you can't win with Zach Randolph" bullshit to rest. And I love that the same people who bitched about ZBo always getting his "stats" are now bitching about Aldridge not getting his stats even in a game in which we beat the Spurs.

Go Blazers.

 

[B-Roy]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

There's some truth to this post...

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

let me do it! :MARIS61:

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Sometimes a person needs a chance of scenery to reach their true potential.

Zbo wasn't traded from Portland because he was a bad player.

I've always liked Zbo, I wish him the best but I don't miss him and I'm glad he's gone.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

he's the same as he was. the blazers teams he were on sucked.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

he's the same as he was. the blazers teams he were on sucked.

He's matured as a person and a player.

Remember the 3pt shot in NY?

 

[julius]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Wow, you get to brag to people (apparently) that you were right about something on a message board. You should put it on your resume.

 

[jlprk]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

And I love that the same people who bitched about ZBo always getting his "stats" are now bitching about Aldridge not getting his stats even in a game in which we beat the Spurs.

Actually, some of us who bitched that Aldridge didn't get his stats against the Spurs are the same ones who have always defended Zach for getting his stats.

Time to stick it to Pritchard for not getting stats or anything else for Zach.

Time to stick it to the Knicks and Clippers for stupidly believing Oregonian propaganda and dumping Zach when he was doing fine for them.

Memphis is only 1/2 game behind us--we are 6th and they are 7th--and those positions could easily transpose in the next week. Our schedule is harder than theirs.

 

[MARIS61]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Zach has always been a monster player.

He's not the first talent the Blazers squandered, but he may be the best.

 

[MARIS61]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Sat, Apr 2

F Zach Randolph played with the focus expected of a veteran in a playoff race, going for 28 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. It was his 52nd double-double of the year. "It's so tight that it's just important for us to be focused on playing our game," Randolph said. "All we want to do is win."

(Yahoo! Sports)

 

[julius]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Zach has always been a monster player.

He's not the first talent the Blazers squandered, but he may be the best.

Moses Malone will always be the best player the Blazers squandered.

 

[maxiep]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Zach has always been a monster player.

He's not the first talent the Blazers squandered, but he may be the best.

My vote is for Moses Malone.

Edit: julius beat me to it. Rep to julius!

 

[RoyToy]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

"Is it time for me to stick is to the ZBo haters yet?"

I'm glad 4 seasons later you finally feel it's the right time to make this thread, lol. That's funny.

Still don't miss him, btw.

 

[Natebishop3]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I think a lot of people were pissed about that horrible trade.

 

[THE HCP]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Love ZBO, but my vote is for Moses.

 

[maxiep]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I think a lot of people were pissed about that horrible trade.

I wasn't initially angry about the trade, because I thought Miles was included for Malik Rose. Later, I was disappointed at how little we got.

 

[maxiep]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Moses Malone will always be the best player the Blazers squandered.

Let's hope he'll always be the best player we squandered.

 

[barfo]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Moses Malone will always be the best player the Blazers squandered.

Jason Jennings. Followed closely by The Great Ha!

barfo

 

[RoyToy]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I think a lot of people were pissed about that horrible trade.

Meh, he wouldn't have been happy as a backup, and he's a bigger ball stopper than people claim that Roy is, which means ZBo shouldn't even play if you ask Mediocre Man.

 

[jlprk]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Meh, he wouldn't have been happy as a backup, and he's a bigger ball stopper than people claim that Roy is, which means ZBo shouldn't even play if you ask Mediocre Man.

There are 2 ways to criticize the Zach trade. You are arguing against 1) We shouldn't have traded him. What's your defense against 2) We should have gotten more. (We paid Zach plus $30M and got Frye.)

 

[Natebishop3]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Meh, he wouldn't have been happy as a backup, and he's a bigger ball stopper than people claim that Roy is, which means ZBo shouldn't even play if you ask Mediocre Man.

Yeah, but I've never been a fan of trading someone just to trade them, and we got little to nothing for him. Well, I guess we cleared him off the cap so we could sign Miller eventually..... I guess it wasn't THAT bad, but for someone that has consistently put up those numbers for his whole career, we got pretty much nothing for him.

 

[RoyToy]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

There are 2 ways to criticize the Zach trade. You are arguing against 1) We shouldn't have traded him. What's your defense against 2) We should have gotten more. (We paid Zach plus $30M and got Frye.)

Don't understand why people think the Blazers should have gotten more for the worst contract in the NBA. Not an easy thing to trade, especially when the player isn't even close to being a franchise player. Still, the value the Blazers got for ZBo is consistent with what the Knicks and Clippers got for him, which is nothing. What they gained though was more time for their younger players to grow which ended up resulting in the first .500 season in 4 years. Good move.

Since then, the Blazers have been a regular in the playoffs and haven't missed Randolph at all. He wouldn't be a good fit next to Aldridge and he's WAYYYY to expensive to be a backup. If he wasn't traded on draft night in 2007 he would have been later that season and the "value" would have been the same.

It wasn't a great move, nor was it a terrible move. It was a necessary move and the Blazers haven't had any regrets about it since.

 

[RoyToy]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

Yeah, but I've never been a fan of trading someone just to trade them, and we got little to nothing for him. Well, I guess we cleared him off the cap so we could sign Miller eventually..... I guess it wasn't THAT bad, but for someone that has consistently put up those numbers for his whole career, we got pretty much nothing for him.

Like I've said before, Randolph's contract was considered one of the least tradeable in the NBA because it ran through the magical 2010 FA. That eliminated a ton of suitors that were clearing space for multiple years so they could make a run at the LeBron's/Wade's etc. Then on top of that, Randolph's court value didn't match his contract. At that time he was considered an inefficient ball stopper(and rightly so) and when you pair that with arguably the worst contract in the NBA you can't expect much value in return.

I get why people don't love the trade, but I just can't see hating the deal. IMO there are a lot of reasons why that trade made a lot of sense for the Blazers when you look at the big picture.

 

[jlprk]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

If he wasn't traded on draft night in 2007 he would have been later that season and the "value" would have been the same.

You reminded me of a third criticism at the time--What's the hurry? It went like this:

3) Yes, we should trade him, but why now if that's all we can get now? Try again at the mid-season deadline. We'll break over .500 this season, so his value will increase and we'll get more. With Zach here, we won't have to start Webster all season (which we did). He has proven he can start alongside another PF, Sheed, and so can do so with Aldridge.

4) Another criticism at the time was that Pritchard worshippers had many believing that any trade Pritchard made would be a slam dunk, and this was far from that.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I would love to have him on this team.

 

[julius]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

so it took 2 teams, and almost 4 years later for you to pull a "I told you so". Props to you.

 

[STOMP]

so it took 2 teams, and almost 4 years later for you to pull a "I told you so". Props to you.

3 teams actually (Knicks Clips & Griz).

Portland didn't trade Zach because of his game, it was the continual off court issues. Combined with his huge contract he was not exactly a hot property for a PR driven business like the NBA, so Portland's return for him was understandable. I think it bears noting that Channing Frye has had a couple good years in PHX now though...

Anyhoo... his name has stayed off of the tabloid side of the papers for a while now, good for him. I do wonder though if thats at least partially due to playing in Memphis rather then gossip obsessed/nitpicking Portland. Hopefully he really has matured and is doing right off the court as well as on. I especially hope he's no longer driving while intoxicated

STOMP

 

[julius]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

3 teams actually (Knicks Clips & Griz).

Portland didn't trade Zach because of his game, it was the continual off court issues. Combined with his huge contract he was not exactly a hot property for a PR driven business like the NBA, so Portland's return for him was understandable. I think it bears noting that Channing Frye has had a couple good years in PHX now though...

Anyhoo... his name has stayed off of the tabloid side of the papers for a while now, good for him. I do wonder though if thats at least partially due to playing in Memphis rather then gossip obsessed/nitpicking Portland. Hopefully he really has matured and is doing right off the court as well as on. I especially hope he's no longer driving while intoxicated

STOMP

I said 2 teams because 2 of them (after Portland) traded him.

As for why he's not in the press, partly for the reason you said. But also because how much of us care about Memphis? Even those in Memphis? I think that played a part, but so did what you said.

 

[Rhal]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

When we had Randolph he was a 20-10 guy but he was a 20-10 guy who didn't' really pass didn't play defense (how many times was the rest of the team up the floor and zbo wasn't even past half court yet?). The guy put up nice stats but he wasn't a player you wanted to base your team around because of on and off the court issues. The Grizzilies have made great strides with him because he has matured as a person and player. He isn't a great defender but he no longer just stands there and doesn't try to stop his man and just wait for the offensive board. The player on the Grizz is NOT the same player we had. He averages better stats and his big issues seem to be nonexistent anymore. I'm happy for him but I wasn't exactly sad to see him traded and the jail blazer era come to an end.

 

[andalusian]

Re: Is it time for me to stick it to the ZBo haters yet?

I think it is foolish to declare ZBo's maturity in a contract year. If he keeps it up when he has a proper guaranteed contract - I would be willing to admit that he is growing up.