Jaynes: So Many Words, So Little Said

[ABM]

I mean, really......

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/the-fuss-over-portland-trail-blazers-gm-kevin-pritchard

The Fuss Over Portland Trail Blazers' GM Kevin Pritchard
Opinion by Dwight Jaynes


Firstly, I am not in favor of firing Kevin Pritchard. Seems to me he’s done a pretty good job as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers. But at the same time, I have to tell you I’m not as indignant about it as so many others.

Why? I’m not entirely sure. But having been around the Trail Blazers and the NBA for a long time, let me share a few reasons.

For one, I don’t know when I’ve seen an NBA general manager who has been the beneficiary so much hero worship. I mean, that whole “In KP we trust” and “KP doesn’t drive to work, he walks across the Willamette” stuff astounded me. I mean, universally through the NBA I have heard so many other front-office types make fun of all the positive strokes the guy gets. People think it’s kind of funny.

And I have been consistent in saying something you don’t really hear anywhere else: We really don’t know how good Pritchard is in that draft room. All we know is the team meets in that room and emerges united in whatever choice it makes. We really don’t know whose idea anything was.

Do we know for a fact that Greg Oden was Pritchard’s choice? Do we know if Paul Allen liked the pick? Do we know whose idea it was to select Nic Batum or Martell Webster? Really? How do we know this — because Pritchard leaked it to a media friend? The hardest part of evaluating the whole draft process with the Blazer organization is never knowing — for SURE — who made what picks. Come on, Paul Allen is so involved on draft day I’m not so sure he doesn’t make some of those picks himself.

Consequently, it’s very difficult to evaluate the general manager unless you’re right there in the middle of the chaos on draft day or whenever a major deal is going down. Unless you are, you’re a slave to someone else’s version of the truth about what went down. And when that person is involved, can you trust his version?

I’ll say one other thing: I’ve been around this organization for a long time. I covered the Blazers when they said goodbye to Jack Ramsay and Stu Inman — the men who made the Trail Blazers’ only championship possible. I saw Rick Adelman fired and Geoff Petrie resign in frustration.

And you think, with that in mind, I’m going to get all hot and bothered about Kevin Pritchard being dumped?

 

[Pinwheel1]

The only thing I have a problem with is that he (and other GM's around the league) are basing the gaggy "Hero Worship" on internet posters, and the fans who make signs at ball games. Do they really represent the true feelings of the average intelligent Blazer fan? Doesn't that group tend to embellish a little bit? I think most of us think like Jaynes in this instance: "Seems to me he’s done a pretty good job as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers".

I hate when the media quotes the squeaky wheel and not the average fan.

 

[julius]

I think the "in KP we trust" thing is being waaaaaaaaaaaaaay over blown. It's mostly fans on message boards, who make up a very vocal minority of fans.

 

[maxiep]

So, because he's seen a bunch of crap moves in the past he's cool enough to rise above it all? Dwight, I've followed this team for a while, too. When I see a shitty move about to be made, I do get pissed about it. If we had RC Buford waiting in the wings, that would be one thing, but there doesn't seem to be much available to replace KP with.

 

[jlprk]

For one, I don’t know when I’ve seen an NBA general manager who has been the beneficiary so much hero worship...I mean, universally through the NBA I have heard so many other front-office types make fun of all the positive strokes the guy gets. People think it’s kind of funny.

Jaynes makes the point that Pritchard bothers more people around the league than just Vulcanites. You're right that he then spends too many words on how no one knows how much to credit Pritchard for each pick. He links to a Canzano article from 2 days ago. I think he wrote this in reaction to that, since the above quote seems tailored to oppose the below excerpt. In the Canzano article below, Canzano could have picked on a surrogate like Lieweke, but his hatred is 100% against the cancer-stricken Paul Allen, pretending that Pritchard hasn't also alienated others around the league. If you think Jaynes was wordy, try these highlights.

...And [Pritchard] sounds like a guy who has been stripped of his confidence, and held up by owner Paul Allen as evidence of what happens when things don't go as planned...ownership was busy meddling with the operation..So what's the issue? Power and politics, of course. Pritchard got too powerful for the liking of those running the team in Portland and at Allen's Vulcan Inc. mothership. He got too much attention. He got too much adoration. Too many people heard "Pritch-Slapped!" and "In KP We Trust" too many times...It's toxic, all of it. The scene is born from unhealthy internal politics, and a lack of business acumen, and it's the same stuff that always has threatened the long line of failed Allen business operations...I imagine we'd all be scratching our heads should Allen pull up alongside the Blazers bench next season, park himself, and whisper to Brandon Roy, "I'm not so sure about you Mr. Roy...now go win games for me."

It's what Allen's done to Pritchard here. And it's curious, considering all the regret the Blazers once blathered about when the organization gave up on a young Jermaine O'Neal. I can't count the number of times in the last eight years that O'Neal's name has been offered as proof that the franchise has learned not to give up on a young, talented employee who hasn't yet realized his potential. Doesn't that also describe the executive Pritchard?...Lesser men, you'd wonder about the temptation to sabotage draft day. Not Pritchard.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2010/05/canzano_paul_allen_blazers_lac.html

 

[crandc]

I can't see firing a GM because some fans hold up signs saying "In KP We Trust" - at most, you laugh at that, not base hiring decisions on it.

Jaynes does have a point that none of us really know what is going on inside the brain trust. That is true.

But I think we can safely say Paul Allen wanted Oden. It was reported that he made the call himself on draft day (owners rarely do that) and was so worried the telephone might go out of order that there were seven separate telephone lines, just in case. (Too bad BP doesn't have that kind of fail safe backup!) And that he sent his personal jet to pick up Oden; usually the players just have their plane ticket bought for them.

Essentially, Canzano and Jaynes both know nothing but are trying to outdo each other speculating. I wonder if they post on this board?

 

[STOMP]

And I have been consistent in saying something you don’t really hear anywhere else: We really don’t know how good Pritchard is in that draft room. All we know is the team meets in that room and emerges united in whatever choice it makes. We really don’t know whose idea anything was.

Do we know for a fact that Greg Oden was Pritchard’s choice? Do we know if Paul Allen liked the pick? Do we know whose idea it was to select Nic Batum or Martell Webster? Really? How do we know this — because Pritchard leaked it to a media friend?

for those who pay attention to what KP has said in the past and undoubtedly will do so again in the very near future, who they draft/target/trade for is a group decision. Paul has input. Nate has input. The scouting department has input. The team President (be it Miller or Patterson) has input. Pay attention Dwight and you'll realize you aren't breaking a story here. As opposed to you telling us something we don’t really hear anywhere else, we hear it from the very guy you're talking about.

STOMP

 

[jlprk]

Well, saying that Pritchard deserves less credit for draft decisions than his fans give him, takes away the only reason to keep Pritchard, and I think you want to keep him.

As I said, Jaynes wrote it a little emotionally because he was reacting to a way-over-the-top hysterical Canzano hate piece. Jaynes links to that article in his own one.