Merged: My thoughts on this GM saga

[MIXUM]

I realize the fan base loves kpee. I really do. But i dont think the fan base realizes that hes not the answer in taking us to the next level. Theres 3 kinds of GMs in the NBA....

1. Nash type who is the bad guy. hes brought in to be the bad guy. Make the moves the fans will hate. Start over.

2, KP type who can scout and draft the team of the future. Hes gonna get things on track.

3. the vet GM who finishes the puzzle. Thats where we are. Kp has taken us as far as he can.

Now its time to bring in a guy who knows what pieces need to be added and who needs to be traded. With kp this team will never trade guys like rudy or bayless cause they are his babies.
I hate kpee and am in a way sad to see him go but i understand. Allen is trying to win now and improve. Ive said all along kpee is just a average gm. Thats it. Nothing more nothing less. the reason he is so loved is because hes been part of the rebuild. After nash... anyone would look better. But the fact im seeing guys on here want to make tshirts and email vulcan to save kpee.... quite frankly dont get it. First of all, theres no saving kpee. its over. Accept it as soon as possible. The guy looked like a beaten dog yesterday. Listen to Miller, listen to Kpee. HE IS GONE. But I really think its for the better if you want the Blazers to win a title. He just doesnt have the GM skills to pull off lopsided trades that make him better. Not to mention it seems like half the league hates him. Nobody wants to see us get better. i know this is hard to accept and many of you will scream troll and i dont what im talking about but I told you last year... KP is over rated and not the right guy for us down the road. kpee would be great for the twolves, kings, nets, warriors ect. But with the group we have...
you gotta start making tough unpopular choices. Trading guys like Rudy. Fans will hate it.... but it gets you closer to the ultimate goal. Also the reality of Oden. The new gm will have no ties to the gimp and wont hesitate to do what's needed.

Its a very troubling time though. the future of this team is as clouded as it was 5 years ago. This team could take 2 vastly different paths. Making the playoffs now becomes even more important. next year will decide if we contend or are rebuilding sooner then many thought. i expect the GM and ALlen to do every thing they can to put a big time winner on the floor next year but if it fails.... the salary cutting will begin. I think allen just needs a breath of fresh air after this horrible season. A year ago we thought western conference finals... and today we hope for 8th seeds. That says it all if I were teh owner regardless of injuries. The Suns game showed why this core just isnt good enough.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Unless it rhymes with Leff Fretrie, who else is out there?

If anything, it seems like Vulcan is trying to cut costs...maybe they don't see a window opening anymore and just want to remain profitable. If there is a GM change, they're going to get a guy to firesale the team, try to trade larger contracts away.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

thats dumb....

theres no way they signed roy and la to those deals just to have a fire sale. in 2 years if we suck.... maybe. But are you kidding me? if anything I think allen wanst to see some progression. Vance even said that Allen is happy where the team is and feels like they are a year behind. Thats the real issue imo.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

and ive read numerous times.... lots of GMs envy this job and want it.

you think allen cares about the money KP wants? no way. if he was doing a greta job... kpee would be payed.

 

[Minstrel]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

3. the vet GM who finishes the puzzle. Thats where we are. Kp has taken us as far as he can.

Shouldn't he have a chance to do this before you decide he can't do it? (For the sake of discussion, I'll assume you're being serious.)

 

[BGrantFan]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Unless it rhymes with Leff Fretrie, who else is out there?

If anything, it seems like Vulcan is trying to cut costs...maybe they don't see a window opening anymore and just want to remain profitable. If there is a GM change, they're going to get a guy to firesale the team, try to trade larger contracts away.

Vulcan just signed Charlie Fucking Whitehurst to a 2-year/$10 million contract.

I think this Pritchard mess is just business as usual for Vulcan. It's an incompetent organization.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

thats dumb....

theres no way they signed roy and la to those deals just to have a fire sale. in 2 years if we suck.... maybe. But are you kidding me? if anything I think allen wanst to see some progression. Vance even said that Allen is happy where the team is and feels like they are a year behind. Thats the real issue imo.

Oden's injury + Paul's health scare came after they signed those deals. Those might have to do with the direction of the team.

Also guys aren't developing as much as they expected (Rudy, Tell, Bayless, etc).

In addition, the realization that other teams got MUCH stronger in response to the perceived 10 year dominance of the Roy-oden-Aldridge blazers which isn't really panning out so far.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Dude hes had 2 seasons. THE RLEC was a disaster. Hedo was a disaster. This season was a disaster. We are gonna lose camby for nothing now.

You want round 3 next year?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Vulcan just signed Charlie Fucking Whitehurst to a 2-year/$10 million contract.

I think this Pritchard mess is just business as usual for Vulcan. It's an incompetent organization.

Maybe they're focusing on the seahawks.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

well i think rudy and bayless get traded this summer. no doubt

 

[Minstrel]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Dude hes had 2 seasons.

Two seasons? Last year was a title contention year? You didn't even think the team could make the playoffs. Nice try, though.

THE RLEC was a disaster.

No it wasn't. It got Portland their starting point guard, a top-half starter.

This season was a disaster.

So Pritchard has learned not to purposely injure all his players. I don't think he'll do that next year.

We are gonna lose camby for nothing now.

He's going to be a free agent the same as Blake and Outlaw would have been. DISASTER.

You want round 3 next year?

I want round 1 with a healthy team next year, yes.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

well i think rudy and bayless get traded this summer. no doubt

Rudy probably/maybe.

Who's our backup PG if Bayless goes? (Steve Blake?)

 

[OddEnormous]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Vance even said that Allen is happy where the team is and feels like they are a year behind.

Brilliant.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

Vulcan just signed Charlie Fucking Whitehurst to a 2-year/$10 million contract.

I think this Pritchard mess is just business as usual for Vulcan. It's an incompetent organization.

Sadly I think you may be right.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

or is it... kp has done nothing amazing? getting roy and la were it.

even rudy looks awful now

 

[MikeDC]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

What about type 4) The Arm Chair GM? Do the Blazers need one of those?

 

[RR7]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

What about type 4) The Arm Chair GM? Do the Blazers need one of those?

Damn i hope so. I've been polishing up my resume for that one for years.

 

[Sedatedfork]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

A GM's best move is often the moves they don't make. I prefer Andre Miller to Vince Carter or Richard Jefferson. So, I think the RLEC, in hindsight was handled best. Don't make a move just to make a move. Unless you know of some great deal that KP had an opportunity to make, penalizing KP for not making a move is unfair. As for the Hedo matter, meh... He swung on a FA hard and thankfully missed... No GM is perfect. I trust KP more than any other GM. He knows first hand what this team was 5 and 6 years ago. He won't make the same mistakes that got us to our low point. We are Portland, we are not LA. We are never going to attract the prime FA. We should be thankful that we have been relevant for almost 80% of the last 30 seasons. I never want to see what we had 5 or 6 years ago again. I do want to contend for the championship, but it is a cost-benefit analysis. I don't think this team needs to make a high-risk trade. We need another scorer besides Roy, but we have the makings of a very good team and I believe that Oden WILL have success. We need to build around Roy and Oden.

To me this team's biggest weakness on the team (assuming some normal health level on the team) is a 2nd option to Roy in the 4th quarter. We traded Travis and I would have thought that someone, Rudy, Batum, anyone would have filled that role. Nope... I think audienorris (and if I have the poster wrong, sorry) has been saying it for a while, but our 4th quarter offense is the biggest problem in the team in my book. Another problem of course is long term depth at the Center position. Oden has injury issues but should be healthy for training camp and who knows what happens with Joel. I hope that KP or whoever the GM is can address the lack of a 2nd go to guy in the 4th quarter this Summer and either resigns Camby or has a good plan B to shore up the front line.

KP has earned another year, but if he gets canned and the next GM does worse than KP, then what MIXUM? I think you are just assuming that if KP is gone that the next GM will do better. I would much rather trust the bird in the hand then the imaginary snipe in the bush.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

i cant say how good the new gm will be but i do not believe kp is the answer. hes good at finding talent but thats where it stops.

 

[Minstrel]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

i cant say how good the new gm will be but i do not believe kp is the answer. hes good at finding talent but thats where it stops.

All he can do is find talent? Damn. If only talent mattered to winning.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Re: My thoughts on this GM saga

All he can do is find talent? Damn. If only talent mattered to winning.

Edit: never mind

 

[MIXUM]

Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/...-blazers-gm-pritchard?tag=globalNav.nba;cover

Also, much like Pritchard -– who watched his colleague, Penn, get promoted and paid -– Warkentien did not have his contract extended along with coach George Karl's this season. There are rumblings that owner Stan Kroenke is ready to move on without Warkentien and VP of player personnel Rex Chapman, with advisor Bret Bearup orchestrating the coup and Kroenke's son, Josh, on a fast track to a bigger role.

Meanwhile, Pritchard's adversaries are delighting in his imminent downfall, the end of the road for a rival who did an unassailable job in a "just ask him" sort of way. If arrogance were a fireable offense, Pritchard would've been gone a long time ago. So would some of the people having a field day with him now.

Bill Parcells used to say of the NFL, "This is not a game for the well adjusted." For some reason, that quote came to mind when I listened to the audio of Miller's news conference Monday -– the part where he said Pritchard would be evaluated after the season –- and found myself thinking, "On what?"

 

[MIXUM]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

heres another gem

A lot of people in the NBA don't like Pritchard. They bristle at his swagger and smugness, and seethe with envy over the supposed advantages he has working for Paul Allen, a billionaire many times over. As if other NBA teams aren't owned by billionaires. As if the Blazers sell out game after game after game because people want to come see the suits from Allen's Seattle-based Vulcan Inc. sit courtside and eat popcorn.

 

[RR7]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

Why do you bold the negative parts, and don't bold the very next sentence basically countering that sentiment, stating all teams have billionaire owners? I understand you don't like KP. I understand you're a whiney troll who just likes to point ou tthe negative in any situation, even when someone writes an article seemingly supporting KP from the two parts you quoted, but fuck.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

I like how Mixum has taken this entire article out of context just by what he chose to bold.

 

[MIXUM]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

its says what we all know...

kpee is gone

mark w is the next gm

im down.

 

[HailBlazers]

clueless TROLL

 

[Sedatedfork]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

I like how Mixum has taken this entire article out of context just by what he chose to bold.

Tunnel vision... kind of like Lloyd thinking he has a chance.
[video=youtube;KX5jNnDMfxA]"]

 

[Natebishop3]

Re: Ken Berger of CBS gives thoughts on kpee

Tunnel vision... kind of like Lloyd thinking he has a chance.

The funny thing is... Jim Carrey went on to fuck the shit out that chick

 

[ucatchtrout]

The real story has played out behind the scenes inside the Vulcan Empire.

What was said at yesterdays press conference at the Blazer practice facility wasn't enough to let any of us know much of anything. Which is usually the way the Vulcans like it.

Here is what we know so far. The Blazers hiring of Kevin Pritchard as GM was one of the first steps in turning this franchise from a national joke into something we've all grown proud of. He has presided over a number of shrewd draft day deals and a top pick. He has been one of the major players and the most respected voices of this organization for a number of years. His popularity in Portland sparked two popular phrases, "In KP we trust", and "Pritchslapped". And we also know he has gone from being the apple of Paul Allens eye to being someone who is very close to losing his job.

Why?

No one who knows is saying, which leaves you and me and the pundits a lot to speculate about. Jealosy, disagreement over the Tom Penn thing, getting nothing for RLEC, the handling or mishandling of last summers free agent aquisition, speculation we didn't do our due diligence in the medical investigation of Greg Oden prior to drafting him, Kevin whinning to other people in the league about being underpaid, or....................(fill in the blank)................

You can CLICK HERE and go to Blazers Edge and they have links to transcripts of Larry Millers comments and Kevin Pritchards comments at todays press conference. They also have links to audio from the press conference.

I listened to the audio on 95.5 FM. And it seemed abundantly clear to me that Kevins words were carefully measured and scripted, and he sounded afraid. He had the fear in his voice someone has when they think they are about to lose their job. And when I saw the pictures and the look on his face I thought the same thing.

Change is on the horizon for this franchise, no matter how the team ends the season. Some media analysts are speculating that KP wanted to replace Nate, others are saying if KP goes that Nate will not re-sign with the team. I find it surprising that both Dwight Jaynes and Jason Quick are so far apart on these issues. Either they don't have the "insider" scoop they claim they have or they are out of the loop.

I can understand the team and its officials clamming up about Penn. Its pretty much standard operating procedure for companies who negotiate severance agreements with employees to have signed an agreement not to slander each other.

Miller insisted that the team would not make any decisions about further changes until the off-season evaluation period. And he fell far short of endorsing Kevin and the positive things that he did say about Pritchards role in the organization seemed to me lacking in enthusiasm.

Its my belief Kevin was sincere in his desire to remain with the Blazers organization. While I have never thought he was the genius some fans did, I do recognize what he has done for this team and this community. And I hope the team, the Vulcanites, and Kevin are able to find a way to make it work.

Three critical components of a GM's job are
1. drafting players
2. trading players and signing FA's
3. negotiating player contracts

Here is some of what I have heard in relation to the three components.
1. There is a growing sentiment amongst the Vulcans that KP made a mistake in evaluating Gregs physical condition. Although its pretty easy to argue that there isn't a GM out there who would have drafted Oden ahead of Durant.

2. Even if you write the draft issue off as hindsight being 20/20, you have the FA mess of last summer. Personally, I was after Miller all along and am glad he is the one we ended up with. However everyone at Vulcan and here in PTown was sold on RLEC and all hyped up about it. We got nothing out of that. Then we were all sold on Hedo Turkoglu. And when I say all of us, I am including Paul Allen...a man used to getting what he wants. Then we miss on Milsap. Sure, I'm glad we have Andre, but you can't escape the fact that Kevin identified who he wanted, sold everyone on the idea, and then didn't deliver. And lastly you have Pritchards attachment to "his" guys. He himself has admitted he has overvalued his own players at times, and been less willing to trade them than he probably should have been.

3. We're hearing that Vulcan took over the contract negotiating because Kevin wasn't getting it done and Brandon Roy went over his head.

So if you are looking to dish out some grades for these three critical components of Pritchards job, there is room for legitimate criticism in two out of the three areas.

Is there a better person for the job?

Mark Warkentien who was Bob Whitsetts assistant and is the reigning NBA exeuctive of the year is rumored to be interested in the job. There are a lot of rumors floating around this. Mark still has a house in Lake Oswego, and his contract in Denver is up at the end of the season. There are stories floating around Denver about a potential front office shakeup. And still more stories that Mark was upset about Kevin getting the job he wanted in Portland and that he has been spreading rumors about Kevin around the league for some time.

If you ignore all the stories a couple facts remain.

Warkentien is qualified and likely available
Warkentien has a house in Portland
Warkentien has ties within the Blazer organization

Is he better? If you go back to the three components identified as critical to the GM job I don't think he is better at number one....but at number two and three one could argue that he may indeed have a better skillset than Kevin. He certainly has more experience in those areas. Maybe thats the way Vulcan sees it as well.

Personally, I would like to see Kevin Pritchard remain in Portland. However, after yesterdays news conference its clear his position here is very weak. For him to continue here and be effective in the future he is going to need some corporate support and a vote of confidence somewhere along the line. If he doesn't get that within the next few months the team should probably go ahead and make a change. We can't be competitive if our GM has his hands tied behind his back.