Rich Cho introduced as GM of the Bobcats

[Mediocre Man]

http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2011/06/rich_cho_introduced_as_bobcats.html

He had a few quotes, and nice things to say about the Blazers, but I found this interesting, and wondered what everyone's opinion is about it.

"At that time, Seattle was kind of a middle-of-the-road team," Cho said. "We wound up trading our best player, Ray Allen, and what we wanted to do there was have some sustained success, not just make the playoffs one year and go out the next. One of the worst things you can do in this league, I think is be a middle-of-the-road team.

Is Portland a middle of the road team? Ok but not good enough to contend, but also not bad enough to land a difference maker in the draft?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Re: Rich Cho introduced as GM of the Bobs

Until they make some bold moves we are the epitome of that -- stuck in NBA purgatory.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Re: Rich Cho introduced as GM of the Bobs

Mods.........Do not merge this. Change the title or whatever

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Re: Rich Cho introduced as GM of the Bobs

Mods.........Do not merge this. Change the title or whatever

Fuck you! I'm drunk with power!

 

[Harry's Raincoat]

MM - to answer the direct question: No, we're a little better than middle-of-the-road teams WHEN HEALTHY. I know its getting old saying that - but it is still truth.
If Oden is playing - we're an elite team.

When he is injured for entire year - we are just middle-of-the-road.

 

[Minstrel]

http://www.oregonlive.com/nba/index.ssf/2011/06/rich_cho_introduced_as_bobcats.html

He had a few quotes, and nice things to say about the Blazers, but I found this interesting, and wondered what everyone's opinion is about it.

Is Portland a middle of the road team? Ok but not good enough to contend, but also not bad enough to land a difference maker in the draft?

Most teams are. The reason why many teams are middle-of-the-road is not because they didn't have the guts to rip the team apart but rather because they didn't have the front office talent to keep upgrading the team. Almost no team goes from horrible to great in one step...even if you break the team down to the foundations, on your way back up you're going to have to go through "middle of the road" territory. The easy part is reaching middle of the road...the hard part is continuing to add talent at that point, due to diminishing returns--every marginal win above average is harder to get. That's where the best front offices come through. Since most front offices aren't great (by definition--"most" can't be "great"), most teams are stuck at non-contender status.

Portland will become a contender when they have a front office capable of finding ways to upgrade a solid or above-average team...not when they decide to rip the team apart.

 

[RoyToy]

That is something every team in the NBA thinks. Too bad in the NBA it's much easier said than done. It takes as much luck as it does skill to be a true contender in the NBA. There are only so many transcendent stars in this league, and even the best of them are the players that win the most. Kobe/Shaq/Duncan dominated the western conference for an entire decade.

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Cho seems to define middle of the road team as a team that makes the playoffs one year and then is out the next. That is not the Blazers situation as they seem to now be perennial playoff team despite whatever injuries are thrown their way.

Imagine what this team would be like with a healthy #1 pick and/or their only all star.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

I think that if we wait another year we will have a better idea who the Blazers are. If Oden cannot play injury free for a season and Roy can't rise to his former level; then I think we are middle of the road. If either one of them can make a splash, then maybe we can be something. I would still start hedging my bets; trying to move up in the draft and pick someone who is young and raw but has the potential to be great, maybe somebody like that Lithuanian center.

 

[handiman]

Didn't Seattle and Minnesota get very little value out of the Allen and KG trades? OKC turned things around because of Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Harden. Green/Perkins has little to do with the quality of their team, unless I'm forgetting some aspect of the original trade.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Cho seems to define middle of the road team as a team that makes the playoffs one year and then is out the next. That is not the Blazers situation as they seem to now be perennial playoff team despite whatever injuries are thrown their way.

Imagine what this team would be like with a healthy #1 pick and/or their only all star.

Perennial playoff team is anything but assured given the age of some of our key contributors and the condition of the knees of some of our supposed pillars.

 

[illmatic99]

"I think we're closer than people think," Buchanan said. "If we have all of our pieces out there playing, healthy, I think we're a lot closer than people in the rest of the league think. But we're not there yet. I think we're probably one or two moves away from having a chance at making a deep run."

http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/index.ssf/2011/06/trail_blazers_chad_buchanan_wa.html

 

[jlprk]

I can't believe Paul Allen's genius. I always wondered how we got Gerald Wallace for so little. Now we find that Cho was a throw-in. This easily explains why Allen "fired" Cho. Cho negotiated his "firing" himself as part of the trade. He preferred to work for Allen, but he sacrificed his career for a year or two and went to Charlotte to enable us getting Wallace. I think that when we steal Przybilla back from Charlotte we should have them throw in Cho so we can give him a hero's welcome.

 

[Rhal]

Didn't we have a GM in the 70's trade himself to another team? I think it was Erik Spolestras dad.

 

[Denny Crane]

Dallas has somehow won 50 (or even 60) or more games every season since 2000-2001, made it to the conference finals once and finals twice now. Somehow they managed to have a revolving door where guys like Caron Butler, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, and Brendan Haywood end up on the team.

They did well in the draft a couple of times (Josh Howard, Devin Harris, JJ Barea), in spite of not being in the lottery.

 

[Rhal]

Dallas has somehow won 50 (or even 60) or more games every season since 2000-2001, made it to the conference finals once and finals twice now. Somehow they managed to have a revolving door where guys like Caron Butler, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, Peja Stojakovic, and Brendan Haywood end up on the team.

They did well in the draft a couple of times (Josh Howard, Devin Harris, JJ Barea), in spite of not being in the lottery.

A big part of that is because Cuban is never afraid to spend more money. So If you have a playoff team that isn't great you better have an owner willing to spend the cash to make it better every year or its the worst spot to be in is the moral of the Mavs.

 

[Denny Crane]

A big part of that is because Cuban is never afraid to spend more money. So If you have a playoff team that isn't great you better have an owner willing to spend the cash to make it better every year or its the worst spot to be in is the moral of the Mavs.

I don't think that is exactly true. If the owner is willing to spend over the LT threshold, you're in a different league when it comes to being able to trade and satisfy the CBA requirements. For example, if your 7th man is making $MAX, you can trade him for some other team's superstar making $MAX, while a team under the LT might have to package up several players to make salaries match up. It's even better when dealing with BYC and PPP, since the bigger the contracts involved, the difference in BYC in/out for CBA purposes becomes smaller as a %.

 

[Mediocre Man]

If we have all of our pieces out there playing, healthy, I think we're a lot closer than people in the rest of the league think.

The problem is, Chad, that it is not possible for this team to do that. Roy isn't going to be healthy, ever again, and Greg Oden being healthy is unlikely. 1 or 2 pieces away is a joke unless those pieces are all-stars

 

[Rastapopoulos]

They did well in the draft a couple of times (Josh Howard, Devin Harris, JJ Barea), in spite of not being in the lottery.

Devin Harris was a high pick (#5 I think) - they traded to get the pick.

 

[Denny Crane]

Devin Harris was a high pick (#5 I think) - they traded to get the pick.

Fair enough, but THEY weren't in the lottery.

 

[handiman]

Fair enough, but THEY weren't in the lottery.

Trader Bob acquired a roster full of lottery picks in the same manner, and Cuban often said he modeled the Mavs on that team.

 

[Denny Crane]

Trader Bob acquired a roster full of lottery picks in the same manner, and Cuban often said he modeled the Mavs on that team.

Yep. There was a while where both the Mavs and Blazers were way into LT, and able to bring on big contracts through trade. Mighty Mouse and Pippen are two, off the top of my head...

Both teams are no longer willing to spend endlessly, and are much tighter with the money.

 

[Minstrel]

Dallas has somehow won 50 (or even 60) or more games every season since 2000-2001, made it to the conference finals once and finals twice now.

How did they make it to the Finals twice, but the conference finals only once? Was that back in the 1950s where if you had a good enough record, you could skip any one round of conference playoffs?*

*May never have been a rule

 

[Denny Crane]

How did they make it to the Finals twice, but the conference finals only once? Was that back in the 1950s where if you had a good enough record, you could skip any one round of conference playoffs?*

*May never have been a rule

Their season ended in the conference finals once and in the finals twice.

Quite a few 1st round exits.

 

[Minstrel]

Their season ended in the conference finals once and in the finals twice.

Quite a few 1st round exits.

Hey, just like the Blazers lately then! Minus the conference finals and NBA finals appearances. And people say we're not close. Portland is almost like Dallas.

 

[Denny Crane]

Hey, just like the Blazers lately then! Minus the conference finals and NBA finals appearances. And people say we're not close. Portland is almost like Dallas.

Close. Getting Wallace while not being a lotto team fits the Dallas model.