Rookies

[Mediocre Man]

Lillard
Leonard
Freeland
Claver

And a guy in Barton that should have been a 1st.

Rebuild in full swing

 

[Natebishop3]

Pretty good. I'm most excited to see Lillard and Freeland, mostly because I have low expectations for Leonard this year and almost no expectations for Claver.

 

[Blazinaway]

Lillard
Leonard
Freeland
Claver

And a guy in Barton that should have been a 1st.

Rebuild in full swing

Yep, should be fun and at times probably trying. At least the Euro guys are experienced and Lillard played 4 yrs college (1 hurt), and Barton from most accts is fairly "Nba ready", the guy who on paper probably is the last NBA ready is Leonard, but maybe he surprises

 

[Blazinaway]

and that of course leads to the next BIG Q - what COACH will lead/teach these guys?

 

[Natebishop3]

and that of course leads to the next BIG Q - what COACH will lead/teach these guys?

I'm guessing Malone or Shaw. Those are the best bets. I'm hoping for Malone, but Shaw wouldn't be a bad choice.

 

[Mediocre Man]

and that of course leads to the next BIG Q - what COACH will lead/teach these guys?

The more the roster looks like a total rebuild, the more I am guessing Kaleb...which would suck

 

[Natebishop3]

The more the roster looks like a total rebuild, the more I am guessing Kaleb...which would suck

See, I don't think so. If your roster is almost entirely rookies, why would you want a guy who has no experience in leading? I think Kaleb would be fine if it was a bunch of vets who don't require micro managing, but not a group of guys who are brand new to the league.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Yep, should be fun and at times probably trying. At least the Euro guys are experienced and Lillard played 4 yrs college (1 hurt), and Barton from most accts is fairly "Nba ready", the guy who on paper probably is the last NBA ready is Leonard, but maybe he surprises

I agree with everything you just said, except the part bolded. I'm thinking it should be trying and probably fun at times ...

But it's part of the deal. Hopefully people don't get their hopes up too high.

 

[Nikolokolus]

See, I don't think so. If your roster is almost entirely rookies, why would you want a guy who has no experience in leading? I think Kaleb would be fine if it was a bunch of vets who don't require micro managing, but not a group of guys who are brand new to the league.

That's a pretty good point ... I guess it all comes down to how much sway Legarrie has with Olshey ... and by extension, Paul and Kolde.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Lillard
Leonard
Freeland
Claver

And a guy in Barton that should have been a 1st.

Rebuild in full swing

kinda like 5 #1 picks all at once! nice rebuild olshey!

 

[BrianFromWA]

and if we can get Williams for Batum...

 

[Natebishop3]

That's a pretty good point ... I guess it all comes down to how much sway Legarrie has with Olshey ... and by extension, Paul and Kolde.

See, Nate for all his faults was actually a good coach for a young team with a bunch of rookies. The problem was that we outgrew him and he overstayed his usefulness. I wouldn't say that young players need a disciplinarian necessarily, but they need someone that commands respect and can control young egos. The Blazers had a great team chemistry during Roy's first few years, which is actually pretty rare I think for teams with that much young talent.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

and if we can get Williams for Batum...

im going to have williams as my cutoff for what i will be happy with the blazers getting back

any less = rage
any more = joy

 

[3RA1N1AC]

See, Nate for all his faults was actually a good coach for a young team with a bunch of rookies. The problem was that we outgrew him and he overstayed his usefulness. I wouldn't say that young players need a disciplinarian necessarily, but they need someone that commands respect and can control young egos. The Blazers had a great team chemistry during Roy's first few years, which is actually pretty rare I think for teams with that much young talent.

roy was the alpha dog, not nate

 

[Mediocre Man]

kinda like 5 #1 picks all at once! nice rebuild olshey!

Ya. It looks good. It also looks good because there really isn't a log jom at any position with those guys

Leonard - 5
Lillard - 1
Barton - 2/3
Claver - 3/4
Freeland - 4/5

 

[3RA1N1AC]

nba 2k13 is gonna be fun this year

 

[Mediocre Man]

im going to have williams as my cutoff for what i will be happy with the blazers getting back

any less = rage
any more = joy

Nice over/under

I am going with my draft philosophy, and tiering it

Acceptable

Williams
Both Min and Mem picks and Johnson
One of either pick and Johnson and Barrea

 

[Nikolokolus]

roy was the alpha dog, not nate

Sorta ... He was definitely the most talented and he was given the keys to the car and took them, but for all of his other positive qualities he never struck me as a natural leader, more like a beta posing as an alpha (sort of like LaMarcus).

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Lillard
Leonard
Freeland
Claver

And a guy in Barton that should have been a 1st.

Rebuild in full swing

Do we have this year's draft pick or did we trade it away? This team has the look of a top 3 lottery pick.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Nice over/under

I am going with my draft philosophy, and tiering it

Acceptable

Williams

Both Min and Mem picks and Johnson

meh

One of either pick and Johnson and Barrea

rage

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Do we have this year's draft pick or did we trade it away? This team has the look of a top 3 lottery pick.

top 12 protected to cha

 

[mook]

Yep, should be fun and at times probably trying. At least the Euro guys are experienced and Lillard played 4 yrs college (1 hurt), and Barton from most accts is fairly "Nba ready", the guy who on paper probably is the last NBA ready is Leonard, but maybe he surprises

Yeah, that's a pretty non-typical "NBA Rookie" crop in terms of age and experience. There won't be years of waiting for "upside" to pan out (see Telfair, Webster, Outlaw, Bayless, Batum.) This time next year we should have a pretty darned good idea of which of these guys are here for the long-haul. (Except for Melvin. I'm planning on being patient with that guy.)

I'd add Elliot Williams to MM's list as essentially a rookie, since he only played 149 minutes last year. Williams is 23 this year, though, so he's an older "rookie."

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Sorta ... He was definitely the most talented and he was given the keys to the car and took them, but for all of his other positive qualities he never struck me as a natural leader, more like a beta posing as an alpha (sort of like LaMarcus).

i never got the same impression as you i guess

 

[Natebishop3]

I felt like McMillan pushed Roy into the alpha role. He didn't strike me as a #1 option when he first came into the league. Seemed sort of tentative during the SL his rookie year. He was more of a "do everything" versatile guy that some people thought would play point guard for us. I think Nate should get a lot of credit for pushing Roy into the role that we eventually associated with him, but he was always a "lead by example" kind of guy. Not a vocal leader really. Maybe I'm wrong, but those were my impressions.

 

[Nikolokolus]

i never got the same impression as you i guess

Think back to how he handled the Miller/Blake thing ... not exactly what you look for in a leader.

leadership is sort of an intangible thing. Kind of like describing the difference between artistic nudes and pornography -- I can't describe what exactly makes them different, but I know it when I see it.

For instance, I think there's really only one guy currently under contract that has the charisma, demeanor and affect of a leader: Wesley ... unfortunately his talent level doesn't back it up. On a related note, I thought Lillard came pretty strong in some of the interviews I saw with him. Hopefully that's real and not just the product of studying with a media coach.

 

[Natebishop3]

Think back to how he handled the Miller/Blake thing ... not exactly what you look for in a leader.

leadership is sort of an intangible thing. Kind of like describing the difference between artistic nudes and pornography -- I can't describe what exactly makes them different, but I know it when I see it.

For instance, I think there's really only one guy currently under contract that has the charisma, demeanor and affect of a leader: Wesley ... unfortunately his talent level doesn't back it up. On a related note, I thought Lillard came pretty strong in some of the interviews I saw with him. Hopefully that's real and not just the product of studying with a media coach.

I have high hopes for Lillard, not just as a player but as a leader. Hopefully he can live up to the hype.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Think back to how he handled the Miller/Blake thing ... not exactly what you look for in a leader.

think about when roy told management to deal zbo after his rookie year

alpha dog

 

[Nikolokolus]

think about when roy told management to deal zbo after his rookie year

alpha dog

No, that's not the same thing. That's having juice. Brandon's Rookie of the Year and squeaky clean image gave him a lot of pull with upper management who wanted to market him to a fanbase starving for something to feel good about ... and really, if they hadn't stumbled into the number one pick they probably never would have traded Z-bo (at least not then).

 

[3RA1N1AC]

say what you will, roy doing that put the locker room on notice

alpha dog in the house

 

[Nikolokolus]

say what you will, roy doing that put the locker room on notice

alpha dog in the house

Maybe we're not thinking about "alpha dog" in the same sense? To me it means a natural born leader; somebody whose charisma and will pull people along and inspire others to greatness.