There Is No Long-Range Plan Because There Is No Stability

[PapaG]

Posters keep asking for moves and such, but this team doesn't even have a GM, outside of an 'acting GM' who needs to look short term over long term.

I guess I'm just amazed that people want to blame everybody except Paul Allen, who has run two competent GMs out of Portland, and has refused to give Buchanon a contract. We can whine about Nate, or 'Failton and Crawful', but until there is stability within the organization, starting at the top, things are always going to be a rollercoaster. Having the Al Davis of the NBA, yet without the track record of success, is simply going to hinder any progress, because better organizations trust their employees, and don't operate under a cloud of fear and uncertainty.

Just sell the team, Paul, or hire some basketball people and let them do their job. The Bert Kolde plan isn't working, and has never worked.

 

[Natebishop3]

I'm ready for Paul to move on. His money hasn't even been much of an advantage at this point.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I'm ready for Paul to move on. His money hasn't even been much of an advantage at this point.

PA already said that if he's facing another rebuilding he's ready to move on too.

 

[Nikolokolus]

PA already said that if he's facing another rebuilding he's ready to move on too.

I'm always a fan of amicable breakups.

 

[jlprk]

I guess I'm just amazed that people want to blame everybody except Paul Allen, who has run two competent GMs out of Portland, and has refused to give Buchanon a contract. We can whine about Nate, or 'Failton and Crawful', but until there is stability within the organization, starting at the top, things are always going to be a rollercoaster.

Pritchard wasn't competent. You can't say Cho was either, because he didn't prove it either way.

Owners can't be fired or traded. That's why we discuss changing players, GMs, or coaches. Why do you avoid the subject of McMillan?

This stability you crave--you want the same team we had several years ago?

 

[Boise Blazer]

Posters keep asking for moves and such, but this team doesn't even have a GM, outside of an 'acting GM' who needs to look short term over long term.

I guess I'm just amazed that people want to blame everybody except Paul Allen, who has run two competent GMs out of Portland, and has refused to give Buchanon a contract. We can whine about Nate, or 'Failton and Crawful', but until there is stability within the organization, starting at the top, things are always going to be a rollercoaster. Having the Al Davis of the NBA, yet without the track record of success, is simply going to hinder any progress, because better organizations trust their employees, and don't operate under a cloud of fear and uncertainty.

Just sell the team, Paul, or hire some basketball people and let them do their job. The Bert Kolde plan isn't working, and has never worked.

In all seriousness I wonder if a team has ever gone a full season without a GM. Not only is it a little odd and hindering it really kind of sends the wrong message in my opinion. Especially considering that they have all but said Chad will not get the job. But yet he is good enough to pay long term and during times when the team could use a GM to help make moves? Is he good enough or not? Because if you say he isnt then how am I supposed to feel like they care at this point?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I have become convinced that PA & Vulcan are a toxic combination and this team will never go anywhere with them. They have torpedoed all GM's since Trader Bob.

 

[Weav]

Yes, the OP is correct. This is a organization culture issue. Paul's apathy has led to no true leadership. No GM and a coach that has lost his players confidence. As long as we stay in Portland, sell the team Paul. I wouldn't mind if the Miller group purchased the team, or if Knight decided to buy just to ensure there is professional basketball close to the Nike campus.

 

[BlazerBeav]

Yeah, throw the bum out. It's not as if he's thrown a ridiculous amount of money at our beloved franchise over the years in an attempt to win the title. It certainly isn't as if he privately financed a state of the art arena at a time when other cities were having to pay for the buildings to house their teams. And on top of all that, he's just a bad person - as evidenced by the fact that he was just recognized as being the most generous living American in the past year.

There was a long range plan, unfortunately it's been derailed by a ridiculous string of injuries. C'est la vie.

 

[jlprk]

As I said--Owners can't be fired or traded. That's why we discuss changing players, GMs, or coaches.

Anti-Alleners are just spinning their wheels. Fan input never changes ownership. The owner retiring in old age and getting bored with his toy does. It's almost a lifelong commitment from most owners.

Besides, Allen has done better than any owner I've seen, and I've followed the Lakers, Sonics, and Grizzlies before the Blazers. The only one who compares is Sam Schulman, who like Allen, kept a coach on too long, Lenny Wilkens.

 

[Blaze01]

Well, Paul Allen has clearly shown himself to be an incompetent business man....

He can't even run an NBA team the right way,....Uh, how about a GM Paul? You fucking idiot...

Or are you going to let Chad Buchanan or your lil buddy Bert Kolde keep playing GM whle this team swirls itself slowly down the toilet bowl....

I would say blow the team up and build around Aldridge, Batum and maybe Williams...but under Buchanan's\Kolde's brilliant drafts of late there is a better chance that they fuck it up (Claver, Babbitt, Nolan Smith) than they actually select a guy who can actually help this team.......

Paul Allen is an embarressment as an owner....

 

[The_Lillard_King]

The long range plan might be to ride out thise crazy season, then let contracts expire at end of season and see what kind of team they can put together in the free market.

To try and drastically change the team and get a complete makeover in about 30 days (trade deadline) does not sound like something that will turn out to be good. Maybe one move at trade deadline . . .

 

[Nikolokolus]

The long range plan might be to ride out thise crazy season, then let contracts expire at end of season and see what kind of team they can put together in the free market.

To try and drastically change the team and get a complete makeover in about 30 days (trade deadline) does not sound like something that will turn out to be good. Maybe one move at trade deadline . . .

Fully agreed.

 

[jlprk]

I think McMillan will continue starting Felton to maximize his trade value, while management arranges to trade him on the deadline a month from now.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I think McMillan will continue starting Felton to maximize his trade value, while management arranges to trade him on the deadline a month from now.

Seems to me that if he really wants to maximize his trade value, he'd hide Felton under a rock for a month. Maybe teams will forget all about him playing for the past two months and say to themselves, "Hey, isn't Felton that guy who looked like an all-star for Mike D'Antoni?" Yeah, that's the ticket, hide him under a rock ... or better yet, pour a bunch of rocks down his pants and throw him in the Willamette and hide him under a bunch of water. They'll never think to look for him there.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

so sell the team, fire nate, trade everyone, and kill felton, got it

 

[Ed O]

The long range plan might be to ride out thise crazy season, then let contracts expire at end of season and see what kind of team they can put together in the free market.

To try and drastically change the team and get a complete makeover in about 30 days (trade deadline) does not sound like something that will turn out to be good. Maybe one move at trade deadline . . .

How is the long range plan helped without having a GM, though?

It's possible that a long range plan is in place, but I find it less than likely given the team's inability or unwillingness to hire someone to fill that spot.

If Buchanan were the GM, then I'd criticize him for the moves he made (with Smith, Miller/Felton, and Rudy) on draft day. As it is, there's no clarity that it was his call to make those dumb moves so we don't know if we have an absence of leadership or a presence of incompetence.

Ed O.

 

[Boob-No-More]

The long range plan might be to ride out thise crazy season, then let contracts expire at end of season and see what kind of team they can put together in the free market.

I wonder if we'll actually have a GM next summer to take advantage of all that cap space.

To try and drastically change the team and get a complete makeover in about 30 days (trade deadline) does not sound like something that will turn out to be good. Maybe one move at trade deadline . . .

I wonder if we'll actually have a GM at the trade deadline to make a move. Say what you want about Pritchard and Cho, but they both made very good deals at the last two trade deadlines (Blake and Outlaw for Camby; Joel and Cunningham for Wallace). Can we expect our GM by commitee to pull off something similar this year? I somehow doubt it.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

If Buchanan were the GM, then I'd criticize him for the moves he made (with Smith, Miller/Felton, and Rudy) on draft day. As it is, there's no clarity that it was his call to make those dumb moves so we don't know if we have an absence of leadership or a presence of incompetence.

He may, or may not be the GM, but he has been in charge of college scouting for several years and has been an abysmal failure in that role. When was the last time we drafted a college player who was worth anything, or lived up to his draft position - all the while passing on much better college players to draft euros and stash them overseas where they will never play for us but contunie to count as cap holds every summer? Even if you ignore is role as acting GM, there is still plenty left to criticize.

BNM

 

[jaspitzer]

He may, or may not be the GM, but he has been in charge of college scouting for several years and has been an abysmal failure in that role. When was the last time we drafted a college player who was worth anything, or lived up to his draft position - all the while passing on much better college players to draft euros and stash them overseas where they will never play for us but contunie to count as cap holds every summer? Even if you ignore is role as acting GM, there is still plenty left to criticize.

BNM

But doesn't the fact that we drafted Euros when he has been in charge of college scouting kinda not make it his fault. He didn't draft the euros, he wasn't even looking at the same continent they live on. Also, a team that performs slightly better than average is draft nightmare. It's not often that teams draft in the 20's and get meaningful players, and when they do it's considered a homerun. And since we've already hit a pretty decent late draft homerun (batum) I don't think it's realistic to expect the same every single year. There are many teams that draft in the top 10 every single year and still cant get it right. This chad buchanan blame is pretty dumb, especially when he doesn't even have the authority to do anything (and never really did until recently). He pulled off a trade draft night that nearly everyone on this board was thrilled about. It just didn't work out. But most, if not all, would have made the same move on draft night. Paul Allen and Larry Miller need to be held accountable for not making decisions on this teams future.

 

[Boob-No-More]

But doesn't the fact that we drafted Euros when he has been in charge of college scouting kinda not make it his fault.

Disagree. There were plenty of better college players on the board when we took those euros. If Buchanan was good at his job, he would have been able to convince the GM to take those players, The problem is, he's not good at his job. He convinced management to take Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph over DeJuan Blair.

It's not often that teams draft in the 20's and get meaningful players, and when they do it's considered a homerun. A

Buchanan has been a scout with the Blazers for over seven years. The last college player the Blazers drafted that justified his draft position (compared to who was still on the board) was Brandon Roy. The last one to justify his draft position, that's still in the league was LaMarcus Aldridge, that same year. We also passed on Paul Millsap three times (at 27 - Sergio, 30 - Freeland and 31 - James White, traded to Indy for the 45th pick and a 4th chance to pass on Millsap) in that same draft. Since then, we've had the number 1 pick in the 2007 draft and the number 11 pick (in the trade from Indianapolis) in 2008. We picked Greg Oden and Jerryd Bayless with those picks. How'd that work out for us? In 2009 we passed on DeJuan Blair at 22 (Claver), 31 (Pendergraph) and 33 (Cunningham). In 2010, we moved up to 16 to take Luke Fucking Babbit. Of the next 12 picks in that draft, only two have played fewer NBA minutes than Luke Babbitt, and one of those two was Elliot Williams, our own 22nd pick. In 2011 we took Nolan Smith at 21 over Kenneth Faried, Marshon Brooks, Norris Cole, Chandler Parsons, Jon Leuer, Isaiah Thomas and several other players who have played more minutes and actually have a positive WS/48.

Yeah, picking in the low to mid-20s is a crap shoot, but the odds are you'll at least occasionally get a keeper. And it's not like the Blazers have always been picking in the mid to low 20s. Since 2006, they've had the 1st (2007), 11th (2008), 22nd (2009), 16th and 22nd (2010) and 21st (2011) picks. With the possible exception of Elliot Williams (the jury is still out, he's only played 66 minutes of NBA ball) we've wiffed on every one of those picks. Sorry, I'm not willing to give our director of college scouting a free pass for being that wrong that often.

It's not often that teams draft in the 20's and get meaningful players, and when they do it's considered a homerun.

Every year, there are multiple "meaningful" players selected in the 20s. In the past five drafts, we've wiffed at 1, 11, 16, 21, 22, with one infield single (Elliot Williams) also at 22. Forget homeruns, we're 1 for 6 with zero runs scored and zero RBIs with out top picks in the last 5 drafts.

Again, I'm not ready to give our director of college scouting a free pass on that miserable track record, let alone promote him to GM.

BNM

 

[Rhal]

Disagree. There were plenty of better college players on the board when we took those euros. If Buchanan was good at his job, he would have been able to convince the GM to take those players, The problem is, he's not good at his job. He convinced management to take Dante Cunningham and Jeff Pendergraph over DeJuan Blair.



Buchanan has been a scout with the Blazers for over seven years. The last college player the Blazers drafted that justified his draft position (compared to who was still on the board) was Brandon Roy. The last one to justify his draft position, that's still in the league was LaMarcus Aldridge, that same year. We also passed on Paul Millsap three times (at 27 - Sergio, 30 - Freeland and 31 - James White, traded to Indy for the 45th pick and a 4th chance to pass on Millsap) in that same draft. Since then, we've had the number 1 pick in the 2007 draft and the number 11 pick (in the trade from Indianapolis) in 2008. We picked Greg Oden and Jerryd Bayless with those picks. How'd that work out for us? In 2009 we passed on DeJuan Blair at 22 (Claver), 31 (Pendergraph) and 33 (Cunningham). In 2010, we moved up to 16 to take Luke Fucking Babbit. Of the next 12 picks in that draft, only two have played fewer NBA minutes than Luke Babbitt, and one of those two was Elliot Williams, our own 22nd pick. In 2011 we took Nolan Smith at 21 over Kenneth Faried, Marshon Brooks, Norris Cole, Chandler Parsons, Jon Leuer, Isaiah Thomas and several other players who have played more minutes and actually have a positive WS/48.

Yeah, picking in the low to mid-20s is a crap shoot, but the odds are you'll at least occasionally get a keeper. And it's not like the Blazers have always been picking in the mid to low 20s. Since 2006, they've had the 1st (2007), 11th (2008), 22nd (2009), 16th and 22nd (2010) and 21st (2011) picks. With the possible exception of Elliot Williams (the jury is still out, he's only played 66 minutes of NBA ball) we've wiffed on every one of those picks. Sorry, I'm not willing to give our director of college scouting a free pass for being that wrong that often.



Every year, there are multiple "meaningful" players selected in the 20s. In the past five drafts, we've wiffed at 1, 11, 16, 21, 22, with one infield single (Elliot Williams) also at 22. Forget homeruns, we're 1 for 6 with zero runs scored and zero RBIs with out top picks in the last 5 drafts.

Again, I'm not ready to give our director of college scouting a free pass on that miserable track record, let alone promote him to GM.

BNM

All this seems to point the finger at Buchanan like he had the final say on all this stuff. A scouts job is to look at players and evaluate them then its up to the coach's/GM to pick the players they want. I really doubt Buchanan had a lot of say on who we picked in anything save last years draft and we were thin at 2 positions PG/C and we drafted a PG considered by many the best one on the board at that time. I'm not defending him I just think we don't have enough info to say that it was Buchanan who convinced KP and Nate to pass on Blair/Millsap and so many others.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

I think McMillan will continue starting Felton to maximize his trade value...

If Nate keeps playing Failton, his trade value will just continue to drop. He's already down to a late second round pick.

 

[Boob-No-More]

All this seems to point the finger at Buchanan like he had the final say on all this stuff. A scouts job is to look at players and evaluate them then its up to the coach's/GM to pick the players they want. I really doubt Buchanan had a lot of say on who we picked in anything save last years draft and we were thin at 2 positions PG/C and we drafted a PG considered by many the best one on the board at that time. I'm not defending him I just think we don't have enough info to say that it was Buchanan who convinced KP and Nate to pass on Blair/Millsap and so many others.

I'm not trying to blame Buchanan for all of the draft failures, but when you're in charge of college scouting and your team consistently wiffs on college players, when other, better college players are available, he has to at least share in the blame. He may have not been the making those decisions, but he is the one whose job has been to supply those making the decisions with the data to make the decisions. So, either he's been supplying them with faulty data, or they are ignoring the input he's been providing. Neither scenario speaks well for his prospects as our future GM. I know he's supposedly a good guy, works hard, plays nice with others, etc., but when I look at his track record, I don't see anything he's done that has translated to success on the court, and that's not something I want in a GM.

BNM

 

[jaspitzer]

I still think you're giving the guy too much credit. I doubt he had little if anything to do with 80% of those draft picks. His scouting job probably consisted of writing up reviews of players and sending them to the coach, GM, President, and maybe paul allen. Some owners are very hands on and will run the draft completely their own way. Wouldn't be surprised if paul allen had a hand in many of the pics you listed above. I think it's mostly his fault. I don't think Chad Buchanan is the problem, he's just an easy target. The Jury's still out on Nolan and Elliot. If nate actually played young players we might know more. But I have a feeling Nolan won't get much playing time up to the trade deadline to try to showcase fatass. Nolan seems like he hast the athleticism, intelligence, and determination to be a good player.