This is not good / How do we fix it / Why does god hate us?

[Rastapopoulos]

I swear to God this woke, cancel culture being waged by the media is obnoxious

See if you can make your point without using Fox News performative outrage buzzwords. If you can, then maybe you've got one.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

You can't go through a residential or middle class or lower neighborhood in London without seeing "Eat the rich" spraypainted somewhere.

I worry about that: Botox is a literal poison, after all.

 

[Natebishop3]

So is our team being attacked by fans from other teams to try to drive Dame away? Because it feels like some kind of counter-intelligence attack against our franchise.

 

[AldoTrapani]

Bullshit. This board is pretty damn liberal and the poll shows that the overwhelming majority are perfectly happy with Billups. If Dame chooses to point to the vocal minority as a reason to leave, then he wants to leave and is looking for an excuse. That's fair enough - nobody should stay at a job they don't like - but fans are fickle mushheads and every athlete knows that.

He was going to leave anyways. He orchestrated this so he can find a reason to leave

 

[Phatguysrule]

The way this gets fixed is if Jody opens the purse strings and Olshey brings in the most talent he's ever brought.

 

[Tweak]

You can't go through a residential or middle class or lower neighborhood in London without seeing "Eat the rich" spraypainted somewhere.

A lot of Motorhead fans there obviously.

 

[MadeFromDust]

I think Neil has really worn out his welcome. It's time to clean house completely. Would be awesome if Dame would stick around but if there's ever a time to start over it should be now.

 

[e_blazer]

Be calm and carry on.

It's all part of the plot to move the franchise to Seattle.

 

[Propagandist]

Calling someone a walrus is a personal insult? You fucking plastic straw.

Perhaps he struggles with his weight...

 

[Natebishop3]

Perhaps he struggles with his weight...

And he has buck teeth.

 

[calvin natt]

If Olshey didn't know there would be some fans that are upset over the hiring of Billups then he's a fucking idiot. Sure, he may have hired who he feels is the best candidate but the way he leaked it through Woj on a Friday afternoon was wrong.

Nobody has been upset with Billups since 1997. He’s been employed. No protests for ESPN and the Clippers. But of course Portland has to find a way to fuck it up.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

 

[Natebishop3]

Nobody has been upset with Billups since 1997. He’s been employed. No protests for ESPN and the Clippers. But of course Portland has to find a way to fuck it up.

I think Kidd whipped everyone up, which then had people pointing out that Billups was bad too.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Nobody has been upset with Billups since 1997. He’s been employed. No protests for ESPN and the Clippers. But of course Portland has to find a way to fuck it up.

Well after Donald Sterling Billus looks like a saint to Clip fans.

 

[calvin natt]

So so so dumb. I have fucking had it with these media twats and dumbass fans. Go back to protesting your stupid shit downtown if they’re all so bored.

 

[UncleCliffy'sDaddy]

And he has buck teeth.

You and I may have our disagreements but may I say that your newest avatar hits the nail squarely on the head?

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

Neil asked for this heat.

He deserves every bit of it.

 

[BigGameDamian]

I think the only way to fix this is to get rid of Olshey and restart the coaching search. Would that fix everything with Dame? I'm not sure but it's the start that has to happen. You can't just ignore this bad situation and hope it goes away. There's a good chance it will get worse.

 

[JoshuaHall]

Why exactly do people think Olshey fucked this up from the jump?
Seems like Haynes/Dame did with the Kidd / Billups “leak”.

 

[JoshuaHall]

And trust me, I’m no Olshey fan. But I fail to see how he completely screwed the pooch on this one.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

The GM hiding in his home office like a coward won’t fix the PR nightmare that he caused.

 

[Cugel]

Because, NO has to have the insight to know what kind of town Portland is and the contrast of having a guy with issues going up against the first woman candidate ever. He lacks wisdom. He is self-delusional as we can see from press conferences.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Why exactly do people think Olshey fucked this up from the jump?
Seems like Haynes/Dame did with the Kidd / Billups “leak”.

I posted this a little bit ago in reply to someone else....

The Billups rape incident was brought up by fans before the Blazers had even narrowed down the names of who they wanted to interview. It was known enough by the Blazers that they asked him about it in his interview. So nobody knew nothing really doesn't wash. Is Portland woke? Or easily outraged? Sure. That's not new. The Blazers as an organization are very very aware of this. They market it to it and profit from it. For Olshey not to either be aware or care is a concern.

If Olshey didn't see the concern by many fans over the possible hiring of Kidd when it was reported by Haynes he lives and works in a hole and needs to climb the fuck out.

If Olshey did see the concern by fans over the possible hiring of Kidd but didn't think it would and/or could possibly apply also to Billips then he is a fucking idiot.

Olshey has publicly blamed fans for shit in the past.

If you don't know your market or your audience the problem is with you, not the market.

*This is from someone who has not been upset over the hiring of Billups.​

 

[Buffalo Custard]

I have no proof, but I do have a theory. The only way this could have been avoided was to replace Stotts with a white, inoffensive, off-the-court choir boy who wouldn't try too hard to win.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I have no proof, but I do have a theory. The only way this could have been avoided was to replace Stotts with a white, inoffensive, off-the-court choir boy who wouldn't try too hard to win.

Or not to have announced things through Woj on a Friday afternoon.

 

[Cugel]

This is not about basketball games anymore. That is the issue. Watch a Blazers game and you can see that it's marketed to be a "woke" team, for lack of a better term. All inclusive etc. Now it doesn't take much intellectual gymnastics to see that who you choose for a coach better be consistent with this ideal. Imagine if they brought in somebody who trashes gays or made racist remarks in the past. It don't look good and it's not good in any way from a money perspective or a fan/social perspective. A front office/GM has to know this stuff.

 

[JoshuaHall]

Because, NO has to have the insight to know what kind of town Portland is and the contrast of having a guy with issues going up against the first woman candidate ever. He lacks wisdom. He is self-delusional as we can see from press conferences.

Forgive me if I “like” a GM who doesn’t give a shit about public perception and wants to make the best hire possible — within my personal moral compass as i see nothing wrong with the Billups situation in LEGAL terms.

If we had a GM that catered to this wishes of fans that would annoy the fuck out of me. If the fans had it there way Becky Hammon would’ve been hired the day after Stotts was gone and guess what — she probably won’t be hired this year by fucking shitty ass teams, much less a contending team.

And he was only made aware of the backlash due to Kidd / Billups original leak, as far as I’m aware.

Yes, understand your market, and understand that there will be backlash. But that’s far from “botching this from the beginning” in my opinion.

 

[barfo]

I just moved to OR last month after being away for ~15 yrs or so on the east coast and midwest. What i saw driving on 84 from the airport was shocking. So much graffitti, homeless camps everywhere, needles in waterfront park, WTF happened to my town.

Dame and Olshey did that.

barfo

 

[Cugel]

Well we differ on that. I would never consider a racist/biggot/homophobe/alleged sexual assault etc., even if it was the greatest coach of all time. I would rather not win a championship then deal with that.

 

[JoshuaHall]

I posted this a little bit ago in reply to someone else....

The Billups rape incident was brought up by fans before the Blazers had even narrowed down the names of who they wanted to interview. It was known enough by the Blazers that they asked him about it in his interview. So nobody knew nothing really doesn't wash. Is Portland woke? Or easily outraged? Sure. That's not new. The Blazers as an organization are very very aware of this. They market it to it and profit from it. For Olshey not to either be aware or care is a concern.

If Olshey didn't see the concern by many fans over the possible hiring of Kidd when it was reported by Haynes he lives and works in a hole and needs to climb the fuck out.

If Olshey did see the concern by fans over the possible hiring of Kidd but didn't think it would and/or could possibly apply also to Billips then he is a fucking idiot.

Olshey has publicly blamed fans for shit in the past.

If you don't know your market or your audience the problem is with you, not the market.

*This is from someone who has not been upset over the hiring of Billups.​

Along the lines of what I just posted, that’s far from “botching this from the beginning”. You can be aware of pushback — and even fans not liking a hire — and still move forward with due diligence.
The biggest fuck up, in my eyes, is him being Silent Sam and waiting DAYS for a presser while this all builds up.
And whoever leaked Billups on Friday.