KP trying to learn from past mistake (Josh McRoberts)?

In 2007, Josh McRoberts, a potential lottery pick with some question about his game, fell to the second round. His free-fall was ended my KP with the 37th pick. I wonder if KP didn't have McRoberts high on his draft board, but drafted him because he was a highly regarded talent with ties to Oden. Do you think when Blair was available at 33, KP looked at his big board, then at everyone else's big board, remembered Josh and then went his own way?

4 months ago hightide 38 comments 0 recs |

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possilbly

Oden...Aldridge...Roy.....THE REAL BIG THREE

by CroRupt on Jun 26, 2009 7:32 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Second rounders rarely develop

I think GM’s can be called to have made mistakes on their first round choices or a long history of nothing coming out of the second

"Knowledge will get you from A to B. Creativity will get you anywhere." Einstein

by Garden of ODEN on Jun 27, 2009 12:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

no

Red Hot and Rolling

by BlazerFan88 on Jun 26, 2009 7:59 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We drafted McRoberts because we needed a Dukie

We signed Shavlik Randolph instead of Hill because we needed a Dukie.

"There are a few teams you have to watch out for in the fourth quarter."
"Yeah, but Portland definitely is not one of them."

-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters at the end of the third quarter with the Hornets leading 74-59. Portland later ends up winning 97-89.

"They don't mind him shooting that shot at all. Rudy Fernandez is not that great of a 3pt shooter."

-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters right after a Rudy Fernandez missed 3pter. Rudy Fernandez finished the game with three 3pters on six attempts.

by Tofu Anonymous on Jun 26, 2009 9:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

maybe this means we'll have Grant Hill next year?

"There are a few teams you have to watch out for in the fourth quarter."
"Yeah, but Portland definitely is not one of them."

-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters at the end of the third quarter with the Hornets leading 74-59. Portland later ends up winning 97-89.

"They don't mind him shooting that shot at all. Rudy Fernandez is not that great of a 3pt shooter."

-New Orleans Hornets broadcasters right after a Rudy Fernandez missed 3pter. Rudy Fernandez finished the game with three 3pters on six attempts.

by Tofu Anonymous on Jun 26, 2009 9:45 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

that'd be fine by me

Joel Freeland=Stud

by hightide on Jun 26, 2009 9:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

kyle singler here we come

The Blazers as a whole are far more like my wife than like me in the sense of their physicality on defense.
-Dave

by chrischa on Jun 26, 2009 11:27 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Dukie.

by dpnim on Jun 27, 2009 3:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He is too big of a risk, if he plays bad then its a wasted pick and we look bad because we should have known better and all the talk will center around KP always selecting injury prone players like Oden, Roy.

The deal with him is he was passed by a lot of teams, and most of these teams have their own doctors looking over this information, so the collective information seems to satisfy me we made the right decision, too risky it seems for even a second round selection. Also with the weight issues. Also there might be other issues on the table we don’t know about.

"Knowledge will get you from A to B. Creativity will get you anywhere." Einstein

by Garden of ODEN on Jun 26, 2009 11:55 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

And if he does work out for the Spurs

Opposing team’s players will be crying over their lack of ability to grab a rebound from this machine, and 29 other GMs will look like fools.

You don’t “waste” a 2nd round pick on a player that comes with risks. It’s ok to take risks in the 2nd round. Actually what could be considered a waste is taking Cunningham when Blair was available.

I get what you mean, but It was a 2nd round pick for a lottery level talent. Blair may have medical issues but you don’t pass on that chance if he falls to you, which he did 3 times for us. (yes I include the first rounder even, to me it was still worth the risk).

by Bskey on Jun 27, 2009 3:25 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You do pass on Blair...

if you already made a big stink about having one of your players forcibly retired for a knee issue. Remember what Pritchard said about Darius Miles?

“I didn’t want it on my conscience – that I had a kid have to go through a knee replacement surgery.

…I’m the kind of GM (that) I wouldn’t want that on my head that he ever had to have knee replacement."-Kevin Pritchard

He took the moral high ground and sided with the doctors. Even though Darius wanted to play basketball he had him medically retired because of what could happen to his knee in the future. The team doctors red-flagged Darius as having potential knee complications and KP listens to the doctors. So… what are team doctors saying about Dejuan Blair?

Blair was expected to be a mid-first round pick until being red-flagged by a number of team doctors over knee problems.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen as far as doctors unwilling to put their butts on the line,” said a senior executive of an Eastern conference team-SI.com

How exactly are you going to talk your way out of that one? Pritchard’s empathy towards knees only applies to Darius Miles?

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 7:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I would look at it through a financial lens

Getting Miles medically retired saves huge money and keeps a locker room cancer even farther from a young team. There is big incentive to extend this “empathy”.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So then if they sign Blair KP loses a ton of credibility.

Any chance of getting Miles contract taken off the books is gone, (it’s probably gone anyway) and the Blazers look very foolish to the rest of the league. It would have been very bad PR.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

why

big difference between having an independent doctor declare a player medically ineligible vs saying someone has knee problems.

Also, the case of Miles does not hinge on what KP said about his knees. It hinges on the fairness of an independent doctor declaring Miles knees to be unplayable, and then having that player play for another team while the Blazers are left paying his salary and have nothing to show for it. It is an issue of the CBA and not any comments KP said.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 5:31 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not sure what your talking about.

Blair has unprecedented knee problems. If KP is unwilling to play Darius because he cares about his future health then he should also be unwilling to play a player with equal or greater knee concerns. Otherwise it’s obvious that he tried to work the system and have Darius retired for reasons beyond his health, which is clearly unethical.

That would be like having Aldridge medically retired for his heart problems and then signing Eddie Curry to replace him.

The good news is that KP didn’t draft Blair. That shows a ton of integrity on his part. I’m sure he would have cemented his status as the best draft day GM ever if he snaged Blair in the second round. Instead he did the right thing and stuck to his convictions.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 6:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

you cant just medically retire players

In fact it is a pretty rare thing and it takes the players union to get it done

Miles and Blair’s knee problems are an apples and oranges comparison. Has anyone said that if Blair keeps playing he may not walk again?

KP saving credibility is a non issue in Blair’s draft status.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 6:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They are apples and oranges.

A bunch of team doctors were willing to sign off on Mile’s knee.

Blair’s knees not so much.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 6:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

2 years of college

no practices missed

MRIs show no sign of deterioration from one to the next. How likely is that if his knees are so serious that Pitt lets him get injured?

Compare that do Darius who is did not regrow cartilage in his knees so it is bone on bone contact.

In the first round Blair is a risk. In the 2nd round he is not.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 6:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

here is an article I picked up on his knee condition

http://www.pistonpowered.com/2009/06/a-doctor-weighs-in-on-dejuan-blair-and-austin-dayes-medical-histories/

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Very likely.

How likely is that if his knees are so serious that Pitt lets him get injured?

Likely enough that team doctors all over the league refused to sign off on him. The rigors of the NBA are not the same as the rigors of college.

Darius played in more games than Blair last year, so it’s not like his injury is currently debilitating either. It’s all about adverse effects that could happen in the future, which is exactly what the independent doctor ruled about Darius and the same concerns team doctors have about Blair now.

If KP retires Darius because of a borderline career ending knee injury then he can’t justify signing a guy with equal or worse concerns, especially when an appeal is likely still coming.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 7:00 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I take it you did not read the article.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 7:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I read it yesterday.

The Doctor hadn’t seen the MRI and didn’t address Blair’s situation specifically. He talked about it in very generally terms. I didn’t get much out of it.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 8:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

he addressed

what not having an ACL will do and what can be done to ameliorate it.

Blair’s knee issues have been known for quite a while.

I think what should be got out of this is that not having cartilage in your knee is sure a lot different than what appears to be a treatable injury.

BTW 34<36

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 8:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Darius played 40 games last year.

34 regular season and six preseason.

But I guess technically you are right. 34 is less than 36.

Good job.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 10:58 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

now compare by minutes

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 11:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really?

That’s great, I guess that proves Blair’s knees are fine and Darius is a ticking time bomb. I did not see that one coming.

By the way…

I love it how people bring up the fact that Blair hasn’t missed a practice in the last two years, but neglect to mention that during the same period of time he missed GAMES with knee problems.

What constitutes a practice? If Blair shows up and shoots some free throws and then sits in a tub of ice is that a practice?

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 11:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

he played 37

and 35 games in his years at Pitt. What more do you want.

Whatever, this conversation has just devolved into the usual attacks on an extremely low risk pick.

The KP will lose credibility is a new angle, but it doesent hold a lot of water.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 28, 2009 12:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not attacking you personally.

Even though you do have the worst knees ever and I would never draft you in a billion years.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 28, 2009 1:23 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

fair enough

I wouldnt draft me either

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 29, 2009 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Blair will be suspended this soming season

for taking the same weight loss supplement as Darius.
Just my theory.

dinasour type of guys choir boys

by mittsabishy on Jun 27, 2009 10:10 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

-1

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why?

Is it even humanly possible to lose 40 pounds in three weeks? I would be willing to bet money that Blair was getting a little help from weight loss drugs. Doesn’t make him a bad person, but the Blazers bad mouthed Darius using for using PEDs so it might seem like a giant double standard.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 5:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

because accusing someone of drug use

is just not a cool thing to do. Certainly not some double standard from me.

Also, you need to factor in the relative amount of weight he lost.If he was around 280 in college then to 240 then that is about a a 14% decrease in weight

Last summer I started a vegetarian diet and started exercising ant lost 16% of my mass in a month.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 5:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I just don't believe it.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 6:06 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

that is fine

just dont accuse people of using drugs over it.

Life is exhausting when you are this stupid.

by jonestr on Jun 27, 2009 6:13 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I didn't.

There’s no way I could possibly know if he used drugs or not. Just like there’s no possible way I could know if Allen Iverson smokes weed.

Still seems pretty likely.

by Nick Van Excellent on Jun 27, 2009 6:16 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

can you say Tractor Trailor?

What worked in college doesn’t always work in the pros. Plus the knees. I think passing on Blair was OK and if SA proves everyone wrong then so be it.

put a body on 'em

by RayBourque on Jun 27, 2009 12:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs