HAH!! KP confesses to his point guard's bias!
by hurryup09 on Sep 23, 2009 9:24 PM PDT
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According to Ben, today KP confessed to him that while there's an NBA adage that "you can never have too many big men," as a former point guard he believes that "you can never have too many point guards." Does this ring a bell with anyone? I've repeatedly suggested at this site that KP's tendency to pack the Blazers' roster with point guards (as many as five at one point) at the expense of bangers might reflect the bias of a former point guard. Yet virtually no one around here thought I might be on to something. Our genius GM has a blind spot? RIDICULOUS!! [For reference, check out my 11-18-07 post, "Where's the Beef," and my 5-20-09 reprise, "Kevin Pritchard Declares that Hurryup '09 Was Right!"]
Thankfully, KP seems to have moderated his point-guard hoarding ways lately. And in Pendergraph & Cunningham, he's added a couple of young forwards with a penchant for getting after it on the boards. But this turnabout only came about after the Blazers met a predictable fate in last season's playoff series vs the Rockets--namely getting pushed around like little kids by a team with a full complement of "Maxsaps" (Millsap/ Maxiell types).
The reason it's more advantagous to stock up on bangers than on point guards seems obvious. Bangers, if they're doing their jobs, tend to rack up fouls. So you need to be able to throw them at your opponent in waves--especially in the playoffs, when physical play is most rewarded. Bangers also tend to get injured a lot--again due to the physical nature of their job. Therefore, "you can never have too many." By contrast, point guards tend to commit fewer fouls and spend less time in the trenches getting beat on. So, as a rule of thumb, you don't need as many surplus ones on your roster. The spares only cause problems by griping about playing time.
Our genius GM has now realized the error of his ways. Didn't he say, following the Blazers' early exit from last season's playoffs, that the one lesson he took away from that series was that the Blazers need more toughness? Clearly, KP has corrected his former blind spot. Er, or has he? Today's remark to Ben suggested backsliding!
Please, KP; if you elect to fill that 15th roster spot now, don't bring aboard another midget malcontent!
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Finding a banger backup 4 or 5 is a lot easier than finding a winning PG.
Tall guys that can shove, push, rebound, elbow, and screen for 5 minutes is more common than a 6 foot plus guy that can dribble, pass, shoot the three, drive for the layup or dish, lead, not turn it over, watch the clock, guard the fastest player on the other team, communicate with the coach and translate to the team is a lot more difficult to find, especially when being expect to do all that with limited time on the floor, and with other bench players. KP is playing a numbers game. He keeps bringing on new guys to see which will stick.
I get the paper, so I don't care!
Well, ideally your bangers have other skills
The prototype guys—the Millsaps & Maxiells—can also handle, shoot, etc. Even backups can pretty easily be found who have multiple skills; just look at Dante Cunningham.
Still, I basically agree with all you say. The problem is, it’s a lot easier to find that overlooked banger late in the draft—especially if he’s a bit of a tweener—than it is to find an overlooked point guard talent. KP reminds me of a gambler who keeps doubling down, deluding himself that the NEXT 2nd-round point guard he drafts will be a Chris Paul or Deron Williams.
The result is that he keeps ending up with a roster overstocked with 2nd-rate point guards, and way too few physical forwards.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
I don’t know if three point guards is overstocked.
Last year he filled up the last spots with bigs: Ruffin, Shav, Frye – not PGs. Yes he drafted Sergio, Green, Bayless and Mills in the past, but he takes the best player available with the information he has at the time. Those were all potentially VERY high value low risk picks. Drafting a known back-up four is less of a priority than drafting a potentially good PG that can impact the game in a more meaning full manner.
I get the paper, so I don't care!
I don't necessarily think three point guards on the roster is too many
Four? Yes.
Miller as starter and Blake as back-up with Bayless in reserve in case of injury: cool. But anything beyond that is overkill. Talented, versatile, tough bigs, on the contrary, have a habit of coming in handy as the season wears on—and especially vs a physical playoff opponent.
That’s my take, anyhow.
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
I agree - teams should have lottsa bigs, cuz they get hurt.
But one or two picks to see if a PG works out is worth it.
I get the paper, so I don't care!
Sure--I realize this Patty Mills guy has shown promise
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
With regard to KP's Point Guard bias... As I said before: "The first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem."
It’s football season so I will use a football analogy… Bigs are like linemen, Wings are skill players, PGs are like quarterbacks.
You can only ride one QB and we’re covered. We’ve got the cagey vet and the functional journeyman and the developing youngster…
Wings make it happen and we’re covered. We’ve got the mega-superstar and the Spanish sensation and the French kid that actually knows how to play D and run and in growing exponentially and the top draft pick with the sweet stroke who is only now becoming a “grown up” and the guy who can jump out of the gym and get his shot on anyone.
Bigs play a rough game and get hurt a lot. We’ve got three excellent ones and just added one aging vet. And two rooks that haven’t played a minute — one of who appears too small to play the 4 in the league, to my eyes.
We’re thin.
We still need another Big.
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
by timbo on Sep 24, 2009 8:18 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
an M for my whoM
"A bizarre and extremely rare hybrid Blazer/Laker fan, Timbo has always struggled to contain the Beast Within, like Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, or Ted Kennedy." — Miled Animal
Is there a relationship
between Aldridge’s unsigned contract and KP’s apparent unwillingness to sign someone who will push LMA for minutes? Does KP think he needs to take care of Aldridge’s contract before signing someone who will really compete with him? – Elgin
Without you out there, we're nowhere here
ummm... seriously...
who’s going to compete against Aldridge? He’s the man. He might beat on and be beat on in practice but there’s no question who’s going in at crunch.
"Fernandez, to my eyes, is the Blazer who walks that walk most comfortably. A lot of Portland's fans (egged on, dare I say, by their local broadcasters) lament things like how Ron Artest or Yao Ming get to hit Brandon Roy's arms.
But I suspect Fernandez sees all that and thinks: We get to hit arms! Cool!"
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-39-135/On-Playoff-Experience.html
Millsap might've
but we’ll never know, now
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
good point
there might not be anyone out there who could really push Aldridge for minutes.
It might have to be someone who offers something that Aldridge doesn’t offer, that could be used as an alternative to Aldridge when Aldridge’s skills don’t solve the problem at hand.
Someone like Lee. – Elgin
Without you out there, we're nowhere here
I see qhat you're saying
but I read the Millsap offer/Lee rumors as a hedge against LMA leaving. I think KP was interested in filling the hole behind LMA, but only with someone he would have been comfortable with as a starter in a year or two if things broke bad with Aldridge’s contract. I really wish he had pursued Brandon Bass (who probably would have taken the PT situation in Orlando even if offered) or even Glen Davis, because there is a mjor hole behind Aldridge, the only true gap on the roster (which is 2/3 deep everywhere else) is the backup 4.
Give Rashad Floyd a permanent slot on 95.5 the Game
by blazeraddict on Sep 24, 2009 1:30 PM PDT up reply actions
you're right, Bass wouldn't have come to PDX
the best way to fill the backup 4 with a quality big was to sign an UFA (Millsap) or via trade
I suppose KP could’ve overpaid for McDyess, but I suspect Antonio would’ve still prefered the Spurs, because they’re hypothetically “closer” to being a finals team in the short term
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
RFA, not UFA
my bad
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
KP says he wants competition at every position
I hope he gets it. – Elgin
Without you out there, we're nowhere here
It all depends on your horizon
If your investment horizon is 30 years away because you are young, you buy one kind of asset. If your investment horizon is 3-4 years away, because you are 70 years old and you might need that money before long (or stop generating carbon dioxide), you buy another kind of investment.
KP’s investment horizon has been looking at the 2011-2015 window. That’s when our key guys will mostly be in their prime. Having a starting PG for that window is more important than backup PFs — and getting a backup bruiser PF is easier than getting a starting PG.
So KP has been using a lot of draft picks on speculative shots at solving that starting PG problem. Now, he thinks he may have possible solutions to the problem. Maybe Bayless is the solution. Perhaps on a long shot Koponen is. Perhaps he can trade Andre’s expiring contract in a couple years for a long term PG solution. So now he’s free to try to address the backup PF slot, thus the draft picks this year.
If no one looks like grabbing the opportunity and running with it, and he can’t swing a trade to solve it, he can always draft another in the late first round next year, or perhaps buy another pick. And he can probably solve it in free agency using our MLE next summer as well.
Remember, we weren’t really expected to challenge for it all this year. We’re at least a year ahead of schedule of where all the experts (well, except for me and a few other Bedgers) thought we would be at this point. I expect KP’s plan was to try to solve PG this year, and backup PF next year with a free agent signing. If we lose a playoff series this year for want of a backup PF, it’s not really a surprise — the surprise will be that teams won’t have multiple weaknesses to exploit against us.
By this time next year I expect to have a pretty solid PF backup on the roster, and one who isn’t 37 years old.
"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue
I would be surprised if we could pick up a player who develops into a starting-caliber point guard down the line at this point in the offseason
It’s much more likely whoever it would be never plays more than Ruffin/Shavlik minutes at any guard spot. We have so many players who can play 1 or 2 that it just doesn’t seem worth it. They could much easier have the Stampede sign one to develop, or let European teams continue to develop Petteri and Mills.
Another big man probably also doesn’t play unless there are injuries, but we are thinner there right now with 2 true centers, 1 emergency center, 2 SF/PF tweeners, and another injured PF/C. Maybe they just leave #15 open.
"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard
I expect KP’s plan was to try to solve PG this year, and backup PF next year
Could’ve fooled me, I thought he said his offseason “plan” was to add toughness and physicality to the roster, and he went after Hedo and Millsap before settling on Miller
KP has plans, then backup plans, then backups to his backups—now if he only could add a quality veteran “backup” PF/C—but he still has time and “assets” to deal with that roster slot, before next April
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Apparently this year he has a small forwards bias :)
We just added another one (or two) to camp
"I think he can still play" - Kevin Pritchard on Juwan Howard
Well, some of these guys are clearly just training camp cannon fodder
But KP has actually been known to keep bushels of moderately talented point guards on the regular season roster for no rational reason. Maybe he hopes that somehow, thru osmosis, they’ll meld their disparate talents into one complete player. Maybe you’ll end up with Blake’s smarts & 3-point shooting, Miller’s fast-break & alley-oop abilities, and Bayless’ hops & strength. All in Patty Mills’ body?
As someone wrote elsewhere, KP possesses a “point guard fetish.”
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
that was me
today I said KP has a “SF-dependency condition” after Ime got his deal
What?! No extra PGs were invited to fall camp? KP must be in PG-detox
When reached 39 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
No PGs YET
KP has been known to say he isn’t done.
"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue
Sorry I'd forgotten who coined the phrase--perfect!
As for whether KP has actually kicked the habit, it’s a bit early to start celebrating. But it could be.
Now, as to why KP told Ben that, as a former point guard, he believes “you can’t have too many point guards,” I’m uncertain. But perhaps KP was having a little fun with us BE readers. We know he reads BE, including criticisms like mine. We also know that he has a sense of humor…
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
Sense of humor
He probably gave Ime the contract just to see how many Bedgers would say it means a trade is coming.
Christopher Robin
Had wheezles
And sneezles,
They bundled him
Into
His bed.
They gave him what goes
With a cold in the nose,
And some more for a cold
In the head.
They wondered
If wheezles
Could turn
Into measles,
If sneezles
Would turn
Into mumps;
They examined his chest
For a rash,
And the rest
Of his body for swellings and lumps.
They sent for some doctors
In sneezles
And wheezles
To tell them what ought
To be done.
All sorts and conditions
Of famous physicians
Came hurrying round
At a run.
They all made a note
Of the state of his throat,
They asked if he suffered from thirst;
They asked if the sneezles
Came after the wheezles,
Or if the first sneezle
Came first.
They said, “If you teazle
A sneezle
Or wheezle,
A measle
May easily grow.
But humour or pleazle
The wheezle
Or sneezle,
The measle
Will certainly go.”
They expounded the reazles
For sneezles
And wheezles,
The manner of measles
When new.
They said “If he freezles
In draughts and in breezles,
Then PHTHEEZLES
May even ensue.”
Christopher Robin
Got up in the morning,
The sneezles had vanished away.
And the look in his eye
Seemed to say to the sky,
“Now, how to amuse them to-day?”
— A.A. Milne
KP gets up in the morning, reads Bedge, and asks, “How to amuse them today?”
"if Nate has Roy or Miller in the game at all times, that stagnation will turn into conflagration" -- two4larue
Hmm--KP even looks a bit like Christopher Robin, as I recall
"We don't back down to nobody." --Joel Przybilla
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