Kevin Pritchard and the Circus
by Dave on Jun 6, 2010 11:59 PM PDT
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PrintI was going to talk about something else today but quite a few people are filling my inbox with impressions and questions about the Kevin Pritchard stories/allegations swirling over the weekend. Most are asking for some kind of reflection or sanity. I'm not sure there's much to offer, as the environment feels chaotic. Some of that is natural, given the situation. The organization has left itself open for a healthy dose of chaos. Like a hemorrhoid, this issue is going to flare up repeatedly until they get some Preparation H in the form of a new contract for KP or they have surgery to remove the issue altogether.
My question in all of this is the same one I had when Tom Penn was let go: whose sense of timing are they basing these decisions on? Does this guy go around asking out brides at their wedding receptions? Telling Knock-Knock jokes at funerals? Bringing whoopee cushions on first dates?
Let's assume that there's reason to let Pritchard go. I don't know that there is. In fact I'm kind of thinking there's not. But that's been argued copiously elsewhere. For the sake of this discussion assume that the team is justified in seeking a new GM. You're stretching out the break up so long that it's lingering publicly less than three weeks before the draft? Really? What the heck kind of performance are you expecting come June 24th? Even if the guy is honorable and believes his duty is to give faithful service until the last second he's let go, this has got to poison the process. How much enthusiasm will there be? How much six-steps-ahead, out-of-the-box thinking will come from a guy with one (unwilling) foot out the door? If you cared about that kind of thing, it's gone now. If you didn't then maybe that says more about the role you give the General Manager than it does about the people who fill the position. And this is the best-case scenario. The worst case is a nightmare session, either rudderless or contentious, on what's been the single most defining day of the off-season for this team for the last few years.
Even if a firing is justified there are two simple ways to do it:
1. The easiest way would have been to dismiss Pritchard (and Penn, by the way) the day after the season ended. You might not have found a new GM by the draft but at least everybody would have been on the same page moving forward for a couple months. The furor would have swelled early and then curiosity about how the draft would go would have replaced it by now. This is how most teams do things.
2. You keep your yap-trap shut COMPLETELY to everyone, including KP himself (and Penn, by the way) until after the draft is concluded and the long GM-vacation months begin. Yes, it's a surprise and shock to them. But that's the sports business. I'm pretty sure when Pritchard had to cut players he didn't telegraph the move for months in advance, let it dangle and rot, start trolling for replacements, and then finish the process with a final, sickly thud. You cut clean and quick then let it go. This is the less pleasant of the two options but if you're really concerned about leadership through draft day (which is the only conceivable reason to let it go as long as they have if his job is in jeopardy) you do it.
If by chance they're still considering keeping KP then the negligence of letting things get this far is even worse. Why let this hang at all then? Why not just make a statement that his job is safe until next year and everybody can go home?
No matter which way you turn it this scenario feels wrong, yucky, maybe even unprofessional. Why can't the Blazers just do something normally for once? Normal firings, normal contracts for coaches, normal negotiations with players...these things would be welcome. Remember the three-ring media relations circus of the Jailblazer era? Life would be so much easier if they'd stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just clear the road so we can concentrate on basketball.
This franchise feels like Rain Man, prescient in some areas but unable to fulfill the basics in others. I keep hoping to get some answers for this phenomenon, or at least to understand it more clearly, but God bless them...the actions of the office confirm rather than dispel the impression. Maybe we'll get something more definitive in the near future, but I'm not holding my breath. After all, Judge Wapner is on.
Oh well, for now I guess we just resign ourselves to following the most dysfunctional franchise on the planet.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
P.S. Rain Man would have known to call "Heads. Definitely Heads" in that 1984 draft. But I guess that predates the current regime by four years or so. We can't catch a break.
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Thanks, Dave
Always appreciate that we can come here to share and read some sensible thoughts about the Blazers. Woj and Canzano are just intolerable, and how funny was it to see Woj re-tweeting Canzano tonight calling him a great columnist?! So fitting.
Sorry to get all negative. Just want to say thanks, and that there simply must be more to this story than we know, perhaps more than we’ll ever know. I’m certainly not defending Miller, Allen, Vulcan; they’ve mishandled this. We just don’t know the whole story.
Why can’t the Blazers just do something normally for once? Normal firings, normal contracts for coaches, normal negotiations with players…these things would be welcome. Remember the three-ring media relations circus of the Jailblazer era? Life would be so much easier if they’d stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just clear the road so we can concentrate on basketball.
Isn’t it obvious? The Blazers have studied from the master and patterned their offseason strategy after…Brett Favre. No news is bad news, it’s better to keep everyone guessing. No pub is “bad” pub, just make sure you spell my name correctly. F-A-V-R-E
(I’m a Viking’s fan BTW, so y’all can laugh right along…)
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
anyone else get the feeling that
they are just gonna let KP’s contract expire? I feel like next season we are gonna be stuck with a lame duck GM. The owners will want him gone but won’t find it in themselves to tell him go so instead they will take the Office Space route and “just fix the glitch” (glitch to them, certainly not to me) without saying anything to “the glitch” or in this case about “the glitch.”
lastly, i truly don’t believe they will let him go right after the draft. I think they might hold it off even longer( this would be if you believe they plan to let him go) for a month or so (you know just long enough to make us think he is safe) before firing him on a friday (because it’s easier to avoid conflict that way).
Worst case scenario. It would feel wrong all year by all parties involved.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
by dario argento on Jun 7, 2010 8:31 AM PDT up reply actions
A good way to handle what seems to most folks as an inevitable firing is how the New Jersey Nets dealt ...
with Kiki Vandeweghe — with Del Harris being the Tom Penn in that situation — and that went more smoothly than this in spite of an ownership change. Criminy, I just don’t get how a man as rich as Paul Allen could have such poor, poor business acumen; it boggles the mind!
Wealth and business acumen don't go hand in hand
In high school, he hitched his wagon to a buddy who DID have good business acumen, by the name of Bill Gates. Allen was just some techy geek with a few good ideas who got involved with a visionary, with said visionary making them both rich.
Paul Allen is wealthy, but he is not a business professional a la Warren Buffet.
This is all so messed up and confusing
I’ve been telling myself over the last couple days “denial is not just a river in Egypt, De Nile is, but denial is not… nope, not right now at least. Keep KP!” But my hopes are dwindling and I’m scared for what comes next. Kevin Pritchard redefined a Blazers team in decline and through his amazing skill at drafting we’ve built a team of good players who are great guys. Blazermania is coming back strong, and if things go sour quickly after KP leaves, I think people will riot. I’ll likely join them…
"Bof teemz play hahd"
when Dave had that line about the organization being “prescient” in some areas my immediate thoughts were, “isn’t that KP’s doing? cause i don’t remember them being prescient at anything before he got here…..”
"My love winks, she does not bother / She knows too much to argue or to judge"
by DrivetheLane on Jun 7, 2010 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions
Between the GM search, and the reveal of KP's house on the market...
I suspect that, while they have not been open and honest with the fans, the Blazers may have indeed been open and honest with KP about his future, asking him to finish up this draft in his usual manner, after while he’ll be removed. It must be hard to wheel and deal at the draft when every other GM knows your lame duck status.
I imagine any team interested in his services will notice the loyalty KP is showing, keeping quiet and taking care of business at the draft before his dismissal. His only public statements have revolved around his lack of post-season review, but he may be intentionally omitting the fact that he was already told of his fate before the season ended, rendering that review moot. The good news (for KP) that he’ll likely get paid for his full contract.
While I don’t appreciate their handling of KP, the Blazer org’s handling of their fans has possibly been even more shoddy. Information will always get leaked in the basketball world. So you do you want to shape a story: Your hand-picked (and well-regarded) communications department, or Woj and Canzano?
by Timmay! on Jun 7, 2010 12:57 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
It must be hard to wheel and deal at the draft when every other GM knows your lame duck status.
It might be a little harder for KP personally than in the past, but he’s a pro and I expect he’ll perform like one. As far as the other teams go, they still have to know that KP is representing the Trail Blazers, and even if he’s not going to be around, the franchise isn’t going anywhere, and any deal they make with KP will be rubber stamped by Paul and is binding.
No one’s going to be taking advantage of Kevin’s “weak position” and KP isn’t going to “go postal” on Portland during the draft. There’s far too much angst around here re: what has probably been known to all the principles involved for weeks. They just can’t come out and say it publicly, for legal and ethical reasons
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
NBA GM's will take every advantage they can get, and they should.
They’ll look for any way possible to take advantage of this situation, or they’re not doing their job properly. Will they be successful? Eh, I’m not so sure. KP knows a good draft trade when he sees it (or makes it). But it could lead to stalemated trade offers. Over the last few years, the Blazers’ draft strategy has been minor trades to get BPA anyway.
Also, as noted above, I don’t particularly have angst about it, I just think they’re handling it poorly in the public eye. I do have angst about the post-KP direction of the team, since it’s an unknown. It would be hard to be a longtime fan of the team and not be at least a little concerned about what comes after the draft.
it could lead to stalemated trade offers
Which would be no different from last draft day, when KP was trying to move up to select Hansbrough but was unable to
If he has something that the other GM wants, they’ll make a deal. If he doesn’t, Portland will draft at 22 and 44
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Canzano seems to discount this possibility
he doesn’t mention it at all.
He seems to think that the Blazers are playing “chicken” with KP, trying to humiliate him into quitting, rather than just swinging the axe.
The problem with this theory: KP’s salary is chicken scratch compared to the players they’ve waived in the past (and it doesn’t count against any cap)—I have a hard time believing that the Blazers would go this far to save a few hundred K.
I think the negotiated divorce—KP already knows when his last day is, and simply can’t discuss it publicly—is the most likely scenario.
Si equum mortuum flagellēs, non celerium currat.
by EngineerScotty on Jun 7, 2010 1:33 AM PDT up reply actions
Seems likely his last day is somewhere between June 25 and June 30
The draft is on the 24th.
All bets are off if they want him around on July 1st to talk to free agents. But I presume their goal is to use the headhunting service to have a GM ready and waiting, the day after KP is let go.
All bets are off if he's allowed to start negotiations about a contract extension with Greg
Not necessarily on a fixed date. And if there is one, I would put that date more into the training camp region.
I think so too.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
by dario argento on Jun 7, 2010 8:33 AM PDT up reply actions
this has been my suspicion
since the Penn announcement hit the fan and the facts (as much as we know them) started coming out
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
No wonder the weather has been crap all Spring..
This is collective punishment on Portland imposed by the Vulcans
Yes I agree...
I agree with everything. The timing is horrible, the handling unprofessional. It really tests my Blazer fandom…I have to ask, like Dave, Why does this franchise seem so skilled at finding ways to embarass itself?
When I look at how this seemingly has unfolded I have to wonder what you would do to handle it any worse.
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
"Why does this franchise seem so skilled at finding ways to embarass itself?"
Like the Darius email.
Beyond what is happening with KP and how I feel about the organization's mishandling of him and the situation as a whole,
what worries me is that in my mind firing KP signals a change in direction for the organization.
It could be that because of KP’s known attachment to his players that Paul Allen and others in the organization want to get someone in there with a little less empathy and a lot more drive to win right now. This begs the question of which elements of the team is the leadership looking at as dead-wood that needs to be cut out for this to happen?
I’m all for winning a championship and like everyone else here, I’d like to see the team win multiple championships in the next ten years, however I don’t want a rehash of trader Bob and the all-talent, no heart teams that became the Jail Blazers just for the sake of putting the team over the top.
"She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
...I got better."
by Seijeff on Jun 7, 2010 1:22 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Oh well, for now I guess we just resign ourselves to following the most dysfunctional franchise on the planet.
Wait…why does KP getting fired mean that we have to be Raiders fans??
"One of the bright spots of the young season has been rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, whose name sounds like he should be the lead character in a Broadway Musical. "What are you doing here, Jonny Flynn?" "Why I'm here to court trouble, and woo a girl, and build the most fantastical contraption the world has ever seen!" -- Dave, Game 7 Blazers versus Timberwolves preview
"It was bad reffing...but not rip apart the fabric of time bad." -- The Arkitect, Game 79 Blazers versus Mavericks Post-Game Thread
No, no, no
We’re all Clippers fans, right?
or is it the Knicks?
I figure we wouldn’t switch sports.
"In fact you might say that Ugly is the Blazers' secret weapon this year."
-Dave
As for the Blazers...They are officially the NBA equivalent of a movie serial killer
-basketbawful
Do you think KP wants to get paid for based on what he has already done, and PA doesn't want to do that?
I mean we don’t really need a great GM in the draft when we’re not going to be in the lottery. I think the Blazers are planning to put this thing on autopilot until Roy retires.
I have been noticing KP hasn’t really been able to make any good trades other than in the draft. I think maybe KP alienated other GM’s in the league and our team can’t recover with him. We love KP, but if no one wants to deal with him, that can really hurt us.
I'm not sure that's a reason to cut
Judging from his performance thus far gives me a higher impression of KP. I’ll grant you he hasn’t done much by way of non-draft trading (notwithstanding his best of his career last March) buy I’m not buying the idea of other GMs alienating him. I’d need to see him perform longer in this current, nonbuilding stage to judge. Maybe (as he himself has alluded) he’s simply been too attached to “his” guys. Based on past performance, I would have given him the chance to change gears.
by jiminut on Jun 7, 2010 5:09 AM PDT via mobile up reply actions
Not sure I agree...
I mean we don’t really need a great GM in the draft when we’re not going to be in the lottery.
I would argue that drafting in the late first round is where you need a fabulous GM most. Look at a guy like R.C. Buford. Sure, the Spurs are great because he drafted wisely at the top of the draft (Duncan). But it’s equally important that he plucked stars out of the scrap pile late in the draft (Manu, Parker, Hill, etc.).
Everybody talks about KP’s ability to wheel and deal to snatch Roy. But don’t forget his slick move to draft Batum late in the first.
"...it was like he brought his own personal cross-wind to the arena." - Dave
I would argue that drafting in the late first round is where you need a fabulous GM most
I would say your GM needs to hire a fabulous scouting staff. The GM himself wouldn’t necessarily have to beat all the bushes and shake all the trees, as KP has also done well
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I would say your GM needs to have a coaching staff who get the most out of late draft picks
dinasour type of guys choir boys
One year ago today...
I was very confident that the Blazers would win a championship in the next few years. I’m not a hysterical fan who experiences huge mood swings and I’m fairly rational and very patient.
Having written that, I now am very sure they will never win a championship while Mr. Allen is their owner.
My question is: How big a fool do you have to be to screw things up that badly?
I now am very sure they will never win a championship while Mr. Allen is their owner
But if they manage to win one in spite of Paul, you’ll take it, right?
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Doubt I'll have to worry about it
but I’m becoming jaded and close to not caring, because I care about how a team wins as much as whether they win. I’ve won enough times in life to know that it’s a hollow victory and unsatisfying when done incorrectly. What’s incorrectly? That’s a long post – but KP put this franchise back on the road to doing it the right way and to see him done this way makes me believe the franchise is veering off course again. If it becomes obvious that they have in the near future then the answer to “you’ll take it, right?” will be “Oh, did they win it all? Meh.”
I’ve won enough times in life to know that it’s a hollow victory and unsatisfying when done incorrectly
You mean like the way Ainge and the Celtics did it, in ’08?
Or the way the Bulls did it in ’92, after Magic and Scott pulled their hamstrings?
I’ll take a title any way that it comes, because some critic will always claim that it was underserved on one level, or another
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
You're welcome to take a title any way that it comes
but for me, whether all the critics are fooled or not and regardless of them, if it isn’t done the right way, it’s hollow and useless to me. At this stage in my life I don’t want or need that. I think there’s more to sports than simply winning however you can. For other people winning is everything, so the Blazers probably don’t have to worry that there wouldn’t be anybody dancing on Broadway if they won a ring.
Don't want to win at all cost
I love to win, but I want to do it the right way. I like to root for my teams, but don’t enjoy it if they act like fools. I’m not liking how management is treating all of this and I believe the are letting go (I think Paul and Kevin know when that time is) of someone that played the major role in setting this ship right. I think the Vulcans are poor in business decisions and in how to treat others – could have learned a lot from John Wooden.
The team likely doesn’t change a great deal in the near future, but rosters can change rather quick, and a few years down the road, the Blazers may look different – on and off the court.
How do the Blazers expect to lure a top-flight GM when they treat their current one like garbage?
Do they honestly think Jerry West wants to come to Portland so he can be used as a punching bag the next time somebody in the ownership team gets twitchy? Or how about Sam Presti? Putting aside the fact that he may have a better chance to build in a winner in OKC, why would he leave a stable organizing to join a dysfunctional one that may try to kill his career in a year or two?
On the bright side, I hear Isaiah Thomas is looking to get back into the league.
"...it was like he brought his own personal cross-wind to the arena." - Dave
The Vulcans just lured Pete Carroll to Seattle
Same owner, same Vulcans, probably the same headhunting firm
If someone had told you 12 monts ago that Pete Carroll would be the next head coach of the SeaHawks, what would you have said back then?
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
But that didn;t happen against a backdrop of MAJOR turmoil.
This makes the Ruskell/Mora regime change look positively smooth by comparison.
"I'm a man, but I can change.....if I have to......I guess." - Red Green
I would have said that was among the worst hires they could have made
But they had already hired and fired a petulant babyman that just about everyone could tell was going to fail after his previous head coaching failures, so I don’t think the Vulcans are very on the ball.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
Carroll was being saved from the specter of major NCAA sanctions.
I think he was highly motivated to get out of town. And Carroll is willing to roll the dice. I don’t see a lot of great GM candidates for the Blazers as likely to be lured by PA’s money and content to deal with any future firestorms created by ownership. I could be wrong, someone like that might be out there. But the point is, Carroll is a special case, in many ways.
"...it was like he brought his own personal cross-wind to the arena." - Dave
"Rainman," I think you may be on to something here, Dave.
Maybe Paul Allen lacks “emotional intelligence.” It would explain a lot.
Maybe he, like a lot of high-tech engineers, has some sort of borderline Asperger’s Syndrome?
My brother lives in Redmond in a suburban neighborhood about a mile from the Microsoft campus. Most of his neighbors are Microsoft employees. He says it is common knowledge that Microsoft actually recruits lots of employees who have various degrees of Aspergers. These folks tend to have brilliant mathematical minds and an almost obsessive ability to focus on a problem while having very limited social skills. It makes them interesting employees who are willing to work ridiculously long hours.
Maybe the hiring of employees with Asperger’s starts at the top? This is wild speculation of course. I have never met PA, and I have no idea if his personality fits the syndrome’s profile. I do know that we have heard about his “quirky” personality for years and he has never married. Perhaps this would explain his reputation for being erratic.
In any case, firing KP makes very little sense from a basketball point of view and even less sense from a business perspective. I am hoping against hope that we are reading the tea leaves incorrectly, and that, KP may yet survive.
by upper left corner on Jun 7, 2010 7:33 AM PDT reply actions
+92
In any case, firing KP makes very little sense from a basketball point of view and even less sense from a business perspective. I am hoping against hope that we are reading the tea leaves incorrectly, and that, KP may yet survive.
Phil Mickelson: "A Great shot is when you pull it off.....a smart shot is when you don't have the guts to try it"’
That is pretty wild speculation
Though it’s true that some observers attribute a (mild form of) that syndrome to techies like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, I’ve never heard it about Allen. And few people who get that diagnosis from a professional would make it public.
You could make up a lot of theories about why the organization isn’t always projecting a coordinated image:
A president who is more a business liaison manager than someone with a lot of power. Too many yes-men around Allen who don’t have great business acumen either (that “Ivy League” jaundice about Vulcan Ventures is pretty off when you look at where many people in charge actually came from). And who see sports as just another business in the portfolio. Two general counsels where you usually would have just one for legal matters. Physical split between Portland and Seattle making communications a bit harder. Big egos. Notoriously conflict-averse climate omitting the difficult but crucial conversations, from not making “evaluations” face to face before a confrontation erupts going down to the coach and some players who frequently remarked to the media that they didn’t exactly know what to expect and nobody talked to them to clarify. Miller was probably the first one who did “request” clarification of his role. And so on and so on.
As Dave said, we merely observe the fallout from whatever organizational problems there may be. I once made a fanpost about the Blazers being on a “Good to Great” path as described in the research and books of Jim Collins. Guess that was premature praise.
I'm about done
I’m old enough to have been a Blazer fan since game 1 of season 1. I’ve been a fan through thick and thin, good times and bad, a championship team and the Jail Blazers. But, folks, I’m about done. It’s not that getting rid of KP plunges this team into the previously unplumbed depths, it’s just that after we’ve all teased ourselves about the upcoming ‘championship window’, I don’t see that happening with this type of ownership and management. We are doomed to mediocrity. I’m tired of hoping, and I’m not gonna throw my hopes in a wishing well that is bottomless.
~ visualize whirled peas
All is not lost my friend. I'm really frustrated too. I was there in 92 at the PMC when Jordan crushed my soul. I was there for the jailblazers era. I feel your pain.
This team has a history of being very competitive. We’ve been so close to a ring many times. I still have faith we can get one in the Roy era.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
by dario argento on Jun 7, 2010 8:39 AM PDT up reply actions
yes, if this is bothering anyone that much, take a summer vacation.
It is still entirely possible that by season start, we are super excited about the management/player package we have in place. That is the Blazer attitude Munky should have down by now. “Darkest before the dawn”…
I am looking for something positive to come out of this. There are as many positive changes possible as negative ones. After all, wasn’t KP a part of the Turkey plan last summer……
Not speaking against KP except to say he is not as essential as some people seem to feel. And, of course, we don’t know what’s going on. But, as pointed out, there can be good, including legal, reasons for that.
I’m far from panicking. Not yet, anyway.
"You be realistic," Oden said. "I’m going to stay happy. All right?"
I'm this >| ... |< close to joining you
It’s so predictable. Just when you think the PA regime is going to stop getting in its own way, they give you “this”
It’s torture.
97X BAM! The future of Rock and Roll
Oh, beloved Blazers franchise, why can’t you just be normal and do things right? Stop tripping over yourself for no reason? Ray, Ray, Ray; Enough already. Change the channel.
"I come to you now, at the turn of the tide." -- Brandon "Gandalf" Roy, April 24th, 2010
My high school neighbor was the Down syndrome guy who brushes past Cruise to watch Wapner
97x was my radio station growing up. It was really fantastic back then, always won awards for best small market alternative station. I hated that voice over guy though, the BakerMan. I always heckled him at live events and hockey games that he announced.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
" the most dysfunctional franchise on the planet"...
I can’t believe you actually said this. It’s one thing to be a huge fan of K.P. (which I’m not-I think he’s done an adequate job but not an outstanding one). It’s another thing to skewer Blazer management without knowing all of the facts. Maybe Dwight Jaynes’ blog this morning sheds a little more light on why K.P. is on the outs. who knows?
Assuming you’re only talking about NBA franchises and not other sports franchises (which would open up the field considerably for the title of “the most dysfunctional franchise on the planet”), Portland comes nowhere close to deserving that distinction in the NBA! Anyone who’s followed the NBA for any length of time knows that.
And to those who blame Blazer management for the team not being on the verge of winning it all-get a grip. K.P. probably is as responsible as anyone connected with the Blazers for over-estimating how good this team could be. After all, the better he made the team’s future look the better he made himself look. Add in a ton of injuries and you’ve got a team that’s not going to win it all any time soon.
Maybe P.A. just finally woke up and realized that he’s been sold a bill of goods and he’s not at all happy about it. I can’t say that I blame him.
I can’t believe you actually said this. It’s one thing to be a huge fan of K.P
It’s hard to believe that KP is regarded as the linchpin that is holding up the hopes and dreams of Blazer fans from falling into the abyss, but that does seem to be the prevailing mood
Again, I think that BE is a vocal/emotional minority. I suspect that most of the season ticket holders that have been long-time fans understand that corporate change is inevitable, and the franchise isn’t going to suddenly revert to 2004 if KP isn’t at the helm of basketball operations
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I just hate when organizations fire successful people
with no real failures on their resumes. It indicates poor thinking in my opinion….and that is scary
Phil Mickelson: "A Great shot is when you pull it off.....a smart shot is when you don't have the guts to try it"’
Have you seen KP's resume?
We only know what’s been made public, and KP’s image was shiny and unimpeachable until March (unless you took what A-Woj wrote earlier this year with less than a grain of salt?)
Successful people are fired everyday, in corporations around the globe. Most of the time, only the parties with a need to know, know the reasons why. Only the future productivity of the organization will reveal if the decision was a poor one
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Add in a ton of injuries and you’ve got a team that’s not going to win it all any time soon.
I take issue with this. I think that the talent is assembled to make a run at a championship, and a couple of shrewd deals (and possibly a significant defensive assistant coaching hire) could vault the Blazers into the WC finals as early as next May
Like I said yesterday, I think Paul Allen wants to put a new set of eyes on the roster (and possibly coaching staff) makeup. I have no idea who that new man will be, but to assume he’ll do a worse job than KP has re: roster balance is a pessimistic approach
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
People say these things
because they are essentially, filling in the gaps…in this case there is plenty to fill in. The supporters on each side have many good points, but in all reality , everyone is just speculating Some fill in the gaps with high tech theories and others fill it in with anger, disbelief, bewilderment, and unfulfilled desires.
Home town/small market franchises are under a different form of scrutiny than most larger markets. The fans and media like to think they are part of a family that will grow together and share both the highs and lows. PA and Co. have built a fence around the franchise and will limit who gets to touch them. This is not so abnormal as to call them dysfunctional, but breaks down the faith and trust that they can sustain a healthy organization without the support of the fans and even the media. It will soon be so cut and dry, that if they do not put an entertaining product on the floor, fans may begin to drift away and start to sell the organization short.
As for now, the money speaks the loudest because all the cards belong to PA. He and Vulcan own the NW pro sports market and they are beginning to act more like the large market owners. It has always been the norm, that the larger the corporation, the more distant they become from public view and opinion. I think Portland has reached the next level of corporate sports and will never look back.
As for KP. he quite possibly may have run his course and it might be understood that the time for his departure is necessary. The issues and questions arise, because no one has any faith that the Exec’s know what they are doing….or if they actually have a plan…So people , who recognize what KP has done for the franchise, feel cheated and scorned by PA’s approach to the whole situation.
That said, I think I do agree with you about the overestimation of this team and possibly the coach. The future is still out there somewhere, but it most likely, will have different faces in the group photo.
Growing into a championship team is a wonderful dream, but casting all the parts, putting them into a wholesome group, and applying that to get results, is a process that, in all likelihood, would tend leave your glass less full than hoped for. It’s simply a fact, that it is no easy task to build a championship team. A lot of things have to go your way. Timing, injuries, player and coaching fit, and dedication, are all factors that can divert your goals. Getting to a championship level is reached by a very low % of teams…this is reality.
I particularly like this
because they are essentially, filling in the gaps…in this case there is plenty to fill in. The supporters on each side have many good points, but in all reality , everyone is just speculating Some fill in the gaps with high tech theories and others fill it in with anger, disbelief, bewilderment, and unfulfilled desires.
You are confusing
KP fandom with an assessment of the manner of his dismissal (or not), a point which I tried to make quite clear in the piece. KP may need to go. I’m not arguing against that. I’m saying that even if he does need to go this is not the way to do it.
The Jailblazers era alone would paint the organization as incredibly dysfunctional even in the absence of other evidence. There was NO more dysfunctional, self-destructive sports team in the world during that phase than the Blazers. Incidents like this bring up the specter not only of that era but of them not having learned from that era. That’s exactly what they seem like when they bungle these things.
—Dave
by Dave on Jun 7, 2010 2:33 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
I’m saying that even if he does need to go this is not the way to do it.
Maybe you need to write a few paragraphs about how it should have been done. Paul Allen could’ve fired KP back in March, instead of leaving him to “twist in the wind”. There’s a pretty good chance that KP would’ve taken his midwest buddies Born and Buchanan along with him. The Blazers would’ve been 2-3 months away from the draft with no scouting department, and the same people who are complaining about how KP has been treated would now be bashing Paul for firing KP right before the draft.
Allen and Vulcans are a punching bag. Step right up and bop the billionaire. I doubt anyone here has any idea of 10% of the complexities involved in this decision, but everyone is free (and quick) to share their opinion about how the situation has been bungled.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
by two4larue on Jun 7, 2010 7:09 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
This feels yucky. Jaynes has a good theory on his blog that would make a lot of sense on why KP is in such hot water.
If that’s the case I think the Blazers brass should take into consideration how this stall makes them look. If KP is not their guy they need to fire him. If he is their guy, give him a contract extension. They look like jerks right now, whether they are justified in wanting him gone or not.
I just hope this is not an indicator of things to come from this organization.
"What people need to know is that those pictures were taken a year and a half ago, and I've grown since then." - Greg Oden
what's most likely
is that it’s already been made perfectly clear to KP that he is not their guy, and this is the agreed-upon strategy. KP’s last day has already been decided upon, and he’ll work through that day—likely up until the draft—at which point his successor will be introduced and KP is on his way with a severance package. This is how executive firings get handled in the business world: there’s a transition period that’s agreed upon by management and the executive being fired. The rank-and-file doesn’t need to know (and indeed has no right to know) up until the executive who’s leaving feels it’s right to tell them. I’m sure KP’s staff is fully aware of the game plan.
oh man, I think I'm average like, ten points, like, twelve, thirteen dimes, like two, three assists, and about four, five rebounds, and if we need me to play, play a different position, I might get a little bit more.
what has gotten Pritchard in the doghouse — his reaction to it all. When Penn (and Pritchard’s) agent, Warren LeGarie, come forth with the proposition that Penn’s firing was a move against Pritchard, KP did nothing to dispute that — EVEN THOUGH HE KNEW WHY PENN WAS ACTUALLY FIRED. And he knew it had nothing to do with him, or even with basketball.
If Dwight’s sources are right, KP didn’t do anything that required him to be fired immediately. But “what he didn’t clarify” re: Penn’s dismissal was enough for him to land permanently in PA’s doghouse. At that point, the timetable for his replacement is at the owner’s discretion. The fans and media will always want to know more details (KP is a very popular Blazer employee, after all) but the organization is not required to provide that information.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
It makes sense, that nonsense wins out these days
If KP was being fired for making bad choices, he would be gone by now.
So it seems much more likely that he is being fired for not playing nice in the office.
Penn was an A-Hole apparently for saying over-the-top sexist remarks and KP got pissed that upper management fired him on the spot- instead of suspending him or other such action.
I guess in today’s world words are mightier than results.
The strange thing is
Penn was interviewed on the radio back in March and denied that his dismissal had anything to do with sexual harrassment
but I guess I would’ve too, it’s in his best interest to follow legal counsel and a “no comment” response would’ve been damaging to both himself and the Blazers
Of course Dwight’s source could be all wet. But after listening to Jaynes on the radio for the last year, I’ve gained a new appreciation for his objectivity and lack of bravado (some things just don’t communicate well, via newsprint)
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Much ado about nothing...
Quick and Canzano KNOW that the Vulcans, being the good corporate types they are, simply will not EVER comment on personnel matters before their review process is complete.
Awoj comes out with a rumor about Vulcan looking for a new GM (or is it assistant GM since T. Penn needs to be replaced?), Quick and Canzano run with their drivel about PA and Vulcan not responding, since they both know it’s against Vulcan policy to comment, and now we have a story, a conspiracy, drama and tragedy here in Rip City!
I see zero evidence that a coup is in the works.
yup
the only true conspiracy here is one designed to sell papers and get page hits.
oh man, I think I'm average like, ten points, like, twelve, thirteen dimes, like two, three assists, and about four, five rebounds, and if we need me to play, play a different position, I might get a little bit more.
Quick and Canzano run with their drivel about PA and Vulcan not responding, since they both know it’s against Vulcan policy to comment, and now we have a story, a conspiracy, drama and tragedy here in Rip City!
Prediction: Jaynes and Vance will also be gunned down as messengers of a false conspiracy is coming in 3, 2, 1
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I think I'm going to start a petition drive
To rename the Willamette River “The Nile”
It’s easier to say and spell, and the two rivers share the distinction of being northward-flowing
and Blazer fans seem to be right in the middle of de famous Egyptian body of water
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Winning cures all ills in Pro Sports
But if the Blazer ship gets off track things may go south in real hurry. Blazer fans will remember the treatment of KP for a long time if the product on the floor is not top caliber. How Paul Allen can let things get like this with the Jail Blazers in the not so distance past is truly frightening.
The bottom line here is that this has been handled like amatuer night at the local bar. Portland fans deserve better than this by a long shot. As I have stated in previous posts, whether Blazer Management wants to admit it or not, this kind of stuff does not sell t-shirts or any othe kind of Blazer gear. How much money do they lose through bad press….just dumb.
It feels like
the Blazers have KP tied to the tracks and are just waiting for the train to roll down the line. Everyone can hear it, but no one can do a dam thing about it. Maybe it switches to another track, maybe not.
Let’s look at the some of the facts.
1. Kp no longer sitting next to Allen at games, instead standing in the tunnel like a towel boy.
2. Blazers management does nothing to stop the rumors swirling around KP after Penn’s untimely firing, press release does nothing to stop the flames, only pours more gas on the fire.
3. KP accepts position on Board for his “friend’s” company.
4. Kp puts house on market, for pre-qualified buyers.
5. More rumors, more silence.
6. Media allowed to run with whatever hairbrained story they can concoct.
7. Blazers still silent, refuse to give timeframe for evaluation of KP.
8. More rumors swirl about possible shopping and replacements.
9. More silence.
That seems to me to be about the only things that can be considered factual at this point, whatever KP and Penn supposedly did is a rumor and unsubstantiated. No proof of anything has been shown and most likely never will.
If Oden’s injuries haven’t shortened our Championship window, the Vulcans are doing what they can to try and close it altogether. Maybe a new GM can reopen that window or keep it from closing, but that’s a big maybe.
It’s as if the Management thinks that Blazer fans have a shortened memory and can’t remember the fiasco of previous era’s. I’d almost rather have players acting up than a management team that doesn’t seem to know which end the food goes into. Players can be traded and replaced, management teams that function in the dark, named after fictitious beings who don’t exist, acting as if we should trust them, can’t be traded.
I wonder if the Blazers have heard of a “bird in the hand”?
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
If Oden’s injuries haven’t shortened our Championship window, the Vulcans are doing what they can to try and close it altogether. Maybe a new GM can reopen that window or keep it from closing, but that’s a big maybe.
I don’t get this reasoning at all. When KP leaves, is Roy going to suddenly deteriorate? Without KP, LMA will never fulfill his potential? KP already assembled this team—if you believed we had a championship window with this team, then that window still exists. If KP leaves, he doesn’t take the players he drafted with him.
oh man, I think I'm average like, ten points, like, twelve, thirteen dimes, like two, three assists, and about four, five rebounds, and if we need me to play, play a different position, I might get a little bit more.
. If KP leaves, he doesn’t take the players he drafted with him.
He might not even take Born and Buchanan
Portland is rumored to be attempting to extend the contracts of head of college scouting Chad Buchanan and pro scouting director Mike Born. They’re worried both will leave when Pritchard does, following him — which is likely. If they stay, they’d be crazy not to ask for significant raises.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
so the flip side
is that you think this in NOT detrimental to the team? This doesn’t affect the championship window? Then you must think that the team we have right NOW is going to the golden land and we don’t need any trades or FA’s or draft prospects to get us there?
OK. Say you’re right and the players could care less what the management does to the GM. Who drafted our players that we have right now? Who traded for Camby at the trade deadline? Who convinced Joel to stay with us when he could have gone to the Pistons or Spurs? Who nabbed Batum, Roy, LMA, Bayless, Dante and Lil Bit? Oden was a given, I’ll give you that, Miller a 3rd choice, but seriously you think that doesn’t impact free agents looking at Portland? GM’s that we might be shopping for? What happens when, down the road, it’s time to start signing FA players?
You really think that this doesn’t have an impact on our championship window?
IMO, it does very much. I wouldn’t want to go to work for someone that acts like the Blazers have acted. Regardless of who is wrong or right, or who did what, this is extremely unprofessional and will not help the team at all.
Perhaps you think that KP leaving is not going to affect the window, but it’s not if he leaves, it’s how the management team handles the transition. The HOW is what is wrong here, not the why. PA could have an issue with his haircut, who knows? IMO, that is his right. Mum’s been the word from the team, crickets sounding off in the distance, so silent you can hear you’re own breath. That being the case, it’s how they’ve handled this situation.
As Ben stated, this is a terrible way to handle the situation. It smacks of the Patterson/Nash era of the Jailblazers. An era that KP put to an end. Or do you think that it was PA and the Vulcans that saw the light and KP’s just taking all the credit? Regardless, what KP is having to deal with now is absolutely beyond comprehension. If he has an evaluation period, then name the date and make an announcement on that day and put all this to rest.
It IS as SIMPLE as that.
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
I wouldn’t want to go to work for someone that acts like the Blazers have acted.
Marcus Camby’s decision to sign an extension was not affected by the way the Blazers treated KP, following the Penn dismissal. I think your fears re: “no one will ever want to come work for Paul and the Vulcans, ever again!” are over the top.
Pete Carroll didn’t seem to mind
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
perhaps.
but I certainly never said…
"no one will ever want to come work for Paul and the Vulcans, ever again!"
I do think it will not help our chances unless management can tidy up this little mess they are making. Like you said below, and I agree, it will depend on who they bring in if they do let him go. You might very well be right about the whole enchilada.
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
Once again, Pete Carrol was facing huge sanctions at USC.
He had to leave the college game.
He failed in two previous NFL stops, and only Seattle was willing to give a failure retread one more shot.
dinasour type of guys choir boys
Regardless of who is wrong or right, or who did what, this is extremely unprofessional
Wrong, part one. Telling the fans why you are firing someone is what is extremely unprofessional, especially if KP is at least somewhat at fault, which seems likely.
An era that KP put to an end.
Wrong, part two: Paul Allen and the Vulcans put an end to that era by firing both of those guys and replacing them with KP and Larry Miller.
Regardless, what KP is having to deal with now is absolutely beyond comprehension.
Wrong, part three. This is relatively common business practice for firing a high-level executive.
If he has an evaluation period, then name the date and make an announcement on that day and put all this to rest.
I’m sure they’ve already named that day to KP. And I’m sure they’ll make an announcement on that day that KP and the team have parted ways, and introduce his replacement.
oh man, I think I'm average like, ten points, like, twelve, thirteen dimes, like two, three assists, and about four, five rebounds, and if we need me to play, play a different position, I might get a little bit more.
I didn't know I was so wrong...
Wrong, part one. Telling the fans why you are firing someone is what is extremely unprofessional, especially if KP is at least somewhat at fault, which seems likely
When did I say we should all be told why he is being fired?
Wrong, part two: Paul Allen and the Vulcans put an end to that era by firing both of those guys and replacing them with KP and Larry Miller.
Obviously that era is not over, hence all the speculation and pretending it was all Patterson/Nash is definitely a leap of faith. Somehow firing KP is going to fix hiring him? My opinion is that the Jailblazers era was brought on by PA and Vulcans, Patterson/Nash took the fall. It seems you believe that Patterson/Nash went all rogue on PA? DId Patterson/Nash convince PA to declare bancruptcy too? How is it that Miller has anything to do with this anyway?
Wrong, part three. This is relatively common business practice for firing a high-level executive
Maybe for the Blazers. Not in the rest of the world. I’ll give you Al Davis and the Raiders, but who wants to be grouped with that circus?
I’m sure they’ve already named that day to KP. And I’m sure they’ll make an announcement on that day that KP and the team have parted ways, and introduce his replacement.
You might be right, but it is all speculation right now unless you have a source no one else has. Do they honestly think that by not saying anything to the press it is helping?
Just so you know, if I say, IMO, it’s an opinion and it’s NOT WRONG. You might not agree with it, but it is just an opinion. If I was to say I was sure like you did, then yes, I could be wrong, just like you could be for saying you are sure they talked to KP about the date and presser that will follow it.
I get the feeling you just want to argue with me. Maybe that’s just because you didn’t agree with me, maybe it’s just because you keep telling me I’m wrong. On the bright side, it’s not raining today.
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
On the bright side, it’s not raining today.
Wrong: it’s raining somewhere in the world ; )
You’re right, I didn’t mean to pick on you specifically with that post. What I meant and could have said better is that you’re presenting a lot of opinions (some that others, such as Ben, are presenting ostensibly as fact) that don’t really jive with the way the business world works. As someone who works in HR I can say that it is in fact fairly common for a high-level executive to be fired in the same way that KP seems to be going: even though the decision to terminate has already been made, an agreement has been reached by both parties as to a future exit date, and what KP’s job duties will be up to that date. The headhunting firm is already engaged because you really can’t be without a GM during the summer—again, not uncommon when we’re talking about a high-level executive role where you need full coverage at all times.
Do they honestly think that by not saying anything to the press it is helping?
It is helping—they are avoiding any legal liability, and allowing KP to save face. What would be helped if they released a statement that said, for example, “Kevin was fired due to sexual harassment issues”? First, they might be facing libel charges. Second, they get the reputation that they have no qualms in airing out your dirty laundry to the press, and given the kind of backroom deals that sometimes take place in sports, what prospective GM is going to find that reassuring? Moreover, what could they say to the press that Canzano et al wouldn’t take issue with? KP could have stabbed someone in Blazers HQ with a fountain pen and Canzano would still whine that he should have stabbed Paul Allen instead.
oh man, I think I'm average like, ten points, like, twelve, thirteen dimes, like two, three assists, and about four, five rebounds, and if we need me to play, play a different position, I might get a little bit more.
agreed.
I just think that they could have handled this much better than they have. Would it kill them to say we will make a decision on our management staff by such and such a date. That would close down this situation pretty well. At least having acknowledged and address the fact without showing their hand.
Canzano is always going to stir the pot.
Gotta go to my work and make some money, have a good day…
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
it’s possible there’s a personal or legal reason why they haven’t given a date—possibly even at KP’s request. I agree that for fans, it’s not the ideal situation, and it does seem like the least they could do (and realistically the most we can expect).
"Basketball is a business." --everyone involved with the basketball business except Blazers fans
shortened our Championship window, the Vulcans are doing what they can to try and close it altogether. Maybe a new GM can reopen that window or keep it from closing, but that’s a big maybe
Yes I’m sure that’s the Vulcan’s secret motivation, to prevent the good fans of Portland from ever enjoying another NBA championship
shake yourselves, Blazer fans.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
well the name Vulcan sounds pretty ominous
so they must be evil, heartless villains out to crush and dismantle our beloved franchise at every turn! BWAAAHHHAHAHAHHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!
Canzano has done a lot to propagate the bogeyman myth
and I’m sure he has his reasons (the henchman, etc) But as much as Portlanders claim that John is a hack and they never listen to him or buy into his takes, days like this make me wonder about the true power of the pen re: shaping public opinion
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
again...
Somehow this is good for the team?
Please explain to me how. I’d love to know. Honestly, if there is a silver lining here, please shed some light because I cannot see it.
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
You're not going to see it
unless you take a step back and look at it from a perspective of a fews years down the road
It’s like with the draft. Every year we read draft analysis and grades are given for “who won/lost the draft, A/B/C/D/F” but there’s always a caveat that goes something like this “we aren’t really going to know who did well in this draft until a few years down the road”
It’s the same thing with the Blazers. Right now, everyone’s focusing on how much better the team is now versus 2004, and giving KP most of the credit for the turnaround. That’s OK, even though I’m not sure it’s a completely balanced way of looking at the last 5 years. What no one knows is the future. We can say that if KP remains the team will continue to improve and the team will win a few championships, but unless you’ve got a crystal ball or a time machine there’s no guarantee of this.
What I try to do is to look back in Blazer history and see a parallel, and there’s a pretty neat one between KP and Bucky Buckwalter. Bucky was a great talent scout who built the 1990 team, mostly through the draft. He wasn’t ever the GM (the position was called VP of BB ops) and he was “replaced” by Geoff Petrie who was a Princeton-educated administrator.
Fans weren’t up in arms about Buckwalter being replaced at the time because he wasn’t seen as “the reason” the team had improved on the floor, like with KP, but functionally the two men’s jobs and talents were very similar. After Bucky stopped running the scouting department, the Blazers ability to find quality prospects took a dive (Dave Johnson, anyone?) but of course they were drafting in the late first round every year for awhile, and the team continued to perform well until they grew old and they were broken up. Then there was a new rebuilding period.
My point of this history lesson is this: right now everyone associates the Blazer’s improvement with KP. I’m not saying that’s wrong, but to take the next step of logic and say “if KP goes, the team will fall apart and soon resemble the 2004 squad” is a chicken little reaction. We might as well drop our weapons and surrender, because resistance to the downward spiral is futile.
I can’t promise you what the future will hold post-KP, I can only predict that we’ll all find out together, and it probably won’t be nearly as dark as most everyone is currently imagining, with the runaway negativism on this website. In fact, it could even be a brighter picture than anyone could reasonably paint, depending on who is hired to replace KP.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
props
for being honest and not flaming me, I really appreciate that.
I agree with the Bucky parallel, but my issue is more with how this situation is playing out. Change might be exactly what we need. The timing has been poor, but, when is it good when you’re replacing someone?
I hope we end up in a similar path as the one the Blazers were on in the late 80’s. That would be agreeable to me.
OTP. Would anyone be suprised if TP became an assistant coach?
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
The timing has been poor, but, when is it good when you’re replacing someone
?
LIke I responded to Dave above, if PA had fired KP before the draft he would’ve been criticized, as well. No-win situation. Might as well take your PR lumps and keep a successful scouting staff together, until June 24th. The long-term effect of botching this draft could prove to be more costly. I don’t think most Blazer fans will be discussing KP during the first week of November, it’s off-season intrigue that keeps the hot stove burning, just like Brett Favre’s status in the NFL. Only pro team in PDX = red hot fan reaction.
OTP. Would anyone be suprised if TP became an assistant coach?
We talked about this last week. I think it depends on Terry’s relationship with Nate, and how secure McMillian feels about the popular Porter someday replacing him. TP is supposed to be a hard-nosed defensive coach, and had a “bad cop” reputation with the Suns. Monty was the opposite, he was the “good cop” who served as “insulation” between Sarge and the players.
Maybe the mother bird needs to take the soft feathers out of the nest so the baby birds will learn how to fly?
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
? should've been in the quote
my bad, formatting error
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Terry Porter is a laughably terrible defensive coach, okay.
The efficiency numbers in Milwaukee and Phoenix verifty that.
TP assistant coach?
I would.
How you handle adversity speaks to who you are.
How the Vulcans are handling KP showcases who they are.
The fact they’re handling this in such a way without obvious reason indicates that this is personal. I simply don’t’ buy that KP or Pen acted in a way that was detrimental to the franchise even if it was hurtful to someone with a big fragile ego.
If KP built up the team but was seen as detrimental from there, fans would have no issues agreeing. (for the most part) The only setback has been injuries minus those this team would be unbelievable. Frankly, what they’ve done with their backs to the wall is still unbelievable. A lack of appreciation of that is foolish.
"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
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
I think a new direction is what the Blazers need...
KP’s work has been appreciated but we need a GM capable of pulling off a big lopsided trade. We have Przybilla, Miller, and Camby that will need to be traded when their deals close in on expiration for more talent. KP (or the media) have burned a lot of bridges, calling the Milsap offer “toxic” was poor form. Not cashing in on the RLEC was probably a bad move, although Miller has been solid. I trust Paul Allen’s ability to build a winner moving forward.
just for the record.
KP didn’t call the offer “toxic”, it was the source , which was attributed to the Oregonian writers…
Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'. -the shawshank redemption.
Cautionary Tale
Baby Boomers are going to do a lot of damage on their way out. A generation that has been concerned with their own glorification and pleasuring will not so easily surrender access to these things now that nature is taking its course. It’s going to be ugly.
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
Wow
There’s a huge over generalization.
"I'm a man, but I can change.....if I have to......I guess." - Red Green
If the shoe fits...
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
I resemble that remark
Although being born in July ‘60 puts me on the BB borderline, depending on who’s keeping track
A generation that has been concerned with their own glorification and pleasuring
There’s nothing like being lumped in with “a bunch of hippies” when I wasn’t even a teenager until 1973…but I can relate to a lot of the cultural stereotypes because I was breathing air and watching TV back then
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
It is of course a generalization,
by which I mean it does not apply to any individual just because they are born at a certain time.
But Microsoft always struck me as the prototypical baby boomer corporation. Greedy. Conscienceless.
Being a Gen Xer, I have had the privelage of watching that generation embrace and discard every ideal that enabled them to indulge themselves at the time. They turned the 60s in to the 70s, as an important time of social activism turned into a hedonistic drug orgy, which then resulted in a conservative backlash, and the election of Ronald Reagan, for which we are still paying a price (Anti-government bias plays out even today, hello BP oil spill).
Don’t get me started on the 80s, the turning of every aspect of American life in to an opportunity to sell something, the build-out of the suburbs, all of these I attribute to the BBs turning their attention to how to make a buck, even if it meant disregarding every ideal they had only a decade earlier embraced.
Finally, the baby boomer presidents, Clinton and Bush. I don’t know how you feel about those two, but I kind of think that says it all. Either the pleasure seeking hedonist who gave Wall St. and corporate America anything that was left after 12 years of republican rule, or the ultimate baby boomer, George W., oedipally challenged by a WWII hero for a father, and determined to leave the country in a complete shambles before he was done. Just because he was pissed of at his Dad.
Much like his generation.
Ych.
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
Finally, the baby boomer presidents, Clinton and Bush. I don’t know how you feel about those two,
I’m glad to say I haven’t voted for a republocrat candidate since Reagan. I think the right-left debate is a shell game designed to divide this country and it’s sad, because most folks can’t see behind the curtain and realize that neither side has the taxpayer’s interest at heart. I don’t expect to many folks to agree with this, but my slogan is an extension of the old quote
If you aren’t a liberal when you’re 20, then you’ve got no heart
If you aren’t a (fiscal) conservative by the time you’re 30, you haven’t got a brain
If you aren’t an independent by the time you’re 40, you haven’t got a clue
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
:)
You and Churchill. I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for tolerating my tirade.
"The only 'Advanced Metric' that matters is what you see with your eyes." -Timbo, Nov., 2009.
I don't know what comes at 50, I'll let you know in a few months
probably crotchety old curmudgeon yelling “Hey you kids, get off my lawn!”
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Did I miss sarcasm?
One thing, when Dave started out his article with " I was going to talk about something else today" was this sarcasm?
Sure, very quickly and before the dust settles we are going to hear more about this then we really want to, I’m afraid this is going to get uglier, before it get’s better. (not really sure it’s going to get better) but my point is, if you’re a Blazer fan what else do you talk about today?
This is the biggest thing to hit this franchise in a long time. There are moments and actions that define a franchise long term and short term…sometimes both..and this will be a defining moment. For a while I think things will be defined in terms of Pre-KP and Post-KP…
Thanks to this franchise evidently being run by 100 monkeys locked in a room, the draft suddenly feels distant and unimportant. What else do we talk about today?
"Mother Nature started this fight, I think it's about time we ended it!"
Why is the Edge
more professional than the professional sports team that we so dilligently follow?
This latest episode has dragged out for a painfully long time. It’s entirely revealing, and all too disheartening.
Bush League, is the expression that come to mind.
Life in a one horse town….
I still like to believe
that the Blazer org (PA, LM, whoever you want to consider is calling the shots) decided early on that they were going to take a “no comment” stance to muckraking around the entire Penn situation…which then snowballed out of control based entirely on information from LeGarie, Woj, and Canzano…none of which I’m willing to accept until the org says as such.
A lot of people have considered it a foregone conclusion that KP is gone…and yet, he’s still here. While the org has not publicly backed him, they haven’t publicly admonished him either…so really they just haven’t said anything. While that may be perceived as mishandling by the unknowing public, if you go back to my original concept of “no comment” then they are executing the game plan perfectly. If you assume further that KP knows what’s going on, then of course its going to be rough for him to have to face the media knowing full well that he can’t say anything, which he hasn’t. Same for Miller, and for the brief statement “demanded” of PA.
Call me boring, but I say Penn was an isolated incident and that’s how it will remain.
how do you account for the news of the headhunting search?
The writing has been on the wall since March for everyone to read. The details have been leaking in slowly, but a lot of folks don’t want to see KP leave so badly that they’re shooting the media messengers rather than connecting the dots
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Good question
I also apparently just read that his house was up for sale…who knows. I’m probably just wrong and everyone else knew what was coming all along.
So will definitely hurt our chances at getting Lebron...
But seriously, there are gonna be some tough questions to answer if KP is let go. If we ever win a championship with this team and KP is the the GM, there is something wrong with that. If the reason for firing him is that he is taking all the credit then we all know this is BS. With all the interviews that he’s done, all I’ve heard come out of his mouth is “we” and “us” and deflect credit towards others. The only time I really remember him talking about himself is, oh of course!: when the media was talking about his job status! BS. Just complete BS.
...and that's the bottom line 'cause nicolas batum said so!
Is there a rule against player-GMs?
Tell LeBron that if he plays here, we’ll give him total control over personnel decisions.
Disclaimer: everything I know about basketball I learned on Blazersedge.
What is KP demanding/asking for through LaGarie and manipulated media?
It certainly seems like the KP furor was created by KP’s agent after the Penn firing. Who knows what Penn may have done to deserve being fired, but LaGarie jumped on it as being a threat to KP and has used the media to fan the supposed “disrespect” for KP. How do we know KP isn’t demanding an astronomical amount of money and/or autonomy that Allen is not willing to grant? Who knows if there was a specific transaction that Allen wanted and KP blew off. Maybe there was some personal insult that KP delivered that Allen cannot forget or forgive (but has precious little to do with basketball)?
When you are the “deep pockets” and employees can sue you for anything slight that a lawyer can manufacture, about the only prudent path is firing people “without cause,” paying them their contracted salary, and maintaining the “no comment” approach to personnel matters.
I think KP has assembled a good core of talent and improved the team every year. I don’t see how he can be blamed for the rash of injuries, but I have no idea what he or his agent might be demanding from the Blazers.
This kind of strikes me like the media furor to give Brandon Roy whatever he wanted without knowing what was really being negotiated. Of course, as soon as Roy and Aldridge got their contracts, people are ripping the players for underperforming and the Blazers for overpaying.
People get fired for reasons other than job performance, but employers must remain quiet or they will be sued (and probably will be anyway). There’s got to be another side to the tale, but we may never hear it (whether it’s Penn or KP).
I find it ironic
that in the end, Pritchard’s termination might possibly be categorized as “His performance was fine but he just didn’t fit the culture”
There are just too many rumors floating around about Pritchard that don’t seem to be connected to his job performance. It all fits, even if we never learn exactly what the issue supposedly is…..
"It's Our Time":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O99POVJfglY
Ironic? More like moronic.
Some silk socks, never played, Buffy and Todd styled, newly monied, hanger-onner, thinks KP is full of himself.
Well, Skip, or Biff, or whoever you are, go ahead and read his bio. He’s one of those ‘earned it guys’ you read about in school, like Audie Murphy. He should make you entirely insecure, and you should have him removed. Because you are small, and you desire mediocrity in your presence, so as not to remind you of your actual size.
by damonrayhymer on Jun 7, 2010 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions
coin flip?
“P.S. Rain Man would have known to call “Heads. Definitely Heads” in that 1984 draft."
I thought we were caught illegally negotiating w/ Akeem and lost the top pick without the coin flip?
the Blazers also were fined for tampering with Patrick Ewing
trying to persuade him to leave G-town a year early
(for the record, Paul Allen and the Vulcans had nothing to do with the ‘84 draft, or the decision to inject Bill Walton’s foot with a pain-killer, or the Moses Malone trade, or LaRue Martin…)
Blazer fans need thicker skins, this team has never been an easy ride
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I suppose i begrudgingly agree with that
although the results may very well be the same for me.
"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
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
not yet, anyway
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
KP has his house for sale and the Blazers are recruiting a new GM, yet he hasn't been fired yet.
The most plausible explanation is that the Blazers and KP have already negotiated a buyout deal that includes KP staying long enough to participate in the upcoming June draft and then leaving. Perhaps Paul Allen already has a very good idea who the next GM will be, but he won’t be available until July 1. The next GM will probably be dealing with free agents this summer.
It’s all a bit unusual, but may indicate that KP’s leaving will be more amicable than thought (the aftermath of the Tom Penn firing suggested otherwise).
"Brandon eats first around here" - KP
by BlazerFanSince1970 on Jun 7, 2010 2:48 PM PDT reply actions
may indicate that KP’s leaving will be more amicable than thought
Not if the media has anything to say about it. Do you think the Blazers wanted the news re: the headhunting firm to be made public? The watchdog is on the prowl, we are living in a 24-hour news cycle, after all
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I heard that Mervyn Schekelbottom is the bomb...
Geriatric Dunk Squad!
1/4/10 - Juwan Howard dunks on Chris Kaman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTkOqDgLb6s
3/7/10 - Andre Miller Tomahawk jams on the Denver Nuggets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-JVgm7F1QA
4/12/10 - Marcus Camby drops 30 and 13 on OKC to cement 50 wins. http://www.nba.com/blazers/media/camby_chant_041310.mp3
I like Jerry West but KP has done a great Job for this team
Keep KP what are the Management thinking, Paul Allen sort your head out
JW is not coming here.
First, LOGO don’t work for peanuts.
Second, Logo would probably demand a slice of the franchise.
Third, Unless PA sells the team, there ain’t no way
by damonrayhymer on Jun 7, 2010 6:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Why wouldn't Paul Allen pay Jerry a lot of money and give him perks and autonomy?
(to loosely paraphrase Cap’n Kirk) West was out saving the galaxy while KP was still playing guard at Kansas
Paul gave Whitsitt carte blanche back in the 90s, why not West now?
Just because KP was only paid 850k doesn’t mean that’s the ceiling for the Blazer’s GM job. The Blazer’s head coach is very well-compensated, compared to his peers.
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
If JW was indeed hired,
I would finally know, once and for all, your true identity, Shatner.
So let me see if I have this straight:
PA is going to go from an insecure, meddling, micromanaging (Vulcan), tax collecting, profit making, new style owner, to a hands free, go for broke, pay the tax, bring in the mercenaries, LA style owner. Really?
Because working in a team environment w/ tremendous talent evaluators, a seriously mad capologist, and growing something organically, really got him down.
by damonrayhymer on Jun 7, 2010 9:01 PM PDT up reply actions
Denny Crane
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
I haven't watched Boston Legal in awhile
Like most TV shows, the plots became predictable. But there’s no doubt it’s the Shatner-Spader duo that makes the show tick. (Similar to Shatner-Nimoy, back in the day)
Bill can still bring it, every role he plays is larger than life
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
We are not getting JW.
Everyone is looking at this that the only thing that is going to happen is Fire KP. With all the secrecy and the prevaling headline is that they want to make a splash. What if he’s getting promoted after the draft. Wouldn’t he be in line for Penns job if a new GM is coming to town – If its Sam Presti, could you imagine the 2 working together.
What other reason would KP still have is job going into the draft. I’ve never seen a situation where the GM was kept on just for the draft then they plan to fire him. It doesn’t add up.
Add to your thoughts a vindictive owner or upper management
who enjoys belittling people.
I don’t know that this is paul allen, but it fits that behavior and the behavior of someone with a big fragile ego wishing to exact revenge. The lingering is UNBELIEVABLY unprofessional.
I seriously wouldn’t mind your kool-aid/optimism though. I’m beyond disgusted at the organization and I’d love to not be.
"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
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
I was told I was a worry wart when I said this signaled the end for KP back in march.
By that same logic I’m still a worry wart and nothing has changed. Still rumors, still just a house selling, still blazers waiting to evaluate. Even if KP isn’t fired though, this is some rotten management reeking of a vile odor like a babies freshly filled diaper suddenly opened up to the senses and that kid didn’t eat roses last night.
I’m still waiting to see what happens and most likely I’m simply walking away from the blazers. We’ll see if he’s fired and who they replace him with. An upgrade is a good sign and a downgrade/inbreeding will be a bad sign but either way Vulcans/Allen will be a shadow hovering.
The excitement and love for the blazers was almost killed by the JailBlazers but I hung in there. This… showcasing an ownership that is stupid, unkind, despiteful, and so many other worst adjectives… I refuse to cheer that on.
I suspect KP already knows what’s up. I think KP acted unprofessional at that emotional press conference. Lastly, I think this is all ending badly, but who knows.
Blazer history. Lenny Wilkins was coach of the blazers. He was fired. He made the comment something along the lines that the blazers were a championship team no matter who was coaching if a certain big man could stay healthy. He ended up being right.
That’s my long winded response. My short response is…
meh
"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
"I told Pau the Lakers never win here in Portland; I think it's great." -- Rudy Fernandez
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