Casey at O-Live has a post from ESPN Insider Chad Ford's chat in which Chad talks about Jeff Green and the draft. The quote is:
Frankly I take most everything Ford says with a box of salt (no offense, but he's had some doozies) so the whole Jeff Green-Blazers thing doesn't impress me much. What does impress me is that last sentence.
How many years have we drafted people who have been "the next so-and-so" or "just like so-and-so"? That never works out. What you want is the "so-and-so" in the first place! And apparently we've got one. Having people describe draft candidates in terms of your player is one of the signs that your player is excellent. (Usually they come up with the best possible construct they can imagine about the capabilities and potential of the draftee.) It's a milestone of sorts for the team. How many years has it been since we've had a player that people compared others to (in a good way, that is)? This is a good thing.
Next step: Hearing somebody say of a struggling team, "They're trying to do what the Blazers did."
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)