Paxil

Instead of going the 'we are trying to win a championship route' this year... how about trade for more young guys? Or just be patient? Why trade for bloated salaries? Why not pick up two more young guys with some basketball sense. If we are going to lose... it sure is a lot more entertaining watching young players. Free up time for Miles Telfair and Outlaw... and remember we already have Khryapa and Monya!! There's your shooting guard with basketball sense for you.

There are many teams that would LOOOOOVE that cap space... Rahim and Damon will be prime... I mean prime property closer to the trading deadline.

With a little patience we see what Telfair, Outlaw, Miles, Monya and Khryapa can do... and then there is Ha and Sinanovich (can't remember the spelling of his name)

I would much rather watch young players playing their heart out than vets dogging it.

What do you say Blazer fans... can you handle being the underdogs for a few years? It might be where the team will probably end up if we go for it anyway.


--------------
*Edit changed title... anything with the word 'trade' in it makes Blazer fans a little jumpy right now

Ed O

I think we should get the best players we can and try to win NOW. Without sacrificing Zach/Telfair/Outlaw.

Why? Teams that start from scratch have a TOUGH time coming back. Teams like the Bulls and the Clippers have piled up lottery picks and have piled up losses... and have got nothing for their troubles.

Denver is a semi-success story, I guess, but winning teams tend to win in the future, and losing teams tend to lose.

We've got some nice young pieces, but there's no reason to wait for them to mature to try to win if we can move expiring contracts and win NOW in addition to in the future.

Ed O.

__________________
"In the end, it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win -- if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last."

-- Sandy Koufax

mediocre man

I say nay nay. Portland already has enough young talent. You mentioned Ha, Sinanovic, Monya, Khryapa, Outlaw, Telfair, and Miles. Randolph is young too. That's 8 players. Portland would do great to add some veterans that were worth a damn.

furball

The biggest problem is we have a group of young kids who have never experienced winning on a big time scale. If they go into their pro careers knowing nothing but losing, they start to fall into that accepting losing attitude. Thats when kids start to play for contracts instead of Rings. They also get those stigma's, like with Reef. Case in point is Chicago. Krause wanted to build through the draft. He essentially traded Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler. That move alone has sunk that franchise.

I believe in keeping a team together, but you have to mix youth and solid veterns who can at least get you into the playoffs. The lottery is no reward. There are 13 teams in the lottery. Bucky Buckwalter and Stu Inman understood this, and while Portland never won any titles, they were in the playoffs every year.

__________________
Where are you, Billy Ray Bates?

Xericx

I'd be happy if we'd just bench Damon and play Telfair. Is that too much to ask for?

__________________
Establiiiishment...establishment...you always know what's best......

Trader Ed

Uhmmmm..... you might want to run that by your fact checker Furball

We did win a title in June 1977... I saw it with my own eyes
It really did happen... honest!

It was strange though... we got rid of Hall of Famer Moses Malone from the team that year, whom we got from the ABA dispersal draft.... he never made it to the start of the season.

We also beat the Lakers 4-0 to get to the finals

And we were the only team to ever come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the title


BTW Mike Dunleavy Sr was on that 76ers team that we beat. He was a rookie

__________________
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts..."

Heart, desire and hustle! Its the fire within that makes a champion.

Ed O

That was actually a fascinating 76ers team...

Dr J
George McGinnis (a borderline top-100 all time player)
Doug Collins (Olympian, Jordan's first NBA coach)
World B. Free ('nuff said)
Henry Bibby (father of Mike Bibby, until recently coach of USC)
Fred Carter (now on ESPN all the time)
Caldwell Jones (before he was really "Pops)
Darryl Dawkins (Chocolate Thunder)
Joe "Jelly Bean" Bryant (father of Kobe)
Jim Barnett (went to Oregon, now the Warriors' color commentator)
Mike Dunleavy

and the 10th round pick in 1976? Ed Stefanski, now the Nets' GM and one of the guys Portland targeted for our GM before settling on Nash.

I know every NBA team has its share of stories, but that one was PACKED with them.

Ed O.

__________________
"In the end, it all comes down to talent. You can talk all you want about intangibles, I just don't know what that means. Talent makes winners, not intangibles. Can nice guys win? Sure, nice guys can win -- if they're nice guys with a lot of talent. Nice guys with a little talent finish fourth, and nice guys with no talent finish last."

-- Sandy Koufax

RedHot&Rolling

I was at Game 3 of that series!

Do any of you have a Bob Gross trading card from 1977, 1978??

Please contact me if you do!!!

__________________
Trail Blazers Fan since Walton was injured the first time!
OSU Beavers Alumni & Fan since Ralph Miller's Orange Express -

"Fans cheer when they have reason to." Stop the programmed noise!!