Schilly

What was it that Nash said? I can't remember.

Fork

I guess that depends on the definition of 'success.'

If your ONLY definition of success is winning a championship (or even GETTING to the playoffs) then you're right, this team has close to zero chance of success.

Then again, I accept that it can be a successful season if the young guys learn how to play team basketball, improve their game offensively and defensively and win a few games along the way.

Ruben Patterson clearly doesn't see group B's point of view, which is a shame for everybody involved. There's probably got a lot he could teach the young guys on the team, but he's too selfish to do that. Good riddance.

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If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by. -- Japanese proverb

Dan

a passionate vet?

please ed, I know you to perpetuate the same argument about the team lacking certain things, but this is anything but a passionate vet.

This is a dip****, who's doing nothing different than he's always done. Whined, and make a big fool of himself.

__________________
A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Fork

I bet this is the quote in question:

“Ruben will be what he has always been during his career — a bench player,” Nash was quoted as saying. “I don’t see him getting many minutes.”

That's not unprofessional in the least.

Later, he said:

“Ruben changed his life last summer by giving up alcohol, and it has had an incredibly positive effect on his career,” the GM says. “He wanted to prove he deserved an opportunity to start. We talked about Shareef and Darius as starters, and he took the challenge. I’ve told him privately on several occasions this year I admire what he has done and how he has approached things.”

Yeah, how unprofessional that John Nash is.

__________________
When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis, 1935

If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy float by. -- Japanese proverb

Schilly

Ohhh, that's right. Wasn't that in response to Ruben saying that he himself, should be the starting Small Forward on the team?

Ed O

Why on earth would Ruben Patterson want to sit on the bench while a bunch of young guys lose games?

He wants to win, and he wants to be a part of a winner.

For us as fans, or for management, a longer term approach is of course more palatable. But for a guy who's 30 years old and going to be a free agent in a year and a half, I don't see how a guy can continue to give a **** and not say something.

A tirade laced with profanity? Over the line, no doubt. I think that the team is right in sending him home, but management put itself in a position to have to do this by putting together such a bad team.

Ed O.

Ed O

So if the team were winning he'd be acting the same? Of course not.

He's acting like a dip**** because the team is so bad, because there's no hope for it getting much better while he's here, and because he cares about winning.

A player like Theo Ratliff has been on a lot of bad teams... he might have had the passion kicked out of him. But Ruben's not used to losing, and I think that it's a point in his favor that he finds it unacceptable.

There are, of course, healthier ways for him to express himself than what he's done.

Ed O.

chromekilla

Bad move Ruben i hope hes traded by weeks end.

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tlong

One point that I will argue is that the Blazers will certainly be a poorer team without Ruben on it. He deserved to be sent home, but the team is now worse than it was when it started the trip.

Ed O

That's not my intent at all. I think that management had to have known--or should have known--that the makeup and lack of competitiveness of this team were going to cause problems beyond just losses on the floor.

We can blame Ruben for his role in this, but I think that management set him up for failure here.

Ed O.

dekko

And last year when he was upset about Cheeks being fired instead of demanding a "high level of professionalism" they gave him time off to go home and pout and paid him...

Laurel T

Dan

The guy thinks he's much better than he is, and is entitled to much more.

so all the other times he's acted like a dip****, were just coincidental?

Ruben has foot in mouth disease, regardless of whether or not the team is winning. does anyone remember the whole "kobe stopper" fiasco? The guy is a dip****, pure and simple. He doesn't understand how to play within a teams offense, and he's the kind of guy you don't want influencing young guys.

__________________
A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says "Make me one with everything".

when will the loss of life end?

The world respects the power of our example, not an example of our power.

I'd like to say I made this, but I didn't

Schilly

What a winner.

Ed O