Tince

Just got off the phone where there was a conference call conducted by Brian Wheeler who was asking questions to Paterson, Pritchard, and Raef LaFrentz. Here's what they said:

Steve Paterson:
* Expects issues with Zach to be resolved in less than a week. Would like fans to withdrawl judgement about Zach, team, media, and police until investigation is complete.
* Wouldn't say the Blazers are no longer on the market to be sold, but did say that Paul and the rest of Blazers are going to give it 100% this season.

Kevin Pritchard:
* Rodriguez will be in camp, and a decision about him playing in the NBDL will not be made until after then.
* Aldridge just completed a sucessful surgery. Here's his timeline:
- 2 weeks, stitches will be removed.
- 3 weeks, sling will be taken off.
- 4 weeks, can begin lower body strength training.
- 6 weeks, can begin upper body strength training.

Thinks this could be a blessing in disguise because this will give Aldridge a chance to get stronger, which is the main thing keeping him from being NBA ready.

Raef LaFrentz:
* When asked if he considers himself a PF or C, he said it doesn't matter as long as he gets to play.
* It's difficult for him to believe he's the "old vet", but he plans on sharing his experiences on and off the court to help the young guys through the long NBA season.
* Excited about a fresh start, especially playing with a nice mix of vets and young players.
* Has a place to live in Portland and will finish packing this week, and perminately move out to Portland sometime next week.


That's all they gave us, I know it isn't much, but I want to share anyway.

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wastro

Kinda worries me that the Blazers aren't exactly 'not for sale' right now. If he's not packaging the team and the arena AND he's not willing to say if they're for sale ... that gives me some bad vibes.

lalooska

Much appreciated!!!

Public Defender

I think the Blazers are 'up for sale' in sort of the same way that any player on the Blazers right now is available for a trade. If the right offer comes along, sure. But the team is no longer being actively marketed for sale (shopped for a trade would be the continuation of the analogy), so the chances of something actually happening are far lower.

Thanks for this - especially with regard to the timeline on Aldridge's return. That's the most specific rundown I've seen.

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Next year...

mgb

That one won me a sweatshirt!

The last conference call I told Jack I respect him for playing injured but did playing injured make his ankle worse? They didn't use that question so I decided to feed them a simple one this time.

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Michael



"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
-Margaret Lee Runbeck

"Science is built with facts as a house is with stones--but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house."
-Jules Henri Poincare (1854-1912)

"When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."
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mediocre man

The quote that worries me the most was when Lafrentz said "it doesn't matter what possition I play as long as I play." With Joel, Magloire, Randolph and Lafrentz someone is going to be left out of the minutes rotation, and I have to believe it's Raef.

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"SHOW ME THE BUFFET!!!"


Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


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blakeback

Yeah, he should have said "I don't want to play, I want to sit on the bench and watch the other guys play. I see myself like an assistant coach, but the kind of assistant coach who just sits on the bench and doesn't do or say anything."

What did you expect him to say? The question was does he consider himself a PF or C? Should he have just said "PF" and then hung up?

mediocre man

I didn't say it was a bad thing to say. I said it worried me. There is going to be a lot of pissing and moaning this year unless Joel does us all a favor and gets injured.......again. There simply isn't enough minutes to go around at those possition to make everyone happy.

Once again the Blazers have managed to fill their roster with a bunch of guys that all deserve to play, but none of them is the obvious choice for more playing time.


Imagine you are an athelete and end up on the worst team in your league. You have been a starter on better teams, and are as good as the others you are playing with, but you never get to play. You wouldn't piss and moan?

__________________
"SHOW ME THE BUFFET!!!"


Former Blazer Alaa Abdelnaby on being a student athlete at Duke. "The only way I could get 5 A's at Duke was to spell my name"


I'm Mediocre Man, and I approve this message.