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**Webster's Dictionary** · 12-28-2007, 03:46 PM

When Pritchard maneuvered his way into trading Telfair for the pick that would eventually net us Roy, he may have covered up another Blazers drafting blunder. I had seen that Al Jeff had had a few good games, but I took a look at his stats today and wow. 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds (good for 4th in the league) while shooting 49%. Those are better numbers than Zach, and he's averaging a respectable 1.1 steal and 1.3 blocks per game. Telfair's having a decent year but I know a few on this board (I believe EdO) had lamented that we didn't pick him over Telfair. Looks like, in the end, he was right.

Hopefully Joel and Lamarcus are able to shut him down tonight.

SixPack · 12-28-2007, 03:48 PM

I don't know Nate's plan, but I would put Joel on Jefferson tonight. If Joel is out of the game, then put Frye on him.

hasoos · 12-28-2007, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webster's Dictionary

When Pritchard maneuvered his way into trading Telfair for the pick that would eventually net us Roy, he may have covered up another Blazers drafting blunder. I had seen that Al Jeff had had a few good games, but I took a look at his stats today and wow. 20.3 points, 12.3 rebounds (good for 4th in the league) while shooting 49%. Those are better numbers than Zach, and he's averaging a respectable 1.1 steal and 1.3 blocks per game. Telfair's having a decent year but I know a few on this board (I believe EdO) had lamented that we didn't pick him over Telfair. Looks like, in the end, he was right.

Hopefully Joel and Lamarcus are able to shut him down tonight.

Al is playing good ball, and he always used to kill us when he played against Zbo. That being said, I don't think there are many choices the Blazers could have made with that draft pick that would not have turned out better then Bassy.

**Ruff Draft** · 12-28-2007, 04:02 PM

Telfair has been real good, but he still can't finish at the rim. It's his a huge hole in his game.

dudleysghost · 12-28-2007, 04:22 PM

Darius Miles said we should have drafted Jefferson too.

Public Defender · 12-28-2007, 04:26 PM

Telfair was a bad pick, pure and simple. 2004 was not a deep draft (after Okafor, Howard, Gordon, and a few others, like Iguodala, there just wasn't a lot there). But Jefferson would've been a smarter pick than Telfair, regardless of the fact that the Blazers had his near clone in Zach Randolph, already. But for that matter, either Josh Smith or JR Smith would've been better choices, or Delonte West, or Kevin Martin, or... the list goes on. John Nash was a bad GM. But the Blazers have managed to turn things around with a guy who should be the GM of the Year this year (if Nate doesn't snag all the credit by being named Coach of the Year).

Indeed, Jefferson's numbers are impressive. But it's always hard to tell how well a player is really doing, when it's on a team that so rarely wins games.

Mr. Chuck Taylor · 12-28-2007, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Public Defender

Telfair was a bad pick, pure and simple. 2004 was not a deep draft (after Okafor, Howard, Gordon, and a few others, like Iguodala, there just wasn't a lot there). But Jefferson would've been a smarter pick than Telfair, regardless of the fact that the Blazers had his near clone in Zach Randolph, already. But for that matter, either Josh Smith or JR Smith would've been better choices, or Delonte West, or Kevin Martin, or... the list goes on. John Nash was a bad GM. But the Blazers have managed to turn things around with a guy who should be the GM of the Year this year (if Nate doesn't snag all the credit by being named Coach of the Year).

Unless you choose the consensus best player in the draft, you are always going to be able to say someone else would have been a better selection. But the reason Jefferson is often compared with Telfair is because the Blazer's management was split between the two. This is the same reason Chris Paul (and not Deron Williams) is often compared to Martell Webster.

Public Defender · 12-28-2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Chuck Taylor

Unless you choose the consensus best player in the draft, you are always going to be able to say someone else would have been a better selection. But the reason Jefferson is often compared with Telfair is because the Blazer's management was split between the two. This is the same reason Chris Paul (and not Deron Williams) is often compared to Martell Webster.

Sorry to make a broader point than the narrow debate you'd like to keep this thread focused on, but I think it bears repeating, if for the sake of context and nothing else, that John Nash screwed the pooch in a huge way when he chose Telfair over Jefferson, JR Smith, Josh Smith, and a host of other better players. It's all a big exercise in "what if", and to lay down ground rules on what "possible futures" that Blazer fans should discuss and what they shouldn't, is frankly ridiculous, if you ask me.

crowTrobot · 12-28-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hasoos

That being said, I don't think there are many choices the Blazers could have made with that draft pick that would not have turned out better then Bassy.

except i'm sure there's a lot of players in that draft that were better picks than telfair that ainge would NOT have traded brandon roy for. that pick was fate/karma/etc

**Dan** · 12-28-2007, 06:32 PM

I'm happy with the way things turned out.

Mr. Chuck Taylor · 12-28-2007, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Public Defender

Sorry to make a broader point than the narrow debate you'd like to keep this thread focused on, but I think it bears repeating, if for the sake of context and nothing else, that John Nash screwed the pooch in a huge way when he chose Telfair over Jefferson, JR Smith, Josh Smith, and a host of other better players. It's all a big exercise in "what if", and to lay down ground rules on what "possible futures" that Blazer fans should discuss and what they shouldn't, is frankly ridiculous, if you ask me.

Uh, what are you talking about? What "narrow debate" do I want to keep this thread focused on? And who is talking about "ground rules" in this thread, except you?

Public Defender · 12-28-2007, 07:59 PM

Mr. Taylor, your words were "you are always going to be able to say someone else would have been a better selection."

By saying that, it appeared to me that you were taking exception to my broadening the debate to include players other than Al Jefferson whom the Blazers overlooked in the 2004 draft. I concluded that you were saying that the "what if" scenario regarding any player other than Jefferson or Telfair was not a relevant part of the discussion. I saw that view as a de facto set of "ground rules," and rules that I disagree with. I apologize if the steps I took were unexplained leaps in logic, or if they misrepresent what you meant.

Bottom line (I think): is it worth talking about players whom the Blazers passed up to choose Sebastian Telfair who are not named Al Jefferson? I don't see why not, and I don't see why that view should be minimized with a statement like "you are always going to be able to [do that]". You can always do a lot of things - like blaming officials, second-guessing coaches, and even going through exhaustive "what if" scenarios related to players in a draft three and a half years ago. It's fun.

Mr. Chuck Taylor · 12-28-2007, 08:22 PM

I don't mind if you broaden the debate beyond Jefferson. My point is, there are always going to be late steals like a Kevin Martin, but it wasn't realistic for us to choose him, therefore I'm not going to think "what if" about him (although there is nothing wrong with that if you want to). The Blazers were debating between Jefferson and Telfair, and clearly made the wrong choice. The only reason I've stopped thinking "what if" about Jefferson is because we somehow traded Telfair for Roy. I'm still having trouble letting the Chris paul thing go, however.

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