[Talkhard]

This quote from a Cav's fan appears at O-Live:

"Miles seems like a nice guy, but did you notice he can never put two good halves together or two straight good games. I think the boy is retarded, slow upstairs. He has great athletic ability, but the signals from the brain never get to the body. This was a good move by the Cavs."

Man, I hope this isn't true. We've already got more than our share of dumb players with Wallace, Patterson, and Woods. We don't need another one. As much as I like the "upside" of Miles, I agree with those who are saying this looks just like a Whitsitt move. Let's hope it pans out.

By the way, has anyone noticed the glaring contradiction that lies at the heart of this trade? The Blazers agree (with the rest of the world) that Darius Miles is a long way from "making it" in the NBA, and he may not not come into his own for 2 or 3 more years. I.E., he's a "project." Yet, at the same time, Blazer management has said they will take the next 40 games to look at Darius and decide if they want to keep him. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? If you agree that the guy may not "blossom" for awhile yet, what is the point of making a hasty decision on him over the next 40 games? He's either a long-term investment, or he's not--and it's going to take more than 40 games to tell if he's the real deal.

 

[antibody]

I have to disagree about Wallace, Patterson, and Woods being "dumb" players. I'm not sure where that came from. It sounds like you are letting off the court issues come into play with how they think on the court. Sheed is definitely not a dumb player...he may not put out the effort night in and night out but he knows what is going on. Patterson is all hustle and he has been playing good ball lately. Woods is young and learning. I'm not saying they have the best b-ball IQ but they are not dumb.

 

[Oldmangrouch]

There is a fine line between "dumb", "uncoachable", and never having been well coached.

Miles has rotten fundamentals. Up till now, you could argue that it was the fault of his coaches. His failure to improve under Silas is a bad sign. On top of that, there is little evidence that Cheeks is particularly good at handling young/raw players.

It is tough to be optimistic about the situation. OTOH, all Miles has to do is show *progress*. No one expects him to turn things around 180 degrees.

Miles may only be 22, but he has enough experience to know what he needs to do to improve and excel. The ball is in his court.

 

[Terrible]

Yeah these guys are dumb, but they can learn if they have a coach that spends the time with them + they get a good PR person to help them with interviews.

Keep in mind that Darius, Q and Zach should all be third year guys in college. This team is now getting very young so patience by all will be key as they develop.

On a side note, if Silas could not get Miles to perform why does Nash think crying Cheeks can? My feeling is that Silas is a much better coach than Cheeks. This concerns me a bit.

 

[Schilly]

Not to nit pick, but those guys should be seniors in college.

BTW anyone catch Miles saying he and Zach are buddies, going back to 10th Grade?

 

[Trader Ed]

They traded Jeff and Ruben For Miles as a salary dump or trade bait IMHO. I do not see him as being a Blazer next year at all.

 

[Terrible]

Maybe Sheed, Darius and Patterson could land us a Tmac next year?

Had to try!

 

[Bwatcher]

I think Silas and Cheeks have different styles, but this is just a guess from watching both on TV. Cheeks seems to be less confrontational, and more encouraging than Silas. Silas seems more emotionally distant, more of a "you go out and work hard to please me" type. Both types can be good or not good. I suspect that Cheeks is the easier to work with for young players such as Miles and Woods. I guess that his criticism leaves the object with less trauma.

 

[RW#30]

I disagree with the label "Dumb". They are not the smartest people you will meet but if you listen to Rasheed when he talk to the media and doesn't throw the N word around he is an intelligent person. He makes dumb choices but it doesn't reflect his mental capacity. He does makes poor choices.

Ruben has made poor choices also but has he done anything in Portland. Yes, Zach sucker punched him. So did Kobe when he was a Lakers. He also irritated Payton while he played for the Sonics. It is the way he players. You can not label them as dumb.

As for Miles.. What do you think Cavs fans will say about him? They Lost Andre Miller for this guy. He never panned out for them and I am sure they are pissed about that. Every young player struggled at the beginning. T Mac, Kobe, KG all took time to develop. We have our own experience with O’Neal. So if things doesn’t work out he is gone or re singed for less. I don’t know if he ever reach his potential but it is fun to watch. We need to give this kids time and let them play.

 

[RW#30]

oh and Silas

I do not like him as a coach. He did NOTHING with a talented Hornets team in the weak east. He is an over rated coach.

 

[Dan]

Originally posted by <b>Talkhard</b>!
This quote from a Cav's fan appears at O-Live:
By the way, has anyone noticed the glaring contradiction that lies at the heart of this trade? The Blazers agree (with the rest of the world) that Darius Miles is a long way from "making it" in the NBA, and he may not not come into his own for 2 or 3 more years. I.E., he's a "project." Yet, at the same time, Blazer management has said they will take the next 40 games to look at Darius and decide if they want to keep him. Doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? If you agree that the guy may not "blossom" for awhile yet, what is the point of making a hasty decision on him over the next 40 games? He's either a long-term investment, or he's not--and it's going to take more than 40 games to tell if he's the real deal.

I'll answer this first, and then the part I cut out of your post, after that.

I think the Blazers would be able to tell in 40 games + practices, what kind of player he is. So I don't see it as some contradiction, or anything.

As for the guy who called him retarded...Well, why should we care what he thinks? There's a couple things to take into account here.

In most cases, when someone who's an adult, calls another person 'retarded' in the manner in which he did (a sports fan who's disgruntled over the production or lack there of a certain player) either himself is upset at something totally different than the issue at hand, or just has sour grapes. It's almost like people who have to justify a trade of a player, and the quickest and easiest way to do it, is to rip on the player leaving. "He's retarded", yah..thats it. "and I'm a specialist in this field too." is another con that people do. They write papers and claim they're a specialist..Like "Im an anger management specialist..and rasheed wallace needs anger management").

If you took a look at what some Blazer fans said after the Jermaine O'neal trade, (taking the worst of what was said) it would of course, made Jermaine look like he was dumber than a post, and couldn't put 2 straight good games together, let alone, 2 halves.


I could care less what some Cavs fan says or thinks about any of their players. it's what the people who actually have a clue about players I care about. Their GM, their coaches..not some monday night QB who thinks he knows something more than someone who actually is directly associated with the team.

 

[RG]

Geesh Hap, there aren't many GM's posting on here are there? I'm assuming you care somewhat about the posts of others in here on their opinions. I agree though, retard is probably just vindictiveness.

 

[Dan]

Originally posted by <b>RG</b>!
Geesh Hap, there aren't many GM's posting on here are there? I'm assuming you care somewhat about the posts of others in here on their opinions. I agree though, retard is probably just vindictiveness.

I put much more into what a GM or Coach says about a player than another poster, or fan of said team.

Whether or not a GM posts here is not the point.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Yeah, we got a dumb player.

What's better- a great athlete that can't play, or a player who's not an athlete?