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pritch is a
http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/ore...290.xml&coll=7
The NBA's golden boy arrived at the Rose Garden on Saturday in a silver Acura MDX. He wore a gray pinstriped suit, had a fresh haircut, and a light purple dress shirt to go with a dark purple tie.
It's not lost on anyone that Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard has a blank check for an owner. And that the three drafts Pritchard handled for Portland he was given the resources to land five lottery picks. And also, the GM has Jeff Ma, the Massachusetts Ins ute of Technology card-counting genius responsible for "Bringing Down the House," writing computer-algorithms for his scouting database.
So, yeah, basically there's an old-guard NBA faction that would love to see this guy walk into a five-star restaurant and sit down in a chair sometime that splintered and buckled underneath him.
Portland beat Golden State 113-100 on Saturday. Afterward, Pritchard left the Rose Garden arena with his girlfriend, Marlene, a teacher and former Blazers dancer. And so yeah, basically, when the rest of the league saw an opportunity to squash Pritchard's summer 2009 salary-cap flexibility by signing Darius Miles to a 10-day contract, it was going to get done.
Said one Western Conference GM of Pritchard on Saturday: "(Bleep) that guy, he's walking around rubbing everyone's nose in the deals he's made and even with all those lottery players his team is still not in the playoffs.
"There was a line of guys in the league waiting to sign D. Miles if Memphis didn't."
What we have here, see, isn't so golden.
It's dark. And ugly. And maybe, too, a little bit educational. Because all that jealousy, hostility and contempt is going to manifest itself over the next couple of months, maybe years, and at the very least Pritchard better come to understand this if he's going to navigate the territory successfully.
There is a new way of doing things in the NBA. And an old way. Pritchard, Cleveland's Danny Ferry, Oklahoma City's Sam Presti, Houston's Daryl Morey, Toronto's Bryan Colangelo are among the new-way guys.
The new guys are young, and dress well. They live well. They incorporate computer programs in their scouting process. They're outspoken, they're creative, forward-thinking and progressive. Sometimes that stuff plays obnoxious to outsiders. Sometimes it just is. And when you threaten to win big -- the Blazers are eight games over .500 and are a potential player in trade/free-agency -- well, that pretty much makes you the grand pooh-bah of the new-world guys.
It's not lost here that Pritchard is also a rabid Blazers fan. He reads every word written by local and national media about the team. He comes home from games and pores over the fan message boards, too. And on Saturday he admitted that he even posts on the Internet fan forums under an alias, because he simply can't help himself.
The big surprise this week isn't that Memphis, and others, were ready to take on Miles and make life difficult for Portland. But rather, why anyone paying attention would have been shocked to see someone eager to stand in Pritchard's way.
On Saturday, asked about the target on his chest, Pritchard said, "They probably see that we're winning, and it's the whole organization they see in a position to have success."
Um, no.
Maybe there's a little truth there, but if it were an old-world general manager sitting in the middle of what looks like a bright future at One Center Court, you can bet the resistance wouldn't be as enthusiastic. Outside GMs would be crowing about a well-done job, and years of hard work paying off, and a break that management had coming.
Instead, other league executives are asking stuff like, "Did that (bleep) really coin (the phrase) 'Pritch-slapped' by himself?"
(No. He didn't. The term was born in the mind of a Blazers fan after a series of Pritchard personnel moves. But you get the idea.)
Pritchard hasn't missed with a single player transaction since arriving in Portland. He's made all the right moves. Every one of them. Some with brains. Others with luck. And after the Blazers beat long odds and landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 Draft (Greg Oden), you half expected the Blazers general manager would show up in the center of the city and make the Broadway Bridge levitate.
I guess this is where I'm supposed to say that Pritchard should do a better job of appearing humble and grateful. That he shouldn't stand out front and smile so much when he cuts a big trade. That he should have kissed the ring of the old-guard a little more, and maybe, life feel so hostile.
That he shouldn't do so many national interviews. That he shouldn't brag that 25 percent of his scouting is done by the program written by the MIT genius. Maybe, too, that Pritchard shouldn't rave so loudly that he thinks Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge are the best two players from the 2006 Draft.
If he followed that advice, maybe the old-world wouldn't resent him so much. Maybe they wouldn't have been as eager to curb his cap flexibility. Maybe he would have had an easier week.
But as long as he's making the right moves, and following the rules, how can you tell Pritchard to change a thing?
It's his world, you know.
pritch is a
TlongII = Pritchard
Damn, he's a bigger than I thought.
He's not a at all. Canzano has gone over the top in the article saying the Pritchard brags about something. He never brags about anything. He has admitted that Jeff Ma has written part of a player evaluation program and he has stated that he thinks Roy and Aldridge are the best 2 picks of the 2006 draft. That ain't bragging.
All i know is Golden Boy was beaten badly by our man "Pacman"
We're going to KILL the Lakers when you visit the Rose Garden. You'll be singing a different tune then.
He was more like black-and-blue than golden afterward.
i guess if u continually say the blazers are gonna beat the lakers, your going to get it right one time. , the clippers, can say that too......
and anyone who says they will sue someone for doing nothing wrong (in otherwords try to be a bully and threaten people for now justifiable reason) he is a
lol, darius miles
He shouldn't do any of those things. He should, however, stop being a ing -sucking little . This isn't about his personal style, it's about threatening legal action, in an attempt to cover up his own up, in an extremely hostile and disrespectful manner. This article and Pritchard himself, are ing jokes.
This son of a pritch makes Mark Cuban appear shy and modest.
Larry Miller sent the email you're referring to, not Pritchard.
I'm aware. But I... and I'm sure plenty of GM's, took it as an organizational move, perpetrated by the Blazers entire front office.
Well yeah, it probably was. BFD. If we can intimidate other teams with a memo I say Go for it!
One fact stuck out the most in the article. That guy has not won . If you don't think he has a huge EGO explain why he would threaten the rest of the league if they signed Miles. Dumb.
thats not intimidating. thats threatening.........
whatever. its all a mute point because the grizzlies are going to play miles and portland will be screwed. i hope they dont play him til the last 2 games of the season to build the suspense.
im sure most of you guys here know the situation but lets recap. is portland really being screwed here? they filed mile's contract to the insurance company because it was believed to be a career ending injury. the league took his salary off of the teams cap because again, it was thought to be a career ending injury.
Now Miles, whether its because of his relentless rehab or misdiagnosis of the portland training staff/doctors, is fully capable of playing basketball again. he may not live up to that 9 mil/yr contract, but thats no reason the blazers should be off the hook for that ridiculous contract, which is way too common in the nba (kwame, brian grant, raef lafrentz, wally z, etc.
"moot"
not "mute"
Sorry, but one of those grammar pet peeves I have. I know I'm being anal, but it does irk me.
You see this is where I completely disagree with you. The dude can't play any more. The only thing that's going to happen is that Memphis will play him a couple of games and release him. He'll never play another game in his life. Why? Because he can't help anybody with his game in its current condition. If that's not career ending I don't know what is!
He drives an Acura MDX....couldn't afford anything better?
There's a difference between not being able to play at an NBA caliber level and being "medically unable" to play anymore. There are plenty of NBA players that get NBA contracts that end up sucking at some point before their contracts expire. Michael Olowokandi comes to mind. Miles isn't "medically unable" to play. It's not going to be a health risk for him to play. He just isn't nearly as good or as athletic as he once was.
The Blazers were trying to pull a fast one themselves.
This thread is useless without pics of his girlfriend.
DD
stop commenting here until you tell clutch to unban me
So does Scalabrine help the Celtics?
Not true. Independent doctors have advised him that he will likely need knee replacement surgery sooner if he continues to play.
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