Re: Chandler. Wouldn't argue with that. It just struck me that Pietrus would be what QBum once was, a versatile combo 2/3 who could defend, be physical & athletic, slash & shoot with range. Whereas, Chandler is hopefully our future 3, but certainly not a 2.

I didn't say the TBlazers were NBA champs, but there were an NBA laughing stock like us. Then they fixed character & ultimately now have a bright future. You really can't draw that parrelel w/ Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, Utah.

Look, they can aspire to draft Tim Duncan or Kobe or even Dirk, before ambition of championships sets in....we simply need to change the culture from me-first, check picker-uppers who fold up thier tents when the slightest bit of adversity sets in to a team of competitive & decent people. That's all I'm saying.

Posted by bitty41:

Again why are we hoping to achieve the level of a team that hasn't even made the playoffs yet? I understand the whole concept of walking before running but I rather our management take a more ambitious position.

do you disagree with any of the possible moves from the original post, or just the team he chose as inspiration? nothing about that plan has anything specific to do with the blazers...

incidentally, if we had portland's record now, we'd be tied for homecourt advantage in the East playoffs.

1. hire a gm with a style of play/vision
2. gm hires a coach to coach his style of play
3. gm acquires players to play out that style

and HOPE the gm gets lucky in the draft or keeps the team's options open in terms of being to upgrade talent via trades.

that's it.

everyone basically must drop the championship/elite level or bust attitude b/c it's VERY difficult to build an elite team in this league. if you don't get lucky with the lotto balls then you must be very smart in handling the roster and dishing out contracts and even then you may never get to elite level. (examples are memphis under jerry west, the bulls under paxson, and in the beginning stages in portland)

i will use the raptors as an example.

bosh is a damn good player - but he's no superstar yet.

colangelo's vision was to create an offense with shooters all around opening it up for bosh and a pg that can run that style of offense.

he traded roy runner up (charlie v) for tj ford.

he acquired a bunch of shooters at all positions but cheap contracts as he recruited many players from europe.

he drafted a 7 foot shooter that causes mismatches.

team won 47 games last year (compared to 23 the year before and after inserting 9 new players). they are on pace to win 47 again this year.

are they title contenders? no. and colangelo knows this. so he also decided not to bring in big contracts to tie down the cap leaving himself very flexible to upgrade the roster in another year or two.

so there's still a chance for that team to make a huge step if he makes the right choices over the next 2 years. but nothing is guaranteed. and if he doesn't, he still changed the entire franchise around to where they rank top 5 in home attendance in the league.

that's all any fan can ask from their GM. no gm is flawless but you hope the mistakes they make don't set the franchise back years.

to be elite, you must have elite talent. the only real example of a team that doesn't is detroit but dumars rolled the dice and he was very lucky. some gm's take gambles and fail. some gm's take gambles and succeed. but more often than not, really solid gm's rebuild franchises making smart decisions and executing a plan. they put the team on the nba map - doesn't mean they are elite, but puts a team on the floor that wins more than it loses, makes the playoffs, and generates alot of money.

Bitty you hate Isiah but you two have something in common. You're the only two people or GM I know that think Zach is a great player and you can win with him. I guess you're the innovative thinker with Zeke.

Hey hold up a second where did I say Zach Randolph anywhere in my posts?

do you disagree with any of the possible moves from the original post, or just the team he chose as inspiration? nothing about that plan has anything specific to do with the blazers...

No I don't disagree with any of the moves Portland made but we aren't in a position to really make those same moves. Okay we're getting our lotto pick okay fine. Do you see us really having an opportunity at getting 3 top 3 picks in the next 2 drafts? We have nothing of major value to really offer anyone right now.

Besides I see Trailblazers being like the Bulls down the road anyways these young guys may start off together but down the road they will frature b/c the contract extensions could break up even the most lovable group
The problem is that when Portland unloaded guys like Randolph, Telfair, they brought in guys who could step in right away and play big minutes the Knicks do not have such a squad. See I'll let everyone in on a little secret I'm not a big fan of Balkman's game or Nate's. My problem with Balkman is that I'm not too keen on players who have almost no skills. Sure energy and hustle are great and I would love to have them but Balkman to me has no business getting anywhere near a starting line-up in the NBA with that brick-laying jumpshot. And Nate well a 5'8 shooting guard isn't exactly what I would call ideal. Lee I'm cool with he's got a bright future seems to work hard on this game and the sky could be the limit for him.

Now if we had the young guys Portland had to fill in all the gaps such as Aldridge, Roy, Przybillia (or whatever his name is), then sure but we don't have them.

The next GM whether we like it or not is going to have to gamble a bit and be unconventional in someways to create a successful squad. Because our situation is so f-ed up right now he's going to have be a damn near magician to remake this team to most of the people's here liking.

According to bitty anything associated with Zach Randolph is off limits. If you would have used the Charlotte Bobcats as an example it would have been acceptable.

Hahahahaaha I personally felt he should have used Sixers as rebuilding model.

Hahahahahaha I was joking about the Sixers hell no we shouldn't use them as the model. I think the Knicks best bet is going the Pistons route. Bring in some solid vetran back-ups use this season to draft your "big star" (pray that he turns out to be one) make another trade to address either the point guard or small forward positions.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by bitty41:

Wait we're using a team whose currently 10th in their conference and 3rd in their division as the model for rebuilding? I like Portland and believe they are on the right path at this point but couldn't we at least look towards teams with established success as models for rebuilding like Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix, Utah?

LOL! u say u wanna use Phoenix as a role model on how to build a successful franchise & then rag on people when they suggest cap flexibility to make smart free agent signings & sensible trades along with draft picks is the way to go? how do u think they got Steve Nash & Amare Stoudamire to begin with? how did they land all those supporting role players they have on their team like Raja Bell & Boris Diaw? Nash & Bell were acquired via free agency, Amare via the draft & Diaw came to them along with 2 future 1st round picks in a trade for Joe Johnson.

Damn you all now you got him started! I mentioned a few teams Dallas, Detroit, and Utah who I would also look to when thinking of model management.