Hoping for....

"Mark Bruso" <markbruso_nospam.DeleteThis@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<1YjHb.475816$Dw6.1394940@attbi_s02>...
> OK, tell me if there is anything wrong with this..
>
> 1) Hoping for every Portland loss this season.

They don't have to lose that many. With the way the West is going, where
they are at right now (slightly over 0.500) will get them in the lottery.

> 2) Hoping for every Memphis loss this season, just don't fall into the
> bottom 3.

Not likely with Atl, Cle, Chi, Was, Orl, etc.

> 3) Let Rasheed walk, $17M off the books.
> 4) When will Shawn Kemp's Millions be off the books?

Summer of 2004.

> 5) Have 2 top 1/3 draft picks this summer!
> 6) Sign Zach to a 3-4 year fair, but not maxed out contract. These max out
> contracts for the max number of years end up biting teams in the ass down
> the road.

The thing that really kills you is the built-in raises. If it's your own
player it can be up to 12.5%. So a 5-year extension starting at $10 million
in the first year ends up at $15 million in the fifth year. How many players
are really 50% better than they were 4 years ago?
I've heard one of the things the owners will be pushing for in the new CBA
is reducing the maximum length of contracts from 7 years to 5.
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"PDX Blazers" <pdx_blazers.DeleteThis@sacbeemail.com> wrote in message
news:a5b8ff4f.0312271644.12e6031c@posting.google.com...


> > 6) Sign Zach to a 3-4 year fair, but not maxed out contract. These max
out
> > contracts for the max number of years end up biting teams in the ass
down
> > the road.
>
> The thing that really kills you is the built-in raises. If it's your own
> player it can be up to 12.5%. So a 5-year extension starting at $10
million
> in the first year ends up at $15 million in the fifth year. How many
players
> are really 50% better than they were 4 years ago?
> I've heard one of the things the owners will be pushing for in the new CBA
> is reducing the maximum length of contracts from 7 years to 5.

I heard 4, 5 for a player when they have bird rights. But I am not sure the
nbpa is going to adjust the guarantees too much without some other huge
concession.

With Zach I suspect they will let him test the market as a restricted FA. A
matching offer would not require full raises as no other team could offer
more than 10%.
He may be in a situation like Bonzi was and there just not be any slots
available to get a high offer sheet that summer. On the other hand, by then
the Blazers will have a very good cap situation, so if they have to give him
near max it may not hurt.


--
Laurel T
"How should we Democrats select the next presidential nominee?
Smoke filled rooms? Brokered convention? National primary?
Personally, I prefer jump shots from the top of the key."
--Bill Bradley
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"PDX Blazers" <pdx_blazers RemoveThis @sacbeemail.com> wrote in message
news:a5b8ff4f.0312271644.12e6031c@posting.google.com...
> "Mark Bruso" <markbruso_nospam RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<1YjHb.475816$Dw6.1394940@attbi_s02>...
> > OK, tell me if there is anything wrong with this..
> >
> > 1) Hoping for every Portland loss this season.
>
> They don't have to lose that many. With the way the West is going, where
> they are at right now (slightly over 0.500) will get them in the lottery.

West has to play each other. The way the west is going is they are all
bunched in the loss column. Even at .500 they are 2 games back in the loss
column to Denver in 5th, 3 games back in that column to the 3rd and 4th best
record and tied with two teams behind them. Everyone down to the Clips in
13th right not are basically tied for the 6th-8th spots.



--
Laurel T
You can tell a gelding,
you can ask a mare,
but you must discuss it with a stallion.
-unknown horseman
 >> Stay informed about: Hoping for.... 

> Season Ticket Holder from 1986-1996. Now I won't even watch a game.
> I just read about the team on the internet.

So in truth you don't have enough information to form your own opinion. You
would rather bait flamers with your usenet trolling rig. You likely could
do better if you were more hands on. Doper.


> Go Mariners!
>

Go Mariners? God forbid they don't stay on top right? Or it's off to find
another local team that is doing good. Fair weather fans deserve their own
company. You ever do a lip lock on Phil Jackson? You guys have a lot in
common.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoping for.... 

"Mark Bruso" <markbruso_nospam RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote in message news:<1YjHb.475816$Dw6.1394940@attbi_s02>...

> OK, tell me if there is anything wrong with this..
>
> 1) Hoping for every Portland loss this season.

Don't need to hope for it, because they're doing pretty fine at that
all on their own, at least on the road. :)

> 2) Hoping for every Memphis loss this season, just don't fall into the
> bottom 3.

Doesn't matter what Memphis does. Are you just wishing bad vibes on
Bonzi? Don't waste the effort. With his track record, it's just a
matter of time before he self-destructs all on his own, just wait a
little while, 'til the honeymoon fades. Kinda reminds me of Isaiah
Rider that way, except Bonzi's not quite as bad as JR was. But he's
like him in the sense that he's too old to behave the way he does, and
to say the things that he says, so I don't expect alot of improvement
from him.

> 3) Let Rasheed walk, $17M off the books.

If necessary. Try to trade him first. I don't understand all the
Rasheed fans in this NG. The guy's a cancer and not a proven winner
in any sense of the word.

> 4) When will Shawn Kemp's Millions be off the books?
> 5) Have 2 top 1/3 draft picks this summer!
> 6) Sign Zach to a 3-4 year fair, but not maxed out contract. These max out
> contracts for the max number of years end up biting teams in the ass down
> the road.

Who knows? That well may be Nash and Patterson's master plan: use the
draft more to rebuild. Portland really hasn't done that since the 80s
when, IIRC, Drexler, Kersey, Porter, and Cliff Robinson were all
aquired via the draft. Maybe some other key players too.

> Go Mariners!

Nah. The PDX sports fan way is to *hate* everything Seattle. Broke
my heart when the Seawimps pulled it out yesterday on the road in SF.
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"Zeb Quinn" <nastygram DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2fb0d153.0312281115.2e5ed07b@posting.google.com...

> > 2) Hoping for every Memphis loss this season, just don't fall into the
> > bottom 3.
>
> Doesn't matter what Memphis does.

Unless Memphis is in the top 3 Portland gets their first round pick.


--
Laurel T
"I told him, 'Coach, there's an ocean out there.
Let me go swimming,"' Bonzi Wells
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"Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<vusef3t56ka5fd.TakeThisOut@corp.supernews.com>...
> "PDX Blazers" <pdx_blazers.TakeThisOut@sacbeemail.com> wrote in message
> news:a5b8ff4f.0312271644.12e6031c@posting.google.com...
> >
> > They don't have to lose that many. With the way the West is going, where
> > they are at right now (slightly over 0.500) will get them in the lottery.
>
> West has to play each other. The way the west is going is they are all
> bunched in the loss column. Even at .500 they are 2 games back in the loss
> column to Denver in 5th, 3 games back in that column to the 3rd and 4th best
> record and tied with two teams behind them. Everyone down to the Clips in
> 13th right not are basically tied for the 6th-8th spots.

Quite true, but several of those teams have played more conference games so
far than Portland has, and all of them have more of their road games out of
the way. In fact, Portland has played the fewest road games of any team in
the NBA so far, with 2/3 of their games being at home.
 >> Stay informed about: Hoping for.... 

"PDX Blazers" <pdx_blazers DeleteThis @sacbeemail.com> wrote in message
news:a5b8ff4f.0312281534.fa18c8b@posting.google.com...
> "Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<vusef3t56ka5fd DeleteThis @corp.supernews.com>...
> > "PDX Blazers" <pdx_blazers DeleteThis @sacbeemail.com> wrote in message
> > news:a5b8ff4f.0312271644.12e6031c@posting.google.com...
> > >
> > > They don't have to lose that many. With the way the West is going,
where
> > > they are at right now (slightly over 0.500) will get them in the
lottery.
> >
> > West has to play each other. The way the west is going is they are all
> > bunched in the loss column. Even at .500 they are 2 games back in the
loss
> > column to Denver in 5th, 3 games back in that column to the 3rd and 4th
best
> > record and tied with two teams behind them. Everyone down to the Clips
in
> > 13th right not are basically tied for the 6th-8th spots.
>
> Quite true, but several of those teams have played more conference games
so
> far than Portland has, and all of them have more of their road games out
of
> the way. In fact, Portland has played the fewest road games of any team in
> the NBA so far, with 2/3 of their games being at home.

Although this is their first trip east too, all of those road losses were
against the west teams. So they have 15 road games against the east,
Compared to, say, Utah who have played 9 road games against the eastern
conference.

And in my blond head the strength of schedule does nit matter as much as how
well they are playing. =)


--
Laurel T
"In my prime I could have handled
Michael Jordan. Of course,
he would be only 12 years old."
Jerry Sloan
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"Mark Bruso" <markbruso_nospam.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:hwkHb.476074$Dw6.1396855@attbi_s02...
> I was looking for intelligent and mature discussion of my ideas. Not
> vulgarity.

Maybe if you had some reasonable ideas; you wouldn't get flamed.


> > > 1) Hoping for every Portland loss this season.
> > > 2) Hoping for every Memphis loss this season, just don't fall into
the
> > > bottom 3.
> > > 3) Let Rasheed walk, $17M off the books.
>
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"Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vuur746d1anfe0@corp.supernews.com...

>
> And in my blond head the strength of schedule does nit matter as much as
how
> well they are playing. =)
>

As in when they play down to the competition anyone can beat them...sigh.


--
Laurel T
"A tough day at the office is even tougher
when your OFFICE contains spectator seating."
- Nik Posa
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"toad" <papatoad.TakeThisOut@mrstoad.com> wrote in message
news:%27Ib.11048$f3.3538@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
>
> "Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:vv1tvrlqv46qbd@corp.supernews.com...
> > the
> > > > > bottom 3.
> > > >
> > > > Know how the lottery works?
> > > >
> > > > > 3) Let Rasheed walk, $17M off the books.
> > > >
> > > > Give him an extension. If you watched the games you would see what
> guys
> > > like
> > > > KG do to Zach...
> > >
> > >
> > > why does it seem you don't like Zach?
> >
> > I love Zach's game. Do not get me wrong because I think he needs a
couple
> of
> > years to be the all around player and fill his potential as a super
star.
> >
> > He's averaging a double double. I've
> > > never known a player to do so well and not be liked. Zach is young,
and
> > has
> > > some tooling to do and I don't know any young players who could stop
> > > Garnett.... you're talking about a league MVP. Wallace is experience
> and
> > > obviously has better tools to guard Garnett, but that don't make Zach
a
> > > shitty player, a lousy defender, or a problem with our team.
> >
> > Right now he is pretty one dimentional, something you can not say about
> most
> > of those super stars.
>
> if he scores and rebounds, doesn't have make him 2 dimensional? =) lol.
> yea, I know he needs to improve defensively. That's one of the reasons Mo
> didn't play him at crunchtime last year.

And see the floor better and get the ball to the open shooters, and cut down
on turn overs. And quit trying to be a PG, and a few other adjustments.

The best thing about him is he is very consistant on an inconsistant team.

>
> > He's
> > > flourishing and really coming into his own. He has a ways to go, but
it
> > > took Mailman, Kobe, McGrady, even Garnett many years until they
> flourished
> > > themselves.
> > >
> > > Seems to me you expect an MVP caliber performance from Zach at both
ends
> > of
> > > the court night in and night out and that seems to be pretty lofty.
> Zach
> > > has been far more consistent offensively than Rasheed has this year
and
> > > that's saying a lot for a 3rd year pro, so try cutting him some slack.
> >
> > I only expect improvement and have the patience to give him years to get
> > there. he is extremely coachable and often discuses his own faults and
the
> > need to improve. I am not sure why you are tossing superstar status on
him
> > right now.
>
> because he is a superstar. His stats compare to some of the best in the
> NBA.

Great stats on a bad team does not mean much. They need to translate into
wins.


>Because I expected stardom from the time I saw him play as a freshman
> at MSU. Because I yelled and screamed to get him in the lineup before he
> becomes another Jermaine casualty. Because I think he can go down as
> successful as Barkley. Because he went from averaging 8 ppg and 5 boards
> last year to 23 ppg and 11 boards this year. Because he will probably
land
> on the all-star team. Because he may get the most improved player award.
> Because he is the future. Because he's doing more for our team
offensively
> than anyone. Because Zach is the man. Because he's only going to get
> better. Because he is a star and he's shining bright.
>

Got tissue?


--
Laurel T
"He's instant offense... on
both ends of the floor, I might add."
Barkley on Cuttino Mobley
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"Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<vuubi2t0v5dd4d.TakeThisOut@corp.supernews.com>...

> > Doesn't matter what Memphis does.
>
> Unless Memphis is in the top 3 Portland gets their first round pick.

Not freaking likely, whether we hope one way or the other.
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"Zeb Quinn" <nastygram RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2fb0d153.0312292254.22fb751e@posting.google.com...
> "Terraholm" <terraholm_SpamGoAway RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<vuubi2t0v5dd4d RemoveThis @corp.supernews.com>...
>
> > > Doesn't matter what Memphis does.
> >
> > Unless Memphis is in the top 3 Portland gets their first round pick.
>
> Not freaking likely, whether we hope one way or the other.

In the top 3 'lottery picks'.... they keep their pick this season. It is
quite likely Portland gets their pick.
If not this year they get their pick the next year only protected for #1.


--
Laurel T
The league has informed the Blazers
that Wallace and the team will be fined the next
time Wallace ignores his responsibilities
to speak to members of the media.
Wallace was unavailable to comment.
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