SB Nation Blog: RipCity

What if Kobe Bryant is a Blazer?

RipCity — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:57:18 -0000

Ok before you destroy my post for saying that I want to give a few arguments that it is possible. When its all said and done the team is about wining championships. I dont really hate Kobe because I know someone that has exact character as Bryant, so I can understand him. I just hate him because he plays for the L*kers. I hate that team, so if something is in that team I hate it too, but not on the personal level. I can see Kobe opting out of his contract in summer 2009 to get his last big contract. Plus if he opts out in 2010 he will be older and there is competion with LeBron, Wade, Bosh for good contracts. In 2009 he will easy be the biggest unristricted free agent, so that works better for him to opt out then, than a year later. Plus Bynums agent is theatening to leave if his client wont get a max contract(80 million over 5 years). But that said, it wont happen if the L*kers win the champion next year. I remember Kobe was allways complementive of the Blazers last season. He said that out team has a bright future. I think that Kobe is smart and he can see that if L*akers cant win the ring then there is nothing left to do on their roster for a vet like him. Basketball is his job, so he knows who has the most cap space at what time, and where is the best chance to rub it in Shaqs face, and win a ring. I can see the Blazers as the best chance to win a ring, and Kobe likes to play with young guys because they listen( unlike older players that alredy have an agenda), so it is easy for him to be him self. I dont think that if Kobe would opt out KP would not go after him. On what player can KP spend the money we will have in 2009, there wont be no Chris Paul, and probably no Deron williams? I know that Blazers can make a sign and trade with some team, but its as possible that Blazers can sign Bryant. i dont think that he is going to be a problem in the locker room, because our guys will respect him, because they are good guys, and he is a MVP, that won 3 rings. There is no quetion about it that he will be respected on our team(I dont know about our fans, but as soon as we are the best team in the NBA, fans will start to like him, like he was loved in LA). Yeah the only negative is his past. But there is nothing like beating his wife or getting caught with drugs(drugs? everybody wish that drugs got leagal). I heard some one on the radio say that KP has something really big up his sleeve, and that it will really hurt our rivals. So I dont exculed the possibility that Kobe can play on our team. More over I would be happy to get him here, I think that he is good guy that got a little spoiled. I dont really care what fans of other teams will call us if he would be a Blazer. Im sorry if I wrote the article in a way hard to read, but Im not sorry for saying that I think that he would be good for the Blazers, because Im hungry for championships, and I think that alot people are hypocrits because he plays for the L*akers and not their team.

"Anatomy of Pritchslap" got a response from Charlotte.

RipCity — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:16:26 -0000

The article "Anatomy of Pritchslap", that was writen by Ben, got a response from Charlotte fans. They basicly belive that Larry brown wanted DJ, but Jordan wanted Westbrook. There was a deal that would sent Westbrook to Charlotte, but they had to give up alot for him, so it didnt go thru. Here are some of the responses from Bobcats fans that read the "Anatomy of Pritchslap". Here we go.

    "my god what a piece of garbage. i am really starting to dislike 99% of blazer fans.
maybe, just maybe, charlotte wanted augustine over bayless and could give two **** about what the pacers, nets kings and blazers did in the next 4 picks. maybe just maybe, KP, being the smart gm that he is knew that after the bucks took alexander at 8, augustine, bayless and lopez were still left on the board. he wanted a pg and would gladly take either bayless or augustine. knowing the nets would not take a pg since they just traded for devin harris and needed a center, KP did some 1st grade math and figured out that if he could get to 11 he would most likely get either augustine or bayless. so he calls LB...larry bird (not larry brown) and makes a deal. there was no need for him to panic and make a deal with the bobcats, especially, knowing larry brown and his preference for pass first pgs. of course he also could have read anyone of a dozen papers last week and known that LB was very high on augustine as well. come on people. sometimes the most logical explanation is the right one."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Wow....exhibbit 1a for the case that blogs are journalistically irresponsible......

Seems a bit irresponsible to me to accuse Kevin Pritchard of what amounts to fraud, (making a legally binding verbal contract intending all the while to back out) with 0 evidence.

This is the kind of thing that would cost draft picks if it came out.......I could see the NBA giving Portland the Joe Smith/Minnesota Treatment AND forcing the trade through.

Also...I'm not sure if this kind of thing is even possible....We'd have to ask someone more in the know, but I imagine that in the cases where Team A picks a player for Team B, both parties call the league to confirm the deal first."                                                                                                                                 "There was no way Charlotte was going to select Bayless or Lopez. Okafor is a center. He sucks at Power Forward. Lopez can't play PF. So why take Lopez to be the third center behind Nazr?

Bayless is not a PG, hes a combo guard who can handle the ball. Charlotte doesn't need one of those, they have one (Felton). Charlotte has been searching everyhwere for a true, pass-first PG since Knight left, and they went out and got one.

There is a lot of bias against MJ because of the decisions he has made in Washington. The only bad decision he has made in Charlotte was hiring Sam Vincent, but I believe he wanted LB last year but LB said no. Now he has a great coach. The J-Rich trade was brilliant.

Blazer fans think they could have had a deal with Charlotte because they think they wanted Jarrett Jack. That is not the case. Jack paired with Felton is not a good PG combo at all. Both had limited court vision, take too many shots, and can't finish. Jack would quit the NBA if he had to play for LB.

Again I think a lot of this "What is Charlotte doing?" is accredited to the media and their total lack of a clue to what the Charlotte Bobcats are. They think Okafor can play PF, when thats like asking Ben Wallace in his prime to play PF. They think Felton is an up and coming PG, when in reality he has probably peaked and is an average PG at best in a PG's league. They have no clue who is Ajinca is or why LB would pick him. So if fans of other teams try to pass off blogs as smart information, you should probably stop following the media to get your Bobcats information."                                                                                                                                                      "Just out of curiosity, why would Jordan want Westbrook if we turned down Bayless becasue he's a "combo that can handle the ball"?

Who knows if this is true. I can see DJ preferring Portland due to there not being any competition for "future" (maybe that's why he looked so down on draft night). We might possibly have pulled Frye and Jack out of the deal as well as the 13th, which would have went a long way in helping out our 4/5 position. Add to that LB seeming to prefer vets (not saying he doesn't play rooks...agreed with Walt's post above) and it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Doesn't matter now anyway as I think DJ fills a need and will fit in fine with us. Yet to see what happens with Ajinca; hopefully he'll come in and be more ready than a lot think.

I asked this in the draft thread, but is MJ/LB that transparent leading up to the draft? Is this a good think if so? I thought MJ was a gambler...if this is how he gambles then I'm surprised he hasn't went thru all that NIKE money no matter how much it is."

Bayless videos

RipCity — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:31:47 -0000

If you want to see real games where Bayless plays, click the link below, and watch all the "Arizona Basketball 2007-08". There are different games where he plays. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGm9bCEK1I. Then here is some other videos of him on you tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LarsYfaee3k. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcqe9UXk ... re=related. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UrjjamB ... re=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YgfTf1BBX0. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGEaBHc2 ... re=related. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHYd40OF ... re=related.

Why did Bayless fall so far down?

RipCity — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 19:56:59 -0000

Im really happy that KP got us Bayless. KP told some of the blazers broadcasters that Indiana will take a point guard, even before the draft started. But Indiana already traded for T J Ford, so they didnt need a point guard. KP gave us a hint that he is going to trade with Indiana, but nobody got it as far as I know. But this is what I want to know did KP already know that Bayless will be at #11, or he was just proposing that there will be either one of the good point guards(Bayless, Westbrook, D J, Gordon) at that spot, and therefor made a deal before the draft with Indiana. If He knew what other GMs will pick, then KP works for CIA. KP said that the draft went exactly like he predicted up to pick 15. The other quetion I have is; why did Bayless droped so low in the draft? I heard some ideas that those 10 teams ahead of Indiana dont have a 2 guard like Brandon Roy(exclude Miami), and thats why they were looking more for a true point guard than a scoring guard. And one last thing after watching some youtube, I think that Westbrook will be better than Bayless, but Bayless is still young and can become better down the road. (Addition) I didnt see that this topic was allready discused before. So I found a link to an article, that says that KP is not done dealing. HoopsWorld Article

KP chats with Chad Ford today on ESPN

RipCity — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:19:20 -0000

Yeah KP chats with Chad Ford today on ESPN. Here is the link. http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/pod ... id=2669425. They talk about Greg Oden, Rudy Fernandez, draft, and alot more. I dont know what to writte more to make up 75 words needed for my diary to get posted. You will have to listen your self. The interview is about 25-30 mins long. Have fun. Post your comment here too, if you want.

What NBA teams(fans) want for #13

RipCity — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:44:22 -0000

I went to all NBA teams sites and some of them are interested in our #13 pick. I know that its no proof of what the GMs will do, but we can speculate. This is all we do is speculate and predict (unless KP comes here under the name of Mortimer) what will KP do to get us a PG, and some vet help. Here are all of the teams(fans) that are interested in our #13 pick; Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, LA Clippers, Memphis, Orlando. What can we package with our #13 pick to move up the draft? Or maybe some of these teams have a vet that we can steal, if they want to rebuid? I know that there are people that know more about other teams and what they would be willing to give up, so I would like to see a proposal. Im just too tiered looking thru all the other teams posts.

We can get Hinrich for #13 and Jack.

RipCity — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:35:46 -0000

Ok I know that this topic has been in here for a long time. The deal for Hinrich. If Chicago Bulls select Derick Rose, then we could trade for Hinrich. I know that annthefan dont want to give up Outlaw(#25). And Some people dont want to give up Marty either. I been on realGM Bulls site, and they know that we want to trade our pick, and are willing to give us Hinrich for our 13 pick and Jack. Thats strange that they would value him so low. Another proposal was to trade Ben Gordon to us for Our #13 pick. Also They would trade Hinrich and Nocioni for Blazers 13 pick and Lafrentze. I think that they are too over excited. I remember when we got the #1 pick last year we were happy to trade Z-Bo, what looked like for nothing at that time. But now we have Frye, Rudy, and JJ. I think that they want to unload contracts to run at Lebron James. It was funny reading their comments, some of them think that they wont get any better offer for Hinrich than our 13 pick and Jack. What do you guys think should we trade our 13 and Jack for Hinrich? I think we will have to add another player so the salaries would work. But I think its worth it. Lets do it now since they are high on their #1 pick.

Bulls Noah charged for marijuana

RipCity — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:34:02 -0000

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP)—Authorities in Gainesville have charged Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah with possession of marijuana and having an open container of alcohol.

Gainesville police spokesman Sgt. Rick Roberts says Noah was arrested around 1:50 a.m. Sunday after an officer spotted him on a sidewalk holding a plastic cup containing an amber drink, a violation of city law. During a search at the station, officers found marijuana in his pocket.

Noah was released after signing a notice to appear before a judge—standard procedure for such offenses. He could face up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine for the marijuana charge.

Noah led the Gators to consecutive national championships before being selected ninth overall in last June’s draft by the Bulls. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in 74 games as a rookie.

Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam said general manager John Paxson “did express to Joakim his disappointment in his actions this weekend” and added: “Until we gather further information on this situation, we won’t be making any further comment.”

Blazers games in theater in 3D

RipCity — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:48:13 -0000

Hey I was thinking about this idea that I heard on the radio. I know that the Rose Garden will be packed next year, especialy on the opening night. Every body will want to see Greg Oden. I know that there probably will be more than 20,000 people that would want to be there, but will sit home to watch on tv, because of different reasons. Well I was thinking would't it be nice if Paul Allen would build, a big theater, so we could go watch Blazers on big sreen, and have it in 3D(you know those glasses u put on). I would like to have a theater where I could go watch Blazers in 3D.

Tim Duncan is getting old.

RipCity — Sun, 11 May 2008 05:43:10 -0000

Hey everyone. Im following the Spurs in the playoffs, since they are the champs, and im corious what is their succes. In the Suns series Tim Duncan was unstoppable. Shaq could not stop him, and I never saw anybody stop him. Now in New Orleans series I saw something that I never saw before; that Duncan is having problems against T. Chandler. It looks like he has trouble getting his hook shot off against Chandle's length. Chris Paul just runs allover the floor, and nobody can stop him. But im really impressed with Chandler's deffense. I never saw anybody slow down Tim this much. I dont watch alot of NBA, but when I saw Duncan play he was unstoppable. This is the first time I saw him having problems. Im wondering if we have anybody that can be that effective in stopping big men of opposing teams. What your observation on Tim having problems against the Hornets? I wish Blazers would be in the playoffs, then I would be talking about them. Now the Hornets are the most fun team to watch in the playoffs.