Comments on: Diamond in the rough finally begins to glisten http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/11/diamond-in-the-rough-finally-begins-to-glisten/ Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:43:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: khandor http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/11/diamond-in-the-rough-finally-begins-to-glisten/#comment-6691 khandor Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:06:20 +0000 http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/?p=1209#comment-6691 Scott G., All too frequently, pro sports teams destroy their own chances to make significant progress towards winning a league championship by, either: A. trading, or B. trading for, the wrong players. That's exactly what Portland would have done this past summer if they acquired Mr. Turkoglu. By holding tight with their core group of players ... they are still on course to eventually ascend to the top of the WC standings, once Kobe's influence finally begins to wane. As far as I know, no one else anywhere on-line has dared to say it yet, but ... I will go ahead and do so right now ... If Greg Oden and Co. stick to the plan, there is now a pretty fair chance that a supreme 'talent' like Lebron James could go his entire career without EVER winning even 1 NBA championship, considering that other Top Cats like: Dwyane Wade Carmelo Anthony Dwight Howard Deron Williams Chris Paul Joe Johnson Kevin Durant Derrick Rose etc. are also just coming into their athletic primes. Scott G.,

All too frequently, pro sports teams destroy their own chances to make significant progress towards winning a league championship by, either:

A. trading, or
B. trading for,

the wrong players.

That’s exactly what Portland would have done this past summer if they acquired Mr. Turkoglu.

By holding tight with their core group of players … they are still on course to eventually ascend to the top of the WC standings, once Kobe’s influence finally begins to wane.

As far as I know, no one else anywhere on-line has dared to say it yet, but … I will go ahead and do so right now …

If Greg Oden and Co. stick to the plan, there is now a pretty fair chance that a supreme ‘talent’ like Lebron James could go his entire career without EVER winning even 1 NBA championship, considering that other Top Cats like:

Dwyane Wade
Carmelo Anthony
Dwight Howard
Deron Williams
Chris Paul
Joe Johnson
Kevin Durant
Derrick Rose
etc.

are also just coming into their athletic primes.

]]> By: Scott G http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/11/diamond-in-the-rough-finally-begins-to-glisten/#comment-6687 Scott G Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:14:06 +0000 http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/?p=1209#comment-6687 Eh... fair enough. Maybe this gem has a lot of potential left, but I'm not sure it was ever that rough. This team's been pretty good ever since they traded for B-Roy. Regardless, my word-parsing aside, the Blazers are no doubt one of the teams to watch over the next 3-5 years. Imagine they had dented all that by signing Hedo... Who would have ever thought that the one time Toronto wins itself a FA by virtue of being a desireable city would actually benefit another team more than the Raps. Although, FWIW, I agree with you that the reluctance to come to TO is more closely related to the quality of the franchise than of the city. How about the win last night? I know it was the second leg of a back to back for the Bulls, but holding them to around 30pts in a half was nonetheless encouraging. Eh… fair enough. Maybe this gem has a lot of potential left, but I’m not sure it was ever that rough. This team’s been pretty good ever since they traded for B-Roy. Regardless, my word-parsing aside, the Blazers are no doubt one of the teams to watch over the next 3-5 years.

Imagine they had dented all that by signing Hedo… Who would have ever thought that the one time Toronto wins itself a FA by virtue of being a desireable city would actually benefit another team more than the Raps. Although, FWIW, I agree with you that the reluctance to come to TO is more closely related to the quality of the franchise than of the city.

How about the win last night? I know it was the second leg of a back to back for the Bulls, but holding them to around 30pts in a half was nonetheless encouraging.

]]> By: khandor http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/11/diamond-in-the-rough-finally-begins-to-glisten/#comment-6670 khandor Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:32:39 +0000 http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/?p=1209#comment-6670 Scott G., re: the diamond From the article linked to in the entry: <i>"The emergence of Oden is getting the Blazers close to completing the diamond that coach Nate McMillan likes to make with his hands when talking about this team. McMillan puts his forefingers and thumbs together to symbolize the connection between Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Oden, and himself."</i> In this instance, it doesn't refer to a single person but, rather, a four-corned jem stone that is only beginning to get polished by Misters Roy, Aldridge, Oden and McMillan. :-) Really, really good things in this world take some time to reach a true state of excellence and value. Scott G.,

re: the diamond

From the article linked to in the entry:

“The emergence of Oden is getting the Blazers close to completing the diamond that coach Nate McMillan likes to make with his hands when talking about this team. McMillan puts his forefingers and thumbs together to symbolize the connection between Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Oden, and himself.”

In this instance, it doesn’t refer to a single person but, rather, a four-corned jem stone that is only beginning to get polished by Misters Roy, Aldridge, Oden and McMillan. :-)

Really, really good things in this world take some time to reach a true state of excellence and value.

]]> By: Scott G http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/11/diamond-in-the-rough-finally-begins-to-glisten/#comment-6663 Scott G Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:26:47 +0000 http://khandorssportsblog.com/wordpress/?p=1209#comment-6663 Not to nitpick, but who exactly is the "diamond in the rough" to whom the title refers? Seems to me that a former number one pick, chosen ahead of Durant, cannot be accurately described as such... ;) Not to nitpick, but who exactly is the “diamond in the rough” to whom the title refers? Seems to me that a former number one pick, chosen ahead of Durant, cannot be accurately described as such… ;)

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