Daily Babble: The Latest Sign That Portland Got More Than Enough for Zach Randolph

Oh man, Canzano just can’t stop hunting for and embarrassing Zach Randolph. You’d think he’d let it go after he left town, but not Canzano. That lad knows how to hold a grudge.

Well I disagree with the conclusion. I agree with all the points about his strengths and weaknesses of his game but not with the conclusion. Zach is not an addition by subtraction player, he’s merely been in bad situations where it’s developed into that. He wasn’t the cause of it.

Is he a top player? Absolutely not, not until he starts correcting those weaknesses in his game – his petulance with referees, his defense, too many bad shots.

This is a guy who averaged 20-10 when playing next to Sheed, Reef, Ratliff and Dale Davis. He had no problem playing next to any of these guys. He worked well with them all, he and Sheed were the only two guys that work well with all combinations out there. He’s also the guy that became their 6th man when they still had Sabonis in town. He’s played well with good players. This is a guy that can play with good players. It’s not his fault NY have the most unbalanced team in the league or that Portland wasn’t ready last year.

This isn’t a guy that lacks effort either, he lacks focus. His effort on the glass is tremendous on either side of the court. His effort coming back from a grueling rehabilitation was superb. His effort in constantly adding to his offensive arsenal throughout his career has been excellent. Notice that none of these things are defense or team based … that’s focus not effort. The man will put in the work he just needs some more guidance.

You can have all the leadership in the world on the bench[/u] (read Nate McMillan)[u] but it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t have leaders on the court. Zach hasn’t had any in awhile now and he certainly isn’t one himself. He needs a team that isn’t full of knuckle-heads just as much as every other player in the league does, actually he needs it more so than most.

This is a guy who’s reputation since the minute he entered the league was as a follower. A guy who’ll make bad decisions when around bad people, but also a guy who’ll make good decisions when around good people. It’s been a constant throughout his life and career.

Whatever team that can put him in a good situation is going to get a steal.

If his new team can’t put him a good situation, it will just be history repeating itself all over again for Zach.

i agree with you steve as you may remember from other posts. i agree with most of what the astute who blogs about the c’s, but i see zach killing the knicks. while with comparable stats to kg, he is actually the anti-kg, little intensity and leadership. i don’t think he makes anyone else better. i shudder at what zeke has done in ny- he is the anti-danny. zeke and dolan running an organization is a suicide watch. the fans need to boycott the games to stop them from making money and either wake up stern or somebody to get something functional done.

The critical moment for the Knicks future will occur quietly, when the owner decides whether to can Zeke and let someone new trade that big slacker. That’s a big contract, and it will shake somebody’s franchise to the core for half a decade.

Randolph is an overpaid black hole who doesn’t defend, doesn’t run the floor and has a rap sheet. Why would Milwaukee want a player like that? What would be Yi’s role if the Bucks acquired Randolph? Sure, the Bucks would love to dump the overpaid Bobby Simmons and Dan Gadzuric, but Randolph is even more overpaid.

I have no doubt that Randolph is being desperately shopped around the league, but I can’t imagine that there would be any takers.

Steve, I don’t believe any team has a trade exception large enough to acquire him for nothing, and no team with cap space will waste it on him. Therefore, the team acquring Randolph will have to relinquish between 11-15 million in salary. Given that fact, I don’t see any plausible deals out there.

For starters, Randolph would have to go to a team with a veteran HOF-caliber coach who would have no qualms about benching him or even sending him home when he went into his selfish act, as the Bulls did with Tim Thomas. But no coach like that would want him.

The dearly departed duo of John Nash and Steve Patterson were the only ones stupid enough to give him that ridiculous contract, and the soon-to-be-departed Isiah Thomas is the only one stupid enough to trade for him. That ought to tell you something right there.

Steve,

Canzano hates Zach Randolph. He doesn’t just go after his playing or his leadership but he makes comments on his personal life and the types of people he hangs out with it. I can’t remember the nickname for Zach’s group of friends or if Canzano created it, but he surely repeated it at every possible moment. Canzano hated a bunch of people in Portland, a lot of it has to do with how he was treated by the organization. Similar to some of the media in NYC right now (can’t think of his name, daily news writer, ah Frank Isola). The guy holds a grudge and never lets go. You’d think he’d let it go after Portland traded Zach but obviously not.

It’s been interesting too because he seems to be giving Darius Miles a clean slate to work from. He’s written several very positive articles on Darius and his recovery from surgery over the past few months. And he’s has clearly given Pritchard and the rest of the new management the welcome treatment. But Zach ….

It’s been a long standing issue from Canzano. I like his work a lot but he holds grudges and he takes them out on his column. He makes a lot of negative comments which have nothing to do with basketball like the one about Zach and his friends in Milwaukee.

It’s amazing too because the rumour is so evidently false. It’s clear he just wanted to take a shot at Zach Randolph and embarrass him. There’s no way Milwaukee can take Zach with Yi and Bogut being considered their future core and with Charlie V already backing them up. Especially with Larry Harris, who likes the young and athletic type of player. Harris simply won’t be a fan of Zach Randolph, look at all the guys he’s signed so far. And then for a third strike they simply don’t have anything NY want because Redd is certainly not on the table ….. and that’s making the jump to where Zeke is shopping him which I’d bet against, at least not at this point. Zeke has too much pride for that.

Steve,

To answer the second part of your question.

This is very simple. It’s not always about which player has the most talent or ability. It’s about whether or not they complement what’s already there. That’s what sets top teams apart, they have players with roles and complementary skill-sets.

So the question is does Zach have a skill set for the C’s? The answer to that depends on his role. As a starting centre? No. As our primary backup big off the bench, where he’d take say 24-28mpg? Absolutely. I think he’d be a great fit.

KG needs a a big burly centre next to him. Someone who eats space. Someone who blocks shots. Someone who plays great defense and someone who can play man-to-man defense against the bigger bodies in the league. KG needs that. So the C’s need that. Zach doesn’t bring that to the table.

Perk is clearly worse but what he brings to the table is more valuable than what Zach does. Thus, he makes the team better than Zach would.

I think there are plenty of teams where Zach can help them out. He just needs to be in a place where is skill set complements his teammates, and has teammates who are ready and able to play. Preferably with some veterans who can keep the guy on track.

Everyone that has ever known Zach and made a comment about him have said he’s a good guy and he’s obviously a workhorse off the court and at some parts of his game on the court. Guys like that just need guidance.

Word is that he is a very good columnist over at The Oregonian, but I guess this is part of his rep.

Oh, Canzano’s very good. The Oregonian on a whole have great Blazer coverage. Joe Freeman and Jason Quick are their other main guys. They led the charge against the organization over how it was run, how they treated the media and the types of players they were signing. Some of it was messy, dirty and very embarrassing to the Blazers head office. Lots of fans grew tired of it, probably why Canzano’s piece on Zach got such a mixed reaction. The club has moved on and so too seemed the media. Felt out of place for Canzano to bring it back, he carried the most venom at the time, he should leave it alone. Canzano’s coverage since the draft has been very positive every time I’ve read it. Out of place.

We’re likely going to see the same thing happen in NY. The columnists tone is already heading that direction. The snide remarks are starting but not with regularity yet (some of it is still fun-natured and not so much with the vindictiveness). How the Knicks are treating the media is going to make it personal and soon enough it will deteriorate pretty badly.

You’ve probably seen this before, but if you haven’t this is the detailing of a Blazer pracitce – the one before they began their win streak:
http://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1198986908219800.xml&coll=7

That’s quality reporting. Don’t find that in many places.

Who, I respectfully disagree. Randolp wouldn’t be a good fit in Bostn or anywhere else, no matter what role he was given.

The offense dies as soon as he touches the ball. His presence would also be the end of ubuntu. Zach is all about Zach. He couldn’t give two figs about the other players on the floor. In fairness to Zach, off the court he’s a great teammate, always willing to take his buddies down to the local strip club.