Steve Patterson and Texas... theater worth watching again

[J.B. TexasEx]

I honestly don't remember if this article dated 12/19/2013 by The Oregonian's John Canzano was ever posted to HS. If so, I never read it. However, it doesn't paint a very pretty picture of Patterson's performance while President of the Trailblazers.

The beauty of this Patterson-to-Texas thing isn't that we know for certain that UT won't fully realize its potential under his leadership. He's older, and presumably wiser. It might very well prove that he's learned something between his stint working for Paul Allen and the spot he finds himself in now. Arizona State went OK for him, I guess. It might also prove that Texas' athletic department -- with all those boosters and all that tradition -- is such a big machine that an owl sitting on a fence post could run it.

If these stories are true...wow. Or maybe Canzano just had an axe to grind? You be the judge.

Full story here

 

[Juan]

Parts of that are obviously false

The team roster was full of overpaid troublemakers who was constantly found on the wrong side of the law. Even teammates were causing grievous bodily injury upon other teammates.  The oversized payroll caused Portland to pay the luxury tax.  That entire roster was put together before Patterson arrived.  Patterson was hired to get them out from under the bad contracts, which was most of the team.

In addition, the entire organization was bloated, full of redundant employees who were more or less stealing Allen's money.  Yes, Patterson whacked jobs which caused some bitterness.  Go figure.  But, again, this is one of his primary reasons he was hired, and why an outsider (someone with no Vulcan ties) was brought in. (as a sidenote, I had hoped he would be trimming the fat at Belmont in the same manner but have been disappointed to date on this front).

Lastly, the Rose Garden was hemorrhaging cash before he arrived (bad lease, declining revenues due to a team full of outlaws).  Again, this was another issue he was hired to resolve.  This writer's claim that he took it into bankruptcy, without any context, is misleading.  Probably intentionally.  Alot of people up there were "morally outraged" someone with Allen's money filing for bankruptcy protection, but it was probably the most sound business strategy available.

 

[joeywa]

Having lived here throughout the Patterson era, I can tell you that Canzano has/had a personal axe to grind with Patterson.  First off, when Patterson was directed to clean house here by Paul Allen, some of Canzano's "insiders" and "contacts" were let go.  Secondly, Canzano and Patterson didn't start off well when Canzano ran with a story that was not 100% accurate and cast Patterson in a bad light.  There is a LONG history here with these guys, and IMO, Canzano is a local hack.......AND I am certainly no Patterson fan-boy, especially after the most recent UT Season Ticket changes. 

Patterson did do a job, which was get rid of the "Jail-Blazers" image, reduce overhead and clean house.  People don't like that, but it is the truth.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/2007/03/two_sides_to_every_patterson.html

http://archive.apsportseditors.org/news/2005/022205oregonian.html

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/3066/a-good-day-for-john-canzano

 

[J.B. TexasEx]

Canzano wrote yet another not so flattering piece on Patterson today questioning Smart's decision to accept the UT job.

— Twitter API (@twitterapi) November 7, 2011

 

[joeywa]

Yeah, no news here.  The guy needs to let it go.  He's in Portland.  Patterson is in Austin.  All he's doing is trying to get some more attention. 

 

[Juan]

One more thing about Patterson as the GM in Portland -- 

The writer gives him zero credit for the 2006 NBA draft.

That year, he turned the #4 overall pick (Tyus Thomas - the NBA-flop who kicked Texas' ass in the 2006 NCAA (we were a #2 seed - I bet Chris Mihm still has nightmares about being abused by Thomas in that game)) + some long-forgotten Ukrainian into the #2 overall pick -- LaMarcus Aldridge.

But wait, that's not all -- Patterson also turned Randy Foye into the #6 overall pick -- Brandon Roy.  Roy was a beast just like Aldridge.  He was one of the top 3 SGs in the NBA for about 3 years until stopped suddenly by a weird and unlikely physical defect.  This single draft set the foundation for a playoff team going forward.  

And IF they had added Kevin Durant the next draft, then we were looking at a legit title contender for years to come.  The GM for the 2007 draft was Kevin Pritchard.  I thought Patterson remained through that draft as team president, but I looked it up and he had actually resigned in March 2007 (the draft was in June 2007).  Would he have let them pass on another UT player?  He said when asked that he would not have, but I think that's what any of us would say.

In short, the 2006 draft was one of the top 3 in TrailBlazer history.  This writer's omission of it is telling.

 

[echeese]

Portland's version of Kirk Bohls?    

It's funny, people demand change then when they get it, they are not happy.

 

[duqu]

One more thing about Patterson as the GM in Portland --

The writer gives him zero credit for the 2006 NBA draft.

That year, he turned the #4 overall pick (Tyus Thomas - the NBA-flop who kicked Texas' ass in the 2006 NCAA (we were a #2 seed - I bet Chris Mihm still has nightmares about being abused by Thomas in that game)) + some long-forgotten Ukrainian into the #2 overall pick -- LaMarcus Aldridge.

But wait, that's not all -- Patterson also turned Randy Foye into the #6 overall pick -- Brandon Roy. Roy was a beast just like Aldridge. He was one of the top 3 SGs in the NBA for about 3 years until stopped suddenly by a weird and unlikely physical defect. This single draft set the foundation for a playoff team going forward.

And IF they had added Kevin Durant the next draft, then we were looking at a legit title contender for years to come. The GM for the 2007 draft was Kevin Pritchard. I thought Patterson remained through that draft as team president, but I looked it up and he had actually resigned in March 2007 (the draft was in June 2007). Would he have let them pass on another UT player? He said when asked that he would not have, but I think that's what any of us would say.

In short, the 2006 draft was one of the top 3 in TrailBlazer history. This writer's omission of it is telling.

That's because the 2006 draft is considered John Nash's choices. Patterson took over as GM about a month before the draft, the choices had already been made and signed off by Paul Allen.

 

[Juan]

Not sure if I fully buy that story^

Patterson was Team President from June 2003

 

[duqu]

He was president, John Nash was GM until May of '06. Patterson was hired to cut a lot of waste, to be the hatchet man. Nash's contract was never going to be renewed and Patterson assumed the GM job when the contract ran out. Nash never talked draft picks with Patterson, he talked about them with Allen. Allen was under the impression Patterson would hire a different GM then he sold himself to Allen and he accepted it.

This is "level 1" info. I am very plugged in at Vulcan.

 

[Juan]

I am not sure I would believe or trust Vulcan types
 
Put yourself in any new GM's shoes, would you take the job if you were told (and contractual bound) to make the same exact draft picks of the GM who was fired like that?  Would you let the fired guy direct and control you?  I wouldn't.  It doesn't even make sense.  Sorry, but I am calling a high BS factor on this.
 
Furthermore, assuming what you say the Vulcans said is true, then Nash wanted to draft --
1.4 Tyrus Thomas (a huge bust)
1.31 Joel Freeland (bench guy out of the league in 4 years)

Nothing to be bragging about.
 
Both of these trades were made the day-of-the-draft (June 28, 2006) --
(1) The #4 pick (Thomas) + Viktor Khryapa to the Bulls for LaMarcus Aldridge and a 2007 2nd round pick.
(2) Randy Foye to Minn for the #6 pick (Brandon Roy)

That's some good trading there.  It strains credulity to suggest Nash was still orchestrating these moves nearly 2 months after he was let go.

 

[streettopeschel]

whatever he did or didn't do in player personnel is irrelevant to me. RC Buford has been masterful with the Spurs in this regard. Does it mean he could run an athletic dept?
 

never heard of this Oregonian writer, but it feels axe-grindish to me.

 

[duqu]

and that's why we love the Internets. there are a wide range of opinions on many subjects and we can decide to buy into it or not.

 

[JimR]

I am no fan of Patterson, but that writer is on a crusade. I have seen 2-3 versions of the same article.

 

[Juan]

and that's why we love the Internets. there are a wide range of opinions on many subjects and we can decide to buy into it or not.

There is also a difference between fact and opinion

 

[streettopeschel]

and that's why we love the Internets. there are a wide range of opinions on many subjects and we can decide to buy into it or not.

for me, it's more about easy access to porn.

 

[duqu]

for me, it's more about easy access to porn.

previous to people trying to 1-up each other with their opinions this was the Internet's only purpose....

 

[Juan]

 

[Godz40acres]

I thought we said Dubai to Mack and Sally. Silly me.