I've actually liked Jerry West over the years. I've felt he was a little bit overhyped as a GM because he made the deal to get Kobe Bryant, but still ... he's made some great finds. He was paid <B>millions</B> of dollars to come to Memphis and be that talent evaluator. If this report is true -- to see Jerry West imply he only had 6 weeks to prepare and that it was his scouting department's fault for missing out on Amare Stoudemire.... well, that's just lame. West also stung by success of Stoudemire Friday, Jan. 24 It's not just the Knicks, Warriors and Clippers. The list of teams that have to live with missing out on Amare Stoudemire doesn't even end with Orlando, which actually had possession of the No. 9 pick that became true Amare but -- gulp -- traded it back to Phoenix months before the draft. Amid all that remorse, there's another team that can't stop the self-loathing. That would be Memphis, where the newest source of torture for the legendary Jerry West is the lost opportunity to give Pau Gasol a bruising (i.e., perfect) sidekick. Because West joined the Grizzlies just six weeks before draft, after two years away from full-time scouting, the game's most renowned talent evaluator had to rely on the eyes of others more than ever. According to league colleagues, West is incensed with his scouting department -- run at the time by Tony Barone, who has since moved onto Hubie Brown's bench -- that more data on Stoudemire wasn't catalogued. West needed more background because he didn't get the chance to work out Stoudemire before the draft first-hand. And private workouts, however mundane they seem, are actually regarded as clinchers for two of Stoudemire's famous predecessors. It was the one-on-one access back in 1995 that convinced Kevin McHale to draft Kevin Garnett … and also what had West working feverishly to move up in the 1996 draft minutes after getting his first up-close glimpse of Kobe Bryant. The problem: Stoudemire suffered a shoulder injury early in his workout tour and only wound up auditioning for Orlando, Houston and Phoenix. Going with what he had, then, West made a very un-West-like pick. Mr. Clutch, always a Mr. Bold as a GM, went safe and took Kansas' Drew Gooden at No. 4 overall. A month into the season, when Stoudemire was still coming off the Suns' bench, West proclaimed Gooden to be the clear-cut Rookie of the Year. It should come as little surprise that no one has said that lately, with Stoudemire and Yao Ming dueling and Denver's Nene Hilario developing nicely as well. Expect instead to hear the Grizzlies mentioned often in trade speculation as the Feb. 20 deadline approaches -- and beyond. To Stromile Swift, add Gordan Giricek and even Gooden to the list of availables now that Gasol, who plays the same position as Gooden, is blossoming anew. Memphis, remember, only gets to keep its top pick in the next draft if it wins the lottery. Anything lower than the No. 1 pick goes to Detroit. Expect West to do whatever he can to make sure he has a lottery pick in June, to do the draft his way -- all the way -- this time.
Jerry West's problem is that he has hardly been humbled like many guys in his shoes. IOW, he feels that his **** doesn't stink. Well guess what, Jerry? If you knew that every move you would make would win you a championship, then why in the hell does all the other teams "try" to win a championship since your team has it already sewn up? I didn't care for the Grizzle before reading this, and now I want to see them fail at all costs. Nothing would make me happier to see this pompous ******* get humbled by quitting before the Grizzle even have a winning season.
IMO Jerry West is highly overrated as a talent evaluator. He picked a few decent players and Kobe Bryant, but he's mostly been lucky. He had little to lose by trading Divac, yet everyone acts as if he was risking the franchise to get Kobe. In a few years, I think everyone will see that he's no different than all the other scouts in the league.
Well...they already have Pau Gasol. But they also got Drew Gooden. I think one reason they didn't notice him was because Amare got injured in one of his "shows". The Rockets saw him and they knew he was good, but afterwards, he had a shoulder injury and was unnoticed. Now everyone realized they made a mistake. Like...Paul Pierce!!!! Revenge... At first, everyone was saying Drew Gooden was playing wonderfully! Now Amare is in the spotlight.. Look at the Rockets...they picked Bostjan Nachbar!
Yeah...Jerry should be careful about just how angry he gets at his scouting departmeny. Drew Gooden is no slouch, and there is no reason that Jerry West should be "incensed" with his scouting department for doing the same thing that 7 other teams did(Not 8 because I would still take Yao over Amare).
TONY BARONE????? FORMER AGGIE COACH???? See. . . Tony is the problem!!! Rocket River Aggie during the dark Barone Basketball years!!1
So, West blew one. He also blew the Rice trade (tho ordered to by his owner). He gave up on Christie too soon. The logo also drafted Van Exel, Peeler, Fischer, Divac and others late but very successfully. Hey, does this mean even the best, The Logo, wins a few/loses a few? Does Rudy/CD pale in comparison? Just curious, is all...
The one and only. I can't believe the guy was head scout for the Memphis Grizzlies. Basketball at A&M = football at Baylor, it sucks.
Well I remember that Jerry West did say before the draft that Yao Ming is not a shot blocker! But then he might just be working a secret deal for Yao at the same time!
West didn't blow the pick. At least he didn't draft Dunleavy at #3. Gooden has also been better than Nene or Wilcox--and those teams could have had Amare too. If the draft was redone--Gooden would probably be gone by 4 or close to it (top 6 for sure). Missing out on the 1 guy to really positively surprise doesn't mean you blew the draft. When you guy doesn't come close to early expectations and many younger guys drafted after him look much better (e.g., Dunleavy)--that has the early smell of a blown draft. BTW West and Carrol I think leaguewide are known as among the best at what they do. I think the Phx guy does extremely well from their draft position too (e.g., Amare, Marion, Finley, Tskaliades, others).
Interesting question -- what if the Rox had picked at #5? Would they have grabbed Amare? Nene? Wilcox? Butler? Would Yao have slipped to them?
Uhh, he was risking the franchise to get Shaq. West has contacts, a great reputation and a solid drafting system. Calling him overrated is like claiming that Rudy has a working motion offense. This guy is still one of the top GMs, and while he has some character issues, he is working from the bottom after all those years building the Lakers. His real work has yet to come....
Not really. I don't think losing George Lynch or Anthony Peeler is exactly risking the franchise. They were a .500 caliber team before Shaq. And they prob would have been around .500 if they struck out with Shaq. It was somewhat of a risk, but not a huge one. At worst, they would have been stuck with lesser-caliber backups than guys like Lynch, Peeler, and the other backup players they renounced to clear cap room for Shaq.
The amusing thing about Jerry West blaming the Stoudemire snub on somebody else was that Jerry West also said that he thought that Yao Ming would never turn out to be a decent shot-blocker let alone a great shot-blocker. He pretty much took a dump on Ming's shot-blocker and thus his defense. And what is Ming doing? Going on a block fest, including blocking Shaq 4 times, and is changing other team's shots and single-handedly improving the Rockets defense. I wonder if Jerry is blaming that on his scouting department.
