Chad Ford - an Idiot?

[Sublime 2]

hxxp://www.blogmaverick.com/

Not sure what everyone here thinks of Chad Ford of ESPN, but I for one am in total agreement w/ Mark Cuban. To say Chad Ford is an NBA "Insider" is a complete joke. Now most of my hate for Ford comes from the fact that he seems to have a bias against my Celtics, but i digress. He seems to love playing make-believe w/ trades. What do you all think of Mr. Ford? I personally would much rather have David Aldridge.

[DaddyTorgo]

wait...there are still people who pay attention to the NBA??

[sovereignstar]

wait...there are still people who pay attention to the NBA??

I'm trying to figure out what's more useful. Your comment or a parody thread.

[DaddyTorgo]

true that.

and for the record: I've always thought Chad Ford was an idiot, and a joke of an "NBA insider." Then again, most of these "Insider" guys it seems don't know all that much.

[Joe]

he's more of an NBA insider than Steve Young and Michael Irvin are NFL experts.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I like Ford becaue he loves Joe Dumars and the Pistons. He also loves Darko. Yay Darko! Yay Chad!

[Samdari]

I read Ford all the time and have always thought he was the best NBA writer.

I'd take him over DA in a second.

[Ksyrup]

I don't follow the NBA, so I don't even know who Chad Ford is, but I have the same question for some guy named Jerry Crasnick for baseball - who is he and why would I pay for Insider to read what he has to say? Rob Neyer, I've heard of. But their only other baseball insider is some guy with no name recognition at all. Makes no sense to me.

[Swaggs]

For what it is worth, I subscribe to ESPN Insider and think it is worth it.

It comes with a year's subscription to ESPN the Magazine, which is not great, but is weekly and has some reasonably substantial (re: long) articles. For someone like me that no longer subscribes to SI or TSN, it is decent.

I like being able to read Neyer, the chat transcripts, Kiper's draft info, and Lemming's recruiting info. I guess it is kind of a good, centralized source of info for someone like me, who is into a lot of sports, but not fanatical about any one sport. I wouldn't subscribe to a Baseball Prospectus, Rivals, or any single-sport site, so this is kind of a good middle ground to me.

[Arles]

I'm don't have a big opinion on Ford either way, although he did seem to make some sense in his last comment (ie, Cuban saying Nash is too old for a long term deal then he signs Dampier to a similar deal with him being just one year younger than Nash). While I don't think Ford is as good as Aldridge, it seems Cuban has a big problem with any kind of criticism. Letting Nash go for Dampier was a mistake to this point. It's not a big deal, most GM's make them (Look at Phoenix giving Hardaway and Gugliatta big deals). But you can't really learn from your mistakes if you never think you made any.

The end result is that he is a columnist and will make conclusions that don't pan out (Heck, Gammons is like 2 for 20 on trades to this point). But that doesn't mean he isn't gathering facts accurately. It just reads like sour grapes by Cuban because of what Nash (and Dampier) have done so far and the criticism he's gotten.

[rkmsuf]

I think this makes it pretty clear

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"Darko is really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots an NBA three and plays with his back to the basket. So you can slot him at the 3, 4 or 5. Okay, a few other guys can do that, too, but what sets Darko apart is his toughness in the post ... Fact is, Darko plays in attack mode at both ends of the floor. The more you push, the more he pushes back."

-- ESPN's Chad Ford on NBA Draft prospect Darko Milicic, in the June 23rd, 2003 issue of ESPN the Magazine

[Subby]

Aside from Kevin Pelton, Chad Ford is the best NBA writer working these days...

[Arles]

I think this makes it pretty clear

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"Darko is really one of a kind. He runs the floor, handles the ball, shoots an NBA three and plays with his back to the basket. So you can slot him at the 3, 4 or 5. Okay, a few other guys can do that, too, but what sets Darko apart is his toughness in the post ... Fact is, Darko plays in attack mode at both ends of the floor. The more you push, the more he pushes back."

-- ESPN's Chad Ford on NBA Draft prospect Darko Milicic, in the June 23rd, 2003 issue of ESPN the Magazine
I challenge you to find one draft analyst that has never made a mistake. Chad Ford is a columnist and, as such, provides his opinion on issues. Many times they will not pan out but that does not mean he is sloppy. Given Darko went No. 2 overall, I would think that many other NBA executives agreed with Ford's stance.

[rkmsuf]

Ok take it easy. I just thought that was a humorous analysis.