Watch John Brooks’ go ahead goal in USMNT’s 2-1 win over Ghana
June 16, 2014
WFNY on the World Cup: Germany/Portugal and what it means for the USMNT
June 17, 2014
Happy Tuesday, Cleveland!
Not a bad couple of days, eh? First we got to enjoy a little Schadenfreude on Sunday night as the Spurs won the NBA Championship over the Heat. The Cleveland Indians have now won three straight games and are 2.5 games behind the Tigers. Then last night we got to experience the incredible US victory over Ghana in their opening game of the World Cup! It was two of the most fun sports days I’ve had in quite some time. For the USMNT, though, that was theoretically supposed to be the “easy” part. Now the US has to move on to play two of the top four teams in the FIFA World Rankings in Portugal (No. 4) and Germany (No. 2). Joe Mastrantoni will have more on this later today, but Portugal surely didn’t look like the No. 4 team in the world in their 4-0 loss to Germany yesterday. If the US can muster a draw against Portugal, they will be in decent shape to advance as long as they don’t get blown out by Germany.
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When will it be our turn?
As fun as watching the Spurs beat the Heat was, I found the feeling a little bittersweet as well. Watching Tim Duncan hug his kids and seeing all the emotion in the players, I found myself reflecting on how much fun winning Championships are. I was in Tempe when Ohio State beat Miami, and I’ve seen my beloved Red Wings hoist four Stanley Cups in my life, so I know the feeling. But I so desperately want to experience the feeling with a Cleveland team. I don’t care if it’s the Cavaliers, Browns, or Indians. Any of them will suffice.
Yesterday Terry Pluto some notes on what the Cavaliers could learn from the Spurs. I thought it was a pretty good piece, as the only way to be the best is to learn from the current best and to try to find ways to achieve and surpass their level. One thing is abundantly clear, though. The Cavaliers are so far away from playing at a level even half of what the Spurs showed in that series. Of course, then again, even the Heat couldn’t achieve a level half of what the Spurs brought. But the point is, the Cavaliers have some work to do.
It starts at the top. I talked a little about Dan Gilbert last week, and I continued to be conflicted about the Cavs owner. Yahoo;s Adrian Wojnarowski talked about the Cavaliers’ coaching search this weekend. In it, he wrote:
Cleveland has narrowed its known field to three candidates, including Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches Alvin Gentry and Tyronn Lue, but owner Dan Gilbert has continued to pursue high-profile college candidates in a far less public, far more clandestine process, sources said.
So, yeah, that’s still going on. This was put into stark contrast with the Spurs owner Peter Holt two nights ago. After being awarded the Larry O’Brien trophy, Holt was asked what his secret was to the team’s prolonged success. His answer was pretty simple. “My secret is these guys behind me [the players], Coach Pop, and [GM] RC Buford. That’s my secret. It doesn’t start at the top, it starts with them.”
Well, he’s half right, there. It does start at the top, but it starts by hiring the right people (not the “flashy” people, but the “right” people) and then staying out of their way and letting them do their job. If Gilbert doesn’t trust David Griffin to hire the coach, then he never should have given the job to Griffin.
Anyway, this will be a big week for the Cavaliers. They are interviewing David Blatt on Wednesday, and there are rumors of a second interview for Mark Price this week. The Cavaliers will also host Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker for workouts this week. Ideally the coaching search will conclude this week, and then next week the Cavaliers will have to either make their #1 overall pick or else find a suitable trade. It kind of feels like the first step in trying to get to the Spurs’ level starts this week.
In addition to Gilbert staying out of the way of his basketball people hired to make basketball decisions, the Cavaliers can learn a couple things from the Spurs. For starters, a franchise big man goes a long way. To expect any big to have the kind of career Tim Duncan has had is probably a fool’s errand, but still, the Spurs have shown the value of having an anchor to build around in the front court.
A lot has been said in recent years about the declining value of big men. I don’t quite see it that way. Just because we haven’t seen many franchise centers in recent years doesn’t make them any less valuable. I’m not saying Joel Embiid will definitely be a top 3 center, but having a top 3 player at any position in basketball is so valuable. Kyrie Irving isn’t there among PGs yet, but if he continues to learn and adapt his game, he has the talent to be close to a Top 3 PG. If Embiid can grow into the player I think he can, he’s got a great chance to be a Top 3 center. We just haven’t seen many (any) players quite like Embiid in such a long time. Yes, the back is a question mark, I realize this. But if you want to model yourself after the Spurs, locking up a big man like Embiid might be a good idea.
Then, if Kyrie signs his max deal, you can go to work with Irving and Embiid. You need a couple guys who can defend and rebound, you need some floor spacing shooters, and you need a coach who can get the players to run a system, buy in, and sacrifice good shots for better shots with quality ball movement. That’s where David Blatt comes into play. I didn’t know much about Blatt other than his name prior to him being discussed as a candidate. But I’ve been watching some videos of his teams, and I love the offense he runs. He emphasizes movement and passing in a way that isn’t totally unlike the Spurs.
Look, I don’t know for sure how good any of these guys will be. I’m not a scout, I’ve never interviewed any coaching candidates. So I’m not saying these are for sure the best moves for the Cavaliers. I’m just saying if you want a blueprint to follow, I think Embiid and Blatt are the best guys to try to replicate what the Spurs are doing.
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Yes, I really, really, really want the Cavaliers to draft Embiid
This isn’t a new article, but back in January the Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy had an excellent profile on Joel Embiid. It’s remarkable when you reflect on just how new Embiid is to the game of basketball and how incredibly far he has come in his short time playing it. He is such an impact player already, but he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what his real potential is.
I also love that he learned basketball by studying tapes of Hakeem Olajuwon. Olajuwon is one of my favorite centers I’ve ever seen play the game. He had such control and grace for his size, and he was capable of dominating opposing centers of all shapes and sizes. While everyone was reflecting on how dominant the Spurs were in this NBA Finals, I was reminded of when Olajowon’s Rockets faced off with Shaq’s Magic in the Finals, and Olajuwon absolutely ate Shaq alive.
Again, in the interest of slowing expectations, none of this is to say Embiid will be what Olajuwon was. I’m just saying that if there’s anyone I would want someone with Embiid’s size, athleticism, and coordination to emulate as best as he could, it would be Hakeem. I just think Embiid is the player most capable of impacting games equally on both ends of the court. And he seems like a really great kid and the kind of teammate and worker I would want on the Cavaliers.
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Were LeBron’s teammates worse in 2014 or in 2007?
The 2007 Cavaliers are sometimes cited as one of the worst teams to ever make the Finals. After getting swept by the Spurs, the team was recognized as being little more than LeBron James carrying a bunch of other players who couldn’t pull their own weight.
The 2007 team was a lot different than the 2010 team that LeBron turned his back on, but it was still said that LeBron had to leave the Cavaliers because he had to do too much by himself in Cleveland. He needed his superstar teammates in order to find Championship success, they said. But by 2014, those superstar teammates are starting to resemble the 2010 Cavaliers more and more. But is it possible that in reality they have been playing even worse than that 2007 team that got swept by the Spurs?
Here’s how bad it was: Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined to post a game score of 18.5 (7.9 and 10.6, respectively). In 2007, when LeBron and the Cavs were swept by the Spurs, Drew Gooden and Boobie Gibson combined for 17.5. This is not flattering company, obviously. If you expand to the teams’ top seven non-LeBron rotational players, the ’07 Cavs actually pull ahead, with a combined Game Score of 42.2 to the ’14 Heat’s 36.2. (The average cumulative game score average for the numbers 2 through 8 players in a Finals is 47, because generally, teams in the Finals are good. The Spurs 2 through 8 combined for 66.) Which is to say, LeBron had more help in the Finals in 2007 than he did this year.
Obviously the 2014 Heat have more talent than the 2007 Cavaliers had, but this year’s Heat team has easily looked like the worst iteration of the super team that assembled in 2010. LeBron finds himself in a tough spot. If he leaves Miami, he will earn a bit of a reputation as a guy who kept changing teams and chasing glory rather than bringing glory to his teams. But on the other hand, staying in Miami will probably still guarantee the Heat an annual trip to the Finals thanks to the pathetic Eastern Conference, but winning Championships will get increasingly more difficult every season.
Whatever LeBron decides to do this summer1, there’s a certain irony in finding himself looking at a scenario not all that unlike the one he left in Cleveland just four years ago.
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Red, White, or Blue?
Have you ever wondered how teams in the World Cup decide which color uniforms to wear? Well, it turns out, they don’t. FIFA makes the first choice, and then it’s up to the officials to confirm the pick of colors. I’m not the biggest uniform guy in the world. We have Rick and Kirk here at WFNY who cover that stuff much more closely than I do. But I found this piece on how US Soccer’s equipment is handled to be a really fun and interesting read.
In a tournament the size of the World Cup, there are just so many little details that you don’t even realize that people are thinking about. This is just one small part of it, but it sort of puts into perspective just how much work goes into making the World Cup run as smoothly as possible. This article handles the individual team’s equipment, but there are issues of accommodations, safety, fan experience, contingency plans, etc, etc, etc.
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Album of the Week
Some pretty decent new music coming out this week, and my absolute favorite album coming out this week is the debut album “If Anything” by the Canadian band Greys. Coming from the Toronto scene and having a very similar sound to Metz, the comparisons are only natural. But whereas Metz has a consistent sound throughout their whole album, Greys push the envelope a little and try to color outside the lines a bit more and perhaps take a few more chances.
So far, Cloud Nothings’ “Here and Nowhere Else” has been my unquestioned favorite album of 2014. Greys is the first album that I think can legitimately give Cloud Nothings a run for their money for my top spot. Yes, I think this album is that good. Anyone who likes punk influenced music that tips its hat back to the glory days of grunge with a little Fugazi mixed in, all while still sounding modern will enjoy this album.
Other albums coming out today that I’m looking forward to checking out include:
- Boris – “Noise”
- Cerebral Ballzy – “Jaded and Faded”
- Lower – “Seek Warmer Climates”
- The Antlers – “Familiars”
That’s all I have for you guys today. I hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully next week we’ll have a new Cavaliers coach to talk about.
- for the record, I think he stays in Miami. I just don’t think he says no to Pat Riley and Dwyane Wade [↩]
18 Comments
“It does start at the top, but it starts by hiring the right people (not
the “flashy” people, but the “right” people) and then staying out of
their way and letting them do their job. If Gilbert doesn’t trust David
Griffin to hire the coach, then he never should have given the job to
Griffin.”
Yesyesyes. Exactly what I fear could be happening, a crazy variety of candidates evidencing the lack of a singular vision which should have been decided upon months, not days, before the coach is hired. This town loves an owner who channels our fan emotions. Fine. But we should not love an owner who channels his inner GM. Because when that works it just means you got lucky. And worse, it encourages the owner to believe he has the necessary expertise to make future basketball decisions.
I’ll be honest – if the alternative to hiring Gentry is Gilbert being meddlesome, I am in favor of being meddlesome. Perhaps Gilbert sees that Griffin, like Grant before him, is unable to separate his friendship from the hiring process. Also, can we get someone without a last name that starts with “G” in this organization? Gilbert, Grant, Griffin….Gentry? Ugh…
RE: The Spurs
It’s easy to have sustained success when you stumble upon one of the top 3 or 4 coaches in NBA history. That is as much about luck as it is anything else.
I am all for Embiid. So much so that he needs his own GIF-series in the draft lead-up. A colorful (personality) who is tall and incredibly nimble and athletic considering his size. Seems friendly, but will destroy you if need-be.
That is correct, though I don’t know if he likes chocolate or is being hunted by Charles Muntz, the best animated represenation for Joel Embiid appears to be a snipe (Kevin!):
http://davidkanigan.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/disney-pixar-gif-up.gif?w=600
Duncan alone wouldn’t have done it though. It was Duncan + Pop’s vision (that changes to account for NBA rule changes) + Pop/RC’s full dive into international scouting before other teams caught onto it.
Add in Pop’s ability to actually use players to their strengths (Bill Walsh is the other coach I can remember who always seemed to set his players up for success as well) and you have a dominant franchise.
Yeah, none of it matters as much if they didn’t hit on Duncan first, but Duncan doesn’t matter if they don’t do the others either.
I agree up to a point. I think the owner needs to take responsibility, but trust his hires. And, I do not think the GM should hire the coach. He should have input, but the GM & Coach should be peers in the hierarchy I prefer and thus one should not hire the other.
Just like in football (though, important difference is cap guys go under GM for basketball), here is what I prefer and who reports to each:
President (reports to owner) – all business, PR, marketing
GM (reports to owner) – all scouting, analytical dep’t, capologists
Coach (reports to owner) – coaches, players
In this manner, the owner is relatively silent, but can help make macro-level decisions based on the input and feedback from each of the 3 areas of the team. The coach focuses on the short-term, the GM on the long-term and the President on making money.
Have read this opinion from you before. I think we both understand that football is in some ways a different animal, given the more substantial GM duties with a roster larger than baseball but no farm system to sift the best. Here’s where I differ: whether the coach later answers directly to the owner does not mean the owner knows which coach to hire.
After the hire, with the small NBA roster size and an actual rotation of only 10-11 players the coach and GM better be crazy tight, in philosophy and execution. Not sure having the coach report directly to the owner does anything but encourage a turf war. Better that they make the owner their common enemy. The modern, youngish self-made NBA owner is going to be talking to the coach every day anyway.
Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of Steve Yzerman handing the cup to a wheelchair bound Vlady Konstantinov. Still gives me goosebumps. I became a Wings fan because my Dad was born and raised in Ferndale (the OTHER side of 8 mile) and he bought me my first “sweater” when I was 11 or so. We went to both games the Wings played in Cleveland in the early 90’s. Watching them win the Cup in 97 and 98 with him is one of my favorite sports memories ever, especially since he died in the spring of ’99.
http://fat.gfycat.com/AbleUncomfortableIbizanhound.gif
I don’t see how the GM knows much better which coach to hire either though. We have seen too often the GM being blinded by allegiance rather than doing a true “best man” search. A good owner finds a vision of what he wants the team to be and talks with many basketball people to get a macro-level thought of who to hire and listens to the input from the GM (and others) during the interview process.
I do completely agree that the GM/coach need to be tigher in the NBA than NFL, which is why that hiring allegiance has been such a big factor IMO. They need to be able to work together and go back-n-forth w/o too much conflict, but I still want the best man hired for the HC job.
I don’t think it creates a turf war if done correctly. The owner needs to put it on the GM/coach to work together and solve conflicts internally. He is there for when the occasions arise when they just cannot come to a mutual decision.
And, there lies the other benefit for the owner. If those guys are coming to him constantly, then obviously, it isn’t working. It’s a built-in way for the owner to know how well they are working together.
Wow, that’s great. I’m glad you got to share those with your dad. While the 2002 Cup was probably the best of the 4 teams from a talent standpoint, the 1997-98 teams were my favorite.
Yeah I kinda felt bad about liking that ’02 team, because at that point, the Wings were like the Yankees of the NHL. I gave myself a pass since I was on board during the Tim Cheveldae days. But Dominik Hasek…he was something else
Just a point on the FIFA rankings, they are utterly meaningless. The USA was ranked 13, higher than the Netherlands (15). The same Netherlands that dominated the number 1 team, Spain, a few days ago.
While Portugal are a decent squad they are far from the 4th best in the world. Consider they had to go to a playoff in qualifying because they couldn’t get out of their group of powerhouses Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg…
Agreed on the 97-98 teams as favorite, though knocking out Colorado en route in 2002 is still one of the better feelings I’ve ever had as a sports fan. Still floors me just how stacked the team was over that entire period of time (Fedorov being my favorite of the bunch)–sort of like the Tribe in the 95-2000 stretch, only with championships to show for it. Now if just one Cleveland team could put it all together, even just once…
Exactly
https://vine.co/v/MI5dMebOInM
The 2002 playoffs were the best thing ever. Falling behind 0-2 to Vancouver before Lidstrom’s center ice strike in Game 3 turning everything around. Game 7 obliteration of Patrick Roy. The Wings-Avs series in general, shutting out the Avs in both Games 6 and 7.
The talent on that team was insane. Yzerman, Lidstrom, Shanahan, Fedorov, Hull, Hasek, Robitaille, Chelios, Holmstrom. Heck, even Datsyuk was on that team.
But still, there’s just something about those 97-98 teams. Maybe it was because they did it first, maybe I just had an affinity for all the Russians on those teams, I’m not sure. But after getting humiliated a few years earlier by the Devils, I was so proud of how that team completely turned their identity around from a high octane scoring-first team to a well-rounded complete team with an emphasis on defense and sound, fundamental hockey.
Man, I really miss those Red Wings teams of that era.
Oh, I know they’re a joke for the most part, but they’re a point of reference to demonstrate that the next two games are really tough. I don’t think they are quite as bad as they looked against Germany. The Germans make a lot of teams look really, really bad.
Yeah Germany has a tendency to do that… I agree, it will definitely be tough. I think we’re in a good spot though as Portugal will be missing Coentrao, Almeida, and Pepe. Will be an interesting week for sure.
No doubt. The US is in good shape with even a draw against Portugal. A win over them and the US will move on, assuming Ghana doesn’t pull off a miracle win over Germany.
I love the position the US is in, but it all hinges on not losing to Portugal. Any outcome other than a loss is good.