Now what? Cavs left with long odds in pursuit of Warriors – The Nail in the Coffin, Episode 105
January 17, 2018Mel Kiper’s first mock draft lands the Browns with Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley
January 18, 2018Happy Thursday, readers. The weekend is nearly upon you — hang in there. No matter how dispiriting the non-recreational, fun-free spheres of your lives are, the week is nearly over. And if your figurative weekend doesn’t coincide with Saturday and Sunday, hang in there for your weekend. Anyway, the Cleveland Browns remain a scourge on humanity, the Indians have had a less than inspired winter, and the Cavaliers are still struggling to remember how to basketball, but while we’re waiting…
There were two stories about Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs this week that highlighted the success the Spurs have had in fostering a winning culture and a fully functioning professional franchise. One story in Bloomberg Businessweek by Ira Boudway, which WFNY’s Scott Sargent shared in this week’s edition of “Real Sportswriting,” detailed “The Five Pillars of Popovich,” some of the tenets Boudway divined from Popovich’s leadership style that have created arguably the most consistent team in NBA history over any 20-year stretch. The second, by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, directly contrasted the Spurs’ handling of power forward LaMarcus Aldridge’s trade request last summer with the Cavaliers’ handling of Kyrie Irving’s trade request.
The two pieces are quite different. The Bloomberg article only indirectly implicates the Cavaliers as being one of the many teams falling short of the ideal culture fostered by Popovich and the Spurs, while the ESPN article makes a direct situational comparison between the Spurs and Cavaliers, even if the criticism of the Cavaliers is more innuendo than explicit. But together the stories paint yet another story of how our beloved franchises fall short of erecting the cultural infrastructure to endure storms of misfortune. Let me highlight a few things.
Boudway’s synthesis of the Tao of Pop for Bloomberg is excellent, but my favorites were these nuggets. Boudway’s fifth pillar (his term for the tenets of his pseudo-religion around the Cult of Popovich) 5 is “Know Your People.” Summarily, “[Popovich] wants his players to be fully human. And he’s genuinely curious about them.” Former center Will Perdue told a story about Popovich roasting him after a game in which Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone had his way with Perdue. After pouting on the bus ride from the arena to the hotel, Perdue found Popovich waiting in the hotel for him. According to Perdue, Popovich said, “I’ve said my piece. … Let’s go break bread, have some wine, and let’s talk about everything but basketball.” Popovich’s wine dinners are the stuff of NBA legends among everyone who’s traveled through Popovich’s orbit, from Tim Duncan to Richard Jefferson, and there are hints in stories that such wine-enhanced dinners may be one of the things LeBron James has incorporated into his own personal leadership style.
As someone who aspires to be well-rounded and thinks it creates more complete citizens (and by proxy, basketball players), it makes an impression on me that Popovich runs what looks like a militaristic basketball machine from the outside that on the inside is more touchy-feely — it involves him quizzing players on who fought in the Boer War and giving players copies of Between the World and Me between his famous tantrums. To summarize, Gregg Popovich’s “main innovation, so to speak, has been to bring empathy and worldliness to a profession that has long valorized toughness and single-mindedness.”
And while I have no reason to believe that the Cavaliers’ coach Ty Lue, former general manager David Griffin, and current general manager Koby Altman do not care about culture, players, or Ta-Nehisi Coates books, the Irving trade signposts at best an incomplete implementation of institutional stability, and at worst full-blown cultural conflagration. When LaMarcus Aldridge requested a trade from the Spurs, Popovich engaged in some serious self-introspection, realized he had been mismanaging Aldridge, and discussed the issues with Aldridge over — again — dinner and wine. Aldridge recently signed a contract extension. When the Cavaliers’ season ended last June, there “weren’t exit meetings with coach Tyronn Lue or management after the season” to hash out Irving’s known issues. When Irving demanded a trade, the Cavs did not have a permanent general manager and, during that time, smartass bloggers were making jokes about how the next general manager of the Cavaliers might be a ham sandwich or a dog with comically large glasses. Despite reported wishes by LeBron James to retain Irving, the Cavaliers traded Irving weeks later.
The lesson to be gleaned from this is that institutional culture is important and is reflected in how organizations handle hardship and conduct themselves. The Cleveland Indians may be imperfect as an organization, but seem to at least have theirs heads attached. If the San Antonio Spurs are what passes for cultural sophistication in sports, the Browns are Beavis and Butt-Head. The Cavaliers appear to be somewhere between. But it is incumbent upon franchises to develop a legitimate ethos if long-term success is something they’re interest in — which, based on the behavior of some local ownership, is debatable in its own right.1If our professional sports organizations cannot build the cultural fortitude it takes to sustain winning for long periods of time, then at least we can take solace in the fact that Gregg Popovich has taught us that most problems can be solved with a few glasses of wine over dinner. Which isn’t so bad.
The Calvin and Hobbes Strip of the Day.
“Well, Browns, I guess we learned a valuable lesson from this 0-16 mess.”
“And that is, um … it’s that, well … OK, so we didn’t learn any big lesson. Sue me.”
“Live and don’t learn, that’s us.”
And now for the random 90s song of the day. Fiona Apple is one of the darlings of the 90s whose influence and adoration exceed her actual contemporary popularity. I went on a Fiona binge after she made a cameo in a Steven Hyden mailbag on UPROXX. Listening to the succinctly titled 1999 album When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ‘fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might so When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter, Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right, I rediscovered Apple’s “I Know,” an account of an affair and unarticulated love. Then I stumbled upon this soul-withering live performance of “I Know” at what is supposedly The Largo in Los Angeles (in 2014, possibly). The studio version of “I Know” was mixed by The Largo’s resident musician and Apple producer Jon Brion (possibly supporting Apple on piano in this performance), who also scored Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love, movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who dated, you guessed it, Fiona Apple (and for whom Anderson directed the video for “Paper Bag”). There are dots out there everywhere, people — you just have to connect them.
Supported only by a piano, this rendition of “I Know” has the pained rancor and vengeful love that Fiona Apple does best. Her words carry the blunt-force trauma of a tire iron to the back of the skull while her mannerisms tickle the organs like a serrated knife blade. It never ceases to amaze me that for all the flashing lights and booming amplifiers we love, nothing wrecks my world like a lone voice and a piano. When Apple croons, “You can use my skin” … chills, readers. Chills.2
And you can use my skin
To bury secrets in
And I will settle you down
And at my own suggestion
I will ask no questions
While I do my thing in the background
But all the time, all the time
I’ll know, I’ll know
- Speaking of which, has anybody heard any interesting stories about the culture at Pilot Flying J? [↩]
- Another interesting note about this live version is that Apple changes the studio lyric, “Until you are ready to confess,” to “Until I am ready to confess.” [↩]
41 Comments
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days until the 2018 NFL Draft.
I hope this is not true but there is some evidence suggesting that the Cavs are the Browns, except with LeBron James.
Prepare your eyes for the hottest Joe Thomas take ever take’d, courtesy of a reader over at Pro Football Talk:
“My favorite memories of him will be him laughing at Colt McCoy before his first start and the next year pretending he didn’t see James Harrison concuss him, in general never once standing up for cheap shots on his teammates,back pedaling before the ball is even snapped,being a great technician a reluctant lousy leader who showed his teammates that showing up is 95% of the job and might even get you to the Hall of Fame.”
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“…such wine-enhanced dinners may be one of the things LeBron James has incorporated into his own personal leadership style.”
Maybe so, but his affinity for passive-aggressive behavior is definitely anti-Popovich-esque.
Part (much?) of Popovich’s success is that his main players are high-character, team-oriented, ego-in-check guys who are easy to coach. I don’t know whether they were already that way when they got there or if he made them that way, but probably the former.
LeBron, on the other hand, is difficult to coach because he is so transcendent. (I think it’s fair to ask at this point if Ty Lue has lost his team because they sure don’t act like they give a damn.)
I agree that the Cavs botched the whole Kyrie thing, and that’s squarely on Gilbert. Dan has many positive qualities, but savvy about the game of basketball is not one of them.
Only some?
Fiona Apple’s voice is an amazing thing. And the video for “Criminal” is, of course, among the best things MTV ever offered, you know BACK WHEN THEY ACTUALLY FEATURED MUSIC
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Good stuff, Kyle. Loved this piece.
Also worth noting is that Pop will sporadically hold practices where they do nothing but sit in a circle and talk about something they recently read not pertaining to sports. Not sure any other team is doing this, in any sport.
Gilbert’s refusal to re-up any of his GM’s, particularly the clearly competent and respected David Griffin, have made me think there’s not a great reason to save the Brooklyn draft pick for a rebuild. LeBron is the only culture. When he’s gone we’re back to guys like Dion waiving for the ball in the corner, a place that has less chance of attracting quality free agents than Indianapolis.
Can we talk about how light Joe Thomas looked last night? Dude is retiring fo sho.
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The problem is that it is hard to establish a chain of causation on the secondary effects.
I still can’t believe Griffin wasn’t extended. He clearly had good relationships with players.
Better trade him before he announces.
Play him at tight end.
Browns – youngest team in NFL. Nowhere to go but up
Cavs – oldest team in NBA. Nowhere to go but down
I see the similarities
“Despite reported wishes by LeBron James to retain Irving, the Cavaliers traded Irving weeks later….”
This was before we were sure LeBron was the one who wanted Irving out. So, umm. Yeah. We know nothing actually. It’s our regularly-scheduled kick em when they’re down and roll around in the feces moment…and this team is for sure down.
This Cavs team, while they brought us the one joy that had eluded this fan for a lifetime, has also been surrounded in a cesspool of drama and negativity from ownership to GM to star player to supporting cast. Top to bottom drama. Every year for the last 5 years.
If this is our last run at it (unless Koby can retool or recharge the Griffin-built old deadwood roster), then in some ways I won’t be sorry to see this team go. I can’t say it’s always been a “joy” to behold from a fan’s perspective.
I dunno, I know he’s the sacred cow, and a helluva player, but do we have evidence that he was much of a leader?
Well, it looked like the Packers were the Browns without Rodgers. Maybe the Saints would be the Browns without Brees. Look how close the Chargers teeter on awful, but without Rivers, maybe they’re worse than us. Suppose that logic could transcend across sports.
Well, he convinced most of the OL to live in or near the same community so that they could study film and playbooks at nights and in the offseason, while also mentoring young OL who were willing (most notably Joel Bitonio), not to mention doing everything he can to keep things positive despite everything to the contrary on the field since he arrived to keep people working…
but, besides that…
98 or 368? I’m confused.
Shoulder pads add a lot of perceived bulk 😉
Probably a mix. Having guys like Duncan on the team to lead allowed Pops to take a hard stance on the Danny Greens of the league to force them to adjust or find themselves out.
It’s a miserable team to follow most nights from October to May, and an amazing one to follow come playoff time. Every single year since LeBron’s return.
The positivity thing can cut both ways. A guy with the kind of sway that Thomas has in this organization just glad to cash his check while the team makes the same mistakes over and over maybe can step up some.
Sure, that wasn’t to say he was absent of any leadership ability. But studying the playbook religiously, even in the offseason, and helping out teammates, especially after you yourself have been sidelined, are not uncommon traits at this level. Maybe it’s unfair to expect more out of Thomas.
But this is an organization that has had a leadership vacuum for a while, and just today, we have Thomas lamenting the cutting of Haden only after the season is done and dusted and Sashi has long been thrown under the bus for the results. Does better leadership make clear the importance of Haden in the lockerroom? Does better leadership step up and fill that void created with Haden gone?
The Cavs, with Lebron, should have just as much ability to take a hard stance on the Greens too. And we saw Lebron attempt that with Irving some. Irving was dragged out onto the court after games early in his career to work on things by Lebron. And Irving only became more hard-headed. Popovich seems to be much better at instilling that need to adjust than anyone else in the league.
Ooops. I thought you were talking about LBJ…
I would be very willing to consider this description for Lebron too.
I think objectively Haden’s best days were behind him, and he should have been cut from a cost-benefit standpoint. And who knows what kind of leadership void he left (or what Joe Thomas brings to the table in terms of leadership). But the point is that it sent a really glaring signal to other “leaders” however leading they are, that it’s a slaughterhouse with the HBT boys running the show, oblivious to any ripple effect.
The HBT couldn’t read the room to determine how low you can go with morale. It appears they chose poorly…should have left Haden on the roster.
So Sashi should have been thrown under the bus. We should back up the bus and run over him a few more times for good measure.
98 more days until the fun season starts. 368 more days until we’re discussing our choice for first overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
But we also see this happen elsewhere. Belicheck will cut a guy about as cold-heartedly as it gets. That some megalomaniac upstairs holds the real power is not unknown by NFL players. Some teams are better equipped to dealing with that than others.
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If you read the stories that came out though, we elected to not meet with Irving after the season at all except for when he said he wanted out and Koby wasn’t even in the room.
I agree with you that the Cavs ‘should’ have that ability, but they are not organized enough to pull it off.
911
I’m not sure what more you wanted Thomas to do since we only know what he has publicly stated. I don’t think lamenting Haden in September to the press would have done much good and insinuating that he’s just glad to cash his check is entirely unfair to him.
Agreed. Let’s not forget that a young…and not yet evil emperor Bill, kicked to the curb a diminished skilled Bernie Kosar and was nearly tarred and feathered. You have to have the capital to do it including your stature, organizationally,fan base, and what it’s going to do in the locker room.
I would have liked Thomas to step up more, and not just this year, but over the past decade, and not let past-their-prime players being cut deflate the whole locker room.
And especially not give Hue-ish after-the-fact finger-pointing about how they were never given a fair shake.
I’m not referring to what happened this last offseason. The cause was long since lost by that point. But when Lebron first came back, he made an extra effort to push Irving, and Irving only pushed back. Thats not to blame one guy or the other, the answer lies somewhere in the murky middle. But having a Duncan caliber player frequently isnt enough to get someone to buy in.
That’s an unfair balance though. Duncan/Pops built a foundation and mixed in new players and forced them to abide. LeBron popped into an existing unstable infrastructure and changed the game.
Maybe it is unfair, but unstable situations seem to pop up around Lebron all too frequently, and they generally don’t improve over time.
No wins = nowhere to go but up. That is one way to look at it, I suppose.
911 days until the draft? What the hell?