IZTOK DIAGNOSES DECLINE OF MAVS OFFENSE

[KillerLeft]

Based on the responses to Nico's interview,  I'm surprised at how many folks think "humble and self effacing" look bad and that it automatically represents a lack of authority or influence behind the scenes.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I thought the interview (and others) made him seem slow. Not sharp. A little dumb, maybe, and awkward. "Humble and self effacing" are fine, but not what I got out of the interview, personally. 

To be clear, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't much smarter than he came across in the interview. I assume my impression was the result of him not having a lot of experience in interview situations like that one. 

And, I don't know that any conclusion can be drawn from the interview about his job description.

[fifteenth]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I thought the interview (and others) made him seem slow. Not sharp. A little dumb, maybe, and awkward. "Humble and self effacing" are fine, but not what I got out of the interview, personally. 

To be clear, I'd be very surprised if he wasn't much smarter than he came across in the interview. I assume my impression was the result of him not having a lot of experience in interview situations like that one. 

And, I don't know that any conclusion can be drawn from the interview about his job description.

I just tried to find the interview on Youtube, and can't. I didn't see it, I was just responding to the comments based on what I've seen of Nico in the past and the idea that "humble" is bad. 

Anyone know if there is video of the interview out there somewhere?

[KillerLeft]

I was just responding to the comments based on what I've seen of Nico in the past and the idea that "humble" is bad. 

I don't think humble is bad at all for a GM, especially when the attribute is manufactured as a forward-facing tool. 

But, it's a competition. When it comes to GM's I would hope that underneath that humble shell we'd find a killer. I think it's far too early to know what we've got here in Dallas with Harrison.

https://youtu.be/KE5ug_uoeRg?t=193

[fifteenth]

I don't think humble is bad at all for a GM, especially when the attribute is manufactured as a forward-facing tool. 

But, it's a competition. When it comes to GM's I would hope that underneath that humble shell we'd find a killer. I think it's far too early to know what we've got here in Dallas with Harrison.

Agree on both fronts, that along with his humility, I hope he's tenacious and competitive, and also that it's way too early to know what we have. I'll just add that I think someone can have true humility and also be a killer in competition. Inflated ego often comes with success, and even drives successful people, but I don't think inflated ego is a necessity. 

I think I've already invoked his name a couple times in this thread, but here it goes again. Dirk is a humble killer.

[mavsluvr]

Based on the responses to Nico's interview,  I'm surprised at how many folks think "humble and self effacing" look bad and that it automatically represents a lack of authority or influence behind the scenes.

When I see someone who has Nico's skins on the wall who also carries himself publicly the way Nico does,  I'm actually impressed. When I hear him talk about servant leadership I'm impressed. 

These can be powerful attributes and concepts when held in combination with other things that one needs to succeed at a task.

Has someone said anything like that? We're talking about Nico's true job description here. I don't think "humble and self-effacing" indicates that Nico has no authority. Likewise, I don't think "humble and self-effacing" means he does have any authority. 

Are we changing the subject? (Fine, if we are.)

[Kammrath]

Can't speak for anyone else, but I thought the interview (and others) made him seem slow. Not sharp. A little dumb, maybe, and awkward.

I didn't get that impression at all. 

I was left with the impression of a careful and thoughtful man, who is slow to speak (but not "slow") and wants to make sure he says only what he wants to say in a public and national setting. Could he have been slightly nervous? I could see that. Being on an in-game broadcast is a strange social situation unlike any other.

P.S. He honestly comes across as MUCH smarter and more informed than Donnie to me.

[fifteenth]

Has someone said anything like that? We're talking about Nico's true job description here. I don't think "humble and self-effacing" indicates that Nico has no authority. Likewise, I don't think "humble and self-effacing" means he does have any authority. 

Are we changing the subject? (Fine, if we are.)

LOL, I didn't mean to change the subject, but I think I put this in the wrong thread, actually. I've read some comments about you, err, I mean, Mark interviewing Nico in other threads. Some of those comments got me thinking about the misconception that humilty is antithetical to authority. Then I came and posted my thoughts in a thread that, it appears, have none of the comments that I was thinking about.

[mavsluvr]

LOL, I didn't mean to change the subject, but I think I put this in the wrong thread, actually. I've read some comments about you, err, I mean, Mark interviewing Nico in other threads. Some of those comments got me thinking about the misconception that humilty is antithetical to authority. Then I came and posted my thoughts in a thread that, it appears, have none of the comments that I was thinking about.

LOL, cool, cool.

[Kammrath]

I just tried to find the interview on Youtube, and can't. I didn't see it, I was just responding to the comments based on what I've seen of Nico in the past and the idea that "humble" is bad. 

Anyone know if there is video of the interview out there somewhere?

https://nbafullhd.com/55250-2/

This video is of the third quarter where the interview starts.

[KillerLeft]

I didn't get that impression at all. 

I was left with the impression of a careful and thoughtful man, who is slow to speak (but not "slow") and wants to make sure he says only what he wants to say in a public and national setting. Could he have been slightly nervous? I could see that. Being on an in-game broadcast is a strange social situation unlike any other.

P.S. He honestly comes across as MUCH smarter and more informed than Donnie to me.

You might be right about all of this. Not sure. 

I guess I just consider the PR skillset a huge part of the necessary GM bag of tricks. Hell, I could even be wrong about that in the first place, but if I'm not, then I just find it surprising that someone poached from the athletic wear branding world, someone supposedly used to fighting for superstar clients, wouldn't be a little more practiced in such situations. I just expected him to be much more "smooth" than he has seemed to me, so far. 

If he had a player evaluation background, like if he had been a video coordinator or a scout or something, I might expect things like interviews to be new for him. With his background I assumed he'd have the "snake oil salesman" part of the job down to a science already.

I'm not saying this is any reason for concern (other than the obvious concern we should all have with ANY unproven GM). It's just my honest takeaway from what we've seen, thrown into the pot for discussion.

[Kammrath]

I guess I just consider the PR skillset a huge part of the necessary GM bag of tricks. Hell, I could even be wrong about that in the first place, but if I'm not, then I just find it surprising that someone poached from the athletic wear branding world, someone supposedly used to fighting for superstar clients, wouldn't be a little more practiced in such situations. I just expected him to be much more "smooth" than he has seemed to me, so far. 

If he had a player evaluation background, like if he had been a video coordinator or a scout or something, I might expect things like interviews to be new for him. With his background I assumed he'd have the "snake oil salesman" part of the job down to a science already.

I'm not saying this is any reason for concern (other than the obvious concern we should all have with ANY unproven GM). It's just my honest takeaway from what we've seen, thrown into the pot for discussion.

The GM doesn't need to be the face of the franchise from a PR standpoint, so for me I am much more concerned about how is he one on one with players and other GMs, etc. We KNOW for a fact players love him, but it is an open question on how he is with other GMs and how they perceive him. 

I also personally LOVE that he doesn't come across as a BSing "snake-oil salesman" or "good old boy" (like Donnie). What you see is what you get. At least that is my impression and I love it. That's why I compared him to Dirk. 

And no question he is 100% unproven as a GM, but none of the evidence we have so far has me concerned in the least. If the TDL rolls by with nothing, I will get more anxious or if some questionable moves happen then, but my eye is mostly on this summer. This will be the "summer of Nico" IMO.

[mavsluvr]

I guess I just consider the PR skillset a huge part of the necessary GM bag of tricks. Hell, I could even be wrong about that in the first place, but if I'm not, then I just find it surprising that someone poached from the athletic wear branding world, someone supposedly used to fighting for superstar clients, wouldn't be a little more practiced in such situations. I just expected him to be much more "smooth" than he has seemed to me, so far.

Nico said that the introductory press conference was the first press conference he has ever done. If that's any indication of how much press experience he has.

Agree, you would normally expect the president of a public-facing organization to handle media duties smoothly and comfortably.

[Kammrath]

you would normally expect the president of a public-facing organization to handle media duties smoothly and comfortably

I just listened to the whole 20 minute time he was on the broadcast again and there is no way I would categorize him as not being "smooth" or "comfortable." He was simply a man of few words more than anything else (and left plenty of space for the main objective, the calling of the game). But we already knew that from every interview we have seen with him. He answers questions with often simple, single sentence answers. He doesn't say anymore than he has to or wants to. And I LOVED that he didn't come on the broadcast and make everything about him. He is not a spotlight stealer and I think that will be really good for his leading of this organization.

[F Gump]

1 A reason I find it weird that Nico would say that he has the total power to make decisions is that it doesn't seem to fit his personality to go around making, "Look at me, I'm such a big man, I'm showing Cuban who's boss, he's not telling me what to do" kinds of statements.

2 We have several possibilities here. 

-- Cuban surrendered all decision-making (other than normal owner-level oversight) to Nico, not realizing that Nico was unqualified for the job (or perhaps thinking that the job doesn't require much in the way of expertise or experience)....
-- Cuban surrendered all decision-making (other than normal owner-level oversight) to Nico, knowing that he was unqualified for the job, because Nico required that as a condition of being hired..... 
-- Cuban didn't surrender any decision-making to Nico, although he pretended he did....
-- Cuban realized when he hired Nico that he wasn't prepared to slot in to the job immediately. He delegated some very important duties to Nico, duties that he thought Nico was prepared to handle....
-- Cubes appears to be trying to present an image of collegial decision-making (for example, with a leadership council of several key voices), while making it clear that final decisions rest with him....
One can pick any of the above possibilities (or others) as a hypothesis, I guess

On the 1st topic, I don't understand why you insist on misunderstanding what Nico has said and why he would have said it. You are usually quick to follow and connect the obvious dots, and in this topic you don't. Is it just because you assume Cuban would not have done what he did, so can't accept that it was indeed done that way, no matter what is known? I'm reacting because I have never come close to saying Nico was/is 'making, "Look at me, I'm such a big man, I'm showing Cuban who's boss, he's not telling me what to do" kinds of statements.'

Have you forgotten the setting when Nico was hired? Cato's article had set Mavs world on fire. The nature of Cuban's management, and the idea of an organizational mess with murkiness on who could decide what, was under the microscope. So when Nico was hired, it wasn't a case where he was touting his authority to show off at all, but rather him simply answering what he was asked. Since the question of authority to make decisions was on everyone's mind, he was repeatedly asked about that.

His answer was always simple, relaxed, soft-spoken, saying he was given full authority to make all the decisions that a GM makes, would not have taken the job without getting that assurance in light of the recent history of the organization, and noting he already had a job he liked and wasn't looking to leave when Cuban came calling.

On topic 2, Nico has given us the parameters of the job. We lack insight into the exact thought process of Cuban in why he would hire such an inexperienced guy and then trust him, but my guess is that part of that trust was the belief (based on what he knew of Nico) that if Nico didn't know the right answer, he would confer and defer to the knowledge of others, until such time as he didn't need to. So I believe from day one Nico has been given full authority to make the GM decisions, but he does the prudent thing anyone smart would do, and decides with the input of those around him (from Cuban on down) in order to come to the best path possible.

I agree with you that he isn't ready to use his own thinking to make most decisions at this point. But a smart guy with no ego to please can operate well in that situation, by listening and consulting and empowering others to help.

You question Cuban's possible willingness to trust Nico. But that was the problem that Nico's hire was solving, the one where Cuban didn't trust others to be able to come to the best answer. For that reason, as well as because Nico let us know that the job came that way, I don't see any reason to question whether he has GM authority.

Notice also that Nico isn't in a rush to do something. He's taking his time. That supports the idea that the decisions are his, and he realizes it's on him to get them right.

[Kammrath]

On the 1st topic, I don't understand why you insist on misunderstanding what Nico has said and why he would have said it. You are usually quick to follow and connect the obvious dots, and in this topic you don't. Is it just because you assume Cuban would not have done what he did, so can't accept that it was indeed done that way, no matter what is known? I'm reacting because I have never come close to saying Nico was/is 'making, "Look at me, I'm such a big man, I'm showing Cuban who's boss, he's not telling me what to do" kinds of statements.'

Have you forgotten the setting when Nico was hired? Cato's article had set Mavs world on fire. The nature of Cuban's management, and the idea of an organizational mess with murkiness on who could decide what, was under the microscope. So when Nico was hired, it wasn't a case where he was touting his authority to show off at all, but rather him simply answering what he was asked. Since the question of authority to make decisions was on everyone's mind, he was repeatedly asked about that.

His answer was always simple, relaxed, soft-spoken, saying he was given full authority to make all the decisions that a GM makes, would not have taken the job without getting that assurance in light of the recent history of the organization, and noting he already had a job he liked and wasn't looking to leave when Cuban came calling.

On topic 2, Nico has given us the parameters of the job. We lack insight into the exact thought process of Cuban in why he would hire such an inexperienced guy and then trust him, but my guess is that part of that trust was the belief (based on what he knew of Nico) that if Nico didn't know the right answer, he would confer and defer to the knowledge of others, until such time as he didn't need to. So I believe from day one Nico has been given full authority to make the GM decisions, but he does the prudent thing anyone smart would do, and decides with the input of those around him (from Cuban on down) in order to come to the best path possible.

I agree with you that he isn't ready to use his own thinking to make most decisions at this point. But a smart guy with no ego to please can operate well in that situation, by listening and consulting and empowering others to help.

You question Cuban's possible willingness to trust Nico. But that was the problem that Nico's hire was solving, the one where Cuban didn't trust others to be able to come to the best answer. For that reason, as well as because Nico let us know that the job came that way, I don't see any reason to question whether he has GM authority.

Notice also that Nico isn't in a rush to do something. He's taking his time. That supports the idea that the decisions are his, and he realizes it's on him to get them right.

This is really good stuff.

[KillerLeft]

The GM doesn't need to be the face of the franchise from a PR standpoint, so for me I am much more concerned about how is he one on one with players and other GMs, etc. We KNOW for a fact players love him, but it is an open question on how he is with other GMs and how they perceive him. 

Agree that the most crucial part is how other GM's perceive him. I'm not sure I agree that he needs a great relationship with the players. In fact, I could make an argument that a good relationship with the players could be a negative. After all, he's the one who has to fire them, trade them, hold them accountable (in off-court ways), imo. 

Harrison, himself, said there are different ways to approach the job, ie traveling, not traveling, etc. I feel like this is what he was alluding to - whether to get to know the players or not. There are probably pros and cons to both approaches. 

I think he needs a great relationship with Luka, and I'm sure you agree with that. Past that, I feel it's a little subjective, and there are probably a variety of approaches that could work for different people who do the job. 

But, what I feel is pretty likely to be asset to any successful GM is the ability to control the media narrative around the team and to come off in interviews like you're in control, unfazed and focused on a path that will "obviously" make the team successful. Sometimes, I imagine projecting that will require stretching the truth or at least dancing around it artfully. This might not differ from what you're suggesting. It might just be that we got two different senses of whether he has this skillset from the public statements he has given, so far. And that's fine!

[fifteenth]

I just listened to the interview for the first time and didn't hear anything negative or concerning. He didn't seem uncomfortable to me. Seemed like he was having a conversation with Mark while watching the game.

He didn't really offer any real information,  but that's to be expected, I think a GM would be crazy to not speak positively about his players in public.

[KillerLeft]

I just listened to the interview for the first time and didn't hear anything negative or concerning. He didn't seem uncomfortable to me. Seemed like he was having a conversation with Mark while watching the game.

He didn't really offer any real information,  but that's to be expected, I think a GM would be crazy to not speak positively about his players in public.

Yes, it has occurred to me that what I took away might've simply been caused by 50%+ of his actual attention being on the game. That's very possible. 

And, I didn't expect him to say anything different than what he said. Least of all bad-mouthing anything about the players or organization. I'm simply commenting that I found his interview skills to be underwhelming (stylistically, for lack of a better word) in light of his professional background.

Porzingis, for contrast, routinely owns interviewers as if he's the smartest person in the room. He's naturally gifted in that area, apparently.

[F Gump]

Can anybody explain to me, why it is so important who is making some decisions?

The issue is, the decisions have to be done at an expert level. If the current decision-maker isn't that good, he needs to either be fired/replaced, or hire someone to feed him the proper decisions.

Cuban has proven he's not that good at being a GM and making those decisions. When others give input, he has overruled people who are smarter, making dumb crippling choices instead. So the issue of whether he is still insisting on making them is a real one.

When Nico was hired, it looked like he was just going to be another front man for Cuban's decision making, given his lack of expertise. But Nico says otherwise, which would be a step in the right direction (to get MC out of the job).

[omahen]

I just listened to the interview for the first time and didn't hear anything negative or concerning. He didn't seem uncomfortable to me. Seemed like he was having a conversation with Mark while watching the game.

He didn't really offer any real information,  but that's to be expected, I think a GM would be crazy to not speak positively about his players in public.

You listened to it for the first time, Mavsluvr was speaking to him. He knows!