IZTOK DIAGNOSES DECLINE OF MAVS OFFENSE

[F Gump]

Ironically, the initial testing of Nico's efficacy as GM will be his response if JKidd's coaching fails to make the team better.  If Kidd does less than RC with essentially the same squad, why was the change made?  

Keeping RC or not wasn't Nico's choice. Or MC's or the Mavs, either. RC quit before Nico was ever hired.

[omahen]

When others give input, he has overruled people who are smarter, making dumb crippling choices instead.

I don't think that is necessary the case. Cuban always seemed to have a circle who he is listening to and then decide based on information he got. Sometimes (often?) the circle doesn't share same opinion and Cuban decides. I am under impression the same modus operandi still exists. If I remember correctly, the exact wording from Cuban himself was that he and his circle decides on the general direction and then GM executes. This was at Harrison presser or around that time.

The key question is the definition of "general direction". Is this "we tank" or "we contend" like level description of strategy or is this "we will trade Curry for a better defender" type of general direction. I don't think we have any indication about that.

[F Gump]

This is really good stuff.

Thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.

[Kammrath]

RE: Decision Making in DAL

My take going back to this summer is that the issue with Cuban's decision making in the past was that frankly he had disorganized chaos beneath him in the organization with many strong opinions flying around and in conflict and competition with each other. Cuban then felt the need to make a final call in that chaos, not often sure who to listen to. 

Was the chaos Cuban's fault? Yes, it happened on his watch. But I think Donnie was the main culprit of not keeping his organization in line. 

I think Nico will do a much better job of consolidating the expertise and opinions within the organization and hopefully bring ONE clear path to Cuban's plate and ask for his stamp of approval. That way Cuban won't actually be making the decisions. Instead it will be the collective wisdom of those hired to have the expertise, brought together by the oversight and leadership of Nico.

[KillerLeft]

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).

This is implied above, but I feel the need to spell it out:

In a situation wherein the owner is making personnel decisions, they can't be fired, no matter how poorly they do in that role. The fans are left hoping that by some miracle the owner realizes that they are the problem. 

This is why Cuban's need to be perceived as a "disruptor" has always bothered me. Being the first to deck out the locker room with PlayStations is good. Buying a private jet so that the team can travel more comfortably and reliably is good. Innovation like that was very helpful. Throwing out traditional channels of accountability has very clearly NOT been good, and we have years and years of proof. 

The team must be run by someone who feels they can and will lose their job if they don't succeed. Some traditional aspects of how teams are run are traditional for good reason, imo. 

@"F Gump" feels that Harrison has been given the reigns, and I suppose that would represent positive progress, even if we eventually discover he's not great at it. I hope this is true, and fwiw, I obviously hope he IS great at the job.

[F Gump]

I don't think that is necessary the case. Cuban always seemed to have a circle who he is listening to and then decide based on information he got. Sometimes (often?) the circle doesn't share same opinion and Cuban decides. 

Cuban gave himself the job of deciding and overruling GM decisions, as he saw fit.

The disastrous decisions to let Nash walk, tear down the title team, and not draft Giannis were solely MC, overruling his experts because he had a "better" plan. They were 100% on MC, those were all crippling blows, and by far the worst 3 decisions in the Dirk era.

[omahen]

Cuban gave himself the job of deciding and overruling GM decisions, as he saw fit.

The disastrous decisions to let Nash walk, tear down the title team, and not draft Giannis were solely MC, overruling his experts because he had a "better" plan. They were 100% on MC, those were all crippling blows, and by far the worst 3 decisions in the Dirk era.

Not sure how reliable the source, but... The other two really look like Cuban going against everyone else

And biggest of all: Owner Mark Cuban and Nelson combined on the decision to dismantle that aforementioned 2011 title team. Donnie viewed that success as "catching lightning in the bottle.''

Dallas Mavs' Donnie Nelson GM Exit: How The Front Office Failed - And What's Next - Sports Illustrated Dallas Mavericks News, Analysis and More

[fifteenth]

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.

Good points, and pretty interesting conversation starter, imo. 

I don't have a problem with Nico or KP, stylistically, although I recognize that there are big differences in how they communicate. The big difference I think, is that KP has smoother annunciation and might be considered more articulate. But my opinion is that those differences don't necessarily tell us about either individual's intelligence or abilities, except for the ability to annunciate and articulate. 

In fact, I think KP's conversation skills may outpace his maturity and willingness or ability to understand and do what's best for the team (maybe). I hear the content of what Nico says (over several interviews) and think I hear things that give me hope about what's under the surface of the iceburg (and I could be wrong).  

Interestingly, Killer, I've thought about this topic before in a different conversation on this forum. We talked about Isaac Harris on Locked on Mavs one time. You weren't impressed mainly because of his manner of speech. His vocubulary isn't impressive and he has trouble spitting his words out. For some reason that doesn't bother me. I don't mind waiting for him to stumble over his words. But here's the interesting part. I think he knows basketball! I think he's basketball sharp. AND....he generally thinks like YOU do regarding basketball!!!   You and Isaac are basketball bros. It's just that you're the articulate one.

[fifteenth]

@F Gump feels that Harrison has been given the reigns, and I suppose that would represent positive progress, even if we eventually discover he's not great at it. I hope this is true, and fwiw, I obviously hope he IS great at the job.

@"fifteenth" has been saying that he thinks Nico has the reigns too. 

But @"F Gump" knows a lot more about this stuff than @"fifteenth", so it's good to have someone with better basketball knowledge and more connections say it!!!

---

The disastrous decisions to let Nash walk, tear down the title team, and not draft Giannis were solely MC, overruling his experts because he had a "better" plan. They were 100% on MC, those were all crippling blows, and by far the worst 3 decisions in the Dirk era.

Oh my goodness. It only took eleven words to bring all the wounds back to the fore. I'm gonna go cry now.

[KillerLeft]

Good points, and pretty interesting conversation starter, imo. 

I don't have a problem with Nico or KP, stylistically, although I recognize that there are big differences in how they communicate. The big difference I think, is that KP has smoother annunciation and might be considered more articulate. But my opinion is that those differences don't necessarily tell us about either individual's intelligence or abilities, except for the ability to annunciate and articulate. 

In fact, I think KP's conversation skills may outpace his maturity and willingness or ability to understand and do what's best for the team (maybe). I hear the content of what Nico says (over several interviews) and think I hear things that give me hope about what's under the surface of the iceburg (and I could be wrong).  

Interestingly, Killer, I've thought about this topic before in a different conversation on this forum. We talked about Isaac Harris on Locked on Mavs one time. You weren't impressed mainly because of his manner of speech. His vocubulary isn't impressive and he has trouble spitting his words out. For some reason that doesn't bother me. I don't mind waiting for him to stumble over his words. But here's the interesting part. I think he knows basketball! I think he's basketball sharp. AND....he generally thinks like YOU do regarding basketball!!!   You and Isaac are basketball bros. It's just that you're the articulate one.

Yeah, so what I'm saying is this:

Harrison failing to come across as articulate (perfect, succinct way of cutting to the heart of it, thanks) to me isn't concerning because I'm worried about what it might represent about the way he thinks about anything. It's concerning (slightly) because I think "articulate" is actually a necessary attribute for a GM in and of itself. Especially when that GM's previous experience is corporate in nature, or if they're an agent or something like that. In that scenario, I'd expect "articulate" to be a given, and evaluating players to be the work in progress. If he had risen through the basketball ranks, starting as a scout, for example, I might assume the opposite. 

Just one man's opinion!

[cow]

Giannis is such a bummer.  Tireless worker and loyal.  No idea if MBT could have built a contender around him and you wouldn't have gotten Luka had we drafted him, but given the option of the two, the choice is pretty obvious.

[fifteenth]

Yeah, so what I'm saying is this:

Harrison failing to come across as articulate (perfect, succinct way of cutting to the heart of it, thanks) to me isn't concerning because I'm worried about what it might represent about the way he thinks about anything. It's concerning (slightly) because I think "articulate" is actually a necessary attribute for a GM in and of itself. Especially when that GM's previous experience is corporate in nature, or if they're an agent or something like that. In that scenario, I'd expect "articulate" to be a given, and evaluating players to be the work in progress. If he had risen through the basketball ranks, starting as a scout, for example, I might assume the opposite. 

Just one man's opinion!

That makes sense. And thanks for the clarificatoin! I didn't quite catch that exact point before.

[KillerLeft]

That makes sense. And thanks for the clarificatoin! I didn't quite catch that exact point before.

I probably didn't articulate the point well enough. Good thing I'm not an NBA GM, am I right???!!!

[fifteenth]

Not sure how reliable the source, but... The other two really look like Cuban going against everyone else

And biggest of all: Owner Mark Cuban and Nelson combined on the decision to dismantle that aforementioned 2011 title team. Donnie viewed that success as "catching lightning in the bottle.''

Dallas Mavs' Donnie Nelson GM Exit: How The Front Office Failed - And What's Next - Sports Illustrated Dallas Mavericks News, Analysis and More

If you had lived through this with us, I don't think you'd question whether or not this was Mark's decision. He let us all know that he had read the new CBA, had cracked the code and that he knew exactly what to do. That time period was all about Cuban's decisoins.

[mavsluvr]

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.'

Since the question of authority to make decisions was on everyone's mind, he was repeatedly asked about that.

I guess you didn't read the rest of my answer. Which was, if he was in fact just answering a question as to whether he had the authority to make decisions incident to his job title, what else would he say than that he thinks he does?


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'm not sure we're adding any new information at this point, FG. It seems like we just interpret the situation a little differently. It seems to me that --

You believe that Cuban has gotten religion and decided to hand off control of the enterprise (subject to normal owner oversight) to a guy who is unqualified, for reasons that make sense to him. 

I don't buy it. To my mind, Cuban has been the Jerry Jones of basketball, and I don't see any evidence whatever that he is acting any more like the other 29 owners with respect to distance from granular team operations, or otherwise changed his stripes. I also don't think he's dumb enough to cede control to a guy who is clearly unqualified, but I guess that could be debated. 

However, if he indeed has turned matters over to Nico to operate unsupervised, then that doesn't make me feel any better. So, whichever way it happened, it seems to me that this organization does not appear to be headed in a great direction. I hope I'm wrong. 

No problem with the disagreement. We can have differing views, and that should lead to more interesting discussions along the way. 

Thanks for the response.

[fifteenth]

I probably didn't articulate the point well enough. Good thing I'm not an NBA GM, am I right???!!!

LOL!!! No, you're wrong for once. With astonishing clarity and rare style, you'd articulate your team straight to a dynasty!!

[KillerLeft]

Giannis is such a bummer.  Tireless worker and loyal.  No idea if MBT could have built a contender around him and you wouldn't have gotten Luka had we drafted him, but given the option of the two, the choice is pretty obvious.

Totally. Especially since the reason for trading down that year was to add only a small increase to an offer that Dwight Howard was never going to entertain, anyway.

[fifteenth]

No problem with the disagreement. We can have differing views, and that should lead to more interesting discussions along the way. 

---

Totally. Especially since the reason for trading down that year was to add only a small increase to an offer that Dwight Howard was never going to entertain, anyway.

[cow]

Totally. Especially since the reason for trading down that year was to add only a small increase to an offer that Dwight Howard was never going to entertain, anyway.

What's Shane Larkin up to anyway?

[cow]

Also, never forget.