IZTOK DIAGNOSES DECLINE OF MAVS OFFENSE

[WildArkieBoy]

DallasMaverick
Do the best-structured organizations always yield the best results? No.  Do the smartest people always make the best decisions?  No.  Sometimes, it's pure, blind luck, like in A Random Walk down Wall Street.  Sometimes the complexity of relationships and personalities can't be quantified.  If it could, we'd reduce winning to a simple set of steps, a nice formula that yields repeatable results.  Life isn't like that.

The above rationalization could be used to minimize the need for expertise in any situation.  To be sure, dart boards have a bulls eye that CAN be hit on the first throw.  My amateurish view of the Nico hire is that it was heavily weighted toward improving the culture, while ignoring or minimizing expertise, experience, track record, scouting, X's and O's, etc. Hopefully, next time the pendulum swings, it will be a shorter radius.

[mavsluvr]

All we are is dust in the wind...

I think we should consider a dedicated thread for nihilist takes. Maybe with requiem masses and melancholy tunes playing in the background. 

We could probably come up with something quite beautiful. Perhaps we could name it "No Country for the Faint of Heart," for warning purposes. 

I hear Peter, Paul and Mary now. 

"Where have all the soidiers gone, long time ago,
Gone to graveyards, every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they EV-ER learn?"

[michaeltex]

DallasMaverick
Do the best-structured organizations always yield the best results? No.  Do the smartest people always make the best decisions?  No.  Sometimes, it's pure, blind luck, like in A Random Walk down Wall Street.  Sometimes the complexity of relationships and personalities can't be quantified.  If it could, we'd reduce winning to a simple set of steps, a nice formula that yields repeatable results.  Life isn't like that.

The above rationalization could be used to minimize the need for expertise in any situation.  To be sure, dart boards have a bulls eye that CAN be hit on the first throw.  My amateurish view of the Nico hire is that it was heavily weighted toward improving the culture, while ignoring or minimizing expertise, experience, track record, scouting, X's and O's, etc. Hopefully, next time the pendulum swings, it will be a shorter radius.

My take is that this is a team effort and Nico is not an island. 

As GM he should be tasked with evaluating and leading a team to effectively address all of the major functions of team management like Cap Space, Player Performance, Player Development, Talent Identification and Acquisition, Backoffice Staffing, etc. To expect him, as an individual, to exhibit top performance skills in these areas is unrealistic, as it would be for any GM candidate. Sure, Nico will get credit or criticism according to results, but his main contribution should be to insuring those responsible for a subject area are skilled and empowered. If an area is underperforming (e.g., Draft evaluations) then the requirements for improving results are his responsibility to address. 

Outside of coaching staff moves, I don't hear much about team staffing changes, so I don't know if anything has been done internally or if it's just swapping Nico's name for Donnie's on the door and business as usual. But I bet most here don't know much about this area either.

[Kammrath]

My take is that this is a team effort and Nico is not an island. 

As GM he should be tasked with evaluating and leading a team to effectively address all of the major functions of team management like Cap Space, Player Performance, Player Development, Talent Identification and Acquisition, Backoffice Staffing, etc. To expect him, as an individual, to exhibit top performance skills in these areas is unrealistic, as it would be for any GM candidate. Sure, Nico will get credit or criticism according to results, but his main contribution should be to insuring those responsible for a subject area are skilled and empowered. If an area is underperforming (e.g., Draft evaluations) then the requirements for improving results are his responsibility to address. 

SO MUCH THIS.

Nico needs to be a good LEADER and MANAGER of talented/skilled folks more than anything else. If he hires, oversees, and manages in the right way then he will be a GREAT GM even if he doesn't have the skills himself.

[mavsluvr]

I hope [Nico] works out. But I am not optimistic he will be an expert overnight, or anytime soon, (or maybe ever), because it's a highly competitive game and his competition has the benefit of years of learning the game and doing it. In addition, who's the expert in Dallas to teach him what it takes to be an expert GM? Isn't it going to be "the blind leading the blind" as he tries to learn how to catch up to the other 29 GMs?

Yep. That seems to be a realistic possibility.

[omahen]

When your organization is exposed as Mavs were there is only one way to clean up the mess. You hire someone who is beyond doubt. Mavs didn't even consider doing so (at least it didn't looks so). This tells me everything.

[mavsluvr]

My take is that this is a team effort and Nico is not an island. 

As GM he should be tasked with evaluating and leading a team to effectively address all of the major functions of team management like Cap Space, Player Performance, Player Development, Talent Identification and Acquisition, Backoffice Staffing, etc. To expect him, as an individual, to exhibit top performance skills in these areas is unrealistic, as it would be for any GM candidate. Sure, Nico will get credit or criticism according to results, but his main contribution should be to insuring those responsible for a subject area are skilled and empowered. If an area is underperforming (e.g., Draft evaluations) then the requirements for improving results are his responsibility to address. 

Outside of coaching staff moves, I don't hear much about team staffing changes, so I don't know if anything has been done internally or if it's just swapping Nico's name for Donnie's on the door and business as usual. But I bet most here don't know much about this area either.

The above is a good description of a corporate executive's job. The president doesn't have to be able to outperform his subordinates at their jobs, or in many cases, doesn't even have to be able to do their job. But he has be able to evaluate his subordinates properly, and also has to be good at keeping tabs on both overall performance and subparts of that, and understand the proper adjustments to make along the way. 

There is an aphorism that warns against getting into a business you don't know anything about. The thing is, you have to have a certain amount of knowledge and experience to be able to take on a leadership role. We are so accustomed to the Mavs' dilettante management, that we have seemed to accept the premise that General Manager and Team President are jobs that any good ol' boy can perform. Being an executive at a company that recruits players to sell shoes doesn't give you the knowledge/experience to run a professional basketball team.

There are a number of possibilities as to what is going on. Maybe Nico is actually a closet whiz who will spring his genius on us when the league least expects it. Or, maybe it doesn't matter whether he understands the business as a whole, because Cuban mostly only wants him to handle interfacing with others. Cubes wouldn't be the first business owner to pay someone else to do the people-skills stuff.

Whatever it is, it seems like not handing him the keys to the castle at this point sadly makes some sense.

[chaparral]

Nico told the whole NBA world last night he is still OJT six months after being hired.  And that it is going to take him (his team) longer to evaluate the players they have due to Kidd's new system and player injuries.  To me - that was/is a big red flag.  

And we still don't know if OJT Nico is the chicken or the egg.  All we know is that it was a package deal.  Did Kidd recommend Nico or vice versa.  I'm sorry, I did not get a good feeling from that interview last night.

And why didn't Followell ask him about the Kyre for KP report that Cuban was so quick to shot down?

[mavsluvr]

And why didn't Followell ask him about the Kyre for KP report that Cuban was so quick to shot down?

Come on, man. Followill knows better than to ask a question like that.

[F Gump]

Whatever it is, it seems like not handing him the keys to the castle at this point sadly makes some sense.

That is the case, if you don't believe Nico was really made the decision-maker. But based on what I have seen to date, I think he was hired to take the reins, and has done so.

I agree that looks like a very questionable decision, given his lack of personal expertise for the job. But I think that was the deal he negotiated for and received - "If you want to hire me, I will be the one to exert the authority and make the decisions that go with such a position."

[mavsluvr]

That is the case, if you don't believe Nico was really made the decision-maker. But based on what I have seen to date, I think he was hired to take the reins, and has done so.

I agree that looks like a very questionable decision, given his lack of personal expertise for the job. But I think that was the deal he negotiated for and received - "If you want to hire me, I will be the one to exert the authority and make the decisions that go with such a position."

Maybe. 

With due respect to Nico, I don't think he had the stature and gravitas to be imposing power conditions wrt a job he had never done before. 

Actually, I can find a way to believe that giving Nico partial reins could have been a rational decision by Cubes, despite Nico's lack of qualifications. "We need to hire someone in a hurry, and for what I need him to do, he'll be fine."

[F Gump]

Maybe. 

With due respect to Nico, I don't think he had the stature and gravitas to be imposing power conditions wrt a job he had never done before. 

Actually, I can find a way to believe that giving Nico partial reins could have been a rational decision by Cubes, despite Nico's lack of qualifications. "We need to hire someone in a hurry, and for what I need him to do, he'll be fine."

When you are saying the Mavs should not have given the reins to someone like that, I certainly agree with you. Nico did not have "the stature and gravitas" as a GM to make demands. The Mavs needed someone who would already KNOW how to do the job expertly, or near that, not learn it over time in the Mavs offices.

But (1) Cuban would argue otherwise as to Nico's degree of qualifications for the job, and (2) the negotiation was what it was, not necessarily as it "should have."

Most importantly, based on how all the parties described it, [typo edited] Cuban, not Nico, was the one pursuing "Nico as GM" --- Cuban wanted the deal the most. That gave Nico control, justified or not, to set terms and conditions, even though Nico was not bringing any GM expertise whatsoever to the table. Plus, Nico has said explicitly that he made it a condition that he would make the GM-ing decisions, so there's that. No one has said otherwise.

Cuban's weakness as a negotiator cannot be denied, and there's no reason to think this was any different.

IMO This was classic Cuban style - to try to discover an answer no one else would have considered. Less expensive hire, perhaps, given the lack of a track record. But once he was set on having to have Nico be the hire, then Nico could define parameters, which it has always sounded like he did.

[KillerLeft]

IMO This was classic Cuban style - to try to discover an answer no one else would have considered. Less expensive hire, perhaps, given the lack of a track record. But once he was set on having to have Nico be the hire, then Nico could define parameters, which it has always sounded like he did.

This is an interesting perspective. I hadn't thought of it in quite this way, really, and it makes some sense.

How do you reconcile that awkward moment during the original presser when Cuban said (paraphrasing) that of course, everyone for the Mavs works for him, and that he'll always be the one in charge. After the rant, he turned to Harrison for support, and Harrison awkwardly said something like "makes sense to me!"

[mavsluvr]

When you are saying the Mavs should not have given the reins to someone like that, I certainly agree with you. Nico did not have "the stature and gravitas" as a GM to make demands. The Mavs needed someone who would already KNOW how to do the job expertly, or near that, not learn it over time in the Mavs offices.

But (1) Cuban would argue otherwise as to Nico's degree of qualifications for the job, and (2) the negotiation was what it was, not necessarily as it "should have."

Most importantly, based on how all the parties described it, Nico, not Cuban, was the one pursuing "Nico as GM" --- Cuban wanted the deal the most.

Sorry, I don't get it. If it was Nico, and not Cuban, who was the one pursuing the Nico as GM position, how would that have given Nico control?

That gave Nico control, justified or not, to set terms and conditions, even though Nico was not bringing any GM expertise whatsoever to the table. Plus, Nico has said explicitly that he made it a condition that he would make the GM-ing decisions, so there's that. 
When did he say that? I have only heard him say that Cuban is in charge. 

No one has said otherwise. Well, unless you consider Nico himself saying that he works for Cuban and Cuban is in charge such a statement. 

Cuban's weakness as a negotiator cannot be denied, and there's no reason to think this was any different.

I'm not sure where we're getting these ultimatums by Nico that he won't take the position unless he makes all the decisions. Do you have a reference? Everything I have heard him say, including last night's interview, was very self-effacing -- emphasizing there is a lot he doesn't know, and he's not in a position to be making decisions yet. 

IMO This was classic Cuban style - to try to discover an answer no one else would have considered. Less expensive hire, perhaps, given the lack of a track record. But once he was set on having to have Nico be the hire, then Nico could define parameters, which it has always sounded like he did.

I get the Cuban tendency to go some contrarian route and claim to be the smartest guy in the room. But it would be VERY unlike Cuban to surrender control of his business to a guy who doesn't know anything -- even to a guy who does, for that matter. 

I haven't seen anything to indicate that Nico is rampaging through the organization making decisions without regard to Cuban. Maybe I have missed it. If you know of such, spill!

[WildArkieBoy]

Should we view the decision to rest and rejuvenate Luka as Nico's first observable GM move?

[mavsluvr]

Should we view the decision to rest and rejuvenate Luka as Nico's first observable GM move?

I would imagine the medical staff had a lot to do with it, but I suppose we could choose to see it as Nico's move, if we so desire. 

Do you recommend that route?

[WildArkieBoy]

I would imagine the medical staff had a lot to do with it, but I suppose we could choose to see it as Nico's move, if we so desire. 

Do you recommend that route?

just trying to detect smoke from a volcano considered inactive

[fifteenth]

We are so accustomed to the Mavs' dilettante management, that we have seemed to accept the premise that General Manager and Team President are jobs that any good ol' boy can perform.

Haven't been around for a couple of days. Since I may have been the first person recently who was in this discussion with you, I just want to say that I don't believe the above at all.

[mavsluvr]

just trying to detect smoke from a volcano considered inactive

LOLOL

[mavsluvr]

We are so accustomed to the Mavs' dilettante management, that we have seemed to accept the premise that General Manager and Team President are jobs that any good ol' boy can perform.


Haven't been around for a couple of days. Since I may have been the first person recently who was in this discussion with you, I just want to say that I don't believe the above at all.

Fif, if you don't believe it, then neither do I. We stand as brothers, resolute against the madding crowd.