04/18/24
February 19, 2020
SportsFilter: The Wednesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
I did not know that Beilein was no longer coaching the Cavs. Did he lose the lockerroom after his gaffe a month or two ago?
posted by NoMich at 10:50 AM on February 19, 2020
He lost the locker room much earlier than that. He was trying to coach NBA players like they were young college kids, and it wasn't working at all.
posted by grum@work at 10:55 AM on February 19, 2020
Overall, I think Bickerstaff makes it 7 coaches in 7 years, with a championship trophy right smack in the middle of it. Instability-fueled triumph was the theme of the day in 2016.
As the Cavaliers have regressed, virtual time as measured by debt processing has sped up exponentially in Cleveland with the team's facility name change from Quicken Loans Arena to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
posted by beaverboard at 11:03 AM on February 19, 2020
He lost the locker room much earlier than that. He was trying to coach NBA players like they were young college kids, and it wasn't working at all.
Wow. He had a good thing going with Michigan, parlayed that into an NBA gig, and now he has none of the above.
posted by NoMich at 11:11 AM on February 19, 2020
I think Bickerstaff makes it 7 coaches in 7 years
Yup.
| Regu | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Coach | From | To |
Yrs | G |
| 1 | John Beilein | 2020 | 2020 | 1 | 54 |
| 2 | Larry Drew | 2019 | 2019 | 1 | 76 |
| 3 | Tyronn Lue | 2016 | 2019 | 4 | 211 |
| 4 | David Blatt | 2015 | 2016 | 2 | 123 |
| 5 | Mike Brown | 2006 | 2014 | 6 | 492 |
| 6 | Byron Scott | 2011 | 2013 | 3 | 230 |
posted by grum@work at 11:21 AM on February 19, 2020
So called pundits have already been frantically trying to predict where Beilein will land when he returns to the college game.
It's just a matter of time before his name gets linked to Tom Brady's free agency on a froth factor basis.
If Beilein's severance from the Cavs is adequate, he should take time off and not be in a hurry to pick a college program to lead. If he wants back in the Big 10 his timing is pretty good, as the conference is currently a bit upside down, with Maryland and PSU up top and typically strong schools like UM and OSU at mid pack or below.
The Pitino move would be to go after the OSU job so he could feel the love every time he went back to Ann Arbor. And so he could torment Cleveland fans visiting Columbus.
posted by beaverboard at 02:35 PM on February 19, 2020
At the time of Bellein's hiring in Cleveland, ESPN published an article praising the hiring. Accompanying the article was a list of college coaches who had made the move and how they have fared. This the link. What is the difference between those who succeed and those who fail? I believe it's a combination of the character of the coach and the circumstances into which he enters, with character having the most weight. Contrast Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino and their results in Boston. It makes for an interesting discussion. One consideration might be how Stevens might have fared had he encountered the Kyrie Irving dilemma in his first year.
posted by Howard_T at 02:57 PM on February 19, 2020
An edit to the above. I misused the word "character". What I mean is coaching philosophy and ability to communicate with players and management.
posted by Howard_T at 05:25 PM on February 19, 2020
I don't blame Beilein for wanting to give coaching pro ball a shot, and I don't really blame the Cavs for taking a shot on him, but I didn't think his coaching style was the type to translate to the NBA, and there are a lot of good college coaches who fit that description. I'd think that guys that generally depend on teaching solid fundamentals and rely on developing players over the course of their college careers would have a hard time making the jump. Like Izzo, who's pretty loathe to play freshmen too much no matter how highly touted they are, or Bennett - can you imagine him trying to institute the pack line in the NBA, much less the ultra-slow and methodical offense he runs?
posted by LionIndex at 05:57 PM on February 19, 2020
Most top college coaches have certain styles of play and systems they depend on. They recruit players they think will fit those systems and work hard on developing their skills to achieve success.
The NBA is a different animal. It's largely about being able to mix and manage egos. I would suggest that a college coach from a one and done factory would be a better fit. These folks don't really develop talent to any extent and do focus most of their time getting players to simply mesh together.
To a certain extent Stevens is an exception to this. But as mentioned above he didn't have to deal with Irving and now has the luxury of a selfless on court leader with Walker.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:33 AM on February 20, 2020
posted by NoMich at 11:39 AM on February 20, 2020
"Slugs"?! Are you kidding?!
For the love of god, man, nobody's going to buy that shit. At least come up with "I used the word. I didn't realize that it is considered racially loaded. That's not what I meant. Sorry"
posted by tahoemoj at 12:47 PM on February 20, 2020
Wonder if there's a prior case in the NBA where the two teams that recently met in the Finals became the two worst teams in the league as quickly as the Warriors and Cavs.
posted by beaverboard at 01:02 PM on February 20, 2020
The closest situation I found, the 74-75 ABA finals saw the Kentucky Colonels beating the Indiana Pacers. Two years later the Pacers finished 9th out of 11 in their conference and the Colonels no longer existed.
posted by tron7 at 02:41 PM on February 20, 2020
I did not know this, but NC State had John Beilein pretty much signed and ready to go until someone at the school saw that they had overlooked the amount of money that they would have to pay to cover Beilein's buyout at the other school he was at. Deal was called off. I think State was then stuck with Mark Gottfried.
posted by NoMich at 04:01 PM on February 20, 2020
Two years later the Pacers finished 9th out of 11 in their conference and the Colonels no longer existed.
Maybe the collegiate version is poor old UNC, a #1 seed in the tournament last year and currently in the ACC cellar with a 3-12 conference record. Oh, the woe and widespread anguish over their fate. NoMich is going to have to stop sticking pins into the Matt Doherty doll that he keeps in his corner voodoo shrine.
posted by beaverboard at 06:49 PM on February 20, 2020
HA! I'm not aloud to be an overt Carolina hater at home. My wife and her stepfather are alums of the fine university. Although, the stepfather probably has many, many Matt Doherty dolls filled with pins in his special Tar Heels room at home.
Now Dook, on the other hand...
posted by NoMich at 08:42 PM on February 20, 2020
You can't hate the Blue Devils. They're Dick Vitale's favorite team.
posted by beaverboard at 12:50 AM on February 21, 2020
You can't hate the Blue Devils. They're Dick Vitale's favorite team.
Oh yes you can. And Dick only really likes Duke because he's old and has trouble following the quickness of the game. He prefers to watch a team that scores 50% of it's points from the free throw line where he can figure out what is happening out there.
posted by cixelsyd at 10:15 AM on February 21, 2020
When Vitale lost his voice and Limbaugh lost his hearing, I was able to convince a couple of agnostics that there really is a God.
posted by beaverboard at 01:56 PM on February 21, 2020
On Friday, February 21st 2020, the Cleveland Cavaliers will play a game with their fourth different head coach since October 27th, 2018.
October 27, 2018 - Tyron Lue (fired)
October 28, 2018 to April 11, 2019 - Larry Drew (mutually part ways)
October 23, 2019 to February 12, 2020 - John Beilein (mutually part ways)
February 21, 2020 - JB Bickerstaff (his third time as interim head coach, each for a different team)
That's four head coaches over the span of 132 games.