PC Board OT thread

[Clyde Frazier]

With vivek it might be as simple as this is just a fun hobby to him, and not an actual business. Therefore he's in a fantasy land where he's just doing whatever he thinks is right from a basketball standpoint. And as e-balla just mentioned, he doesn't know basketball, so that's why these haphazard and inconsistent decisions are being made.

[Doctor MJ]

Well he doesn't have a coherent plan because he barely knows basketball. Problem is that instead of recognizing that and giving all control to someone he trusts he has multiple people in his ear.

Right and my criticism is that to me the very top CEOs are guys who don't need to be experts in a field to make the company work well because they understand what they don't understand. Realistically no one is so good that they could expect to immediately make the best NBA franchise in the league, but there are plenty good enough that they don't instantly make it the biggest joke any of us have ever seen. Like literally, every other owner including Dolan is smart enough to prevent this from happening.

[Doctor MJ]

With vivek it might be as simple as this is just a fun hobby to him, and not an actual business. Therefore he's in a fantasy land where he's just doing whatever he thinks is right from a basketball standpoint. And as e-balla just mentioned, he doesn't know basketball, so that's why these haphazard and inconsistent decisions are being made.

I don't think this makes sense given Vivek's personality. Yes this is just a fun hobby to him, but he clearly had a theory about basketball that he's shared with Malcolm "I'll swallow whatever anyone tells me as long as I can tell a story with it" Gladwell, and no one wants to look like a joke.

To me what we're seeing is a boss who is used to pushing people together who say they can't work together and getting good results with the forced fit. That can work at times, but the stuff with Divac, Oliver, and Karl doesn't work like that because they just have 3 entirely separate philosophies and there's no reason at all to think that they'd work well together. Even aside from stubbornness, it's not like an approach that splits the difference between these guys somehow smooths over weaknesses.

And of course we see the same thing with the players. Every aspect of the Kings to this point seems micro-optimized. Individuals with abilities being thrown together as if they should work well together when we know it's not that simple.

The damning thing about it though really is that it's not like basketball is simpler than the tech business. Someone with the subtlety of a rhinoceros can succeed at times in either sphere, but always it has quite a lot to do with luck.

[E-Balla]

Well he doesn't have a coherent plan because he barely knows basketball. Problem is that instead of recognizing that and giving all control to someone he trusts he has multiple people in his ear.

Right and my criticism is that to me the very top CEOs are guys who don't need to be experts in a field to make the company work well because they understand what they don't understand. Realistically no one is so good that they could expect to immediately make the best NBA franchise in the league, but there are plenty good enough that they don't instantly make it the biggest joke any of us have ever seen. Like literally, every other owner including Dolan is smart enough to prevent this from happening.

Slow down on that ever talk. Stepien brought the team in 1980, and by 81 the team coined the nickname the Cadavers and by 82 there were a ton of articles calling him one of the worst owners ever. I mean this is a guy that in 1981 said that black people were overrepresented in the NBA and made a point to keep equal numbers of white and black players on the team regardless of talent.

[Clyde Frazier]

With vivek it might be as simple as this is just a fun hobby to him, and not an actual business. Therefore he's in a fantasy land where he's just doing whatever he thinks is right from a basketball standpoint. And as e-balla just mentioned, he doesn't know basketball, so that's why these haphazard and inconsistent decisions are being made.

I don't think this makes sense given Vivek's personality. Yes this is just a fun hobby to him, but he clearly had a theory about basketball that he's shared with Malcolm "I'll swallow whatever anyone tells me as long as I can tell a story with it" Gladwell, and no one wants to look like a joke.

To me what we're seeing is a boss who is used to pushing people together who say they can't work together and getting good results with the forced fit. That can work at times, but the stuff with Divac, Oliver, and Karl doesn't work like that because they just have 3 entirely separate philosophies and there's no reason at all to think that they'd work well together. Even aside from stubbornness, it's not like an approach that splits the difference between these guys somehow smooths over weaknesses.

And of course we see the same thing with the players. Every aspect of the Kings to this point seems micro-optimized. Individuals with abilities being thrown together as if they should work well together when we know it's not that simple.

The damning thing about it though really is that it's not like basketball is simpler than the tech business. Someone with the subtlety of a rhinoceros can succeed at times in either sphere, but always it has quite a lot to do with luck.

Of course he doesn't want to look like a joke, but it became clear early on that the guy is fairly stubborn, and seems to be falling back on his past success as a businessman to justify it.

He knows he has a very talented player in cousins, but doesn't want to feel like he's running the show, so he gets rid of malone. That was a flat out bad move, and everyone knew it at the time. It screamed "i'm the owner, i can do whatever i want." Then that transitioned into "I like these big names (karl, gay, rondo, etc.), and i want them part of my team, so let's grab em and figure out how it works later."

I never thought another owner could start rivaling dolan's longtime incompetence so quickly out of the gate, but vivek's doing a fine job at it.

[Texas Chuck]

Well I'm finally getting around to going to see the Dirk documentary tonight(hopefully). Last 2 times I had found time to go, something came up and I couldn't go. I don't know if any of you have seen yet--I believe its on itunes? But I want to see it on the big screen and one of our local theaters is showing it.

[lorak]

Totally off topic, but I think it's important to know history: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lu3xMj0HfQ[/youtube]

[penbeast0]

Hilarious presentation Lorak. I may use it in a class, lol.

[bondom34]

That was excellent lorak ! The more you know.

Also, Chuck, need a movie review.

[Texas Chuck]

Also, Chuck, need a movie review.

TLDR;

Spoiler:

First as a huge Dirk guy, I loved it. I was impressed by how well it was done--high production quality etc....

Some highlights for me:

So some German Olympic official prior to the 1936 Berlin Games went over to discuss basketball with Dr. James Naismith as this was the first time basketball was going to be an Olympic sport. He ended up spending some fairly significant time with Naismith and came back to Germany obsessed with basketball. Later this same official was Holger's high school basketball coach.

So Dirk's guru is only one guy removed from the inventor of the sport. What a crazy direct line and I can't believe I had never heard this detail before. Also when Holger was young, he went to try out for some local German basketball club(2nd division I believe they said) and after some practices they weren't sure if he should make the team so they put him in a game to see how he'd do and he promptly scored 100 points. There was this American guy playing on that team who used to drive Holger home and they'd stop and drink beer and talk basketball and he was the guy who gave Holger the idea that basketball is jazz. Then they showed footage of old training camps Holger was running and that guy was there playing the sax while players were dribbling and dancing at the same time--it was hilarious.

The movie was almost as much about Holger as Dirk which was really interesting. He is not exactly a beloved figure in Germany. His methods were not approved by the National Team, but obviously with him training Dirk(and other members of the team) they kinda had to put up with him. He had his big tax scandal where he just stopped filing taxes--and they refused to believe he wasn't getting a cut of Dirk's money.

So I knew Dirk's wife was gorgeous, but man what a cool lady she seems like. Just down to earth and funny and smart. Considering he almost married that con artist what a trade up for Dirk. His parents are pretty funny too. Everybody was getting in their shots at Dirk.

The player commentary was provided by Michael Finley, Jason Kidd, Kobe, and Yao Ming. I knew he and Kobe have tons of mutual respect, but I was most interested in what Yao had to say. He touched on the additional difficulties and pressures for a foreign guy coming to the NBA which was interesting. Obviously a much bigger issue for Yao than Dirk. I would really love to hear Yao talk basketball more if someone knows if thats out there somewhere. He came across very insightful on a number of topics.

Not a lot of other stuff in the movie I wasn't already really familiar with but I feel like they did a great job of capturing who Dirk is. Both in terms of his drive and work ethic, but also how down to earth he is, and his goofy sense of humor. Cool story I had seen before, but still pretty great--he's at some high level conference including a former chancellor of Germany who is talking to Dirk and asking him how long he had left to play and when Dirk told him only a couple more years, he started giving Dirk advice about finding a post-NBA career to provide for his family so Dirk makes up this story about taking business classes. Then it cuts to a scene of Dirk in an elevator giggling that he lied to him rather than tell him how well he was doing financially.

Movie spent a decent amount of time talking about the European stereotypes Dirk had to fight against in terms of "soft" and not able to lead a team to the championship etc. Obviously this was a pro-Dirk movie so they overlaid much of that over the footage of his teeth getting knocked out against the Jazz in the playoffs and racing back onto the court with bloody mouth to lead the team to the series win.

Things that got very little or no mention that surprised me: The one-legged fade, nothing about how Dirk used to sing Hassolhof songs at the FT line, Steve Nash was almost non-existent and their relationship not mentioned at all, they did show him carrying the German flag at the Olympics, but nothing else really showing Dirk with the National Team which I know was really important to Dirk.

But I really enjoyed it and I would recommend it to anyone interested in Dirk to get it on itunes and watch it.

[SactoKingsFan]

Tom Brady reminds me today of what Roger Staubach was in the 1970's.....Thoughts

How does Brady remind you of Staubach?

[mdonnelly1989]

Tom Brady reminds me today of what Roger Staubach was in the 1970's.....Thoughts

How does Brady remind you of Staubach?

Doesn't have the strongest arm but knows how to run an offense to the T and they know how to lead their team in clutch moments.

[Texas Chuck]

Tom Brady reminds me today of what Roger Staubach was in the 1970's.....Thoughts

How does Brady remind you of Staubach?

Doesn't have the strongest arm but knows how to run an offense to the T and they know how to lead their team in clutch moments.

yeah I was wondering this too because their actual games couldn't be much more different.

[mdonnelly1989]

How does Brady remind you of Staubach?

Doesn't have the strongest arm but knows how to run an offense to the T and they know how to lead their team in clutch moments.

yeah I was wondering this too because their actual games couldn't be much more different.

When comparing ERA's can you think of anyone in that ERA close to Peyton Manning? Of Course not, all QB's all Styles are different. They all have a distinct difference.

But if you look at someone like Brett Favre in terms of gun slinging someone like Dan Marino is pretty similar QB. They may have the best throwing arms ever. Does that make them the greatest QB's though? Nope.

I'll take Staubach who was less known for his throwing arm and more known for running an effective offense and being able to lead his team in clutch moments. Much like Brady.

Now it's not that Favre and Marino couldn't run an offense and also on the flip side Brady's arm is weak. It just means that they did great things in a different way.

Personally I'll take a guy like Staubach, Montana and Brady over guys like Favre, Marino and Elway. That's just be personal bias.

[Texas Chuck]

you don't have sell a Dallas guy on Captain America... I just entered sports consciousness right at the tail end of his career. Love Roger Staubach.

[Quotatious]

When comparing ERA's can you think of anyone in that ERA close to Peyton Manning? Of Course not, all QB's all Styles are different. They all have a distinct difference.

But if you look at someone like Brett Favre in terms of gun slinging someone like Dan Marino is pretty similar QB. They may have the best throwing arms ever. Does that make them the greatest QB's though? Nope.

I'll take Staubach who was less known for his throwing arm and more known for running an effective offense and being able to lead his team in clutch moments. Much like Brady.

Now it's not that Favre and Marino couldn't run an offense and also on the flip side Brady's arm is weak. It just means that they did great things in a different way.

Personally I'll take a guy like Staubach, Montana and Brady over guys like Favre, Marino and Elway. That's just be personal bias.

Hey man, enable your private messages if you want answers for your questions.

[mdonnelly1989]

When comparing ERA's can you think of anyone in that ERA close to Peyton Manning? Of Course not, all QB's all Styles are different. They all have a distinct difference.

But if you look at someone like Brett Favre in terms of gun slinging someone like Dan Marino is pretty similar QB. They may have the best throwing arms ever. Does that make them the greatest QB's though? Nope.

I'll take Staubach who was less known for his throwing arm and more known for running an effective offense and being able to lead his team in clutch moments. Much like Brady.

Now it's not that Favre and Marino couldn't run an offense and also on the flip side Brady's arm is weak. It just means that they did great things in a different way.

Personally I'll take a guy like Staubach, Montana and Brady over guys like Favre, Marino and Elway. That's just be personal bias.

Hey man, enable your private messages if you want answers for your questions.

How do I do this?

[Quotatious]

How do I do this?

Click on your username (to the right of the Player Comparisons board index, or actually more like to the right of your Notifications), click on "preferences", then in the "User Control Panel" click "Board preferences" and you'll see "Allow users to send you private messages" - click "Yes" and then "submit" below.

[mdonnelly1989]

How do I do this?

Click on your username (to the right of the Player Comparisons board index, or actually more like to the right of your Notifications), click on "preferences", then in the "User Control Panel" click "Board preferences" and you'll see "Allow users to send you private messages" - click "Yes" and then "submit" below.

Awesome thanks..

Done.

[RSCD3_]

Anyone know how to deal with bosses who try to guilt trip you into dropping everything and working unscheduled hours.