ImageImageImageImage

OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today)

Moderators: UCF, Knightro, Howard Mass, UCFJayBird, Def Swami, ChosenSavior, SOUL

Nyce_1
RealGM
Posts: 12,678
And1: 5,970
Joined: Jun 29, 2009
Location: Tampa
 

OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#1 » by Nyce_1 » Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:43 pm

Q: Why are you sitting on your deck right now while Dwight Howard is in L.A.?

A: Two separate questions. I think Dwight had decided before last season started — maybe even before then — that he was going to leave Orlando.

Q: Do you think he really knew what he wanted?

A: I think he might have known. He had a great fondness for Orlando, the fans and the way people treated him. I think he might've wanted a different environment, a big city. He's a young guy and I think he was conflicted. It was hard for him. Dwight doesn't like to disappoint people. That's one of things that sort of clouded the situation and made it as messy as it was. He's not the kind of guy to just say, "I want the hell out of here.''

With me, the situation wasn't good for our team. There was a lot of speculation, first about (Howard possibly) leaving. As a team, our guys dealt with it well. Before he got hurt, we had one of the top five or six records in the league. The distractions kept amping. The story got out that Dwight asked for me to be fired. Before the All-Star break, ESPN reported that the Magic had told Dwight that, at the end of the season, he could decide whether (general manager) Otis (Smith) and I came back.

I had some real disagreements with (Magic CEO) Alex Martins. Otis and I were on the same page and I didn't have any problems with Dwight. I had problems with how our organization approached the situation, how they decided to cater to (Howard) in ways that I thought were counter-productive for our team.

I thought we should have dealt with some of the rumors (about his coaching future). I made it known that it wasn't a matter of my fate. They could have ended all the speculation and fired me right then — I said that to them. That stops the speculation and gets you back to basketball. They wouldn't do anything about it.

Q: What's your theory?

A: If they fire me at that point, my guess is two things would have happened: Dwight becomes the bad guy, which they didn't want (because they wanted to re-sign him). And/or they look like they're taking their marching orders from him.

I was convinced during the process — and I'm not saying it shouldn't have been — was (the Magic's) concern was keeping Dwight Howard in Orlando. That was a very, very important thing. But it was at odds with my concern, which was our team. It can't be just one guy. We have 12 other guys. This detracted from us being the best we could be. It needed to be dealt with.

When I (publicly) confirmed what I knew that (Howard) had asked for me to be fired, I thought, "The story dies." We didn't get to find out because Dwight played only two more games.

I've been asked if I had any regrets about what I said. My only regret was that I didn't bring things to a head a lot earlier. If you're going to coach, your responsibility is to do the best for your team. I presented (management) with the option of getting rid of me. I wasn't trying to save my job. When I (publicly) confirmed Dwight (tried to fire him), I knew it wasn't the best move for me to keep my job. But if you're going to coach just to keep your job, you're not going to be very good.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nb ... d/1852415/


A VERY GOOD read. Click the link to read more.
User avatar
tiderulz
RealGM
Posts: 35,502
And1: 14,075
Joined: Jun 16, 2010
Location: Atlanta
 

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#2 » by tiderulz » Tue Jan 22, 2013 4:05 pm

just from those excerpts, SVG still doesnt understand that Star player trumps coach 99.9% of the time. Of course a franchise is going to cater to the star.

And I never believed that Otis and Stan were on the same page. Unless Stan really wanted the 4 shooters out, Dwight inside offense. Everyone said that Stan did that because that is the players Otis gave him. But if they were on the same page, than that is what Stan asked for. And Stan being a defense 1st guy, and Otis trading away defensive players, that doesnt sound like the same page.
Orium
Assistant Coach
Posts: 4,007
And1: 349
Joined: Oct 08, 2003

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#3 » by Orium » Tue Jan 22, 2013 4:56 pm

Still a lot of truth in his words, still a lot of song & dance around the "Dwight wants me fired" fiasco and failing to take responsibility.

When I (publicly) confirmed what I knew that (Howard) had asked for me to be fired, I thought, "The story dies." We didn't get to find out because Dwight played only two more games.


Really Stan? You thought the story would die after that comment? You were airing out your frustration/grievances publicly and it hurt the team. He still won't come to terms with this.

This whole saga has pretty much reached its conclusion with both sides finding a nice comfortable spot with which to save themselves enough face. Lets move on.
The curse of Fran Vasquez lives on
Hon-essim
Sixth Man
Posts: 1,690
And1: 1
Joined: Feb 07, 2009

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#4 » by Hon-essim » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:06 pm

tiderulz wrote:just from those excerpts, SVG still doesnt understand that Star player trumps coach 99.9% of the time. Of course a franchise is going to cater to the star.

And I never believed that Otis and Stan were on the same page. Unless Stan really wanted the 4 shooters out, Dwight inside offense. Everyone said that Stan did that because that is the players Otis gave him. But if they were on the same page, than that is what Stan asked for. And Stan being a defense 1st guy, and Otis trading away defensive players, that doesnt sound like the same page.


That's just a myth. It's like saying Hollywood caters to the star. They do, just not in the way where the star ends up being their downfall. They work a show around the star, the star is catered to by looking good, the star wins, the star feels good, the showbiz business keeps the star and the star gets all the credit while an entire team work endlessly on the backend in a cutthroat business where looking good and having an agent can't shoot you up to the spotlight.

If the star fails to deliver, that catering ends there. You massage the ego of your star as much as possible, get as much value you can out of him and then drop him off like a fly. This either humbles the star or the star turns cancer turning a good trade into a great trade.

So far as Otis and Stan went, they were both on the same page during the VC trade. Stan has also commented that Otis gave him a lot of leeway to hire his staff and their communications paralleled two GMs.

The problem is the same with Dwight in this case. Otis gave Stan the same treatment as Dwight. Dwight feels Otis is being his friend. Stan feels most of Otis' decisions came through with his approval even if the most likely scenario was Otis simply handing Stan a list where he would approve certain trades or not.

In that kind of environment, Otis was not giving Stan the players he wanted. We know that. He knows that.

Same with the interview, however, Otis convinced Stan of the process. Otis could tell Stan they had to do this trade because there were no other options and Stan's say would not be very good in that area because he's not a GM so his approval is tantamount to him thinking "I can make Jason Richardson play even better once he's on the team."
Gerhalt11 wrote:What? He produces better results than he should? Fire that guy!

No coach. No GM. Probably no star. I swear, in my 23 years of following this team, I can't name a stranger time than this moment to be a supporter of the Magic.
dsg2021
Analyst
Posts: 3,361
And1: 1,026
Joined: Jul 07, 2009
   

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#5 » by dsg2021 » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:31 pm

I think SVG had Otis' back is what he's mainly trying to portray. It's a poor point because Otis was the main culprit in this fiasco of a failing Magic team to most of us but Otis was a real stand up guy who handled things straightforward and did a lot of good in his tenure overall. I can respect SVG for not wailing on Otis but for all this post-Dwight talk of being on the same page as Otis, he was two or three pages behind if you gather all his bitchy sound bites on the roster and players he has are all he has to work with. There was a slow reaction time by the Magic FO understandibly because you look at Otis' Magic GM tenure and pretty much the whole tenure outside of his last two seasons or so as GM it would be rated overall as a B grade which with some small market resources like a poorer draft HQ team than now after the revamp, is a very solid job in building around Dwight. But Dwight had his Big FA coming and both he and SVG saw this team getting softer. Otis did not play it right and it was a critical stretch.

He had the Jameer/Turk/Dwight core growing, added Lewis as another core piece. Drafted JJ, CLee, Gortat. Signed Pietrus, Bass, Barnes, AJ. Traded for Alston and Ryan. That's good managing (if VC was used as an expiring later).
I think it fell apart when Dwight realized how bad the VC and J Rich trades were. It was the final nail to make Dwight leave. And the problem with it all was, we had high efficiency players like Ryan, JJ, Barnes etc. who would've kept this team very competitive if Otis or a quick GM transition had planned around a FA instead of making panic trades like J Rich and Arenas. The knowledge that CP3 and Deron could've gone to a Max deal with Dwight never realized itself and a trade package of Gortat, quality players like JJ/Ryan/Bass, and multiple picks (a la Nash-LAL trade) would've stood just as good in getting any big star on the block who wasn't an over the hill guard. It was poor versatility in managing because showing Dwight a FA type strategy could've swayed him from Otis' poor tenure in the last couple seasons. And it was also way too clever to think Dwight might've been doing it all just to change his FO team and coach (because Hennigan really tried to pitch him on staying with a basketball FO that had like literally only one or two lower level Otis-era employees left), nor could the new FO and coach change his mind at least, he was just too set already to leave to BK or La/Dal.
User avatar
grayson11
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,423
And1: 58
Joined: Nov 24, 2006
   

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#6 » by grayson11 » Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:34 pm

Hon-essim wrote:
tiderulz wrote:just from those excerpts, SVG still doesnt understand that Star player trumps coach 99.9% of the time. Of course a franchise is going to cater to the star.

And I never believed that Otis and Stan were on the same page. Unless Stan really wanted the 4 shooters out, Dwight inside offense. Everyone said that Stan did that because that is the players Otis gave him. But if they were on the same page, than that is what Stan asked for. And Stan being a defense 1st guy, and Otis trading away defensive players, that doesnt sound like the same page.


That's just a myth. It's like saying Hollywood caters to the star. They do, just not in the way where the star ends up being their downfall. They work a show around the star, the star is catered to by looking good, the star wins, the star feels good, the showbiz business keeps the star and the star gets all the credit while an entire team work endlessly on the backend in a cutthroat business where looking good and having an agent can't shoot you up to the spotlight.

If the star fails to deliver, that catering ends there. You massage the ego of your star as much as possible, get as much value you can out of him and then drop him off like a fly. This either humbles the star or the star turns cancer turning a good trade into a great trade.

So far as Otis and Stan went, they were both on the same page during the VC trade. Stan has also commented that Otis gave him a lot of leeway to hire his staff and their communications paralleled two GMs.

The problem is the same with Dwight in this case. Otis gave Stan the same treatment as Dwight. Dwight feels Otis is being his friend. Stan feels most of Otis' decisions came through with his approval even if the most likely scenario was Otis simply handing Stan a list where he would approve certain trades or not.

In that kind of environment, Otis was not giving Stan the players he wanted. We know that. He knows that.

Same with the interview, however, Otis convinced Stan of the process. Otis could tell Stan they had to do this trade because there were no other options and Stan's say would not be very good in that area because he's not a GM so his approval is tantamount to him thinking "I can make Jason Richardson play even better once he's on the team."

This, and...
SVG in USA Today wrote:It would've worked out. That doesn't mean I wouldn't have been fired or Dwight wouldn't have left but it wouldn't have been what it was if they had left it to Otis. He and I didn't always agree but I trusted Otis.
craig01
Forum Mod
Forum Mod
Posts: 20,958
And1: 483
Joined: Dec 24, 2005
Location: orlando

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#7 » by craig01 » Wed Jan 23, 2013 12:42 am

Geez, what a mess that was.

A star player that is conflicted, a coach that is on the clock, and an organization that was walking a tightrope..

I am grateful that the Magic have moved forward......
Basketball is driven by three principles:

1) Movement 2) Application of fundamentals 3) Predictability
Ballah
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,410
And1: 573
Joined: Jul 13, 2009

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#8 » by Ballah » Wed Jan 23, 2013 1:46 am

Otis turned a finals team into first round scrubs in two years, what is there to trust?
Hon-essim
Sixth Man
Posts: 1,690
And1: 1
Joined: Feb 07, 2009

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#9 » by Hon-essim » Wed Jan 23, 2013 10:30 am

Ballah wrote:Otis turned a finals team into first round scrubs in two years, what is there to trust?


1st stage of trust was because Stan personally requested a star and they got Vince Carter which Stan wanted and Otis (probably) gave Stan something he was not really allowed to control when he was with the Heat.

2nd stage of trust can be a form of personal coaching guilt because of what happened with VC.

3rd stage of trust was when Stan wanted out because of the Dwight drama. At that stage you can blackmail anyone if you can reason why they should stay and why it's Dwight's fault if Otis is talking to Stan and why it's Stan's fault when Otis is talking to Dwight.

Never underestimate how charismatic a GM can be and Otis was one of the best at that. The fanbase trusted him, the media will be willing to blame SVG, Weisbrod and Dwight but Otis when he is blamed is always lumped into these other characters.

It's easy to distrust Otis now as a fan because he did not give you anything. Not as easy when you are inside the organization and you were Otis' favorite to spoil. (You being Stan and Dwight.)

If you were here then, you would have seen some people justify J-Rich's season as a star season which excused the Gortat trade just to create a universe where they were right in trusting Otis at the beginning.

The Magic fanbase can be crazy blind and crazy defensive at creating alternate realities for why things did not turned out well and in the hands of Otis, that's putty. Rob Hennigan who has done nothing yet was immediately praised when he was hired. Otis had this carrot known as the "SVG Finals where Courtney Lee missed a lay-up and you wanted Vince but could not get back to the Finals" to dangle in front of Stan and do you really believe Stan had anyone else to turn to inside the organization if he still had to get advise from JVG about how to go public? Stan was trapped and there's no reason to think he's still not trapped now. Everywhere he goes from here on onwards in the NBA will be Dwight this and Dwight that. One bad season and this entire fanbase will justify it as a season where it's not Otis, it's Stan.
Gerhalt11 wrote:What? He produces better results than he should? Fire that guy!

No coach. No GM. Probably no star. I swear, in my 23 years of following this team, I can't name a stranger time than this moment to be a supporter of the Magic.
User avatar
Javanar
Pro Prospect
Posts: 754
And1: 57
Joined: Feb 12, 2011
Location: T

Re: OT: Great interview with SVG (USA Today) 

Post#10 » by Javanar » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:13 pm

That period was a result of terrible mistakes by Magic CEO & management.

They wanted to sacrifice everything to keep Howard. So allowed Howard to play with them.

No organization can be managed in that way. As a result they lost, and made SVG & Otis scapegoats.

If you think Otis & SVG should be fired because of their failures, why did you wait so long time? Otis should be fired much early and SVG did not deserve to be fired.

Thankfully, Vucevic is performing well and nobody wants to talk more about that period and Dwight Howard.
I am not a native English speaker...

Return to Orlando Magic