doclinkin wrote:Let's check in again on the "TED point plan":
The Wise Yoda of Sports Success Ted Leonsis wrote:What I have learned about a rebuild to date: A 10 point plan.
1. Ask yourself the big question: "Can this team--as constructed--ever win a championship?" If the answer is yes -- stay the course and try to find the right formula -- if the answer is no, then plan to rebuild. Don't fake it--really do the analytics and be brutally honest. Once you have your answer, develop the game plan to try to REALLY win a championship. Always run away from experts that say, "We are just one player away." Recognize there is no easy and fast systemic fix. It will be a bumpy ride--have confidence in the plan--"trust and verify: the progress -- but don't deviate from the plan."
2. Once you make the decision to rebuild--be transparent. Articulate the plan and sell it loudly and proudly to all constituencies, the media, the organization, the fans, your partners, family and anyone who will listen. Agree to what makes for a successful rebuild--in our case it is "a great young team with upside that can make the playoffs for a decade and win a Stanley Cup or two."
3. Once you decide to rebuild--bring the house down to the foundation--be consistent with your plan--and with your asks--we always sought to get "a pick and a prospect" in all of our trades. We believed that volume would yield better results than precision. We decided to trade multiple stars at their prime or peak to get a large volume of young players. Young players will get better as they age, so you have built in upside. Youngsters push vets to play better to keep their jobs, and they stay healthier, and they are more fun--less jaded by pro sports.
4. Commit to building around the draft. Invest in scouting, development, and a system. Articulate that system and stay with it so that all players feel comfortable-- know the language-- know what is expected of them-- read the Oriole Way*. It worked and it is a great tutorial. Draft players that fit the system, not the best player. Draft the best player for the system. Don't deviate or get seduced by agents, media demands, or by just stats or hype. Envision how this player will slide into your system.
5. Be patient with young players-- throw them in the pool to see if they can swim. Believe in them. Show them loyalty. Re-sign the best young players to long term high priced deals. Show the players you are very loyal to them as compared to free agents who achieved highly for another team. Teach them. Celebrate their successes. Use failures as a way to teach and improve. Coaches must be tough but kind to build confidence.
6. Make sure the GM, coach, owner and business folks are on the EXACT same page as to deliverables, metrics of success, ultimate goal, process and measured outcomes. Always meet to discuss analytics and don't be afraid of the truth that the numbers reveal. Manage to outcomes. Manage to let the GM and coach NOT be afraid of taking risks, and make sure there are no surprises. Over communicate. Act like an ethnic family--battle around the dinner table--never in public. Be tight as a team. Protect and enhance each other. Let the right people do their jobs.
7. No jerks allowed. Implement a no jerk policy. Draft and develop and keep high character people. Team chemistry is vital to success. Make sure the best and highest paid players are coachable, show respect to the system, want to be in the city, love to welcome new, young players to the team, have respect for the fan base, show joy in their occupation, get the system, believe in the coaches, have fun in practice, and want to be gym rats. Dump quickly distractions. Life is too short to drink bad wine.
8. Add veterans to the team via shorter term deals as free agents. Signing long-term, expensive deals for vets is very risky. We try to add vets to the mix for two year or three year deals. They fill in around our young core. They are very important for leadership, but they must complement the young core (NOT try to overtake them or be paid more than them). Identify and protect the core. Add veterans to complement them, not visa versa.
9. Measure and improve. Have shared metrics--know what the progress is--and where it ranks on the timeline-- be honest in all appraisals; don't be afraid to trade young assets for other draft picks to build back end backlog-- know the aging of contracts-- protect "optionality" to make trades at deadlines or in off season; never get in cap jail. Having dry powder is very important to make needed moves.
10. Never settle--never rest--keep on improving. Around the edges to the plan, have monthly, quarterly and annual check ups. Refresh the plan when needed but for the right reasons-- "how are we doing against our metrics of success and where are we on our path to a championship." Never listen to bloggers, media, so called experts--to thine own self be true. Enjoy the ride.
1. "Championship yes/no? Be honest"
No. The team has not directed itself towards Championship. Lied to itself about chances for success. Attempted to flim-flam the fans. Sold off bits of its future to grab win-now vets in contract years, relying on their late-career focus to squeeze one last big contract from the market. All this solely to prop up the record of a failing GM, who was kept for 14 years. Settled for moral victories in late season runs against teams that are strategically tanking.
"trust and verify: the progress -- but don't deviate from the plan." Ok he has not verified anything, but yes, he has not deviated from his commitment to mediocrity.
2. "Transparent to fans?"
No. A dismissive approach to incredibly patient and pointlessly loyal fans has led to a firewall between Ted and public opinion. Ted can always be relied to fall back on happy-talk instead of raw honesty. He wants to sell the public that they should appreciate the team and buy tickets despite no clear path to improvement, to say nothing of championship. What is the tag line of the current plan? "Appease your homegrown 'star' with whatever it takes to convince him not to defect to a winning team elsewhere. Huge chunk of the cap? Honorary GM status? Whatever! Let your nice guy GM fill gaps around him with whatever wild sleight of hand tricks he can to fill out a 15 man roster. Tell the fans they are happy about it."
3. "Go young. Picks & prospects not veteran stars".
Yes-ish. Team has accidentally bottomed out multiple times, but usually after overpaying for a wounded vet while swapping the future for a mediocre record instead of a properly terrible one. But under Tommy we have landed prospects, and had high volume turnover trying to land some combination of talent that clicks. But instead of volume yielding a better chance of a prospect, we have had a revolving door of 'just another guy' type players. We will see how our recent picks etc develop. However, volume-wise our front office tends to dial in on a guy with tunnel vision, instead of shopping their draft slot for better value, more picks, etc.
4."Commit to the Draft, draft for your system".
No-ish. What is the system we are trying to fit? Unclear. Maybe: "build a Euro-ball team of players with international experience. Hoping fundamentals overcome lesser talent". The record of draft picks however has been underwhelming over the past 2 decades. Under Tommy, the jury is still out, whatever their upside or talent or IQ the late lotto picks we have landed have not won a damn thing.
5. "Be patient and loyal to draftees, sign to high priced long term deals".
Mixed. Resounding yes on showing loyalty and paying long term high prices to at least one star at a time. Even when they are no longer quite 'young' (see Beal entering his 30's). Patience however, not so much. Oubre and McGee say hello.
6. "Analytics/argue like an Ethnic family"
Mixed. Commitment to analytics is notable. The team was an early adopter to analytic technology and poured money into their staff on this front. What outcome are they managing toward? And is their analytic department good at identifying how to get there? They do seem like a large ethnic family though. I mean hell, Tommy has 7 kids all by himself. And Ted has promoted his son in the family business. So hey.
7."No jerks".
Eh. The team had no problem bringing Markieff Morris and his assault accusations to the line-up when Ernie was desperate to look like he was doing something. Under Tommy they shipped Wall as soon as he brought bad PR. They swiftly moved on from bad chemistry issues with Trez and Dinwiddie. Under Tommy they tend to recruit good guys. Nice dudes. However fawning after Beal has inadvertently made him kinda jerkish apparently when it comes to team chemistry.
8. "Veterans, short term only"
Well sure. The team rents and discards veterans. Sub-lets aging talent for a season or so.
9. "Never get in cap jail"
Failure. Overpaying for loyalty has at least once resulted in a losing team that paid the lux tax.
10. "Never settle, never rest, keep on improving. Also: Never listen to bloggers, media, so called experts--to thine own self be true."
Before Tommy? Total failure.
After Tommy? Well much change-over and unsettled restlessness, but the results are still a late lotto pick hoping for a savior, wishing we would tank, and looking to overpay an injured 'star' who is not able to carry the team by himself no matter how much money you pay him.
Not listening to anybody but yourself? Stuck to that part of the plan, and totally failed. What if thine own self is a bloviating airbag? Be true to that?
OVERALL assessment of the wisdom of this 10 pt plan and its application:
Failure at all points. Parts of the plan battle with each other. The win/loss record does not lie. Platitudes and jolly demeanor do not cancel losing records. Maybe "thine own self" ought to know the origin of the phrase to appreciate how apt and ironic your quote is.
In Hamlet, Polonius was a daft doddering advisor to the king who had no practical or useful advice, just quotable platitudes. Combining good intentions with bad judgement he makes the absolute wrong decision in every act of the play, contributing mightily to the tragic result. The quote unscores the irony of Ted's use of it.
"This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man"
Ironic when said by Ted: who puts a happy spin on all of his mistakes and tries to package his feces as prime fertilizer. Selling us a load of goods in service to his own narrative of how good he is. In being true to himself he is a fatuous boob who betrays the faith of his fans. In the context of the era the quote is also understood to mean: "Look out for yourself first, and only then you can worry about others interests". Ted sold a lot of books on his double bottom line concept, but worse he clearly bought his own advice, first and above all.
I’m still vertical fish and can assure you I was nowhere near the Capital last week. I’m pretty sure I apologized to you for that drunken post. Peace.
