The internets is a miraculous thing. Across the web, there's been some truly great analysis in response to yesterday's post. It's gots me doin some more thinkin.
I.
Culture is certainly a question that I did not look at enough. PhDribbler-Reader Sebring raises the Pistons' counter-example, Carlos
Delfino:
"Carlos Delfino is a better example of a player who did his time in
Detroit and now is flourishing in Toronto...The Raptors have more international content. On Detroit, he
never got the minutes to play through mistakes, while in Toronto, with
a big jump in minutes, he's become a quality rotation player with
upside. Delfino is an introvert, and this initially caused Sam Mitchell
to question his effort, but now Mitchell has admitted that he didn't
understand Delfino - the passion is there, it just isn't expressed
outwardly with grunts, scowls, shouts, fist pumps. I wonder if the
Detroit staff understood Delfino as well as Mitchell has come to in a
short period of time."
He has a great point. Dumars' recent record has certainly suggested
that he has trouble developing Euros (although let's look back at the
way-back machine in 2004 when Memo became the first Turkish player to
win an NBA championship. Many fans underplay the success
with the imported-Memo as a significant factor in Dumars' confidence in
drafting Darko. And has Okur fared better in Utah?) Nonetheless, that
should not discount the culture question. Phoenix and now Toronto have
shown that they can develop non-American players by creating
Euro-friendly systems.
Secondly, and I may be wrong, and I hope I am because I continue to
be a big Delfino fan, but I'm not sure the Toronto honeymoon will
last. Remember, Detroit didn't just give up on Delfino. In fact, they
traded away Maurice Evans for a second round pick to the Lakers because
they wanted to clear time for Carlos. He was a mess last year. Not
understanding the system, out of control, and turnover prone. 
Compare
that to how Jarvis Hayes is playing this year. I hope Carlos'
successes continue in Canada, but I'm skeptical.
I would take Sebring's point further. We often talk about the Spurs
creating a professional culture. But Adande nicely lays down an
alternative example of creating a team culture in his column about
Gstate today: "Warrior World: Crazy, Beautiful, and Dangerous Basketball."
.
II.
The other major question that has been brought up on the blogosphere
is how much we can expect NBA teams to develop players. Henry Abbott
over at Truehoop writes,
[Player development is] also a rare skill. There are plenty of top level strategists and motivators who are not great teachers.
There
is also simply not time, in many cases. One-on-one personal development
is something that is squeezed into spare moments, as Bucks assistant Tony Brown described to me the other day:
"I
think when we watch the game we think of a player like Yi, and you can
imagine you
have all this time for skill development. Spending eight
hours a day teaching him about the NBA game, but with the NBA schedule,
you don't have that kind of time, right? No,
not really. We generally get to spend some time before and after
practice with a lot of our guys. Either with skill stuff on the floor
or maybe sitting down, showing them some edits of some games."
Abbott goes right for the jugular here. And that is why he's one of the best. This is the key question! Do NBA teams invest enough time in player development?
It's telling that the negative assessment comes from a Bucks' assistant
coach. Would Pop ever make that statement? Phil? D'Antoni (is it non-pc if we gave him the Native American nickname: Man Who Stomps His Foot?)? Riles
probably would make that statement because he's an a-hole. I assume Tony Brown is a
perfectly nice guy, but what he is describing is the lack of investment
in player development in the Bucks organization, not in the Lig.
Compare that to Jazz GM Kevin O'Connor's statements on today's Daily Dish. O'Connor talks to Chad Ford about the emergence of Ronnie Brewer as a legit NBAller. Was it the shoes? Well, O'Connor says,
Continuity is just as important, even more important
than change...We look at guys who want to get better. And that's one of
the things we evaluate when we sit down and talk to a player...Look at
Deron Williams. Each year he got better...and he's continued to prove
that...in the pros. Take a look at a kid like Millsap. Everyone looks
at a player and says what he can't do. We try to look at a player and
say what he can do...
I would give Ronnie [Brewer] a lot of credit. We expressed some
of the things he needed to do improve his shooting. I think Jerry can
say things to players very succinctly and very direct...He said to
Ronnie, "When we played Denver, and you were in the game, and you had
to be in the game for some minutes, they put Marcus Camby on you. Now,
does that tell you anything. And give Ronnie a lot of credit. He went
home and became a better shooter, if you look at his free throw %, it's
way up to even where it was in college. And he spent the time getting
stronger, getting physically more able to compete in the NBA...
One of the key phrases you hear over and over around the Lig that
O'Connor repeats to Ford: "We try and put players in positions where
they can succeed." The question is: what teams actually do this?
Utah, yes. Waukee...?
III.
Now, is this true for every player? Can every talented player be
plugged into the right system and flourish? Of course not. This is
where it gets difficult (but exactly where we find the type of
unanswerable arguments that we relish as fans.)
You have to start with the superstar exception. Lebrand, he was
gonna make himself a star wherever he went. Evidence: he's made
himself a star under the Ferry regime. Likewise, Tom Ziller (great
blogger check him out at the FanHouse and Sactown Royalty) writes,
LeBron
and draftmates Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade
-- every single one has had more than one coach in their NBA careers,
and three of the four have had multiple front-office regimes. Only Wade
could be considered to have a stable development
environment through
his first four years in the league, and he's been dealing with Pat
Riley's yo-yo act the entire time....Player development outside the
umbrella of the team works; I know this for I am a Kevin Martin fan.
And I know Eric Musselman didn't teach Kevin Martin squat.
Totally agree. And Ziller goes on:
In last four years, there have been 73 NBA head coaches
for the 30 teams. (This isn't counting temporary fill-ins like Brendan
Malone; in-season replacements had to total 30
games at the helm to be
counted.) Only four teams have gone the (short) span without a coaching
change (Washington, San Antonio, Utah and... the Clippers). If there is
a player development system for these non-S.A., non-Utah franchises,
it's getting shaken up every other year on average. Add in the
propensity to trade youngsters, and exactly one 2003 first-rounder has had one NBA coach his entire career (Chris Kaman).
Ziller.
You had me at 73. But I'd challenge you on your conclusion: "Long-term
development -- beyond getting Maxiell to drop some weight
over a summer -- isn't possible on a team-by-team basis in the NBA.
There's not enough consistency."
As much as I'd like to empathize with the Bucks' asst, how have other
teams succeeded where they have failed? You see, the coaching carousel is not an NBA-only issue. Bad player development
is not an NBA-only issue. Just try listening to SportsTalk radio
in Chicago since the Marlins-Tigers deal. Let's just
say the windy
city ain't happy. The Sox farm system ranks 29th in the MLB. They're
talking about throwing $15mil at Aaron Rowan because they don't have
the young'uns to trade for talent. Their GM Kenny Williams has been
accused of overhyping his prospects and losing all cred in the baseball
world.
Conclusion: Although it may be particularly tricky in the NBA, player
development should be the counterweight to the coaching carousel. For
every time a fan or an "expert" petitions for firing the coach or the
GM, we need to also take a step back and place more value on
consistency, stability, and the time to create the right culture.
Let's keep up the world-wide-convo! Love to hear some more thoughts.
