The Most Steinbrenner-ish Coup of All Time?
Last summer the shortest and worst dressed owner in the NBA made a hard push for John Beilein. Tom Gores also happens to be an MSU grad. (MSU Bio).
Now, the second shortest owner in the NBA and Gores fellow MSU Alumn Dan Gilbert seals the deal. (MSU Bio).
Coincidence? Maybe. At this point I want to be angry at someone though, so I am choosing Sparty. Please join me.
This seems like a good time to quit caring about sports. I am going to use my new found freedom to fully invest in my other hobby, heavy drinking.
It's like ever since the day Tressel was hired the state of Ohio has been fucking us in the ass...and it never stops. Didn't Drew Henson leave shortly after he was hired?
Not mention Gilbert the Spartan. Jesus man. Unbelievable. We're going on 20 years of this shit.
We're going on 20 years of this shit.
With all due respect ... quit whining, it’s unbecoming of a Michigan Man.
No kidding. Growing up in West Michigan with mostly blue collar peers who were mostly State fans I had no stake in either camp. I chose Michigan as my team to root for. One of the reasons I did so was the no excuses attitude.
Michigan can be both a great educational institution and have great teams in sports. Michigan can have both integrity and win. Michigan can move on from adversity because the institution will always be good, a loss in a game or of a coach now, means nothing.
Hopefully most fans and alumni still feel the same way but the excessive whining on message boards makes me wonder sometimes.
I'm glad Beilein gave us 10 years or so a good coaching and integrity in same. Good luck to him on his future endeavors. Next man up.
I'm not sure why everyone is surprised he is going to the NBA?
I think because he's 66.
How old was he last year when he almost took a NBA job?
I'm guessing 65.
Because he could have had a better NBA job last year, and would not even have had to move out of his current house? just a guess
Just a guess he is more comfortable with the Cavs and that's more important than stay in his house.
Hopefully the weather improves so I can get to my summer plans and forget about this crap for a while.
It may not have been the driving factor, but it is easy to think that it influenced the hire. We are still the University of Michigan, and I am looking forward to see what Manuel does with this extremely challenging situation.
I had the same thought but the fallacy with this argument is that Gilbert previously tried to hire Izzo away from MSU.
My first impression other than complete despair is that the NBA has changed in the last few years to embrace the type of offense Beilein runs. So, that's why he is attractive to the NBA.
I can understand why he wants to try it out. I just can't understand why any NBA team would want a 66 year old coach with a heart condition.
Can't be upset with Beiliein. Just upset with life in general. And with all the Spartans who are celebrating.
Perhaps Tom Izzo will see this and want the same for himself. Fingers crossed.
It feels like the NBA has seen enough of Izzo that they're good. He's been out there looking for a pro gig for some time and nobody has bit yet.
Let them have their celebration. Michigan will do all its talking on the court.
He did try and hire Izzo twice. I don’t think he’s making coaching decisions for his five hundred million dollar franchise because he’s a State grad.
Yeah. I don't say this often, but this thread is dumb.
Beilein didn't want to move far away and the two closest NBA teams are owned by Spartans. It was only a matter of time before NBA teams were like, wait, why not hire the guy putting three stars into the NBA at a regular clip.
What is far away? He isn't from here.
The Cavs GM played for beilein at WV. You don't have to go that deep.
Cavs Assistant GM*
Tom Gores didn't make a push for Beilein, he offered and Beilein declined. There was no counter offer, and Beilein was never really a serious offer. That seems abundantly clear now that he took the Cadavalier job. They have a horrible team with no talent and no talent in the wings.
They have roster flexibility and a top draft pick. The Pistons are committed to a nucleus that includes Andre Drummond, with no real options to upgrade Reggie Jackson. There's one star, Blake Griffin, which was enough to get the 8 seed in the playoffs and get expunged so quickly it was one-sided even as 1-8 sweeps go.
I thought Beilein was just flirting with a local NBA job and decided to finish his career at Michigan, but if he cared at all about the state of the franchise, he made a wise choice to pass.
Roster flexibility is great if your team is a destination for free agents. Beilein will have to tank every year to get high draft picks. You know he isn't doing this to tank. By the time they are ready to win, he would have been fired already. Other than money and possibility of feeling like he was in Harbaugh's shadow, I don't see how this makes any sense.
I'm thinking JB may have grown weary of the college "game". UM was always on the verge of taking off but early NBA entries combined with the other schools buying recruits consistently put UM in rebuild mode. It was constantly a case of one step forward and two steps back.
This totally has Izzo's rape enabling paws all over it. Unleash the "Gilbert Pavillion" guy to hire the nemesis out of the conference.
What a pussy.
Still better than being known as an institution that essentially laughs in the face of sexual assault survivors. That is what they’ll be known for.
Does anybody seriously think these guys hire coaches for franchises worth hundreds of millions of dollars just to spite their college’s rival? Good grief.
We lost three times to MSU last year. Wouldn't the conspiracy theory be that he would want him to stay? How about the fact that he might actually like him as a coach and will do well with his team. Seems like a pretty expensive prank to pull
Do they allow squirt guns in NBA locker rooms?