Behind the scenes look at just what happened with Beilein and the Cavs
I know, I know, this article is behind a pay site. However its a very well written article with a great behind the scenes look at just what went wrong with Beilein and the Cavs. There is also some minor insight into why he left Michigan. Also, the Athletic is well worth the price.
https://theathletic.com/1619192/2020/02/19/inside-the-failed-john-beilein-cavs-experiment-and-a-franchise-culture-problem/
The quick summary of it:
1.) Beilein was totally unprepared to adapt to the NBA. From day 1, he essentially went in and treated it as a higher level of college basketball, which surprise surprise, didn't go over well. The biggest issue, among other things, it that he didn't abide by modern NBA load management.
2.) The Cavs players refused to buy in. They couldn't grasp/wouldn't work on basic fundamentals.
3.) The Cavs ownership and management was, and still is a shitshow. Even if Beilein coached perfectly, he was likely screwed from day 1.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:30 PM ^
The way I'm looking at this whole situation is this:
- The guy took a gamble on himself. Good for him. Sad it didn't work out.
- For the most part, he knew what he was getting into. If he didn't, that's on him
- The things he didn't like about the college game are still there and will likely be at (almost) any Power 5 school.
- Either take a job at a mid-major or enjoy some time with your family. No shame in that.
- Please don't take a job at another Big Ten school.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:26 PM ^
I see people on social media and MGoBoard throwing out places like Indiana, Texas, and Northwestern as potential destinations, but I just don't see it. How often does a Power 5 school hire a 67-year old coach especially at schools like Indiana or Texas?
John Beilein could be a unique exception given his success and track record, but even with a best case scenario, how long could a school expect him to coach at a high level? Maybe another 5 years? Why would a good Power 5 school sign up for that? I could see a school that would need a serious rebuild or NCAA sanctions, but would John Beilein want that?
The only current coaching hires similar to Beilein in age I can think of that were at least modest successes are Rick Barnes at Tennessee, Jim Larranaga at Miami, and Lon Kruger at Oklahoma, but all those guys were significantly younger than Beilein is now at the time of their hire. St John's just hired Mike Anderson at age 60. I am trying to think of the last time a coach 65 or older was hired at a Power 5, Big East, or AAC school. Larry Brown at SMU is the only one I can think of, and that did not end well.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^
Most schools have terribly run basketball programs for the most part. 5 years of Beilein would be better for about 95% of the schools out there. How do you feel about Tommy Amaker handing the program over to Howard? Yeah it would be like that.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:48 PM ^
Doublé el postito
February 19th, 2020 at 6:50 PM ^
Also look at his record - he has been successful everywhere he has been yes, but it'll take a couple years to get there. Given Beilein's age, and the fact that the leash on new coaches is getting shorter and shorter, combined with Beilein's recruiting tendencies, it will be an impossible sell to most major programs. NW, Vandy, BC etc are the only type of major programs where I think he would have a fair shot at success. I think the best fit for him would be a school in the Big East or A10 level of competition; high-mid major.
February 20th, 2020 at 8:11 AM ^
I currently work at Tennessee and when Dave Hart hired Barnes it seemed to me that they were just trying to buy time. I was wrong. He and JB are very similar in that they have integrity and wisdom that can't be ignored.
After last year UCLA tried to hire Barnes to a multi-year contract so the demand for the older, wiser coach is there. The good players only think they are going to be in college for a couple of years anyways so they are not concerned about the coach being there long term.
Wake Forest would be good place to start looking if JB wants to come back to college ball. John Currie (Wake Forest AD) kept Bill Snyder well into his 70's when he was at Kansas State.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:04 AM ^
But Rick Barnes was 61 years old at time of hire. That is 6 years younger than Beilein which is a significant difference.
Bill Snyder would be a best case scenario for any Beilein hire, and I don't think I would call Bill Snyder a rousing success in his second tenure. Bill Snyder was a unique case as well as he built the Kansas St program with the stadium built after him so he had already built equity there over years. And that was at Kansas State, one of the least attractive Power 5 jobs in the country. I don't think any good Power 5 job like Texas or Indiana would sign up for that.
February 20th, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
If I am an AD and John Beilein wants to coach my team and I need a coach the job is his.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:49 PM ^
I can't imagine him coaching high level college basketball again - at least not immediately. His reasons for leaving were supposedly 1) recruiting high level prospects and 2) losing everyone to the NBA. Those same problems will exist at Indiana or Texas, but not necessarily at less 'major' programs
February 19th, 2020 at 8:09 PM ^
“For the most part, he knew what he was getting into...”
or
”1.) Beilein was totally unprepared to adapt to the NBA. From day 1, he essentially went in and treated it as a higher level of college basketball...”
Both of these can’t be true.
February 20th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
I think he knew what he was getting into in terms of the team is going to be rebuilding, and they weren't going to expect him to come in and start winning games. He was hired because of the development of his players throughout his tenure at Michigan. What he was unprepared for was the toll constant losing takes, as well as how to relate to adult men making millions of dollars in the NBA. Using college tactics on veteran players isn't going to go over well. He knew what he was getting into with the Cavs organization, he was unprepared for how players would respond and react to his coaching methods.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:31 PM ^
Look, I get that as an NBA player you want a more modern coach. But when you suck as much as the Cavs, there may be something to focusing on the fundamentals.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
I agree. However based on the article, everyone involved, Coach B, players, owners, come off badly.
The article alleges that a few former Cavs coaches thought the only way to get through to the players was by using playing time to send a message, however management refused to allow younger players to play less minutes.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
His statement sure sounds like a man done coaching to me.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:39 PM ^
The thing Brian had on the front page about the players playing songs with "thug" in it - it's just so childish.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:30 PM ^
They are children. Rich, spoiled children who have been told their shit don't stink for their entire lives. No way in hell they listen to some old guy trying to tell them what to do.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
Yeah, it sounded like my time working with high schoolers who I had no real ability to discipline or control. If the players wanna be dicks, what can you do about it?
February 19th, 2020 at 11:02 PM ^
I mentioned this on another thread but I'm currently a long term sub at an urban school in Chicago teaching Middle School. I almost walked out yesterday. The Beilein story sounds very familiar.
February 20th, 2020 at 3:21 AM ^
They literally bullied Beilein into leaving. That's sad. I feel bad for him
February 20th, 2020 at 9:41 AM ^
While I agree it's childish of the players, it was incredibly thoughtless for JB to use the term in the first place, and then to try to deny and obfuscate ("I said 'slug', really I did!").
February 20th, 2020 at 10:31 AM ^
Real adults make mistakes. Real adults apologize, whether they said what was heard or were misinterpreted. Real adults forgive and move on, except in obviously egregious circumstances. NBA adults are not real adults. JB's track record is clear, and paints a much different picture than that framed by the children of the NBA. Kudos to JB on a fine career, though I question his choice of locations to explore the NBA itch.
February 20th, 2020 at 12:38 PM ^
I don't know if it's fair to blame all NBA players for the toxicity of the Cleveland franchise. From Gilbert on down they are a train wreck.
February 20th, 2020 at 2:26 PM ^
I don't think it is fair or accurate to say NBA adults are not real adults. Beilein is not without blame either in the Cavs situation. Really, there is plenty of blame to go around and everyone deserves a share. I don't think Beilein was going to get an NBA offer, and I can't remember hearing his name in any other coaching search for NBA teams not named the Pistons or Cavs, so his options were going to be limited. The mistake was thinking that treating NBA players like college freshman was going to work, and neither was trying to run a college offense in the NBA.
February 20th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
For a lot of coaches I would assume it's a lie, but I can legit believe that John Beilein would mean to say "slug" and have it come out "thug."
The problem is that the locker room already didn't like him. This was their "go to the principal to complain about the teacher" moment.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
It played out pretty much like a lot expected it to although on a shorter timeline.
I expect he'll retire.
February 20th, 2020 at 3:24 AM ^
Maybe a little. I don't think anybody anticipated how cancerous Cleveland players would be. I dont think anybody knew Kevin Love was a big enough dick to go behind his back and start drama with the media. Nobody could've predicted the thug slug drama. Hard to predict players would begin bullying Beilein
We all knew he would need to adjust. We could guess the players wouldn't be too happy with practicing fundamentals. Hard to guess they would be THIS childish about it all
February 19th, 2020 at 5:40 PM ^
What was the minor insight as to why he left Michigan?
February 20th, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
I have not read the pay walled article, but the following was posted by ESPN at the time of JB's departure:
'Beilein has run model programs in college, free of scandal and impropriety. In recent years, he has become increasingly frustrated with the nature of college basketball recruiting and the retention of top players. The impending loss of Michigan freshman Ignas Brazdeikis, senior Charles Matthews and sophomore Jordan Poole to the NBA draft dented what might have been a national championship contender.'
NCAA running amok plus the growing scandal involving top coaches/universities were also mentioned in separate article about that same time.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:41 PM ^
It really is strange and offensive that he wanted the players to work on fundamentals. I mean, these guys are on track to win 21 games this year, so they're probably going to make the tournament. And he has them working on fundamentals?!
February 19th, 2020 at 7:12 PM ^
He goes to extremes with fundamentals though, so it'd be interesting to see what that's referring to. For example, he worked on crisp chest passes and bounce passes at one Michigan practice I saw on BTN. That's definitely not flying in the NBA.
February 19th, 2020 at 5:49 PM ^
I guess they felt since they rode Lebron's dick to a title, they all felt entitled to call the shots and not listen to JB.
Sad, that Lebron's dick has caused so many issues.
February 19th, 2020 at 7:03 PM ^
Thank you for this!
February 19th, 2020 at 9:13 PM ^
If you think LeBron's dick was bad, just look at the issues Delonte West's dick caused...
Dude legit banged LeBron's mom
February 19th, 2020 at 5:59 PM ^
Modern NBA load management?
There's another way other than prunes and oatmeal?
February 19th, 2020 at 7:00 PM ^
He needed to give those spoiled brats more subs and super soaker playtime.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:03 PM ^
Here's the thing about the thug story....and I'm going to try and say this as carefully as I can. I honestly believe what he meant by the comment was that they were playing like a bunch of selfish playground or AAU kids who didn't want to run plays, practice fundamentals, try hard on defense, or listen to what the coaches were saying. I don't think it had anything to do with race, despite the use of the word - I think it had everything to do with effort, caring, and selfishness....for all the players of all backgrounds on the team. Heck, I bet Beilein felt that way first and foremost about Kevin Love!
It is a shame that such a good coach and good guy took this wild gamble only to prove what we all expected - the NBA wasn't ready for him and he wasn't ready for the NBA.....at least in a shit-show franchise with a bunch of bad players who weren't willing to even try. I think if he took over in Miami with the backing of Riley and a team already progressive in their approach he had a shot....not Cleveland.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^
You might be right, but if it wasn’t this issue, something else would’ve come up. Not necessarily something with racial overtones, just something that made the players mad. It could’ve been something as benign as making them run sprints for missed free throws. It’s not like they were on pace to win 60games and then everything went off the rails with the thug comment.
February 19th, 2020 at 6:33 PM ^
"Thug" is not automatically a racist word. In fact, someone accusing another person of being a racist for using "thug" is in fact the racist one in that scenario as they are assuming it is about race and not attitude or actions.
Yet another reflection of our hypersensitive society where everyone wants to be the victim. And part of why a genuine person like Beilein can't just say something perfectly innocuous.
February 19th, 2020 at 7:15 PM ^
If a bunch of people use a word in a certain way, that word is freighted with the meaning of that usage. This isn't a particularly subtle linguistic point, and it's not hyper-sensitive to recognize the obvious. "Thug" absolutely does get used as a heavily racialized pejorative, and there's a reason Beilein felt the need to apologize profusely after being heard to use it.
February 19th, 2020 at 8:02 PM ^
But has there ever been any sort of whisper of Beilein being a racist? My guess...none. Just a big media diversion;
I agree he never got buy in from a bunch of guys that felt they knew more.
February 20th, 2020 at 1:13 AM ^
If I were a racist, I think a career as a sports coach would be a bad choice. No one's going to like you and even they respect you, you're going to be miserable regardless of whether you win or lose. These days, though, no one's going to respect you, either. Beilein's not a racist. He should have owned the thug comment, but I think he knew he was about to lose the job and got a bit desperate.
February 19th, 2020 at 8:07 PM ^
So in that light, and in your opinion, Beilein is a "racist" because he knew that there was this "racist" meaning to the word "thug" in advance of him using it? OK then you feel Beilein is a racist. OK Snowflake. You are then part of the problem in today's America....not the solution. Lots of liberal organizations which you can and probably will join with that attitude.
February 19th, 2020 at 7:33 PM ^
Even if you're focusing only on intent (which is super unproductive), saying that accusing someone of being racist is racist is a hell of a stretch. If someone doesn't want to be called something, why is that so hard to not call them that?
February 19th, 2020 at 8:31 PM ^
No, it IS racist to assume that "thug" only applies to black people. And doubly racist to assume that a white person using the word has a racial intent. Regardless, the players are adults and should be able to handle this type of criticism without whining like babies. I am appalled by the reaction to this harmless comment by Beilein.
February 19th, 2020 at 10:12 PM ^
Clowns like you like to point out how hypersensitive society is as if you just let everything roll off your back. Your just the voice of reason we all need to save us from our certain plunge into PC hell aren’t ya? You will tell people when they should be offended and when they shouldn’t be. Are you so dumb you can’t realize nothing has changed about society except for the megaphone people now have to broadcast their grievances around the globe? Maybe you should take some time away from the internet.
February 20th, 2020 at 2:21 AM ^
He's fine... Take your own advice. Don't be a thug.
February 19th, 2020 at 8:20 PM ^
And I honestly believe he didn't say "thug" or didn't try to say it, at least. The man has a lisp. When someone with a lisp tries to say "s" it comes out as an "th" sound. It's called a "lazy s" and is the most common speech impediment there is. So he thinks he said "slug" and others in the room thought he said "thug." It's a theory that fits all the facts.
February 19th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
listhen to thopwith, he knows what he'th talking about!
February 19th, 2020 at 6:10 PM ^
4. The idiot Cavs traded for Drummond and then proceeded to listen to him.
February 19th, 2020 at 7:58 PM ^
Everything Andre Drummond touches dies.
There have been very few players in league history with his level of pure natural talent who have still somehow managed to be such a total fucking loser season after season.