Ask and you shall receive. Yesterday, I proposed that you, the reader, come up with a name for my daily bantering during the off-season. I used 'Quick Thoughts', but felt it wasn't very creative. Thanks to a reader who emailed me, we now have a name, at least until someone sends me a better name, and that's a BIG IF!
So, now I bring you 'Free Throws', a daily look into what I am thinking about in regards to the Cavaliers and the NBA in general.
Jumping right in, I saw alot of 'Here we go again' comments after the Cavaliers lost to the Magic last Saturday. The OIC Complex(Only In Cleveland) was in full swing. Who can blame you? With the Browns and Indians a mess and 40+ years of anguish, it might seem like the stars, planets, heavens, etc are all aligned against the city of Cleveland from ever winning anything. Many of you are counting down the days until LeBron leaves, resigned to the fact the it WILL happen.
Let me be the one to ease your tattered nerves. The Cavaliers are different, from the top-down.
During his press conference yesterday, Gilbert let it be known that his one and only goal is to win a championship with the Cavaliers.
"We will win a championship in Cleveland, Ohio, it will happen."
Gilbert also talked about the financial aspect, when it comes to getting the players the Cavaliers need to get over the top.
"Financially, we will spend what we feel gives us the best risk/return opportunity to win a championship,"
Those are big words, especially in Cleveland, where the city has seen most of it's prized talent leave for 'greener' pastures. How refreshing, and comforting, it is to hear the owner of a team HERE, in Cleveland, commit to doing whatever it takes.
Gilbert thinks outside the box. It is a tough market for everyone, but instead of sitting back and allowing the economy to dictate to him, he is out there doing what he does best - selling his product.
The Cavaliers announced last week that Gilbert had agreed to seel a percentage of the team to Chinese investors. While the deal still needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors, a virtual lock knowing David Stern's global desires, when completed it will infuse a n entire stream of revenue into the team, as well as open up our tiny city to the booming markets of China.
Think of it this way. A couple years ago, 300 million people in China watched a regular season game between Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. That is nearly 80% of the population, of the ENTIRE United States. It is still a country that sells more Kobe Bryant jerseys than Yao jerseys as well. The 2008 Olympics has done even more to boom the NBA in the Chinese market, and with LeBron James, the NBA's most marketable player, Gilbert is a step ahead.
Along with the revenue potential of such a deal, this is a huge coup for the Cavs in their attempts to persuade LeBron into staying next summer. When compared to 1 billion Chinese, New York just doesn't seem so big anymore. This deal will undoubtedly open the borders of China to LeBron and the Cavaliers unlike any other team really has access. While Yao and Yi are Chinese players, you know David Stern wants an American-born player representing the NBA in Asia and LeBron is the perfect match.
The possibilities are endless!
I know it is tough to get so close only to fall short. But Dan Gilbert is not Randy Lerner, and he is certainly not Larry or Paul Dolan. These Cavaliers are not the Brows or Indians. To win big in any sport, you need a little luck. Sometimes you have to make your own luck, and Dan Gilbert has a penchant for getting lucky.
0 recs | 30 comments
Very nice post, though as an avid Tribe fan, I have to take exception to the notion that the Dolans were “in over their heads to begin with.” They inherited a team bloated with aging, pricy veterans leftover from a gluttonous era of baseball in Cleveland and, in my opinion, have done a damn fine job sitting back and allowing management to run the team without interfering. The results haven’t been great and these guys certainly aren’t perfect, but under of the Dolans, the Tribe has established one of the most respected front offices in baseball.
All that said, I believe wholeheartedly that the Cavs are the city’s best chance at a title. It’s not a matter of “if” anymore, just a matter of “when.” I really, really like Gilbert… the way he’s turned around this team is incredible. Yes, we have LeBron, but keeping LeBron happy and building a team and fanbase around him wouldn’t have been possible without Gilbert’s vision. Definitely the best owner in Cleveland sports.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
That’s my point. Not a very savvy purchase. To be honest, Jacobs knew exactly what he was doing. The mid-to-late 90’s were the perfect storm for the Indians. They were good, and the Browns were gone. No way, at least in my opinion, that 455 happens if the Browns are still around.
If the Dolan’s knew then, what they know now, no way they buy the team….
John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) - June 4, 2009
I don’t give Jacobs that much credit. Jacobs was the beneficiary of a booming economy and a captive market. There were no Browns, and no one cared about the Cavs. In fact, Jacobs’ overspending is part of what has done the Indians in for the past couple of years. The Dolans couldn’t have known then what they know now, and given that, I’d say they’ve done well. Furthermore, I think they’ve gotten a bad rap… it’s clear to me they’ve done all in their power to right the ship, but the money (and the interest) just isn’t there.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
Right. Dolan gets a bad rap among Cleveland fans for being “cheap” (just go to the cleveland.com message boards and see what the idiots there say) but that’s not accurate. The Dolans spend what a mid-market team like the Indians should spend. And you have to give them credit for hiring a great management team like Shapiro and Antonetti and staying out of their way. Most Cleveland fans don’t know how well-respected their front office is around baseball. Before this season, the excellent website FanGraphs ranked the best teams in baseball according to ownership and front office and guess where the Indians ranked — fouth. Yes, the Indians were fourth out of 30 teams in baseball. Most intelligent fans (and not just Indians fans) regard Shapiro as one of the best GM’s and Antonetti’s name is constantly mentioned for openings at other teams. I know this year (so far) and last year have been a disappointment but the Indians have a lot of talent at the minor league level and should be contenders for years to come.
That being said, I think it’s obvious that the Cavaliers are the best chance for Cleveland to win a title only because they have the best player in their sport.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
Here is the FanGraphs article about the Indians #4 organizational ranking in MLB. They gave the ownership a B and the front office an A+.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
yeah, i liked this post, except for the scud fired against the dolans and randy lerner. the successes haven’t been there for either of their teams, granted, but that’s not b/c of the owners. turk and brad lay out the case for the dolans, and let me just add that randy lerner has never shied away from spending a single dime in order to attempt to improve the browns…he’s just gotten unlucky more often than he’s gotten lucky. by all accounts, he’s a good owner in that he gives the football operation room to do their thing, he’s simply made one bad hire (of two people)…here’s hoping mangini is the difference.
but gilbert is an excellent owner, and he’s done a great job empowering the basketball operation at the same time as doing what it takes to keep LeBron happy. the china deal, while i’m less overtly optimistic about the additional revenue it’ll bring into the team and the china opportunities it opens for LeBron, is a further example of his shrewd ownership/business sense.
DontCallMeJoey - June 4, 2009
I don’t think the criticism of Lerner has ever been that he’s cheap. I personally just think he’s fairly inept and, frankly, doesn’t give a s***.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
i think the inept part is hard to argue, but it’s also based on a pretty limited sample. remember, randy’s only ever made 2 hires…savage/romeo and now mangini/kokinis. savage/romeo didn’t work out, but to label him irretrievably inept after 1 significant failure is unfair, to me. a lot of owners have had more than 1 failure, it just so happens that randy’s first was also his only. i’m optimistic about the future w/ mangini/kokinis.
also, i know the perception is that randy doesn’t give a darn, but i’m here to tell you that that is really not true. take it w/ a grain of salt from a random dude on the internet, but people who know tell me that randy agonizes over the browns, and all he wants to do is make it work. think about it…this is his dad’s legacy to the city. the not caring criticism is untrue, and simply a function of his reclusiveness.
DontCallMeJoey - June 4, 2009
Right, I don’t think he’s been an owner long enough to label him “inept”. I know the Browns have been a joke since they returned a decade ago, but as Joey said he’s only owned them for a few years. Savage and Crennel didn’t work out, but I don’t think anyone could argue that at the time they looked like great hires (especially Savage). They both came from winning organizations and seemed ready to lead their own teams. Obviously that didn’t work out as planned, but is Lerner at fault for that? It’s not like hired Matt Millen. Let’s give Mangini and Kokinis a few years then see how that goes.
And as far as the not caring, I know that’s a popular sentiment among Browns fans because he’s not “up front” in the media, but I don’t know if we can make that assumption. His business actions with the team seem to show that he cares. Just because he’s not jumping up and down on the sidelines during a game doesn’t mean he’s not passionate about the team.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
the not caring comes from him spending equal or greater time with his fancy football club in England. There’s a political analogy I could make that I’ll restrain from, but essentially, you can’t get it done in Cleveland if you’re spending half you time in Jolly ol’ England.
And I’m admittedly a Browns pessimist, but there is absolutely not a damn thing that inspires me about Mangini/Kokinis. Mangini comes in and paints over a Jim Brown mural like a badass… give me a break. What an overwrought way of trying to look like a tough guy. The Browns are all about tradition, and within weeks he came in and pissed all over it. It’s gonna take a lot of convincing for me to get behind Mangini and co.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
Turk, you must be listening way too much to the Cleveland media who’s bashing Mangini. He hasn’t done anything wrong at all. He moved the Jim Brown stuff to the front of the building so people could see it when they walked in. What’s wrong with that? All the Browns fans I know have no problem with what he did. Most of us at DBN are happy with what they’ve done so far with the team and it looks like the Browns are moving in the right direction.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
Well, fair enough. I’ve admittedly not been paying much attention, and I probably deserve a stern talking to on that front. It’s just that at this point, I’m in full-on “show me the money” mode with the Browns. I’m too emotionally invested in the Indians/Cavs to care about the Browns until we somehow manage to be relevant. I cant deal with a team that is consistently the laughing stock of the league while its arch nemesis has won two Super Bowls in five years. You’re a better man than I on this front.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
Clearly
Gilbert is the best owner in town and it isn’t even close. Dolan refused to put money into the team when they had a chance to capitalize on good teams and have hired poor front office personal to run a rudderless ship. The Browns are beyond rudderless and don’t have the foggiest idea of what is up or down. Gilbert is going to bring this city a championship some how some way. This is how you play to win. You can’t pick up rug rat players and except to win championships and Gilbert knows this. Gilbert has a great front office team and has the willingness and fortitude to do what is right for the fans of Cleveland unlike the Dolan’s. Time will show that Gilbert was the best owner in the history of Cleveland sports and show that the Dolan’s are the worst. It is really strange that a town can have two vastly different owners at one time.
You can’t make real money unless you are willing to spend money. Quality is always much better then quantity. The Cavs forward thinking in the deal with the Chinese investors is exactly why Gilbert is the best owner ever. He doesn’t stand around and wait for things to happen he kicks the door down and refuses to let the economy or any other present factors stop him from operating a great organization. It is easy for ownership to cry wolf and say an economy is bad and not put money into the team but it is much better and harder to do what Gilbert is doing. The great organizations in the history of sports all spent large sums of money on their teams and never backed down from the ultimate goal of winning championships each and every year. Poorly run organizations are always influx and the fans are never sure if a team will have a winning season or not. This up and down yearly winning percentage fails to capitalize on outside investments and fan revenues.
The Chinese investors were willing to buy into the team because they saw that Gilbert was serious about winning not only next year but for many years. Talent is also a big part of this deal. With superstar talent and winning season comes fame and money that is brought into the team. People on LGT can blame Jacobs for the Indians being lost in the woods for years but the real reason was the John Hart was in reality an infective GM for the last 3 years of his stewardship and his poor decision making was the reason Jacobs sold the team to a lost Dolan. If the Indians would have not traded the Brian Giles of the organization they would have had a winning team but he was short sighted and voided the farm of talent that his assist GM Shapiro couldn’t fill. Since Shapiro was a poor evaluator of talent and drafter this was the reason for the Indians decline.
Gilbert will not allow that to happen and it is up to Ferry to make intelligent choices in the draft and trades to make sure this team is a winning organization and one Cleveland will be proud of. I am confident that if Gilbert thinks Ferry is failing he would quickly replace him. Gilbert is willing to spend the money so all Ferry has to do is take advantage of the best owner in Cleveland sports. With Lebron James in the house Ferry’s job is much easier.
E5 - June 4, 2009
Don’t listen to his whining about Dolan and the Indians — he’s still upset that he got banned from LGT and he became a Red Sox fan because of it. That shows you what kind of fan this guy is. People who know baseball know that Dolan is a perfectly fine owner (not great, but satisfactory) and the Indians have a great management team. It’s the unfair system in baseball that doesn’t allow all teams to compete on an even playing field that’s the reason the Indians can’t spend like Boston, LA, Chicago, and New York teams.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
How many winning season
do the Indians have during Shapiro’s run? Failing year in and year out has something to do with poor decision making at some point. Baseball teams with low payroll like the Twins win year in and year out yet the Indians are always influx, why is that?
E5 - June 4, 2009
The Indians do not fail year in and year out. That’s completely inaccurate.
I’m not going to have this conversation with you. You’re an Indians fan who switched to being a Red Sox fan. I think that pretty much says it all.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
As a fan
I have the right to change teams if I chose to. I don’t cheer for the Red Sox because I really like them, I cheer for them because they make smart baseball decisions. (ex. trading for Jason Bay) and I still love the Indians but I can’t support the decision making. Shapiros rep was built of one good trade, besides that he hasn’t proven to be a good GM. The bullpen is always a mess and the infield is always changing. Outside of Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee the team has no major talent. and no superstars. You want revenue make some by building a contender year in and year out. Cleveland has shown even in down economic times to be a very good supporter of winning teams.
E5 - June 4, 2009
And that makes you a front-runner. Real fans hate front-runners.
If you knew anything about baseball, you would know that Shapiro has made many great trades. Travis Hafner for Ryan Drese/Aaron Myette. Shin-Soo Choo for Ben Broussard. Asdrubal Cabrera for Eduardo Perez. Get your facts straight.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
Adrubal has not proven anything yet
Brandon Phillips, Jeremy Guthrie, Andy Marte and many more are all examples of poor player evaluation or trade blunders which are many.
E5 - June 4, 2009
Brandon Phillips arguments are complete fail. Asdrubal is already arguably better than Phillips has been at his best.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
Yep, I’d bet every GM in baseball would rather have Asdrubal than Brandon Phillips right now.
And every team misses on some players, so you could make a list like that for every GM in the game. That doesn’t prove anything.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
that’s not even remotely strange. what city teams play in shouldn’t have any bearing on the quality of their owners.
gilbert and ferry (and brown) deserve a lot of credit…but let’s not overstate their role in making the cavaliers great. everyone in the organization plays a deep second to LeBron as far as the rise of the cavaliers. he makes the cavs a better team for FAs, he makes the team a better investment for advertisers and investors alike, and he makes the team better b/c he’s awesome at basketball. gilbert and ferry (and brown) have to avoid screwing up, but LeBron is reason 1, 2, 3 and 4 that this team is on the ascent.
DontCallMeJoey - June 4, 2009
Right, if the Cavs hadn’t lucked in to LeBron at the lottery this team may be in a very different position. Again, not taking anything away from Ferry or Brown or Gilbert, but he’s the reason this team is where it is.
Buckeye Brad - June 4, 2009
My opinion...
If Gordon Gund still owned the team, which he did when the Cavs drafted Lebron, this organization would not be in the same place it is. It goes alot deeper than just LeBron, though he is obviously the driving force….
John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) - June 4, 2009
Agreed. Honestly, I wish we had people like Gilbert leading the city of Cleveland.
Turkmenbashi - June 4, 2009
it’s an interesting topic for discussion…i honestly don’t know what i think. gund is a smart enough man and shrewd enough business guy to have realized that keeping LeBron in cleveland would have been the only way for the franchise to increase its value, so i gotta think he would have been pretty committed to making the cavs great around LeBron.
DontCallMeJoey - June 5, 2009
Solid Post.
1 Billion Chinese to New York, That is a very perceptive view you have and it will either be ignored by those who know or just won’t be discussed because people have not been shown that side of it, Thanks for writing this and although I am not a Cavs fan, As a Magic fan I never want to see a Franchise loose a player of that 1% caliber…
I blocked Patrick Chewing - June 4, 2009
A few thoughts:
1) If you’re trying to attract the thinking Cleveland fan, dumping on the Dolans probably isn’t the way to go. The Indians are a very well-run franchise, and regardless of what people think of Shapiro (I personally am a big fan), the Dolans have done everything we could have hoped for from an owner. They stay out of the way and are spending every penny they can. When they were one of the top two teams in the majors in 07, the fans didn’t show up in mid-90s numbers. The Dolans can’t be blamed for anything.
2) I like Gilbert, I really do, but I think it’s clear that his success is mainly due to Lebron. If he weren’t raking in King James money, he couldn’t spend it. I appreciate that we’re going to have one of the highest payrolls in the league, but I think if Gilbert switched places with Lerner, the Cavs would still be the winning team.
3) I hope you’re right about the Chinese investors, but I’m not so sure. The Chinese are excited to see their players in the NBA, but owners? I don’t know if that draws people in. I mean, in the Premier League, Fulham has had a number of American players, and that drew a pretty decent American fanbase to an otherwise-average club. But do any Americans care that Malcom Glazer owns Manchester United? Did his ownership open up new revenue streams to the team? I’m not sure that it did.
Chemo - June 4, 2009
i hear what you’re saying in 3, but i think soccer/US is a tough comp for hoops/China since hoops is already humongous in China, and soccer is really an afterthought here.
DontCallMeJoey - June 5, 2009
As an off-topic aside, do you control the ads on here? I just got an auto-playing video ad with sound, and if you’re going to run those, I’m not going to be able to visit anymore…
Chemo - June 4, 2009
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