One Owner's Path: Ted Leonsis on Rebuilding
by Tom Ziller on Mar 3, 2009 5:24 AM PST
in Commentary
Email
PrintTed Leonsis owns the Washington Capitals. He might be more famous for other endeavors, like his former leadership of peak-period AOL. But he owns the Caps, and he's had good success. The Caps sit third in the Eastern Conference right now, and from what I know can sort-of be compared to the Blazers: a young team built from a blank canvas.
In an interview with Hogs Heaven, Leonsis spelled out his 10-point plan to rebuild a mid-market sports franchise. AZ Snake Pit distilled these points out. They are excellent. I'll share just one:
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.
I think, actually, that the team is getting there. We've noted some burgeoning camaraderie out there ... and it's just a start. Talent wins, and I repeated that mantra in my head and on StR during the Amare-geddon. But you do it a different way, the Caps/Blazers way, and that entails avoiding the sour. We'll see if that direction continues.
Go read the whole thing.
21 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Excellent read and Excellent plan
Thanks for passing it along.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
Rule 10: Never listen to bloggers.
Or commenters. Sorry guys, I have to agree. 1 win and we’re in heaven beleiving the team is going somewhere, 1 loss and we are the worst team in the league.
Interestingly enough
Those are tried and true entrepenurial strategies. Good read.
Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'
I read the whole part about Ted Leonsis
I didn’t read the part in how it applied to the dysfunction in the Skins organization. Good stuff.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Actually I did read the whole thing
It was interesting, but I gained no insight in how it applies to the Kings. I thought Leonsis’ points were interesting, and particularly, the points on signing role playing veterans who make less than young stars. It’s one reason I really thought the waiving of Mikki Moore, and the dumping of players who would have gotten any rotation time making more money than any of our young talent, was a wise decision. This team is much better suited now to make it’s rebuild happen quicker than it was before.
The problem with the Kings all year long, until the roster revival, was that the keeping of old values and trying to mesh with new values never worked. The players never took to it (particularly Miller) and it added the double bonus of “screwed if you do or don’t” when trying to put the youngins in the rotation.
The Kings are in a much healthier spot today than they were 10 days ago.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Or 12 days ago
Whatever day the trading deadline was.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Potential roadblock
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.
That’s been an obvious problem here. At this point it seems like the GM and owners might be rowing in the same direction for a change. Now we need a coach and a process.
"The basis for winning an NBA title is having a superstar in his prime. Not an all-star, or a bunch of all-stars, but a superstar."
by coolcatreportdotcom on Mar 3, 2009 6:06 AM PST reply actions
Yeah CC
It’s nice that the ownership and management are on the same page (again). Now a coach has to come in to complete the process. We all know Kenny Natt is not that person.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
The Caps model:
Suck for a few years, get very lucky in the draft twice (go lockout!) Next, have some bonehead GM give you a really high probably of bust winger prospect in exchange for an older player, and have him suck for a few years, then suddenly blossom. (See Semin, Alexi) FInally go into the season with no plan in goal having lost your goalie to FA, and luck out with a retread who has never put up good numbers. I’d like to think the Kings would get that lucky in the draft, but I doubt we’d manage a prospect like Ovechkin and Backstrom in back to back drafts. For you non hockey folks out there that’s like getting a Lebron James and a Chris Paul in back to back years without playing a game. (for the record, the Pittsburgh Penguins also managed a similar lockout aided draft coup, but they’re currently underachieving.
For the record:
I feel like the Kings are headed in the right direction, but I guess I’m being negative when I see the Kings not getting that lucky in the draft.
Being negative about the Kings being unlucky?
Oh my god, how dare you ever echo the proper sentiments of long time Kings fans? I mean what’s wrong with you sir (or ma’am as the case may be)!
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Oh well
Move to Seattle. That won’t ever be a problem for you.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Going to work at 4 is illegal there?
In all seriousness, I’m still a college kid (Aggie pride home of a legit top 200 college basketball program), so moving anyway farther than say Woodland wouldn’t really work for me.
Yeah heaven forbid you don't live near rice fields
And the Seattle joke was just me being a smartass. There’s Starbucks on every corner in Sacramento too. Or there used to be. LOL
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
What cracks me up
Of all the iconic things that show up on the Seattle landscape, if you ever see Starbucks Headquarters it will make you laugh. It’s this old landmark on 1st ave S and it’s totally old brick building that was built who knows when. And on the very top, is the Starbucks Logo.
On a side note, the old Rainier Brewery, is where Tully’s moved there brewing operations to. I like that place much better, especially because there isn’t a big Tully’s logo on the top that I’ve noticed.
No mistakes in the tango, darling. Not like life. Simple. That's what makes the tango so great. If you make a mistake, and get all tangled up, you just tango on.....
I am the stone that builder refused..I am the visual...The inspiration..That made lady sing the blues....I'm the spark that makes your idea bright.....The same spark that lights the dark....So that you can know your left from your right...I am the ballot in your box....The bullet in your gun...The inner glow that lets you know...To call your brother son....The story that just begun...The promise of what's to come...And I'm 'a remain a soldier till the war is won....
Another fine distilled product
Great stuff. I’d like to read the rest.
Good stuff
As iashwash said, pretty basic stuff, but the reason they’re basic is that they work. I wonder if the King’s organization has something like this that they actually believe in and use, not some corporate boilerplate mission statement.
From Joe Maloof’s comments the other day I’m starting to think they are beginning to “get it” and from the play on the court I am starting to see a team that looks like they are enjoying playing together.
Bill Walsh was an expert, (some would say ruthless) at trading/unloading players, including beloved veterans (think Joe Montana) at their peak, the Kings, not so much. Think how much easier it would have been to trade Brad after the 2004 -2005 season. At some point that applies to Kevin and even JT as well.
I have no doubts that the team is in better shape now then it was on February 18th. Still I would love to hear something substantial from GP or the Family regarding the direction they plan on taking the team. Petrie acts like everything the team is doing is a national secret and while secrecy may apply to the draft or trade negotiations most of the things we never hear don’t rise to that level. Every team that plays Utah knows they are going to run the pick and roll and practice to defend it but almost every year the Jazz us the pick and roll a lot and most years they win more games than they lose.
"We are in the business of kicking butt and business is very, very good." - Charles Barkley
wonderful read
Philosophy and commitment to philosophy by all involved. Do the Kings have this very important ingredient?
What NBA teams do you all think employ the Leonsis strategm?
San Antonio, Utah, Portland off the top of my head. Maybe Miami. maybe Atlanta. Anyone else?
Atlanta? Hahahahaha
I don’t think their ownership group was all on the same page when they ended up in court.
Ball movement ... is like jogging for most people: They do it occasionally, and it makes them happy. Then they go back to not doing it. - Henry Abbott
by Kfan in Korea on Mar 4, 2009 2:13 AM PST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Dwight Howard picks a strange time to ask for more fourth quarter shots
- Spike Lee texts to thank the coach that cut Jeremy Lin before seeing him play
- LeBron threatened to beat up a heckler. You gotta problem with that, tough guy?
- Jason Whitlock apologizes for his unfunny Jeremy Lin comment on Twitter
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Roy Hibbert tap-dances to Maine
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
