NAS Interview: Mike Fratello
Aug 17, 2010 Interviews, Mike Fratello
Mike Fratello was a head coach in the NBA for 16 seasons, coaching three different teams (the Hawks, the Cavs, and the Grizzlies), and he is one of the most respected basketball minds in the game. Currently he is an analyst for TNT, and YES calling a good amount of Nets games (he was one of the few things that made Nets’ games bearable last year). When he isn’t on TV, you can find him talking about basketball either on Twitter or over at his blog (both are must reads). Coach Fratello was kind enough to take the time out to answer a few questions about the Nets:
There aren’t too many holdovers from last year’s 12 win season, but the guys who are still here are pretty important (Devin Harris, Brook Lopez, and Terrence Williams). Should these guys use last year as a learning experience and motivation, or is it best that they just put it behind them and move forward?
Any time you play an 82-game schedule you want to use that as a learning experience. You have to learn how to win. And sometimes learning how to win comes through losses. So after last season, I would think that when those three players enter training camp this Fall they will remember the pain that they went through in only having 12 wins, and that should be a motivating factor for them to get off to a better start and to wind up having a much better season than they had a year ago.
With the way the team is currently being built, in terms of the roster and coaching staff, what kind of playing style do you expect? A half-court defensive team, or a team that can get out and run?
I think that Avery Johnson will try to establish a defensive presence at one end of the floor, and at the other end explore his transition opportunities with a guy like Devin Harris who has speed and quickness to push the ball and penetrate and get in the lane, creating shots not only for himself, but for his teammates as well. The Nets are trying to become a more athletic team. Their first round draft pick has the ability to run the floor; and the pieces that they have brought in certainly show that they are trying to become a team that can attack you in transition as well as a team that is able to score in the half-court, either with Lopez and Harris playing a center pick and roll game or through post-up opportunities with Lopez down low. Read the rest of this entry »
NAS Interview: Norman Oder, Atlantic Yards Report
Oct 27, 2009 Brooklyn, Interviews
As the Atlantic Yards saga has unfolded, the Atlantic Yards Report has served as a well-researched watchdog, analyzing details that were being overlooked by the mainstream press. The blog is run by Norman Oder, a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. Oder is not shy about the fact that he’s a critic of the Atlantic Yards proposal by Forest City Ratner, which would include a new arena for the New Jersey Nets. But he also prides himself of the amount of sourcing that goes into his posts.
With two new lawsuits recently filed against the project, NAS thought this was a good opportunity to talk to Oder about his recent research, and where he believes this project, and the Nets potential move to Brooklyn, may be headed.
NAS: Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) has already lost several rounds in the legal fight challenging the Atlantic Yards project. What makes the latest suits–challenging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC)–any different?
Oder: DDDB has filed–or organized/funded–five major lawsuits, plus a sixth:
1. Blocking planned demolitions–lost. (This is the minor case.)
2. Challenging environmental review–lost at two levels of state court, request for appeal pending at state Court of Appeals.
3. Eminent domain #1–lost at two levels of federal court; request for appeal to Supreme Court denied.
4. Eminent domain #2–lost at first level (Appellate Division) in state court; appeal to Court of Appeals heard on October 14.
5. Challenge to MTA revision of deal–just filed.
6. Challenge to ESDC re-approval of deal–just filed.
I’m not a lawyer, I’m a journalist (who sometimes talks to lawyers), so don’t consider this definitive.
All of the cases are uphill challenges, given that, in none of the cases the plaintiffs/petitioners have been able to call their own expert witnesses and challenge defense witnesses under oath or proceed with discovery to extract new information. In other words, the courts evaluate the case based only on the administrative record. They generally defer to the administrative agencies if the agencies acted on a “rational” basis–a very low bar, as opposed to a higher level of scrutiny. Other states make it easier to challenge the government’s determination in eminent domain cases, though cases challenging environmental review are always tough.
That said, as I’ve written regarding the newest suit against the ESDC, there are some very inconvenient facts regarding the announced and promised 10-year construction timeline, such as the MTA deal that structures payment over 22 years and proposed ESDC leases that allow 25 years for construction.
And the suit against the MTA raises some very interesting questions, since the Public Authorities Accountability Act of 2005, the basis for the case, has not—to my knowledge—been invoked previously in this way. And, at least as far as my Freedom of Information Law request showed, the MTA board members got no written legal advice–other than a check-off on a Staff Summary–stating that their action was appropriate, even though board member Jeffrey Kay told fellow board members on June 24 that the MTA’s “legal department has advised us that this is a legal transaction.”
Some people say these cases are only efforts to delay the project and throw a wrench into the effort to sell tax-exempt bonds. While they certainly might have that effect, they raise some important issues that no other oversight body has been willing to pursue. That’s why, whatever the uphill challenge, it’s valuable–from my POV–to see the cases ventilated in court, with the government agencies required to respond to some tough questions. Read the rest of this entry »
Jarvis Hayes Wants To Lead
Oct 26, 2009 Interviews, Jarvis Hayes
At Nets practice on Thursday, I was able to pull Jarvis aside and ask him a few questions about the upcoming season and his role with the team. Jarvis practiced in full on Thursday and then played on Friday where he had a solid game (11 points on 4-4 from the field).
Here is the interview in full, transcripts after the jump.
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When Vince left, one of the biggest concerns the fans had was who is going to be this team’s leader. While your best player doesn’t necessarily have to be your leader, everyone, including myself, looked to Devin to fill this void. And while Devin might lead by example, it is becoming obvious that Jarvis is going to be this team’s vocal leader, and he is embracing it. Jarvis has been through a lot on the court this offseason, from injuries to dropping in the depth chart, but it seems that he isn’t sulking about it, which is very big of him and something you would expect from your leader. Hayes is going to be a veteran presence off the bench to start the season, and his offense is going to be needed in that second unit.
NAS Interviews: Talking Sports Marketing with Darren Rovell
Oct 23, 2009 Brett Yormark, Interviews
For an organization that’s expected to finish in the bottom portion of the Eastern Conference this season while not making a single roster move after trading away Vince Carter in June, the Nets sure found a way to make headlines during the offseason.
By developing a series of “outside the box” ticket selling promotion, the Nets have earned national media attention, even if it’s coming at the chagrin of the core members of the team’s fan base. Earlier this summer, the Nets introduced a reversible jersey promotion, where ticket buyers would get free jerseys featuring a Nets player on one side, and a member of the opposing team on the other, and most recently, the Nets raised eyebrows again when they promised fans who bought courtside seats to 10 games (to the tune of $25,000) that they could “rent” a Net of their choosing for an hour.
Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for CNBC, said the Nets have done an excellent job attracting attention to the organization this summer. And some of their ideas, aren’t all that bad.
“They are really good at getting attention,” Rovell told NAS during a phone interview. “In terms of attendance and quality of teams, they probably get the most attention of anyone that low on the totem pole. They’re legitimately trying to sell tickets. And the jersey idea is actually brilliant.”
While it might upset some die-hard Nets fans who’ve said the team is putting ticket sales to the Izod Center above drawing actual Nets fans to the arena, it will still benefit the financial health of the organization if they’re able to sell off more tickets to games, Rovell said.
As for the courtside ticket promotion introduced earlier this week, the market in this case is clearly the corporate client, Rovell said.
“For a corporation that’s doable,” Rovell said of the hefty price tag for the promotion. “That’s who the Nets are targeting. They think a corporation will do this.”
The catch will be how much will players – and their agents – put up with regarding the promotion.
“The player’s don’t get a piece of it,” Rovell said, adding that Devin Harris is going to be a very busy member on the team’s promotional circuit if the Nets get a lot of takers for courtside tickets. “How many times is (Harris’) agent going to let this happen?”
As for the Nets being the first NBA team to sell naming rights to their practice facility and jerseys to PNY (the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic soon followed with sponsorship deals on their own practice facilities and jerseys), Rovell said the deal is par for the course for the organization.
“The Nets will sell anything, that’s the thing,” Rovell said. “And they’re good at doing it.”
NAS Interview: Eminent Domain Legal Expert William Ward
Oct 16, 2009 Brooklyn, Interviews
While it’s still far from a slam dunk that team owner Bruce Ratner will eventually be able to move the Nets to a new arena in Brooklyn, one legal expert who has more than three decades of experience working on eminent domain cases, believes it’s doubtful that Atlantic Yards opponents did enough in Wednesday’s oral arguments in Albany to prevent Ratner from getting the property he needs for development.
William Ward, who runs the legal blog, New Jersey Eminent Domain Blog, said the justices at the Wednesday hearing before the New York State Court of Appeals asked fair and tough questions to both sides in the case. But working against the petitioners is legal precedent that will likely result in another instance of forward progress for the Atlantic Yards development.
“In this case, the petitioners have a very tough road ahead of them if they’re going to prevent this project from going forward,” said Ward, who has prior experience as a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, litigating cases for the Department of Transportation, and as secretary and general counsel for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
During the arguments on Wednesdays, petitioners argued that the scope of “public use” in acquiring land through eminent domain for projects like the Atlantic Yards site, needed to be paired back and limited. However, legal precedent has demonstrated that “public use” has been broadened over time, not narrowed.
Ward said he was unaware of any cases where the scope of “public use” had been narrowed to what the petitioners were requesting in Wednesday’s hearing.
Another roadblock for the petitioners was the timing of their complaint. Essentially, according to New York State’s Eminent Domain Procedure Law, petitioners had to file their complaint within a 30-day limitation contained in the statue. Instead, they unsuccessfully pursued their cased in federal court and relied on a six-month grace period to support their application that the action was timely filed. If the Appeals Court wants to avoid a controversial decision, they could potentially throw the case out without ruling due to this technicality, Ward said.
One aspect of the case that could work in the petitioners’ favor was the idea of how the proposed development area was considered “blighted” by the Empire State Development Corporation. While all sides conceded that the Atlantic Rail Yards are indeed blighted, the justices questioned whether or not the ESDC condemned other properties as blight in an effort to push the whole development forward.
In this, the worst case scenario for Ratner is the court orders the ESDC to do further study on the blighted properties, which would lead to further delays for a groundbreaking. However, even with this possibility, “it remains a long shot” for the petitioners, Ward said.
While there are still other lawsuits floating around that could impede progress on the Nets move to Brooklyn, Ward believed if the Appeals Court finds in the developer’s favor, the petitioners won’t be able to challenge the ruling. Instead, the next round of legal haggling will likely focus on such things as the value of the land and relocation costs for those who have been condemned.
NAS Interview: “Battle for Brooklyn” Filmmaker
Oct 13, 2009 Brooklyn, Develop Don't Destroy, Interviews
In anticipation of Wednesday’s Court of Appeals hearing in Albany, where opponents of the Atlantic Yards development will argue about the proposed use of eminent domain for the building of the Nets new home in Brooklyn, NetsAreScorching has spoken to filmmaker Michael Galinsky, who is working on a documentary about the Atlantic Yards process entitled “Battle for Brooklyn.”
Galinksky, who resides in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn, has been working on the film for nearly six years now, amassing more than 300 hours of footage. One of the focal points of his film is Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, whose Pacific Street apartment sits where the Nets’ Barclays Arena would be built.
We’ve included the “Battle for Brooklyn” trailer for your viewing pleasure. For more information about Galinsky’s work, please visit his site.
NAS: Given that the eminent domain hearing in Albany is considered by some to be a last legal stand for opponents to the Atlantic Yards development, do you plan to capture any footage for your film that day? If so, what’s your planned filming approach for the day?
Michael Galinksy: We will certainly be shooting on the day of the hearing. While it’s the last stand for the opponents to fight the eminent domain issue, I think that there are several other law suits in the works regarding the process.
Our film is a character-driven, verite documentary that mostly follows a few of the people fighting the project, so we’ll want to get their take on the situation. The idea of a verite documentary film gets confusing because most people are used to Michael Moore or old school PBS docs. We aren’t journalists and we’re not activists either. The idea of this film isn’t to get to the bottom of everything that’s happened along the way but instead to follow characters as they deal with some of the situations that they face. Not even Norman Oder could put together a book that covers everything and is still readable. As such, we have to be very selective in what scenes to focus on. So the short answer is: yes we’ll be shooting, but who knows what will end up in the film. With over 350 hours of footage shot, only about 0.5% of what we shot has any chance of making it in to a 90 minute film.
Read the rest of this entry »
NetsAreScorching Interview: Armor Coach Dee Brown
Sep 2, 2009 D-League, Dee Brown, Interviews, Springfield Armor
With the D-League expansion draft today, it is the perfect time for us to hit you up with some more D-League knowledge. Yesterday, new Armor Coach and Director of Basketball Operations, Dee Brown was kind enough to take time out from his busy schedule (the expansion draft remember?) to answer some questions we had for him.
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NAS: Along with being the head coach of the Springfield Armor, you are also the Director of Basketball Operations. What are the responsibilities of that role?
Dee Brown: The responsibilities is to oversee the on court and some off court basketball decisions of the franchise. Evaluate talent, personnel decisions including tryouts, drafts and trading players. I will work side by side with our GM Alex Schwerin on making decisions off the court as it pertains to the players and franchise and the marketing of the Armor.
NAS: How can your NBA experience help when dealing with players trying to make the NBA themselves?
Dee Brown: I can speak on 12 years of hands on playing experience in the NBA on the do’s and don’ts of getting to the NBA and most importantly staying when you get there. I’ve played with great players and for great coaches so I’ve got tons experience on how to communicate with all levels. I’ve also been in the front office at different capacities from Director of Player Development to Community Ambassador. So I know what NBA Execs look for and expect from their players on and off the court.
NAS: You are CEO of the EDGE Basketball, LLC, and have shown an interest in developing players. Is that why you have decided to make the transition to the D-League? So you can both coach and help develop young talent?
Dee Brown: I’ve owned EDGE basketball for 4 years and have been training every level of player from talented middle school players to NBA players like Grant Hill, Drew Gooden, Chucky Atkins and Deshawn Stevenson. The most important thing to me is developing young and even experience players. I’ve been doing that since I retired and always felt like a coach on the floor or leader in the locker room when I was a player. That’s why the D-League excites me. My job is to make these players better and put them in a situation on the court to succeed and showcase their respective talents all in the concepts of winning and competing.
NAS: You have mentioned before that this is a unique situation because you are dealing with three different affiliates. Are you going to be running your own offensive stuff or are you going to use a blend of what the three affiliates (Sixers, Knicks, Nets) do offensivly?
Dee Brown: Obviously you can’t put everyone system into place but you can take bits and pieces of what each affiliate runs and incorporate it into your system. Most NBA teams run some similar sets. So you speak with each affiliate coaching staff and get input of key components of their offense and defense philosophies and try to mesh as much as possible into what you want to accomplish as a coach. The names might be different but you want to make sure that the things you are running are NBA sets and consistent on both ends on the court what these player will see if they get called up. Also it gives NBA teams a real look at players in NBA situations so they can get a true evaluation of the players.
NAS: You come from a WNBA background where for the most part offense is based on movement without the ball and quick passes. Are you going to bring that offensive style to the Armor?
Dee Brown: Ball movement and quick passes are always important at any level of basketball. We will push the ball every possession to put pressure on the defense and get the best shot available based on ball movement, screens on and off the ball.
NAS: For the expansion draft, you are selecting players from a pool of two teams that ended up shutting down operations. Do you feel like that puts your team at a disadvantage or do you think there is enough talent in the pool of players to put out a competitive team?
Dee Brown: I think it will help us because there is plenty talent on both teams. You get a chance to choose from the D-League Champions Colorado team. That has to be a good thing for us and Maine. So it will give a good foundation to start with and have some players with D-League and pro experience.
NAS: Is there a max number of players you can have on your roster? If so, how are things handled when a player is sent down from one of your affiliates? Are there roster spots reserved for them? Does the fact that you have three affiliates make roster moves harder to handle?
Dee Brown: The max number is 12 but you will keep 10 because of the players that might be assigned from affiliate teams. Whenever a players is assigned from one of your affiliates you must make room on your roster and since we have 3 affiliates we can have up to 6 assigned players at once but I’m sure that will be unlikely to happen but would be great for a D-league team and a city to have NBA roster players playing in your market. We want our affiliates to trust and believe that we can make their players better if they send them down to Springfield for development and growth.
NAS: Another question about dealing with multiple affiliates. Let’s say that you have guys not on a NBA roster on your team, and more than one player wants to bring them up for a stint on their NBA squad. How is that handled? Which team would get that player?
Dee Brown: Any player on our roster can be called up by ANY of the 30 NBA teams. The first NBA team that contacts the D-league will have the rights to get that player. Our 3 affiliates can assign their 1st or 2nd year players to us in Springfield.
NAS: How are you going to fill your team roster? Strictly through the expansion draft? Try-outs? Invites? Anything else I didn’t mention?
Dee Brown: We will fill our roster with all of those methods. Expansion draft 1st then we will have a local tryout, the D-league draft. So we will always be looking for ways to find talented players.
NetsAreScorching Interview: Armor GM Alex Schwerin
Aug 31, 2009 Alex Schwerin, Interviews, Springfield Armor
Continuing with the D-League theme today, NetsAreScorching was able to get in touch with Springfield Armor’s GM Alex Schwerin. Mr. Schwerin comes from a Minor League Baseball background where he spent five years in Minor League Baseball working for the Modesto Nuts, the Class-A California League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. His tenure in Modesto began in February of 2004 as the Director of Operations, and he was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2005 and to General Manager in 2008.
Mr. Schwerin was kind enough to answer a few questions:
NAS: What are some of your business goals of running a new NBDL franchise and how do you plan on accomplishing them? Will you be able to apply any of your strategies from from running the Modesto Nuts to the Armors?
Alex Schwerin: Our goals for the franchise are to provide the best and most affordable family entertainment to Springfield and the surrounding community as well as help support the league’s goals of developing the best basketball players we can to prepare them for taking the next step to the NBA. We would also like to put together a winning team on the court and give back and support the community as much as possible.
In terms of carryover from the Modesto Nuts I think there can be a lot of things that were successful in Modesto that can work well in Springfield. In the end, the success of the franchise is determined by putting fans in the stands and selling tickets. If we provide great customer service, foster strong relationships with the local community and provide over the top entertainment at every game we will be successful. That was the same formula in Modesto.
NAS: I assume that the responsibilities of running a minor league basketball team would be similiar to running a minor league baseball team in terms of acquiring young talent that can hopefully be grooming to help major league teams. Am I correct in that assumption?
Alex Schwerin: Actually the basketball side of this operation on my end of things is a little different in basketball than it was in baseball. In general the theme of the league is similar (to develop young players and get them to the next level). But in baseball many of the Baseball operations decisions, programs and implementation are handled by your affiliate (i.e. in Modesto the Colorado Rockies hired the coaches, trainer, etc and they did all the scouting and player decisions). However, in basketball, I am in charge of hiring the coaches and trainer and those guys that I hire are in charge of all the basketball operations decisions.
NAS: What are the challenges associated with running a franchise that is affiliated with three different NBA teams?
Alex Schwerin: Most of the challenges will fall in Dee’s lap as he will have to make sure that all 3 organizations are happy with what their players are doing when they are assigned down to Springfield. In general having 3 affiliates is a good thing. It is 3 NBA teams that we can interact with and collaborate with to improve the success of our franchise and the 3 NBA affiliates to help everyone reach their goals.
NAS: Since you worked in both sports – the concept of advanced statistics has been increasingly embraced by MLB GMs like Billy Beane and Theo Epstein and are far more accepted now than they were 5-10 years ago. With basketball writers like John Hollinger preaching advanced stats in the NBA, what do you think the acceptance level of these metrics is in basketball and where do you figure they’ll fit in in the future?
Alex Schwerin: I don’t work on the player evaluation side of things too much so it is hard to answer that question. I would say that I don’t think the NBA or it’s leagues are anywhere close to the types of statistical analysis that is taking place in baseball, but basketball is speeding up in that category pretty quickly it seems.
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Considering his schedule, and how busy he is (The Expansion Draft is tomorrow), Mark and I wanted to thank Mr. Schwerin for taking the time to answer our questions.
Nets Are Scorching Interview: Eyewitness Account of Yi in FIBA Asia Championship
Aug 17, 2009 Interviews, Yi
Despite Team China falling short in the finals against Iran in the FIBA Asian Championship this past weekend, Yi Jianlian turned some heads with his strong play during the tournament, where he averaged 18.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. The Nets have more or less declared that Yi will be the starting PF this coming season despite his disappointing finish last year, where he was eventually benched during the final month.
To get more insight into Yi’s performance in Asia this summer, and whether are not Nets fans should get excited about his potential this year, NAS talked with Wang Meng, a reporter from Titansports, the biggest sports newspaper in China. Wang has covered the NBA and the Houston Rockets for the past five seasons and was following Team China during the FIBA games.
Nets Are Scorching Interview – Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn
Aug 13, 2009 Brooklyn, Bruce Ratner, Develop Don't Destroy, Interviews
The latest round of reports regarding the Atlantic Yards development and the Nets potential move to Brooklyn has Nets owner Bruce Ratner needing project financing and a groundbreaking by December 31 in order to qualify for tax-exempt bond status and to keep the $400 million naming-rights deal with Barclays Bank for the arena.
Meanwhile, the non-profit group, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, one of the primary opponents of the development, will challenge the state’s use of eminent domain for the project at an October 14 hearing before the NY State Court of Appeals in Albany.
DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein recently took the time out to answer a few questions for Nets Are Scorching about the plan.