Mook vs good & bad teams

There are good teams and there are bad teams.
Good teams generally stay good and bad teams generally stay bad.

There have been exceptions. There were a few years the Yankees couldn’t do anything, and a while that the Celtics sucked. The Cowboys were notoriously bad, then ridiculously good. The Dolphins have had their slumps… and it is hard to remember the Raiders ever being good.

But the tendency is good teams stay good, while bad teams stay bad.
We know the Clippers will be bad. We know the Lakers will be good.

People often criticize the Yankees. “They buy their championships.” It’s unfair.”
But the Twins are continually contenders. The A’s are usually decent. And neither spends any money. The Padres, Rockies, Giants aren’t known for spending. The Cardinals spend some, but they’re not known for their spending.

If you look at the Yankees though, when they were winning consistently, it wasn’t b/c of free agent signings.
A Rod didn’t help them win. Neither did Jason Giambi. In fact those guys ruined the team.

The core of their championships ran up the middle: Jeter, Rivera, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Petitte – all homegrown. Heroes were guys like Paul O’Neil acquired in a minor trade or little know guys like Scott Brossius or Jim Leyritz.

The team that bought their world series were the Red Sox: getting guys like Manny Ramirez & David Ortiz and pumping them up with steroids. And Curt Shilling & Johnny Damon. None of these guys came from their system or in smart trades.

Meanwhile the Orioles tried going after free agent after free agent and never could get out of the cellar. The Mets are awful, no matter who they sign or who they trade for.

Money doesn’t make the difference between a good team and bad team.
It’s all about how you spend the money.

This summer we’ve seen NBA GM’s spend lavishly on bench players, underachieving players, and guys who just aren’t any good. The T-Wolves, the Bucks…. They aren’t getting any better.

The Twins haven’t made all the right moves (getting practically nothing for Johan was a waste, esp when they could have got a Jon Lester or Jacoby Ellsbury or a Phil Hughes), but they reload and get the players on their team that play their style, buy into their philosophy and play hard and play well.

Issiah Thomas was a horrible judge of talent, and never formed teams. They would be a good fantasy team, but not a championship team.

The Mets pay huge chunks of money who no one else is willing to pay – like Jason Bay. They could have saved $15million. Why did the Orioles spend so much money on a closer- who wasn’t even that good?

The Angels recent trades and free agent signings show this too.

Don’t blame the Yankees or the Heat or the Lakers because they make good trades, wise draft picks, and sign the right players.
It’s not about the money, it’s about how they spend it.

In life it is similar. We can't just throw money at something to fix a problem. It doesn't solve anything and sometimes makes things worse, especially in the long-run.

A lot also has to do with the atmosphere & attitude of the team. You can create a winning environment on a team.
And you don't just want a bunch of all-stars, you want a team. People filling different roles and working together.

If it is professional sports team or a ministry team or an office. We need people who can work together to be successful. We need to create an environment for success. And we need to be wise in spending and selection of personal.

Mook vs the Miami Heat

The best FA NBA signings? Not LeBron or Bosh... not Boozer or Stoudamire either...

When the Heat signed Lebron and Bosh to go with Dwyane Wade- I honestly wasn’t that impressed. Big name players and big spending doesn’t guarantee championships.


But when they were able to get Mike Miller and Udolis Haslem? Now I think they are a championship team- and I’m not sure if anyone can beat them. Those were the best signings of the off-season.

Miller is perfect compliment for LeBron- or Wade. He will get a lot of open jumpers, 3pointers, and can play.
Haslem was desperately needed: a worker, a big guy, a goon.

Your really only need 7 or 8 players to win. They have 5… + 2 decent guys. Another Center- maybe Shaq (See previous post) and I don’t see anyone stopping them.
Wade or Bron can handle the point, that Chalmers won’t have to play that much (don’t go comparing him to Rondo- he’s not Rajon Rondo).

They could go ahead and get Penny… and while they’re at it bring back Barkley- we know he is one of Wade’s top five friends… I read somewhere else someone suggesting Reggie Miller- why not? He could hit an open 3…. They don’t need youth… Wade, Bosh & Bron are in this league for a long time!

Barkley & Miller are certainly jokes, and even Hardaway(though he might be in decent shape), but they don’t need much.

They have good offense, and Bron can play defense. Wade is the competitor and I think- like Paul Pierce did- will become a better defensive player now. And Haslem will be the low-post defense guy.
More defense will be better. But they have added some nice pieces to this team.

And that’s what you need: A TEAM!

The Lakers still have the best team – they have 5 guys who could be all-stars. The Celtics have a big 4 now, and a veteran team hungry to win. And the Bulls still have one of the most promising young teams in the league… and never count out Nash & the Suns or Duncan & the Spurs… plus I really like Portland… and Orlando has Dwight… Dallas, Houston, Utah, Denver, OKC and even ATL, will be tough… the NBA is still wide open… of course I hate the nba and I don’t know why I write about it so much…

I don’t think Chris Paul winds up going anywhere, no other team has what N.O. needs… and if the trade was going to happen it would happened before LeBron signed…

Just got off the phone with another Cleveland friend… my apologies go out to you all still…