Brett Brown: Coach and Salesman

Five years after launching their much-maligned “Process,” the Sixers enter a pivotal offseason. There’s little doubt that opting to bottom out in the first place was the right decision. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are the most talented players the Sixers have had since Allen Iverson and the 52-30 mark in 2017-18 was the franchise’s best win-loss record since 2001. Despite that, the Sixers are about to hire their third general manager in The Process era at some point this summer.

Ownership allowing the NBA’s intervention to slowly force Sam Hinkie out the door and empower the Colangelo family will never make sense. When Jerry, and eventually Bryan Colangelo arrived, the situation they inherited was difficult to screw up. Two years after Bryan’s hiring as Hinkie’s replacement, the Sixers inevitably improved drastically. But, thanks to Burnergate, Bryan managed to hold the title of President of Basketball Operations and General Manager shorter than Hinkie did.

The Sixers and Colangelo parted ways on June 7, two weeks prior to the NBA Draft. Ownership could have opted to immediately conduct a search for a new general manager, and theoretically had one in place for the draft and free agency, which opens next week. Ownership opted to entrust three employees that worked under Colangelo and coach Brett Brown to guide the team through the draft, and almost certainly free agency, and will likely bring in a new general manager later in July or sometime in August. It’s possible there could still be a major transaction or two that the new general manager makes before training camp, but most are expecting Brown to lead the Sixers through the summer as the interim general manager.

                                                   Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Based off of his actions in last week’s NBA Draft, Brown certainly doesn’t have an issue putting his coaching title aside and wearing the general manager hat. Last Thursday, the Sixers drafted and traded Villanova product Mikal Bridges to Phoenix for the rights to Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith and the Miami Heat’s unprotected 2021 first-round draft pick which Phoenix held. The move was unpopular amongst the fanbase, as Bridges was not only a local college player, but billed as one of the more NBA ready players in this year’s draft and would provide the Sixers with some help on the wing right away.

Though, sometimes the unpopular decisions wind up being the best decisions. Brown choose to trade away a player that would have certainly helped him as a coach right away in 2018-19, for Smith who is seen as more of a project and needs to develop a more consistent offensive game and a draft pick that won’t be made for three years. He made it very clear in his press conference on Thursday night that the organization is “star hunting” and views the draft pick as a helpful asset in trade negotiations. Given the Boston Celtics are rife with young talent and still a couple of valuable draft picks, the Sixers needed another bargaining chip. The top trade target this summer is San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, and the draft pick the Sixers just acquired allows them to better compete with their division rival in pursuit of Leonard. Brown’s history with the Spurs as an assistant before coming to Philadelphia might be an added bonus. Throw in the fact that LeBron James can opt out of his contract this week and become a free agent and it’s a good summer to be “star hunting.”

While there have been tons of players coming and going during The Process, several injuries to high-profile players and the aforementioned changes at the general manager post, Brown has been the constant since the summer of 2013 when he was hired. He’s been through all the losing it took to get here and all the waiting for the centerpieces of the franchise to get healthy. There are exceptions, but the coach acting as the general manager on a full-time basis usually doesn’t end well. But, perhaps in this case the Sixers get the best of both worlds. Who better to sell the entire program to free agents, and in Leonard’s case, a potential free agent next summer if the Sixers are to acquire him, than the guy who’s been through it all? When the season arrives in four months, the only title Brown will hold is the one he’s used to holding as the head coach. But, his activity as the general manager during the draft showed a willingness to make an unpopular decision that could be a turning point in the right direction for the organization. That, coupled with his familiarity with everything the Sixers can offer to new players acquired via trade or free agency, might just be the perfect storm at the perfect time.

Photo: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/05/16/firing-brett-brown-foolish/

An appreciation for Bob Baffert

The past four days in the sports world were very busy. Statements were made, narratives were altered and legacies were forever changed. It started on Thursday night with superstar winger Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals finally hoisting the Stanley Cup in his 13^th season. It continued on Friday with the Golden State Warriors winning their third NBA championship in the past four years. Over the weekend in Paris, the top-ranked women’s tennis player, Romania’s Simona Halep won her first grand slam. The top-ranked men’s tennis player, Rafael Nadal, claimed his 11^th French Open and 17^th grand slam title. Lastly, at Belmont Park yesterday, Justify became the second horse in four years to win horse racing’s Triple Crown.

The last five weeks on the calendar are the pinnacle for horse racing. For 37 years, the aura of the Triple Crown loomed over the sport. In 2015, American Pharoah, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, finally ended the drought. It was going to happen eventually and it was going to happen again. But, the likelihood of the same man being behind both? That’s a whole new level of improbable. Baffert trained Justify to all three victories becoming just the second trainer to boast multiple Triple Crown winners on his resume. The other one? Jim Fitzsimmons who won his second Triple Crown back in 1935.

Saturday marked the 150^th running of the Belmont Stakes. Justify was the 13^th Triple Crown winner. In addition to the 37-year drought that American Pharoah ended, 25 years elapsed in between Citation’s Triple Crown in 1948 and Secretariat winning all three jewels in 1973. Though, when it has happened, it’s usually part of a decade of a golden era in the sport. In the 1930s, three horses won the Triple Crown. In the 1940s, four horses won the Triple Crown. In the 1970s, three more horses won the Triple Crown. And now, two horses have accomplished the sport’s greatest feat in the current decade.

                                                     Garry Jones/Associated Press
Justify became the second undefeated horse
to win the Triple Crown.

Are we in the midst of another golden era in horse racing? If so, it’s all thanks to Baffert. Of the 13 Triple Crown winners, Justify defeated the largest field in the Belmont Stakes. Both American Pharoah and Justify won the final race of the three in wire-to-wire fashion. For what it’s worth, American Pharoah went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall of 2015, doing so by six and a half lengths, the largest winning margin in the event. Most expect Justify to return to Churchill Downs on the first weekend in November for the same race. Rather than arguing that Justify’s victory yesterday diminished the ability for younger fans to understand how difficult it is to win the Triple Crown, maybe just acknowledge how special these two horses were.

Baffert’s list of accomplishments goes well beyond the American classics, as he has several Breeders’ cup wins, International stakes and graded stakes victories under his belt too. It’s not worth analyzing the fields of some of those other races and trying to make sense of how impressive those victories are. It would take a real horse racing expert to do that and it’s really not even necessary. These are the five weeks of the year that horse racing is most visible. Announcers Tom Durkin and Larry Collmus have done a remarkable join accentuating the excitement of this time of year for the sport. For those that weren’t around in 1978 for Affirmed, the Triple Crown and its mystique were an annual draw. There were several horses that got close and made Belmont Park on the second Saturday in June the place to be. Then it happened, and now it’s happened again, all because of one legendary trainer. That should be all we need to know about the legacy of Bob Baffert.

Photo: https://www.newsday.com/sports/horseracing/baffert-likes-justify-for-preakness-while-others-shy-away-1.18424922

Teams from opposite backgrounds collide in Stanley Cup Final

It wasn’t possible to script a Stanley Cup Final with two franchises more dissimilar. The Vegas Golden Knights are four wins away from hoisting the cup in their inaugural season. For many, it’s still impossible to grasp that an expansion team could be this good this quickly. For years, the Washington Capitals have been trying to rid themselves of the reputation that they’re a regular season juggernaut that constantly came up small in the playoffs. One of the teams is going to win its first Stanley Cup. Should Vegas win, it would be a storybook ending to one of the most remarkable seasons in sports. A Capitals victory would finally mark the end of the playoff shortcomings.

Probably the most intriguing storyline about this Stanley Cup Final is that the man in charge of putting together the Vegas Golden Knights used to be employed by the Washington Capitals. Golden Knights’ general manager George McPhee held the same title in the nation’s capital from 1997-2014. After a year off, McPhee spent a year with the New York Islanders working under GM Garth Snow before Vegas owner Bill Foley hired him in July 2016 to call the shots. Washington general manager Brian MacLellan worked under McPhee with the Capitals before McPhee was fired four years ago. TSN’s Frank Seravalli wrote today about the relationship between the two.

Then there’s Vegas coach Gerard Gallant. Less than two months into the 2016-17 season with the Florida Panthers, Gallant was fired by Tom Rowe. Rowe was Florida’s head coach and general manager for the remainder of the season and the Panthers finished sixth in the Atlantic division and Rowe was promptly demoted. I’m sure Florida would like a mulligan on how that played out. Gallant was hired by McPhee and the rest is history. Gallant is a virtual lock for the Jack Adams Award as the league’s coach of the year and McPhee is a finalist for GM of the Year. Throw in the fact that practically the entire roster for the Golden Knights is castoffs who were either left unprotected in the expansion draft or traded by their former teams to ensure someone else would be protected, and it’s easy to see why so many have gravitated towards the Vegas story.

Though, by that same token, it’s easy to see why fans of the other 29 teams in the NHL may get behind the Capitals. The success of the Golden Knights has already been an indictment on front offices across the NHL. Expansion teams are never supposed to be this good in the first season. Washington, on the other hand, has never lacked the talent. Superstar winger Alex Ovechkin has won the Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s top goal scorer seven times in his career. Throughout the Ovechkin era, the Capitals have shuffled up their roster, changed coaches several times and of course changed general managers.  On paper, Washington was almost always better than whatever followed in the playoffs. By most statistical measures, the Capitals outplayed the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of last year’s playoffs, only to fall to their familiar foe again.

             John E. Sokolowski/USA Today Sports

Finally, after 12 years of failing to make it out of the second round, Ovechkin is playing in his first Stanley Cup Final. He went through Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh in the second round to get here. An all-time great is getting the shot he’s long deserved on the sport’s biggest stage. Washington head coach Barry Trotz’s coaching career followed a similar path as Ovechkin’s playing career. Trotz had several playoff disappointments of his own as the coach of the Nashville Predators from 1997-2014. Players like Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson and Braden Holtby have spent their entire careers alongside Ovechkin. The Tampa Bay team that Washington defeated in seven games in the Eastern Conference Final is younger and will likely be at the top of the East longer. There are other young teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs on the upswing in the East. If this ends up being the only Stanley Cup Final the Capitals play in during the Ovechkin era, it wouldn’t be a major surprise.

Who knows where Vegas goes from here? Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will almost certainly be the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP if the Golden Knights win four more games. Though, Fleury turns 34 in November and it remains to be seen if his career has been reborn or if this is a mirage. While that same question could be posed of most of the players for Vegas, it’s unlikely that the Golden Knights have a sudden tailspin next season and become the team everyone thought they’d be this year. The window isn’t going to be open much longer for Washington, but this could be the beginning of a long and fruitful reign for Vegas atop the Western Conference. Whatever happens during the series, one thing’s for sure, the pasts, presents and futures of the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t be more different.

Photo: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nhl/2017/09/15/ovechkin-nhl-players-grudgingly-accept-olympic-absence/105627678/