SIAP: Shaq and Charles Barkley Come To Beilein's Defense in "Thugs" Controversy
January 11th, 2020 at 5:56 PM ^
And here. We. Go.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:46 PM ^
The Hate U Give
January 12th, 2020 at 11:33 AM ^
I think shug knight was the ass behind to pacs death.
January 12th, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
You think Tupac is dead? Lol
January 11th, 2020 at 6:01 PM ^
Good. It was pretty obviously just a case of misspeaking. "Thugs" doesn't make sense in the context in which he said it. He also apologized. This should be over.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
Coach Beilein is such a nice guy that I can't imagine he'd ever say anything bad about anyone.
In this case, it's the media turning it into something that was never there.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:42 PM ^
Charles and Shaq are right, there is an agenda behind all this. A player in the locker room complained to his agent, the agent leaked it to the press.
This is not new. Same thing happened to Dicky V when he was fired from the Pistons back in the day
January 11th, 2020 at 8:55 PM ^
Wait the media does that? No way all the outlets have such integrity.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:09 PM ^
Damn fake news media, telling us what to think. Thank goodness for truthful message boards.
January 11th, 2020 at 7:28 PM ^
What was the context? You were in the film session?
January 11th, 2020 at 8:38 PM ^
Coach Beilein was praising them for their effort. You don't call someone a thug for their lack of that.
Also, the Cavs have never been overly physical or dirty this season. You can't improve from being overly physical or dirty if you were never that to begin with.
January 11th, 2020 at 8:57 PM ^
I read it as they were playing more professionally.
January 11th, 2020 at 8:40 PM ^
The context is that at no point this year have the Cavaliers played like "thugs".
January 11th, 2020 at 8:58 PM ^
The biggest thug I can remember from my adolescents was Bill Lambeer who remembers Combat Basketball for the SNES.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:11 PM ^
I forgot about that!!!!
What a great game, although not very popular.
January 11th, 2020 at 10:15 PM ^
just like laimbeer
January 11th, 2020 at 8:54 PM ^
I'm not even sure it was a misspeak. I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned that Beilein has a bit of a lisp, which causes him to have some of what is sometimes called "lazy s" when he speaks. When someone has a lisp, the "s" can sound like a "th" because the tongue is hitting the back of the teeth. In this instance, that might have turned what sounded to him like "slug" to something closer to "thug" for people listening to him. That would also explain why he didn't know he said "thug" until someone told him later.
Just a theory.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:10 PM ^
I found this very interesting. Barkley notes he's never met Beilein but in basketball, everyone knows everyone and he's never heard anyone say a bad word about Beilein. I also like they pointed out the logical flaw in this, that if it had been as bad as reported/leaked, someone in that room would have immediately spoke up and it would have been corrected in house. I also found it interesting that this ties into the reports that there are a number of Cavs players who just don't like Beilein's style/expectations and are trying to get him fired. It makes sense in that larger context.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:21 PM ^
Yeah, it seems pretty likely that this leak came from the guys (Love?) that just don't like him. If you want to be constructive and solve the issue, you discuss it with the coach right then and there. You don't let it fester and then complain to the media hours later unless you're trying to get him fired.
EDIT : and the Cavs are 2-0 now since this story broke, after going 10-27 before.
January 12th, 2020 at 9:51 AM ^
With JB, it was always going to be a question of if the Cavs are willing to make the player personnel changes to get talent who are bought into the process in time.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:19 PM ^
Kevin Love's on court demeanor at times has been pretty despicable for a professional.
Huh, so you're saying you have to work a little harder when there's no LeBron or Kyrie walking around?
Still an interesting move to JB, but good luck to him. I think Brad Stevens a little time to adjust too.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:00 PM ^
Kevin love is not Batman and never has been, he most likely isn’t even Robin...he’s more Alfred than anything.
January 12th, 2020 at 3:05 AM ^
Kevin Love’s antics might keep him from a contender this season. If I am a team like the Celtics that could use a player like him, no way I trade for a dude who acts like that. Especially having dealt with all of Kyrie’s drama last year.
If Love acted like a pro, he would be on his way to a contender.
January 12th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
Yes, In the game the other night, he was obviously miserable and was making no effort to conceal it.
On the other hand, he drained a big 3.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:19 PM ^
Usually a fan of Charles but especially loved the points he made here. You're one of the worst teams in the league and you're complaining your coach is making you practice too hard and watch too much film. Wow.
The Cavaliers don't deserve John Beilein.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
Has there been any talk that the Beilein hire was an attempt to both sabotage Michigan's basketball success, and simultaneously embarass the former Michigan coach?
I can't imagine for one second one Beilein would move to the NBA, when literally every single strength he has is for the college game, and his personality is quite literally anti-NBA basketball (playing actual defense/fundamentals)?
And now he's clearly being undermined from the inside.
January 11th, 2020 at 7:00 PM ^
Wait, is this a serious question?
January 11th, 2020 at 7:17 PM ^
You're not new here - do you need to ask?
January 11th, 2020 at 7:09 PM ^
What I'm picturing now (plus/minus the cat):
January 11th, 2020 at 9:01 PM ^
How’s that new hat? Tin foil is all the rage I see.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:19 PM ^
Three African Americans who played in the NBA all defend Beilein.
This discussion should be over.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:22 PM ^
I’ll just add this, not only did they defend Beilein, they also seemed a little optimistic that Beilein would be successful by focusing on fundamentals and watching more film.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:02 PM ^
The sticks and stones era is over.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:21 PM ^
Hopefully this gets put to rest. I wish nothing but success to coach B, but I just don’t think he’s an NBA Coach. He’s better than that!
January 11th, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^
Why do Charles and Shaq hate black people?
January 11th, 2020 at 6:47 PM ^
It’s because they’re racist. And they’re being too hard on Cavs players who work so very hard at practice.
/s
January 11th, 2020 at 6:43 PM ^
It’s crazy the world we live in how sensitive people are publicly. But guess what ! The many Mexican and black people I know in person are not sensitive like this ! Well besides for the ones I know from uofm, that soft mindset has infected them. But the people I know in Mexico ? Nope. People I know in Detroit? Nope.
January 11th, 2020 at 6:51 PM ^
I swear there are fake accounts just trying to put people against each other. I have a black boss and I love that motherfucker. He has my back and that’s what matters most. And we can swear and disagree with each other and go out and have drinks 5 minutes later.
January 11th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
best kind of boss. work stuff is work stuff. not personal
January 11th, 2020 at 7:08 PM ^
90% of the people in the world think this way.
There's a *VERY* vocal minority that keeps the hate alive because there is money and power to be made off of it.
January 11th, 2020 at 7:15 PM ^
Yep. None of my black friends are like this at all, but that's okay because my loser classmates at U-M that aren't black get offended for them!
January 11th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
This is a big nothing Burger
January 11th, 2020 at 6:45 PM ^
Even Screamin’ A defended JB
January 11th, 2020 at 8:08 PM ^
These guys cut through all the bullshit and went right to the point! If only.
January 11th, 2020 at 8:13 PM ^
Beilein doesn't have a racist bone in his body, and the players who've been coached by him before the Cavaliers would be able to vouch for that.
January 11th, 2020 at 8:40 PM ^
Shame on some of the Michigan fans on this board who jumped at the opportunity to rail Beilein over this
January 11th, 2020 at 8:53 PM ^
Chuck just tells it like it is.
January 11th, 2020 at 9:07 PM ^
His autobiography is great.
I Could Be Wrong But I Doubt It
January 11th, 2020 at 9:15 PM ^
If the Cavs had a winning record this would've been laughed off by the players.