2024-2025 Men’s Basketball Season General Discussion

crote said:
I think my outsider's understanding of Baker's duties is similar to yours, but it does seem like there are cases where division between court side and business side "basketball people" can be fuzzy. Rob Pelinka is a JD/MBA who had been a player agent for 20 years when the Lakers hired him to be GM. He played college hoops but had zero experience as a coach, scout, or front office executive before he started running the Lakers. The much maligned Nico Harrison was a Nike executive for two decades before he became Mavs GM.
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Good points. The primary skill Pelinka brought to the Lakers and Jim Tanner is bringing to UNC is the ability to structure and close player deals. That's half the equation of the traditional NBA GM role, with the other half being player evaluation.

NBA GMs don't fill the role of helping get athletes endorsement deals. But if you look at Rachel's background, read her job description, and listen to her podcast interviews, this has been Rachel's primary job at Duke. There technically is no contract to negotiate since this happens between the players and the brands, and the players and the collective.

Arkansas just announced they are bringing in an assistant NBA GM to be their GM. I would bet he's accountable to Calipari in that role, unlike Tanner at UNC.
 
Holy Toledo! Check out the floor over on ESPN for the Big12 tournament....just in case you don't know their number is...12 or xii.
(too bad that's not even the correct number of teams in it anymore)
 
MChambers said:
KenPom on the SEC tourney:
bsky.app

kenpom (@kenpom.com)

We conclude with the granddaddy of them all, the SEC tournament, which begins momentarily from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Fun facts: - Winner gets bye to the Final Four - Officiating will be done by AI - 8 teams rank in the nation's top 40 of experience
bsky.app bsky.app
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the granddaddy of them all
Winner gets bye to the Final Four

Sounds like Greg Sankey told the Rose Bowl and the NCAA to do as they're told, or they'll be be sent to their room with no dinner.
"Why? Because I said so."
 
SkyBrickey said:
Good points. The primary skill Pelinka brought to the Lakers and Jim Tanner is bringing to UNC is the ability to structure and close player deals. That's half the equation of the traditional NBA GM role, with the other half being player evaluation.

NBA GMs don't fill the role of helping get athletes endorsement deals. But if you look at Rachel's background, read her job description, and listen to her podcast interviews, this has been Rachel's primary job at Duke. There technically is no contract to negotiate since this happens between the players and the brands, and the players and the collective.
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Agreed that Baker's job and an NBA GM are not one-to-one. I have zero hard evidence, but my guess is that beyond the connecting players to opportunities stuff, Rachel's job is knowing what Duke's NIL "budget" is, helping develop and expand that "budget," knowing what the market is, and advising the staff on what the expected NIL return will be for a player the coaches have their eye on in the portal. At least, that's all stuff that needs to be done that I'm sure CJS would love to get off the coaching staff's plate, and Rachel is the obvious candidate to take it up. Not really functions you'd want to talk about in a public facing forum, but obviously stuff that would be very useful for roster construction.
 
crote said:
Agreed that Baker's job and an NBA GM are not one-to-one. I have zero hard evidence, but my guess is that beyond the connecting players to opportunities stuff, Rachel's job is knowing what Duke's NIL "budget" is, helping develop and expand that "budget," knowing what the market is, and advising the staff on what the expected NIL return will be for a player the coaches have their eye on in the portal. At least, that's all stuff that needs to be done that I'm sure CJS would love to get off the coaching staff's plate, and Rachel is the obvious candidate to take it up. Not really functions you'd want to talk about in a public facing forum, but obviously stuff that would be very useful for roster construction.
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I agree with all this. I would bet she and Jon tag team the fundraising pitches to the boosters and the team wide brands (Nike).
 
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper end their college careers at Rutgers with a losing record. They will make millions in the NBA, but you've got to believe this isn't what they imagined when they signed to team up for the Scarlet Knights. This could give pause to some top players considering a big payday with a program that isn't a traditional power.
 
beach rev said:
A stellar Cooper read.

www.espn.com

Early-morning runs, autograph signings and so many dunks: Tales of a young Cooper Flagg

Stories of dominance from those who witnessed Flagg's brilliance in its infancy.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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From the article:

So Flagg played, and during one fierce possession in the paint, he got elbowed in the face. Flagg crumpled to the ground, blood pouring from his nose. Kelly rushed to her son and followed him back to the locker room. That should've been the end of it.​
​
A few minutes later, during a timeout, Andy was set to give his team a speech about how the guys need to pick up their game in Flagg's absence. Only, there was Flagg at the scorer's table, a mask protecting his now broken nose, waiting to sub in.​
​
"Coach," Flagg said, "who am I going in for?"​
​
Andy shook his head. What was he supposed to tell him? He plays -- with car headlights illuminating the driveway or with a broken nose, whatever. He doesn't leave the court.​
​
"And my answer, of course, was, 'Sub in for whoever you want,'" Andy said.​
 
Owen Meany said:
Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper end their college careers at Rutgers with a losing record. They will make millions in the NBA, but you've got to believe this isn't what they imagined when they signed to team up for the Scarlet Knights. This could give pause to some top players considering a big payday with a program that isn't a traditional power.
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And pretty limited media coverage. There have been plenty of times this year that I have forgot completely about them and I would consider myself a pretty big CBB fan.
 
I don't know if this article was posted when it was published, but I went looking for information on Baker after she was highlighted during a few of our home games as I was curious what her role exactly was.

boardroom.tv

Meet Rachel Baker, Duke Mens' Basketball General Manager

What does the GM of a college basketball program do? Rachel Baker is the first one, and she takes Boardroom through her role at Duke.
boardroom.tv boardroom.tv

She's worked for Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League, the NBA, the WNBA, and on Durant's Nike strategy team. It doesn't matter if you consider strategy and marketing as separate from basketball tactical work—Baker knows ball. There is no way you work this long and this successfully in various levels of basketball without knowing the game inside, outside, upside down, and better than probably 99% of us on this board.
 
LasVegas said:
And pretty limited media coverage. There have been plenty of times this year that I have forgot completely about them and I would consider myself a pretty big CBB fan.
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I am theoretically in their general media market and I have also heard almost nothing about them. Rutgers has been improving in recent years and Seton Hall was really down this year (I know they are in different conferences but they still compete in NJ) yet Rutgers did nothing.
 
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