To the Dallas Mavericks front office, don’t do it

Okay sometimes you have to make a move, find a trade, improve the team, but right now the Mavericks may not be the top contender or have the highest chance to win the title, but what is a truly productive move for the Mavericks right now?

I know some people are saying we may lose Jalen Brunson or Dorian Finney Smith or both in free agency this summer and so we must trade so not to get anything for them this summer. Yet, why lose the chemistry of having them right now when we can try to sign them this summer or at least get our own free agents to replace them.

Sometimes you have to go with the team you have because you are not going to get some astronomical difference by trading. I have said before, do not make a checkers move. Moving pieces to move pieces doesn’t always mean improvement. 

I think the Mavericks are on an uptick and we can get better with Jalen and Dorian staying with us. Sure the Mavericks lost Tim Hardaway Jr., yet there are potential people on the bench that can replace the points he put up each game. And quite frankly maybe even do a bit better. Tim wasn’t having his best year so playing Sterling Brown and Trey Burke his minutes may not be a bad thing. Just don’t have Trey and Jalen on the Court together for any significant minutes, not because they aren’t good together, just because the other teams could put two bigger guards up against them and create an unnecessary disadvantage. 

When you rest the two starters, Luka and Jalen one by one, you could put Sterling with Jason and Trey with Luka. Not a title winner contender move, but the chemistry and effort is already there on this team so make the adjustments as necessary and these two guard rotations for short bursts could be beneficial due to the potential scoring bursts Sterling and Trey could offer while on the floor. Tim was not the best defender on the team so we are not losing that much on that side of the equation anyway. You keep Dorian, Reggie Bullock and Maxi Kleber rotating into these lineups and you should do well. 

The only change you need to make is to find some athletic big that is a bit bigger than Dwight Powell to back up Kristaps Porzingas. And you might find someone to fit that bill without giving up too much. 

The goal for the rest of the season is to keep Luka, KP, Jalen, Dorian, Maxi, Reggie, followed by Dwight, Sterling, Trey, then Josh Green, Frank Ntilikina and Moses Brown as your long term projects hoping one or both becomes the next Dorian in value (and Josh is starting to touch on that), and finally Marquese Chris and Theo Pinson who are also projects, but have not been on the team long enough for the rest to feel the loss if they get traded. Boban is on a island when it comes to value. He is more than just a player so losing him would actually mean you better be getting someone serious in return. Otherwise keep him for the value he brings to the team as a whole. His situation is truly unique and he needs to remain. 

Tim Hardaway would have been a good trade chip even though he is well respected within the team. His production this year though was hurting the product on the floor so even though losing him would have had some psychological repercussions, if you received value back it would have been worth it. Now that he is injured, trading him is out of the question. Hopefully next year he can regroup and get back to being a more consistent scorer. 

Again unless you bring back some other worldly talent, trading any of the top tier players even with the free agency situation will not be a productive move for the rest of the year. Time to let the chips and cards lie, go all in on what you have and hope for the best. The team is getting better and every year is different so no reason to make a change to make a change. 

So if we make any change it is to bring in a bit more beef in the 5 position that can play and trading one of the projects hurts, but if the talent is there it might be worth it. Think about running out a mix of starters and 6th man quality players with new Center, KP at 4, Maxi, Dorian or Reggie at the small forward and then mixing up the guard rotations mentioned above and you have a a great flow into the bench that would eventually lead to Trey at the 1, Sterling the Shooting guard, Dorian or Reggie again at the small forward with Maxi and Dwight at the 4 and 5. This creates depth nightmares for opposing coaches and we could go into the playoffs with a ten deep rotation. Not too many teams can do that. All this after starting Luka, KP, Jalen, Dorian and are you ready for this Reggie. Yes flanking three great scorers with two damn good 3 and D guys, and why does anyone want the Mavericks to make a trade. 

And honestly I like Dwight and he deserves the minutes, but we get killed with certain centers in the Association so having someone who can at least body up and play against them for 2-3 minutes a quarter just rounds out the team real well. So the above rotations are based on who we play against, but it gives us the most flexibility of just about any team out there. 

Cheers

The 60 hour work week, what does it really mean?

Okay I have been struggling with how to title this post for days. And what is worse I am going to try and categorize different types of 60 hour work weeks. Why? Generally with the great quit of 2021 going on, the multi year need for better wages, the lack of caring by corporate America maybe it is time to determine when a 60 hour work week may actually be a benefit. Or maybe not.

So let’s attempt this madness.

The first category or description is one the corporations want me to rant about and that is workers taking advantage. And honestly I hate this one pretty strongly. There is nothing more annoying than to watch people do nothing from 9-5, well maybe act like they are working, yet because they either get overtime or some bonus for working extra, all of a sudden they have to stay till 7 or 8 at night and they are only doing the work they should have done from 9-5 in the first place. I have seen this happen. These type of people act uppity about it, let everyone know how tired they are, how much they did etc, but they get their bonus or OT, but the rest of us still have to work just as hard or actually do more because they are behind and playing catch up by working late. So only the select few that take advantage get anything out of this and I know you have seen it too, yet for some reason they get promoted for “working” so much. And then they screw up even more people’s lives all the while acting like they do so much.

Another non productive 60 hour week is when something goes wrong and everyone has to stay to resolve the matter. Sometimes these aren’t too bad, something catastrophic happens and you have to work extra for a few weeks to get caught up and get past the event. Sure no one wants to work this extra time and yes it is non productive in the short and long run, but once resolved if everyone goes back to their normal routine, people accept what has happened. The issue becomes when something goes wrong, you have to work extra to stay afloat or caught up and the problem doesn’t get resolved so over time work piles up on top of work, the light at the end of the tunnel becomes fainter each passing week. And this is because management will not spend the money to resolve the issue, fix the problem, hire extra people or even temporaries, or do not hold accountable the vendor whose product blew up and doesn’t work in your environment anymore. And because it costs money to replace if they do not hold the vendor accountable, the workers are left drowning in the morass of an inefficient operation. And the longer this goes on, the hours increase, the company or entity loses money, people are held accountable for more than they should be considering they have no help from the management that now has ridiculous expectations that the people at the bottom of the totem pole are going to work so much it saves the company. Yep, complete incompetence from the higher ups should not be a reason to work 60 hours a week. And as you know or can calculate, things go south fast, people leave, new people do not stay, and 80 hour weeks become the norm for the remaining people trying to hold on till they get their retirement or something.

Another non productive 60 work week comes when management in general without any reason is just incompetent. They keep changing policies or trying new endeavors hoping that will make the company more productive and profitable, but nothing works. Why? Generally because they do not have a clue. It starts at the top, and if they do not know what they are doing they are unable to hire others who do by sheer lack of knowing who or what type of potential candidate they need to hire. This trickles down until the company is seriously ineffective or gets bought out because they at least have a decent product or service idea. 

And all of the above does not have to be a for-profit corporation. They can be non-profits, government entities, small businesses and these usually collapse first, religious organizations, or other organizations that have a hierarchical structure. Generally management and  the management structure determines whether or not their workers are truly productive.

So when is a 60 hour work week effective? And it can be when both the employer and employee can benefit both in the short and long term. This generally means opportunity for growth, more money and freedom while working the 60 hour week to create so others can be efficient working a 40 hour week. If a person working 60 hour weeks to get ahead has expectations that others have to also work 60 hours it will not work. If the company allows for people who want to strive to get ahead and still respect the rest of the work force for coming in and doing their job well in 40 hours then the company benefits from a secure workforce and the people that want to contribute more for their and the organization’s benefit. Yes, this is a bit of a tight rope to walk, but successful organizations find the way to create this balance. And successful not just in more sales, but people wanting to work their and when a company has people that want to work for them then even the 40 hour workers give more during their work week. Also the company gets the pick of the litter so to speak. If they have a continuous large potential candidate pool then they continually replace workers when needed with others who want to come in and work 60 hours so they can help the company and them selves benefit. This allows the company to hire more efficient and creative people which in the long run grows their organization and maintains high quality output. It isn’t always about the most sales in a week or quarter, it is about what is going to happen in the years ahead to continue to grow sales.

Another somewhat efficient 60 hour week is when the 40 hour a week worker is given an opportunity to pick and choose times when they can work extra for OT or other bonuses on a short term basis. There are always times when a person wants some extra money for a vacation or something for the house etc and if companies can offer for workers to get some volunteer OT from time to time the 60 hours they put in do benefit the company to some degree. If they demand it without the worker seeing the benefit for them or see what management is building then those 60 hour weeks become unproductive as labor and efficiency decline on a hour over hour basis. 

So the myth of the American enterprise that all must work extra to get ahead is just a myth. Just using some very generalized examples you can see that in most cases and you can probably define even more, the long term use of the 60 hour week creates a decline in productivity as workers burn out and there is extra cost in turnover from people disillusioned with what management is doing. Or the 60 hours is just going down the drain because they are falling further behind because of other problems in the company. 

So if you think you are a great leader because everyone in your organization is working like madmen you might want to step back and determine exactly why they are working so much and what exactly are you receiving or obtaining from all their efforts. In short, you may not be too happy with the answer and don’t kid yourself either. 

Or the simple question is: do all or the vast majority of workers feel respected and appreciated? 

WTF Democrats/pretentious left

It is scary that I have already seen two headlines on this topic and that is two too much.

In 2014 I warned the Democrats in this blog not to do this, but they did. First their platform of platitude politics was bad enough, but to have nominated Hillary Clinton was so bad Donald Trump was elected President. Do I have to say this again? The Democrats nominated Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump became President.

Why why why why why would anyone, ANYONE think they should consider Hillary Clinton again just for that reason alone. And probably more important is that people still do not like her. Probably the majority of this country does not like her, not just Republicans. So why does anyone think she might have a chance. So stop thinking about it, we have enough headaches in this country. 

I am not going to vote for a Democrat no matter who they nominate, but please save me and the rest of this politically beat up country the horror of her running again. Please someone get in touch with whoever is starting these rumors and  have them stopped.

On a secondary note, if Putin wasn't President of Russia I would love to travel to that country, it is beautiful.

This is not about Antonio Brown

I do not know Antonio Brown the NFL wide receiver, however his recent news making event and subsequent conversations on various radio sports shows etc has left me a bit upset.

We live in an every man for himself culture. There is still this mentality that we need to take care of ourselves and no matter what we do it is up to us to solve our own problems. In some cases that is true. If you want to have more money, work hard and save.. you do need to have some breaks, but generally your economic life will get better with some work, planning and discipline.

If you want to be successful in areas beyond economics, it is the same mindset. Mr. Brown worked hard and became successful in the NFL. This also helped him financially. What has happened to him over the last couple of years has become quite the conversation.

And one element I kept hearing over and over again yesterday, was if he needs help  he needs to ask for help. This is somewhat true and somewhat not true. Some people called in or some commentators made mention do people think Antonio Brown is affected by some type of mental illness. And basically all the national commentators said that if he needs help he needs to ask for it.

All of them have the same assumption. That he would understand he has some type of situation going on. Therein lies the problem. Many people that have issues do not know they have issues so how the heck are they suppose to know they need to ask for help. 

Everyone says the NFL offers help. And I am glad to hear it, yet again, calling 1-800-HELP or whatever means you know you need it. How does a person in a decline of some sort know they need help. In most cases, they don’t. So expecting them to ask for help is letting them down.

And this same argument goes for the homeless also. They should go get help. Sometimes they are so far down they do not know how to ask for help. Or that their situation is worth helping.

Go tell a drug addict or an alcoholic they have a problem and you will get a myriad set of excuses from them. The last thing they are going to do is go get help. Now I do agree for the help to work, the person needs to accept they need help and are willing to do what it takes to move forward. And anyone that says this is what they mean when they say they need to ask for help is on track to a point. And yes I agree that until an individual recognizes they have a problem and addresses it, no help will be beneficial.

The key difference to me is that someone needs to step up and start the process of identifying to the person there is a problem otherwise they will never know they have a problem. Sounds simplistic and it isn’t, yet until a person does something so stupid that it comes back at them like a ton of bricks, most people do not know when they need help. And it is beneficial if someone can get that individual’s attention long before the ton of bricks hits them so they can start addressing the problem before their life is ruined. 

So to ignore a situation and leave it up to the person because you feel it is up to them to solve their own problem you are doing them a disservice. 

Sometimes the problem is obvious to everyone else. Sometimes no matter what you do, you can never get their attention until it is too late. Sometimes though doing nothing is criminally negligent.

So it upset me to hear so many national personalities not even addressing the issue except to say if he doesn’t ask for help, he will not get better. And again, eventually an individual will need to own the problem to resolve the issue,  but ownership means you made an investment and that investment means you understand the capital that is at stake. If you do not understand what you are losing you will never ask for the help you may need. 

Sometimes you can watch the person fall apart right in front of your eyes or make horrendous mistakes and you try to tell them. Sometimes that is all that you can do, but to watch it without taking action is a failure.

We call ourselves a Christian nation, but is leaving a person’s failures only for them to solve a Christian attribute. People will say they are pro-life, but what exactly does that mean. Pro life means life is from conception to natural death with dignity of life.  Is watching a person fall so hard they suffer immensely or die a pro-life attribute? 

Conservatives say we need to pull ourselves up by our boot strap, be our own man, be self made men etc. They also say we shouldn’t rely on government help. That is isn’t the place of the government to control our lives or make decisions for us. And generally this works, but it is not the whole story.

Yet somewhere today a person will need help and the conservatives offer no solutions only to complain about government interference in our lives. Conservatives say we need to be self reliant to not put burdens on others. 

Yet realistically we burden society more when we ignore the suffering. Isn’t there a phrase waste not want not, or a penny saved is a penny earned or teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. These same wonderful phrases that make up the backbone of conservative self reliance can be used to address the same problems of people needing help. 

For example an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we prevent problems do we not save the cost of paying for the aftermath? So why are people so afraid to help? Why do we rely on a broken person to fix them self?

If liberals are the only people offering solutions to problems, why do conservatives complain about the outcome?

I have no idea what caused Mr. Brown’s outburst on Sunday, yet the reaction to it shows the underlying problem that society has with dealing with issues head on. It is better to push off the problem than to address not only the problem but the root cause of the problem. I do not want to throw Mr. Brown under the bus, yet his example lets us know, do we ignore an entitled self serving person because it is easier or do we face the truth that there is more to the story than meets the eye and we (his family maybe) should look to the person and see if they are crying for help even though they have no idea they need help? 

I do not work in a mental health environment or deal with mental health issues, yet by chance I see the daily grind of how much mental health issues affect our society and the families directly. I cannot sit by and listen to people expect the pieces to magically come together because hey that is what they are supposed to do. 

If you really believe you are a conservative, then maybe you should be applying the age old adage, to love your brother as you love yourself. And yes, sometimes that takes effort.