Nick Piccone
Remember when Jerry Colangelo basically ousted Sam Hinkie from the Sixers’ general manager position?
You could argue all you want, but trying to force someone to work with someone else – especially when that someone else is your son – is not exactly a recipe conducive to success. But, Hinkie resigned from his post, and now the Sixers are run by Bryan Colangelo. Colangelo hasn’t exactly had a bad run as general manager thus far, but he certainly hasn’t had a great one, either.
In an interview on the Carlin & Reese Show on WIP Friday, the elder Colangelo spoke on Hinkie, saying that while he respected Hinkie’s vision “out of the box,” he just didn’t do enough and ran out of time.
“I respect the fact that he thought so much out of the box, which he really did, in terms of being the analytical guy that he is. And of course, people can look back on decisions that were made — good or bad — and most everyone’s track record is full of both and can come to their own conclusions.
“Since the change in management there’s much more of a defined game plan, in terms of going forward, and that’s very positive in my opinion for the franchise. Sam left some good stuff in place, no question about that. Along the line there was a lot of pain in terms of incredible losing and that could only be sustained for a period of time. And I think in Philly’s case, I think he probably ran out of time.”
Right. Ran out of time. Because he was given so much time.
I understand if there wasn’t a specific plan in place, but Hinkie barely had three years to put the Sixers in place to contend. That’s not a lot of time. The losing culture didn’t help, sure, but three years for a general manager just isn’t enough time to get pieces in place and continue to make moves for the future. Hinkie did as good a job as anyone could in that position, getting rid of bad contracts, taking on contracts and then getting rid of them in one fell swoop to make the team have more financial viability, and got rid of Michael Carter-Williams by selling high. Maybe the long-term plan wasn’t there yet specifically – and I definitely understand that – but to barely give Hinkie three years, in his first general manager position in the league, is still too short.
You can listen to the entire interview below.
You can follow Nick Piccone on Twitter (@nickpiccone) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to his podcast on iTunes here and listen live on WildfireRadio.com every Friday at 6pm. Click here to read his pro wrestling articles on PhillyVoice. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.