Fate and Fortune: The Andy McCutcheon Story (NBA 2K13)

[trekfan]

7-3-2013

Andy stood up from the couch and extended his hand. “Shabazz, welcome.”
Shabazz Muhammad, all 6’6” of him, shook Andy’s hand and the two sat down. Andy was floored … Shabazz was just as impressive in person as he was on tape. Hell, he was more impressive.


“Are you excited?” Andy asked as he pulled some bottled water from the nearby mini-fridge.


Shabazz nodded. “I want to thank you for taking me, Mr. McCutcheon—”


Andy waved him off and handed him some water. “Call me, Andy … I’m not old enough to be called ‘Mister’ yet.”


Shabazz flashed a smirk at him. “I guess so … how old do you have to be?”


“I hope I never get that old,” Andy responded with a chuckle. He took a swig of the cold water. “I know you must have a lot of questions.”


Shabazz shook his head. “Not a lot … I just wanna know three things.”


Andy leaned forward. “Shoot.”


“Who’s gonna be our head coach?”


Andy sighed. The coaching search had been long and he wanted a coach in here before the week was out. He had narrowed down the candidates but he wasn’t sold on any of them long term. “I’m going to be honest with you … the current crop of coaches out there don’t scream ‘long term solution’ to me.”


Shabazz’s eyes widened. “And that means … what?”


“It means that I’m not convinced the right coach is out there for this team but I’ve entered preliminary talks with Kevin McHale.” Andy looked at him for a brief moment. He didn’t know if he should ask this question but he wanted to know. “What do you think?”


Shabazz looked at him in surprise. “My opinion?”


“I’m not going to promise you anything, Shabazz. I like knowing what other people think, especially the guys who are out on the floor. You guys play for the coach, you guys react to the moves we make up here in the office … I want to hear your thoughts. I won’t guarantee it’ll be the deciding factor in the end but it will matter in the decision process.”


Shabazz nodded. “Okay … okay, I can do that. Thanks.”


Andy smirked. “Don’t thank me, just tell me what you think.”


Shabazz shrugged. “McHale got fired last year … I don’t know much about him as a coach. I know he won some championships with Boston as a player and I know that he knows how to win as a player … but he got fired.”


“So did I. Does that mean I’m a horrible GM?” Andy asked with a chuckle. Shabazz looked like he wanted to apologize, but Andy waved him off. “McHale has rings. He has experience guiding young teams. The Rockets aren’t that young anymore and last season they were expected to make the playoffs. They didn’t and he got fired … the fact that his GM drafted about seventeen frontcourt players and little else doesn’t matter apparently. I’m not going to hold it against him … I think he’ll be good for this team. We’re young,” Andy said with a wink. “From top to bottom.”


Shabazz nodded. “All right … what about Noel?”


“Question number two?”


“Yeah.”


“Noel is your running mate. You’re a creator and he’s a defender, the two of you will be able to feed off one another. You guys know each other, right?”


“We know each other, yeah. We’ve seen each other a lot over the last two years, all the events and everything … he’s a cool guy. Kinda crazy sometimes but I like that … he hates losing more than me I think,” Shabazz joked.


Andy was relieved. It seemed that Shabazz and Nerlens got along well … he didn’t want the two to fight each other. “You guys are going to be the franchise cornerstones for us. I want you to build around you two and make this squad a consistent championship contender.”


Shabazz’s eyes lit up, a fire in them. “That’s my last question … are we building a playoff squad or a championship contender? I want to win. I want to win it all, Andy … I don’t want to be stuck on a playoff team for years. I love you guys for drafting me and for showing faith in me to make me that number one overall pick, I respect that, really … but I won’t wither away on a playoff team that doesn’t compete for titles. I want rings on my fingers and banners in the rafters.” Shabazz stared at him. “Do you?”


This kid was intense. The scouting reports had said he was like a friendlier Kobe … Andy could see why that comparison was made. He leaned forward. “I could feed you a line of a bull that playoff teams are the same as championship contenders but we both know that’s not the case. To win a title, you have to build a title team … a contender that can take the best shots from everyone else and keep winning. I want to assure you that I’m not going to settle for playoffs … we’re making a championship team and we’re going to be a contender. But you have to understand, it’s going to take time.”


“I understand that … I just want to make sure you know.”


Andy nodded, his mind drifting back to all those people who died in the tragedy in Phoenix. “I know. And we’re going to win championships.”


Shabazz nodded. “Okay … good.”


Andy smiled. “Good.”


The meeting was over.


The two had reached an agreement.


It was championships they were after. Anything less would be failure.


And they both hated failure.

[Tehbest13]

Great job so far! cant wait to read more

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tehbest13

Great job so far! cant wait to read more

Thanks man, appreciate it

[Undead]

This is the main reason I log on to OS. Keep it up~!

[saaddzz]

Very, very good thread and story line man! And thanks for using my roster, it means ALOT! Beast association, keep it up, and good luck on Shabaazz!

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by saaddzz

Very, very good thread and story line man! And thanks for using my roster, it means ALOT! Beast association, keep it up, and good luck on Shabaazz!

No prob, man! Love your rosters and ratings. I'm glad you like what you've seen so far ... and thanks for the luck with Shabazz-the dude is a bad bad man, I think he could be the next great SG in the NBA.

Stay tuned, more is on the way

[trekfan]

7-4-2013

“How’s he doing?” Andy asked quietly as the two watched their other draft pick, Nerlens Noel, shoot around in the gym.


Gil, reliably carrying his scouting notebook, seemed pleased. “Not bad. He’s pretty much useless outside of fifteen feet but he’s so young, so raw, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” He scribbled something down in his notebook and made a face. “But he needs work.” He looked up from his notebook and met Andy’s eyes. “You talk to McHale yet?”


Andy shook his head. “We’re scheduled to meet in the next hour.”


“So you want to talk to him, then?” Gil said with a chuckle.


Andy nodded and looked out onto the court, watching Nerlens thunderously dunk a ball into the hoop. “He’s bigger in person.”


“He’s bigger, period.” Gil got up and whistled, motioning for Nerlens to come over to them.


The young player stopped what he was doing and did just that. “Yes, sir?”


Gil shot Andy a knowing look.

He’s not going to let me live down passing him up first overall, Andy thought to himself as he looked over Noel. The guys was tall, a bit lanky, but carried himself well. The scouts had been worried-as they always were with big men-about injuries but Nerlens was pretty clean on that front. He looked to have a very good, injury free career at this point.


Andy and Nerlens exchanged had shakes before Nerlens sat down. Even then he still towered over Andy. “Nerlens, glad to see you’ve found the gym.”


“Yeah, it’s nice … good facilities. I like it. Quiet, let’s me do my thing, sir.”


Andy waved him off. “Just call me, Andy. He’s the only one here old enough to be a ‘sir’,” Andy said while pointing at Gil.


Gil barely acknowledged the jab, his eyes a glow with pride. “Nerlens, why don’t you tell him what you told me.”


Nerlens nodded slightly. “I was just telling Mr. Gil here that I’m ready to step up ASAP. I want to be the starter from day one and I’m gonna work to be that.”


Andy smiled. He thought Nerlens would have a chip on his shoulder from being passed up and by God, the kid did. He sounded like he wanted a piece of a few people. “That’s what I like to hear … I’ll let you get back to working on that then. How about me, you, and Shabazz do lunch tomorrow? I know this great Cuban place down the road.”


Nerlens thought for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, sure … you paying?”


Andy smirked. “My treat.”


“Cool.” Nerlens walked back onto the court while Gil shot Andy a curious look.


“What?” Andy asked.


“You’re gonna take them out to lunch? Kid, there’s a reason why GMs and players only interact during contract negotiations or trades.”


“And there’s a reason players feel like the front office doesn’t have a damned clue about what’s going on with them and that’s it,” Andy countered. “I’m not gonna sit in my office and ignore them. That’s what leads to hard feelings and hard stances. I want to build an environment here that nurtures growth and communication.”


“A family environment?” Gil asked with a chuckle. “You didn’t really have that in Phoenix.”


“I didn’t have time to implement it. I just made a few trades there to get us into the playoffs … here, I’m building a team from the ground up. We’re only carrying five guys who played on this team last season.”


“It’s admirable but it’s a pipe dream. When push comes to shove, when money gets in the way, this ‘family environment’ stuff goes straight down the toilet. This is a business, kid.”


“And the best businesses are family owned and operated,” Andy shot back.


Gil sighed. “Whatever, go about it your way.”


Andy was about to shoot off another comeback but his phone vibrated. He had a text. He took it out, read it, and groaned. “Damn, I forgot I had an early lunch with my mother today.”


“What time?”


“Same time as the McHale meeting.”


“What are you and he talking about?”


Andy frowned. “Final contract. Pretty dry stuff but it’s necessary.”


Gil patted him on the shoulder. “I can handle that.”


Andy shot him a look. “You hate talking money.”


“Money too often screws up teams,” Gil lamented. “But, we need a coach. You and I can’t do it and McHale is more than just a coach for us here … he’s also a former GM. We can use his experience there to help the team if we want to.”


“He wasn’t the best GM ever, you know.”


Gil flashed a smirk. “No one is. Go grab lunch with your mom, I got you covered.”


Andy sighed. He wasn’t looking forward to eating with his mother. “If you say so.”



***



“Andrew, are listening to me?” His mother chided.


Andy looked up from his menu. “Mom, I’m sitting right here.”


“Are you listening?”


Andy nodded as he internally scolded himself for letting Gil handle the McHale meeting. Not only was it his responsibility to be there but it was preferable to hearing his mother scold him-yet again-for being too obsessed with work.


“Good,” she said as she put dressing on her salad-again, she was trying to lose weight-and began to crunch the crackers atop it.


He frowned at the salad. “You know the crackers don’t do anything for you, right?”


“We’re not all as radical as you are, Andy.”


“It’s not radical, it’s smart,” he said as he tried for the umpteenth time to reason with her. “Mom, I lost fifty pounds in six months after I gave up bread … I’m the thinnest I’ve been since I was in high school.”


“You’re 24 and male. You can lose weight easily,” she countered. She picked up her fork but set it down. “Don’t change the subject. We’re talking about your job.”


“I came to lunch to not talk about my job,” he said with a chuckle.


She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. “Andrew, you need to work less.”


He set his menu down. “And do what? I’m good at this, Mom, I can do this job and do it well. Why waste time doing anything else?”


“You should get out more, find a date.”


Now it all made sense. He shook his head. “Mom, I’m radioactive after what happened in Phoenix. People know my face and who I am in this town … no way I land a date. I don’t want to date after what happened,” he said sourly. The sting from Angela’ s betrayal was still too raw. It hadn’t been two months yet and already his mother was calling for him to get back out there.


She reached her hand across the table and took his gently. “I know it hurts, honey, but you need to get back on that horse. Burying yourself in work is going to make your life seem a lot less years from now … work can’t replace living.”


He pulled his hand away from hers, incensed at what she was insinuating. “I’m not Dad.”


“I know.”


The bustle of the little bistro around them seemed to die out as the two sat there. “I don’t go and drown myself in work when the world gets tough.”


His mother looked at him sympathetically. “Your father said the same thing for many years. When he died your freshmen year, he did it at the office.”


Andy picked the menu back up, opened it, and covered his face. He took a moment to silent curse as many profanities as he could before taking a calming breath.


His mother was damned good at the guilt trip. If that was a skill in the NBA, she’d be MVP every year.


He set the menu back down and motioned for a waiter. “I think I’m ready to order my main course.”


His mother sighed and went back to her salad. “I’m just trying to help.”


Andy ignored her.


Helping was one thing.


Comparing him to his workaholic dad was another. He was a great dad but he was gone now.


There was no point in dredging up the past.


It was time to take hold of the future.

[AdamMorrisonHOF]

Not McHale

Any more roster moves planned?