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Wednesday, May 22, 2019

NBA PLAYOFFS: Raptors Have the Firepower to Reach NBA Finals with Hobbled Kawhi Leonard


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In the context of the NBA's most cited postseason adages, the Toronto Raptors' 120-102 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night doesn't warrant material reactions.
It was Game 4. The series is tied 2-2. The Raptors won both games at home. They did what they were supposed to do. A playoff series does not start until the road team wins, which it has yet to do in these Eastern Conference Finals.
Yada, yada, yada.
And yet, playoff proverbs in mind, this Raptors win does mean more than the typical victory.
Not only were they in must-have territory, facing an insurmountable 3-1 deficit, but they were playing with a visibly hobbled Kawhi Leonard. He tweaked his left leg early in Game 3, and although he went on to log more than 52 minutes in a double-overtime win, the effects stuck with him through Tuesday night:
"We were concerned," Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said after Game 4, per The Athletic's Blake Murphy. "I think he's fine."
Concerned, but not panicked. Fine, but not great. These remain good lines to toe following Leonard's performance. 
He finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks on a tidy 6-of-13 shooting. He wasn't reaching the rim at will, but that's been the story for this entire series. He continued chasing around Giannis Antetokounmpo and defended his tail off in the half-court.
He dunked on the MVP favorite, too:
Still, it quickly became clear that Leonard's grit and smarts and will were substitutes for his dominance. He wasn't heavily involved in the offense to start. He didn't make his first shot until roughly halfway through the first quarter, and his first rest of the game came shortly thereafter—far earlier than usual.
Leonard didn't look as explosive on either of his two dunks or when trying to create space off the ball. His one-on-one attacks felt slower—not deliberately more methodical, but involuntarily gradual. 
That he still cobbled together an essential performance deserves to be commended. He is the Raptors' championship hopes personified, and he did not disappoint. He thrived amid strategic conservation; a lower-key offensive role and brief respites from Antetokounmpo on defense allowed him to both stand out and bypass his usual exhaustive volume.
But these calculated concessions don't pan out—or persist for the entire game—if his teammates cannot lift him up. 
They did.
That wasn't a given. Toronto's supporting cast has remained a visceral inconstant for much of the playoffs. Pascal Siakam has been Leonard's most reliable running mate, with the occasional detonation from Kyle Lowry, Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka or, much less often, Marc Gasol peppered in. 
Very rarely, though, has Leonard's aid come from numerous sources all at once. The Raptors backups were being outscored by 2.4 points per 100 possessions entering Tuesday night, which ranked 10th among all 16 playoff teams. Gasol, Lowry and Danny Green were shooting a combined 40.3 percent (35.4 percent from downtown).
Lowry, to his credit, has found his groove. His 25 points, six assists and all-out defense in Game 4 were an accurate view of all he's done against the Bucks. He's now averaging 20.3 points and shooting 48.4 percent from distance on nearly eight deep attempts per game for the series:
But his uptick has changed only so much. Nearly everyone else around Leonard has remained a nightly mystery. Figuring out where his help will come from and whether it will be enough has turned into a postseason rite of passage. 
Support for Leonard came in droves, from all over, on Tuesday. He didn't just have Lowry instead of Siakam. He had Gasol, who dropped 17 points and seven assists on minimal hesitation to go along with five rebounds and two blocks.
He had Norman Powell, who offset his extra-thirsty shot selection (4-of-13 from three) with his energy on the glass and at the defensive end. His offensive persistence—at times excessive—helped, as well. He hit a couple of big treys en route to tallying 18 points and a game-high plus-29.
Leonard also had Serge Ibaka, who was exceptional on the glass (13 rebounds) and shot 7-of-9 inside the arc, including 3-of-3 from mid-range. Leonard even got a vintage game from Fred VanVleet. He poured in 13 points and six assists, helped stifle Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon and George Hill on defense and was pivotal to the Raptors holding their ground during an opening fourth-quarter stretch in which both Leonard and Lowery were catching breathers:
Some of these good vibes won't last. Stars and role players alike tend to fare better at home, which is where the Bucks are headed. They will punch back.
Credit the Raptors' hard double-teams for forcing the ball out of Antetokounmpo's hands and coaxing him into an uncharacteristically mortal 14-of-33 shooting over the past two games, but he will explode again. Ultra-aggressive Gasol may play Brook Lopez off the court, but Bledsoe, Brogdon and Hill won't combine for a 5-of-20 clip every night.
Toronto's non-stars will likewise get worse. Ibaka, Powell and VanVleet won't combine for nearly 50 points every night. Lowry is a hustle-plays machine, but he and Gasol have ambled in and out of scoring consciousness.
More importantly, Toronto cannot hope to get by with a banged-up Leonard if it cracks the NBA Finals.

TORONTO, ONTARIO - MAY 21: Kyle Lowry #7 of the Toronto Raptors drives to the basket during the second half against the Milwaukee Bucks in game four of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Scotiabank Arena on May 21, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER:
Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
The Raptors have the depth and ancillary star power to squeak past a Bucks team with which they're evenly matched on the margins. But in a prospective showdown with the Golden State Warriors, they would need Leonard to be Leonard. Nothing less or in between would suffice.
That's a matter for another day, and the Raptors would welcome it if they get that far. And they have enough to get that far.
With or without Leonard making a full recovery from his ailing leg, they have enough.
Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference or Cleaning the Glass. Salary and cap-hold information via Basketball Insiders and RealGM.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by B/R's Andrew Bailey.
Raptors Have the Firepower to Reach NBA Finals with Hobbled Kawhi Leonard


Maluma, Carlos Vives Manager Walter Kolm On Potential of the Latin Market

4/21/2017 by Leila Cobo
DO NOT USE - BB10 2017
Mary Beth Koeth
”I’m not an agent; I work for the artist so that their brand has a before and after,” says Kolm, photographed March 30 at WK Entertainment in Miami, about his role for his clients. “I’m the brand manager, and they make the music. The single objective is to grow the brand, but the artist has to agree with me.” 

The label boss-turned-manager to the stars on the power and potential of the Latin market

Walter Kolm came of age at a time when "labels had too much power," he says wryly, looking out at Biscayne Bay from his 15th-story office in Miami's Brickell business district. In 2011, when the 48-year-old executive branched out on his own, he had spent more than 15 years at Universal Music Group (UMG), most recently as president of Universal Music Latino/Machete, the U.S.-based label that had oversight of superstars like Juanes, Paulina Rubio and, at the time, Enrique Iglesias. By then, the music industry that he had entered as a punk-rock lover and indie-label owner in his native Argentina had changed dramatically: Sales were down, labels were no longer ­all-powerful, artists had clout -- and ­managers had even more.
When UMG restructured its Latin ­operations, Kolm lucked out when one of his former artists, Mexican superstar Cristian Castro, asked him to helm his career. The relationship didn't last, but Kolm's appetite for management did. Today, he oversees a staff of 12 at his WK Entertainment and is credited with reviving Colombian superstar Carlos Vives' dormant career and jump-starting Maluma's (see story here). Both are finalists for the Billboard Music Awards, as well as the Billboard Latin Music Awards: Maluma is up for seven honors; Vives, six. Together with another Kolm client, ­vallenato star Silvestre Dangond, the three grossed more than $100 million in touring alone in 2016.
Kolm also manages reggaetón star Wisin and, together with former UMG colleague José Puig, is a partner at 2PK Management, which represents a slightly more specialized roster of acts, including Bacilos and Fito Páez.

Changing gears was a good decision for the dapper Kolm, who wears Thomas Pink shirts, drives a Ferrari and has a weakness for Dominican cigars. "I'd never go back," he says about the shift away from labels. "I like this world more, and it's a more ­lucrative business -- at least for me."
As a manager, how do you use your label experience to your advantage?
I know what the label doesn't want to hear. They don't want to hear unsubstantiated complaints. As an executive, I had so many managers come and ask, "What are you going to do for me?" Labels want partners. I will never ask for a check without saying, "Let's see the books, let's make a deal, and let's make a deal that's fair to both [sides]." I try to strike a balance so the label-artist relationship grows every day.
What can you do as a manager that you can't do as part of a label and vice versa?
As a label executive, I was very involved in the creative part. Now, I let the label do that. Before, I'd say, "Let's do this or that." Now I ask, "How are we going to do this?" I try to separate my roles and act like a manager, as opposed to a former label president who still wants to be at a label.
How do you choose artists to sign?
I look for artists with the potential to fill arenas, who can gross $1 million a night.

When you signed Vives in 2013, however, he didn't have a label and hadn't played arenas in years.
That's why I say "potential." When I signed him, his last arena concert in Miami in 2005 had sold out. I felt that he hadn't declined but simply taken a long break. I went to see him and he sang his new songs for me with his guitar, and it was all there. I always seek out the artists I want to sign. Except for my very first one, Cristian Castro, who came to me and ­initiated me in this business.
Ironically, he is no longer your client.
We prefer to be friends. I think my value as a manager is the advice I can give, and if you're not going to follow my advice, there's no sense in working together. I’m not an agent. I work for the artist, so that their brand has a before and after. I’m the brand manager and they make the music. The single objective is to grow the brand, but the artist has to agree with me.
Most of your acts are signed to Sony. Why is that?
I believe my artists deserve a company with potent A&R, and I think Sony's is the best. I don't necessarily look for the biggest advance, but I do look for the best ­conditions for my artist.
But you must have had a few bad experiences.
Well, yes, but you overcome them. The first time I took Maluma to Mexico, I told promoters he was the artist to watch, and they all came back with offers for 800-seat venues. So I hired my own ­promoter, we rented the Pepsi Center in Mexico City and we sold 6,000 tickets in two weeks.

When you signed Maluma, he was brand new.
I saw him perform at an awards show in Colombia. I walked in there, and I saw all these girls going crazy for him. I saw a star.
That's a leap -- he didn't have any hits.
That's true. But I believe there are artists and stars. I think Maluma -- like Vives, like Silvestre, like Wisin -- are stars, celebrities. They're charismatic and charming. With Maluma, I did my research, and one thing I've learned is, when an artist has a solid base -- a market, a country -- we know there's the possibility to go beyond that. In Maluma's case, he had this huge fan base of girls despite the fact that he only had local marketing behind him -- just social media. I wanted to take him to the next level.
You're from Argentina. Why so many Colombian acts?
I believe Colombia, due to its geographic location [between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and at the top of South America] is generating the best music right now. Plus, Colombian acts have a great look, and that's important today.

I see you don't have any female artists. Why?
I have two women: My girlfriend and my daughter [Barbara, 23]. And that's enough. [Laughs] Eighty percent of my team are women, and they help me make decisions in life and work. But, if the right female act comes around, I’m open.
What if you love an artist’s music and it’s a niche act? Would you sign him or her?
I’m not a romantic. I used to be a romantic. I need to see the business.
Streaming barely existed when you left UMG. Now it's huge, particularly for Latin music. How has it changed your business?
We make money. Today, we're finally seeing big numbers again, and labels finally have the economic clout to invest again in their acts. In my case, the bulk of our revenue is from shows, followed by endorsements and then publishing.

What is the advantage and disadvantage of working in the Latin market?
I don’t see disadvantages. If we see the Latin market as a single country that begins to the South in Argentina and ends to the North in the U.S. and spreads East to West from Chile to Spain, it’s an amazing territory and we’re fortunate that we all speak one language. That’s why my business plans are made for the entire region.
Is the current political climate ­affecting your business?
I think it affects touring in the U.S. The undocumented fans are afraid to go out. It's unfortunate that people live in fear.
How important is a crossover to you?
Crossover is not about language. It's [what] happens when an ­artist reaches different audiences by being himself. A crossover to me was Juanes' "La Camisa Negra," or Carlos Vives and Shakira's "La Bicicleta." We have a great crossover tool today, with danceable music in Spanish used in Zumba and other classes worldwide. That's the real crossover. No one understands a word, but they can dance.
This article originally appeared in the April 29 issue of Billboard.
Walter Kolm will speak at the Billboard Latin Music Conference April 25. To register, visit:  http://billboardlatinconference.com


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