I've slowly come to realize as I sat here wallowing in despair...that this is the easy way. It would not have addressed the main issue with the team (OUR players), we had a soft squad...even the coaches showed limited ability to perform under pressure and adapt, adjust, summon some nuts and simply MAKE IT HAPPEN. This (albeit short) off-season is in a way a microcosm of our season . Last minute, when it all seems to have come together, POOF. But how did we even get to that point...bad habits. Not responding to adversity with the right urgency. Relying on talent and not heart to pull us through in the end. As an organization I feel (maybe some FA too) we are innovative, cutting edge and visionary...but the book on winning NBA championships will not be rewritten with our approach. Face it...we have a poor track record. Deals almost go through, series almost won, and at the end of it all ppl say "they have a new approach"...it needs to be modified. Our players have to LEARN how to win with grit and passion, that is the only way we'll win 4 series ( we couldnt win one with our "impressive" 54 win roster) is to infuse TOUGHNESS and PASSION to the team...melo/bosh/love/ arent that...they're bailouts. More cute moves that win us more games/series...but what happens in the finals?? When the pressure is really on...the team is not mentally ready. IT BEGINS WITH OUR CORE....if we had a team of Beverlys we'd have advanced further...Morey....find some real hoopers with passion/intensity. Kevin (fire yourself)... and slap the beard off harden when he wont play D. Do the most difficult thing fellas... learn to truly GRIND IT OUT. Five star thread
Not sure if I can get through another season of McHale when you know he will inevitably blow it in the playoffs.
Once again...the hard decisions are being deferred for the sake of being comfortable...soft mentality
I would've been perfectly content on going into next season with the exact same team as last season........ IF we could've gotten at least a solid asst defensive coach ie. Hollins Howard and Harden really should be enough to be able to contend. They've got a season under the belts now playing together. Let's see what they can do together in year 2... It feels like a lot of people on here aren't grateful (enough) that we have these guys playin for us.
I agree, this team needs to take lumps and grow through adversity, not cheap fixes, talent isn't the real issue!
I agree man.. and i think the squad that we have now, believe it or not, could still be competitive along with our 2 superstars. I dont want to match parsons, but i think that might be the smart thing to do, as of right now.
A team of Bev's would get you last place in the NBA. Grinding it out is great, but if you don't have talent, all of the grinding in the world isn't going to win a championship.
Again, not talent...EFFORT! PASSION!! The only passion I see is when 3 3's are hit in a row, that's soft basketball...take pride in literally BEATING your opponent sometimes, be nasty if you must. We don't have that
Since 2000, every finals has had one of the following players in it: Kobe, Lebron, Duncan, or Dirk. That's 14 years of the same teams in the finals over and over and over. The NBA is built around star talent and you need stars to win. Historically the team with the best players WIN. A team can play with passion all they want but the team with more star talent will win.
In hind sight, maybe the smart thing to do would have been to exercise option on parsons, he could have been cheap next year. I realize Morey rolled the dice, but looks like we got snake eyes. He swung for fences. Is parsons worth it? Maybe another cheap year would answer that. Morey did him a 45 million dollar favor. He could be a bust or maybe worth half that. He was a 2nd round pick. How did he look vs Portland? Not good.
Our talent (no. 1 option) hasn't learned to care yet. Granted we need to wait until the season starts to see if James has indeed matured to do what it takes to elevate himself and address his weaknesses, I think he'll respond appropriately but it still leaves a sour impression of his "want to". As the leader (most talented) of our team he needs to...the team moves as he does, he doesn't show passion, the team doesn't. They coast like him...the notion of our talent prevailing in the end is too strong within our core, we haven't to this point shown the ability to win with actual grit.
Why talk to me like that? Totally unnecessary/immature response to one mans opinion. Nothing wrong with improving roster, just pointed out the team mentality aspect of the championship equation. All last year this team struggled with identity, what were we? Nobody knew, even the team. That identity needs to be developed and it starts with intensity, champions show a level of intensity and passion that i feel was lacking last year...here's to hoping they learned that valuable lesson in the Portland series.
kobe/duncan/lebron/dirk show much more passion that harden, no? Hes young yes, but this team wouldn't beat any of those championship squads, not because of talent, but because they lack INTENSITY, they shrink when the moment became big...the bright side is they're still young. But it starts with our leaders taking the game more seriously...play with purpose, have fun after you get the chip. (not during the playoffs James)...I'm inclined to think that potential FA's take note of this
