It's all part of the process What people need to do is be a bit more realistic. This team is really young. It's stars are young, and it's role players are young, and it has a young coach. The talent is high, there are some weaknesses for sure, but you can't just look at the surface of what is there today. Championship teams usually aren't built in one off-season or even two. They evolve year over year over year. MJ didn't win a ring for his first what 5 years? Kobe and Shaq? How many years did it take KG? Dirk? Even Lebron! Even his first year in Miami. It takes time to figure it out. It takes time to develop a polished post game when you really never had one. It takes time to understand when to pass the ball and when to shoot when you're suppose to be the man carrying the team It takes time to understand the importance of giving you're all on D. It takes time to develop the confidence to know when to break away and not do what 5 people are telling you to do. It takes time to know when not to run your basic inbounds play because the other team is going to foul your poor shooting center. It takes time to understand how the opposition is planning to get a wide open shot. It takes time to understand when to drop down and help on D and when to play the passing lanes instead. These guys are not vets. This is a team who's most senior member is a 25 year old kid who's been with the team for 3 years. The mistakes you see are the mistakes of inexperience. Inexperienced point guard play, inexperienced coaching, inexperienced superstars, inexperienced role played, and a center who has a lot of rust and pressure to all of a sudden transform himself into something he hasn't ever been just to get an ounce of validation. I see a team that is young and very mistake prone. And a team with some structural flaws. A team that lacks experience from the players to the coaching staff to the GM. And it's absolutely absurd to get upset about each and every loss. Hey, these guys are going to make A LOT more mistakes. Because that's what young guys do. That's what a team trying to figure itself out does. And that it exactly what is suppose to happen. If they don't make mistakes they aren't taking chances they aren't learning and they will never reach their potential as a team. If they play within themselves they are doomed to mediocrity. They have to be free to fail. If you expect this group to just be able to play like a contender from day one, you're kidding yourself and being ridiculously unfair. Part of becoming a storied kind of team is going through trial and hardship. Part of it is failure. It is only through that experience and failure that a team learns to humble itself and submit to the greater whole. Do we not remember how long it took Hakeem. How many failed seasons? Nearly a decade after he was in the league. Look how much he grew. And This is why a team as young as the Rockets has not won and NBA championship since 1980. Repeat that: 1980. This is not the year to compete. It's the year to grow. Don't measure these guys on how well or how poorly they played in November. Instead, judge this team on how they are playing in March COMPARED to how they played in November.
Scary thing is, we only have Dwight for 3 years, and he will really start to decline fast on his 3rd year, so we really only have him for 2 years... realistically we only have a 2 year window to run for a title...
He may be better in 3 years than he is now. 3 years to actually develop a real post game he may not need to depend on being freakishly athletic. 3 years is a long time. I guarantee you DM is not hitting the panic button but rather very relaxed pleased with this season so far.
Once u get all the "experience" and post moves you're too old and injured to do anything. It's now or never. There is no tomorrow. Win or go home.
I really don't care what Dwight wants. If he can't get it done in 3 years, he either accepts a paycut, plays significantly better or he can try his hands on a championship somewhere else. I tolerate his school girl giggling and his goofy antics until then. We figure something out.
Guess my expectations for this team is too high these year... I was thinking 2nd seed playoffs and WCF appearance to call it a successful year
Really? Its not like he's a rookie... he's had 9 years to develop. Thats not to say that he hasn't improved (of course he's gotten better over time), but I have no idea why you think he'd make a major leap in the next 6 months.
Good post, and you're right. I realized reading your post that I'm glad the problems with our team are effort and coaching, because the alternative is our problem is talent, and that's a lot less fixable than effort and coaching. But because the latter is our problem, we can get to a championship position much quicker and easier over the next couple of seasons.
Big men if they remain healthy get better with age, their prime years are often in their 30s...so it's not scary at all.
I really doubt that, DH is a done product. I'd say Harden will play defense before DH developed a real post game.
Which is a hell of a lot better of a position than we were a few years ago. The value of getting Dwight is more than his production -- he will do what Parsons did with him and recruit other stars to join us in the future (KD, anyone?)
Dwight has always wanted to be more than a defensive and PnR center. He's never had the right people to help him get there. He's had Stan and Mike. They both wanted him to be a certain type of center - so he's struggled in those previous 9 years. Now he has McHale and Hakeem who are willing to be patient and not only explore being the type of center he wants to be, but actually tutoring him. H's not had that before - I think it will make a big difference...but it will take a season for him to start to get it. He's very mechanical right now, but the good thing is that if he works hard, he can improve a lot. I think the motivation is there.
