of coz. how many threads has i started since i joined the board? you don't need your toes to count. two hands are enough.
Thanks, I would have missed this if it wasn't for your post. We had this argument before and I mentioned that it depends on what people value in leadership. It's the same argument on whether you would think of a church pastor as your leader, or the guy with the most powerful gun as your leader. One will guide you spiritually, and the other will get you bacon for breakfast.
very interesting argument. just forget about other ppl. what about the pastor vs the guy with the most powerful gun? who leads who?
That is an excellent example of leadership and it shows what Lin brings to the team. It's very nice to root for people like him.
LOL...I dunno. All I gotta say is that the problem with having the most powerful gun is that if someone else comes with a bigger gun, you lost your leadership. But if you're a pastor, even a Dwight Howard arrival won't take your position.
Post by Imaginedragons: Always wondered how come "regular" NBA players seemed to elevate their game when Lin was on the floor, even when he was a Knick. I think the article by the OP and the videos posted above by Kianoinhi gives us little a sense of why. I think he makes every player feel important, both on the court and off the court.
Jeremy putting a towel on Cisco and patting his head. Was Jeremy sitting on the floor before he snagged a baseline seat?
Sometimes I wonder if people really understand what leadership entails? It's an obvious and natural tendency in sport to want to label the most talented/'best' player as the automatic leader of the team. And it seems in basketball, this is further reduced to the most talented scorer (not necessarily the most talented offensive player even). But being a real leader is so much more than that. If you look at a wide variety of team sports, you will often find that the captain/leader of the team isn't always the best scorer/player. In fact, in football(soccer), a lot of the time the team captain tends to be the strongest defender. In basketball the coach has a much more direct influence on the game so the role of the leader is diminished somewhat. IMO the most important thing a LEADER should do is LEAD by EXAMPLE. This means being willing to get into the nitty gritty of things. It means always giving 100% effort defensively as well as offensively. It means being willing to sacrifice your own stats (be that points or assists) and your body to help the team win. A leader also has to be aware of the overall tactical flow of the game and get his team to adjust in order to maximise themselves. Often the best player gets annointed the leader for political/ego reasons, and more often than not, that hurts the team concerned. Harden is a great young player. He has that unique ability of being able to take over a game offensively and turn the tide of the game. That might make some people feel that this makes him the de-facto leader of the team. It does not. It makes him a match-winner. Which he is. But if he wants to lead, he has to make himself the most hardworking defender on the court first. How many times has Harden taken an offensive charge for the team and put his body on the line this season? Even once? Parsons, Lin, Delfino, Beverly have, multiple times. Out of this roster, I do feel that Lin is the most natural leader. It's one of the things that made me a fan of his in the first place. He always works 100% on both ends of the court. He's willing to give up his body and draw the charge and has done so on key possessions. He reads the game tactically and sees the overall flow/floor really well. He will pull people up when they're being lazy but equally he is very encouraging to his team mates. He also showed last season that he has the ability to take over games and be a match-winner, something we've only glimpsed from time to time this season. And I think if the coaches put more faith in him and give him more freedom we'd see it a lot more. It might not be the most politically correct viewpoint on these forums but Harden has a long way to go before he can be considered a real leader of this team, even if he has already been anointed as such by the coaches and 'overtly' by the other players. I've noticed sometimes Harden calls himself the leader of the team in press conferences. A real leader doesn't need to do that. I've also never really seen him take responsibility for defeats. When someone has a 'we won because of me and lost because of the team' attitude then you know they will never make a good leader. Though I'm not sure if it's fair to attribute this last point to Harden yet, but it does seem to be going that way a little so far.
Rockets played 4 games this week (magic, kings, blazers and nuggets) Lin is averaging 19.75p & 9.25a (fg% 50.9 3p fg%45.0 ft%80.0)
I won't bother responding the rest of your highly opinionated post since this leadership topic is beyond pointless, but I will have to pick on this part right here. harden is horrible on defense, but people need to quit saying he never takes charges. according to hoopdata, lin has the most on the team with 17, and parsons is second with 14. harden is right behind with 13, and omer behind harden with 12. no other player currently on the team has taken more than 3 this season. does harden suck a massive d on defense? absolutely has harden never drawn a charge for the rockets? anyone who's been watching the games can tell you he's at least drawn one without even looking it up, but the number is obviously closer than people try to make it out to be.
I believe a leader is someone who can get help and support from people if he calls for it. If he tell you to jump you say how hi. He is someone who is essential to the unity and production of the people he lead and he settles dispute. That seems to describe Lin more then Harden in my opinion. who can get more out of the players playing alongside him Lin or Harden?
These guys aren't leaders yet. But I like seeing in games Lin and Harden are always talking to each other. Garcia talks a lot to the guys too.
When we get to the point where we are trying to win, there can't be no leader or more than one leader. When it comes to crunch time, one guy that calls the shots and others buy in. There's no time to talk.
I'm not going to challenge those stats. I've watched pretty much every Rockets game this season and I haven't really seen Harden taking charges the way Parsons/Lin do. But I guess that just shows how the eye test can be so deceptive. It's kind o hard to imagine him stepping him front to take a charge when it seems like most of the time he can barely be bothered to put his hand up to make shots more difficult or fight through a screen. Regardless of the above, I still feel Harden has a long way to go before he can be considered a real leader of the team.
you're damn right a POINT guard better be a leader. No successful team has had a malcontent boneheaded player at the point. Alston may have murdered a lot of rims and backboards for that matter, but he'd take an elbow for the team or be the first one to help luifa. it's little things like that. I don't know why those who oppose the lin exclusive fans get their panties in a bunch over such things. you want him to do these things. Harden, parsons, garcia..especially garcia all good leaders.
I also have nothing but respect for the Lin. The Rockets know that he is a great citizen and will always work on his game and avoid controversy. He has improved his game from the beginning of the season, he is a far better long range shooter and is playing better with his teammates and within the system. Having said that I don't think he is the leader of the team.... he is A leader on the team like Battier was.
appreciate all posters who responded. we deed engaged in a very promising civil discussion. although i disagree on some views, i still learnt something for my benefit. i hope this type of dicussion could spread over other discussions. GO ROX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
