I'm asking this question, because, after thinking about the article Feigen wrote earlier in the week about Rudy talking to both Francis & Mobley, in regards to taking their leadership roles more seriously, it's brought a lot of questions to mind. Here's the link for those that didn't read it. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/bk/bkn/1318352 First off, is Francis a leader? Some people are just not cut out to be leaders & are better suited to be followers. They may want to be (as in Francis), but they just don't have the intangibles that it takes. Dream, Duncan, & Bagwell (Astros) are examples of what I'm talking about. They are superstars (Dream in his prime), but they are quiet, unassuming players, that lead by example. They won't get in a player's face when it needs to be done. There's a movie (U571) that has 2 scenes in it, that I believe illustrates the point I'm trying to make. The first scene is when McConaughey asks the captain (Paxton) why he didn't recommend him for a promotion to captain of his own submarine. Paxton's response was, "Would you be able to send a man, even your best friend, to his death, if it would save the rest of the crew?". When McConaughey hesitated with his response, Paxton replied, "That's why I didn't recommend you. You're not ready yet." He then followed it up with, "As a captain, you have to be ready to make decisions, without hesitation.". The second scene was after the captain had been killed & McConaughey was put in charge as second in command. He had to make a crucial decision & hesitated in front of the men, which caused them to vocally start questioning his decision, until Keitel stood up & got on everyone's a** about questioning the captain. Afterwards, when Keitel & McConaughey were alone, Keitel told him that he should never show any doubt in front of the crew ever again, because any hesitation or glimmer of doubt on the captains part could destroy a crew. The captain might not know all the answers, but he can't let the crew know that. Now, obviously basketball is not a life & death struggle, but the guiding principles are still there in those two scenes. In Feigen's article, Rudy talked to both Francis & Mobley about their leadership roles, as the captains. In every job I've ever had & every team sport I've ever watched or participated in, there has always been one leader of the pack. The coaching staff has one head coach & he delegates responsibilities to his assistant coaches. So, who is the true leader of the Rockets? Who is McConaughey & who is Keitel on this team? You can't have two captains on the same ship. It'll cause confusion & could result in players taking sides. An example might be the Lakers. The petty bickering between Shaq & Kobe could've cost the Lakers the Championship last year. A team on the opposite end of the spectrum, is the hated Jazz. They've got two superstars in Malone & Stockton, but I don't think anyone can question the fact that Stockton runs that team & makes the calls on the floor. One thing that might be holding Francis back, is his friendship with Mobley. Don't read that as Mobley is holding Francis back, but as Francis holding himself back. What I mean is, it seems to me that Francis is reluctant to tell his best friend when he screws up or make him pass the ball back. In games past, Mobley has ignored Francis when he was calling for the ball. That should never happen, if Francis is the captain of the team & Mobley is the co-captain. That's a case where Francis has to take him, or any other player for that matter, aside & get on them about it. The feeling I get, is that Francis looks up to Mobley, as if he were a big brother. That might be why he doesn't take the sole role of captain on this team. Would Mobley be a stronger team captain? I'm inclined to say yes. I sometimes get the impression that Mobley would be better suited to be the captain & Francis the co-captain. During last night's game, Moochie went down & was hurting. All I could see on TV, was Mobley & Collier checking to see if he was okay. Since I wasn't at the game, I'll have to let someone else tell me if Francis was in the area or on the way over to check on Moochie. My point with this example, is that Francis should've taken the leadership role of making sure his teammate was okay, or at least come over to check on him. However, if he was on the way, then this point is moot. Even with all the injuries we've had this year, we've still had enough talent to win more games than we have. Francis, Mobley, KT, & even Cato have all increased their statistics this year. Then you throw Griffin into the mix & we have a better team than our record indicates. Francis has been back for 37 games, since his foot injury. True, he's missed a few games as a result of his migraines, but we've gone 18-21 in the games he's played since coming back from his foot injury. As young as this team is, they need a strong leader. Imo, a leader makes the tough decisions, gives direction, takes the responsibility when things screw up, & deflects all the praise to their teammates. Teams need a leader to pick them up, when things aren't going their way. Francis is a star & is destined to be a superstar, but is he a leader? If not, can he become one?
I'm not comparing them as players, but as team leaders. In other words, what leadership strengths they bring to the team.
