Two Questions

1. When i think of Leadership i immediatly think of Jordan. Someone who learned the game and how it's played and how to make his team better. He has the fire and desire to win and he oozes it out of himself. Everyone can tell by the way he walks talks etc that he is confident of what he does. His driving force and attitude is what pushes others. They look to him for guidance and he puts them on his back when needed to carry them to the promise land. At the same time he knows that he needs the rest of the team no matter how less talented they are to actually win the bigger games. He has to be able to drive his team to rally with him and go to battle and fight for him each game in and out and not question his actions. Basically to have the loyalty of the team no matter which direction they go. In my eyes he is the actual player coach out there on the floor.

2. If this was a perfect world every drafted player gets to play a certain amount of minutes during their contracted year to really assess what they can and can't do on this leve. Unfortunatly they are in the business to win games and make money and they are not goin gto risk it and give minutes to a rookie unless he is already a superstar or they play for a crappy team. If it was like the YMCA leagues i played in as a kid we all got to play 2 quarters a peiece so everyone learned fair play and the good players got better over time. It would be nice to have them play a good number of minutes for them to really assess wha they can do on the floor and see if the potential is hype or not. No real way to answer this questions because so many players have shown up to be stars after so long in the league and many leaving them for dead and not given them a chance or just being traded away like, Rafer Alston, Ben Wallace, and many others that have made names for themselves when not really given a chance before then.

 

1. Whatever it is, it's not exactly something a fan can point out. You have to be part of the team to determine if you have a leader, and how much the leader is affecting the team. Otherwise, going by what one reads in the paper or watch on TV hardly gives you enough information.

2. Until the player's becomes more a burden to the team than his potential dictate. Burdens might come in different forms. Including how much the player makes relative to the cap situation, roster space avaliability, problems in the locker room through whining, etc. This is, of course, an inexact science.

But I'd think with all young players you have to balance the risk and the reward. When the risk becomes too great, you get rid of him.

This is where I'm annoyed at the trade. With the Boki situation, the biggest risk is that the Rockets lose the "upgrade" from JJ to Wesley by holding onto Boki. I think this is defensible if we're a veteran top 4 team looking at a championship run. Not a team struggling to make the playoffs with 2 young all-stars.

 

I think we did a good job on TMorris. gave him enough time and finally realized he wouldnt cut it.......same with J. Collier, T. Broux, Livingston etc.......

People we didnt give enough time to: Boki, D. Jones (cut in preseason), E. Griffin, etc.

 

1) On the court, a leader communicates to the other players information that helps the team win. He'll tell T-mac that when he's getting doubled, get it to Sura. Or he'll tell Mo that all his shots have been short - that he needs to arc it more. He tells the players what is being done wrong and tells them what they can do right. Off the court, a leader communicates with and works with players to build camaraderie, a team mindset, and builds friendships. He helps younger players understand the business and he socializes with other pros to understand how others are doing in the league.

2) There's a lot of blank variables here. How long depends on how much playing time a player gets. Also, it depends on the team he's on - a good player on a losing team may not blossom as well because of motivational problems. It also depends if we're talking about a player that came to the NBA from college or a player from high school. Players like KG and Kobe (straight from high school) are great, but it took 'em a few years to learn things. A college player may go through that learning curve and maturity before hitting the NBA.

But, if a mature player gets regular opportunities to prove himself, I'd give a guy about 2 years (3 years max). Example: Boki, drafted at age 22, had chances to prove himself, but failed.

If an immature player gets regular opportunities to prove himself, I'd give a guy about 3 years (5 years max). Example: KG, drafted at age 19, averaged only 10.4 PPG his first year. 3 years later he doubled that to 20.8.... or Kobe, drafted at age 18, averaged 7.6 PPG his first season, but was at 22.5 three years later.

I know I'm only looking at PPG, when there's a LOT more to it, but I'm not going to write a complete essay on this.

-- droxford

 

My answer was kinda canned and certainly generalized, but like I said, I didn't want to write a book about it.

As far as the question of who to expect leadership from...
You can't just say you expect leadership from your stars. Usually, leadership comes from veterans who have, at some point in time, found success. You could have a star rookie, but he may not be a good leader yet because he may not have a feel for what works in the NBA (an experience issue).

The opposite is not necessarily true: Though a leader is almost always a veteran, this does not mean that a veteran is automatically expected to be a leader. Example: T-Mac has found success (not through his team, but as an individual), and is a veteran, but doesn't have a leadership attitude.

So, who do we expect to be the leader for the Rockets? It doesn't work that way. As I stated above, just 'cause we have a veteran, that doesn't make them a leader. We can't just say, "Joe, we expect you to be the leader 'cause you have the most experience." Leadership is a personality trait. Some people are leaders, and some aren't. It's nature - at all levels. In street gangs, there's a group of kids who follow the leader kid. In business, there are managers who follow a director.

If we don't have a natural leader, we can't just assign a person to lead us. We can only acquire someone who has that personality.

Perhaps that's part of what JVG and CD are trying to do.

-- droxford

 

I agree with droxford's view on what a leader is.

I think a Malone or a Divac will do wonders to this team.

 

Hakeem is my favorite hoops player ever. He was amazing. He transformed the center position. I'd be hard-pressed to call him a leader, though.

 

I think leadership is overrated. Just win, baby.