Excellent article in today's Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2134433 This stood out "When I got the job, everybody talked about talent," he said, offering a sample of his opening address. "There is less discrepancy from team to team in this league in talent than there is in attitude and chemistry. I want us to go from a talented group into a championship team. "It comes down to three things. Do you have guys who will work, share and sacrifice? If you have enough workers, sharers and sacrificers, you are going to reach your potential and beyond. These are not hard lessons." I Love It!!!! Work=Play Defense Share=Play a Team Oriented Offense (There is No "I" in Team) Sacrifice=Win Games, Ignore Personal Stats If we go into the season with the current roster, do we have enough players willing to work, share and sacrifice to win? 2 players, in my mind, definitely don't fit this mold. Mobley and Mooch. A third, Francis has shown an ability to change his game (a little) but is he willing to sacrifice more in order to take this team to the next level? Van Gundy is the right man for the job. If Mobley, Mooch, Francis or anyone else do not adapt their games to fit Van Gundy's system, they need to be shipped out. Players with LESS talent than Francis and Mobley have won championships. The answer as to how lthey did it is right there in Van Gundy's quote. Work, Share and Sacrifice. That is how you win Championships. The sooner these players embrace this philosophy, the more wins we will have.
I agree with the general gist of your thread, but I have to question the part about players with less talent than Steve and Cat winning championships. I am hard-pressed to think of a single team which has won a championship whose top two players (i.e. the two players who led them to the championship) were less talented than Steve and Cat. Get to the finals, maybe. But win the championship? Who? Add Yao to this mix and I believe that our top 3 offensive options are as talented as those of some teams who have won it. Which is why I am so excited about the future of this team. Especially as I see the improvement in the role player mix this season.
Actually, I can't agree about the inadaptability of Cat, either. As someone posted on another thread, he has over the last few years played several different roles on this team, including a willingness to improve his defense drastically in the last year to year-and-a-half. It will take some effort on his part to break himself of the habit of dribbling for so long and making a last-second move for a shot, but he has shown a willingness to adapt in the pass, and I believe he will buy in if JVG can show the value of a ball movement offense which involves more of Yao without freezing Cat out. Which I certainly expect to happen. If there is anywhere NEAR as much half-court dribbling this year as there has been the last 4 years, I am going to SCREAM! Repeatedly.
Last years Spurs team. Sure, Duncan is better than Francis and Mobley combined. And I suppose a case could be made for Tony Parker, who outplayed Francis in Spurs-Rockets games during the season. But David Robinson was hardly a factor for the Spurs last year. His best days were way behind him.
The only change I have seen is going from a 6th man to a starter. I have no idea where this "Improved defense" thing came from, but I just don't see it. He still makes the same bonehead mistakes that he made as a rookie. I just don't see him fitting in JVG's system. Time will tell. You and me both
wow, then you're in about as small a minority as you can possibly be. even the die-hard mobley haters were saying he was playing decent defense at the end of last year. most have been giving him credit as back as the beginning of two seasons ago, especially after he had a particularly good game against stackhouse i believe, and he's done nothing but get better since then. the first orlando game he gave tmac trouble. he held kobe to 5-21 in yao/shaq I. jason richardson to 8-26 iverson to two of his worst games ever last season. harpring had a horrible night the night after he torched posey. hell even when kobe put 52 on him, he was the only person in that 9 game stretch to hold kobe to under 40 (36) in regulation. but kobe got 2 extra overtimes (essentially another quarter) to work on him. and those are just the name players he did well against. and worrell and murphy, and other announcers often complimented his defense last year. considering people had no problem ripping the offense, i have to believe they were genuine in saying that. he wasn't on the all-nba team or anything, but i'm hoping that's not the standard before someone has improved defense.
The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 29 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Points were awarded on a 2-1 basis. Below are the results of the balloting for the 2002-03 NBA All-Defensive Teams, with First Team votes in parentheses: 2002-03 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM Position Player, Team Points 1st Votes Forward Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 47 (22) Forward Tim Duncan, San Antonio 44 (18) Center Ben Wallace, Detroit 55 (27) Guard Doug Christie, Sacramento 38 (14) Guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 35 (15) 2002-03 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE SECOND TEAM Position Player, Team Points 1st Votes Forward Ron Artest, Indiana 27 (9) Forward Bruce Bowen, San Antonio 24 (8) Center Shaquille O'Neal. L.A. Lakers 12 (1) Guard Jason Kidd, New Jersey 31 (10) Guard Eric Snow, Philadelphia 16 (3) Other players receiving votes, with point totals (First Team votes in parentheses): Gary Payton, Milwaukee, 15 (4); P.J. Brown, New Orleans, 11 (1); Allen Iverson, Philadelphia, 10 (3); Scottie Pippen, Portland, 8 (2); Theo Ratliff, Atlanta, 8 (1); Andrei Kirilenko, Utah, 6 (1); Brian Grant, Miami, 6 (1); Clifford Robinson, Detroit, 6; Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana, 5; Kenyon Martin, New Jersey, 5 (1); Shawn Marion, Phoenix, 4 (1); Kurt Thomas, New York, 3 (1); Michael Jordan, Washington, 3 (1); Matt Harpring, Utah, 2 (1); Tracy McGrady, Orlando, 2; Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix, 1; Bobby Jackson, Sacramento, 1; Chauncey Billups, Detroit, 1; Chris Webber, Sacramento, 1; Dale Davis, Portland, 1; David Robinson, San Antonio, 1; Desmond Mason, Milwaukee, 1; Jamaal Magloire, New Orleans, 1; Keon Clark, Sacramento, 1; Nene Hilario, Denver, 1; Rasheed Wallace, Portland, 1; Yao Ming, Houston, 1.
uhh, so what. i said he wasn't on the all-nba team. i counted 7 active sg's on that list, and that's if i'm calling bobby jackson and tmac as sg's. again, so he's not a top 5 sg on D, so he hasn't improved? cuttino could easily be 6-8.
I think Cat will be asked to play less with our new depth and do less under JVG's system. It is possible that he could be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new regime and the added experience on the team. I also think his defense has improved over time. I have no problem with the fact that the All NBA defensive team has nine guards total (both point guards and shooting guards) receiving points ahead of Cuttino: Doug Christie, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, Eric Snow, Gary Payton, Allen Iverson; Tracy McGrady; Bobby Jackson, Chauncey Billups (?), and Desmond Mason. I suspect Cuttino is not far behind this group.
There is no question that Cat's defense has improved. It's Steve's defense that is seriously lacking. The question with Cat is can he thrive offensively with the ball in his hands for fewer seconds. Notice I said fewer seconds, not fewer touches. I think Cat is gonna be okay. The one I worry about the most is Francheese. Is he gonna play D and subject his offensive game for the betterment of the team? Or is he just a darker version of Pistol Pete? An individual dynamo who learned way too late what it meant to play a team game and win.
I Beleive CAT will greatly benefit from JVG's coaching ,because he has shown at times to be a very good defensive player.With someone pushing him to do it on a consistant basis, he'll be alright. BELEIVE IT!
I'm not worried about Mobley sacrificing or sharing. As to the changes in his role? Well, he's adjusted from starting point guard to shooting guard. from sixth man to starter. from second option to third and he's upgraded his defense. I'm really surprised you're not willing to acknowledge that BobFinn. Everybody else does. I think Van Gundy will clearly define the role Mobley is expected to play on this team and I think that's exactly what Mobley needs. I'm not sure Rudy ever did that. He gave guys like Mobley way too much freedom. Some players can handle that, I don't think Mobley is really one of those guys. Nobody is ever going to accuse him of having the highest basketball IQ on the court. That's for certain. Surprisingly, I'm even not so worried about Moochie. He's been here working out with Van Gundy for weeks now I believe. Gaurunteed contract or not, he knows he's got to get Van Gundy on his side. You can say what you will about Moochie but he does value his playing time. He knows if Van Gundy isn't pleased with him he's not going to see much. Steve Francis worries me the most. He has the kind of talent and ego that can make a player feel like they're entitled to second guess the coach if they don't agree with him. However, I don't really ever remember him being outright uncooperative or defiant. Rudy just never really put his dogs on a leash. I'm hoping we'll be fine here. I think we will.
