This is why we picked him up. To help the team work out some of the kinks and help keep the peace, from the inside out. Not enough has been said about our lack of veterans and the leadership and experience they bring to a team. Pretty much every problem we're facing can be improved on by having more experience and leadership. Unfortunately, Camby is gone and it'll take a few more years for some of our guys to develop and have that. Brooks Garcia Howard Brewer That's the list of our players who have 5 or more years in this league. Two of those, Brooks and Brewer, have bounced around too much in minor roles to really have gained the experience and respect a typical vet would have. That leaves us with 2 true veterans on this team and one of them is new in town. He's going to have enough problems integrating himself to worry too much about others, especially early in the season. He should get there eventually though. You could say Beverley could qualify as a vet based on his overseas career, but some of the perks of being an NBA vet are the relationships one establishes with players, coaches, and refs that help shape their reputation. Beverley doesn't have that. These young guys are going for knockout blows. They want to swipe for the steal, rather than move their feet for the 24 second stop. They're running ahead in anticipation of a fast break before their teammate even secures possession of the ball. Iso over set plays. Not controlling the flow of the game by controlling momentum. They are like teenage boys who get off to a rough start because they skip foreplay, don't notice cues that are staring them in their face, and in the end they peak too fast. They don't have that person, who is going to tell them what they don't want to hear. Garcia is too much of a cheerleader to really be that guy, and even if he can be, you need more than a single guy to get the message across. Who's going to tell Harden he needs to step up on defense? Or tell the perimeter guys Howard needs the ball more during certain matchups? Who's going to tell Lin he needs to be more assertive vocally? Or tell Parsons he needs to trust his teammates more and not over help? Who's going to tell Howard he should dominate more often because he's a man among boys? Who's going to calm Beverley when he goes skip to my lou? Who's going to tell the team, that although a 10 point lead is nice, there is still another quarter to play, so keep up the intensity and focus? Obviously, this is the job of the coaches, for the most part, but they are more like parents to these "teens". What teen really listens to their parents, as often as they should? They need the older brother or cool uncle figure to reinforce what the coaches are saying and really validate things for the players. They need tough love without it coming across like orders. That's where the Ray Allens, Shane Battiers, and yes, even the Juwan Howards, come in handy. Unfortunately, we may not acquire guys like that until next season, so the whole year may be full of bumps on the road. However, this is something to keep in mind throughout the year, when we may feel like losing hope with certain players, or even the team, because of inconsistencies.
Great post and this is something that is really overlooked. Since we don't have a great leader of a head coach, we need some vets in the locker room that has had very good careers or have been very good role glue guys in the NBA. To bad our all star duo are not great leaders like the CP3s and Duncans of the world Look at the contending teams.... Heat - Juwan Howard Thunder - Derek Fisher Clippers have CP3 and Doc Rivers Nets - Kevin Garnett (If only he was the starting PF on this team) I honestly think McHale is a bit to soft-hearted of a guy to coach a team like this.
This Summer Marcus Camby was only 12 months removed from being a top 10 defensive center. He was #6 in blocks, and #8 in defensive rebounds & #7 in offensive boards. Last seasons injuries with NY were not considered chronic at the time. Being brought in as a 3rd string center and insurance policy in case of injury was a no-brainer at the time given the need for rim for protection with such poor perimeter defenders on this team. He was someone the team thought could impact them on the basketball court... not just in the locker room. Morey was quoted saying that he sees little value in having veterans on the team that can't play anymore. Obviously they thought Camby could be both, and were wrong when his foot injury turned out to chronic after all. The Rockets didn't pick up Camby cause they thought he was a "good guy" to have around.... obviously they still thought he could play. They didn't cut a future prospect, or a useful contributor to keep him around so no harm no foul. Just wasted some of Les' lunch money.
They'd want him to play, but he was also brought for leadership and mentoring purposes. That was reported at the time by Feigen. Given the situation (little playing time available and young team), I'd say his off the court influence was more valuable to this team.
Probably... assuming full health, but if you are looking for why he was signed (Title of the thread), it was both cause they thought he could play still and he was a good locker room presence. They wouldn't have signed him in the first place if they didn't think he could play if needed.
Poor thread title on my part. I was thinking of people who asked "why" at the time and how I could connect that to what the team is currently lacking.
Seriously, I was surprised he was cut. I wasn't expecting any valuable minutes from him regardless. It was that or I was expecting them to cut him and then sign him or something for part of the staff when in reality, he was there just for evening and mellowing everything out.
You get a Sam Cassell or Mario Elie on the coaching staff and you get the same thing. Those guys aren't afraid to call players out. I wouldn't mind bringing in Andre Miller to handle that duty. Camby is soft spoken.
I just posted this a couple of days ago. I wasn't sold on the value of veteran locker room presence if he wasn't able to contribute on the court, but recent events have me thinking twice. It would be nice to have him around right now.
When you have a bunch of kids you need a grandfather minding them. Too bad the grandfather has bad knees.
You don't think there is a line that's crossed, once a player becomes a coach, that he really can't cross back from? I don't think players, especially young ones, see those guys as they see their teammates. It's like when your co-worker makes assistant manager. It's just not the same anymore. Plus, it would be nice for them to actually share the court sometimes, as well.
I thought it was kind of an odd signing at the time; it seemed evident he wasn't going to play this year, or at least not play much. But it turned out there were three other teams trying to sign him to the same type deal.
