Emotional Intelligence and Other Qualities Related to Winning

EQ is a good word. Some other words also used I think are - awareness, feel for the game, basketball IQ, intangibles, makes winning plays, heart and soul

I agree 100% Sengun's got the "it" factor, even though he hasn't been great recently. He just has that thing that makes teams win IMO. As years go by, he'll learn to foul less, be even more savvy in the offense, be more of a leader, shoot the 3s better. I don't know yet on JG and many others.

 

It is the Sengün factor.

 

Why don't we just call "it" Goon and be done with it. No more quotation marks. Whenever we talk about "it" from now on we can just say something like, "Does this guy have Goon?"

 

I.D.I.O.T.

 

IDIOB

 

How would you have qualified Hakeem's "it" when he became publicly hostile due to contract issues and FO accused him of faking an injury and purposefully not playing?

Not being sarcastic, I'm seriously very curious.

 

Lol great description of Wood. You know Ryan Hollins made an astute point in that last Spurs game where the score was tied and we had momentum. JC playing out of his mind. Wood then does what he always does and dribbled into the paint taking on 3 defenders resulting in a missed shot and a Murray bucket the other way. The Rockets offense never looked the same after that shot. Hollins said “Guys start to tune out” when this kind of selfish play happens. This illustrates an important point about the psychology of the team when a team mate plays selfishly especially for a guy who is supposed to be a vet and leader. But this selfish play from Wood explains why he hasn’t been playing winning ball his entire career and why the Rockets aren’t playing winning ball. Every possession counts. Every play can either swing the energy positively or negatively.

 

Depends on the "it".

Players like Kobe are maintaining their composure by ignoring all information and generating a narrative inside themselves with no competing thoughts - "I'm incredible and I will make this shot". This works, factually. It's the absence of competing thoughts or emotions. You will notice when these players are at their optimum performance level, they talk trash far less than they usually do. Players like Robert Horry are masters of this, any player can access it if they practice or are intuitive with transcendent meditation first.

EQ is relevant to leading players and coaches and GM's. Role players with a high EQ are inconsistent because they are sensitive to many more inputs than the average person. In-game, we are in a war-like setting. In this context, democratic structures and emotions are counter-productive. Role players are lesser. Franchise players are more. The coach is the dictator. What you are looking for here is alignment, because faithfully following any individual's vision is better than following multiple "better" visions partially, always. The third best idea executed faithfully and inspirationally will almost always outperform the best idea compromised by multiple leaders with visions.

IQ is the one that matters in the long term but I don't think in the game so much, though I could be wrong. Emeka Okafor was a perfect physical specimen with a tremendous IQ, and it didn't result in bball IQ. This happens constantly, actually I've always been interested in this. IQ in general doesn't seem to be a useful metric for making assessments of employees, which it would be by now in history if it were doing what they claim it was doing.

 

Depending on the word "success" and its angle.

Normal people think making the NBA is already a success, Okafor was a productive player at that.

Becoming a star player or even a legend, that is the icing on the cake, the cherry on top.

 

i don’t think that’s true for franchise players. When Dwight Howard said he’s already a champion they shat on him, even though he meant exactly the same thing.

For role players that’s an ok mindset. For obsessive winners, you’re never happy with where you are. Which is a gift and a curse in itself, imagine never being able to celebrate your success, always looking for the next target. Great for sports, sucks for the soul.

 

This isn't basketball IQ like most percieve it. It's really about leadership. It's something you might look for most in the coach as he perceives and controls the emotions of his players, the team as a whole, the opposing team, and the league. So I'm being serious when I say I don't see it in a single player or coach on the team currently. Phil Jackson had it. He understood how to get the best out of three very emotional players. Rodman, Jordan, and Pippen. But he also knew how get under the skin of the opposition. Olajuwon had it. but because he wasn't the point guard, he still had to rely on someone smart enough to give him the ball so he could control the emotional flow of the game. By not getting rattled, he got under the mentality of his opponent. He had it off the court, but on the court he had to demand the ball to express it. Chris Paul is the most interesting case because he displayed none of it, but he had the skill set to control the flow of the game and execute it if he did, so what a mixed bag.

My belief is that it is one of the most important qualities a player can bring to the court.

 

If I am correct, he went to the Bobcats first, an expansion franchise that never quite took off flight in the league, was a bottom franchise for its existence.

Emeka was also a tweener between PF and C with decent size but nothing special.

Not everyone can be Duncan, especially if you're on bad teams your whole life.

There was a dark time when Kenyon Martin, Kwame Brown, Greg Oden, Bogut were your 1st overall picks. And Bargnagni, Olowokandi.

Kenyon actually made the ASG.

 

Jazz is neat. As is Josh Christopher.

 

Scratching my head a bit maybe.

Jordan (G.O.A.T)
1000 gms
30 pts, 6 rebs, 5 ast
2 stls, 1 blk
50% FG
9 1st Team All Defense / Record
6 Rings

Kobe
1300 gms
25 pts, 5 rbs, 5 ast
1 stl, .5 blk
45% FG
9 1st Team All Defense / Record
5 Rings

Imagine what their numbers would be like if they were High EQ.

I'm lacking in "Emotional Intelligence".

DON'T get me started.

 

The mental aspect of the game is fascinating and what seperates a good from great player or HOFer from GOAT. Hakeem from Robinson, Jordan from Wilkins, Kobe from Carter etc.

Everyone on this level is extremely talented, they were often star HS players, the best player on thier college team and would dominate overseas. Truly less than a fraction of a percent of the population in the world are as good or better.

It's a long converation and I'm still learning everyday. I will say it's known Hakeem is my favorite player of course, I consider Jordan the GOAT (Much respect to LeBron who is an excellent #2 depending on what you value), but I will say the player with the greatest mental strength all time is Bill Russell, followed closely by Jordan.

He was obsessed with winning and the work each day to win, he threw up before every game. He said he loved making his teammates better and it was like heaven, he had a killer instinct. He would psychologically dominate opponents. He thought he was the best player in the world and it became reality.

He did all this while being an outspoken black man and leader for civil rights in the 60s, his mental strength was awesome.

Here are interviews, forget how the game has evolved. Focus on what Russell says and how he thinks, which still applies to competitive sports today. He dominated the league and consistently beat Wilt with his mind, for his time he was a basketball genius imo.

 

has a lot to do with a guy's motivation...
is he trying to get the best play for his team - or work his stat line.
Some guys will dish the assist (shows up in their stats) - but not necessarily willing to work it around the perimeter to the open man or take the 'hockey assist'....
thats why i think on/off numbers are compelling - more so than personal stats.
Some guys are glory hounds... some guys are struggling to stay in the league... for whatever reason, it often comes down to if a guy is a team player...
Battier was a team player... always willing to do whatever he had to to help the team... i doubt he was watching his personal stats...

 

whether or not it was justifiable....
if you got a guy that has busted his butt for years on mediocre teams... and he wants to cause a stir and stand up for himself when being taken advantage of... thats one thing.
if ur Snottie Quitten and making a kings ransom and wanna act all entitled right out the gate or pull yourself out bc yer all pissy about the play call or whatever - then yer an ass...
if yer idea of 'standing up for yourself' is to leave scorched earth in your wake - then yer an ass...
everybody says that they 'just want a chance to win...' - and then go squeeze every dollar outta their contract signing with a mediocre team... sorry, ur just about the cheddar - and probably an ass...