Simply put. Steve needs to be more mature. It's about the team. If he really wants to win, and it is not just lip service, then he's got to be willing to make sacrifices for the team. I do not excuse him for his immaturity. Not for a moment. He should've been on the plane. No excuses. And his refusal to come clean, admit his mistake, and say he is sorry for what happened is a mistake too. But I can't excuse Van Gundy either for what I see as his weakness. Van Gundy needs just a little bit of flexibility, just a little touch of Rudy T, or should I say just a little bit of cheerleader, a little bit of Tommy Lasorda to add to his rigid Bobby Knight Vince Lombardi Little Hitler persona. He cannot be excused for his lack of management skills in dealing effectively with people on a personal level. He has shown zero ability to psychologically motivate players with positive reinforcement. And the old kick them around until they respond attitude just doesn't sit well long term. Yes, he is a great coach, a tremendous defensive coach, a great disciplinarian, a great butt kicker, a great negative motivater. But it takes more than that to motivate and bring together great talent. He can bring together mediocre talent like he did in NY, to play their guts out. Because they are playing for their paycheck. They are motivated by negative reinforcement. They know that if they don't perform, if they don't adjust, that they won't be in the league. They will be waived or whatever and somebody else will be brought in who will perform over their head. But I don't want to see a bunch of mediocre players dogging it out every night and finishing 44-38 every year, and losing in the first or second round of the playoffs. And I'm afraid that is what we are gonna have if JVG doesn't learn how to deal with the superstar talent that he has. What would have been wrong with going to the Super Bowl as a team, and then flying to Phoenix later Sunday night or Monday morning? Did Van Gundy consider that? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity...............for all the players. Not because that is what Steve said. But because it was indeed a once in a lifetime opportunity. Why not take advantage of an opportunity like that to give something back to the players, let them know he appreciates their efforts? Personally, I think it would have brought this team closer together. I don't see Van Gundy doing enough of these sorts of things to build team comraderie. Frankly, I don't see him doing any of those types of things. But he is quick to criticize what everybody is doing wrong. I don't care how much money they are making, people in any profession want to know that their effort is appreciated by their superiors. This applies to ditch diggers, traffic cops, construction workers, and office workers, as well as multi-millionaire athletes. Would it have been too much to ask for the team to take 4 hours off from their occupation and have some fun together while on the clock. Fortune 500 companies understand the importance of such things and do them. Because they realize that it helps motivate their employees and increase their productivity. Why doesn't Van Gundy see this? Before you jump on me, read the first paragraph. Steve is not excused for what he did. He shouldn't have done it. My opinion is at the heart of what Steve did is a rebellion just like a teenager, who constantly has their parents nagging, nagging, nagging, never letting up and never giving positive reinforcement. That's what Van Gundy reminds me of right now......a nagging teenage parent who doesn't have enough sense to realize that his constant nagging without any positive balance is driving his teenager mad. And Steve reminds me of a rebellious, immature teenager who is looking for positive reinforcement all the time, even when he has jacked up the game and doesn't deserve any. I think both parties need to make adjustments. Steve needs to grow up and Van Gundy needs to learn to temper the constant nag.
Yep. They might be opposites. But one things is for sure. Bobby Knight has won an NCCA title with Isiah. How many selfish and immature players have won tittles?
Knight wouldn't last 2 months in the NBA. Some immature and selfish players have won championships and some nagging, negative coaches have won titles. It is the exception......the rare exception.
I disagreed with wishing Jeff to be a little flexible. Man, if he does that, this team will only get more lazy like Rudy T did to the team. I like JVG approach and disciplinary, it only makes the players tougher as the season go on.
The assumption that JVG isn't flexible is founded on a few questionable suppositions: 1) That this was the first time he and Francis have had a conflict. 2) That his actions in this case were incorrect, and that this was due to his not being flexible enough. 3) That being flexible in this case would work with Francis. Remember that around the league, much of the credit for Francis' poor development is considered directly connected to the lack of disciplne and accountability of the coach and system which nurtured his first few years in the league. Being more 'flexible', and by that, given the circumstance here, we'd have to mean permissive might be exactly the wrong thing for Francis. Nothing may ever work to change him is he is too set in his ways, and disciplne and accountability are no guarantees...but that's not to say that you shouldn't try them. I think it's clear that the other route didn;t work, and just going the route of least resistance might avoid temporary flurries, but it will almost certainly preclude real development, if it's possible.
this argument would be alot easier to make if we werent riding a 3 game loosing streak at the time. if the team had stayed in h-town for the superbowl it would have been an even bigger distraction. guys would have been partying all day and night after the game and not focusing on phoenix, which they obviously didnt do anyway. how many would have missed a monday morning flight due to oversleeping or being hung-over? if anything, it would have helped build comradery by watching the superbowl together, either on the plane or at the hotel. no distractions, just the coach and players enjoying a great game and than returning to the task at hand afterwards.
Well, I was using Knight as an extreme example. JVG isn't as bad as Knight. And I would seriously doubt that Francis could have won a NCAA title if he had stayed in college. So you are correct in your assessment that Francis is immature. But JVG is not as strict as Knight.
I don't think flexibility is quality JVG needs. I just think he needs to drop the ardversarial attitude, It's me versus them, at least in the press and in public. That stuff needs to be behind closed doors. No one will respond positivly to being embarresed in public. His public demeanor, includuing the Super incident, should be, no comment, a team like a family doesn't discuss dirty linen in public. In private he should always discilpline player by describing how there actions effect the team. ie Mo, your really working hard on getting your shot off but if your man is out rebounding you you are not helping us outscore the other team. I don't think I ever heard KVG do any motivational cheerleading.
Maybe flexibility was the wrong word. My basic feeling is that JVG needs to be able to come together with his team on a personal level, he needs to do a little bit of what Rudy went overboard doing. Notice, I said the team, not Steve Francis individually. I think JVG needs to do things like the Super Bowl for the team. By the way, while I'm at it, where were the Rockets the week of the Super Bowl. They were in town, jo mama, that whole week, and were probably out partying save Yao and maybe one or two others. So, since they were already here, the flight was picked to depart for Phoenix on Sunday afternoon. Why not leave for Phoenix right after the Super Bowl after attending the event as a team? I bet nobody would have missed the flight then. And if JVG had done it, they would have appreciated it. I think they would have played much better in Phoenix, and Steve would have been there leading the way. I'm still not excusing Steve for missing the flight. I'm just saying that an opportunity to build team comraderie was lost here. Why didn't JVG think about that before he decided to leave Sunday afternoon before the game? If he did think about it, why didn't he do it? If Steve had made the flight I would still view this the same way.
What i think is going on here, is what went on with Iverson and Larry Brown, a couple of years ago. Many people were saying Iverson was to immatur and selfish, and then a year later he leads his team to the championship and a MVP title, sure steve is gonna have his up and downs with JVG, but i think if they stick this out it will be for the better and make not only steve a better player, but JVG a better coach, as the team too. I think getting rid of steve could be one of the biggest mistakes in this organizations history and would set us back about 5-10 years.
What did 4 year flexibility do to Francis? No improvement in performce, no playoff appearance, only bigger ego. Rudy's and JVG's orders were ignored so many times because of that. 4 years is long enough to prove that flexibility doesn't work with Francis. I thought he made sacrifice for the team this year, which is a good thing. But now it looks like he doesn't want to do that anymore.
My point was not for JVG to turn into RUDY T II. It was to add a dimension to his coaching by building the "team first" from another angle. The whole team should have went to the Super Bowl TOGETHER.
I got it. Just ease up a little bit. I'll buy that. But if JVG does that, and Francis takes a mile...well....what then?
i would think that the millions of dollars these guys make every year playing a game would be appreciation enough. van gundy wasnt trying to screw anyone out of the superbowl. he was trying to have his team prepared for the game the next day and focused on shaking a 3 game loosing streak. obviously, having the superbowl in h-town was a big distraction that week and he probably wanted his team ready, focused and adequately rested for the next game. maybe if we werent in the middle of a loosing streak he would have been a little more flexible, but under the circumstances i think the last thing anybody on the team should have been worried about was watching the superbowl, let alone attending the freaking thing.
Scottie Pippen Kobe Bryant Vernon Maxwell Bill Lambier Danny Ainge conference titles: Shawn Kemp Jason Kidd other sports: Warren Sapp Keyshawn Johnson Derek Jeter To name a few... And some of these even had their coaches or teammates axed.
