That would be the coaches responsibility. There are few people that always give a 100% unless they are pushed.
Fran stands pat..."We're Good".
- Thread starter WinOneThisCentury
- Start date
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Any athlete with pride would demand more from themselves than any coach or parent could. The best are always striving to get better, always looking to add to their game, always looking to turn a weakness into a strength, never resting on their laurels. Most high school athletes get four years. On senior night they almost always have the same advice for the underclassmen. "Leave it all on the field, it comes to an end sooner that you think". Or "before you know it" something to that effect.
For the fortunate few who play college level ball, there is even more personal pride, more self motivation.
Pride is off the charts at the professional level. And many look back on their professional careers with regret and wish they could have accomplished more.
Ask Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson how many times they needed to be pushed by a coach. Even at the college level. Those two, just to name two examples, could increase comittment or intensity just by walking into a gym. Even Bobby Knight in his ornery prime was in awe of Jordan's comittment and intensity during the 1984 Olympic trials and games.
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Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan didn't have to push themselves to outshine the other players. Both were just exceptional athletes. Personally, I think Magic Johnson was better than Michael Jordan. Of course that was in a different time.
Great players are great competitors, but they still need to be pushed. If not why would pro teams, and colleges for that matter, pay millions of dollars for coaches? Here is what Dean Smith said about coaching Jordan, “
In practice, I tried to push him to see if he could win that drill, win that competition. “http://www.newsweek.com/our-jordan-issue-coaching-michael-jordan-251809 He was a great competitor, but still needed to be pushed. Or, as Jordan himself told Spike Lee, “My coach is everything,” Jordan told Spike. “Don’t know what kind of coach (Jeff) Van Gundy is. I know Phil.”https://readjack.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/phil-jackson-influence-1996-chicago-bulls Why do the very top athletes in individual sports still have coaches?
You are right they are self-motivated and different than others, But you are wrong to think even the greatest athletes don’t need coaching, and yes a push.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
I respect your points but I'll stand by my first three paragraphs. I believe the best athletes on any level are self motivated.
I overplayed my hand in my last paragraph. I do remember Jordan giving credit to Phil Jackson (and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar giving credit to Pat Riley among other examples) for giving them that extra little push in the grind of a championship run.
I still believe the majority of the all time great athletes push themselves. So much of what makes an athlete great today has nothing to do with a two hour practice or three hour game. It's the rest of the day, with diet, sleep, film study, and conditioning, when the coach isn't even present.
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Michael, with all his athleticism, had plenty of holes in his game when he came into NBA. He did push himself, unmercifully, to get stronger, improve his outside shooting, improve his defense, improve his free thrown shooting. And he was far from the best leaper in the game, too. He learned mid air body control, shifting his weight, hang time, etc.
Michael didn't just roll into the NBA and start winning championships. He had to get past the Celtics, then the Pistons. It took trial and error and it motivated him. He didn't win his first title until his seventh year in the league.
Interesting point you brought up with Magic. He was definitely ahead of Michael before the age of 25. Magic won three titles in his first six years. And finished second on two other occasions. He revolutionized a game where passing had become a lost art. He ran the Lakers offense like a conductor running a symphony.
Michael, Magic and Bird were three of the fiercest competitors you could imagine. There was no talk of forming "superteams" then. They wanted to beat each other to win, not win them together.
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I actually agree with the rest of your points. When you said coaches don’t make a difference, that was what I commented on. The level of competitiveness of the greats drives them in ways others aren’t. Coaches aren’t the only difference by far, but to say they have no impact just wasn’t true. Any study of psychology and leadership will show that. Anyway, not trying to argue the 5% difference when we were likely mostly in agreement.
Fran doesn't seem to be the least bit concerned about his job situation. I'm guessing Gary has reassured him he's got a couple years. If Gary told him it was NCAA or bust next year surely he'd be beating down the doors to bring in some more talent?
mrolympia
Well-Known Member
when talking about the basketball team, "good" and "winning record" are one in the same unfortunately.
Having a winning record isn't really that good when you consider all the pre conference sure things.
mrolympia
Well-Known Member
my point exactly on how incredibly low my expectations are for the basketball statement after fran says something this idiotic.
