It's in between the eyes of each player. The Knicks have zero leaders or men with any sense or pride when it comes to coming together as a team. We have alot of guys that revert back into their own world when the pressure is tight and that's not going to win anything.
When shumpert got fouled out against Atlanta...he shocked me with how he handled that frustration. He yells out "stupid motherfuckers" referring to his teammates not coming up to foul leaving him to be the guy taking several seconds off the clock. It's one thing to be angry but another thing to emasculate your teammates.
You never see the players trying to really themselves or talking to each other to get guys organized.
they all complain to the refs too much. They chase the refs down the court complaining. Nobody is taking control of the game. I see calderon chatting with guys on the bench and I see fisher telling fits that he will handle it. Nobody on the court is showing leadership.
This leadership shouldn't come from one guy. Every player needs to be mature men and handle their own situation. From that the leader should emerge.
Melo is concerned with his space. He doesn't lead his team. Amare one of the main guys complaining to refs about everything. He's been much improved but we need him locked in being the anchor that keeps everyone locked in. He's a fraud in that way because he carried himself luke he's an wise alpha male enforcer and he really isn't. Jr Smith is just a lost cause.
Phil has to be noticing these character flaws and I hope he's devising a plan to delete all these guys and bring I'm some real men with some conviction. This is the culture change we need.
Spree you probably should have posted
This in the thread that I started about our problems
Your first couple sentences in this thread are on point though
Yes, it's lack of talent that's the problem.
When you don't have one other player who is a top 100 nba player, it has a lot to do with talent.
Leadership is the most important talent. Mental strength, camaraderie, smarts, determination, and sacrifice are others.
All players who reached NBA have top talents in bbal game but this is not good enough to became a winner at this level.
You need team which is more than a summ of the parts. So any team must have right parts first.
What we have is disjoint group of NBA players.
Some of them learning to be the winners... and for some it is too late... and not important any more.
The re-building has a plan... Knicks started the demolition of old ugly thing.
This will be a bumpy and long ride before the new house will be build.
Talent is there but BRAINS is another issue. I think it was obvious when we had Kidd that the teams missing ingredient is BRAINS. If you can't think the game at a high level all that's left is physical ability and in the NBA that won't get you very far. We need to remember that this team is still trying to deal with making a MAJOR shift in their approach to the game. It's not going to be successful with everyone. Some of these guys simply won't be able to make the transition. That's what Phil is looking at to see who can stay and who can't.
It's going to help when we have Jose and Prigs back in the mix. It would help raise the IQ level of the team up from the basement. Still not great BB IQ across the entire roster but it should make an appreciable difference. Make no mistake that Phil knows this. It's why he has been looking to infuse the team with more BRAINS.
Brains and leadership are talents, otherwise everyone would have them. But lets be serious, even Phil said the only player worthy of being an all-star was Melo. Even he knows this team lacks talent.
Sense of style is a talent.
Having a sense of humor is a talent.
An eye for where to place body art is a talent.
Knicks are very talented!
