bajaden
Hall of Famer
I think that post game report by Smart, and the post game interview says it all. Unfortuantely, this team is a shipwreck, and we can sit and point our fingers at individual players all we want, and believe me, some deserve blame. But ultimately, the blame lies with Smart and his idiotic approach to the game, and management, whomever they might be, for hiring this guy to begin with. Smart was basicly saying, that our starters aren't capable, or good enough to put on the floor in crunch time to win a game. But Outlaw and J. Johnson are! Or so he believes.
I used to train hunting dogs at one time in my life. And with no disrespect, its a lot like raising children. You lay down rules. You punish failure to follow those rules, and you reward all efforts that follow the rules. The key word here, is CONSISTENCY! Dogs, human beings, or whatever, are to a large extent, creatures of habit. The trick is to teach the right habits, and punish the wrong one's. If you as the leader, aren't consistent, then your pupils, workers, children, or players, won't be consistent either. Unlike animals, humans have the ability to reason.(Questionable with some people) To project the future in their minds. And if that projection becomes muddled by the wrong information being sent, you have a mess on your hands. Thats where this team is right now!
The players have no idea when, or if their going to play. Even the starters don't know when they're coming out of the game for a blow, and if they'll be going back into the game at any given time. Just about every good basketball coach has a set time he rests his starters. And it may vary according to who he has on the bench. For instance, whether he uses a three man rotation at center and PF, or a four man rotation. But he has a plan, and the main reason his starters go to the bench, is to get a rest. If they're the starters, its safe to assume, that on most teams, they happen to be the best players on the team. Therefore, you want them to be on the floor as much as possible.
This is hardly the case with Smart. No one knows when or why they go to the bench on a regular basis. There are times when it appears he simply reaches into a bag and pulls out a name. Does anyone think that Sloan would ride with bench players that are playing well, and leave Stockton and Malone on the bench? No, he would think that they simply did their job, and now its time to get the big boys back into the game. To do otherwise, is to disrespect Stockton and Malone.
I went back and looked up Smarts records when he played at Indiana. They didn't have the three point shot then, but they did keep track of assists, and he had few of those, if any. He did shoot the ball a lot, and his position at 6'1" was designated with a ?. Sometimes you only have to look at a persons roots to find out what they're made of. I take my hat off to Rainmaker, who apparently watched Smart coach the Warriors a lot, and knew the outcome before he started. Its all water under the bridge now, except for the collateral damage he leaves behind. A wasted couple of years, not only in results indicated by the box score, but in the lack of development of the players, and a system the players can believe in. He's going to leave some scars behind, that we can only hope a future coach can heal.
I used to train hunting dogs at one time in my life. And with no disrespect, its a lot like raising children. You lay down rules. You punish failure to follow those rules, and you reward all efforts that follow the rules. The key word here, is CONSISTENCY! Dogs, human beings, or whatever, are to a large extent, creatures of habit. The trick is to teach the right habits, and punish the wrong one's. If you as the leader, aren't consistent, then your pupils, workers, children, or players, won't be consistent either. Unlike animals, humans have the ability to reason.(Questionable with some people) To project the future in their minds. And if that projection becomes muddled by the wrong information being sent, you have a mess on your hands. Thats where this team is right now!
The players have no idea when, or if their going to play. Even the starters don't know when they're coming out of the game for a blow, and if they'll be going back into the game at any given time. Just about every good basketball coach has a set time he rests his starters. And it may vary according to who he has on the bench. For instance, whether he uses a three man rotation at center and PF, or a four man rotation. But he has a plan, and the main reason his starters go to the bench, is to get a rest. If they're the starters, its safe to assume, that on most teams, they happen to be the best players on the team. Therefore, you want them to be on the floor as much as possible.
This is hardly the case with Smart. No one knows when or why they go to the bench on a regular basis. There are times when it appears he simply reaches into a bag and pulls out a name. Does anyone think that Sloan would ride with bench players that are playing well, and leave Stockton and Malone on the bench? No, he would think that they simply did their job, and now its time to get the big boys back into the game. To do otherwise, is to disrespect Stockton and Malone.
I went back and looked up Smarts records when he played at Indiana. They didn't have the three point shot then, but they did keep track of assists, and he had few of those, if any. He did shoot the ball a lot, and his position at 6'1" was designated with a ?. Sometimes you only have to look at a persons roots to find out what they're made of. I take my hat off to Rainmaker, who apparently watched Smart coach the Warriors a lot, and knew the outcome before he started. Its all water under the bridge now, except for the collateral damage he leaves behind. A wasted couple of years, not only in results indicated by the box score, but in the lack of development of the players, and a system the players can believe in. He's going to leave some scars behind, that we can only hope a future coach can heal.
