And as Lucky said, giving their star players free roam and letting them build confidence as we have is a recipe for disaster. Force other guys to make plays.
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And as Lucky said, giving their star players free roam and letting them build confidence as we have is a recipe for disaster. Force other guys to make plays.
I agree that we shouldn't be this bad on defense, even with this scheme. That's where the players come in.
Right now we're the 26th rated defense in the NBA.
Even if you think the scheme is the primary problem and that with a different scheme we'd be, idk, 8 spots better (18th) you still can't deny that's a bad defense. Not bottom of the league anymore, sure, but slightly below average. If you want to that that from 18th to 12th or whatever, that's on the players: and if you accept that as true, then it only makes sense to imagine that this 26th rated defense could be at least a bit better, maybe 20th, if the players were doing better even if the scheme stayed the same.
Like you say, a huge part of it is communication.
Basketball.
Face it, defensively..
Our two bigs are horrible in space.
Though our three has length, he doesn't move his feet well and can be overpowered.
Bledsoe is the reincarnation of Eric Gordon ("I don't want to be here"), but not the player Eric Gordon is.
It?s always been a Pelican problem and it is critical to a great defense. If Anthony, Jrue and company actually communicated like a top team or had a big voice in the locker room to fill that role, we would have easily been a top defense. Idk if it?s small market culture, the coaching staffs we bring in or we just never have a guy to fill that role, but it?s something we need to add. I think for too long we were concerned with bringing in ?good guys? that we forget it?s important to have a dominant personality in the locker room.
I don't actually think it's important to have a ''dominant'' personality in the locker room at all. I just think it's important that the personalities you have are legitimate communicators who speak to each other and are honest about things.
I always go back to this as the primary example when people start talking about the need for some mythical ''alpha mentality'' or ''dominant'' mindsets or whatever: Tim Duncan. Anchored the Spurs dynasty for 20 years while being one of the quietest, most boring players in basketball. You don't need to be a ''dominant'' figure, at least not in the stereotypical sense, you just need to be consistently clear and communicative.
You?re right. There are guys like Tim who weren’t leaders in that ?dominant? sense. But you do need players that are willing to be open with teammates and make sure everyone is on the same page. We always seem to be lacking the presence of a Duncan, Lebron, Draymond, etc.
Dominant is maybe a bit of a strong word but the point still stands. Hopefully Zion and Ingram grow into those guys.
I don’t think you need an alpha male but you do need 15 guys that HATE to lose and will do anything to win.
No such thing as alpha males. If it were, then the moniker is pointless. We refer to such people as crazy or thugs or just plain selfish **************s.
And you are right, somebody with an alpha personality doesn’t need to be toxic. It’s as I said above. Confidence to demand the best from your teammates and get them to communicate. Our guys need to be more vocal. You can be a sweetheart and be a leader. People think of the old ‘toxic masculinity’ stereotype and that is not what I am referring to.
Last edited by JJackisangry; 02-14-2021 at 10:49 AM.
This is true.
The term, as commonly conceived, comes from a study in wolf psychology that was later revoked by its own author for not even being accurate to wolves themselves, let alone other animals.
The term is used elsewhere still among various animals but it generally doesn't outline the same kind of psychopathic individualism that this now debunked version did.
I just want guys that hate to lose, not even a little ok with it. It’s the only thing I wish Jrue was a little more vocal about when we weren’t playing hard. I’m not saying everyone can be Kobe or MJ but they just refused to lose which elevated the whole team with that mentality. I know Lonzo doesn’t show emotion but he has to really be the catalyst for that and I haven’t seen that. I do believe Zion and BI are really trying which is awesome.
The Greek alphabet exists. Whether alpha dog meant god or the first, doesn’t really matter. It was nonsense science that the researcher who penned it said he was wrong.
As for the parlance used in sports, it’s a matter of confidence, leadership, and passivity. But as time goes on, we will just see if the team rightfully defers to Zion or if he’ll start demanding the ball more.
There’s things going on with Ingram that need to be sorted eventually btw. Apart from how he plays with Zion, I mean.
Mavericks are 2/14 from 3's so far in todays game.... Why do teams get hot against us?
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