Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

You have a lot of guys in the NBA that didn't go to college and or were in college a very short time, this in my opinion has led to a lack of leadership, in college when your an upperclassman you have the whole team looking up to you, and you have a whole generation of players right now who have not experienced that. Look around the league, there are no rivalries anymore, other than Wade/Bryant and a few others I just don't see that will to lead your team to victory...I don't know how to really say it...I just have that feeling... What do you guys think?

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

Your right on with this, BCB. However, I think that anyone can be a vocal leader which is what you learn to be in high school. As an upperclassman in college, you learn to lead by example and to step-up for your team, which is why some young stars do have problems with taking (and making) game winning shots.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I really really like and respect guys that stay three or four years of their college. Aside from the special talents, 98% of players are much better off in college for more than two years. Most of them are able to come in and play right away, which is another added benefit of that. I know personally I'd rather get PT as a leader in college than developing on the bench for three years.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Feb 16 2007, 06:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You have a lot of guys in the NBA that didn't go to college and or were in college a very short time, this in my opinion has led to a lack of leadership, in college when your an upperclassman you have the whole team looking up to you, and you have a whole generation of players right now who have not experienced that. Look around the league, there are no rivalries anymore, other than Wade/Bryant and a few others I just don't see that will to lead your team to victory...I don't know how to really say it...I just have that feeling... What do you guys think?</div>I completely agree, although it looks like Kevin Durant will be a leader, showing how he is at Texas because the team is so young.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

College is huge in developing leadership and refining your ability to mesh with teammates and come together to accomplish goals. The Tournament is huge in developing clutch ability and leadership. It is their first true taste of the big time and gives them first chance to win a "big" title. When you see what it takes to win at the highest level and how you must come up in clutch/lead team, you will not be surprised when you see the same things in the NBA playoffs. It gives these young guys their first chance to be "the man" and have the weight of the whole college on your shoulders.On the other hand, there are cases where players coming straight from HS can come to the NBA and already be a great leader/clutch player and want to take over games. Kobe Bryant is the best example. He did not need college to prepare himself to take those crucial against Utah in the playoffs (although it took him the experience of airballing 3's in that game for him to develop into what he is today). The rivalries have to do with stricter rules, huge imbalance between East and West, players constantly switching teams, the exciting star players not on contending teams, large explansion in past 2 decades, etc... Luckily these young stars are just that...young. And teams like the Spurs and Pistons are very old and won't be at the top very long. I expect some very good rivalries and matchups within the next few years between the likes of Wade, LeBron, Kobe, Carmelo, among others.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

You're right about the leadership thing. Lack of leadership is a problem. I have the feeling that if Oden were to stay around in college he'd be able to add that to his collection of skills.But no more rivalries? Detroit and IndianaSan Antonio and DallasLebron vs WadeShaq vs YaoCarmelo vs LebronDuncan vs GarnettDuncan vs NowtitzkiArtest vs DetroitL.A. Lakers vs MiamiKobe vs Arenas...There's plenty of rivalries

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

^^^^^Detroit and Miami

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (arnob_detroitbasketball @ Feb 18 2007, 11:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>^^^^^Detroit and Miami</div>good. there's another one. I put a ... to show it continues

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Feb 18 2007, 10:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You're right about the leadership thing. Lack of leadership is a problem. I have the feeling that if Oden were to stay around in college he'd be able to add that to his collection of skills.But no more rivalries? Detroit and IndianaSan Antonio and DallasLebron vs WadeShaq vs YaoCarmelo vs LebronDuncan vs GarnettDuncan vs NowtitzkiArtest vs DetroitL.A. Lakers vs MiamiKobe vs Arenas...There's plenty of rivalries</div>But they aren't rivalries like they were in the 80s and 90s, where both teams absolutely hated each others guts and wanted to kill each other.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Feb 18 2007, 11:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You're right about the leadership thing. Lack of leadership is a problem. I have the feeling that if Oden were to stay around in college he'd be able to add that to his collection of skills.But no more rivalries? Detroit and IndianaSan Antonio and DallasLebron vs WadeShaq vs YaoCarmelo vs LebronDuncan vs GarnettDuncan vs NowtitzkiArtest vs DetroitL.A. Lakers vs MiamiKobe vs Arenas...There's plenty of rivalries</div> None of those are real rivalries. Real rivalries literally can't happen anymore in the NBA. Why? Because you can't get physical and you can't muscle yourself around, you can't show much emotion, you can't trash talk, etc. If you think any of these listed above are real rivalries, then you need to go back and dedicate the rest of this season to watching nothing but old games. Lakers/Celtics of the 80's, Bulls/Knicks of the 90's, Yankees/Red Sox etc. Those are true rivalries. Even LA/Sacramento was a solid one a few years ago.Indiana/Detroit is no rivalry. Sure, the brawl, I know... I know. But Artest and Jackson aren't even on the team anymore, and Big Ben isn't a Piston anymore. Those 3 guys were the main 3 people in this entire fight. Even then, it's still nothing big. It was one incident, that's not a rivalry.San Antonio Dallas is no rivalry. They are the 2 best teams in the league, sure, but they aren't half the rivalry the media is trying to make them out to be. Again - you can't get physical, show emotion, trash talk, etc.LeBron vs. Wade, LeBron vs. Melo, Shaq vs. Yao, etc. All those little 1 on 1 matchups... not RIVALRIES. Especially because LeBron/Wade/Melo all like each other, Shaq/Yao like each other.Artest vs. Detroit? Huh? I know there is animosity, but that's not a RIVALRY. It's hate from the fans because of one night. One night... ONE NIGHT does not make a rivalry, especially when the 3 main pieces in that incident are on different teams now.Kobe/Arenas is nothing close to a rivalry, even if 1 on 1 bitching counted (which it doesn't). Arenas lit the Lakers up one night... in the regular season, mind you ... and you call that a rivalry? Damn...Lakers/Miami? That Kobe/Shaq bullsh** was nothing. It was never big, ESPECIALLY now.Rivalry: A matchup between two teams that is physical. You play that game harder than you do against any other team. You play with a giant chip on your shoulder. You want to kill and embarrass the opponent. You fight to the end and you get nasty.A rivalry is that. Nothing we have in today's NBA game comes close to what should be called a rivalry.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I disagree. A rivalry doesn't need to be physical or have fight after fight to be a real rivalry. Kings-Lakers wasn't very physicial until the Christie fight, it just had trash talking and many close games. What made it a rivalry was they were the 2 best teams in the league and met for a few straight years in the playoffs. And that is what made the Celtics-Lakers, Bulls-Pistons, and Bulls-Knicks so entertaining. They met year after year in the playoffs, kept the core of the team intact year after year, and it was evenly matched games that were always close. Not to mention they also had starpower. Right now, if SA was 2-3 years younger, then Dallas-SA would be a rivalry for sure. They'd meet in the WCF every year and it would be close each time. Unfortunately this is not the case, and it looks like Dallas-Phoenix is the next best thing.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Feb 18 2007, 09:56 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You're right about the leadership thing. Lack of leadership is a problem. I have the feeling that if Oden were to stay around in college he'd be able to add that to his collection of skills.But no more rivalries? Detroit and IndianaSan Antonio and DallasLebron vs WadeShaq vs YaoCarmelo vs LebronDuncan vs GarnettDuncan vs NowtitzkiArtest vs DetroitL.A. Lakers vs MiamiKobe vs Arenas...There's plenty of rivalries</div>Are any of those are heated as the old rivalries of the 80's and early 90's? No. None of them actually hate each other besides maybe Detroit Indiana. The ones I bolded are just "rivalries" that the media builds up, it isn't like the players hate each other. The other ones shouldn't even be considered rivalries.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I relize that these will never be as good as the pistons and bulls or bulls and knicks or celtics and lakers. but those are the three best rivalries of all time. we've just gotten over the bulls knicks. what I've listed are suitable rivalries for right now. just wait a couple more years. rivalries come every decade or so. the bulls rivalry ended in 1998. in a couple of years we should have another great rivalry with the young superstars today and their respective teams (d-wade, lebron, carmelo, oden, durant, bosh...). In a couple of years the NBA will have another rivalry. Just be patient. The rivalries I listed are good enough in the meantime.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I kinda do think the Mavs/Spurs is a rivalry. Not sure about everything else, but there's plenty of sh*t talking down here.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I think the Mavs/Spurs and Mavs/PHX are major rivalries. Sure they are clean, for the most part, but I think INTENSITY is a major part of a rivalry, just like hate and being physical are.I don't think any of the young players are a rivalry yet. Lebron's and Melo's team isn't good enough to compete with Wade's Heat. Duncan is way too nice, and so is Dirk, to have a rivalry.But a budding rivalry, that'll probably get worse, is Dirk and Wade...this could get WAYYYY blown up.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

what about Suns and ughh.... the <strike>Laker</strike> team from that one town in california who's team name doesn't start with a c

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

Let's put it this way:The NBA is going through stages. A decade ago we had players who were in their prime and fought for every win. We had Jordan, Pippen, Malone, Stockton, Barkely, Ewing, Hakeem, D-Rob... All of them were competing for wins and it was a great time for the league and fans. Since about 2000 or so though, we've gone through a decade of rebirth. We've had our superstars (Kobe, T-Mac, Vinsanity, Allen Iverson...) but this was an era of players who were not about the wins, they were into the popularity. But now the NBA is starting to go back to the rivalries. The young guys (Lebron, Wade, Arenas, Carmelo, Bosh, Dwight Howard...) have already started to get their attention, now they're going to start wanting to win. Soon, the NBA will be all about winning again, and this will create some truly memorable rivalries. Just wait and the next big rivalries will be coming soon.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pacers fan forever @ Feb 18 2007, 09:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Let's put it this way:The NBA is going through stages. A decade ago we had players who were in their prime and fought for every win. We had Jordan, Pippen, Malone, Stockton, Barkely, Ewing, Hakeem, D-Rob... All of them were competing for wins and it was a great time for the league and fans. Since about 2000 or so though, we've gone through a decade of rebirth. We've had our superstars (Kobe, T-Mac, Vinsanity, Allen Iverson...) but this was an era of players who were not about the wins, they were into the popularity. But now the NBA is starting to go back to the rivalries. The young guys (Lebron, Wade, Arenas, Carmelo, Bosh, Dwight Howard...) have already started to get their attention, now they're going to start wanting to win. Soon, the NBA will be all about winning again, and this will create some truly memorable rivalries. Just wait and the next big rivalries will be coming soon.</div> You do realize the NBA always has great/mature players. The NBA isn't just LeBron, Wade, Carmelo, Bosh and Dwight...McGrady, Kobe, Iverson, Duncan, Nowitzki, KG, Shaq, Arenas, Kidd, Nash, Allen...etc...(This is not a new era, Kobe/McGrady/KG are still awesome players, saying that new era is here when they are just hitting the age of 28/29 is absurd...that is the point where most players start getting it done and mature.) And their are pretty much no rivalries...So I don't see where your going with your point of, 'well these young guys will soon want to start winning'...There aren't any great rivalries right now! And you expect all these young players to suddenly do it? The Miami Heat in a few years are going to fizzle out with Shaq declining/old rotation...LeBron does not have the right supporting cast to do it in the near future...Carmelo and the Nuggets have a chance if that team stays healthy (but cap problems kill them)... Most of the better rivalries in recent history have been between the titans in the paint....It's going to be pretty hard to get a rivary going between guards like Wade/LeBron...etc...All these young guys like eachother, they have average teams, no teams are stacked enough to constantly be in the playoffs every year like the Lakers/Celtics were..etc...Half these teams are so bad/average a rivalry between them wouldn't even be that fun to watch anyway.

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

Larry Bird pushing Michael Cooper into the crowd on an in-bounds play is a rivalryThere is no rivalries period in the NBA anymore because the rules don't allow you to be physical

 

Re: Lack of leadership/determination in the NBA & other issues.

I agree, and I hate it when people say two perimeter players are rivals. It's not a rivalry if they are both playing in the same game, but aren't guarding each other. It's kind of easy to drop 30+ points on a scrub defender. I'll call it a rivalry when Wade starts guarding LeBron, and LeBron guards Wade for the majority of the game. Until then, it's nothing...