The arena then was also so wholesome. The beginning of Sombrero Man when he was still in 112, the little girl that would do the popular dance moves of the day lower in his section (later replaced by backpack guy in 210ish), the very funny high school guys in 205 that would often be more entertaining than the games. Red showing up in myriad of seats in the bowl (long before bad dancing college professor dude). The great stuff that Lindsay would do during halftime or breaks (the shaming of Laker fans who didnât know players names for the jersey they are touring for will forever live in my memories). Rufus trashing guys in visitor jerseys. That was a fun era. And you are right coach, they were awesome to us.
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I like to think dude wouldâve figured it out. People forget he had a number of 20+ point games as a rookie.
Maybe it couldâve worked in the right system. Larry Brown wanted athletic wings for his system, and that spelled doom for post injury Morrison.
Perhaps a coach somewhere wouldâve let him launch a bunch of threes and somehow use his superior length to an advantage. I thought Morrison moved his feet well enough, but just had zero explosiveness without a running start. There wasnât enough beast to his game. And we canât forget the effect of diabetes. Would he have been able to pack on some muscle and experiment as a small ball 4? He had the necessary length.
Morrison was a mental case according to people who covered the team back then. They said when he just played and didnât think he was pretty good.
When he couldnât just play free is when he struggled, and obviously that was the majority of his career. I like to think he would have been better in this era but the NBA hadnât transitioned yet from the traditional style.
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Wow, thatâs awesome
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Ammoâs words on Kobe Bryant are definitely worth a listen.
âYour best player has to be that guy.â
Wondering if we have that guy.
I donât think we do, but I also donât think itâs necessarily an issue.
LaMelo is that guy talent wise, potentially. He certainly doesnât have that Mamba fire and personality, but very few ever have, and that doesnât mean a team with LaMelo as the best player canât win it all. LaMelo is a true individual, he is unique. Maybe we need that loud, forceful, âleaderâ personality type at SG or PF down the line, to compliment the outwardly relaxed vibes of LaMelo, Miller & Mark. Or maybe we donât?
I used to captain my rugby team. Some guys needed to be grabbed by the jersey, shouted at and smacked round the head to get them going. Others needed nothing but a nod and a hand on their shoulder. Different strokes for different folks, and I doubt that LaMelo, Miller and Mark are the sort that shouting at them will get the best out of them.
Iâd be interested in @powellrmpâs take on this, primarily due to his line of work and skill-set.
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Who you have next weekend? Boks or All Blacks?
Weâve got the Boks, on Saturday!
I donât have much hope as England went into this World Cup with our lowest ever world ranking. An easy draw has seen us get to the Semifinals, but that is where it will end. I just hope the score remains respectable.
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Oh Iâm sure I could hammer out a few paragraphs on that. I have thoughts on Lamelo as a leader.
A quick snippet before I hammer anything out later: Lamelo is just a big kid who wants to be liked by everyone, have fun, and be friends. I donât really think he wants the vocal leader spotlight, because that can bring negative and unwanted attention.
Unfortunately, being a leader means growing up, itâs not fun, inherent responsibility, and you may lose friends. A leadership role isnât fun, in fact itâs usually the antithesis of fun. And itâs not compatible with being liked by everyone.
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Heâs still learning the game though and its unfair to ask him to step up and be our vocal leader. Iâd be more than happy with him being our star player and letting a veteran step up and be the man.
I do think you have to earn that leadership title, whether that be by winning a championship or by being a repected veteran Lamelo has done neither so far.
Its the front offices fault for putting this conversation out there really by not attracting veteran quality players who can step in to that role, its a lot to ask of Lamelo at his early stages. Let him learn the whole game first and then you never know he might turn out to be that leader.
Completely agree with this. Any maybe we donât need Melo to be that guy. Maybe we need him to maintain that free spirit to play to his fullest potential.
But I do think we need a guy thatâs going to set a tone for focus, determination, and discipline in order for us to play at the highest level.
I did see a little bit more seriousness to Meloâs mannerisms in the last game. So perhaps he can develop that mentality.
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Agree and disagree. You donât have to be a vocal vet to help set a tone for your team. You can lead through your actions and demeanor. And you can also be a wonderful player and contributor without being that leader role.
Itâs not necessarily a knock on Melo if heâs not that guy. It would just make things easier for team building if he was. But, yes, heâs still young and hopefully will continue to grow in a lot of ways.
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One more note about leadership, which I passionately believe, is that leadership is either natural to someone or it isnât. You see people in leadership roles for whom itâs taxing and takes away from their ability to function. You also see those for whom it is natural and has a galvanizing effect. Thatâs why I am fully behind the âlet LaMelo be LaMeloâ line of thought.
Thatâs not to say leadership ability can not be improved upon, or that it doesnât increase with experience and maturity. But I do think itâs fundamentally a binary thing, especially in sports.
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Just announced the squad⌠no Marcus Smith. Ugh
Just to be clear, I totally believe that more introverted people can absolutely be leaders. You donât have to convince me. I completely get the quiet leader who leads by example and allows actions to be the leadership.
But in professional top tier sports, I find that style a little hard to come by. Iâm not saying that someone absolutely has to fit some archetype for a professional sports leader to be one.
Iâm drawing a blank. Can someone give examples of quiet leaders in sports? I think of these people have a quiet intensity and they come off as âeh, I donât want to fuck with that guyâ. To me, Lamelo also doesnât fit that mold either.
Yep. Concussion, I believe. I think theyâd have had him attacking from fullback, but defending on the wing to play to his and Stewardâs strengths, mitigate their weaknesses.
Itâs going to be a less than ambitious attack from England as a result, sadly.
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Tim Duncan
The list is short
I definitely donât see lamelo as a leader type
The same can be said for Miller & Mark, so itâll be interesting to see who gets brought in with a view to filling that longer term, leadership role at the SG & PF positions to compliment our PG, SF & C young core.
Certainly, from the current roster, Terry has put his hand up highest and has the right age profile. Iâm just not convinced.
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