yeaaaman
12-29-2014, 04:58 PM
With what's going on in Cleveland with coach Blatt, I started to wonder, how much of this is on the coach and how much is on the players? The coach can't get players to buy in, or players aren't playing hard for their coach?
Taking it back 10 years ago to the Raptors, Vince Carter was literally killed because he said in an interview he didn't always try his hardest and floated by on natural ability. That was the utmost unforgivable thing for a professional athlete to do, to not go all out at all times. I always thought that this was BS - do people really believe players always try their hardest at all times?
The single worst one was James Harden - what he did on a consistent basis on defense last year was literally disrespectful to the game of basketball. I can easily say that almost made me sick to watch.
So should a guy like Vince Carter be killed because he admitted it? There's some guys you definitely would have a hard time questioning their effort. Off the top of my head, Gerald Wallace back in the day, Reggie Evans, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Westbrook (you might question their decisions but not their effort) and a host of others.
But in the big picture, whats the difference between quitting and not trying? Where is the line drawn and where do things get blurred? Are we talking about Kobe seemingly refusing to shoot in game 7 against the Suns? Then mix that in with Lebron "coasting", or being in "chill mode". What does that even mean? Are you paid to be in chill mode? And if it's not a problem, why do we pick and choose who it's okay for and who it's not.
The narrative for two different players doing the same thing can be so wildly different. Where do you guys stand on quitting vs. not trying hard vs tuning out your coach, coasting, chill mode etc?
Taking it back 10 years ago to the Raptors, Vince Carter was literally killed because he said in an interview he didn't always try his hardest and floated by on natural ability. That was the utmost unforgivable thing for a professional athlete to do, to not go all out at all times. I always thought that this was BS - do people really believe players always try their hardest at all times?
The single worst one was James Harden - what he did on a consistent basis on defense last year was literally disrespectful to the game of basketball. I can easily say that almost made me sick to watch.
So should a guy like Vince Carter be killed because he admitted it? There's some guys you definitely would have a hard time questioning their effort. Off the top of my head, Gerald Wallace back in the day, Reggie Evans, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Westbrook (you might question their decisions but not their effort) and a host of others.
But in the big picture, whats the difference between quitting and not trying? Where is the line drawn and where do things get blurred? Are we talking about Kobe seemingly refusing to shoot in game 7 against the Suns? Then mix that in with Lebron "coasting", or being in "chill mode". What does that even mean? Are you paid to be in chill mode? And if it's not a problem, why do we pick and choose who it's okay for and who it's not.
The narrative for two different players doing the same thing can be so wildly different. Where do you guys stand on quitting vs. not trying hard vs tuning out your coach, coasting, chill mode etc?