During the Spurs game, Williams made a coverage error, allowing Parker an easy basket. Iguodala spent the next few seconds berating Williams for his mistake. But as Iguodala passed the 76ers' bench, Cheeks quietly pulled him aside.
The message: You're not wrong to be mad at Williams but if you're going to yell at him, do it in the privacy of the locker room. And thus, both Iguodala and Williams were spared embarrassment.
Complaining to the officials after every play. Bitching at his teammates when they make mistakes. Visibly showing his frustration when things don't go his way. Expecting special treatment among his peers. And then there's the flip-side; Trying to be the clutch player. Working his butt off in the offseason to improve his jumper. Taking it hard to the hole and drawing contact repeatedly.
There's no mistaking Andre Iguodala for Kobe Bryant. But the one element that's hard to draft is competitiveness. You can draft athleticism. You can draft basketball IQ. You can draft a pure shooter or a solid defender. You can draft height, length, and speed. But drafting that "it" element is much more difficult. And that "it" element is what transforms initially passive players like the Iguodala who joined this franchise as a 3rd option behind Iverson and Webber into an allstar caliber, franchise players. It's what separates the Kobes from the Tim Thomas' or Larry Hughes' of this league or in this case, the Iguodala's from the Luol Dengs (though to be fair, Deng shows much more heart than those two aforementioned players).
I wasn't high on Iguodala being our go-to player or team leader early on. But truth be told, whether you feel he was handed it unfairly just be default when Iverson left, Iguodala has earned it. The knock on him going into this season was that his jumper was unreliable. Iguodala spent the offseason perfecting it and came back this season with a whole new arsenal. The knock two seasons ago was his handle and ability to finish around the rim. Ditto for those two setbacks. Whether you're a fan of Iguodala or not, there's no denying that he's a hard worker - on both ends of the court. Maybe hanging out with Kobe during the offseason has made the marked impact.
The other thing about a team leader is that teammates feed off their energy. When you have a guy like Iguodala who works his butt off on both ends of the floor, it transcends to the entire supporting cast - much like Iverson used to do when he took his team to the Finals. However, in Iguodala's case, he's a hard worker in games and in practices and he plays with the same intensity on both ends of the court. And the fact that he's so vocal really does set the tone for his teammates - and considering how passive Cheeks is, I think you need that loudmouth on the floor directing players. It would seem to me that Iguodala's outspokenness is the perfect compliment to Cheeks' calm demeanor.
Regardless, I'm glad Iguodala is showing that he possesses the "it" factor. These type of players don't come along every day and I would hope that ownership shows him the money and keeps him here long term.
STChaser
