Did McGee Just Get Benched?

[fugop]

I am agnostic on the quality of Flip's decision making. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes. That said, we have young and generally low-bbiq players, and a coach who is incapable of or unwilling to implement a strategy that accommodates their limitations.

We generally need to acquire some young guys with a high bbiq. The recent G-town guys, Green and Hibbert are decent examples. Patterson, Mbah a Moute. I think college coaches like JT3, Tubby Smith and Ben Howland tend to actually teach these guys, as well as recruit for intelligence.

In multiple successive drafts (Blatche, Young, McGee) EG selected players for their physical skills rather than mental. All three players were knowcked before the draft for their cluelessness. That changed a bit last year, though the outcome is still TBD.

A veteran team can afford to have a few low-iq players. Team culture and "veteran leadership" teach the youngsters how to maintain a bit of decorum. The Spurs, modern Celtics, etc. When losing teams reach critical mass of low-iq players -- Sacramento - Cousins, NJ - Williams, WDC - our roster -- things go to hell. The probability of any single draftee maximising potential decreases exponentially as the number of knuckleheads increases.

I suspect that we would be better off in the long run if we made a few trades that look stupid right now, but bring in tough vets. I'd love to trade for Kenyon Martin. He's an ass, but I have little question that he'll whip Blatche if he's being an idiot. Antonio McDyess would be a great pickup. Basically practice coaches whom the young guys would be forced to respect, lest they get their asses kicked.

Bringing in some vets would give Flip some help in finding balance between coaching, teaching, and disciplining. Those three roles seem out of whack, and need to be brought into equilibrium if we're going to actually change team culture.

Addendum: the quality and type of "veteran leader" counts. Antawn Jamison's "leadership" was as empty as his offensive production, regardless of his being a nice guy.

[PortlandForever]

After you unload arenas and get in Lewis, Portland will trade you for Lewis and McGee.

[dobrojim]

I don't think anyone expects JM to become a power player anytime
soon, least of all our coaches who we should recognize as accomplished
pros. I expect they do, more simply, want him to become smarter
about how he plays, specifically defensive positioning and rotations.
More like say Brendan Haywood and less like Etan Thomas.

They all realize that coaching isn't going to make him pick up 25-40
pounds of rump weight.

[dobrojim]

as to thread title - nope

kind of wish JM had gotten into the game at the very end,
say with 7 sec left

[dopeismarcus]

McGee needs to workout with Griffin in the off-season.