MrSparkle wrote:panthermark wrote:JR Smith was a knucklehead that would not have fit with the roster/coach. He wasn't a "Paxson guy" (you know what I mean), but I always thought it was a mistake to tell him to not get off the plane and salary dump him for nothing.
A few year later, I really wanted JR when we were DESPERATE for a SG to pair with Rose.
Talent > Attitude
You need to find a fine balance and as a coach and front office, make it work.
Shaq and Kobe had crappy attitudes and couldn’t act like adults. LAL kept them together for 3 chips.
Rodman had a crappy attitude. He almost ruined Pippen and Jordan’s careers with dangerous fouls as a Piston. They made it work as Bulls. There’s no way Rodman would’ve been available to Chicago had he not been exiled by the league for being a nutcase.
Iverson had crap attitude. He took a team of scrubs to the finals.
More than anything these guys need somebody to let them be them off-the-court and nurture their strengths on the court.
I realize it’s not easy, but Pax’s approach of avoiding these guys at all costs could very well be the difference between a 2nd round and ECFs team. Not to mention the message it sends to free agents.
Odom wasn’t an angel but Riley took him in and got his career on track. He did the same with some other bad seeds.
Thing that bugs me is Pax kind of blamed Krause’s players as part of the problem. Reality is Chandler, Crawford, Miller and Artest ended up being better talents and winning more games than anybody Pax drafted until Rose. Plain fact.
I’ve seen multiple versions of the “try-hard good attitude” team fail miserably in the 1st round. (04-07 team, 11/12 sans Rose and 13/14 team). Note that “bad attitude” Nate Robinson was actually fun to watch and helped us make rd 2 despite being the underdog. I’m OK with bringing in bad seeds if it means we’ll have an extra guy making 3P shots and being able to dribble past his defender.
Miller and Artest were gone before Pax, and no way was Jamal Crawford better than Deng, Noah, or even BG.