Just When You Think You Figured It Out…
Creating a great team has been a topic of interest to me for many years. I actually watch sports differently than most people by looking at the different pieces: players, coach, and management. Recently, I wrote a story about player-coach addition to this model. My team success model consists of:
- great players
- great coach
- great management
- great coach/player on the field
As an example of this player/coach idea, I used Chris Paul. This was based on his ability to move the team from where they were last year to their appearance in the finals.
I still think that addition is valid. BUT as any plan is good until it gets hit in the face by reality. My model got hit in the face. Ouch!
During the NBA finals, Suns went up 2:0 and everyone thought that the series was over. Then Bucks came back and beat them 4 in a row. That is pretty tough to do during the year but especially tough to do in the finals.
Paul played well in the first two games but never raised his level to the player/coach status that he had in the previous series. Scoring wise and assisting wise he did well BUT he was never the spark.
So it was interesting to see how the team responded. Some of the young players raised their level a little and some regressed. The ones that regressed seemed to be waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen.
One that raised his level is Devin Booker. He is very much in the Kobe killer mamba mindset. Yes, he was frustrated BUT he never gave up trying to pull the team along. He had great performances in most games BUT was not the player/coach that the team needed to overcome the Bucks.
Looking at the individual players, I still think that the Suns were a better team. The drive that the Bucks had could not be equaled by the Suns. Bucks wanted to win more than Suns, who were more impressed that they reached the level.
So what do we learn?
All four aspects are important. I still think that a great coach is the most important part. Any one of the four aspects can be weak at any time and break the success chain. The links have to make the chain stronger and gaps have to be filled very quickly. I would say that for a team to be successful the coach is 40%, players 20%, coach/player is 20%, and management is 20% of the success pieces.
My four cents…
