Yeah, agreed with both posts Leprechaun and Orlando:
1. One things I thought Ime did was bring more grit and toughness out of them but he again could only take them so far - at the end of the day he can't make the plays on the floor, Brown and Tatum have to make the plays. It's like Russell told KG when KG asked him if he thought he could win a title in Boston. Russell said, "Yes you can, but you will need to put the entire team on your shoulder and take them there, and that includes Pierce, Allen, Rondo and Perkins, everyone".
Russell said this because he knows every great team has an indomitable force, the emotional and driving engine of of the team, the line in the sand guy, the ferocious no backing down guy. As tough as Pierce, perk and Rondo were, it was still KG that had to be the guy - it's the foxhole guy, the guy in the trenches.
Whos is that on our team? It's no one. Tatum and Brown are both too nice - and that's a compliment, they are both very impressive young guys, very, very solid people by all accounts. However, to win championships, basketball requires the following engine guys:
Bird
Magic (don['t let the smile fool you...)
Jordan
Duncan, and also Ginobli and Parker - all very nasty in their own relentless ways
Curry (again, don't let the smile fool you...) and definitely Draymond and Thompson in the Duncan, Ginobli, Parker model - all relentless.
Shaq/Kobe
Isaiah Thomas / Rodman / Dumars - very, very tough competitors
Joker and yes, Murray (Murray can be inconsistent, but he carries a dagger in his sleeve and he wants to use it when it matters...
Jimmy Butler has it
Freak is relentless
Kawhai Leonard
Lebron
Dwayne Wade
Does anyone think Tatum and brown play with the type of relentless attack mode focus of any of the above listed players?
If they find that they're capable of 4-5 championships over the next 8-10 years - but will they? When do they get p---ed off with losing - how many lesson losses, lost titles does it take until the flip switches...?