https://youtu.be/Oz-MF8k-IpU?si=hahypOMVhWu3tP4o
This is a great interview by Joe. JT screaming in the background also shows how tight their bond is. I love this team!
I've mentioned this before in the Fire Joe thread. This is a lot of the stuff people don't see. The focus has been largely on his game management, but to be fair it's easier to focus on that because a) it's the part that we can see; and b) we can clearly make a determination on whether it worked or not for any given game. The "soft" stuff, the management stuff, it's harder to evaluate because we don't see much of what happens behind closed doors, and it's hard to parse out Joe's contribution from just a veteran team knowing what to do.
He's right in that you need the players to be aligned, to want the same things, to be willing to sacrifice, and then the coach's job basically becomes that of a facilitator to support the team in whatever it needs, whether it's setting up the right practices, training for the right things, using the right coverages and schemes that complement the way the team wants to play and having the right support staff in place. In a way his job is easier because he doesn't really have to reinvent the wheel, there's guiding principles that have been instilled in the team by first Brad then Ime, which has become ingrained in the team's DNA. They want to be a perimeter shooting team that can defend by switching every screen, benefit from spacing and using that spacing to drive the ball and kick out from the paint multiple times until the other team's rotation cracks.
When I was doing my MBA we learned about the Six Styles of Leadership by Harvard Business School's Daniel Goleman:
Coercive leadership style, which entails demanding immediate compliance.
Authoritative leadership style, which is about mobilizing people toward a vision.
Pacesetting leadership style, which involves expecting excellence and self-direction.
Affiliative leadership style, which centers around building emotional bonds.
Democratic leadership style, which involves creating consensus.
Coaching leadership style, which focuses on developing people for the future.
https://hbr.org/2024/04/6-common-leadership-styles-and-how-to-decide-which-to-use-when
Your "traditional" coaches are probably use the coercive/authoritative styles, guys like Pop or Thibs, it's their way or the highway. Crack the whip. I feel like Joe's is more affiliative/coaching in that he's really trying to build relationships with players to get buy in, and then he's working with them to guide them rrather than leading them by the nose.
Obviously the best leaders can adapt styles depending on the situation...during 9/11 Rudy Giuliani adopted a coercive leadership style in the immediate aftermath because he had to, it was an emergency and there was no time to build consensus or do coaching...immediate decisions need to be made. I feel like last year Joe probably deferred to the players a little too much, he didn't want to call timeouts because he wanted them to feel he trusted them to dig themselves out of holes. This year he's been a lot better at adapting, he's not afraid to throw his weight around because he's already built his credibility with the players. It will be interesting to see his development over the next season (since it looks like he's not going to be fired
)
Topic: Mavericks (1-3) at Celtics (3-1) NBA Finals Game 5 6/17/24 (Read 107707 times)