Lack of Reaction From Teammates to Smart Getting Tossed is Disappointing

[Ogaju]

The need for an enforcer is a thing of the past. Who is was the enforcer on the Heat? The Spurs? The last two years Finals was the best pure basketball in 20 years...no cheap shots or thug behavior...just two teams playing hard. No fake scowls and macho crap.

Yes a team should have toughness... but I prefer the John Stockton / Tim Duncan "tough" over the Perkins or Laimbeer stuff every time.

Haslem was the enforcer on the Heat.  The Spurs had Bruce Bowen, but id agree they dont have that guy now

I think you do still need a player like this to some degree, no to fight, but to committ hard fouls and rattle other players, get under their skin.

Don't forget Birdman!!!! Major enforcer!! And you are right Haslem was the enforcer on the Heat.

[Rondo9]

Funny how we label Cousins an ****, then want other guys to step in and play macho when the play is over. Sure, lets thug it up and puff our chests for no other reason than to a make a "statement".  Smart got up and made his point. No one is going to keep doing that because we are soft...thats just ridiculous.

Playing tough is bumping people off screens, boxing out hard, taking charges and battling for loose balls and 50-50 balls.

The rest is the  fake toughness, stares, chest thumping, trash talking bull**** that looks like you are making up for a lack of ACTUAL toughness.

If all that "stare, chest thumping, trash talking BS"  are fake toughness, then name me one player that does all of that but is not actually tough.  KG does it, Paul Pierce does it, Perkins does it, Jordan does it, and Larry Bird does it.  They are all fake tough guys?  Players does those things to force the mean streak out of them, if you are a scared punk you wouldnt be able to do those things.

Sorry, but KG was a fake tough guy.  Whenever anyone stood up to him, he couldn't backup fast enough.

 

[KingofDaPlayazBall]

Who defines Bird or Jordan as a tough guy BECAUSE of his ability to trash talk, etc?  Are you kidding? Those guys didnt NEED to do anything to prove their toughness on the floor... and none of what they (and others) do to be "tough' makes a lick of difference.

Can just imagine people talking about Bird..."he was a decent player, but what made him REALLY tough was because he could talk trash" Thats why he is a hall of famer"

Pointless energy wasted on getting "respect" that has little to do with the game you are playing. What are you proving?    Nothing.

Please,  I never brought up trash talkng as toughness until you pull that out of your ass, some people simply does it as an expression of their toughness and I neither said it was necessary nor does doing so prove someone to be fake tough.  My OP simply said teammates should rush to defend each other, and in situations like yesterday players have to express their toughness.  If you can't understand that, Im moving on.

[P stoff]

I was not responding to your OP as much as to the idea that others projected... that "toughness" was a big factor in some great players. I argue that that type of toughness is secondary ot the playing of the game. Someone brought up Bird and Jordan as examples of trash talkers... but that, and other macho "statement" is not real toughness.

[Jonny CC]

The situation already was in control. What do you want KO to do? last thing you need is another technical foul

KO is not an enforcer but he is also not "soft".  We all seen him battle vs Garnett , argue back, stare him down.

KO is no dummy.  He saw that is was Cousins and decided that he didn't want to get a beating.  My guess is that it's just not his nature to be physical off the court.  That being said, it would have been nice to see some reaction to defend a teammate. 

[BitterJim]

Considering that Cousins did it during a box out pretty far from the rim, when most of our players were looking at the rim/ball, I'd say it was more not knowing what happened than anything.  Yeah, Smart was on the ground after, but if players were ready to get in a fight every time a teammate went down, there'd be multiple fights every quarter.

[KingofDaPlayazBall]

I was not responding to your OP as much as to the idea that others projected... that "toughness" was a big factor in some great players. I argue that that type of toughness is secondary ot the playing of the game. Someone brought up Bird and Jordan as examples of trash talkers... but that, and other macho "statement" is not real toughness.

Ok so moving on to an entirely different subject, I was the one who brought up Jordan and Bird because they are tough in the ways of John Stockton/ Tim Duncan are which you prefer, but they also were the most notorious trash talkers.  Point being that talking trash does not make someone a fake tough guy unless he can't back it up when **** hits the fan.  I don't know why you are so against the outward expression of toughness even though getting in your opponents head is a useful strategy and anybody can use without requirements in talent only toughness.

[86MaxwellSmart]

You can't blame our players--the entire league has been castrated ever since the Indiana/Detroit fiasco...You cannot even leave the bench or get anywhere near a brush up--or you will be sent to NBA prison---Even Smart got a Technical for being thrown to the floor...Blame the League for this.

[P stoff]

I apologize if you took my rant as not understanding your OP. When others talked about Bird/Jordan as examples of tough guys (trash talk, etc) it just set me off a bit. I absolutely hate the posturing and thug mentality that we see in the NBA and around the country. You see little kids on facebook cursing and acting like hoodlums because it looks tough and cool.

Im not really old, but a little old fashioned. As a player I showed people how tough i was by taking charges...playing hard... and never telling anyone about it. Didnt have to.  Yes, I might have grabbed somebody to calm them down... but i felt lke any jawing or posturing wasnt going to solve anything...or make me look any tougher.   No disrespect to you...

[greg683x]

talking about fighting and who is really tough and who isnt, is pointless.  You dont score extra points for being able to back up your trash talk. 

You can be the biggest wimp in the world but if you can strategically talk, poke, pester, give a hard foul when necessary, to send the right message or get under peoples skin, it can affect the way your opponents playing, making the preoccupied with something else besides the game.  It has nothing to do with being able to fight, because the fight will never happen

[Asher77]

Smart was drafted for the very reason of developing a team mentality that incorporates toughness. I would say that he may be our most likely enforcer at the moment. There are many ways this is done on the court and the most effective way is within the rules. Not trash talk but instead going hard through screens and dropping an elbow or boxing out low. You can enforce by getting into the heads of your opposition and inspiring your team to play with similar desire and toughness. In this fashion other teams may hate you but they will be nervous before tipoff.

Larry was tough but he also inspired toughness. Love the story where he got Kevin to go along with the idea he wanted to kick Elvin Hayes's a@#. Larry said in an interview with David Letterman I think that you always had to maintain the act and you could never let it slip. If an apponent ever saw you weak for just one second that you would never be able to get it back. He always had his game face on and it was war. To always show up is toughness in its highest form.

[Rosco917]

Sorry to say this, I felt the Celtics we're very passive in the game against Washington, they were intimidated in the trenches. They were intimidated inside first and then beaten from the outside.

When the Celtics announced Kelly was going to be the starting Center, I knew he was doomed to failure. Kelly at this point in his career is way to soft to be exposed to dealing with someone like Cousins, Birdman, and others similar players for 25-30 minutes a game. Zeller is not much better, just a little bigger and more experienced.

I'm not talking about a team of thugs, I know that won't lead to winning basketball. But most top NBA teams have that player or two that will not take crap. Marcus Smart needs a player or two that will step up with him.

That's one of the major things I liked about Rondo he took no BS. His size had nothing to do with it.   

[Ogaju]

This is why the Clippers have Barnes, he does the 'dirty' work.

[thirstyboots18]

Agree 100%. This team has no enforcer and is just a soft bunch as a whole. I thought the person that really needed to respond, given the lineup we had on the court at that time, was Bass. However, he sort of just stood there confused. Olynyk too, but he's only in his second year so I forgive him a little more than Bass. I also didn't like the reaction from the bench. Not saying they needed to rush the court, but they all, with the exception of Turner, just sat there like they were watching a broadway play. At least stand up and show some emotion and pretend you care for your teammate.

It is not just an enforcer this team is missing...it is an identity.  The Championship team's motto was Ubuntu.  What is this teams motto?  Watch and Wonder?

[KingofDaPlayazBall]

I apologize if you took my rant as not understanding your OP. When others talked about Bird/Jordan as examples of tough guys (trash talk, etc) it just set me off a bit. I absolutely hate the posturing and thug mentality that we see in the NBA and around the country. You see little kids on facebook cursing and acting like hoodlums because it looks tough and cool.

Im not really old, but a little old fashioned. As a player I showed people how tough i was by taking charges...playing hard... and never telling anyone about it. Didnt have to.  Yes, I might have grabbed somebody to calm them down... but i felt lke any jawing or posturing wasnt going to solve anything...or make me look any tougher.   No disrespect to you...

Thank you Asher77 and Rosco917 and thirstyboots18, you summed up my points on this issue.  Another reason beside the issue of toughness as to why I posted this thread is because I felt like the team is Lacking in the Ubuntu concept from the Last era.  I miss the cheering for teammates and the value of a unit working together from the Doc Rivers Era.  Teammates were feeding energy off of each other, and the whole team gets excited about hustle plays and teamwork.  I was disappoint because I didn't see the excitement for Smart when he boxed out and challenged  Demarcus(the Grizzly bear) Cousins and provoked a reaction.  If this team was like the last they would of jumped on Cousins simply out of excitement for Smart.  What better way to promote Ubuntu than protecting your teammate after he made a hustle/ tough play.  Being confrontational and aggressive is not always thug mentality or hoodlum behavior.