Lack Of Leadership

[NickCeltics]

So after yesterday's defeat to the Nets, I awaited Chris Forsberg to post his reports and post-match comments. I have to say everything mentioned seemed to point towards players suggesting a lack of leadership. Don'cha think?

Marcus Smart - "That’s just Coach being Coach. He cares too much," said Smart. "He’s a competitor still, so he’s going to feel like it’s his fault, but, [ultimately], we’re the ones out there playing. He puts us in a great position to succeed and we failed on each other. We didn’t hold each other accountable out there on certain plays, myself included, and we just have to come together as a team."

Evan Turner - "There's a fine line between [blaming coach or players], in my personal opinion. I think what [Stevens] said earlier was kind of about the culture he has set and he felt like he let it slip a little bit. In that regard, I think we’re not kids. You know what I’m saying? We need to raise each other and just be pros, man. I think that’s the biggest thing is just being pros at the end of the day."

Wait...there's more from Evan.. "You can point fingers or say we’re adults and we can control ourselves and control our actions and it’s our choice to make the most out of not-so-fine moments. You know what I’m saying? Just let it slide by when you have these inconsistent moments. I dig where he’s coming from in certain aspects. But, at the same time, we’re pros and we haven’t really done anything yet as a group and we just need to be consistently hungry."

Isaiah even made comment too... - "If you’re a professional basketball player or a professional in any sport, you should bring it no matter who you’re playing collectively as a team. Some nights we just don’t do that and, the nights we don’t do it, we lose. If we don't understand that, sooner or later, we're not going to get anything we want out of this season."

What's going on here? Who is the real leader of this team? I'm not so sure at the moment. I thought this year the likes of Bradley or Thomas would stand up and take on that role.
The other thing that concerns me about these comments was Evan & Isaiah making comment about "...being pro/professional". Am I reading into these comments too much but could they be suggesting certain individuals aren't being "professional" enough or the squad in general? Just these comments seemed a little off to me.

What's everyone else's take?

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm not sure how you can twist these comments to be a "lack of leadership." In fact, all three of these comments are comments from leaders taking the blame for not putting forth the effort and challenging their team to step up. That's what leaders do.

On top of that, Crowder leads on the court. In fact, I would say that Crowder and Thomas both put forth good effort on both sides of the ball yesterday, but the effort was lacking from other players, especially on the inside. That is why CBS put Crowder on Lopez late the fourth for a few possessions. He values effort over size.

We simply are not talented enough to be disconnected with half-hearted effort. We cannot win like that. This team is frustrating when they don't put forth the effort, but when they do, it is very satisfying because of the ball movement, teamwork, IQ, and effort.

[Greyman]

The inconsistency of the team is concerning, especially now that a number of players have spoken about 'effort' and being a 'pro'. Ultimately though, it ends back with CBS. Even when they (the players) are saying that he gets them ready and it is the players who let the team down, CBS has to work out why that happens and adapt what he does. It isn't something you can let take care of itself or ignore, even if the next night you get the team up and they beat a more highly ranked opponent.

Part of it is knowing your players, their individual best preparation. Some players are just up for it every night - fully professional and all effort. Others need to be lifted, coaxed even into getting the best out of them. Sometimes those guys may be your better players and it might seem incongruent that you have to help them find the desire to produce every night but that is the way it is.

Doc never had that problem with KG, PP and RA, and those three would mostly have brought the others along through their approach. CBS doesn't have any of those players so he has to create the culture his own way.

I know many will say they are all well paid pros and the fault lies with them. It will be CBS who pays the price eventually if there are doubts about his ability to get a team to perform every night. Even if that means cutting loose bad influences or benching players at times, he has to make the hard decisions.

[Who]

Smart is the team leader.

Bradley and Isaiah give some leadership at various times too. Sometimes Crowder.

The bigs rarely provide any leadership.

[Celtics18]

Yeah, I agree with the four guys Who listed.  Those guys seem like the leaders.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

The inconsistency of the team is concerning, especially now that a number of players have spoken about 'effort' and being a 'pro'. Ultimately though, it ends back with CBS. Even when they (the players) are saying that he gets them ready and it is the players who let the team down, CBS has to work out why that happens and adapt what he does. It isn't something you can let take care of itself or ignore, even if the next night you get the team up and they beat a more highly ranked opponent.

Part of it is knowing your players, their individual best preparation. Some players are just up for it every night - fully professional and all effort. Others need to be lifted, coaxed even into getting the best out of them. Sometimes those guys may be your better players and it might seem incongruent that you have to help them find the desire to produce every night but that is the way it is.

Doc never had that problem with KG, PP and RA, and those three would mostly have brought the others along through their approach. CBS doesn't have any of those players so he has to create the culture his own way.

I know many will say they are all well paid pros and the fault lies with them. It will be CBS who pays the price eventually if there are doubts about his ability to get a team to perform every night. Even if that means cutting loose bad influences or benching players at times, he has to make the hard decisions.

I disagree with your comparison of Doc to CBS; it's like comparing apples to oranges.
1. Garnett and Allen were pros. They played and practiced hard. They were always ready. That's not on Doc. That's on the players.
2. The Celtics core were veterans under Doc. Our core is largely young players (4th youngest team in the league). It takes time to learn how to bring it every night. It takes focus. Our team is learning that.
3. The Celtics under Doc were really, really talented, which means they could cover their lack of effort with sheer ability (and if I remember right, they often did). The Celtics under CBS are not as talented, which means when the effort isn't there, neither are the wins.

[Greyman]

The inconsistency of the team is concerning, especially now that a number of players have spoken about 'effort' and being a 'pro'. Ultimately though, it ends back with CBS. Even when they (the players) are saying that he gets them ready and it is the players who let the team down, CBS has to work out why that happens and adapt what he does. It isn't something you can let take care of itself or ignore, even if the next night you get the team up and they beat a more highly ranked opponent.

Part of it is knowing your players, their individual best preparation. Some players are just up for it every night - fully professional and all effort. Others need to be lifted, coaxed even into getting the best out of them. Sometimes those guys may be your better players and it might seem incongruent that you have to help them find the desire to produce every night but that is the way it is.

Doc never had that problem with KG, PP and RA, and those three would mostly have brought the others along through their approach. CBS doesn't have any of those players so he has to create the culture his own way.

I know many will say they are all well paid pros and the fault lies with them. It will be CBS who pays the price eventually if there are doubts about his ability to get a team to perform every night. Even if that means cutting loose bad influences or benching players at times, he has to make the hard decisions.

I disagree with your comparison of Doc to CBS; it's like comparing apples to oranges.
1. Garnett and Allen were pros. They played and practiced hard. They were always ready. That's not on Doc. That's on the players.
2. The Celtics core were veterans under Doc. Our core is largely young players (4th youngest team in the league). It takes time to learn how to bring it every night. It takes focus. Our team is learning that.
3. The Celtics under Doc were really, really talented, which means they could cover their lack of effort with sheer ability (and if I remember right, they often did). The Celtics under CBS are not as talented, which means when the effort isn't there, neither are the wins.

The point of mentioning Doc wasn't a straight comparison of their skills or coaching, but the players they have/had available. That is why I mentioned the big 3 and how Doc would never have had motivational problems with them. Your post more or less highlights what I had said. CBS has and is doing a great job with a young team, no doubt, but the inconsistency of effort is his problem to deal with.

[trickybilly]

Smart is the team leader.

Bradley and Isaiah give some leadership at various times too. Sometimes Crowder.

The bigs rarely provide any leadership.

I am quite sure that Isaiah is the leader. He coaches and talks during court huddles. And Turner does it when Isaiah sits

The bigs is a thing though. Like all contests, you get inspiration from the big bad guy next to you. Amir has always been more of a listener than a shouter, Sully - I don't know. David Lee isn't there enough. I would like to see the Klynyc get more vocal - he finally showed some chutzpah after his big putback a few games ago, but I'm not sure he fits character-wise

[rollie mass]

marcus shot daggers at kelly for tha panic throw into the corner,to me kelly stood out as the player  most disconnected and brad pulled the plug-kelly the team needed you to step up and you played sissy ball-maybe you should play some d league as a punishment--or go in trade to toronto for derozan
the fans pay your salary and have been patient-

[Celtics18]

marcus shot daggers at kelly for tha panic throw into the corner,to me kelly stood out as the player  most disconnected and brad pulled the plug-kelly the team needed you to step up and you played sissy ball-maybe you should play some d league as a punishment--or go in trade to toronto for derozan
the fans pay your salary and have been patient-

Kelly's been bad in the last two games.  Sure, it's been disappointing, but I'm not ready to give up on him.

The talent's there.  It's always been a matter of his mentality.  It's coming around.  I think it's a bit naive to not expect some relapses.

[PhoSita]

Smart is the team leader.

Bradley and Isaiah give some leadership at various times too. Sometimes Crowder.

The bigs rarely provide any leadership.

Agreed.

The team would be greatly improved if they could add just one guy who provides serious, consistent production at one of the big spots while also providing leadership on and off the court.  They need a clear cut starter, a constant.

[tarheelsxxiii]

marcus shot daggers at kelly for tha panic throw into the corner,to me kelly stood out as the player  most disconnected and brad pulled the plug-kelly the team needed you to step up and you played sissy ball-maybe you should play some d league as a punishment--or go in trade to toronto for derozan
the fans pay your salary and have been patient-

Kelly's been bad in the last two games.  Sure, it's been disappointing, but I'm not ready to give up on him.

The talent's there.  It's always been a matter of his mentality.  It's coming around.  I think it's a bit naive to not expect some relapses.

C18 introduced me to the KO wagon and I'm not ready to hop off either

The process sounds akin to kicking booze. Stick the quit, Kelly!

[CroCorvus]

Agree, at least that’s only the half of problem that we have: a lack of leadership. Of course there is a lack of leadership, I am not surprised at all. We do not have anyone that has ever been a true leader of the team at this level! Seems that Crowder, IT and Smart have those qualities, based on what we saw on and of the floor (don’t mention Smart’s flat tyre), but then again those are total 3 players not one or max two (we don’t have a captain?!).
For me, the main problem of this team is roster inadequacy which consequently leads to players being uncertain of their future with the team, being frustrated, confused and not always fully engaged. 
This is not something new to Celtics teams, we already been through this a couple of times in previous seasons and the main target to blame is of course Danny (who else).
What do I mean is that Danny again set the team roster with a lot of options at two positions – guards and bigs (while we are thin on SF), in order to have enough material for the right trade. Now I understand the logic behind all that, he wants to have the flexibility and various players so he can make the right offer (like in the store), but he’s become known around the league (to GM’s and players) as someone who is very pragmatic, tricky and extremely untrusted. With that in mind, I assume that it’s very hard for him to make good deal without overpaying. The same goes for free agents who probably hesitate to come here….
Now I can understand all of that, love Danny and respect his strive for faster rebuilding, but this is something that we must accept and play with it (hopefully till the end of trade deadline - remember how we played better last season after the trade deadline?!!!).
Imagine what a mess is this for Brad to have. He must play all 10 players because everybody’s in shop window, and he can not limit his rotations to optimal 8-9 players and be satisfied with that. That’s why we hear him take the blame for the loss saying he must hold the players accountable.   

One more thing, we are hearing IT, Smart, Crowder and Evan constantly saying that some of the players on the team are not playing like professionals, not playing collectively, they have lack of motivation and all that… wonder who that applies?

[droopdog7]

It's lack of talent.  This is what happens when your players are not that good.  You get all down or up and down.

[Celtics18]

It's lack of talent.  This is what happens when your players are not that good.  You get all down or up and down.

The thing is, though, that right now--outside of Cleveland--all the teams in the East are mediocre.  We can compete with that and maybe even put ourselves in a position to be at the top of the battle for next best in the East.

I'll gladly take that for the 2016 season and build on it.