Crowder on Stevens "He only wants to coach great players with great attitudes"

[mahcus smaht]

If brad refused o coach players with attitude questions, Marcus Morris would not have been acquired for Avery Bradley.

Evan Turner would have been traded. Isaiah Thomas would have never been a Celtic and Marcus Smart would not have been selected 6th in the '14 draft.

Every team makes evaluations based on players characters and attitudes and it's entirely fair to decide not to acquire a player based on that evaluation. Boston has shown a willingness to take on guys who aren't choir boys so I don't really see much evidence that they refuse to take on that type of player.

They may have refused to take on specific players but I don't have a problem with that.

[Eja117]

Can anyone think of a problem child that was the driving force behind a championship team? I can't think of lots.

[Sketch5]

Understandable, remember when we used to point and laugh at D'antoni when he was with New York ?
Guy just won coach of the year with a team with no knuckleheads.

And Golden State won the NBA title with Draymond Green... oh well.

Sounds like you haven't a clue about Draymond Green's personality.  Dude is a Grade A competitor and work-a-holic.  Much closer to Kevin Garnett than he is Gilbert Arenas.

Exactly. I have a feeling people aren't catching on the Knucklehead part or Crowders "great attitude".

Guys like Smart/KG/Green have attitudes ON the floor, where they are focused to win and do the things that need to be done to win. Guys like Cousins that have all the talent in the world, but take plays off over and over again. SAC actually looked at video on Boogie and looked at how many times he gave up and the other team scored. It's the reason they shipped him out for peanuts, and SAC got better, and NO didn't.

I love guys with grit, but I hate guys who are lazy. And these are grown @$$ men or close to it. IF they have to be inspired day to day to come to practice and work to win, we don't want them. KG gave a kid a shot, if he didn't at least try, he was dead in KG's world.

Stevens has much more to do than baby sit kids. I'm not saying he doesn't have to lead the charge, but he also can't be on the floor. The team has to be the extension of him. And when you have a bumb, no matter how talented, it drags every one down, and if Stevens has to constantly talk the guy up, he can't coach. It's a wast of energy that could be spent on how he can get the max out of players he has and get them in positions where they will succeed.

[Neurotic Guy]

I would hope the coaching staff could work with a talented problem child.  Part of a coach's job is to get guys to buy in.

Yes!   Is there any "boss" in the world who doesn't want to work with great people with great attitudes?   Taking the title quote literally it says he only WANTS to work with...  Of course.  It doesn't mean he can't, won't or is ineffective working with players with diverse attitudes.  My guess is that he's probably worked with many guys with issues and my guess is he is probably as good as anyone working with those players.

[TheTruthFot18]

Except Brad isn't the GM. It doesn't matter what he wants/thinks because in the end Danny is looking at trades and making them.

[Androslav]

I see no problems to come with Morris.

Yea, Morris is the kind of guy you want on your team.

[mahcus smaht]

Can anyone think of a problem child that was the driving force behind a championship team? I can't think of lots.

I think it's possible that after a problem child wins he just gets rebranded as a "competitor"

[safecracker]

"You can't change people" - Gregg Popovich
(and regarding the specific case of Cousins: he was a documented head case already in high school, not something that happened in Sac)

[droopdog7]

If brad refused o coach players with attitude questions, Marcus Morris would not have been acquired for Avery Bradley.

Evan Turner would have been traded. Isaiah Thomas would have never been a Celtic and Marcus Smart would not have been selected 6th in the '14 draft.

Every team makes evaluations based on players characters and attitudes and it's entirely fair to decide not to acquire a player based on that evaluation. Boston has shown a willingness to take on guys who aren't choir boys so I don't really see much evidence that they refuse to take on that type of player.

They may have refused to take on specific players but I don't have a problem with that.

You clearly are missing the point.  First, Steven did not say he values great attitude over everything everything else.  So Evan Turner might be mother Theresa but that won't get him over a great player.  Second, being fiery or ornery or even having off-court issues does not equal bad attitude.  He talking mostly, in the locker behavior.  So you need to be a hard worker, buy in to team concept, be a leader, set the right tone, etc.  Not saying off court issues don't mean anything at all of course but they are secondary.

So there is a HUGE difference between someone like Draymond and Boogie.  Both might be had workers but one of them is a malcontent, coach and team killing, psychopath. 

[mahcus smaht]

If brad refused o coach players with attitude questions, Marcus Morris would not have been acquired for Avery Bradley.

Evan Turner would have been traded. Isaiah Thomas would have never been a Celtic and Marcus Smart would not have been selected 6th in the '14 draft.

Every team makes evaluations based on players characters and attitudes and it's entirely fair to decide not to acquire a player based on that evaluation. Boston has shown a willingness to take on guys who aren't choir boys so I don't really see much evidence that they refuse to take on that type of player.

They may have refused to take on specific players but I don't have a problem with that.

You clearly are missing the point.  First, Steven did not say he values great attitude over everything everything else.  So Evan Turner might be mother Theresa but that won't get him over a great player.  Second, being fiery or ornery or even having off-court issues does not equal bad attitude.  He talking mostly, in the locker behavior.  So you need to be a hard worker, buy in to team concept, be a leader, set the right tone, etc.  Not saying off court issues don't mean anything at all of course but they are secondary.

So there is a HUGE difference between someone like Draymond and Boogie.  Both might be had workers but one of them is a malcontent, coach and team killing, psychopath.

Evan Turner and Isaiah Thomas were in the middle of incredibly toxic locker room situations.

Marcus Smart pushed a fan (but I'll agree that's a different issue)

Marcus Morris was accused of being a team cancer in phoenix.

All 4 have been brought in to play under Stevens without complaint.

That's my point.

I am honestly confused what you are arguing exactly.

I agree that Brad isn't afraid to coach guys with questionable locker room histories, but I agree that Brad and Danny should take attitude into consideration when evaluating players and I don't have a problem with them making those decisions on a case by case basis.

The presence of these 4 players suggests to me that Brad and a Danny aren't afraid of guys with risky personalities.

[Eja117]

Can anyone think of a problem child that was the driving force behind a championship team? I can't think of lots.

I think it's possible that after a problem child wins he just gets rebranded as a "competitor"

Examples?

I'm not saying no problem child ever won. I can think of several examples

Isaiah Thomas
Ben Rothlisburger
Rondo (not exactly the driving force of his team though)
Jim McMahon

I just can't think of all that many. Certainly not as a percentage. And I can definitely think of a bunch that never won

[mahcus smaht]

Can anyone think of a problem child that was the driving force behind a championship team? I can't think of lots.

I think it's possible that after a problem child wins he just gets rebranded as a "competitor"

Examples?

I'm not saying no problem child ever won. I can think of several examples

Isaiah Thomas
Ben Rothlisburger
Rondo (not exactly the driving force of his team though)
Jim McMahon

I just can't think of all that many. Certainly not as a percentage. And I can definitely think of a bunch that never won

Artest and Corey Dillon although neither were the leaders of their teams.

Kobe and Shaq were both seen as problem children at times.

Edit: misread your post and just provided more of the same examples.

[kraidstar]

Understandable, remember when we used to point and laugh at D'antoni when he was with New York ?
Guy just won coach of the year with a team with no knuckleheads.

You sure about that?

[kozlodoev]

Can anyone think of a problem child that was the driving force behind a championship team? I can't think of lots.

Rasheed Wallace

[coco]

Most great players are coachable.  No need to go after a head-case, when you can just as easily, get a great one with good attitude.