HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson

We are just over a month into the season and one thing is for certain, there are a number of leaderless teams in the league and a few I will identify are extremely surprising.

A coach wears a number of hats besides coaching his team. Father figure, policeman and fireman come to mind. He would much rather tell you he wants to coach and have a parental quality when needed, but he will be happy if he can place the responsibility of policeman and part-time fireman on one or, if he is lucky, a few of his players.

People ask me all the time why I have not gone into coaching. My normal response is that I have always been afraid that I might be too much of a disciplinarian and that method would be hard-pressed to accomplish if I were not coaching experienced and committed players who actually get it when it comes to the word Team.

Take for example some great coaches like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Rudy Tomjanovich, Chuck Daly, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. These coaches would not have been successful if it wasn’t for the leadership qualities of the great players that played for them. None of these coaches would have won multiple championships if they didn’t have players accepting and wearing one of those hats for them so they could concentrate on coaching and preparing the team more effectively.

Imagine what a coach has to police in relation to players during an 82-game season. They have to make sure they show up to practice on time, work hard in practice, play together as a team, professionalism on and off the court, etcetera. So imagine how ecstatic a coach would be if he had players that took on that responsibility and allowed him more time to focus on team and strategy. Although a coach knows he will have to extinguish some personal and emotional fires during the season – players not getting along or unhappy about playing time and their role on the team – but he will have fewer fires to deal with because of the ability of his leaders to keep players focused and on a common goal.

Could you imagine a player getting out of line on the great Boston Celtic teams while Bill Russell was playing? I could not imagine someone on the Bulls getting out of control with Michael Jordan practicing and playing harder than anyone each and every game. What about a teammate not running the floor hard when Magic Johnson was pushing the ball up the floor or not being focused on his extreme passing ability? Magic once told me that he would hit teammates in the head with the ball on purpose because they took their eye off of him.

I wonder… Was it Rudy Tomjanovich who demanded the ball should go to Hakeem Olajuwon every time down the court during the Houston Rockets back-to-back championships or was it Hakeem, who led by example with supreme effort on both ends of the court?

When I look at some teams that are playing well or underachieving with talented players, you really need to look no further than the leaders among players before you blame the coach and general manager.

TEAMS WITH GREAT LEADERSHIP

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are the ultimate role team. They are anchored by one the greatest players to ever play in Tim Duncan. No player steps out of his role because Popovich demands it and Duncan will not allow it to happen because of his unselfish nature and the fact that he allows Popovich to chastise him when he is not playing well, which sends a great message to the players who battle with him every night. Also don’t discount the secondary roles of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. David Robinson, who established this method of unselfishness by taking a secondary role to Duncan at the end of his career, should receive a tremendous amount of the credit for the togetherness of the Spurs.

Phoenix Suns

Steve Nash is not only the best point guard in the NBA, but he is the most unselfish players since Magic Johnson. When you watch Nash play you can honestly say he plays no favorites when he passes the ball. If you are open you get the ball. Who in their right mind would not want to play with him? If you watch him closely during games he never chastises teammates openly and he encourages them with high-fives when they accomplish something on the court or makes a mistake and he never wavers. When you play with someone like this you will always accept his leadership and the Suns follow his every lead. Throw in the perseverance of Grant Hill and this team has a level of class that allows them to enjoy the game the way it should be played and fans around the league appreciate it!

Dallas Mavericks

Avery Johnson has force-fed Dirk Nowitzki on the importance of leadership and it culminated into an MVP season in 2006, Dirk has learned not only to involve and appreciate his teammates but also to give them credit publicly. Jason Terry supplies the energy and enthusiasm to go along with the no non-sense style of Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse is legendary around the league for straightening up a teammate verbally and physically if they step out of line. Every coach needs a physical presence able to intimidate some players into following rules and regulations.

Utah Jazz

I didn’t mention Jerry Sloan among the great coaches because he has not won a championship, but he belongs there and it will be a shame if he does not win a title before he retires. I mention Sloan because he might be the best coach ever at designating leadership among his players. He demands it with his unwavering demands in practice and games. Sloan, I hear, will fine a player if his jersey is not tucked in for practice. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams share the leadership on this team and it has showed the last few years. Leadership has nothing to do with age or experience and these two players exude it with great effort for 48 minutes. Their teammates have followed. When you mention the word Team, the Utah Jazz have defined that example for the last 15 years despite not winning a championship.

New Orleans Hornets

No surprise this team has good leadership. Byron Scott has been as successful a coach as any in the league. This should not surprise you since he falls from the Pat Riley and Magic Johnson tree. Scott has been taught by the best at establishing what Team really means and now he has one of the best young leaders in the game in Chris Paul. Paul is quickly becoming the next Steve Nash and the Hornets will reap the benefits for many years to come. Paul’s ability to get players like Peja Stojakovic and others to play above their ability is proof of what a leader can do for the success of your team.

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard is the most imposing force I have seen since Shaquille O’Neal and what’s scary is that he could put up better stats before his career is finished. What’s so scary about Howard is how quickly he has shaken his mechanical offensive nature into a fluid Human Terminator on the court. But what I really like about Howard is his friendly nature and pleasant smile. I don’t know if he realizes it yet, but that goes a very long way with teammates and their acceptance towards him. They now try every way they can to force-feed him the ball. I also like the tough no non-sense manner of Jameer Nelson, who has seen plenty of hardships already in his young life and still exudes tremendous confidence and determination – which travels far with his teammates.

Detroit Pistons

Detroit might have the best collection of leaders in the league and that is why despite their age they will still compete for a championship the next few years. When you watch Detroit play, I immediately think of the Celtics when Bird, Parish and McHale had gotten older but still competed with a savvy desire to fundamentally make you look bad although athletically you were a much better team. Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, Rip Hamilton and the young but old Tayshaun Prince give the Pistons self policing and a no non-sense attitude, which every coach loves. The reason we hear more grumbling in Detroit than most places is because most of these guys have a fierce desire to lead. And yes, it can cause headaches for Flip Saunders, but he will take the headaches knowing that when these guys hit the floor they will give everything they have to win the game.

Boston Celtics

I love Kevin Garnett. I didn’t love him enough to support giving up Amare Stoudemire last summer. But let me say this again, I love Kevin Garnett. I think he is the second best leader in the game next to Steve Nash. I criticized him in Minnesota because I thought he was too unselfish and never took over like he should have, but as we see now in Boston with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he is in the perfect environment and I am so happy for him. He has a respect for the game and his teammates that drips off of him when you watch the Celtics play. The Celtics right now are the class of the Eastern Conference and, with all due respect to the talents of Pierce and Allen, Garnett is the driving force with his unselfishness to just try and win the game anyway he can. If any player deserves a championship, it’s Garnett. This scenario is the perfect example when I mentioned all the great coaches. Doc Rivers will go from being a lame duck coach to quite possibly grabbing his second Coach of the Year award. Now whose league is this again? It’s a players’ league and don’t forget it!

TEAMS WITH NO LEADERSHIP

New York Knicks

I have taken a lot of heat for this comment, but I will say it again. The Knicks have some of the best collection of talent in the league. But one important piece of the pie is missing and that has created the inconsistency we see from night to night in the Knicks. Who should I point the finger at? Most of you want to say the coach and general manager Isiah Thomas, but didn’t I just give you the example of Doc Rivers, who had a terrible record last year but is looked at pretty favorably now that he has Garnett and his great leadership?

It’s easy to point the finger at Stephon Marbury, but Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson are all capable to lead and have not visually stepped up to the plate. The Knicks are so ripe to lead that Bo Outlaw could be acquired and become the best leader the first day he arrives and he would probably not play. That comment should embarrass every Knick player on that team. No way would any of the teams listed above have allowed Stephon Marbury to compromise the togetherness of the team by leaving them to battle the Phoenix Suns because the coach asked him to become a better leader on the floor and play better defense. Where was the fireman Isiah needed to talk to Marbury before he got on a plane and went back to New York?

Leadership comes from any position and it is not necessarily the point guard position, but if you want to take a high percentage of the shots and get all the accolades then you have to take pride in making it easy on your teammates to care for you and accept your dominance of the ball. Hopefully Marbury, who has had some major hardships this season off the floor, will take notice at the way the Knicks have bonded lately in his absence to play more like a team with their talent should play.

Chicago Bulls

It’s hard for me to come down too hard on the Bulls players about leadership, because I personally think everyone of them would be a role player on any of the teams listed above. If you look at the Bulls roster, I don’t think any of these players were the top guys on their college team when they got drafted. I believe they are still growing and sooner or later one of them will evolve into a powerful leader. But right now they have to do it by committee and they have failed miserably. The obvious choice is Ben Wallace because that’s what the Bulls thought they were getting, but they forget the reason Detroit did not cry too much when he left town. It was because Wallace was becoming a complainer of minutes and strategy and not privately but at times publicly of Flip Saunders. So now you have a hard-working talented team that has no big-time player leadership and because of it Scott Skiles has to wear the hat and that’s when players start to get tired of the coach.

Kirk Hinrich has to pick his head up and play like the guard everyone was thinking he would become after a solid first two seasons. He seems to be worried too much about missing shots than becoming a leader like Nash and Chris Paul. That will undoubtedly sink the Bulls further in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat

I never thought a team coached by Pat Riley struggle with leadership – especially when you have Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade on the roster. I said it last year in an article and I will repeat it again… This team put every ounce of energy into a title two years ago and they are done. Riley should have blown it up and traded everyone except Wade and Shaq after that season. The Heat won with a veteran-laden team two years ago and the energy level took a major hit. Shaquille is not a spring chicken and he needs youth around him to keep him fresh and inspired. I listed Miami because they are struggling, but I really do believe they have players that want to lead. But they are a tired group – other than Wade – and it seems that he better grab the bull by the horns or the Miami Heat will make yours truly look like a good prognosticator because I was the only one who predicted before the season that they would not make the playoffs this season.

Memphis Grizzlies

Pau Gasol needs to play up to his potential and stop trying to jump ship. That attitude will not allow him to lead the team, where he is presumably the best player. The Grizzlies have very good young talent, but like the Bulls will need to find a leader that can allow Marc Iavaroni to have a solid year evaluating his team and at least get them close to the potential he expects.

In terms of this upcoming season, with New Jersey upgrading with the acquisition of Magloire at the center position, and with the Celtics getting KG and Allen, how do you see Toronto fitting into that Atlantic Division? Do you believe we were riding luck last year, or you think we can hold off these emerging teams and retain our Atlantic Division title?

I think Toronto will be improved as well. They learned a valuable experience last year. They should have beaten the Nets and just that thought should have had each of those players in the gym all summer working hard. The key will be Bosh and staying away from the injuries to key players that affected them last year. Morris Peterson’s defection to the Hornets will hurt, but the Raptors are talented enough to make a serious run at duplicating what they did last year although the competition has definitely gotten better.

How will the effect of playing for Team USA, or their respective countries, be on each of the players bodies? How much wear and tear will be done by participating in these games? Last year for the World Baseball Classic, a lot of those players saw a decrease in their performance and a physical decline towards the end of the season.

I think it does wear on you to an extent, but it all goes back to how you take care of your body. I think it will only affect the older players like Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups, but then again they did not play many minutes. I really liked how the players minutes were limited. So I don’t think it will be much of a factor during the season. LeBron is the only player that should be a little winded since his season lasted longer than any other player.

Eddie, I miss the good old days of the NBA, the days when you played and the game was physical. How do you feel when you see a hard foul in an NBA game and the player is ejected or even suspended, when if that happened back when you played, you just got two free throws and that was that? How many points a game do you think you would of scored if no one was allowed to touch you or give you a “Charles Oakley” clothesline when going into the lane?

You have gotten me so worked up now. People ask me all the time about the way the game has changed. I honestly felt it was needed, because players were becoming too sensitive. That might be the one major problem I have with players today… Why so sensitive? During my era everything was fair game including momma jokes. I tell you what, if players were as sensitive in my era as they are now, it would have been a fight every quarter. We had running dialogue all the time during the course of a game. I would have two or three trash talking conversations going on with different players all the time. The difference for us was that we did not take it personally and we used it as motivation to play even harder. Here is an example of players that I would have confrontations with every time I played them…

Xavier McDaniel and I hated each other on the court. I would be shooting and calling him a bald headed so and so at the same time he would come back and try and crack me with an elbow and then proceed to try and tear the rim down. It was vicious, but not one time did we have a fight and believe it or not we shared a drink and laughed about it during an NBA cruise during the offseason.

Larry Bird called me every name in the book when we played and I tried to reciprocate as much as I could and maintain some energy to guard him. The first time I guarded him in my career at Boston Garden he looked at me and said I am going to kick your @#$% and even during a game later in the season I popped him in the mouth with an elbow and laughed because they called a foul on him as well. He never lost his concentration and only waited till after the game to come in the locker room and drop his room key on my lap and said, “Let’s finish this at my hotel.” I reminded him of that years later and he laughed.

Lonnie Shelton was probably the quickest 6-8, 260 player I have ever seen and I hated him to guard me. He would throw me all around the court, but one night I got tired of it and I started talking about everyone in his generation to take his attention off the game. Nothing seemed to bother him till I came by the Cavalier bench and called him a fat @#$% in front of his teammates and they started laughing and he stared at me no matter where I was on the court till it really started to bother me. When he got in the game, he had nothing on his mind other than hurting me. I finally went up to him during a free throw and apologized and he said, “Cool, let’s play.” True story.

Tom Chambers and Frank Brickowski, I will mention them together because I use to get under their skin big time when they played for the Sonics. I would talk so much smack that both of them would take turns trying to pop me, but I was not stupid. I always took care of the wide bodies on my team and LaSalle Thompson and Mark Olberding would always be there to protect me. What’s so funny about those two is that in later years we would become teammates (Chambers-Suns and Brickowski-Hornets) and I consider both very good friends. They understood the method to my madness when we played together and they looked out for me as well.

Believe me, if guys were as sensitive then as they are now the league would have been out of control and David Stern would not have had one chance of turning the NBA around financially like he has done.

The only thing I will say about the defensive rule of not touching a player when he catches the ball and faces his defender is this, I would have scored at least 8 to 10 more points a game in my career. That would have put me at about 27 a game. So now what do you think Jordan would have averaged? Think about this, Jordan catches the ball 15 feet from the basket and he is allowed to turn and face the defender without the defender being able to touch him, are you kidding me. End of story!

Since you are Mr. Jumpshot, I would like to ask you about the NBA and “sidewinder” releases. Like Larry Bird and Chris Mullin, O do not square up to the basket; rather I turn about 40 to 45 degrees to the left. I think it gives a player the best chance to make the jumpshot a one-handed shot. Can I have your opinion on this release?

Hold up, you just gave me a headache. I only have an opinion about one thing when it comes to shooting and that is what’s the result? Bird, Mullin, Miller, Redd and Stojakovic were and are not text book shooters. Who cares? They have and had a great result. When I teach players, I try and work within their mechanics and go from there. I think anyone can become a very good shooter with proper understanding of why the ball has the best chance to go in. I will give no more of my secrets unless you pay or go to my website and purchase the best shooting DVD on the market!

How will Memphis Grizzlies do for the PG position with four guards (Tarence Kinsey, Damon Stoudamire, Juan Carlos Navarro and Mike Conley)?

I have no idea how they will do if Marc Iavaroni just hands the point guard duties to Conley. I do think they will have some stability if he allows Stoudamire to run the team and allow the youngsters to move slowly. The one thing Iavaroni does not want to do is alienate his scorers because he is force feeding young point guards and they are struggling to get the scorers the ball efficiently. The Grizzlies have talent, but it remains to be seen if they can develop heart and toughness to get back to the 50-win plateau again.

Am I the only one that is a little concerned about how Kevin Durant will hold up for the season? He is really good but you have to wonder, how will his skinny frame hold up over the 82-game season? As a catch-and-shoot player ( i.e. Reggie Miller) he would be OK. But let’s be real, he wasn’t drafted to be a catch-and-shoot player.

You just answered your own question. If you remember Reggie Miller early in his career, he drove the lane consistently and gave up his body and played 18 years. The offensive players in today’s game are protected and because of it Durant will be fine. He is an extremely committed young man and will get stronger and better as the season goes along.

I’ve been following the Bobcats since their inception. They appear to have done things the right way – building through the draft. They seem to have many talented players, but it can be hard to tell because so many players are young and many others have been injured. How does a team like this reach the next level? How does management or a coach decide what players are the nucleus of the team, and which ones are not (I remember Charles Barkley saying once that every NBA player is good enough to play). The next two years seem crucial to the Bobcats. What needs to happen for them to be successful?

Hopefully, Michael Jordan is allowing everyone to have a hand on decisions, which I am sure he is this time around. Luck plays a lot with getting to the next level. Assembling a team is extremely difficult because mixture can either enhance or destroy. If you look back at history, great teams have started with either the center position or the point guard position. Well, the Bobcats have neither. Yes, they can improve and win. But if they are to get out of the Eastern Conference it will have to be with the formula I just described. Emeka Okafor is not the answer at center and Raymond Felton is a stretch at the point position. Bottom line, the Bobcats need to find a way to convince some big time free agents to get on board in the next few years or they will just be termed a team that competes but comes up short.

Did you listen to some specific kind of music or song before you had to play a game?

I did not have a set order of doing things before a game. I just went with the flow. I never listened to music once I got in the locker room. That is another pet peeve of mind with today’s player. They isolate themselves from the people they are going to battle with. When I played, we talked to one another before games and not just about basketball. We would talk world issues and debate at times as well. That’s really the only part I miss about the game when I played – the fun we had in the locker room. For instance, when I played with the Charlotte Hornets in 1993, we had a fashion show before each game. Players would actually wait for you to walk in the locker room so they could dissect what you were wearing. Alonzo Mourning, Larry Johnson, Muggsy Bogues and Johnny Newman wore a different outfit for 82 games. I often wondered why Muggsy Bogues had his suits tailored when he was only 5-5 and could have bought his wardrobe at Target. They would hang up the worse outfit of the night and debate about it before our team meeting before the game. I have never laughed so hard in my life. I got to know all of those players that year because they did not isolate themselves and that was special.

I was just wondering what your thoughts are on the upcoming season for the Suns. Do you think DJ Strawberry and Alando along with Grant Hill will be enough to make up for losing Kurt Thomas and Junior or do they really need another quality big man to come off the bench before they can make it to the Finals? Also, Amare shot 66 percent from three-point land with Team USA. Are you going to give him some shooting pointers so he can become a deadly threat from anywhere on the court?

The question for the Suns this year and probably for the next three years with Steve Nash around is if they can get over the emotional hurdle the San Antonio Spurs present. That’s it! There are no other teams in the conference that can beat the Suns in a seven-game series (sorry, Maverick fans). The lost of Kurt Thomas and James Jones will hurt a lot if the Suns can’t find decent replacements. PJ Brown would be a welcome addition, but I believe he should jump in the fold now instead of during the season which is being tossed around. The hardest thing to do is come to a running team and try and catch up. Go ask Jalen Rose. If they do not get another big man, then Boris Diaw will have to play huge – which I personally believe he will this season. This will allow Amare to stay out of foul trouble and continue to dominate the paint for the Suns all season long. And yes, when the time comes he might be the second or third best three-point shooter on the roster. His mechanics are excellent.

Grant Hill will have the best season he has had since his years in Detroit. The pressure to perform and lead will not be there and so his relaxed role will pay major dividends on and off the court for the Suns this season.