Point Guard Dilemma

[Matt]

How about we blame the NBA for the state that it is today, not the players. The players were simply using a fundamental play (the dunk) which is about 95% guaranteed 2 points and the possibility of a 3rd. Some showed flair for dunking on fastbreaks and then came the Dunk Contest.

As for K Johnson, he was more than a guy who dunked on Olaj.

[air gordon]

good posts by decent, andrew, metsis

i agree you can put some blame on the media & the system

GM's/owners are at the mercy of star players: the star players make at least 5X what the coaches are paid, not counting minus brown, phil, etc...a coaches shelf life is about 3 to 4 years while a max contract for the players are at least 4yrs.

teams could try and bring in tough, disciplinarian types like skiles, doug collings, and hubie brown but the players begin to tune them out after 2yrs.

[Andrew]

Perhaps then the process should begin earlier, in high school and college. Old habits are hard to break after all, so a player that develops a certain attitude or arrogance probably won't ever respond positively to a disciplinarian style of coach in the pros. And unharnessed talent will only get a player so far.

[kinokong]

its just a mixture of giving the player freedom to do his thing while making sure the coach gets nails down the fundamentals to the player. you just have to get the mixture right.