Motivation

[KZ3]

The driving force behind almost all human behavior is motivation. When properly motivated, people will gladly do things that they normally are not inclined to do. People will put forth their best effort to attain a goal if the reward is right. The ability to motivate people is what makes a good leader great. Well how does this relate to basketball and the Hawks?

It seems to me that Kruger lacks this ability to properly motivate professional athletes. Whatever he did when he coached college ball no longer works when the players are guaranteed millions of dollars. The best coaches always find ways to motivate their players. Phil Jackson has made it a point to insult Shaq about his shortcomings in public to get him to play at his full potential. I have heard stories about Coach K of Duke who always finds something to hate in the next opponent, whether it be something that one of their players said, or something ridiculously trivial. But he will pound this into his player's heads until all they can think about is how much they hate the next team and how they are going to rip the opposing team to shreds on the basketball court.

Of course it isn't entirely the coach's job to motivate his players to play defense or improve their jumpshot. Players have to find ways to motivate themselves or at least have an on court leader who will set the tone. Players who are entirely self-motivated are not common, but they are the one's who make the difference. Jordan and Barry Bonds are an excellent example of this rare breed. They have reached the top of their games, but are never satisfied, and their hunger to improve is never satiated. This is partly the reason of why they are so successful despite being a dinosaur in terms of athlete's life spans. The Hawks do not have one of those either. It is not that they do not want to win or are not competitive. They just are not motivated enough to give all they have on a consistent basis.

This is also why players like Big Dog can be cancerous to a team effort. Not to single him out, but he is without a doubt the laziest player on the team, yet one of the highest paid. If JT and Reef went out and busted their a** night in and night out but still lost because Big Dog did not put forth the effort, they would soon be discouraged. The consensus opinion would soon become "Well if Big Dog is just going to stand around and poke at the ball every once in a while on defense, why shouldn't I? It's not like I'm gonna be rewarded for my efforts" It is really admirable how a player like Newble can do what he does every night despite making a fraction of what Big Dog does. This is really part of the coach's responsibility to set players like Big Dog straight with bench time or another punishment for lackadaisical play. Of course Kruger does not have that kind of "hard a**" personality, he is too nice.

I guarantee you that the Hawks have the ability to play extremely good defense if motivated properly. This is an extreme example, but if you told each person on that team that they would be killed if they did not hold their opponents under 85 points and under a .400 fg %, I am positive they could do it. Because they have the ability. Once you are on the NBA level, everybody has the ability. But it is up to the coaches and more importantly the players themselves to draw out that ability on a consistent basis.

People on this board blame the Hawk's failures on Kruger's inability to design an effective offense or defense, but I think this is only partly true. He probably is the next on the list of successful college coaches who have failed miserably in the pros. But you don't get to be an NBA coach without knowing a few things about the sport. True, I have often questioned his substitution patterns, which is the one thing that he is entirely responsible for, but I doubt his failures can be blamed on his lack of knowledge of the sport. I think that he simply does not know how to manage the players effectively. It is extremely hard to find ways to motivate multi-millionaires to see things your way when they have no reason to respect you or your opinions, and only a handful of people are capable of doing so. Sadly, I don't think Kruger is in that handful. Kruger will never be the coach that players will say "I can't imagine ever playing under another coach" or "He's like a father to me" about. Then again, Big Dog will never be the general who leads his troops into battle and who leads by example. What to do.....What to do....

[Gray Mule]

So true! So true! Someone must light the fire. It has

gone out.