So who on this team actually talks?

[benhillboy]

The entire team doesn't talk enough. Again, the younger guys take their cues from Joe, who is not the guy you want to follow. If you look at the Celtics, you can hear someone different taking control on defense almost every play. They will grill each other if they don't communicate, especially if it leads to a turnover on offense from not alerting a teammate about a potential steal or weak rotation under the hoop on defense.

Yet another reason to part ways with Joe. I have about 70 million.

[TroyMcClure]

Actually you can easily. As a guy who has bought many a mouthpiece - the ones I buy for my son (who is Capt. of the Walton Rugby team) is vented and you can talk through it (plus at any break in the action you take it out)....communication on the field is vital in rugby....maybe not so much in basketball....maybe moreso in practice and timeouts and such.

They had those when I played football, dj. I didn't like them. football talking, or rugby, and basketball are two different things. Actually, I feel communication is vital in basketball. You have to talk about picking people up, telling someone you have their back if they pressure. All kinds of things. It's mainly defensive. You have to be able to talk quickly and audibly on defense.

I think it's kind of a big deal on the court. Benhillboy gets to the point of it. Nobody wore mouthpieces until a few years ago. I think it hurts team defense. I just don't see the real need. People can say what they want, but try wearing a mouthpiece at work for a few hours. See if anyone can understand you. At the very least, you can't communicate as easily. Now imagine having thousands of people making noise. At the highest level of anything, every little bit could make the difference between success and failure.