Posted by Bonn1997:
He needs to be in a winning situation. It's a problem of his. He gives up on teams when they're losing. He played with passion his 1st year here and in 2003 in Phoenix when they gave SA the fight of their lives. He could really help put a contending team over the top but he's probably not gonna help our team this year.
I agree with the first part of this post, that Steph quickly turns sour when things head south. But I'm less certain about him helping a contender. From all I've seen of Steph he's at his best when he's the lone soldier trying to save a game. The offensive plan gets turned off, he's alllowed to freelance and do HIS thing. That's when he looks positive and alert. But "contending" teams usually have a strong coach and system already in place, something we've yet to seen Steph work within.
When we first got Steph I toyed with the hypothetical of him playing with Patrick in his prime, and how effective they might have been in a two man game. Even when I started to turn against Steph i thought well he could surely win with guys like duncan and Shaq, as even lesser talents like Fisher and Avery Johnson could.
But honestly, now, I don't even sustain those beliefs. Avery and Fisher are considered class acts of the NBA. Avery is already coaching and fisher may well get a shot if he wants to go that route down the road. But Marbury is so far from coaching stock it's not funny. He's no more likely to be a coach than Derrick Coleman. And his inability to:
work within a system
feed the post
lead a break
manage the clock or late game situations
and endure the mental challenges...
I just really have my doubts about what level this guy can win on.
I
know you can stick him on a bad team and hand him the keys and he'll give you a jump start and give you good stats, so it's not about that. It's about what kind of system within he can fit as a tweener, but also sustain himself mentally and generate wins.
12/22/2005 1:56 PM
