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bigbeast
Posts: 22333
Alba Posts: 1
Joined: 12/21/2005
Member: #1060
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Posted by PresIke:
Posted by misterearl:
Elite - what do you think Isiah tells his players in practice?
Exactly, earl. How do we know what Isiah says to the team in practice, behind closed doors? What is said in public and in practice may not necessarily coincide. My suspicion, and it is a suspicion, is that Isiah tries to support the players in public, as to not embarass them -- as many felt Brown did -- and then PRIVATELY talk to players about their weaknesses.
If anyone here has studied teaching/education psychology (I have) you know most researches suggest that public humiliation does not produce positive effects. If you have a student who behaves badly in class, it is MUCH better to address them privately than to publically humiliate them. Traditionally, public humiliation and use of carcasm has been used on students by teachers. Yet, the research shows that MOST people (especially those who have shown to have problems with authority, or confidence issues) do/have not responded well to this approach, and in fact makes things worse, such as more subordination against the teacher/authority and less likelihood to listen.
Of course, the argument against this is that "Well, we shouldn't have players on a NY team who are 'emotionally weak!!'" But people can learn to get better with this if they feel higher levels of confidence from managers and authority figures. So guys like Curry and Marbury, who seemed to react negatively to the berading by Brown, are now being "coddled" in public by Isiah, but I'd be willing to bet that there is a good chance that he and the coaching staff work on their weaknesses all of the time in practice. Why has Marbury seemed better lately, especially on defense, and accepting being second fiddle? Why has Curry's free throw shooting improved (which we know is often a direct link to player confidence, if they can shoot/have a good stroke) and been much more consistent as a scorer? What about Lee's free throw shooting? Maybe that's just Lee, but maybe the coaches worked with him as well, and maybe he feels more a part of the team than he did last year. Isiah purged almost all of the real malcontents and now the team chemistry is clearly FAR better (as many reports have indicated...most recently Peter Vescey).
Does Isiah get ZERO credit for that? If youy suggest that he does not deserve credit then I'd suggest you take a strong look at what works with coaching/teaching now-a-days versus traditonal methods (especially with today's younger generations), and see the results. Sure, the Knicks still struggle in MANY areas, and some players have seemed to have regressed (Nate & Frye), but I'd say that it's too early to say they have officially regressed since they are only second year players. I've seen players/students come out really well early on, then struggle BIG TIME, and then later improve after some growing pains. This is not to say that this will definitively happen, but I think we lack enough information on the private side of his coaching to use his comments in public as a primary basis for passing jugement on Isiah as a coach. In the end it should be about the performance the team puts on the floor, and how that compares to last year, and what signs of hope or harm we can derive from that performance.
Ike, this is an excellent post. Its what I've been trying to say ( not as eloquent as you say here) about the way Isiah handles the press and handles his players privately. Your points are well made.
[Edited by - bigbeast on 01-30-2007 2:06 PM] "Man, who knows with this team." Aguirre.
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1/30/2007 12:07 PM
