Wednesday night, the Knicks played a nationally televised game against the Heat. They got blown out, in large part because of the coach’s stubborn insistence to play starters more minutes than they deserve. But what was interesting to me about the game was the commentary from Jeff Van Gundy.

If you’re a Knicks fan, you know Van Gundy used to be their coach. You probably know that he’s friends with their current coach, too. In Wednesday’s game, Van Gundy did not hesitate to criticize Tom Thibodeau for playing his starters as much as he did when it was clear that it wasn’t working. It was so good to hear that being said out loud by someone with the stature of Van Gundy.

But while that was the part picked up on by the mainstream media, what interested me even more was to hear Van Gundy talk about the Heat. He was very complimentary about their organization and how they found guys who were willing to put the work in to be great.

I tried to find an archived version of the game to get the exact quote but none of my streaming sites had it available for free. Anyway, the gist of what Van Gundy said was that you hear people talk about development but that was overrated as every team had invested heavily into that department. What really mattered was getting guys willing to put in the work. Van Gundy said that every player says he’s willing to work but you need to get the guys who do more than talk about it.

Yeah, yeah – cue the comments about how this is apples and oranges and how there are major differences between baseball and basketball. Let me save you that effort. There are differences between the two sports.

At the same time, there are absolutely ways for MLB players to get better, regardless of which position they play. And that holds true for minor league players, too.

We’re so quick to blame teams for not having better development systems in place. My goal is not to let the teams off the hook here. Rather, the players need to look in the mirror, too. With millions, perhaps tens of millions at stake, players need to be doing more than the bare minimum if they want to succeed.

Maybe the Knicks would be better if Julius Randle didn’t dribble the ball for 20 seconds each time he touches the ball. And maybe baseball players could improve on their weaknesses, too, if they’re willing to put in the work.

8 comments on “Getting guys willing to put in the work

  • JimmyP

    I remember one of our first clashes — not major — was about Mike Baxter.

    Now there’s a guy who put in the work!

    You liked him, said some kind things about him. Maybe even expressed hope that he’d get more of a chance. And I replied that, well, yeah, terrific human being — but he kind of sucks.

    Maybe I said that in a nicer way. Maybe not.

    But to the larger point: sure, of course. We want guys who work hard. It’s not #1 on my list of attributes, however.

    On the Knicks, I don’t know. Tibbs was pretty darn smart last year. Sometimes a coach is not necessary coaching that specific game, short-term, but has got a longer view on things. There’s also a trade deadline in play. It’s so hard to know all the factors that go into these decisions. It’s been a disappointing season for the Knicks.

    I hope that Matt is not “very sick.”

    • Brian Joura

      Ah, Mike Baxter the guy who ran into a wall to preserve Johan’s no-no. I’ll defend him to the end. Anyway, a real nice story on him, with quotes about the Santana game. Turns out he’s working for Vanderbilt as a recruiting coordinator.

      https://www.arcamax.com/sports/baseball/s-2623056-p1

      Who knew that Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock were so important to last year’s success? Getting Derrick Rose back will certainly help. But Thibs has to reel in Randle and not give him 40 minutes a night regardless of how he’s playing.

  • TexasGusCC

    Well, on the Knicks, they just gave Randle a new deal and supposedly he’s on the block. Talk about buyer’s remorse. I think it’s mental with Randle. Something is off this year. He didn’t forget how to play all of a sudden. Does he care as much? He doesn’t care about the fans, giving them a thumbs down. He got paid, screw them.

    I believe in any sport, putting the work pays off. I recall reading about Jerry Rice’s workouts, and no one has ever topped Walter Payton’s off season work, but Emmitt Smith came close.

    I heard that Michael Jordan, some guy that played for North Carolina in the 80’s and in the NBA a few years, was a tireless worker at practice. First one in, last one out. Too, when he took up his hobbies, baseball and golf, he put in lots of work there too. In fact, his baseball coaches felt he was improving – according to The Last Dance – and had he stayed with it would have made the majors. Now, Jordan wasn’t about just making the majors when he’s a perennial MVP somewhere else…

    In baseball, as Mets fans we hear about DeGrom’s focus and work ethic. Too, we know that Wilmer Flores categorically did not put in the time to practice his throwing. He went to Barwis, he worked on the swing, but while established stars like Tony Gwynn, George Brett, Mike Schmidt, and even Mike Piazza are said to still work tirelessly on improving and Gwynn and Schmidt even won Gold Gloves, a marginal player like Flores didn’t see the need. Too, let’s take Yadier Molina, Ozzie Smith, or even Rey Ordonez. All are wizards on defense but couldn’t hit much. They put in the work, became acceptable or even better. They didn’t become Ted Williams, but, they weren’t automatic outs.

    In any course of life, work, effort and focus gets rewarded.

  • Wobbit

    A surefire method for improvement in anything is to identify the worst thing and fix it. Every player has weaknesses. Why wouldn’t a twenty-something guy with a potential for making tens of millions of dollars for the next ten years, not want to make himself the best he can?

    For example:
    JD Davis needs to make a quicker throw across the diamond, lest he become strictly a DH and therefore lose market value.
    30 minutes a day working on this, and he inevitably improves.

    Pete Alonzo needs to stay on his feet more often when fielding ground balls… it takes practice and training to do so (Keith H would help him), but in the end he will play more innings in the field, which he would rather.

    Nimmo can learn to catch the ball in better throwing position, moving toward the infield, and mitigate his lack of arm strength. 12-year-olds can learn this over a few months so why not an accomplished athlete?

    Any player with speed can learn to bunt effectively which could add five to ten hits to his season total…

    Players who stop learning are liabilities. No one arrives at the ML level fully baked.

    • JamesTOB

      Insightful and helpful, thanks.

    • Hobie

      Boy ain’t that the truth.

      Anyone remember when Joe Morgan, Houston Astro 2B had the nickname “clank?” He sure worked that iron glove into flahy leather, didn’t he?

  • JamesTOB

    Brooks Robinson is legendary for his fielding prowess. I remember reading long ago, that he wasn’t always a good fielder, but chose to take lots and lots of ground balls every day. His effort clearly paid off.

  • Name

    Good thing we have 2 certified cheats for the youngsters to look up to.

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