Is the coaching staff to blame?

[WWAMD]

Last night got me thinking....Is the coaching staff to blame?

What is a coaches job? motivate, call plays etc. etc. But most importantly...MOTIVATE. I always believed Crow was crappy at motivating the team. Especially by calling them C*&@suckers.

Anyways I'm just thinking from the top of my head right now. You can add more if you remember or correct me if I'm wrong, but here goes. When family is in attendance, players and the team look amazing. Eg.

Frolov's best game of the year was when his bro came down to watch
Ersberg and Kopi's parents were in attendance last nite and both were stars
Jack Johnsons family was at the Wings game where the Kings finally won the first time at the Joe in so many years
Kopi's parents were also present on some of his better nights as well
Purcell's parents were in attendance with his first NHL goal and he also played well when his parents were in attendance
Armstrong scored a goal when his family and friends came to watch

So how come these players play exceptionally well in the presence of friends and family...and the coach can't seem to get this out of them game in and game out? Are the coaches to blame?

[mikedonnelly]

*yawn*


QUOTE=WWAMD;1114945]Last night got me thinking....Is the coaching staff to blame?

What is a coaches job? motivate, call plays etc. etc. But most importantly...MOTIVATE. I always believed Crow was crappy at motivating the team. Especially by calling them C*&@suckers.

Anyways I'm just thinking from the top of my head right now. You can add more if you remember or correct me if I'm wrong, but here goes. When family is in attendance, players and the team look amazing. Eg.

Frolov's best game of the year was when his bro came down to watch
Ersberg and Kopi's parents were in attendance last nite and both were stars
Jack Johnsons family was at the Wings game where the Kings finally won the first time at the Joe in so many years
Kopi's parents were also present on some of his better nights as well
Purcell's parents were in attendance with his first NHL goal and he also played well when his parents were in attendance
Armstrong scored a goal when his family and friends came to watch

So how come these players play exceptionally well in the presence of friends and family...and the coach can't seem to get this out of them game in and game out? Are the coaches to blame?[/quote]

[quix]

Not defending Crawford here, but if players need their families in attendance to "motivate" them then you're dealing with a much bigger problem than just coaching.

[gokingsgo]

I dunno Sully and Brown have grown leaps and bounds under Crawford, so he has to be doing something right.

[TonySCV]

I need to make a new list...

[WWAMD]

Gonna add Tommy Lasorda to the "inspirational" bunch

[ianmonsta]

while most of your points are valid, Kopis family is at every home game.

[Maverick]

Their job is to motivate yes... But their main job is tactics and conditioning imo. The players are not skating out there to their own beat. They are skating our there under the direction of their coaches. When the Kings play a closed tight box defense in front of the goal against the Ducks, it is because the coaching staff told them too and if not then it is their job to correct it quickly. Their job is primarily to develop a system to win doing whatever is possible.

[FishMonger]

Anybody is a leadership position has 2 jobs, and 2 jobs only: train and motivate.

While reading the original post, I thought immediately of not only how well the team when Tommy was there, but what they said in their interviews. They were motivated, inspired, they were ampted.

If you disagree, yuou obviously never studied any legitimate form of leadership. This has been my probelm with MC for quite a while.

If a coach can't motivate his team, he's useless. Saying that people can always motivate themselves is naive, and it takes something away from the skills of great coaches.

[lithium]

Originally Posted by gokingsgo

I dunno Sully and Brown have grown leaps and bounds under Crawford, so he has to be doing something right.

While these two are growing as players (as well as a few others), a lot of other players are stagnant or taking steps backwards... I think a coach should help to bring the team all together and taking the same steps forward. This may not all be Crow's fault though, I'm just stating an observation...

[KingsCourt26]

Coaches' job is to win games. However they go about it is up to them but winning is a coaches' responsibility. Crawford had this season to play games with the line and let players develop but next season he needs to be monitored to see if he can get the job done in LA. I know a lot of you feel the youngsters have flourished under him but like Sully said, "the individual game is there but the team game isn't". That is something that MC will have to work on if he wants this team to be a success. Having a team of good individuals means nothing if they can't work together and we desperately need some chemistry.

[petey]

Call me crazy, but don't you actually think Kopitar's parents have been to other games seeing as they have lived in L.A. since the beginning of the season? I know, I know.....it is a crazy notion.