Oak was a force.
Lickman said:
There is no leadership, thats for sure...however the missing link isn't T mac, its Charles Oakley. He may have made too many behind the back passes, but this guy knew how to put things in order. If and when he ever becomes a head coach, any prima donnas playing for him better not invest heavily in local real estate.
I agree with lickman. Unfortunately Oak said and did too many silly that the press just ate up. The Raptors need a guy that can speak up at the appropriate times like Oakley did. I'm a big fan of Vince, but Carter isn't vocal enough, except when he's fouled by the opposition and there's a no-call. And when that happens, he's yelling at the refs. Oakley would not have put up with any crap. Love or hate his silly antics, the man could hussle. And when the team was down he'd speak up against anyone. Who was brave enough to argue with him? I don't know if he'd be a great coach, but maybe an assistant coach, who'd give a counterpoint to any of the head coaches descisions.
I do argue the point that they lack leadership. They just don't have the proper type of leadership. The team is full of offensive-minded players that let their actions on offence speak for them; they're a bunch of quiet leaders on offence. Too bad that they're all banged up and fighting nagging injuries so they really can't let their actions speak louder than words. And when they do score, they lack a defensive leader. So any points they score are quickly negated because everyone forgot to play defence. As a result they have lost any confidence in their own skills. And Wilkens' style of coaching, the "let them figure it out on their own", isn't really helping matters. In that T-Wolves game they must have spent half of the 3rd quater without a timeout. A smart coach or even a player (without the coaches consent) could have easily called a time out when they couldn't score on three consecutive possessions. Instead they waited until a TV/referee timeout, and that was too long.
The worst part is not only do they lack vocal leadership and confidence, their own fans have lost confidence. What the hell is with these fans? I understand the opinion "I paid good money, so I'm aloud to boo." But can't you at least wait until the end of the game? If the Raptors lose feel free and boo them off the court! But not during the first quarter with the Raptors down 5 points. It's showing the Raptors and everyone who's watching that Torontonians don't understand the game of basketball. Teams have comeback from 20 point deficits in the 4th quarter, but the Raptor fans think its over once we trail by 5 in the first quarter. I've been to too many games where the fans start booing for no appearent reason (IMO). And I'm not talking about during the losing streak, I mean all season. We can all say we have great fans, but that's just bull$#i+! We have too many ignorant fans sitting in the stands that think they know everything, who ruin it for the average fan from enjoying the games.
This is just my opinion, feel free to disagree.