After Corey Maggette scored 20 points including the game-winner in Minnesota last week, Elton Brand had this to say:
I don't make the decisions. I don't know how pressing the situation is, what's going on behind the scenes and if [a trade is] going to happen. But when he plays like that ... work it out.
Work it out indeed.
We all know that Elton is not the super-vocal, rah rah, type of team leader. That's just not his style. But he's the best player on the team, the undisputed cornerstone, the all-star, and it certainly helps that he's also the hardest worker. So one wonders, has Elton walked into MDSr's office, and told him, 'Work it out.' Does MDSr know how Elton feels? Does Elgn Baylor? Wouldn't this be a significant data point for management to have? Do they have to read about it in the papers?
For that matter, where is the 'player's only' meeting? Don't Sam and Elton need to get these guys behind closed doors and scream at them a little? This team is clearly playing way below its potential, and there's certainly no good explanation for it. MDSr was still talking about the Russia trip in January, for FSM's sake. That was October. Forget it. Stop making excuses and work it out.
For all the discussion of the Maggette trade speculation being a distraction, this team actually seems strangely passive about their situation. Corey, who should be the most impacted by his situation, seems to play hard every time he's on the floor. If he can focus on his job through all of this, shouldn't the other guys be able to?
These guys need a player's only meeting. They need to work it out.