Linball

Which has what to do with you using the Bulls as an example?

If there is any superstar that is willing to fit into a team concept it's Lebron. When he does this he gets shit on for not taking the last shot, even if he's double teamed and makes the smart basketball play.

 

I'm sure the Thunder are trying to trade Durant and Westbrook as we speak. I mean, really, who needs superstars?

 

Is Westbrook a superstar?

I think I qualified the argument enough, and acknowledged the Shaq-Kobe pairing. But I think it takes a special kind of coach to get these fantasy basketball rosters to be as much as the sum of their parts.

I think you win with a superstar in the NBA. But I think that the idea that you can win with two or three superstars and the cast of "Hoosiers" is mostly not true. It's not that simple. That's all.

 

The coaching aspect is a good point. That is what made Phil Jackson great. The ability for stars to buy in.

 

When's the last time a team without a top-5 player won an NBA championship?

I'm sure someone will argue last year's Mavs count, but if Dirk isn't top-5, it's close.

2004 Detroit is the only one in my lifetime, I know that much.

 

I'd say the Mavs won last year without what some would describe as a "superstar." Dirk is as much a superstar as Tim Duncan. They are superstars only in the sense that their play is so good in what they do. They are true superstars to me, someone who's talent for what they do is mind-blowing, and its a talent that helps his team win. The Mavs ran their plays over and over again last year and their repetition was numbing at times but they ran it so well.

I hate the fake superstars; 'Melo, Amare, McGrady, Marbury, Carter. Their skills are mind-blowing but it does/did not translate into helping the team win.

The times I do get to watch the Pacers, I love that they run plays and execute them. I bet you they are one of the best in the league at offensive execution. That makes up somewhat for talent.

 

As for the Knicks killing Linsanity, serves them right and I hope those clowns rooting for Amare and 'Melo love watching their team go down the drain and into the history books with the other "paper" championship teams.

 

Again: You need a superstar. I just don't think that stockpiling them is the panacea that people think it is. I think there are big-time diminishing returns. Remember, when the Smoke Machine was put together, all we heard was that it was a "star league," and it didn't matter that their supporting cast would be cobbled together. We're finding out that it does matter.

 

It is a hell of a lot more complicated than simply starting and playing Lin. As if by playing Lin will cure all the Knicks ills. Look at the Knicks schedule through the "Linsanity".

 

I think most realized that The Knicks of Linball were a
good basketball TEAM that likely would not win a championship.

They also realized that Amare and Anthony were better individual players and hoped that they could bring the Linball team to point where they could win a championship. We found the answer in a short order.

I do think that if it was just Amare it would be fine. Anthony is the killer.