Teamwork wins Championships

One thing I love about basketball is the importance of team play. When a team is playing together, it's a thing of beauty. Even if one team has the best player, a team with less talented, but team oriented players, can win.

In 2004, the Los Angeles Lakers were set to face the Detroit Pistons for the NBA Championship. This finals match up was considered a classic David vs Goliath battle where the Los Angeles Lakers were heavily favored to win it all over the Detroit Pistons.

The Lakers had the likes of 3-time NBA champions in Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal along with newly acquired All Stars in Gary Payton and Karl Malone (congrats to the Mail Man for his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2010). These guys were household names when it came to talking about basketball. Each in conversations to be the best player in their position of all time.

The Detroit Pistons had a much less glorified group of players. Chauncey Billups had played for 4 different teams with minimal success before coming to the Pistons in the '02-'03 season. Rip Hamilton was known more for his college days in UConn rather than his pro days with the Washington Wizards, before joining the Pistons. Tayshaun Prince was barely a sophomore and not much was known about his abilities as a player because of his limited play during his rookie year. Ben Wallace had some credentials as he was a 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, but apart from that accolade, he didn't have much playoff success with the Pistons. The most notable of the Detroit Pistons was Rasheed Wallace for his success on the Portland Trailblazers and he had not even joined the team until after the All-Star break in 2004.

It wasn't easy for the Pistons to get to the Finals either. They had to play amazingly in order to get there.

Everyone remembers "The Block," by Tayshaun Prince on Reggie Miller. It was with this kind of hard effort and defense that brought the Pistons to the Finals.

Kobe Bryant averaged 25.1 pts, 5.3 reb, 5.8 asts and 1.9 stl in his first 3 play off games that led the Lakers to the 2004 NBA Finals. Shaq averaged 20.0 pts, 13.9 reb, 2.8 ast, and 3.4 blk. These are the kind of numbers that win you championships in the NBA. For the Pistons, only Rip Hamilton was averaging over 20 pts per game, averaging 21.5 pts during the playoffs. The next leading scorer for the Pistons was Chauncey Billups who was only averaging 15.2 pts during the playoffs.

Not only were the Pistons outmatched in star power, but they were outmatched offensively. Defensively is where the Pistons had the edge. Although the Pistons seemed to look like a team of second-rate misfits, as a team, they defended very well. For the regular season, the Pistons held teams to 84.3 points per game, being the top defensive team in the NBA for the 2003-2004 season.

These Finals were a straight battle of offense and defense. In the end, defense prevailed. Although Shaq and Kobe continued to score, the Pistons held the Lakers to just 81.8 points per game in the Finals. No one else on the Lakers team averaged more than 10 points except Shaq and Kobe. Kobe was held to 38.1% shooting and the rest of the Lakers were held to just 33.9% shooting. Kobe and Shaq took a combined 197 shots and the rest of the Lakers took a combined 183 shots. On the other hand, the Pistons had 5 players average in double figures. Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton both averaged 20+ points for the Pistons during the Finals.

The difference between both teams was that one team actually played like one. Instead of focusing on the inability of the Lakers to share the ball and get team mates involved, I praise the Pistons teamwork and unselfish attitude. Their strict discipline on defense led to their opportunities on offense. Internally, there was no conflict of who deserved the ball. Everyone knew their part and did their job.

If you're ever looking for a team to model after, I suggest the defensively minded, team oriented 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons. They displayed the definition of team unity as they took apart the talented, yet individually focused Los Angeles Lakers (it only took the Pistons 5 games as they won 4-1). Just ask Kobe how it went...

If LeBron wins, nothing else matters.

Ever since LeBron joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, there's been a lot of talk about how LeBron was taking the easy way out to winning a championship. People said he would never be considered the greatest because he wouldn't have been able to "do it on his own." It didn't help his cause when Jordan recently said, "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry (Bird), called up Magic (Johnson) and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' " But how valid is this statement in LeBron's case?

Now don't get me wrong. There are a lot of things LeBron said and did that made him look like an egotistical jerk (i.e. "The Decision," leaving Cleveland hanging out to dry, etc.). LeBron should have done the mature thing and let Cleveland ownership/management/coaching staff/players know that he was planning on leaving instead of making it this unnecessary made-for-TV spectacle.

But back to the topic at hand...I don't understand why LeBron's greatness is automatically challenged because he decides to play with the leagues best. The funny thing about what Jordan said was, even though Jordan never would've called Magic and Bird, Magic and Bird wouldn't have even picked up Jordan's phone call.

Magic and Bird were winning championships before Jordan. No question Jordan was great during their time, but why would Magic and Bird need Jordan? They were already considered great and potential greatest of all time players. I might also add Jordan didn't win his championships until Magic and Bird were done winning theirs.

The argument still in the air though is that LeBron would still be known as the player who couldn't "do it on his own." Now looking back at history, I don't know if there is any player who was able to do it on their own. We think of the Magic-Bird era, and Jordan in the 90's as the players who "won it on their own," but if you ask those guys, there is no doubt in my mind that they would say they wouldn't have been able to win without great team mates.

The Lakers and Celtics in the 80's are essentially what the present Lakers and the new look Heat could potentially be. The Lakers and Celtics had the best players of the league on their respective teams during their time. If you want to see stacked, I'll show you stacked.

The Lakers had the GREATEST point guard of ALL time on their team. They also had arguably the best center of all time in Kareem. Big Game James Worthy is arguably a top 10 small forward of all time. We're talking 3 of the greatest in their positions of ALL time. If you want to get even more specific, during the 80's era, these 3 were also considered the top players in the NBA.

Now let's look at the 80's Celtics. Ever heard of Larry Bird? Yeah, he's the greatest SF of all time. Kevin McHale is a top 10 PF of all time with no doubt. Parish was a great center who averaged double-doubles during his days with the Celtics and was a top 5 center during that time.

Besides having the greatest players ever on their team, the Lakers and Celtics also had GREAT role players. You had Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, and Kurt Rhambis just to mention a few on the Lakers. The Celtics had the likes of Dennis Johnson and Bill Walton. But the point to prove is that these two teams had some of the greatest players in their position of all time. Heck, they had some of the greatest players to EVER play basketball on their teams. That's why they won championships. That's why they are considered dynasties. You need the best to be the best. No doubt Magic and Bird were the faces of the franchise, but they had AMAZING help from their team mates.

So the point is proven that you need superstars and not just a superstar to be considered the greatest. But how about that one guy...Jordan was it? HE did it all on his own right? WRONG. He had a top 10 SF of all time, Scottie Pippen. Jordan also had a ridiculous rebounding machine in Dennis Rodman (on the Bulls 2nd 3-peat), who is an arguable top 10 PF of all time. He is without a doubt one of the greatest rebounders of the game. Jordan also had great team mates in B.J. Armstrong, Horace Grant, Toni Kukoc, Steve Kerr, and Ron Harper. All though Jordan's teams didn't have all the superstar power as the Lakers and Celtics did, he still did have arguably one of the best trios ever to play together when he, Pippen, and Rodman played together, winning 72 games in 1995-1996.

We don't dock Magic, Bird, or Jordan for playing with great players. Than why can we do so to LeBron? On the outside, I would consider this Miami Heat team to be like the great teams of the past. You have the best SF in Lebron James, the 2nd best SG in Wade, and Bosh, who is a top 5 Pf in his own right. Like I said earlier, you need the best to be the best.

Greatness is measured by championships first and foremost. If LeBron wins 5+ championships, than he will definitely be considered one of the greats. But that's the thing...LeBron MUST win to be great. I don't blame him for leaving Cleveland. He spent 7 years (around an estimated half his career) there and he played out of his mind doing all he could. Jordan atleast had Pippen, and LeBron never had his Pippen (sorry, Antawn Jamison is NOT Pippen). Kobe is arguably the 2nd best player to ever play the game, and he just couldn't do it on his own. I'm sure Kobe would have left L.A. had the Lakers not signed Pau Gasol. Kobe needed his Pippen and he found his in Gasol. It's a winning formula.

This season is looking to be a great one. Anyone else excited?