I'm baaaaack!
After nearly a four month hiatus, during which the Patriots exploded (so much for that prediction), the Red Sox entered a "transitional" phase, and the Celtics continue to confuse everyone in the New England area with their inconsistant play, I have returned. And why? Well I'm not sure. But I did have to write a paper for my English class recently, and since I twisted the topic to be sports related, I figured now was the right time. So without further ado, I give you my take on what it takes to make a championship caliber basketball team.
Basketball is a magnificent sport. When played at its highest level, it is beautiful to watch. From elegant passing to high flying slam dunks to graceful post play to swarming defense, basketball can be a spectacular sight to see. Very rarely does a team reach this level of play, but when they do, it spells trouble for the rest of the league (an example of this would be the 1986 Boston Celtics, a team that had superior passing, defense, and scoring ability to everyone else that year). But how does a team reach that basketball nirvana? What pieces must be in place for a team to gel and reach the pinnacle of their abilities as a team? First, you need a star player. Second, you need at least one capable second fiddle. Thirdly, you have to surround those two or three players with role players. If those three criteria are met, you will have yourself a championship-caliber basketball team.
First off, in order to have a championship team, you have to have at least one star player, but no more than two. This is not debatable. Every great team has had at least one go to guy (Michael Jordan of the Bulls of the 90’s and Tim Duncan from the Spurs of the 00’s are two examples) and in some cases, two (Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant of the 2000-04). You need to have a star player because every team needs a player who can lead them on the court by carrying the team on his back when things get rough. Star players change the way the game is played, because they force the opponent to adapt to them and focus on them because if they don’t, he will beat them. A star player on a championship team also must be well rounded. He not only has to be able to score, but be able to stop his opponent from scoring as well. He must also be able to know when to defer to his teammates and make them better. If a superstar is too selfish, the team will go nowhere and will never win it all (*cough* Kobe pre 2009 *cough*).
Secondly, every superhero needs a sidekick. Even Batman had Robin to back him up. In basketball, the superstar of the team can’t do it all by himself (unless the star is LeBron James, who led a team that would have won about twenty games without him to the NBA Finals in 2007). Michael Jordan never would have won without Scottie Pippen and Shaquille O’Neal never would have been able to win three titles with the Lakers without a young Kobe Bryant. Therefore, it is logical to have a talented sidekick or two (preferably two) to help carry the load. This type of player often could be the leading man on his own team, but is the second banana to the star on this team. It’s important that this player knows his role and doesn’t try and undermine the hierarchy of the team, or else there will be an ugly end result both on and off the court. The sidekick (or sidekicks in the ideal case) has to be able to step up if the superstar has an off night. While he or they may not be able to carry a team at a championship level, the team definitely can’t win it all without them.
The third thing you need to do in order to have a transcendent basketball team is to surround the star and his sidekick(s) with solid role players that complement their skills. For example, if your star is an all-world power forward or center (like, say...Tim Duncan), and your sidekick is a gifted perimeter scorer, then it makes sense for you to fill out your starting five with a veteran point guard who can manage the game and make plays when called upon, a good perimeter defender who can give the opposing team’s best outside scorer headaches, and another big man who can rebound and play low post defense. As for the bench role players, it’s important that the team has a deep group with varying talents. The ideal bench usually features a sixth man (a fringe starter who contributes the most minutes of the bench players and can effectively fill in for a short stretch if someone is injured), a good perimeter defender, a lights out shooter, a well-rounded forward or center who can come in and score, rebound, and defend (Leon Powe of the 2008 Celtics was an excellent example of this) and a couple high energy guys who can give your team a spark. When a team has a supporting cast like that, they are very tough to beat.
That is the recipe to building a winning team. You need a superstar player to lead the way, a sidekick or two that will help lighten the load on the star, and role players that fill out the team and complement the more talented players’ abilities. But none of these factors will form a winning team unless they have one specific ingredient: selflessness. No team, no matter how talented they are, can win a championship without sacrificing for the good of the team. Many a team have never lived up to their potential (such as those same Lakers from the beginning of the 2000s; had Kobe and Shaq been able to coexist, they could have won three more titles) because the players couldn’t put the team first. However, if a team follows this guideline, it is guaranteed that they will reach the highest level that they can possibly reach, and at the end of the season they will be crowned a champion.
(Funny, I think I just described the San Antonio Spurs of the 2000's)
