We are living in one of the greatest eras for basketball fans. There are a dozen great players that are dominating the NBA today. Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul are just a few. These players are taking the game to new heights, pushing the limits set by those who have come before them. But in general, is the game of basket ball getting better?With a league full of great players, what has happened to the great teams? Lebron James is a great player, but name one other player on the Cavs. Either Lebron gets the ball and shoots a three, drives in for a dunk, or dishes out for a teammate. James is not the only player to do this, almost every team imitates this style of offense.
This one man vs the world style is hurting the game of basketball. Don't believe me, look at the US Olympic teams. Why haven't we won a gold model with all the talent that we have? Its because the team is full of guys who play by themselves. They do not play a team game.
Let's face if people, the age of Stockon and Malone is dead. The Utah Jazz were the symbol of team basketball. I remember watching them growing up, especially both years they were eliminated by the Chicago Bulls. They utilized the pick'n'roll, an art that is now dead. Players still use screens, but only to help players like Lebron get to the basket. There is no team work.
They only team in the last two years to really play team style of basketball is the Phoenix Suns. Well, Iguess one could say the San Antonio Spurs, but they are not nearly as fun to watch. The Suns Helter-Skelter style makes them very entertaining. Viewers never know which player is going to dominate for the night. I think it has a lot to do with the coach, Mike d'Antoni, and Steve Nash realizing that without playing like a team, you cannot win. This is the reason for their recent success, it was not until the management in Phoenix opted for a trade to slow them down and make them like the rest of the league that they began to fade off as contenders.
Unless more coaches come along like Jerry Sloan, Gregg Popovich, and Mike d'Antoni, the league is going down a path of the one man show. It will become more boring and scores will drop. For the sake of basketball, it needs to become a team sport again.
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2 comments:
You are wrong, Jason!
NBA basketball is rebounding significantly from the deplorable status it once sank to in the late '90s and early '00s. This team basketball -- the style you reminisce about as if it were a lost art -- hasn't been this prevalent since the mid 1990s. I'll explain what I mean!
After Michael Jordan returned to the Bulls in 1995, his team was arguably one of the weakest without His Airness and Scottie Pippen. Those two guys were what made the Bulls the Bulls, and then won 3 consecutive championships as a result. That was a team that revolved around two guys, but it had teamwork.
Calling any team that relies on only one or two men as a futile exercise in teamwork just doesn't make any sense.
Boobie Gibson gives the ball to Lebron James because King James is the only player on that team who can do anything with the rock. I can name other players on the Cavs -- Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West. These guys don't play together. It's not a matter of Lebron hogging the ball or everyone but #23 refusing to do anything with it. Instead, it's more of a realization that that team doesn't work well together.
It's interesting that you cite the Malone/Stockton days with the Jazz. Sure they had teamwork, but they never won a championship. Some team dominated by two guys beat them twice -- TWICE -- in the NBA Finals.
And look at the recent Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash runs the point, Amare does his thing, Shaq works up a sweat, etc. And they lose to the Spurs because the Suns don't have the gravitas to get past teams that are bigger and more physical than they are.
You need more than just teamwork to guarantee NBA success. You need chemistry, and that results in GOOD teamwork. The Spurs have good teamwork. The Detroit Pistons have good teamwork. The Hornets, Lakers, and Jazz all have it, too. Any of those teams could get into the NBA Finals and any of them could win it.
Teams like the Cavs won't because they lack chemistry. Teams like the Celtics won't because they simply can't win on the road.
It boils down to everyone on the team pulling his weight. If anything, more teams have started playing more cohesive in the past several years. The NBA is fun to watch again because there are a lot of good teams (mostly in the West), and they utilize good teamwork.
You write very well.
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