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Most talented team not to win the title

Discussion in 'NBA Dish' started by Shakee, May 23, 2013.

  1. Shakee

    Shakee Member

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    Who was the most talented team to not win a NBA championship? There are many reasons why it didn't happen. Injury, bad calls in the playoffs and breaking the team up too soon.

    A few rosters come to mind:

    09 Rockets: Yao, Mcgrady, Brooks, Artest, Landry, Scola, Battier, Deke, Skip..
    Injuries crippled the Mac-Yao era but this was the only year they actually had the talent to get over the hump. 2nd round. 7games with the eventual champs without Yao and Mcgrady

    96 Lakers: 4 all-stars Shaq, Kobe, Eddie Jones, Van Exel. I guess they just needed Phil Jackson

    04 Pacers: Stephen Jackson, Miller, J. O'neal, Artest. See Malace in the Palace

    00 Blazers: Pippen, Sabonis, Smith, Stoudamire, Sheed, Bonzi, J. O'Neal. JailBlazers

    07 Warriors: Baron, Monta Ellis, S. Jackson, J. Rich. The GM broke that team up right after the upset over Dallas

    94 Warriors: Sprewell, Webber, Mullins, Hardaway (inj) Chemistry issues

    00 Knicks: Houston, Sprewell, Larry Johnson, Camby, Ewing. Old?
     
  2. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    02 Kings Webber, Bibby, Peja, Divac + the bench , Refs
     
  3. Asian Sensation

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    97 Rockets duh.
     
  4. TexasStake

    TexasStake Member

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    I forget what year it was but I would throw in a different Rockets squad. I would say it was the year we had Yao, Tmac, Stromile Swift, David Wesley, Jon Barry, David Anderson, Rafer Alston, Chuck Hayes, Jo Howard, Deke...

    I say this because the best team in the league that year was the San Antonio Spurs and the 4 games we played them 3 of them were double digit wins for us and the 1 time they beat us they stole it from us at end of the game. I felt like THAT WAS GOING TO BE THE YEAR.

    Sure enough the one team we CAN'T beat due to matchups was the Utah Jazz and that's the reason why we didn't win it that year. Having Yao IN the game matched up with Okur was a liability. They were already a solid scrappy defensive team. They knew how to get fouls drawed on our big men to get them out of the game.
     
  5. Niaperzly

    Niaperzly Member

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    I don't think I'd call them the best team that never won a title, but Grantland had a very good article on the 80s Rockets titled The Greatest Team That Never Was.
     
  6. DonatasFanboy

    DonatasFanboy Member

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    2005 Suns.
    Nash/Joe Johnson/Shawn Marion/Amare. 1st year together. If they keep Johnson and Amare stays healthy, I think they win a title.

    By the way, I don't think '07 Warriors had anywhere close to championship level talent.
     
  7. Shakee

    Shakee Member

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    Yeah I can see your point about the 07 Warriors. Maybe I confused Young and Exciting with a Young and upcoming team.
     
  8. MrJason

    MrJason Member

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    This.

    Adelman was a genius.

    Refs completely screwed them and Tom Donaghy even admitted it in his book that they were told to.
     
  9. thedude077

    thedude077 Member

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    2009 Rockets.
    Come on now, Yao was at his best, Mutombo was still playing decent, T mac could still be T mac(if he stayed healthy) and they had the best supporting cast. No doubt this team would have won that year if the team would of stayed healthy.
     
  10. Firebomb525

    Firebomb525 Member

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    1995 Jazz
    1995 Suns
    1995 Spurs
    1995 Magic
     
    6 people like this.
  11. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    :grin:

    /thread
     
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  12. Ziggy

    Ziggy QUEEN ANON

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    I'm old, losing my memory, but the Malone/Payton Lakers could have won that series. I blame Phil Jackson for that one. There were a ton of great teams in the 90's when the Bulls and Rockets were winning. That one Pacers team that took Chicago to 7 - they were interesting too. Better than the Billups Pistons.
     
  13. DieHard Rocket

    DieHard Rocket Contributing Member

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    '02 Kings is up there for sure, probably the #1 in my lifetime.

    '97 Pacers that took the Bulls to 7 - Reggie, Davis brothers, Smits, Rose, Mullin.

    '04 Pacers with Artest and Jermaine at their peak and Reggie was great too.

    '08 Rockets def had a shot with healhty stars but we didn't even have Tracy going into the playoffs so I can't count that.
     
  14. BE4RD

    BE4RD Member

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    Considering the '00 Blazers and '02 Kings got legitimately screwed out of sure-fire titles by a refereeing scandal, I'd say they both belong in the conversation.

    Hard to really think of many other teams considering the West's domination of the East pretty much since Jordan retired.

    The mid-2000s Pacers might have had a legit chance if not for the M@tP. The 1989-1991 Blazers also deserve a mention. So do the mid-90s Knicks.
     
  15. dharocks

    dharocks Contributing Member

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    Um. The Sonics?

    EDIT: From 92-98, Seattle's W/L record was 357-135 (.725). During that same period the Bulls were 362-130 (.736).
     
    #15 dharocks, May 23, 2013
    Last edited: May 23, 2013
    1 person likes this.
  16. KingLeoric

    KingLeoric Member

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    2013 Lakers :rolleyes:
     
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  17. Patience

    Patience Contributing Member

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    Gotta agree with this. Those Sonics teams were killer in the regular season. They took the Suns to 7 games in the Western Conference Finals in 93, and west to the Finals in 96 (with two epic first round chokes in between :). I love my championship era Rockets (and with all due respect to Tinman), but I am not sure the Rockets win those titles without Seattle choking in the playoffs. The Sonics were a tough, tough team that really had our number.
     
  18. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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    +1 for the D'Antoni led Suns with Nash, Amare, Johnson, and Marion.
     
  19. TEXNIFICENT

    TEXNIFICENT Member

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    1977 Sixers?
     
  20. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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    I like to also vote for the '94 Knicks
     

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