One of the better developments in basketball in the last couple fo years is the return of the value of a great bench. I don't mean the return of having a lot of talent on a bench, that has never gone away, but a renewed recognition of having a deep talented bench full of players who fill, understand, and accept specific roles. Most of the great teams of the past had these kinds of role players...the Lakers and Celtics of the 80's were amazing in this respect, and it culminated, IMO, with Detroit's incredible bench...best i have ever seen. Hakeem won while playing with a bench starting, relatively, but soon gave way to the Bulls lead trend of top-heavy teams; 2 or 3 stars and little else. I agree that the salary cap has made the Deep Bench very difficult, as have the Me First Egos of contemporary player..see the Taril Blazers in this respect...But this year's Mavericks and Kings, among others, are throwback teams with respect to their depth and cohesion, and it's something I hope is a sign of things to come... Question: Who do you think had the best bench ever? Who does now? Ever: I say the Nasty Boys...perfect blend of scorers, defenders, scrappers, rebounders, long guys, short guys...just what comes to my mind when I think Great Bench.. Now: I think the Kings...and I think their depth will tell over the whole season..It has already allowed them to overcome injury problems this year...
I agree. I hate the Lakers theory of have 2 superstars + scrubs + success. It's nice to see different talents in any given game. The emphasis on versatile players definitely contributes to this, especially the new, more athletic big guys like garnett and Dirk. In Dallas and Sac-town, they have lots of interchangeable parts, which makes the becnch more vital. The Rockets' bench with MoT, Yao, Mooch, and Hawk should get some credit for the 6-3 start too.
