if this has been posted please lock up. i didn't see it anywhere though. Link Teams need more than talent to win title By Kenny Smith, Yahoo! Sports 3 hours, 18 minutes ago None of the West's powers a perfect team Mar 3, 2008 I was fortunate to play on two NBA championship teams, but I’ve also played for teams that had no possible shot at winning a title. So it’s easy for me to see when a team has that “it” factor. It’s even easier to know when a team doesn’t have it. What do you have to do to become an NBA champion? There are a lot of teams vying for the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy, but only one can have it and this season has the most parity I’ve seen in my years of following basketball. There are telltale signs that show whether a team is ready for the trophy. If you go through this checklist, you can see if your favorite team is ready to win it all or go fishing early. 1. Style of play: A team should have a defined style. Are they a halfcourt team or a fastbreak team? Are they defensive oriented? A team needs a defined style, so when things aren’t going well the players can return to the system’s set principles. 2. A quality point guard and an inside presence: Having an inside-out game is what gets you easy baskets. 3. A superstar: Not a really good player. You need a superstar, a potential Hall of Fame player. Someone who can take over a game. 4. A beast: This doesn’t necessarily have to be your most talented player, though it usually is. You want a player who doesn’t panic when things go bad. A player that takes the big shot or makes the key defensive play. Someone with enough experience to steady the team when the pressure rises. 5. A great bench: You need guys who can come in the game and change the momentum. And if you don’t have anyone who’s even close to being Sixth Man of the Year, you better be wary. 6. Adversity: There is a point in every championship season when the team vows to play harder, smarter and, most importantly, play together. That usually results from adversity and it happens in a variety of ways: an upsetting loss, a players-only meeting, a trade or an injury to a key player. 7. A magic moment: This often follows adversity. Pulling out an important victory when you’re about to lose. A shot that goes in from halfcourt. A record-breaking winning streak. 8. Chemistry: There doesn’t have to be a love fest going on in the locker room, but championship teams need to have players who respect each other and their coach. A team that respects itself is a team that grows. So go down this checklist with an objective eye. You’ll soon know which teams have a chance to be champs and which don’t. Don't we have all these? I think he should clarify what he means by inside presence. Bc imo Deke is one but I'm sure he's talkin about an offensive presence. But still 7 out of the 8 things on his checklist to me would be a contender.
If we still had Yao then we would complete this checklist. Kenny Smith has said countless times in the past that if we still had yao we would be a title contender.
The Pistons are kinda an exception...I don't think there are many teams around the league that had five "really good" players at the scale Detroit had with the two Wallaces, Billups, Rip and Prince. Besides, Kamla says Big Ben is a lock for HOF The only problem I see for the Rockets is #2...quality point guard. Yes, Rafer has been beasting and I respect the hell out of him...just that objectivily speaking, almost every WC contender has a better point...so dunno where Rafer would stand on that checklist. (Deron/CP3/JKidd/Nash/BDavis/Parker...and I'd put Rafer around even with DFish and better then AC...Denver really does need a PG :/)
That is the first thing I thought. They are the blueprint on how to win in the postseason without a single major star.
Kenny Smith is really getting on my nerves. Why does anyone assume that he knows anything? It's Kenny Smith! Why is he a basketball expert?
#2 doesn't apply to the 1994 Rockets because Sam was still a rookie and Kenny was NOT a quality point guard. He was lambasted regularly on AM radion in Houston for his shortcomings. 1995 was a little different, but 1994- he was definitely the weak link.
I'd have to agree with this list. There are exceptions to the list, but I think it's a pretty good rubric. If we had Yao, we'd have to be considered a major favorite. We're winning now, but a consistent/dominant inside presence will be sorely missed in a 7-gamer. I still think we'll make at least the second round and hopefully third too.
Quick! Who here thinks the Mavs will win the Championship? Well this guy does apparently: article link Isn't that the that silliest thing you've ever heard in your life? Another typical bandwagon writer who knows nothing about sports really. Another of those who just thinks Tmac "chokes" during the playoffs just because he hasn't ever gotten past the first round. Yet, Dirk was man-handled by Tmac three years ago and choked again last year. I wonder if he remembers that.
Yeah, Luc Longley, Old Redbeard, John Salley, and Will Perdue absolutely dominated back in the 90s. By the way johnstarks, how's the twisted testicle doing these days?
Hey, no doubt, the bulls didn't have the dominant low post presence. They didn't need it, they had Jordan (the best player of all time), Pippen (top 50 all time) and Rodman (the best rebounder of all time). Like I said, there are exceptions, but I think it's a pretty good guide. Doesn't mean we can't win it either, but having Yao down low would be great whenever the offense bogs down like it did in Atlanta and Charlotte. The testicle is all sorted out now, thanks for asking, Mooch.
How come no one is ever concerned with how my testicles are doing? Hmm? They're fantastic by the way.
It's obvious that this guy didn't even watch the New Orleans-Detroit game. New Orleans jumped out to a big lead to start that game. Plus they were missing David West,and Chris Paul was hobbled, helloooooo? How can we take seriously anything he says after that? This guy fails.
I think making a "check list" like Kenny did when one of your main points was just disproved less than 4 years ago shows the caliber of analysis we are getting from a guy who was below average at every aspect of the game except for shooting. And it isn't even like he was a very cerebral player who was limited by a lack of athleticism. The guy was a very, very good athlete but flat out sucked at everything except for shooting 3s and wearing a toupee. I still have nightmares about him getting raped by Derek Harper for 7 games.
Welcome to Kenny Smith's School of Stating the Bloody Obvious! If you ask any person with half a decent basketball brain to compile a list of qualities a championship team ought to have, they would come up with pretty much the same stuff! What is so special about his list?!?! For a sports analyst, Kenny Smith is one hell of a basketball player.
