SwishAndDish13 wrote:Welpee wrote:SwishAndDish13 wrote:Leadership isn't what's holding this team back. It is the lack of at least 3 all-stars and about 4 other starters/reserves that are above average. Without that it's currently not possible to compete. If you have that then some leadership is nice to have but probably not required.
Totally disagree. This squad was built similar to the old Mavs, one superstar and a bunch of talented complimentary pieces. I'm not asking for this team to be in the NBA finals, but they have more than enough talent to be a playoff team with home court advantage in the first round. Lack of talent is NOT the problem with this team.
I'm not sure how you can totally disagree since your example was a franchise build over 10+ years in an NBA landscape that was totally different than it is now. They old Mavs had an established system in place with great roster balance, a great Coach and the right pieces. They also did not have vast yr on yr roster turnover, new coaches, GMs, etc. It also helps that the league was vastly different even that short a time ago. The old Mavs team also caught fire. Theye were over 50% from 3 shooting a lot of them for multiple rounds. They caught lightning in a bottle. It was fun to watch. Talent is a problem with this team. Rose is a shell of his former self, Melo is in the Twilight of his career, and KP has a ways to go. The rest of the talent is middling or below average. The teams competing (only a handful) have established all Stars as their 2nd best player. This is what is required in the current landscape. It's not an opinion. It is a fact. It will remain a fact baring a miracle Rockets run. There hasn't even beeneed a team remotely constructed like the one you suggested to make a push in at least 5 years.
The point is there's not one finite formula to win a ring or to compete for one. You need x-number of all-stars to win...until somebody wins without having x-number of all-stars.
Besides, I'm only talking about making the playoffs and hopefully having the home court advantage in the first round. We need to take that step first before even thinking about championships. Who is the established all-star second best player in Utah? Houston? OKC? Heck Boston has the 3rd best record in the east and their "established all-star 2nd best player" is the very ordinary Al Horford. Regarding KP, he has a ways to go to be a franchise player, but he's at the cusp of being an all-star right now. And twilight Melo is still an all-star caliber player/talent. I stand by my statement that this team has enough talent to compete and be solidly in the mix for a playoff spot. Whether we have the right system, coach, GM, management, training staff, owner, etc. is highly debatable.
