Thursday, May 5, 2011

Death of A Dynasty?





One of the knocks on the NBA from the pro basketball haters (of which there are many, just check out the most popular post here at the time of this writing) is that the same teams win the championship every year. As much as i like to argue in favor of America's 5th favorite sport (that's right, behind NASCAR) this one has validity. A 3 year old could tell you the Purple, Green, or silver and black teams have a good shot as long as they weren't color blind. Just take a look at this past decade: 8 titles for the Lakers and Spurs, and one each for the Celtics, Pistons and Heat. Well, the majority of those teams (Lakers, Spurs and Celtics) might want to make room for the new "same old teams" as they become just old.

The Spurs have already been exposed by a younger, athletic team, barely winning two postseason games after a great regular season, the Celtics are on the verge of losing to the hated, more explosive Heat (even if they're in a much better situation than the other two teams), and after last night's ugly fest at Staples, the Lakers are (to put it politely), in deep shit. They are the two time defending champs, so you have to give them the benefit of the doubt, and believe they'll some how make a series of this, even if they're going to be playing in front of thousands of rabid cowboys over the weekend. They've proven they're an excellent road team in the playoffs and the core of the team has been through some near disasters before, but it is definitely looking bleak for a 4th 3 peat for Phil Jackson.

Most people figured the Lakers would come out with a renewed sense of urgency and determination after New York Metsing the first game away, but last night saw more of the same. Nowitzki hit impossible shots all night, Pau Gasol looked lost against Tyson Chandler, and a 4 foot Puerto Rican ran all over the staples center like a cockroach in a kitchen. The only sign of life from the Lakers came when Artest nearly took the roach's face off in the final seconds (he better hope that doesn't mean a suspension). As many people have pointed out recently, including Steve Kerr during last night's broadcast, this is a Lakers squad that has been to 3 straight finals and is gunning for their 4th, something that hasn't been done since the Bird Celtics. Even the most mentally and physically tough team would struggle to keep the level of intensity needed to do that. The way the Lakers have sleep walked through the season, you kinda had to see this coming, though. Kobe's will and determination is usually seen as his best attribute, and the personality of a team's best player tends to rub off on the rest of the team. But Kobe and Phil have also perfected the arrogant, what me worry?, every team is beneath us attitude, which can be an asset at keeping teams calm under pressure but it may have come back to bite them here. They can get by with the hubris act against the depleted Hornets, but Dallas is an actual NBA playoff team.

There's still hope in L.A., 3 teams have come back to win series after losing their first two games at home, most recently the Hakeem Rockets in 95 (who went on to win it all after half-assing an entire season) but they were more an exception to the rule. It's near impossible to win a series after blowing your first two games at home. Lakers fans could take solace in the fact that their opponent is notorious for choking away playoff series, but this may be the end of the line for the Kobe-Phil Lakers as Jackson is serious about retiring this year. The NBA's Old guard has lost one of the three big teams thus far this playoffs, and the other two seem ready to fall. At least no one can say you know who's going to win it all this year.

24 comments:

  1. Although I don't have the stats to back it up, I don't think the "same teams always win" argument applies more to basketball than other sports.

    Baseball: Yankees win 25% of all championships, and some teams clearly have NO SHOT without a salary cap.

    Football: Steelers, Cowboys, Green Bay, Patriots (especially last 10 years).

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  2. A lot of people make the argument though, since the Lakers and Spurs win almost every year, and before that Chicago and Boston. The Yankees won a lot in the 90s but in the past 10 years there's been like 7 different champions.

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  3. Basketball teams tend to win in clusters, but overall I don't think the same teams winning is any different in other sports.

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  4. Plus, 9 different teams have won the Super Bowl since 2000. I don't necessarily agree that it's bad for basketball, but there's an argument there. A better one than the other arguments about the NBA.

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  5. With the revenue sharing in baseball, you see a lot of different teams winning.

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  6. The Yankees have won a quarter of the championships over the last 100 years. No other sport can match that; although, no other sports have been around as long.

    Baseball is clearly the worst. Half the league has no shot.

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  7. Based on that photo, I'm expecting "Kobe and Lamar: Adventures in Forbidden Love" to premiere this fall on the E! network.

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  8. That's another thing, Lamar needs to stop making tv shows and concentrate on winning...Half the league has no shot? The Yankees pay for most of those teams to field good teams.

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  9. The more recent history shows baseball is far more balanced competitively. Since 1980, like twenty-one teams have won the World Series, and eleven different teams have won since the strike in 1994. I think taken a longer view is somewhat unfair when discussing the current conditions in the league.

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  10. 1994 being significant because of the strike.

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  11. I'm with Blacky on this one. Baseball is much more balanced.

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  12. In MLB the teams on the bottom have no chance of competing. At least in the NBA if you are terrible you can win the lottery and be competitive within the next few years, which does happen all the time.

    Without a salary cap the league cannot be balanced.

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  13. yes, the system in place in the NBA should ensure that, but the fact of the matter is the same teams win all the time.

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  14. It's not a flaw in the system, just something that's a fact.

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  15. Since 1995, 13 of the 15 World Series winners have been teams with top ten salaries. The only exceptions were the 2005 White Sox (13th in salary) and the 2002 Angels (15th in salary).
    No team from the bottom half has won.

    You could take 10-15 teams out of baseball and it wouldn't matter.

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  16. At least they play hard for championships in the NBA and don't buy them like in baseball.

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  17. still, since 1992, only 7 teams have won the NBA title. That's pretty crazy. You might be right that in the other sports, the rich usually win, but that's more than twice as many teams winning in baseball in 3 less years (and the Yankees account for 5 of those).

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  18. And I am probably the biggest NBA fan in the world, just stating a fact.

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  19. actually make that since 1990. So in 21 years, 7 teams have won an NBA championship.

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  20. What's wrong with the same teams winning, as long as they are doing it fairly? I have no problem with it.

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  21. Go back even further, 8 teams have won since 1980. I'm not saying it's a terrible thing, but it's a truth. 8 teams in our entire life times.

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  22. Don't the lakers and the Celtics spend more despite the salary cap through exceptions and loop holes?

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  23. The Knicks had the highest pay roll for years and it didn't help them so it's all in how you spend it.

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  24. I would argue that the diversity in champions in football and baseball is a function of the greater number of positions played, players playing at any given time, and players on the teams. Basically, we see more diversity in the champions because it's more difficult to field a championship team every year.

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