5 Teams that Should Have Stayed Together
It's around this time that my withdrawal from NBA basketball has become almost disease-like. I'm constantly checking NBA.com for updates of any kind, always scouring Youtube for clips I haven't seen before and logging into every basketball forum or blog for ANY discourse on NBA basketball. To put it short, I am a basketball junkie (I dare ANYONE to test my b-ball knowledge, by the way). I have a historical perspective of the NBA from a tenure of over 15 years of watching the game, and it's for this reason that I put together this list:
5 Teams That Should Have Stayed Together
Whether through free agency, trades, injury, locker room turmoil, or just plain old stupidity, these promising teams broke up after a year that found them reaping success. These teams should have had a sequel...
5. 2004-2005 Indiana Pacers
We all know the story. We all know about the "hard foul" that set off the craziest NBA fight this decade. But we don't know about the fallout from the fight. We don't know about how after the fight, the once-title contender Pacers scraped together an above-.500 season and limped into the playoffs that year as the 6th seed. The worst part is that they were a year removed from the Eastern Conference Finals and on the verge of beating the Pistons by double digits in the game that set their demise. I shudder to think what that lineup would have done with Stephen Jackson, (a young and good) Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, Reggie Miller and that host of reserves that got more suspensions than the rest of the Pistons combined. It's a damn shame what PR will do to a team.
4. 2006-2008 New York Knicks
I don't care what you say. I don't care who your favorite team was at this point. I don't even care what their record was. This team from 2006 to 2008 was not BAD, by any means. The New York Knicks of this era suffered only from a lack of stability in both management and coaching. Watching that video makes me realize it every time. It was at this point that the world still had faith in Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry averaged 20 ppg (look it up if you don't believe me), Jamal Crawford was a beast, David Lee was the most unsung player in the league, Channing Frye still mattered, Nate Robinson wasn't a one-trick pony, Q-Rich wasn't obese, and Steve Francis still had hop in his step. This team was a UNIT, despite what the media wanted to believe. It was only after Isaiah Thomas' blunders did the framework start to fall apart, and well, you know the rest...
3. 2004-2005 Phoenix Suns
Offensively, this team was made to run. Steve Nash, probably coming off of the best season of his career was surrounded by shooters like Q-Rich (who actually was still athletic at this point), Joe Johnson (still undervalued at that point), Jim Jackson (where is he now?) and Leandro Barbosa. He also had the best glue player of the decade in Shawn Marion, and the young monster Amare Stoudamire. With that team, there was no way they were getting outscored. If you scored 100, they would drop 105. If you wanted to rain threes, they would do it better. The Dallas Mavericks that Nash got signed from originated the run-and-gun, but this Phoenix Suns team perfected it. Sadly though, this team forgot that defense is an integral part of basketball, and that, more than anything caused it's demise, even though they're still trying to make it work out in the desert...
2. 2005-2006 Dallas Mavericks
(The music blows... just put it on mute and throw on the radio)
This team frustrated me more than any team I've ever liked. This was the most balanced Dallas Mavericks team of the decade, still offensively a powerhouse, but FINALLY had the wherewithal to play defense. Devin Harris was turning into the monster that we all know now (sorry, J-Kidd, you shafted the Mavs), Josh Howard was solid, Dirk was brilliant as usual, Jason Terry was like glue in the clutch, and they had two unsung heroes in Keith van Horn and Jerry Stackhouse providing veteran leadership. Even Erick Dampier and Desagana Diop played well enough that year to boost the Mavs to the NBA Finals in 2006. But, in what is now typical Mavericks fashion (yeah, I'll admit it, Devin), they choked, choked again in 2007 (see below) and made the trade that would fuck them over for another 3 years. I don't even want to talk about it anymore...
1. 2007 Golden State Warriors
You saw the series. You saw the way the Mavericks just fell to the most ridiculous offensive attack I've ever laid eyes on. You saw Baron, Monta, Stephen Jackson (his 2nd appearance on this list), Al Harrington, Jason Richardson, Biedrins, Matt Barnes, Pietrus and Azubuike. You saw three pointer, after three-pointer, after dunk, after dunk after dunk. You saw the trade of the century put this team together and carry them into the 2007 NBA Playoffs on the last day of the regular season, after beating the Mavericks easily. You even saw this:
Whatever the case, this team was STACKED. Had it stayed together they would have caused defenses fits. Add to that the fact that they drafted Anthony Randolph in the next draft, and you seriously would have had the scariest team on paper. EVER. Had they stuck together they would have contented for a title, I'm convinced.
5 Teams That Should Have Stayed Together
Whether through free agency, trades, injury, locker room turmoil, or just plain old stupidity, these promising teams broke up after a year that found them reaping success. These teams should have had a sequel...
5. 2004-2005 Indiana Pacers
We all know the story. We all know about the "hard foul" that set off the craziest NBA fight this decade. But we don't know about the fallout from the fight. We don't know about how after the fight, the once-title contender Pacers scraped together an above-.500 season and limped into the playoffs that year as the 6th seed. The worst part is that they were a year removed from the Eastern Conference Finals and on the verge of beating the Pistons by double digits in the game that set their demise. I shudder to think what that lineup would have done with Stephen Jackson, (a young and good) Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Jamaal Tinsley, Reggie Miller and that host of reserves that got more suspensions than the rest of the Pistons combined. It's a damn shame what PR will do to a team.
4. 2006-2008 New York Knicks
I don't care what you say. I don't care who your favorite team was at this point. I don't even care what their record was. This team from 2006 to 2008 was not BAD, by any means. The New York Knicks of this era suffered only from a lack of stability in both management and coaching. Watching that video makes me realize it every time. It was at this point that the world still had faith in Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry averaged 20 ppg (look it up if you don't believe me), Jamal Crawford was a beast, David Lee was the most unsung player in the league, Channing Frye still mattered, Nate Robinson wasn't a one-trick pony, Q-Rich wasn't obese, and Steve Francis still had hop in his step. This team was a UNIT, despite what the media wanted to believe. It was only after Isaiah Thomas' blunders did the framework start to fall apart, and well, you know the rest...
3. 2004-2005 Phoenix Suns
Offensively, this team was made to run. Steve Nash, probably coming off of the best season of his career was surrounded by shooters like Q-Rich (who actually was still athletic at this point), Joe Johnson (still undervalued at that point), Jim Jackson (where is he now?) and Leandro Barbosa. He also had the best glue player of the decade in Shawn Marion, and the young monster Amare Stoudamire. With that team, there was no way they were getting outscored. If you scored 100, they would drop 105. If you wanted to rain threes, they would do it better. The Dallas Mavericks that Nash got signed from originated the run-and-gun, but this Phoenix Suns team perfected it. Sadly though, this team forgot that defense is an integral part of basketball, and that, more than anything caused it's demise, even though they're still trying to make it work out in the desert...
2. 2005-2006 Dallas Mavericks
(The music blows... just put it on mute and throw on the radio)
This team frustrated me more than any team I've ever liked. This was the most balanced Dallas Mavericks team of the decade, still offensively a powerhouse, but FINALLY had the wherewithal to play defense. Devin Harris was turning into the monster that we all know now (sorry, J-Kidd, you shafted the Mavs), Josh Howard was solid, Dirk was brilliant as usual, Jason Terry was like glue in the clutch, and they had two unsung heroes in Keith van Horn and Jerry Stackhouse providing veteran leadership. Even Erick Dampier and Desagana Diop played well enough that year to boost the Mavs to the NBA Finals in 2006. But, in what is now typical Mavericks fashion (yeah, I'll admit it, Devin), they choked, choked again in 2007 (see below) and made the trade that would fuck them over for another 3 years. I don't even want to talk about it anymore...
1. 2007 Golden State Warriors
You saw the series. You saw the way the Mavericks just fell to the most ridiculous offensive attack I've ever laid eyes on. You saw Baron, Monta, Stephen Jackson (his 2nd appearance on this list), Al Harrington, Jason Richardson, Biedrins, Matt Barnes, Pietrus and Azubuike. You saw three pointer, after three-pointer, after dunk, after dunk after dunk. You saw the trade of the century put this team together and carry them into the 2007 NBA Playoffs on the last day of the regular season, after beating the Mavericks easily. You even saw this:
Whatever the case, this team was STACKED. Had it stayed together they would have caused defenses fits. Add to that the fact that they drafted Anthony Randolph in the next draft, and you seriously would have had the scariest team on paper. EVER. Had they stuck together they would have contented for a title, I'm convinced.