Note to the whiners in the NBA. Step your game up!

[KG Living Legend]

 I'm so sick of the people whining about the Heat, this is want I want to see. Awesome NBA teams. The 80's celts had three great players, as did the 80's Lakers. The Dumars, Thomas, Pistons were super solid top to bottom.  KG, Pierce, Allen, Rondo. Got it done.

 Now if you look back to the Celts getting Ray and Kevin and winning it all. It made the Lakers find their gift in Gasol, to make them a real team, (before that they were nothing)

 Now with Lebron, Wade, and Bosh together, we are already hearing things like Paul, Amare, and Melo playing together.

 I would much rather have five to seven world class teams, than one Superstar play in every city. There are only a handful of teams to have a shot at the title every year, So why not have those teams be world Class teams. This is what the NBA needs. All time great teams. Like from yesteryears. Not Diluted watered down garbage we have had to watch for years.

 Only teams with a great chance to win next year, Celtics, Lakers, Heat. That's the list now, only three great teams. Anybody else want in???      Then step your game up!!!

[wdleehi]

That fine.


But the league is watered down.  They created a system where only the stars can win. 

So it is great if the local team has the star or stars.  But for the rest of the league, it stinks.



This system and what is happening in Miami is not good for the league.  It takes away more interest in the majority of the league.   


And as for other teams "stepping it up", it means more teams are just going to roll over and hand away stars (like Gasol to the Lakers)


I really want to see changes in how the NBA is slanted.  I want to see them go back to team over star instead of star over team.  The NBA might have marketed Bird and Magic as stars, but it was the teams back then that won. 



I am not going to whine that Miami has Wade, Lebron and Bosh.  Miami created the room and found a way to convince them.


But this is not good for the NBA.

[vinnie]

This is a sure recipe for killing the league.

[Mike-Dub]

From everything I've heard from players, none of them have been backing down, and all of them have been saying that they aren't afraid of the Heat and of course they're going to say that too though, they'd look like sissy's if they didn't. 

[KG Living Legend]

 This is killing the league. Really??? The nba has never had this much Pub in the off season ever. And Stern wants to take this team to Europe and Prob. China eventually.
 
 And about Bird and Magic's teams. They both had three Great hall of fame type players on each team.

[wdleehi]

 This is killing the league. Really??? The nba has never had this much Pub in the off season ever. And Stern wants to take this team to Europe and Prob. China eventually.
 
 And about Bird and Magic's teams. They both had three Great hall of fame type players on each team.

Yes.


And there were deep teams in Philly and Houston.  The Bulls had Jordon on the way.  The Piston Bad Boys.  Portland was a deep team.

Teams had to win because of team because it was not as watered down as it is today.

[Mike-Dub]

 This is killing the league. Really??? The nba has never had this much Pub in the off season ever. And Stern wants to take this team to Europe and Prob. China eventually.
 
 And about Bird and Magic's teams. They both had three Great hall of fame type players on each team.

Yes.


And there were deep teams in Philly and Houston.  The Bulls had Jordon on the way.  The Piston Bad Boys.  Portland was a deep team.

Teams had to win because of team because it was not as watered down as it is today.

Wdleehi you couldn't be more right on this!  The NBA is way to focused on the name on the superstars and the name on the back than the name on the front.  The name on the front comes first and last!

[Thruthelookingglass]

 This is killing the league. Really??? The nba has never had this much Pub in the off season ever. And Stern wants to take this team to Europe and Prob. China eventually.
 
 And about Bird and Magic's teams. They both had three Great hall of fame type players on each team.

Yes.


And there were deep teams in Philly and Houston.  The Bulls had Jordon on the way.  The Piston Bad Boys.  Portland was a deep team.

Teams had to win because of team because it was not as watered down as it is today.

Even Milwaukee was a dogfight back then.  It was murderer's row in the Eastern Conference.  And it was a hell of a lot more tense and exciting knowing you had to claw your way past a bunch of "pretty close" teams.  Not as fun when it's 4-5 killer teams and a bunch of cannon fodder.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

First of all the stars don't win the chip every year. Pistons in 2003 ring a bell for anyone? Sure they had 4 "all-stars" that year, but that's fan voting garbage/hogwash. They played as a team at both ends and got it done...all without a huge superstar. Note: Rip Hamilton was never a "star" (he was MJ's lil' star in Washington).

Anyways, Championships are won in the paint, and while Lebron/Wade certainly can get to the paint...they can't do it for an entire playoff run.

A championship team does not have Big Z starting at center.

Bosh has constantly said he hates/refuses to play center. As a man who has lived in Toronto his entire life I can tell you first-hand that Bosh has taken his game farther and farther away from the basket each season. Sure he averaged 10+ rpg last season, but those are primarily uncontested defensive rebounds, and his inflated #'s are a by-product of a good player on a poor team.

I've always liked Haslem's game, but he is undersized and won't be able to get it done down the stretch (see: round 1 C's vs. Heat).

So, everyone seems to be concerned about the Mike Miller signing, but until they get a legit Big (ie Shaq) I'm a firm believer that the Heat won't be able to make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. It will be the same old story...they'll do well in the regular season, but come playoff time when it's time to go up against KG (whom Bosh literally fears), Jermaine O'Neal (who's ready to blow off some steam against his old team), and Perkins (big Z just p---ed his pants)...they'll crumble.

They'll sell jerseys, they'll do interviews, they'll delve into the rap game, and they'll sell a heck of a lot of sneakers, but at the end of the day this trio, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF CHRIS BOSH, will go RINGLESS.

[guava_wrench]

 This is killing the league. Really??? The nba has never had this much Pub in the off season ever. And Stern wants to take this team to Europe and Prob. China eventually.
 
 And about Bird and Magic's teams. They both had three Great hall of fame type players on each team.

I was thinking the same thing you wrote in your second paragraph when I read the replies to the original post. This is nothing new.

The only thing new is that the players are making the moves instead of the GMs and Lebron had that dumb program after years of buildup.

Anything people complain about now regarding parity has been true on many occasions during the history of the NBA.

If we go back a few years we see a Western Conference that had ridiculous parity 1 through 8.

[guava_wrench]

First of all the stars don't win the chip every year. Pistons in 2003 ring a bell for anyone? Sure they had 4 "all-stars" that year, but that's fan voting garbage/hogwash. They played as a team at both ends and got it done...all without a huge superstar. Note: Rip Hamilton was never a "star" (he was MJ's lil' star in Washington).

Anyways, Championships are won in the paint, and while Lebron/Wade certainly can get to the paint...they can't do it for an entire playoff run.

A championship team does not have Big Z starting at center.

Bosh has constantly said he hates/refuses to play center. As a man who has lived in Toronto his entire life I can tell you first-hand that Bosh has taken his game farther and farther away from the basket each season. Sure he averaged 10+ rpg last season, but those are primarily uncontested defensive rebounds, and his inflated #'s are a by-product of a good player on a poor team.

I've always liked Haslem's game, but he is undersized and won't be able to get it done down the stretch (see: round 1 C's vs. Heat).

So, everyone seems to be concerned about the Mike Miller signing, but until they get a legit Big (ie Shaq) I'm a firm believer that the Heat won't be able to make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. It will be the same old story...they'll do well in the regular season, but come playoff time when it's time to go up against KG (whom Bosh literally fears), Jermaine O'Neal (who's ready to blow off some steam against his old team), and Perkins (big Z just [peeved] his pants)...they'll crumble.

They'll sell jerseys, they'll do interviews, they'll delve into the rap game, and they'll sell a heck of a lot of sneakers, but at the end of the day this trio, PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF CHRIS BOSH, will go RINGLESS.

I find it odd that after saying "the stars don't win the chip every year", you would then make the generalization "championships are won in the paint".

"A championship team does not have Big Z starting at center."

Have you heard of Luc Longley? You can win with all sorts of centers.

[action781]

First of all the stars don't win the chip every year. Pistons in 2003 ring a bell for anyone? Sure they had 4 "all-stars" that year, but that's fan voting garbage/hogwash. They played as a team at both ends and got it done...all without a huge superstar. Note: Rip Hamilton was never a "star" (he was MJ's lil' star in Washington).

Anyways, Championships are won in the paint, and while Lebron/Wade certainly can get to the paint...they can't do it for an entire playoff run.

A championship team does not have Big Z starting at center.

I find it odd that after saying "the stars don't win the chip every year", you would then make the generalization "championships are won in the paint".

"A championship team does not have Big Z starting at center."

Have you heard of Luc Longley? You can win with all sorts of centers.

Add Fabricio Oberto and Rasho Nesterovic to that list please.

 I would much rather have five to seven world class teams, than one Superstar play in every city. There are only a handful of teams to have a shot at the title every year, So why not have those teams be world Class teams. This is what the NBA needs. All time great teams. Like from yesteryears. Not Diluted watered down garbage we have had to watch for years.

 Only teams with a great chance to win next year, Celtics, Lakers, Heat. That's the list now, only three great teams. Anybody else want in???      Then step your game up!!!

Yes, that would be fantastic having 5-7 world class teams.  But unfortunately, we only have 3 (Miami, LA, Boston), maybe 4 (Orlando).  You say "step your game up", but how?  There just aren't enough elite players to form a good enough team and not every owner wants to just give up their elite players for nothing!  Soon Boston will be out of the mix and hopefully OKC and/or NYK will join.  Then, Orlando will fall out.  LA might make it 2 years past them.  The NBA is heading in a very top-heavy direction.  But its too few teams at the top to make it really enjoyable.