Division of labor

[drza44]

In 2007 when I followed Kevin Garnett to the Celtics, there were several reasons why I fully expected a championship right off the bat.  One of those reasons is that Garnett, Pierce and Allen did not all do the same thing.  There was some redundancy with Pierce and Allen, but there were also enough differences (Ray's ability to play off the ball, Pierce's ability to drive and draw fouls) for them to coexist at a high level...and Garnett's game was so unique and diverse that he could be the best player on the floor on a given night without ever even having to encroach on the wings' scoring ground.

That's a completely overlooked aspect of the new "Big 3" craze that's sweeping the NBA.  This isn't fantasy basketball...you don't just add 3 great players and stir for a title.  They actually have to fit.  Kobe, Gasol and Odom (or Bynum) fit, with minimal overlap...they're essentially an inverted form of KG/Pierce/Allen.  But LeBron, Wade and Bosh never did...they're all scorers first, LeBron and Wade score in the same ways, and Bosh isn't good at the other things that a team needs to be elite so if he's not volume-scoring he can't be used maximally.  I was willing to consider that maybe LeBron could adapt his game Magic-style and maybe Bosh would concentrate more on crashing the glass and playing defense, but so far that just doesn't look like it's in them. 

There are rumors that Melo and Chris Paul want to join Amare Stoudemire in New York.  If that happens, let me save you some time...they'll have even bigger issues than Miami, because there just isn't enough division of labor.

Now, let's bring it back to the Celtics.  What I Witnessed last night wasn't a Chosen One...it was the Celtics division of labor working to absolute optimal form.  Consider:

Rondo was THE distributor.  He had 16 assists to only 8 shot attempts and 3 TOs.  He didn't worry about scoring, he only distributed and helped out on defense.

KG was THE defense and interior presence.  He outrebounded the rest of the Celtics starters combined, was standing in Wade's face every time he tried to come off a pick and drive, and just generally closed off the paint.

Allen and Pierce were THE scorers.  Consider, they combined for 60 points on only 39 shot attempts.  The almost outscored the entire Heat starting line-up by themselves (60 to 62).  Now they only combined for 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal between them, but that was irrelevant.  That wasn't their responsibility.  The were asked to score.  They scored.

See, the way this team is structured, Garnett, Rondo, Pierce and Allen could all have their best games of the year on a single night without stepping on each others' toes.  They just about did that last night.  That will NEVER happen in Miami.  The Heat may learn to coexist, and with their talents they will likely be formidable come playoff time.  But with all of the overlap, LeBron and Wade and Bosh will NEVER all have their best games on the same night.  They can't, because their bests require the same space.

But on this team, the division of labor can be almost perfect.  Everyone has their jobs, and they can all do them to perfection without overlap.  It makes for beautiful basketball.  It makes for Celtics basketball. 

[Greenbean]

VERY well put. Couldnt agree with you more. Bad fit so far in Miami.

Great fit for us right off the bat in 07-08. Everyone's roles were defined and each player optimized each role to help the team win.

[Fafnir]

I think it will work just fine with Wade and LeBron, both are very well rounded players it will just take time. They have to decide how to divide the labor amongst them.

drza44, don't you remember how tough it was for Ray his first year here? They ran everything through KG/Pierce and Ray struggled a lot off an on. He had a very good year overall, but many times he got very frustrated by his lack of touches and play calls. He handled it like he does everything else, with class, but it was there.

The real question in my mind is, does Bosh evolve as a player? He has the talent to become a superior help defender, but will he do it?

[drza44]

I think it will work just fine with Wade and LeBron, both are very well rounded players it will just take time. They have to decide how to divide the labor amongst them.

drza44, don't you remember how tough it was for Ray his first year here? They ran everything through KG/Pierce and Ray struggled a lot off an on. He had a very good year overall, but many times he got very frustrated by his lack of touches and play calls. He handled it like he does everything else, with class, but it was there.

The real question in my mind is, does Bosh evolve as a player? He has the talent to become a superior help defender, but will he do it?

I don't know how it read, but my post was less about the Heat than it was about the Celtics.  I was just using the Heat as a foil, to show how amazing what we have going on here is.  Like Rondo said last night, I really don't care so much about the Heat's issues because I can't relate...outside, of course, of always wanting to be aware of what the enemy is up to.

So, that said, you're right in that the Celtics fit wasn't as seamless in '07 as it is right now.  There was definitely more overlap then than now, and more sacrifices/changes to their games have happened over time.  That's all true.  But even then, there was always at least a clear 2-way division of labor and all of the major aspects of the game were covered.  Garnett was the best defensive player in the NBA, and captained the dominant unit for the Cs.  The offensive takss were more overlapped, but in the end all three COULD play without the ball and operate in different spaces.

That's different than Maimi.  Their spheres of influence don't even encompass "dominant defense".  Bosh has the tools to become a better defender than he is, but I don't think he has it in him to become even a second team All Defensive player let alone have that as his main contribution.  And unless LeBron has more Magic in him than he has shown, their spheres of influence offensively overlap too much. 

I was just talking to someone, and they said it numerically.  If LeBron is a 5, Wade is a 5, and Bosh is a 3 they currently are adding up to 7.  Now they may eventually smooth out the edges and figure out how to get closer to 13, but I don't know if they can get all the way there this year.

The current Celtics, on the other hand, if KG is a 4 and Rondo is a 4 and Pierce is a 4 and Rondo is a 4...currently they're adding up to 20.  Because each makes the game easier for the other to some extent, and the sum is greater than the parts.

Miami may develop into a great team.  They likely will be a very tough out come the postseason.  But I don't see their sum adding up to more than their parts anytime soon.  And I don't think that's just new chemistry.  I think fundamentally, the way they play just isn't conducive to that.  Not like Boston.

[BballTim]

I think it will work just fine with Wade and LeBron, both are very well rounded players it will just take time. They have to decide how to divide the labor amongst them.

  Divide the labor how? By taking turns dominating the ball?

  Rondo and Nash are both well rounded players, but you couldn't play them both at the same time and expect them to solve the duplication problem.