NBA Starless Wonders: Teams Without A Superstar
Denver is one of the teams without a superstar, yet still manages to find success. (Photo by Keith Allison/Flickr.com)
In the NBA, it’s unheard of for a one-man team reliant on a single superstar to succeed. Conversely, it’s just as rare for a team to succeed without a superstar they can always count on.
Yet in 2012-13, we have witnessed several teams make noise without that elusive superstar.
Here are four starless wonders that have come up big using a team ethos:
Memphis Grizzlies
When salary-cap casualty Rudy Gay was shipped off to the Toronto Raptors, I must admit I thought the Grizzlies would simply crumble.
However they continued to win and set new franchise mark with 56 wins, thanks in many parts to the dominant duo of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, although Mike Conley and the rest of the team played a huge role too.
The “other” Gasol was named the 2012-13 NBA Defensive Player of the Year as he anchored the second-best defense in the league and Tony Allen hounded players on the perimeter.
Offensively, Marc and Z-Bo make for a great 1-2 punch because Gasol is a terrific and willing passer while both of them are great finishers and very physical inside.
Gay’s departure meant a vacancy opened up as the third scoring option–Conley has taken his opportunity.
Before Gay was traded, Conley averaged 13 points, 5.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds. After the trade, the speedy guard averaged 16 points, 6.5 assists, and 3.2 rebounds. Conley had five double-doubles, twice as many as the previous period.
Coach Lionel Hollins has done an outstanding job developing this team and he’ll need to continue pushing his players to improve. The most obvious issue is the lack of outside shooting (dead last in 3-point attempts) in order to take advantage of his dominant bigs.
Chicago Bulls
When Derrick Rose tore his ACL in last year’s playoffs, Chicago held its breath and prayed for the return its beloved son.
Joakim Noah is the emotional leader of the Chicago Bulls. (Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com)
That didn’t happen in 2012-13 and it was up to coach Tom Thibodeau and Co. to find a way to make the most of what seemed like a doomed season.
Nonetheless, the Bulls battled to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Hell, after winning Game 1 against the defending champions, it wasn’t completely ridiculous anymore to think that the undermanned Bulls could actually win the series.
For Chicago, without their offensive heart and soul, the game was won with defensive and toughness.
As usual in the Tom Thibodeau era, Chicago ranked among the best defensive units in NBA, allowing a third-best 92.9 points a game. That was not only due to exceptional coaching, but also great defensive personnel such as Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich who did not back down from any challenges.
However, offensively, Chicago struggled mightily as they were tied for the worst offense with just 93.2 points a contest.
With that said, players stepped up more often than not.
Joakim Noah, known more for his defensive prowess rather than his offense played as much point center as much as any big man in the NBA. With sweet dimes right on the money in traffic, he looked more like Steve Nash than the original did.
Nate Robinson became Chicago’s Energizer bunny, coming off the bench to provide a spark and instant offense.
The 5’9” point guard attacked all who stood in front of him without a second thought and Krypto-Nate came up with some truly ludicrous shots. They didn’t always end up in the bottom of the hoop, but he epitomized what the Bulls are about–fearless and tough.
Luol Deng was a workhorse, leading the league in average minutes played with 38.7 a game. However Jimmy Butler did show great growth and potential as he played well all season and filled in nicely against LeBron James in game one of the of series versus Miami after Deng couldn’t suit up.
Butler played all 48 minutes, guarding King James all game and offensively he held his own, scoring 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Denver Nuggets
After cleaning out the closet and getting rid of several key players over the years, namely Nene Hilario, Kenyon Martin, Chauncey Billups and superstar Carmelo Anthony, one would have thought it would only end badly for the Colorado team.
Turns out the front office knew exactly what it was doing.
Nene is no longer the player he once was as he’s struggling to take the Washington Wizards out of the gutter. Billups is struggling to stay healthy. Martin is now a bench player and Anthony still can’t find much playoff success.
Denver, on the other hand, managed to claim the third spot in the meat grinder that is the Western Conference with a NBA franchise-record 57 wins in 2012-13.
They took full advantage of the Rocky Mountain air by running their way to the best home record in the league at 38-3. In addition to this, the Nuggets also had the highest scoring offense in the NBA.
Determined to get the most out of the trade for Anthony, Denver squeezed New York for a large chunk of their key players. They claimed Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and a few draft picks. They also got $3 million cash along with Raymond Felton, who was later shipped off to get Andre Miller.
Denver has utilized all available avenues to gather their current crop of talent; trades, free agency and they even struck gold in the NBA Draft.
Most notable was the selection of Kenneth Faried with the 22nd pick in the 2011 NBA Draft and the “Manimal” has thrived in George Karl’s fast-paced offense. Another example is 18th-overall pick Ty Lawson during the 2009 Draft.
Under the tutelage of the savvy veteran Miller, Lawson has become a very good point guard and in my opinion, is one of the most underrated players out there.
Andre Iguodala is still a very good player and an extremely difficult defender to get by. Besides, if you get past him, Javale McGee will probably be there to literally scoop the ball out of the sky.
And with decades upon decades of coaching experience at hand, you can guarantee George Karl knows a thing or two about basketball. He is the 2013 NBA Coach of the Year, after all. However, more than his X’s and O’s, it’s been his strength and character that have been his biggest weapons.
Karl is a true fighter in every sense of the word and he’ll accept nothing less than 100 percent from his players, a point illustrated by the 45 rebounds a game (tied for econd in NBA) his team grabbed in the regular season despite not necessarily being the biggest or strongest team.
Granted they got bounced in first round of the playoffs and they would’ve had higher aspirations, but the absence of Gallinari was a major factor. And even so, the only way is up for this young team.
Indiana Pacers
When Danny Granger (the team’s best player for the several seasons) went down, as a Pacers’ fan, you wouldn’t have been blamed for being skeptical about Indiana’s chances of success in the 2012-13 season. Particularly when you consider how big Granger was in getting the team to the second round of last year’s playoffs.
Hibbert controls the paint as well as anyone in the NBA. Photo Credit: IsoSports, Flickr.com
However, Indiana has battled Miami to a winner-take-all Game 7 against a Heat team that looks lost for answers in the Eastern Conference Finals, all thanks to the stellar team play on both ends of the court and standout performances from Paul George and Roy Hibbert.
George grew right before our very eyes during the regular season to become the NBA’s Most Improved Player.
Defensively, he is a nightmare with a huge 6’9” (possibly 6’10”) frame and is an athletic freak so he can stay in front of players. Offensively, he has become more assertive with the absence of Granger at his natural 3 spot.
He can dunk on people or hit the outside shot with great consistency and is also a capable ball handler.
Hibbert on the other hand finished 10th in voting for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, but has dominated the reigning NBA champions, who simply have no answer for the 7’2” giant.
George Hill and Lance Stephenson have developed into good two-way players, although the latter can be sporadic on the offensive end.
However, it’s always comforting to have a presence like David West who slotted nicely into the leadership role, while still producing and bringing toughness, as has Tyler Hansborough coming off the bench–he’s nicknamed “Psycho T” for a reason you know.
It would be naïve and simply unfair of me to not even credit coach Frank Vogel. The man has arguably been the centerpiece of it all, developing the No. 1 defense in the Association.
Also, remember when he labeled Miami as “just another team”? Well, it’s that kind of belief that drives the whole team dynamic; he believes his players can win and win now. Sure, he’s no Phil Jackson, but he’s done a pretty good job, outcoaching Erik Spoelstra thus far and forcing him to ditch his effective small lineup in the conference finals.
The front office has to be credited too for assembling together such a strong team.
Talk about a complete team effort.