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Should two great players be sufficient to win an NBA championship?

The Lakers, Celtics, and arguably the Spurs all had more than two.

Utah's best chance would be to supply the third superstar by committee (and maybe the second, too).

That's why it's so crucial for the role players to get development time, especially at the 5 spot and the backup 1.

10 to 15 minutes of second-string PG per game can make a difference between a win and a loss.
 
cowhide said:
I believe he was drafted 13th and Stockton was 16th.
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Well, you're probably right then. Either way, there's always hope. But I don't really see "hope" as the thing turns a relatively low-rated prospect into an all-time great NBA player anyway.
 
Hopper said:
Many of the Sloan-bashers around these here parts insist that it should. This guy takes a look at some of the great "duos" that didn't, such as Jerry West/Elgin Baylor ("Both Baylor and West averaged at least 30 points per game in 1961-62. Baylor put up a remarkable 38.3 ppg that year") and Oscar Robertson/Jerry Lucas ("Robertson usually averaged around 30 points and 10 assists, while Lucas added about 20 points and 20 rebounds per game").

LINK
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Still got that ole Jer mancrush eh Ain't? Jerry Sloan = God, the one who does no wrong.

Only your article kills your entire point: number one on the list is Stockton and Malone. The biggest one-two failure of all time in regards to winning a championship:

"1. John Stockton and Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)

Stockton and Malone made the playoffs in each of their 18 seasons together. They led the Jazz to back-to back NBA Finals appearances in the '90s and could've won a title or two if Michael Jordan hadn't gotten in the way.

Stockton is the league's all-time assists leader, and Malone is second all-time in scoring behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

This Hall of Fame duo is always considered one of the NBA's greatest even though they never won a championship together."

LOL. Thanks Jerry. Adam Keefe salutes you.
 
Rimcheck said:
The biggest thing is that one of the two stars be at least 6'10" and be a dominant big. The other star needs to be a scoring 2. Solid role players are a given. But if you look at the NBA champs in recent years they all have a dominant big and scoring 2.
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That's a good point.
One thing I have been thinking about is how in the last 2 decades we have rarely, if ever, had a team winning a championship that had a great PG-PF duo like the Jazz had. In fact Isiah Thomas maybe the last example of a dominant PG winning a championship. Almost all other teams had a dominant big and a scoring wing. Shaq-Kobe, Duncan-Ginobli(Parker was'nt that dominant although he was good and before him they had Avery Johnson), Shaq-Wade(more of a 2 than 1), Gasol-Kobe, Garnett-Pierce/Allen, MJ-Pip, Olajuwon/3-pt shooters and so on..PG was'nt the best position on those teams.

And especially so in these last few years, a scoring wing seems vital in addition to a great big man. We neither have this great big man nor do we have the stud wing. Our wings are all essentially backup material. We can even get Favors, but it would'nt make a difference, until we fix one of the wings. Part of the reason why Celtics have had some success in the postseason despite their age is because the Kobes and Lebrons have to guard BOTH their wings-Allen and Pierce. That takes away some from their offensive game.Against the Jazz though, Kobe can always stay fresh on offense because he doesnt have to guard anybody.He also has Artest to take care of the difficult defensive assignment anyways.

Jazz really need 2 bigtime replacements. One at 4/5 and another at 2/3. Unless they have both, it will be a first round or second round exit for the next 2 years. Deron, one good 4 or 5 and a bunch of roleplayers at the 2 and 3 wont cut it.
 
vj_74 said:
In fact Isiah Thomas maybe the last example of a dominant PG winning a championship... Garnett-Pierce/Allen, ..PG was'nt the best position on those teams.
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Kevin Garnett was quoted at length sayin that without Rondo they were nuthin. He gave Rondo the major credit for making the team go.

Granted, the Celts weren't quite world champs, this year.

Every position is important, but in many ways the point guard position may well be the most important. Obviously, if you have all-stars at virtually every position, that beats the hell out of just having an all-star point guard or center. I see no reason why you should have no chance of winning a championship, as some have claimed, just because your best player happens to be your point guard (as Magic Johnson arguably was on some great Laker teams).

Your "best player," whoever he is and whatever position he plays, is never going to win you a championship all by himself anyway.
 
I've always felt the Jazz biggest flaw was bad timing. They peaked (the two finals years) later than you would've thought given the age of the team. Granted, I thought we should've been able to beat Chicago the second time, and that long layoff after we disposed of the Lakers didn't help us like many thought it would given our age...in fact, I think it disrupted our rhythm. The first finals team really pushed the Bulls hard..given the respective circumstances, I thought we were better in that series than the second one.

The '99 team started out gangbusters and definitely got worn out by the condensed schedule and often times the back-to-back-to-back games, while the Spurs started slow and then got white hot and overtook us for that 1 seed via tiebreaker. Once we lost that I knew we wouldn't get out of the west, and that was the beginning of the Spurs dominant stretch over us (and Portland too for awhile).

Other than that, as many will agree, '95 was really the biggest missed opportunity. Sure the Rockets beat everyone else too and in dramatic fashion also against PHX but I felt we choked in that series as opposed to them really being better than us (they were the yr prior). Had we beaten them I liked our chances to get out of the west and beat Orlando in the finals.
 
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