Position, Greatness and how they got there....part 2 of building a championship

  In part 1 of building a championship we took a look at the importance of each position on an NBA team and gave it a hypothetical value.  The breakdown came out like this, (in order of importance) #1 Shooting Guard, #2 Power Forward, #3 Point Guard, #4 Small Forward, #5 Center.  Some simple conclusions were made, the point guard and small forward are almost interchangeable in terms of value and championship teams.  There has not been an NBA champion with a great center since Shaquille O'neal.  The value of a great shooting guard and power forward are unmatched.  These two are an absolute must if you want to win a championship.  Now lets take a look at a break down of each position and some of the players at each position that could be considered franchise changers or corner stones.

• Point Guard-Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, Rajon Rondo, Russel Westbrook, Tony Parker, Damian Lillard, John Wall

          The names on this list are the best of the best, the kind of point guard that you would want to start your franchise with.  There are only a handful of them that are considered "pure" point guards.  This position in the NBA has changed and developed into being a slashing, scoring position.  Almost a substitute for a good to great shooting guard.  There are two names on this list that have won NBA titles and both of those players played more of the "pure point" role, those being Tony Parker and Rajon Rondo.  While your team may need a point guard to grind out games and help your team tab wins, you will need a "pure point" to win you a title.  Now lets look at how these players got to their respective teams.  Eight of these players were drafted by their respective teams, two were acquired in trades.  The two that have the titles were drafted by the teams they won those titles with.  I think we can safely say that if you are looking for a building block, a team stabilizing force at the point guard position your best chance of getting one is going to be in the draft.  These players get drafted a by their teams and teams are reluctant to move them.

  

• Shooting Guard-James Harden, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade

          We look at the short list of names on the list and can see why the shooting guard is the most important position.  Two of the three players on this list have won multiple NBA titles.  When Kobe won his titles, he was arguably the best player in the league.  He was a closer and a great defender.  Dwayne Wade was a tenacious defender, one of the best finishers in transition and had a knack for knocking down big shots.  James Harden is the only name on this list that has not won a title.  While Harden is a great offensive player, he is a terrible defender.  I mean pedestrian at best.  If he wants to join this group of elite talent he will need to improve his defense.  Now how did they get to their respective teams?  Kobe was a draft day trade to the Lakers, Wade was drafted by Miami and Harden was a trade.  While there seems to be many options for acquiring a superstar shooting guard, they are few and far between.  To me, it seems wise if you are building a franchise to compete for multiple titles you may want to do it in the draft.  The odds of these types of players do not come around very often.  So, however you go about getting a shooting guard you must be bold.

• Small Forward-Luol Deng Paul George, Lebron James, Camelo Anthony, Kevin Durant

          This group has more names on this list and to be honest may be stretching a bit with the likes of Deng but the small forwards value is just not as necessary as the shooting guards.  There is only one name on the is list with a title, Lebron James.  He is the best player on the planet.  A transcendent talent.  We have never seen anyone like him and likely never will again.  There are two other names on this list that could be put in the argument for best player behind James.  Kevin Durant and Paul George.  Both of these players have unbelievable talent and length.  George is a great defender and Durant is an underrated defender.  Three of these players were drafted by their respective teams. One was a free agent and the other a trade.  Small Forward while valuable can be found numerous ways and team can actually do with a serviceable "3&D" type small forward.

• Power Forward-LaMarcus Aldridge, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh, Kevin Love, Tim Duncan

          Again the value of the power forward speaks for itself.  Three out of the five players on the list are NBA champions.  The way LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trailblazers are playing early this season could put themselves in a position to make it four of five.  You have to have a big that can play with his back to the basket, can clean up on the boards and is a capable defender.  The one question I have is Kevin Love.  He does kill it on two of the three requirements but his defense is lacking.  For Love and Wolves to take the next step he needs to be a better defender.  Every name on this list, with the exception of Chris Bosh was drafted by their respective teams.  If your team has the chance to secure a star power forward in the draft, it is a must.  You are not going to see teams let these players get away.  You have to have em!

• Center-Dwight Howard, Roy Hibbert, Marc Gasol, Tyson Chandler, Anthony Davis   

          This list is an eclectic one.  Many different types of players.  Back to the basket guys, defenders, fundamentally skilled players, athletes.  The one thing that all of these names have in common is defense.  By the end of the season, I'm guessing all of these players with the exception of  Anthony Davis will have won a Defensive Player of the Year Award.  That is clearly the prerequisite for this position, they have to be able to defend and be a rim protector.  There is only one name on this list with an NBA title, Tyson Chandler.  Funny how much the game has changed in the last 10-15 years.  Teams had to have a big physical presence in the middle and it was the most valuable position to have.  Not any more.....  Three of these players were drafted by their current team.  The other two were free agents.  It shows again that you can get by with a serviceable defender and you can get them in a variety of ways.

  This has been very interesting to go through these names and positions and see how these NBA champions are built.  While this doesn't go in to great detail and is not a sure fire formula for a championship, I think it gives some pretty good insight into what it takes to build that team and get there.  At this point I think I will turn my attention to this summers draft and see who and what players may be able to fill these valuable positions to building an NBA champion!

New line up, same result...Jazz get clobbered in OKC.

  Personal disclosure: as a Jazz fan I can tolerate losses.  I can tolerate blowouts.  What I can't tolerate is a lack of effort across the board, from players and staff.  No one showed up tonight.  This is not acceptable.
  Now that's out of the way, Jazz really struggled tonight.  They looked tired and disinterested.  Let's take a look....

• New starting lineup, Trey Burke, Gordon Hayward, Richard Jefferson, Marvin Williams, Derrick Favors.
• New lineup had major growing pains.  No consistency on offense, guys don't know where to be.
• Early first quarter Richard Jefferson pump fakes Durant, gets landed on by Durant, no call, ball turned over.
• Positive....Jeremy Evans play hard always.  
• Kanter is mentally broken.  Has no confidence.
• Offensive sets, Jazz don't cut hard.  That kills the offense.
• Jazz did not attack the basket at all.
• Jazz got no play in the post or in the paint.
• I like Diante Garrett's effort.  Plays hard and tried to rebound from the guard position.
• Team rebounding is killing this team.  They are just bad.
• Down 17 in the first half....again.
• Gordon missed 2 layups early, stopped being aggressive.
• On offense there was no continuity whatsoever.
• This was interesting, Coach Lowe in the halftime interview, seemed disinterested....not good.
• Gordon Hayward as no leash whatsoever.  He can make mistakes and struggle, stays in the game.  Hard as a teammate to watch that and know that is not the case for you.
• Jazz lack of aggressiveness showed, Ibaka gets first foul of the game with 1 minute left in the 3rd.  Jazz did not challenge the interior of the Thunder.
• Jazz did get decent looks out of offense, just can't make anything.
• I'm ready to trade for Jimmer.  Atleast he can knock down an open shot....
• Maybe Jeremy Evans is a guy that needs to start.  He starts fast may be that spark they need.
• Lastly, this really bothered me.  Kanter went hard and challenged a shot, came down awkwardly, twisted ankle pretty bad.  Gutted it out got down on offense, the Jazz got fouled and he came out of the game.  Not one member of the staff came to check on him.  I bet it took them 2 minutes before they noticed him with his head between his legs, grimacing in pain.  That's not ok.

  I am not an NBA coach, not a college coach, I don't do this professionally but there are a few things off  right now.  The unfortunate thing, Ty is losing the locker room.  That can't happen.  Players will start to turn on each other and the staff.  The players have to take some onus on themselves, to get in the gym, practice where they are lacking.  They have to be the ones that put forth the effort to get better and become great.  Right now I am not sure where they are going to get that fire from.  Always easier said than done, but this is Trey Burke's chance to make this team his.  Make these guys respect him and lead this team.  Its becoming evident that this may not be something that Hayward can do.  He will be a great #2 or second fiddle, but he clearly can not be your "lead dog".  Tough, hard to be this negative....

Lets hope the snow can cool the Thunder tonight!

  Are we sure we are not in Salt Lake City tonight?  Snow covered Oklahoma City and the Utah Jazz take on the Thunder.  Lets hope the snow cools down the Thunder a bit tonight.   Jazz played the Thunder tight on opening night.  They will need the same kind of effort if they want to steal a win.  Granted that first game the Thunder were without their All-star point guard Russel Westbrook who is averaging 24.7 pts and shooting nearly 55% from the field.  Jazz will have their hands full tonight.

Defensively-The Jazz must contain OKC's starters.  The pair of Durant and Westbrook are arguably the most explosive duo in the league.  There is no way to stop them.  They are going to get theirs.  The key is to make "getting theirs" difficult.  With Durant, you can't give him any air space.  Give him any and he will hit the jumper or blow by you.  One thing Durant does not like is physical play.  Mike Harris did a great job of this on opening night.  He got up in Durant and made things difficult.  Russel Westbrook is a much improve shooter, but I still feel like you want to make him a shooter early.  If he gets going then they Jazz will need to go over the top on the screen.  Westbrook also loves to pull up off the pick and roll for a 15ft jumper.  He elevates very high on this shot making it almost impossible to block.  Jazz need to be careful not to pick up a cheap foul or two on this play.  I feel like the key to a Jazz win tonight, is to limit everyone else on the court. Jazz need to make Ibaka uncomfortable and keep him off the boards.  He is also shooting the corner 3 this year.  The Thunder will run Steven Adams, Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb off the bench.  Jackson is really Westbrook 2.0, can be very explosive.  Lamb is in his 2nd year and has been inconsistent at best.  Steven Adams is a rookie and worked out for the Jazz prior to the draft.  Adams is a banger, loves to play inside, likes contact and is not intimidated by anyone.  If the Jazz can limit the effectiveness of the rest of the team, they can give themselves a shot.

Offensively-Not sure if it will happen tonight, but I sense a shake-up in the starting lineup coming shortly.  The Jazz have started slow in every game this season.  The Jazz have trailed at halftime in every game except 3.  You are not going to win many games blowing 24 minutes like that.  If there is a change tonight, I would expect it to be Trey Burke starting at the point.  He has looked good the first two games and the finger does not seem to be bothering him.  If the Jazz start Trey look for pick and roll and more pick and roll!  Trey has great command out of the pick and roll.  The Jazz will need to make a conscious effort to attack the basket, putting pressure on Perkins and Ibaka.  Hayward is still struggling a bit. He had only 2 shots in the first half versus Dallas.  He will need to be more aggressive early, yet pace himself so that he has the legs to finish.  One thing that I think is really effecting the Jazz in the second half, is Richard Jefferson legs.  He struggles shooting the ball in the second half.  This may be due to the heavy amount of minutes he has be playing.  Ty and the staff may need to keep a closer eye on this so they don't completely wear down Jefferson.  The Jazz rotation seems to be cut down the last few games also.  We have not seen Gobert or Clark. Mike Harris is getting very limited minutes and we have not seen Brandon Rush for almost 2 weeks.  I can understand the rookies not playing, but Ty has a tendency to panic if they don't start fast.  He starts making subs that don't seem to work.  Let's see if that can be cleaned up tonight.

  Tonight is the start of a back to back for the Jazz.  This will be a tough one for the Jazz.  I think we really need to watch effectiveness on offense, good defensive rotations and simply put, development.  One thing that has me really concerned so far this season is the team rebounding.  Last game the Jazz were out rebounded by 10.  If the Jazz want to give themselves a shot at winning some games they have to improve in that area specifically.  I have liked the active hands the Jazz have had recently.  They just need to turn these deflections in to turnovers and points on those turnovers.  Let's hope the Jazz come out with a strong effort and continue to work.....GO JAZZ!

http://www.nba.com/gamenotes/jazz.pdf

http://www.nba.com/gamenotes/thunder.pdf