[轉錄][新聞] The 10 best teams of the decade neve …
※ [本文轉錄自 NBA 看板]
作者: rainingdayz (小雨) 看板: NBA
標題: [新聞] The 10 best teams of the decade never to win a champions
時間: Tue Aug 25 00:43:17 2009
http://tinyurl.com/mn734o (內有悲情圖片)
Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:00 am EDT
By Kelly Dwyer
OK, we know that the first decade of the 21st century doesn't really end
until 2011. We think. But we also know that there have been ten full NBA
seasons played since the phrase "Y2K" was on all of our lips (1999-00), and
here at Ball Don't Lie we've decided to use this as an offseason excuse to
rank some of the best and not-so-brightest of the ten campaigns in question.
The result? Why, top ten lists!
Also-rans get also-rung for many reasons. Players could fall short, coaches
could come up lame, the refs could play a part, the matchups could play a
role, and injuries could come up at the worst time. Or, our own overstating
of one team's brilliance could lead them to believe the hype, and disbelieve
in the idea of boxing out.
Here are a list of the ten best teams to fall short of a ring, with no
franchise being listed twice (to give everyone a chance), since the 1999-00
season.
10. Miami Heat, 2004-05
Shaquille O'Neal(notes) got most of the credit at the time, but the years
have taught us that it was Dwyane Wade's(notes) ascendency that allowed the
Heat to win 59 games in O'Neal's first year in a Miami. Coached by Stan Van
Gundy, with Wade in his second year, the Heat were equally stout on defense
(6th in defensive efficiency) and offense (5th), while receiving solid
spacing and help D from guys like Damon Jones(notes), Eddie Jones(notes),
Christian Laettner, and Udonis Haslem(notes).
Alas, with Wade (and to a lesser extent, O'Neal) injured for Game 7 of the
Eastern Conference finals, the Pistons topped the Heat in Miami. President
Pat Riley then proceeded to dump that set of role players in favor of a crew
including Antoine Walker(notes), Jason Williams(notes), and James
Posey(notes). Somehow (read: Wade, that's how) it worked, and the Heat won
its ring in 2006.
9. Detroit Pistons, 2005-06
With Flip Saunders turning what was a 17th-ranked offense into a 4th-ranked
offense while sustaining the defense (dropped from 3rd under Larry Brown to
5th with Saunders), the Pistons were bandied about as a possible 70-win team
until a March and April swoon saw what was once a 47-9 outfit finish 17-9.
Whether these Pistons tuned Saunders out is up for discussion, but the
desultory end to the regular season was topped off by two sleepwalking turns
against the Bucks and Cavaliers in the first two rounds (even losing by 20 to
an underwhelming Milwaukee team), before the Heat downed the Pistons in six
games (with three of Miami's wins coming by double-digits, no small feat
considering the snail-like pace) in the Conference finals.
Also considered: Detroit Pistons, 2004-05; Detroit Pistons 2007-08.
8. Phoenix Suns, 2004-05
It's hard to overstate what this season's Phoenix Suns meant to several
generations of NBA fans. Not only did they run with abandon and play a
freewheeling offense led by free agent signee Steve Nash(notes), but they
were also the lead dog in a new era of pro basketball that was defined by
increased hand-checking regulation (making it easier for guards to do their
thing), and a slight (but needed) uptick in the running game. This year's
model dashed out to 62 wins while scoring 110 per contest, alongside an
underrated defense (17th in defensive efficiency).
The playoffs seemed to bring more of the same until Joe Johnson(notes) went
down with a broken face, essentially, in Game 2 of the Western Conference
semifinals. Jim Jackson was an adequate replacement, but the Suns weren't at
full strength while down a cog, and it showed. Phoenix wasn't exactly
outclassed against the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference finals — they won
once and lost by only seven, three, 10, and six points — but the Spurs did
well to keep Phoenix at forearm's length.
Also considered: Phoenix Suns, 2006-07
7. Minnesota Timberwolves, 2003-04
Kevin Garnett's(notes) lone MVP season saw him at his absolute peak, and for
just about the only time in his NBA career, he was paired with a player worth
Garnett's time. It wasn't a Big Three, Latrell Sprewell was pretty average in
his second-to-last season, but Sam Cassell's(notes) 20-point seven-assist
season paired nicely with Garnett's ridiculous all-court combination of
league-best defense and 24 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and 3.7
combined steals and blocks.
It may have won a championship, too, had Cassell not come up lame in the
postseason with a bum hamstring. With their All-Star out, Darrick
Martin(notes), Fred Hoiberg, and even Kevin Garnett had to bring the ball
past half court for the Wolves, who lost in the Conference finals to the
Lakers. The season also saw one of the great Game 7 performances of all time,
as Garnett notched 32 points, 21 rebounds, five blocks, four steals, two
assists and two turnovers in the second round against Sacramento, ridiculous
numbers for such a low scoring (83-80) game.
6. Los Angeles Lakers, 2003-04
This could have been an all-time team, one of the greats, had everything come
together. Nothing came together, though. Nothing came close. Everything fell
apart, badly, but not before the Lakers made it all the way to the NBA
Finals, as favorites, before losing to the Detroit Pistons. Los Angeles
signed Gary Payton(notes) and Karl Malone to cheap-o contracts before the
season started, hoping to fill positions that had been skunked by Tim
Duncan(notes) and Tony Parker(notes) the season before, but those esteemed
transactions were more than mitigated by the news of Kobe Bryant's(notes)
legal troubles in Colorado during the summer of 2003.
Bryant's troubles marred the season, as he grew increasingly insular, and, to
his coaching staff and teammates, erratic and selfish on the court. Payton
never learned the offense, Shaquille O'Neal was never in shape, and Karl
Malone (the lone good soldier on this squad) had to deal with two devastating
freak knee injuries in December (with the Lakers rolling along at 20 and 5)
and in June (with Los Angeles about to make the Finals).
Also considered: Los Angeles Lakers, 2007-08
5. Dallas Mavericks, 2006-07
They were the favorite, the 67-win team, but these Mavericks are the go-to
gold standard regarding just why point differential is more important than
won/loss records when determining the greatness of a team, and why matchups
will always rule in the NBA. This doesn't mean these Mavs were chopped liver,
far from it. Led by Dirk Nowitzki's(notes) MVP turn, the Mavs were an angry
team that was smarting from a 2006 Finals defeat to the Miami Heat.
They weren't exactly seething out of the gate, as Dallas lost its first four
contests, but the Mavs teed off on the league from there (a 67-11 record to
finish the year, yikes), and seemed to be the overwhelming favorite for
everyone that hadn't noticed San Antonio's 8.4-point differential that season
(nearly a whole point better than Dallas). Dallas' 1-6 record against Golden
State over the previous two seasons was also ignored, as the Warriors went on
to top Dallas in a six-game opening round loss.
Also considered: Dallas Mavericks, 2005-06; Dallas Mavericks, 2002-03; Dallas
Mavericks, 2004-05.
4. Portland Trail Blazers, 1999-00
A notorious also-ran that managed to lose a trip to the Finals (and probably
title) not with an injury or ref-addled series of bum calls but with a
miserable meltdown in the fourth quarter of a Game 7 that handed the Los
Angeles Lakers a comeback win and rendered a promising team absolutely
frazzled for three seasons following. Worse, with a big win on February 29th
of that season (Portland was 45-11 entering the game, they finished the
season 14-12), the Lakers sent the Blazers reeling twice in one season.
Things started out promising. A late offseason trade netted the Trail Blazers
Scottie Pippen for all sorts of what were thought to be superfluous parts,
after a summer that saw the team acquire Steve Smith and Detlef Schrempf in
order to round out an already-fearsome and deep roster. Coach Mike Dunleavy
was never able to foster a group that was greater than the sum of its parts,
and the team had no fallback option once the jumpers stopped falling in Game
7. And one of the "superfluous parts" listed above, Laker guard Brian Shaw,
ended up contributing a huge three-pointer in Los Angeles' Game 7 comeback.
3. San Antonio Spurs, 2003-04
People forget just how great this Spurs team was, lost in the haze between
its 2003 return to glory (a championship won with newish additions Manu
Ginobili(notes) and Tony Parker), and the two ring bearers that followed in
2005 and 2007. Of course, the team also harkened back to an outfit that
looked downright scared in losses to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2001 and
2002 playoffs.
It was the Lakers that downed this team in the Conference semifinals in 2004,
as well, completely ripping the heart out of the Spurs after Derek
Fisher(notes) nailed a nearly-impossible jumper with .4 seconds left in a
pivotal fifth game of the Conference semifinals. The Spurs had a chance to
even the series in Game 6, but they were more or less toast by then. The
Lakers, as it was in 2001 and 2002, went on to the Finals.
Also considered: San Antonio Spurs, 2005-06; San Antonio Spurs, 2001-02; San
Antonio Spurs, 2000-01.
2. Sacramento Kings, 2001-02
This team deserved a championship so much that Ralph Nader thought he'd lend
a hand in helping them out. The Kings were absolutely jobbed by the referees
in a Game 6 loss to the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, a series of
calls so bad that Nader thought he'd do a little work on Sacramento's behalf.
Honesty compels me to mention the fact that the Lakers were also jobbed a bit
in Game 5 of that series in Sacramento, and that the Kings did have a Game 7
at home in their favor to make things right.
They blew that one, though, even as it went to overtime. It tends to mar an
otherwise sublime season that saw seven Kings average double-figure points
per game (with two, Chris Webber(notes) and Peja Stojakovic(notes), averaging
well over 20 per), alongside the sixth-best defense in the NBA. But, you
know, maybe if Vlade hadn't of flopped so damn much ...
Also considered: Sacramento Kings, 2002-03, Sacramento Kings 2003-04.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers, 2008-09
I sort of like this also-ran, because it speaks to how we've grown as a
sport-regarding culture over the years. These Cleveland Cavaliers ran up
66-wins, an almost-Bulls-like 8.9-point differential (way better than any
team listed above), and had the greatest player in the game (LeBron
James(notes)) at their disposal. And yet, when the team lost to the Orlando
Magic in the Eastern Conference finals last spring, people seemed ready to
smartly admit that the Cavs, for all their horses, just didn't have the
horses to run with the Magic.
Nobody was labeled a choker, nobody was fired, and though the team traded for
one big (hopeful) problem-solver in the offseason in Shaquille O'Neal, nobody
seemed to overreact and make deals for the sake of making deals. Knowing that
the team will have the best player in the game, at only age 24, around for at
least the next season helps too; but you have to love the lack of
hand-wringing. Still, the meek ending doesn't hide the fact that this was an
otherwise dominant team that won 74 of its first 90 games before falling to
the Magic in six.
Honorable mention: Orlando Magic 2008-09; Indiana Pacers, 2003-04; Indiana
Pacers 1999-00; Philadelphia 76ers, 2000-01
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