Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith, Bo Jackson, GALE SAYERS, Barry Sanders, etc, etc, etc. I think any one of them were capable of running a carry better than Walter might have. But Walter’s contribution to the good of the team apart from his carries sets him apart from anyone I’ve ever seen. You always hate to use the word “best”; it always provokes an argument.

anyone else think that Shaq also could be pointed to for maybe 10 titles that weren’t won? Talent, he’s second to nobody. But that Orlando team was easily as loaded as Michael’s teams. Phil mandated a certain amount of good basketball whether Kobe or anyone else liked it or not, and I think that had a little to do with the titles (compare the pre-Phil Lakers roster; it was better). I was no great fan of that team, as I saw all of the non-compliance with the team-first play that the triangle is designed for.
   I’m not advocating a talentless bunch of sound fundamental types. I’m just saying I think Amare falls into the really good category, not quite up there with the great ones, and it’s the chemistry, integrity, character issues that I question. I think that he’s not the basket I want to put all our eggs in. I could be wrong!

But, I for one thought that the Pistons were anything but a no-star team; Billups, Rip, Sheed and Prince play great basketball. And I’ll explain what playing the game right means. It’s the obvious things that everyone knows you should do. Boxing out, being so involved on D that you are truly playing zone and man at the same time (as opposed to one or neither), preparing for your opponent so that you know where he wants to be and beating him to that spot, playing d with your feet, not your hands, looking for the best shot for your team and recognizing that it’s not always you.
   Phoenix HAS Amare. They’re actively trying to get rid of him. Tells me something. They’ve tried to build a team around him, and the owner, mgt, coach and fans apparently are pretty pessimistic and bailing out.

Amazing when you get a peek into their world how much more there is to their game than you might have imagined. Makes you wonder if Kobe knows those things about himself, doesn’t it? The example I think of as underappreciated was Luc Longley. I’d bet anything there was a lot Battier’s game involved in Luc’s play. Not so much trying to stop Ewing; just helping him to take less efficient shots.
   I was around 15 years old when my brother-in-law took me out of my all white element down to Navy Pier to play some “real” basketball. Got eaten alive, but I loved it. He told me to keep my eyes on their bellybuttons; they ain’t going anywhere without it. Sonofabitch, it worked! And it still worked 25 years later when I finally had to quit. And so I just don’t get it when a great NBA player just hasn’t learned that much about defense. It took 10 seconds to teach me how to stay in front of someone a LOT quciker than me; how do these guys get all the way to the NBA and not learn that?

Great article.

Real good. You know, I still get pretty choked up whenever I think about him.

I want a superstar. That word gets thrown around a lot, and very few players deserve it. Probably 2-3 per generation is enough for me. You’ve got Paul, Duncan, maybe KG, Kobe and Lebron. Sure, trade your whole team if you can get a young version of one of them. You have to be able to dominate on both ends of the floor before I’m comfortable with the word superstar.
   But, yeah, one man influences a five man game much more than a 42 man starting lineup, but that works both ways. Hell, the Bears went 1-13 with Sayers and Butkus. They one year had the worst offense in the NFL WITH Walter Payton; how bad were the rest? Get me a 22 year old version of one of the five guys above, and you can have this entire roster. A guy who thinks his work begins and ends with his 25 points doesn’t do it for me.

So grab the best talent available, pair him with Rose, and worry about building from there later.

is that it’s almost guaranteed that if Amare comes, Ben doesn’t get paid, and sayonara BG. So if our scroing at the four goes up from TT’s level to Amare’s, but our scoring from the 2 goes from Ben’s down to Kirk or Thabo’s, how have we gotten better? And then you’re talking about going from Noah to Gray or Noc at the other frontcourt position. Still looks like a team who’s ceiling is under 50 wins and no real playoff threat.
   Could the current group play to that level? I think so. In fact, I’d say if Deng just shows up with his average game we’re already there, and knowing full well that Noah, Tyrus and Rose are pretty much guaranteed to improve dramtically and very soon. So back to my analogy, if I can watch an 8-6 Walter Payton team or an 8-6 Eric Dickerson team, I will enjoy one and hate the other.

this group can be as good the one that’s left after TT-Noah-Gordon-#1 are gone for Amare. IMO, better. Like I said above, Take the roster that’s played the last dozen or so games and make 2 small tweaks: Deng and Vinnie quit losing games, and you’ve got your 50 win baby Bulls back, and I like them already. Do you realize how pumped we’d be right now if not for having Thabo in and Rose out 5 seconds ago? All it took was for the staff to realize what we’ve been screaming for over a year: sit Hughes and Gordon down and run with our lottery picks.

Practice?

Even if he’s more efficient scoring than they are, he takes a lot of the fun out of playing.

Subtract Billups, add AI and you get worse. Subtract AI and add Andre Miller and you get better. I like AI, I just don’t like the tag superstar for him. When he was on the market 2 years ago, very few teams made a run at him. How many do you think would line up if a true superstar was available?