The 2014-2015 NBA has come to an end. Filled with surprises all the way to the final whistle of Game 6 of the Finals. I have some insight of how this season has become pivotal to the ever-changing NBA environment. It seems like “team” ball developed mostly in the West is overpowering superstar rosters. We all know what these superstar rosters are made of. 2-3 max deal all-NBA type players, surrounded by a cast of one dimensional talents. The obvious examples of recent Big-3 Teams are this year’s Cavs, and last year’s Heat. The alpha male has been Lebron on both rosters. With strong talent in Bosh-Wade and Kyrie-Love duo’s, there wasn’t much after that. Let’s look at the teams that beat them in the past two Finals.
San Antonio had a real system, where each player had a relevant role in defensive and offensive schemes. 1-10 were all ready for big moments. For example the players that averaged the sixth most minutes per game for the Spurs and Heat during the 2014 Finals were Danny Green and Rashard Lewis. Their stat line?
| Mins | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | 3s | FG % | FT% | Tos | |
| Green | 21.2 | 9.2 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 0.531 | 0.750 | 1.2 |
| Lewis | 22.9 | 8.6 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.2 |
Green was the more efficient and valuable player, and was fighting for minutes with players like Ginobli and Patty Mills. To me it seems like the players on the Heat last year, other than the Big 3, were fillers. They were just playing because there was no other option.
This idea was illustrated to a higher degree during the 2015 playoffs. This time there was no Big 3, due to injury, allowing GSW to focus 99% of their effort against The King, and the remaining 1% to “fillers.”
This year’s catchphrase for the NBA playoffs was “Hero-ball”. Ironic isn’t it? Hero-ball does not win championships, but it might win a couple games or even a series. This season proved that it takes a full team to go through a 82 game season, and win 16 playoff games. GSW might have ended Big 3 basketball brought back to life by the 08 Celtics. Only thing left to do now is wait.
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