NBA Keys to Success

NBA Keys to Success

The NBA season starts tomorrow, and while I will be tuning in once in a while to catch a game, I’m seriously thinking about catching a nap, Hibernation style, until the Playoffs start up.

Everyone at the beginning of every season has one goal – To Win It All.

Well Mr. You Gotta Be Realistic is here to tell you that sometimes you can’t always follow your dreams. For all those parents out there that haven’t sat down with their kids to tell them Santa isn’t real, here is a friendly reminder.

While there comes a Hoosiers moment every once and again, we don’t see it in professional sports. Why?

Parity. Chemistry. Coaching. Depth. And whoever has the best player at the End of the Game.

The NBA season is like Thanksgiving Turkey. The 82-game regular season consists of the mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, green bean casserole and all the fixings. All I care about is the main dish – The Turkey. Nobody cares about the regular season. It’s all about the Playoffs Baby!

The NBA is not what it used to be. To tell you the truth I enjoy watching White Boys in their Way Too Short Shorts Running and Gunning in the 1980s more than Black Boys with their Red Lip Tattooed Shiny Earring I’m Better Than Everyone Else Attitudes in 2010.

Its everyone for themselves in this league, and that’s why I say the Playoffs ring true – because we have a few Contenders, and a lot of Pretenders.

Here are my Five Keys to Building a Championship Winning Team

1. You can’t win on jumpshots alone, you need guys that can get to the basket and finish ABOVE the Rim.

Penetrators like DWade and Lebron are a perfect one-two combo. Teams that rely on the jumpshot too much - Bulls, Mavs, Hawks, Thunder and Suns to name a few - cannot make shots consistently enough to win a seven-game series. You win by driving to the basket, drawing fouls and making free throws.

2. On the defensive side of the ball you HAVE to have a banger inside who can handle his own and get rebounds in crunch time.

In Game 7 of the Finals last year the Lakers absolutely dominated the glass – which led to no second chance shots for Boston, and more opportunities for the Lakers in the clutch. A few more shots here and there can lead to two or three baskets, and when it comes down to the end - those two or three baskets will make all the difference in a one-point win. Why do you think the Celtics added Jermaine AND Shaquille O’neal to their roster this year.

3. You must have a coach on the sidelines who can teach DEFENSE and understands when NOT to call a time out over those who take them at the WRONG time.

It can be said that Phil Jackson aka the Zen Master understands the game of basketball better than anyone – I mean he does have the most rings of any coach. Ever. Sometimes Phil lets his players play through an opponent’s run just to see how HIS players will react. This tactic can result in either a bad shot or a good shot. If players can weather the storm and get that much confidence from their coach, then sooner or later they will know how to deal with adversity on their own, and that poise and composure in crunch time situations will come back to benefit you more than you realize.

Now for DE-FENSE… DE-FENSE…. Offense Sells Tickets, Defense Wins Championships. Right? Of the Top 16 teams last year in Defensive Efficiency only ONE didn’t make the Playoffs. Any coach can make up a play to score, but those who preach defense and rebounding will come out the victors more often than nought.

4. Depth - Bench Players have to step up, and step up when they are called upon. Everyone has a role, they just need to know when to use it.

Look at how big last year’s Lakers’ trio of Fisher, Artest and Bynum were for LA’s championship. None of them scored 20 every night, and none of them wanted to. They stepped up to the plate when they needed to.

The forgotten bench players – the Steve Kerrs, Bruce Bowens, Robert Horrys and Dennis Rodmans are some of the most important players on their teams – because they have ONE role and fulfill that as One piece to a 12-man puzzle roster.

5. Imagine your team has the ball with 20 seconds left and the game tied. If it came down to your LIFE and you could pick ONE person to have the ball who would you pick?

When the game is tied and there is 20 seconds on the clock you HAVE to have a player that when they get the ball there is absolutely Nobody that is going to stop them. You need a player that has IT.

What is IT might you ask? Well a few players have it, some don’t have it yet, and some, well – it just isn’t in their blood.

My favorite player is Dirk Nowitzki, and he has never shown the mentality of a player in the clutch that, when the time comes, says Give Me The Ball and Get Out of My Way. He settles for jumpshots and doesn’t give his team a chance for second shots.

Jordan had IT. Bird had IT. Magic Johnson had IT.

When it comes down to crunch time and you need a basket who do You Trust to give the Ball to Score – no matter whether it’s a 3, two free throws or a drive to the basket.

Now I have left out a few players here, because either A) They don’t have IT yet, B) they just weren’t born with IT, or C) they lost IT.

Dwight Howard is not a consistent offensive force and can’t make free throws. Vince Carter missed two of the most important free throws in the playoffs last year when his team needed him the most. Tim Duncan used to have IT but he doesn’t move as well on the block. Dirk only has one play – a fade-away jumpshot. Danny Granger, Joe Johnson and Steve Nash are all limited with jumpshots as well. Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh have never had a killer mentality and can’t take over a game by themselves. Some guys just don’t have IT in their blood.

Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant are the up and comers who have yet to play in enough clutch situations to show me that they have IT. Were they born with IT and will they have the opportunity to utilize their talents in a crunch time situation? The verdict is still out on that one.

That leaves Kobe, Lebron, Melo, Wade, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. They all have IT. If they have to put up 50 (Lebron, Kobe, Allen), they can do it. If they have to get knocked to the floor and shoot 25 free throws in a game (Wade) they'll do it. And if they have to guard the best player (Pierce, Lebron, Kobe) they will be the first ones to offer it.

They have shown time and again that they can make game-winning shots, free throws, defensive stops and when they get the ball they have that look in their eye that NO ONE is going to stop me.


So there you have it – my FIVE Keys to Building a Championship Winning Team
You can’t have one, two, or three. Sorry Orlando, Dallas, New Orleans, Utah or Chicago, but like I said before, Santa Claus is for real this time, so keep hoping that those cookies and milk are getting gobbled up by someone other than your mom and dad.

My FOUR teams this year that can Win It All are the Lakers, Celtics, Heat and New York Knicks.

That’s right – once Carmelo gets traded to New York, him and Amare are going to be making baskets like Politicians make promises. So keep that healthcare reform and trillion dollar deficit on the back burner, because the only cities with a parade come June are Los Angeles, Miami, Boston or New York.