You don't necessarily need a STAR to win a championship - you need a CLOSER. Someone you can go to at the end of games when the defense tightens.
Pierce is a top 5 closer in this league, and Terry is very very good as well.
I hope we don't trade Pierce - we will not be able to get his true value to this team.
As long as we play suffocating defense (props to Bradley's game changing defensive play), we have the ability to do some damage.
You don't need a "closer". You need a good enough team. If you are good enough, someone will hit the shots when needed, and then people will call whoever happened to hit the shot a "closer".
So the takeaway from this is...the better team wins.
Not knocking it. Nothing wrong at all. All this controversial, elaborate, highly abstract crap about having enough "star power", tiers of players...
The team that's built better, that can deal with the situations they need to deal with, that has fitting pieces, with a coach that runs a system that fits those players...that team wins.
And I do see that in the C's.
No that's not CRAP that's FACT. Learn the difference. Stars win championships rather you wanna accept that reality or not is up to you.
The team with the better player certainly has the advantage.
But, like a guy said in another thread, there's no absolutes. "A team ABSOLUTELY can't win with a "superstar"". That's ESPN fluff. The bottom line is the better team wins.
Obviously the teams with amazing players who can do superb things have huge advantages.
But stars are pretty much defined subjectively and loosely as well. "Stars" may emerge from different situations and some "stars" end up flopping in the playoffs. Is Deron Williams still a "superstar"? Rudy Gay is looking great. The terms "star", "superstar" and other such terms are so elusive. Some players thrive in a fitting system, some players just click...
Bottom line: good players, good fit, good coaching...etc.
Hopefully the Grizzlies and/or the Spurs do something this year. That'll stick it to the Hollywood superstar stuff that Jordan started and ESPN is profiting off of. And, of course, I hope our C's upset a few teams (might be 1 to 50, 100, 200 chance of us making the finals...BUT NOT ZERO).