english paper for school

The only time i love school is when I get to write papers about the Mavs

Best Team Basketball

There are not too many people who remember anything prior to the NBA lockout, because it was the end to all basketball. But before this lockout happened, something miraculous happened; the Dallas Mavericks won their first National Basketball Association Championship, giving them their very first Larry O’Brian Trophy. The reason that this is such a miraculous event is because this particular 2011 roster was the best team to ever win the championship.

This idea may originally have people yelling and arguing left and right, but the reason is that they are one of the best teams as a whole. Led by a single super star with no one else on the roster to even be called an all-star this season, it truly was a team effort to get to the championship. The team proves to be the best team collectively as they made their way through the playoffs with their distributed scoring, team defense, and the chemistry that had been built with this group of men.

Going into the playoffs, only the single all-star for the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, averaged more than fifteen points per game. This was lower than the career average for this German super star, but that was because he had four other players that were scoring in the double digits. Although the Mavericks had always been a good team that had hung around with the so called “great” teams, they had always been brought down saying they did not have a consistent second scorer. Not only was the scoring distributed nicely, but they were shooting at a very high rate. Dirk was shot over fifty percent from the field, and nearly forty percent from beyond the arc. The center, Tyson Chandler, had his field goal percentage at about sixty five percent, and forward Shawn Marion shot a solid fifty two percent.

Today’s professional basketball league requires that in order to be considered a great team, there usually needs to be what is called the “Big Three.” The Mavericks did not have anything close to that, only an all NBA First Team power forward. As this team was going through the playoffs, they were constantly heckled for playing as they did in the past, particularly in the first round. As they played the Portland Trailblazers, the Mavs gave up a huge lead that lead people to believe this team would revert back to their old ways. Most people would not have guessed, but the thirty eight year old point guard stepped up and scored over twenty points per game in the first two games, and raised his average significantly from his regular season eight points per game. As the playoffs moved on and the Mavs played the reigning champs, the Los Angeles Lakers, no one believed they would win this series. After the first three games where Dirk Nowitzki carried the team with helpful scoring and defense from players like Deshawn Stevenson and Shawn Marion, game four came around. In this game, the Mavs completed the sweep of the previous champions, beating them by thirty six points. In this game, Dirk Nowitzki scored a below average seventeen points, but that was not an issue because his supporting cast overwhelmed the Lakers. Jason Terry, Jose Juan Barea, and Peja Stojakovic all contributed to score over twenty points. This was unheard of to have three bench players all score over twenty points, showing the supporting cast around Dirk could handle the pressure to score consistently. On nearly every other team in the past decade, there had been three players that were typically all-stars, each of whom averaged about twenty points per game. On the Dallas Mavericks roster, there was a list of different people that on any given night could step up and score over twenty. This showed the uniqueness of the team and proved that they played some of the best team basketball that has been seen in decades.

The Mavericks had a variety of lineups that they could use: whether it was the three guard lineup that was extremely small, the big squad that could match up with almost anyone on the court, or the fourth quarter team that was so versatile, it would be able to switch any pick without having to worry about whom was guarding whom. This is something that was not often seen because usually there were specific match ups that if did not go well for the defense, could spoil the whole defensive set. Well the Mavericks were loaded with defensive minded players such as Deshawn Stevenson, Tyson Chandler, who finished third in defensive player of the year voting, and Shawn Marion, along with others. Because the defense was such a crucial role in this team’s success, it could be found anywhere on the court. Not only was the individual pressure outstanding, but the help side defense was always there. The teams of the past decade relied on their athleticism and individual defense to keep them moving throughout the playoffs, but the Mavs were not as athletic as the Miami Heat, who they defeated in the Finals. The trio of Dwayne Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh was not able to overcome the defensive minded coach Rick Carlisle, the depth of the roster, and the team defense.

The Heat was the favorite to win the championship, although they had just been assembled the previous summer. There was a huge concern about the chemistry that this team lacked. But the Dallas Mavericks had their two top scorers together for over 5 years, as well as a roster that had played together previously. The one advantage that the Mavericks did have was the team chemistry, which would, by itself, not get them very far. Many teams in the years before had chemistry and played together for a long period of time, but the youth, level of athleticism, and offensive rating had always been on a much lower level. The defensive core, Tyson Chandler, had not played less than seventy games in the previous two seasons, but in played seventy-four in the 2011 season. This alone allowed the players to mold into one of the single greatest teams to play as a unit.

One thing that brought this team so close together during the season was the large amount of adversity they had to face throughout the season. From the very beginning, there were issues regarding the starting positions. Once that finally settled down, their sole all-star went down with a knee injury that would later result in seven losses in nine games. In that bad stretch, Caron Butler, the second leading scorer for the first half of the season, would be brought down with a season ending knee injury. These hardships allowed the team to grow as one, unlike any team had been able to do during the season.

Individually, distributed scoring, team defense, or chemistry would not create the best team to ever play the game of basketball. When all three of these components are put together, it created a team that cannot be beaten by the defending champions, the youthful team of the future, or the “Big Three.” Dating back to the 1980’s where the dominant teams would have rosters filled with all-stars and hall of famers, the teams knew how to play the game of basketball as a team and be unselfish. As the talent and athleticism of the younger players grew, it became more of an individual sport. Teams had rosters loaded with a group of talented players that would lead the rest of the team to victory, but the 2011 World Basketball Champions changed that tradition, making them the best team to ever play in the National Basketball Association.