Best team without their best player?

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Which team would be the strongest without their best player?

New York Knicks
26
20%
Los Angeles Lakers
9
7%
San Antonio Spurs
42
33%
Miami Heat
15
12%
Chicago Bulls
24
19%
Other
13
10%
 
Total votes: 129

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Rapcity_11
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#21 » by Rapcity_11 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 7:46 am

Surprised no mention of the Nuggets yet.

It's between them, Spurs, Warriors and Bulls.

I think the Heat would be much worse than a lot of people think. Same with the Thunder.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#22 » by kaulkhara15 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:17 am

Who should be considered the Spurs best player now anyway?
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#23 » by Sinant » Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:25 am

Rapcity_11 wrote:I think the Heat would be much worse than a lot of people think. Same with the Thunder.


Yeah it's funny, I think the Thunder should be an option in the poll simply out of respect to Westbrook, but there's some people that go way too far into reading the names on the back of the jerseys and underestimating how important LeBron or Durant are.

There's no indication that Wade as he's currently playing could just step in and replace 90% of LeBron's production. That team falls off a cliff defensively without him, and they're definitely worse offensively even if Wade+Bosh(upgraded roles) and shooters will be a good offense. They would look a lot more like a .500 team than an elite team most nights without LeBron.

Same with Durant and the Thunder. Even if you slide in Martin and move Thabo to the small forward, you're replacing the best scorer in the game with strictly an off the ball shooter. The Thunder lose their entire post game (outside of the rare Ibaka hot shooting night) and teams just double off Thabo or Perkins on Westbrook with reckless abandon. You make an already ineffective scorer (which Westbrook is, because that volume with that inefficiency is not good scoring) an even more ineffective scorer. Not to mention that you go from a, by most metrics, great defender in Durant to a turnstile in Martin.

There's a reason those two guys are considered the best two players in the world. They don't do it alone, no elite team does it alone, but they're vitally important and certainly nowhere near easy to replace.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#24 » by cube » Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:59 am

Wolves are 6. in the west (0.550) without Rubio + Love missed several games at the beginning of the season and hasn't still fully recovered from his injury. Adelman is propably the best coach to get the maximum out of bench players as pretty much every theam he has coached has had injury problems with star players.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#25 » by 28reloaded » Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:37 am

very easily the knicks imo. they're probably 50-55 win team without melo assuming stat can come back healthy.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#26 » by clippertown » Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:58 am

The Clippers have Bledsoe, Chauncey and Crawford to fill Pauls shoes if he goes down. It would suck, but every team would feel some pain if their best player went down. I just think the Clips could weather the storm more easily than any other team in the NBA right now.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#27 » by taii1234 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:14 pm

Its obviously the Knicks, I mean, there best player has been out for the whole year. They have really done good without Amare.

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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#28 » by TheKingOfVa360 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:06 pm

Heat, they would have a great lineup without Lebron
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#29 » by GrandTheftRondo » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:11 pm

Spurs. /thread
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#30 » by KL78192020 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:21 pm

Am I missing something? The bulls are a borderline playoff team without Rosé.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#31 » by taii1234 » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:33 pm

ozzykhan16 wrote:Am I missing something? The bulls are a borderline playoff team without Rosé.



Key word..borderline.

Without LeBron, the Heat will be seeded 2-5 in the East.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#32 » by Rajon Rondo Fan » Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:32 pm

taii1234 wrote:
ozzykhan16 wrote:Am I missing something? The bulls are a borderline playoff team without Rosé.



Key word..borderline.

Without LeBron, the Heat will be seeded 2-5 in the East.


LOL:o:o:o:o:o:o:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#33 » by Green Backpack » Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:36 pm

Probably the Spurs

If the Lakers weren't sucking so much, I probably would have said them with D12/Nash/Gasol
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#34 » by TB » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:12 pm

Interesting because a couple teams don't need speculation...

Bulls are hanging in there without Rose.

Warriors are 5th in the west without Bogut.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#35 » by UnderdogKnicks » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:15 pm

TB wrote:Interesting because a couple teams don't need speculation...

Bulls are hanging in there without Rose.

Warriors are 5th in the west without Bogut.


Bogut isn't their best player though, it's either Lee or Curry. Probably Curry
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#36 » by TB » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:22 pm

UnderdogKnicks wrote:
TB wrote:Interesting because a couple teams don't need speculation...

Bulls are hanging in there without Rose.

Warriors are 5th in the west without Bogut.


Bogut isn't their best player though, it's either Lee or Curry. Probably Curry


Most Warriors fans would say that a healthy Bogut would have the biggest impact on winning games.

Actually, most warriors fans would say Monta is the best Warrior... but we try not to let them speak publicly.

One would also assume that Bogut missing time would be the most detrimental of the 3. I say this because Boguts replacements are a raw rookie and Andris freakin Biedrins, whereas Lee and Curry have very good replacements in Landry and Jack.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#37 » by osamu » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:27 pm

You guys are really high on wade . But the lakers would do fine without kobe and everybody else healthy. They lose nothing defensively
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#38 » by Geaux_Hawks » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:37 pm

mirrornick wrote:
KingAmmar wrote:Raptors play Better without their supposed best player (Bargnani).
Howcome they are not an option!!!11ONE


this

Why do I look at your profile pic and Sig and think Ed Davis could probably have success being Jermaine Oneals successor in Indiana.
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#39 » by Geaux_Hawks » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:39 pm

Rajon Rondo Fan wrote:
taii1234 wrote:
ozzykhan16 wrote:Am I missing something? The bulls are a borderline playoff team without Rosé.



Key word..borderline.

Without LeBron, the Heat will be seeded 2-5 in the East.


LOL:o:o:o:o:o:o:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

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Are you saying that they aren't?
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Re: Best team without their best player? 

Post#40 » by Kabookalu » Sat Dec 15, 2012 5:46 pm

It seems a lot of people think that if LeBron was out Wade would revert back to being a 30/7/6 player.
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