The Fantastic 4 of Westbrook-Harden-George-Leonard has been a disaster. Five losses in a row with Harden in the lineup, six overall ever since they completed the deal.
Clippers are too powerful, only cared about superstars over their role players. They've forgotten what it was like to be underdogs. Their best ever iteration was the 2019 Revenge Of The Role Players: no superstars, just role players. Took two games from the Warriors, including a 31-point comeback to tie the series when everyone thought they were 8th seed playoff fodder. They need to rediscover that aura, but they're too afraid of losing that super team aura, for they're in a Killer Kombat season. Failure to win a title, and SoCal gets blown up: all of their superstars will be taken away from them, the role players will leave, and they will enter into the brand new Intuit Dome without a player on the roster.
Here's my solution: end the super team experiment by benching ALL superstars. Make it a role player team again.
But there's one caveat: you can allow only one superstar to start. My pick is Leonard for his Finals MVPs and familiarity with playing with role players due to his time with Spurs.
Poll is up. If you were forced to start only one superstar, who would that one be and why? How would you rotate the players, under the conditions that no more than two superstars at a time except for clutch time, especially in Sudden Death Shot situations, and Harden-Westbrook cannot play together except during a Sudden Death Shot.
Reminder: a Sudden Death Shot means your team is down 1 or 2 PTS with less than five seconds left in the final quarter and overtime, and the shot winning attempt (ie. cannot end in a tie, or else overtime occurs) must be made at the sound of the buzzer. Goes in, you win. Example would be Derek Fisher's 0.4 sec shot vs. Spurs in the 2004 NBA Playoffs.
Finally, of the role players to start:
- Powell
- Mann
- Tucker
- Theis
- Zubac
The Radical Change: The One Superstar Starter
The Radical Change: The One Superstar Starter
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Are We Having Fun Yet?
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Re: The Radical Change: The One Superstar Starter
Wouldn't a better poll be which star to sit?
'At the beginning of a dynasty, taxation yields large revenues from small assessments. At the end of a dynasty, taxation yields small revenues from large assessments'. - Ibn Khaldun
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Re: The Radical Change: The One Superstar Starter
This is a really weird poll, but I voted for Harden only because him and RWB have to platoon, which means one of the two has to start LOL whereas the other 2 could fit into any rotation. On a slightly related topic, could you imagine Kawhi doing this 2 or 3 games after the trade?
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/273744/Jayson-Tatum-Called-Preseason-Meeting-With-Celtics-Six-Starters
I don't think either Kawhi or PG are strong enough leaders to do this type of thing. Not holding it against them personally though, it's not their make up. Fortunately for now, the situation sort of resolved itself but we'll see how things go.
https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/273744/Jayson-Tatum-Called-Preseason-Meeting-With-Celtics-Six-Starters
Tatum's goal was to head off any problems down the line, when losing games could spark dissension.
"This was a time where, if you're not OK with it, let's talk about it," Tatum said. "I didn't want everybody to, before the season started, say, 'Yeah, I'm, I'm fine with it. Whatever.' And then, you know, we'll lose a couple games, and then things build up.
I don't think either Kawhi or PG are strong enough leaders to do this type of thing. Not holding it against them personally though, it's not their make up. Fortunately for now, the situation sort of resolved itself but we'll see how things go.
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