Wildcat wrote:JayTWill wrote:Wildcat wrote:
Now, I ain't a Gordon hater, but since when was Gordon considered a "great defender"? Decent and versatile, yeah. But he's also not asked to do much else out there. Green in the same boat but to a greater extend.
The better measure should be the number of All-Stars and/or All-NBA's on the team. Most had at least 2. And the teams that didn't have 2 had generational super stars. Golden State didn't win those championships with KD because of defense. Curry and KD were absolutely destroying people on the offense.
Golden State was top 2 in defense for 3 of the 4 championships in the Curry era. Obviously adding Durant gave them a greater advantage but they did win 2 times without him with the top defense in the league.
But you're talking prime Green and Klay, who were NBA All Stars and All NBA players before the KD titles. Then you had Iguodala and Barnes team defense. Those championships weren't won because of 1 player's defense.
I'm not sure if I am following your argument. You mentioned Green after referencing Gordon's versatility and him not being asked to do much I assume since both have played with generational offensive talents. You then spoke about Golden State destroying people with offense so I mentioned that they also had a top defense also in 3 of their 4 championships and won 2 without KD. You then responded talking about Green's awards which makes me wonder why you mentioned him initially since he had these awards before, during and after KD's years in Golden State. I assume all of this to show Randle's value through his offensive abilities and awards. Maybe I am wrong.
Either way Green played a huge role in their success and I don't think they win at least 2 of those championships without his defense and versatility and they may have won another championship without KD if he didn't get himself suspended for game 5 in the 2016 finals.
I don't believe there is a specific formula needed to win a championship such as a stretch 5 or a defensive 4 but roster construction and fit between the players and also the coach and front office do matter. Yes, if you have all time great talents you can overcome some obstacles. I wouldn't consider anyone on the Knicks an all time great talent but if the team has championship success over the next few years opinions could change.
I also don't believe there is some all-star/all NBA formula required to win a championship especially since there are so many factors that go into who is chosen for those awards. One of those factors is often team success so obviously the teams that eventually win the championship will likely have one award winning player or more on its roster but I wouldn't build a team on awards. After the OG trade one could easily say that OG and his zero all-star/all NBA appearances was more valuable to the team than Randle and his multiple awards and it showed the value of fit and roster construction.
Based on your argument about measuring a team based on all-star/all NBA awards shouldn't you prefer KAT and his 4 all-star appearances over Randle and his 3? I'm not a huge fan of either but I could understand why someone could prefer one or the other.