Triple threats: Celts' trio sets standard Dallas Mavericks hope to copy
By Eddie Sefko
Champions are cut from many different molds in the NBA. There is the singular mega-star who carries a well-conceived supporting staff. Think Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets in the '90s.
There are dynamic duos like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Lately, the most popular blueprint is the three-headed monster.
It's worked for the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. And it was employed last season by the Boston Celtics, the reigning NBA champions who make their annual visit to American Airlines Center tonight.
"If you look at this league in recent years, it's become more of a strength-in-numbers type of league," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle says. "Look at Detroit in '04. They were able to win a championship with four All-Star caliber guys that weren't necessarily viewed as superstars.
"If you have that volume of high-level players, you can withstand an injury or on nights when two guys aren't shooting the ball well, you can still hang in games and win. It helps over the course of 100 games to have that kind of depth."
Nobody has perfected the formula more than the Celtics, who bring Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to the table and surround them with form-fitting role players.
It's a method the Mavericks have tried to copy. And, indeed, they have built a poor-man's version of a Big Three, even if one of the triangle's sides is erased right now with Jason Terry's injury.
"We've got a great starter kit," Jason Kidd says. "But the puzzle pieces also have to match up. You can have three pieces that don't fit. You look at Boston, they've got a veteran group, guys who have been around the wars. Those guys have given up the All-Star status for the betterment of the team.
"They continue to be All-Stars, but it's about the team and it starts with their leader, Kevin Garnett."
For the Mavericks, their Big Three has changed with Terry's injury. Normally, it's a potent trio, with Terry, Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard combining to average 63.5 points per game, easily the highest-scoring threesome in the league.
Kidd, of course, is the facilitator charged with making sure all three get their share of the scoring chances. Again, that dynamic has been altered with Terry's absence. But it's a plan they hope to return to after the All-Star break when Terry comes back.
"Our biggest challenge has been health," Carlisle says. "Josh's situation early in the year derailed us from getting in a great rhythm offensively in late November and December. And we've had to adjust again [with Terry's injured left hand].
"But coming in, we projected that those three guys would play exceptionally well and Kidd would be our key facilitator. This is the way we'd like it to keep going when everybody gets healthy."
Even healthy, the Mavericks know there are no guarantees. Not with San Antonio's three-pronged attack and similar units in Los Angeles, where the Lakers have Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and in New Orleans where, when healthy, the Hornets have Chris Paul, David West and Peja Stojakovic.
Injuries, as always, could determine which set of triplets ends up being most effective in the West. But Kidd says he's wary of one team in particular.
"This game is fragile that way with injuries and confidence," Kidd says. "Things look great and then all of the sudden it just goes downhill, and the one team that's been pretty consistent and has won championships is the Spurs. They just keep playing.
"They're right there. So for that, we've just got to stay the course and hold the fort down until we get healthy. And there's no guarantee that we'll ever be 100 percent healthy. So we've just got to play with the guys we got."
THREE-MENDOUS
The top trios in the NBA this season, with their combined scoring averages:
All numbers through Tuesday's games. Players must be on pace to play 50 or more games.
THREE-PLY CHAMPIONS
Besides Boston's Pierce, Garnett and Allen, here are some other notable NBA triumvirates who teamed up to collect NBA crowns in the last 30 years:
BOSTON THREE PARTY
KEVIN GARNETT
Notable: Points, rebounds, assists down, efficiency way, way up
Key stat: 52.5 percent shooting (13th in NBA)
RAY ALLEN
Notable: He benefits from nonstop attention given to the other two
Key stat: 128 3-pointers this season (3rd in NBA)
PAUL PIERCE
Notable: Great scorer who makes a living at the free throw line
Key stat: 7th-most free throw attempts in the league (362)
Too bad Cuban pissed that chance away with the Kidd for B-Diddy and Kaman trade. I would have done that trade for either of those players alone. Only reason why Cuban didn't do that trade was the huge contracts of B-Diddy and Kaman. Still, the talent that those two would have been an upgrade.
Every team has a "big 3" really... but not all "big 3"'s are created equal, thus some teams are better than others, usually because their cores are better than others.
Kidd > Davis
Kaman would be an injection of talent, but not an over the top move.
Bull , win a few more rings and then we'll talk.
Let's also not forget that it was done the hard way, all via the draft....
agreed, trading kidd for bd and camby is not a good option for us but kaman makes a quality difference to this offer. Kaman is younger than camby and better than camby on both ends, the combination of Dirk and Kaman would definitely blow out any other pair like yao&scola, but cuban f**king rejected it. Kidd is a good player but we could have gotten more from this trade. our team would be the world's No.1 franchise if our GM was half as clever as Morey sh**.
we love our team.
Let me just say that I, like everyone else, am a huge Rogue fan, but I think there's a lot of idiots out there who actually believe he likes the Mavericks.
We Gotta Be Patient And Hope For A Gasol Deal!!!!!1
what we need most is a decent center that can do dirty works in the paint, dampier takes 11m/yr dollars from our team but doesn't do much more than what we get from bass who just earns LLE.
Kaman is not the best center in the league but he can consistently make some contributions at least. we need a good center that can consistently score and grab rebounds, instead of a crappy center that can just explode only when facing weak teams like queens.
Stack/george For Kaman!!!
the lakers weren't in a better situation than we are today, until they stole gasol from memphis. our team has much more talent than the lakers had got before "the robbery of Pau". we have enough decent leverages to actually do a "trade" with a team that plans on rebuilding. besides expiring contracts, we can also offer them some potential younsters like gerald green, and picks as well. A trade can even turn a mortal team to be a franchise
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/feature...&te=&cash=12:6 never to mention turning a decent team to the champions. Do it, cuban.
Last edited by Rogue; 02-12-2009 at 03:10 AM.
Fluke 3?
Okay, after reading this, it reminded me of Wilbon's bit at halftime of Spurs/Celtics, and I have to ask my fellow Spurstalkers:
How the does Horace ing Grant end up on any list where they are talking about any team's "big three"???? Horace made one ing all star team the year after Jordan retired the first time, and it was a contract year; the second and last time he'd average a double double and the only time in his career that he averaged over 15 points per game.
If you're going to include Grant on a list because they won three les, then you have to add LA's big three of Shaq, Kobe and Derek Fisher.
Who's that in your sig ?!
It's like sportswriters forget that there is a defensive end of the court. Big 3 is all well and good, but if all they do is score, who gives a flying .
You guys keep asking that question. What do you bet that the name in the corner of the pictures is her actual name? Maybe you guys should google "emma o'neil" and see what comes up.
If he thinks it's annoying maybe he should put the name along with his sig too.
I wouldn't even be able to discern that it said Emma Oil,
looks like Emma Oneil to me.
Last night looked like a Big 4 v Big 1
Really? Nobody? They won one whole championship, and they're the best ever? This guy should consider what the pretty words he's strung so smoothly together actually mean.
Defense.
A real Big Three is a trio of players where, if needed to, each one of the three could take over a game by himself. There are only 2 Big Three's in the NBA, TD/TP/Manu and Garnett/Allen/Pierce.
The top three scorers on one team does not make a Big Three.
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