System Supplanting Superstar?

[planetmars]

Atlanta will be a very good test case for the talent/system debate this post season.

How do you define "talent" though? The Hawks had four all-stars of which two were multiple time all-stars. Would they not be considered talented? Or is talent defined by having a once in a generation type of talent like Lebron James? And in that case then does only one team in the league have talent?

If Atlanta gets out of the East did they do it because of their system or because of talent or both?

[OldSkoolCool]

I think what OldSkool is saying is that when it comes down to the end of the playoffs when it's the two best teams, the talent on both sides of the floor are so good that it comes down to which system is better or being run better. The Heat/Spurs match up is a great example of this.

Earlier on in the playoffs when a number 1 seed is playing a number 8 it really doesn't matter how great the system the number 8 is employing because the number 1 team is usually so much more talented that they can over come the better system they are playing. At least in theory.

What mediumcore said

[octothorp]

I've always compared building a team like building a good deck in any TCG. You need to have an idea of how you want the deck to play, you need to have the right cards to let it play that way, and you need a good player who can play that way and with that deck. There are always cards that are deemed the best and everyone wants them, and cards that cause people to be split on its usefulness, and cards that are just filler.

Heh, I'm actually working on designing a basketball deckbuilding game, because I think the mechanics of a DBG are pretty close to the process of building an nba roster; unlike a standard TCG, you usually can't pick a strategy and then find the cards that you need to fill in that strategy... you need to be highly reactive to the cards that become available. Balance building your strategy around your cards, vs. choosing your cards to fit your strategy. (ie. You've decided that you want to build a defense-first deck, but James Harden has just become available, and if you don't take him, your opponent probably will... stick to your guns and leave him, or pick him up and hope that you can modify your strategy around him?) And you start with a certain amount of filler, but you need to find a way to convert that filler into something useful, without them simply bloating your otherwise efficient deck.