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Can Raptors win big without superstars?

By Brian Boake

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The evergreen Zach Lowe has a long piece on Grantland which zeroes in on the Atlanta Hawks. Specifically there’s a lot of discussion about whether a team without superstars like the Hawks can soar to the NBA championship. Such a topic is catnip for Yours Truly, and hopefully you, Gentle Reader. Atlanta and Toronto’s rosters certainly share the same characteristic: a lot of good to very good players, but no one vaguely reminiscent of LeBron James, James Harden, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant or other MVP candidates.

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I’m greatly disappointed by the NBA Playoffs to this point. The finalists are the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers, both of whom feature mega-stars. Raps fans gain no hope our solid but not spectacular lineup of players can go all the way, or even very far, towards winning the Larry O’Brien trophy. [20-second timeout: isn’t that the most pitiful name in all of pro sports for a championship trophy? I had to look it up; turns out Mr. O’Brien was the NBA Commissioner from 1975 to 1984. Prior to that, he was President Lyndon Johnson’s Postmaster General. Could you get more feeble?]

Atlanta enjoyed a 60-victory season, won a pair of playoff rounds, then was brushed aside by Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. Injuries to Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefalosha were damaging. The Cavs were, and are, without Kevin Love, but LeBron is this decade’s Michael Jordan and can carry a team on his back.

In any event, I’m going to offer a set of rules for the Raptors and other teams who don’t have a superstar or two hanging around the gym, but still want to win it all:

  1. Attain balanced scoring. Paul Millsap led Atlanta with 16.7 Points Per Game [PG], but all of their starters were in the mid-teens.
  2. Have at least one 3-pointer shooter who strikes fear in defenses. Korver doesn’t take a lot of shots, largely because he’s tightly marked (he shot 49.2% from beyond the arc, so the attention was warranted). While defenders are racing through screens trying to get a hand in his face, teammates are getting open.
  3. Find someone who’s been underrated by everyone else, and give him a shot. DeMarre Carroll’s career had been thoroughly undistinguished until he became a Hawk under Mike Budenholzer…which is an easy segue to…
  4. …have a strong coach. Whether Dwane Casey can emerge as an offensive thinker who can bump the scoring averages of his laggards (particularly Terrence Ross) will determine his future in Toronto.
  5. Build a strong bench. I think that’s Atlanta’s next step to success; their current rotation players are a so-so lot beyond Dennis Schroder. Mike Muscala, Pero Antic, Shelvin Mack – those names don’t frighten anyone. Austin Daye made this team.

Winning with a bunch of B+/A- players isn’t easy, but if you have enough of those guys, it’s possible. The Raps have a deeper bench than the Hawks, but that’s about the only spot we are ahead. Since lightning isn’t likely to strike any of our roster, Masai needs to attract a top-drawer free agent.

Let’s give the final word to Kyle Korver: “I’ve been on teams where it’s all about one guy. This is way more fun. I believe in this vision, and I think we’re eventually gonna get it done.” Amen.

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