re: Would you rather Eric Gordon over Jrue Holiday (even $$$)

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so name one team other than all the teams that win or could win titles? you got me there.... lol

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well the point i was trying to make was that it's not easy to build a championship team around a star. You really do have to get lucky, more than once in the draft usually.

I would have accepted Dallas with Dirk, and Orlando with Dwight. I wouldnt' call Pierce a superstar, but the Celtics found a way to build around him and it be successful. I don't like using teams like Boston or LA as examples since it's much easier for them to attract big free agents but they drafted Rondo and Perkins, and traded for Allen and Garnett.

Teams like Chicago with Rose, Memphis with Gasol/Conley, and Clippers with Griffin have done well, but never got over the hump. You could say the same for the Nuggets with Melo. They at least put up a good fight. We aren't close to reaching what those teams accomplished, and they still lost their superstars (not memphis, but they are rebuilding with young players)

You can look at the Wolves, Bucks, Wizards and Blazers at what they are doing with their stars, and they are headed in the right direction. Maybe not the Blazers as much but despite their financial issues, they are still a playoff team every year.

All 4 of those teams are leaps and bounds in a better position than we are to succeed in the future.

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as always, i admire your passion. but this take is piping hot

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but is it really? Look i love AD, and i think he is one of the most physically gifted players in the NBA, but he lacks that killer instinct. We see it every now and then, but it's not consistent. If it was, we be over .500 every year at least, but we aren't. He's still young and learning, but you don't learn to be a closer. You either are, or you aren't. That's the difference in a team that wins 35 games and one that wins 45 games. The Blazers keep making the playoffs b/c they have a guy that takes sole responsibility for closing games out, and yes it's easier for him b/c hes the PG, but Dirk was the same way. When you're up 4 with a little over a minute left, your star hits that big shot that makes the other team realize they won't win. I don't blame AD completely on that, but he gets some of the blame, with the coaches and other players getting it to for not getting him the ball.
A star single handedly wins you games down the stretch, and he doesn't even need to score to do it sometimes. AD just doesn't do that enough, and he's been in the league long enough that he shoudl be doing that more consistently. I know he's capable of it, as we saw a good bit of it the one year we made the playoffs. If he ever starts doing that consistently, we'll easily be a playoff team every year.