All the talk is on the new-look Miami Heat. Have we forgotten about the 03-04 Lakers, who stacked Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton together? They must have been a better team than the current heat. They had a real bench; role players -- real, team player kind of guys, not a basket of old veterans self-selecting themselves into a last-ditch ring chase. I'm not saying the Heat won't win it all this year or some year very soon. Safe money says they will.
I'm only saying that I think the 03-04 Shaq + Kobe were a better 1-2 than 10-11 James-Wade. S+K covered the perimeter and inside games, and they were the best at each. J+W play the same isolation game, and that's not championship basketball. Beyond the 1-2s, the 03-04 Lakers could beat the 10-11 Heat up and down the floor. It's just not close. I'll say it again -- for all the hype the 10-11 Heat have received, we saw a better, more-team-oriented mash up of superstars in the 03-04 Lakers. And the 03-04 Lakers lost to the Pistons. In a two week span, Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace became Kings of the Hill, allstars, and the new team to beat. They won with killer defense. The 03-04 Lakers didn't defend well. The 10-11 Heat don't defend as an entire team; they rely on a few people for that job.
Again, the Heat could win it all and I wouldn't be surprised in the least. I'm only saying that I would not be surprised if they get blown up in the playoffs by a team that emphasizes team play over individual stars, and one that really, really knows how to defend. Just don't tell that to David Stern. I don't think such teams are the ones he has in mind when he counts his money and changes the rules.